Alex would accept that, that position, and it's starting to reek of a marriage purposeful. Neil flushes deeply, every part of him affected, far too affected to think in terms of what came before. There is none other. There is no father, no harshness of the Wastes, nothing. Only them.

Neil finds himself smiling without actual thought. Returns to teasing to convey a truth. "You must be so damn tired of hearing no from me," he remarks. "Sorry, for the resistance."