While Don rests, Robert lays more or less awake but in a comfortable haze of familiarity. Don's presence near him, and the knowledge he genuinely made the Turtle happy, pleases him greatly.

It does revive an internal line of questioning, though - with all these comfortable expressions of affection, why does Don never use the ones he knows that other red-eared sliders use? Questions about what instincts Don has have been in Robert's head for ages now, but he's never asked...