Lena woke to the sensation of gentle rocking. She was lying on her side and Hal was curled around her, his head against hers, his arm around her waist. He was rocking himself against her. More specifically, he was rubbing his erection up and down against her backside, through their pyjamas. Lena assumed he was having a pleasant dream and thought it best not to wake him.

She had almost drifted back to sleep when the rocking became more pronounced and she felt his muscles tense as he held her more tightly against him. She heard him mutter under his breath.

"Shit. Come on." He was talking to himself. Hal was no longer dreaming.

"I don't do anal," Lena reminded him.

He continued rubbing against her, his tension increasing. "I'm not asking you to," he said.

"What are you asking?"

"Nothing. Go back to sleep."

"Are you using my butt for a jerk-off?"

"Yes, now will you at least pretend to be asleep? You're not helping," he snapped as he began grinding against her more forcefully.

Lena considered slapping the shit out of her inconsiderate lover, but it occurred to her that he may simply be avoiding the blood temptation of her arousal. Approaching her butt was a sure way to guarantee that she wouldn't be turned on. Since her drunken passum orgy Lena had drawn a firm line in the sand in that regard.

"Asleep it is," she said. She relaxed, closed her eyes again, and smiled to herself at Hal's struggle. She breathed in a calm, steady rhythm as if she was asleep, but she barely kept from giggling at Hal's increasingly urgent movements against her.

"Fuck!" he muttered in frustration. "Fucking clothes!"

"What do you need?" she murmured.

"Skin."

"As I'm covered with it and sound asleep, that should be no problem for you," she replied.

He paused at her offer. "You are the most amazing woman—" he breathed into her ear as he hastily pulled down his pants and hers. He pressed his erection against her naked backside and began to move again, his breath ragged, his grip on her tightening once more as he held himself against her. He came quickly.

"Thank fucking god," Hal said in relief as he slowed his movements to a stop.

"If there is a god of fucking, he's got to be laughing his ass off at us right now," Lena said.

"True," Hal said as he rolled over to get a small towel from the stack they had put on the nightstand. She turned onto her stomach so he could clean his mess off her butt.

He cleaned her backside off and quickly kissed her, both cheeks. It was the first time his mouth had ventured below her face since their first night in what had become their bed.

"You never kiss my ass when I tell you to," she said.

"You could have told me to just now and you didn't. Why didn't you?"

She put her clothes back in place as she spoke. "I don't know. I guess I just assume that you're doing whatever it takes to stay close to me and stay safe. If that means letting off some steam without me, then so be it." She grinned at him. "I guess that makes me your little sex toy."

He had the decency to look slightly guilty as he tossed the towel into the dirty clothes basket and readjusted his clothes. He started to wrap himself around her again, but she protested.

"I'd rather you pointed that thing away from me for a while," she said.

He turned his back to her with a chuckle and she snuggled up against him with a happy sigh, her arm around him. He took her hand in his and kissed it.

"I feel your heartbeat," he said softly. "I feel your breath move through my hair, your breasts pressed against my back. I hear your blood singing through your body. I should be mad for it right now, but I'm not. I can rest with you."

"Temporarily, at least," she said dryly.

"I am still a man, of sorts," Hal reminded her. "I just haven't been much of one for a very long time."

"If it would help you rest better, I can turn myself into a poxy old hag," she teased.

"Don't," he said, suppressing a shudder. "I've seen enough of those. I've dug plague pits, remember."

"Yes, you told me. So have I. It was awful," Lena said quietly. "So much useless death, so much misery."

"I can't imagine you doing that."

"When you are the only one left alive, the job falls to you. I've lived through every kind of plague known to man while the people I loved died all around me. I couldn't save them, I couldn't stop it."

"You can heal injury but not disease? I didn't know that," Hal said.

"I can fix the damage humans do to each other, but some horrors are beyond my reach. Just as well," she said. "I think the responsibility would kill me if I tried to fix everything."

"Can you bring a person back from death?"

"No. Once the soul has left the body, it is beyond my reach as well. Death is death."

"Except for vampires, it seems. You healed me," he reminded her.

"True. I guess vampires are the exception. I don't know why." She sighed and kissed the back of his neck. "Are we getting any more sleep?"

"Yes, my lady, I'll be quiet now," he said.

"Not too quiet, I hope," she replied. "I prefer it when your heart beats regularly, even though I know it doesn't have to. I'm not fond of sleeping next to a corpse."

"Not interested in necrophilia, then?" he teased. "You may have chosen the wrong partner."

"Eeww."

"Although if anyone could raise the horn on a dead man, it's you," he continued, still teasing.

"Double eeww."

"In fact, you seem to be doing it now," he said.

"I'm not really sure I care," she said.

"In that case, is your derriere available?"

She pulled away from him in a huff and shoved him halfway out of the bed as she did. "Asshole!" she snapped.

It took him a minute to recover his balance, by which time she had tucked the covers tightly around herself, denying him access. He took the hint and left her alone. He knew her restless hunger would bring her back to him in time.

# # #

Hal woke to gentle rocking. Lena had a leg thrown over him and was rubbing herself against his backside.

"This is doing nothing for me," she said. She knew he was awake.

"Give it a little more time," he suggested.

"Why? I'm not enjoying it at all."

"Maybe you aren't, but I am," he said. She could hear the grin in his voice.

"Seriously?" She drew her leg up his hip and found his erection with her foot. "Son-of-a-bitch." She rolled away from him in disgust, but he followed her quickly this time and put his arm around her while she was still on her back, gently keeping her from going any further.

"What do you need?" he asked as he watched her eyes soften and warm toward him.

"You. As much as you can give me without putting yourself at risk," she replied.

"Which is not nearly as much as I'd like to give you." His voice roughened with frustration.

"I know. We've danced this crazy dance for days."

He brushed his fingers gently down the side of her face, letting himself enjoy her soft skin and silky hair. His lips followed his fingers until he hovered over her ear. He whispered his fear, in the form of a question.

"How long are you willing to wait, my lady, for a lover who can't truly satisfy you? A month? A year?"

She turned her head to look into his eyes as she slid her fingers into his hair. She held him, making him meet her gaze. "A lifetime," she replied softly. "You are much more than just a partner in my bed. And who says I'm not satisfied? You worry too much, Hal."

He kissed her then, and tried to show her with his kiss just how much he wanted to give her. He slid his hand into her pants and began doing the one thing he could do for her, safely, without getting too excited and putting himself at risk. Images flooded his mind of all that he wanted to do, of her gorgeous naked body against his own as he smothered her in kisses and buried his cock in her over and over. Suddenly the memory of her blood filled his senses and in less than a heartbeat the images shifted into darkness and death.

He felt her hands on his chest, pushing him away from her. He had let his imagination go too far. Fuck!

"Hal, are you getting fangy on me?" she asked. When he didn't answer she pried open his lips and checked for herself. "Nope, not yet, but you were pretty damned close."

"Yes, I was," he admitted. "I was imagining what I'd like to be doing instead of this." He continued his movements in her pants.

"Mmmmm," she said, "probably not—the best—time for this—conversation. You still—want my blood—that much?" She arched and began rocking in time to his movements.

"Sometimes," he murmured.

"Tell me," she whispered. "Tell me what is in your head." She reached for his erection as she spoke. They would share as much pleasure as they could.

He told her about removing her clothing, piece by piece, of covering her body with caresses and kisses. She shared with him that she wanted to do the same, of her yearning for the feel of his skin under her hands, of her desire to trace the contours of his muscles with her lips. He confessed that he wanted to drive himself into her, to master her, to have her beneath him, begging him for more; she reminded him that she could handle anything he gave her, and when he was finished she would take her turn on top and make sure he was begging before she was done.

Their words became lost in the sweet tangle of their kisses as they brought each other to orgasm. Hal made sure that Lena was writhing and shuddering with pleasure under his hands before he allowed himself to focus on his own climax. She was generous with him, and he wanted to give her so much more pleasure than he could. Hal knew himself to be an excellent lover, but with Lena he was restrained and inadequate. He had to be, for his own sake. She gave more than she received, time after time, and he was both grateful to her and angry with himself.

Worst of all, he saw his own selfishness clearly and knew that he had honed his skills as a lover in order to become the consummate predator. Now that he had found a true partner, someone he wanted to share himself with, his predator's instincts kept him from it.

When they were finished with each other they were able to rest together. Hal no longer needed them to remove the scent of her arousal from the room. They were making progress.

Lena said, "The things you told me didn't make you fangy."

"No. The thought of your blood made me 'fangy,' as you say," he said.

"Tell me."

"No. It is terrible. You will hate me." Hal moved away from her and lay on his back. He wasn't about to reveal his darkness to her and drive her away.

She turned onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows so she could look him in the face. "Bet you a fiver that I won't."

"You want to wager on the extent to which my horrible fantasies will repulse you? I don't think so."

Hal looked at her, in her pink t-shirt and Hello Kitty pyjama bottoms (the irony of which he had pointed out to her), with her crossed feet swaying gently in the air as if she was moving to music in her mind. Her hair was struggling away from his carefully-done braid from the previous night; her warm brown eyes fixed on him and a smile formed on her face. She was going to tell him a story, a tidbit from her past. What could this lovely, generous woman say that could make him feel any better about his monstrous nature?

Lena smiled and shook her head at his stubbornness. "I had sex with an incubus," she said. "He chewed on me like a dog with a bone. Pissed me off enough that I talked him into cutting his own throat as a sign of his undying devotion for me. I told him that I'd heal him. I lied."

That did it. Suddenly Hal felt better about himself. "You had sex with an incubus? Isn't there a rule against that?"

"There is now," she admitted.

"You had sex with an incubus and lived? How is that possible?"

"I don't know, I guess he wasn't as good as he thought he was. No heart attack for me, anyway. That's not the point, Hal."

Hal found all sorts of disturbing things in Lena's anecdote. "You convinced an incubus to slit his own throat? Why didn't you just do it yourself?"

"Where's the fun in that?" She ignored his appalled look and continued, "The point I'm trying to make is that you can't scare me away. I think part of the power my blood has over you is your own reaction to what you want to do to me. So tell me. Put it out there for us both to see, so we can face it together."

"I won't reveal the monster to you. I can't," he said.

"You are a long ways from being the worst monster I've had to deal with, Hal," Lena replied as she sat up, cross-legged, and faced him. "A minotaur tried to rape me once. I cut off his dick and shoved it down his throat. Better his throat than mine, that thing was enormous!" she added with a grimace.

"Minotaurs are real? You're making this up to make me feel better, aren't you?" Hal pulled his pillow behind him and reclined against the headboard so he could see her more clearly.

"Lots of monsters used to exist that don't anymore. That's why immortals stopped mating with mortals, because of the monsters they created."

"When you said you killed monsters, you meant you actually killed monsters," Hal said. "I thought you were being metaphorical."

Lena shook her head with a smile. "You may consider yourself a monster, but a vampire is child's play compared to some of the things I've dealt with. Those old myths and legends are based in fact. Gorgon, medusa, chimera, Grendel, manticore, tikbalang, even the kraken. The creatures that inspired the myths existed, and we fought and destroyed them. Most of us were killed along the way. Ammon and I are the only ones left from the ancient days."

"He said that you trained him."

"Yes, he's the only one who was willing to stick with the training. That's probably why he's still alive," she said. "But we have wandered far afield from my point, Hal. My point is that you can't tell me anything more terrible than what the world has already shown me."

"You will never trust me if I tell you," he said. "You'll never let me touch you again."

"You don't trust me, or you wouldn't say that," Lena responded.

Hal could find no argument for her statement. "Fine. But not here. Not in our bed," he said. He got up and went to what was left of the floor space in their room. He motioned for her to join him, so she did.

"Sit down," he said, gesturing toward the rug she had woven. She sat in the middle of the rug, but rather than join her, Hal walked around her and sat with his back to hers. He leaned into her and she leaned back, so they ended up supporting each other. She set her hand on the floor next to her and he put his over it.

"You don't want me to see you while you tell me?" she asked.

"I don't want to see the look on your face. Maybe I am a coward." He took a deep breath, worried that he was about to ruin the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"Everyone's blood is different," Hal began, "but blood is the sweetest thing on earth to a vampire, even the thin, disease-filled blood of a dying man. We don't just need it, we want it, we crave it. Food tastes like ash and good wine like cheap vinegar in comparison." His voice softened. "Until you came here and changed me. Now I can enjoy food and drink, appreciate it, savour it again."

"For me, a woman's blood is much richer and more satisfying than a man's. I don't know why. Orgasmic blood is the sweetest of all. The changes that occur—I'm not a doctor, I can't tell you what they are—but they make the blood taste incredible." He swallowed and took another deep breath to steady himself.

"We are getting into dangerous territory," he said quietly.

"What do you need?"

"You, just you. Give me your word that you will still be here when this is over."

"You have my word, Hal. You have my hand, as well. Do you need my other one?" She reached her other hand back for him and he took it. He needed the reassurance as much as he needed her stabilizing touch. He held her hands firmly as he continued.

"Thanks to you, I no longer need to assault every woman within reach. Your presence has quieted the vampire almost completely. But your blood…your exquisite, fragrant blood…I want to tear your throat open and drink the blood from your carotid and your jugular at the same time. I want to taste the rich life-giving blood pumping out of your heart and the depleted blood returning to it at once. It is an enormously potent cocktail."

"I want to feel you writhing with pleasure against me while I bite into your neck. I want to see how long it takes you to realize that the pleasure I gave you will be the last you ever have. I want to see if you enjoy it, the feel of my fangs in your flesh. Some women do, at first."

Hal stopped talking and waited for her to shudder or gasp in disgust. His hunger wasn't growing any more. As he spoke of what he wanted to do to her, the horror of it outweighed his desire for it. The words carried weight that he hadn't expected.

Lena didn't gasp or shudder. She said, "I'd probably enjoy it. I like a little rough play, remember? I'm just being careful for your sake. And I heal very quickly. You'd have a hard time keeping the injury open long enough to do you much good. Just saying."

"You're being careful for my sake?" The thought hadn't occurred to Hal.

"Yeah, you're setting the pace. You set the limits that keep you safe from my blood." Lena continued. "You're the one who decided that we have to keep our clothes on, to keep a barrier between us. Believe me, if this was a clothing-optional relationship I'd be nibbling all over your luscious body by now. I mean, damn Hal, you're one hot vampire!"

"Vampires don't get hot," he corrected her.

"Whatever," she said dismissively. "Continue."

"I'd rather not," he said. "Surely my dossier…"

"You did a do-over on the dossier. I don't know anything unless you tell me. So tell me," Lena said, trying very hard not to be smug about it.

"I can't," he whispered. Hal was certain that he would lose her if he spoke of the grisly death he dreamed of for her. He would rather be a coward than be alone, but she was having none of it.

Lena got up and walked around to face Hal, then plopped down in front of him, cross-legged. He quickly crossed his own legs to keep her from landing on him when she sat down.

Lena looked him in the eyes and said, "Right, confession time. When I was in a particularly bad mood, somewhere in the 1250's I think, I killed a bunch of sex slavers by cutting off their genitals and watching them bleed to death. I dipped my fingers in their blood and used it to mark my face. I took their genitals and nailed them to the front door of the hovel where they kept their slaves. Then I went hunting for more just like them. I cut the jewels off of 261 men in one day and I wore their blood like a badge of honor."

"You kept count!?" Hal's own jewels retracted tightly against his body in response to her story.

"Yep. 261 dicks, 521 balls. One guy was a single-shot," she noted as Hal realized that the numbers didn't add up.

She continued, "Now, knowing that about me, will you allow me near your jewels? Do you trust me not to do the same to you?"

"You kept count. Give me a minute to think about that." Hal narrowed his eyes at her. "You seem to enjoy cutting off men's jewels."

"I do," Lena agreed, "but only when provoked."

Hal thought about it for a minute. He trusted her not to damage his jewels, for her own sake as well as his. She had a vested interest in their long-term health. The difference between them, however, was that she chose her actions and he couldn't always say the same for himself. The question was whether to trust her with the dark corners where the vampire still maintained control.

In spite of the do-over of his dossier, Hal had to accept that she knew what he did to his victims. But for him to admit that he had the same murderous urges for her personally was different. It was intimate, and horrifying, and disgusting. He hated himself for having them and assumed that she would feel the same when she heard him speak of them. Hal considered his options but came to the conclusion that he couldn't refuse her, no matter what the consequences. He may not be her prisoner any longer, but Lena still owned him and he would do her bidding.

Hal took one of her hands in his and leaned forward. She met him automatically and their foreheads touched as they rested against each other again. He set his other hand gently on the crotch of her pyjamas and closed his eyes.

"First I would seduce you, make you pliable and willing to allow whatever I wanted. Then I would move to perform cunnilingus—not always acceptable or even known among sexually-repressed young women from past eras. It is remarkable how many of them needed convincing, but once begun, the practice was always appreciated. How many times did I provide the first and final sexual release for my victims?"

"I would bring you to climax so that your tender flesh would swell with the blood of your arousal. The scent is enthralling, sex and blood together. I would savour the taste of your juices and maintain you in the throes of your pleasure, restraining myself until the need for your blood erupted through my being and I could wait no longer. I would sink my fangs into your flesh and tear your throbbing clitoris from your body. I would suck the blood and juices from it and return for more. I would tear away your swollen tissue so I could reach the life-giving parts of your body that are the antithesis to the vampire. I would revel in my destruction of your womanhood."

"I would drink greedily, and like an animal I would lap up the blood that poured from your wounds. I would wear it on my face as a badge of honor. When you were drained and I was done, I would lick your blood from my fingers as the final taste of an exquisite meal."

They sat quietly for a long moment as Lena considered how best to respond to Hal. She'd felt her womb constrict within her as he spoke of destroying it, but he didn't need to know that.

"The curse didn't darken when you told me that," she said as she sat up and looked at him.

"I noticed that the hunger didn't grow as I had expected it to," Hal replied. He looked at her hand, now being held in both of his, rather than at her face. "The words make it seem so much worse."

"Okay," Lena said. "Is that all of it?"

"Isn't that enough?"

"Sorry, just checking," she said. "What do you need from me, Hal?"

"I need to know where you are," he said. His face was gaunt with worry.

"I'm right here. Not going anywhere, see?" She waved at him with her free hand and he looked up with a quick smile in spite of himself. She caught his look and held it, and he saw warmth in her eyes where he had expected to see revulsion. She saw the pain and fear leave his face as she looked at him.

She smiled. "You know that you can't actually do any of that stuff because you'll explode as soon as you get a taste of my blood, right? So why do you waste time thinking about it?"

"Old habits, and the allure of your blood," he replied quietly.

"I'm not keen on the whole 'tearing my flesh away' idea, and I'm not about to let you destroy any body parts. Otherwise what you described didn't sound that bad. Energetic, a bit bloodier than I like, but not that bad," she said. "The sucking and lapping like an animal I could definitely let you try."

"You're making a joke of this?" Hal was starting to get upset at her offhand manner.

"No, I'm not making a joke, I'm just telling you what I think," she replied. "Look, let's just say, hypothetically, that my blood didn't kill you. Let's say that you could do that stuff to me. What do you think would happen?"

"I think you'd throw me across the room the first time I tried," Hal answered.

"As soon as you did something I thought was out of line I would definitely stop you," she agreed. "You can't hurt me, Hal, not really. You'll kill yourself first. The only threat here is to your health, not mine."

"But doesn't it bother you to know what that part of me wants to do to you?"

"You're a vampire—I'd be offended if you didn't find me appetizing. Besides, the way you explain it makes you sound more like a connoisseur than a perv. So, would you like to hear some of the tortures I dreamed up for you while I was stuck in a cave for decades?" Lena's tone was light and casual, but her offer was serious. She would tell him if it helped him to see that he wasn't the only one with a cruel imagination.

Hal reared back and stared at her. Once again she had completely surprised him. Where he had expected her to be revolted, she had instead offered him comfort and a reminder of her own darkness.

"No, I think I'd rather not," he said. "No reason to look backward when we are trying to move ahead."

"Okay," Lena said. She stood up and stretched. Hal joined her. "I could use a workout before breakfast, how about you? I'm thinking some zumba," she said.

"I don't zumba," he said.

"You can have a corner for your calisthenics."

Lena began changing out of her pyjamas and left Hal to watch or go to his own room as he chose. He watched, once again fascinated by the strength and femininity of her body. She had on pants and a sports bra and was reaching for a t-shirt when he stopped her.

"Wait," he said as he walked to her. "Watch."

She watched the curse as he slid his hands up her arms, along her shoulders, and down her back. It didn't change. He pulled her into a kiss while his hands splayed across her smooth skin. Her muscles shifted and flexed as she put her arms around his neck; the sensation of her strength and softness under his hands was intoxicating, but the curse didn't change. He felt her hands slide down his body until she reached the bottom of his shirt.

She broke from his kiss so she could pull his shirt over his head and finally get his skin under her hands. His breath caught when she set her hands on either side of his face and moved them slowly down his neck. She traced his clavicles with her thumbs while her hands stroked his shoulders, then she followed the contour of muscle down his arms. She returned to the base of his neck and traced the hard curves of his chest with her hands. Hal rested his hands on her sides, closed his eyes, and enjoyed her touch on him. He focused on the swirling slip of her fingers and the pressure of her palms as she caressed him. The centuries fell away as her touch conspired with his memories, once again, to make him her willing subject.

Lena stepped behind him and worked her way up his back, kissing his spine as she went. She began to massage his shoulder muscles, just as she had done 500 years ago.

"Mmmmm, I've missed this," Hal said softly.

"So have I. We are making progress," Lena said.

"You were right," he said. "Confession is good for the soul, and for the soulless. Telling you took away some of the power it had over me."

"Any more dark secrets for me?" she asked. "Today's the day for them, it seems."

"No, my lady, you have plumbed the depths of me," Hal replied gently.

"Good," she said as she kissed the back of his neck while she continued to massage his shoulders. He reached back to cup her backside and pressed her against him as she slid her arms around him.

"If I had a dick I'd so be having sex with you right now," she murmured as she kissed along his shoulder. She felt him stiffen and pull away from her.

"I don't do anal," he said as he turned around to look at her.

She raised an eyebrow, incredulous. "You mean you don't receive anal."

"Do-over." Hal snapped out the words. His fucking dossier!

"Shit, sorry. Anyway, that's not what I meant," Lena said as she reached out to bring him back to her. She hadn't intended to upset him.

"What did you mean?" he asked coolly, maintaining his distance.

"Dammit Hal, I wasn't thinking, okay? I just had a crazy idea that if I was a man you wouldn't want to devour my genitals and we could have sex. But it wouldn't work because neither one of us wants to be on the receiving end of that game anyway."

Hal winced at her vulgar language, but nodded his agreement. "True. That wouldn't work well at all."

"Right," Lena continued, "and you're not a shape changer, so you can't just make a vagina for me—" Hal looked so appalled at the idea that she stopped in mid-sentence. "Don't diss the vajayjay, boy-o!"

Lena glared at him for a second before trying to finish her thought. He swallowed and smoothed his features into a neutral expression. Best not make her angry in her current state, especially after the stories she had told him about her 'adventures' with men who'd upset her.

"As I was saying, you can't make a vagina for me to use, so it wouldn't do me any good to have a dick. And I probably couldn't get the damn thing to work right if I had it, so I don't know where the idea came from in the first place! Which means we'll just have to wait until we're ready to fuck like normal people, but we are so far from being normal that it may never happen, in which case I'll explode into a million horny pieces one of these days and you'll have to clean up the mess! Fuck! What am I saying? I'm a babbling lunatic!"

She clapped her hands over her mouth to shut herself up and stood wondering just how badly she had offended him.

Hal couldn't help smiling at her outburst, but he studied her warily as she stood in front of him, hands clutched over her mouth, eyes wild. His body still carried the warmth of her caresses; he knew her gentle touch, but he also knew her power. Hal shook his head as he resolved his internal debate. Of course he trusted her. He returned to her and hugged her gently, murmuring, "Fortunately for you, I have a soft spot for babbling lunatics."

"Smartass," she whispered as she relaxed against him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"You truly do know my darkest secrets," Hal replied just as softly, "and with enough time, I might come to know yours as well."

"That could take a while."

Her touch of sarcasm told him that they were okay again. "I'm not going anywhere," he said.

She shifted back and looked up at him. "We're alike, you know, in our humanity and our inhumanity. Our memories include horrible things. We both carry nightmares inside us."

He kissed her forehead before releasing her so she could dress. She put on her t-shirt as she continued speaking, "In spite of my babbling, I do believe that there is no darkness greater than the strength we have together."

She sat on a chair to put on her tights and Hal reached for her hair. He pulled the hair band from her braid and undid it, then brushed it out and rebraided it for her. He followed her movements as she finished dressing, and when she was done she sat quietly and let him finish the braid.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome. My pleasure. I'll meet you in the studio in a few minutes," Hal said, and he left to get dressed.