"Oof," says Gideon, now feeling extremely guilty about her little joke. Not up to the standard of Ortus? That hurts.

"Harrow, I'm not planning on taking advantage of your feelings for me," she says, which is still and extremely weird thing to be saying. Harrow loving her is great, amazing, wonderful, but still only a drop in the bucket of their long acquaintance. She reaches to tuck the violet a little more securely behind Harrow's ear. "I know how you want me to look and behave, and I'm not gonna just throw all that in your face. It may not mean anything to me, but it means a lot to you. And that's all that I need to know."