"So soon? I'd heard things were building." He pulls out a chair for Petrana, affectionate habit. (He resists the fleeting urge to ask if the wine passes muster.) "Regardless, you're both very welcome, though it's as much for me as anything. I've missed this."

He still feels, sometimes, as if he careens between ongoing surprise that he's been lucky enough to find them both and feeling that the ground under them is so solid that his mind can leave it off the tour of matters that need his immediate attention. He realizes neither of those is especially conducive to romance, however: the first tends to freeze him in fear of losing this, and the second distracts him. He does want to do better. For them both to know he thinks they're worth the effort.

And, yes, he has missed this.