"Oh, sorry. Messy of me," Dan says, disappointed that Aster isn't going to take the opportunity to get closer and touch his face. That ten percent uncertainty remains. Dan knows he's not a catch. He's a drifter and an addict and an unwelcome guest in this town, and Aster has all the reason in the world to be disinterested in anything more than a friendship, if even that. When Aster admits the piano playing does wake him up, Dan feels that uncertainty grow.

"I'll try and keep it down after dark. I get a little lost in it sometimes. We had an upright at home, something my dad built." He licks the last of the chocolate off his fingers. "I got that expertise in mechanical and carpenter things from him. I fixed the water heater, by the way. Now it don't make that sound no more."

The water's been hot already, thankfully, but the burping and banging from the heater made Dan feel a little guilty taking baths at night. Not guilty enough to stop, but enough to feel bad.

"If I'm going to be bait, how are we going to go about this?"