"Not at all," she said to Kenneth, hoping she wasn't lying. "Keep your - no," Pet corrected herself firmly, not wanting to imagine that, "take your knickers off. Whole kit, Al; put on what I laid out in there!" She pushed the door to her flat open farther, letting Kenneth inside shyly. "This is it. Not much, but, um, I laid out books, and made you a sandwich, and... is there anything you need? The loo's -" she pointed back to the landing, "well, occupied, but you know, once we've gone."
Patricia picked up the two little vials, freshly drawn before anyone had arrived, though still doing a solid impersonation of swamp mud, and unstoppered them each in turn. "Do you want scissors, or...?"