"Just checking," he replied without missing a beat. Then, he nodded again. She was getting herself comfortable and if she was going to fall asleep then at least it meant she wasn't going to start running off at the mouth or sleuthing in slurred obnoxiousness at him. He certainly wasn't going to complain.

This time, he did take a couple of steps away. "All right, then, I'm...just gonna..." he muttered, trailing off and gesturing vaguely toward the far part of the loft.