This and the previous chapter are glorious--full of insights and information and strange progress for both of them. I'm incoherent and sleepy and disconnected and have nothing else to add, really. I tried to comment on the previous chapter, and realized I had most of the middle in the comment box to quote, and gave up on my powers of, well, anything, so just pretend this is me squeeing and saying wonderful, insightful things about this fic. Because I so would, if only my brain worked.