"The moments she is the most beautiful," I said, "are when she least thinks she is. When she is being completely unselfconscious, making a silly face with her tongue sticking out, or her hair is knotted from sleep and she hasn't got any lipstick on. That's when she completely knocks my socks off. It's in her eyes. She isn't trying to hide behind anything then, and she's totally being herself. That, to me, is what I live for: to see her with her guard down."

"You're sort of a romantic nutball, you know?" the Muse said. "But it's kinda cute, in a Hello Kitty/My Little Pony sort of way."

"You always know how to classify things, Muse."

She shrugged. "It's a skill."