She looked wonderful; that was as he had expected. He'd been thinking about her quite a bit over the past few days, and he was pleased to see he hadn't exaggerated her in his mind's eye. That smile was as striking as he'd remembered, possibly moreso. Had he really just run into her in a bookshop? Did that sort of thing really happen?
Apparently it did. He broke into a grin when she kissed him,and he caught her elbow gently when she took her glass. "Good," he murmured, touch his glass to hers and putting his outside arrangements temporarily out of his mind. "I've been - a little busier than usual, yes. Writing a little." That was new. He hadn't been able to put out more than a sentence or two at a time in ages, but he'd felt a little more confident recently. He knew it had to do with her, with this. That was just common sense. "But nothing like what you've been, I'm sure. Have you been swarmed by any terrified first-forms, yet?" He touched her lightly on the back, leading her into the main parlor that backed onto the garden doors. They could head outside from there, if she wanted. He wouldn't have minded just sitting.