Draiss thanked Maura, and on returning to Cerulean's room, he smiles at her tentative question, and considers it a moment, before saying, "If you are curious, yes, I still find you very attractive, especially since I know now that the ice armor is not all there is to you, I find you even more attractive.<br/><br/>But while I am still very interested in holding you, I must ask, would you be able to... Would you still respect me if I did not take you up on the offer tonight? Not because I am not interested, I am very, but because I don't want to make you think, even for a moment, that I helped you so I could couple with you. I want your respect, Cerulean, and I will do what I must to earn it, because I want an equal as a partner."<br/><br/>He hoped he was making sense, and besides, he could always just spend the night with her, and couple with her later. He was with this group for some time, he thought, and he was not going to harm her just to satisfy the need to breed.