He nodded. "As always, Miss Skovgaard, I shall endeavor to do my best." Not really, but he didn't have to tell her that.

Relieved to lay back down as soon as he was sitting, Dory used whatever abdominal strength he had to make the descent a slow process. Her hands on his chest felt so pleasant and she was so close. A few added seconds of her proximity wouldn't hurt.

Dory tried to move his arms only for everything below his elbow to flop about uselessly. "Well," he laughed, "that's a new one for me."