"Mind that you don't set anything on fire," he says mildly, conjuring himself a fresh glass of punch. "All right, all right, I'll help you."

Helping. What nonsense. But maybe he'll get something for his trouble. She is an odd little bugger. And she's smoking. It seems appropriate somehow.

"So cold and blue," he says. Also appropriate. "Well, you're not going to find her down there. You ought to come up here."

Is he really inviting this thing to climb on him. He supposes he is. Why not, eh?