[The time it takes Ryoko to work up the nerve to put her head in his lap feels like it's going to last forever. He avoids looking at her at all the entire time she's getting settled, figuring that not being seen means him, too—but when she's facing away from him, he lets himself look down at her. He at least needs to know where she is to do this right.]

...So when I wasn't feeling well...she'd just kinda...

[He pauses, looking at the fingerless gloves he's wearing, and removes one of them. The studs make him look very cool (he thinks) but the last thing he needs is to get her hair caught on them.]

...Pat my head like this...

[He carefully, slowly strokes her hair, just two or three times, testing the waters to see if this is officially too much for her. It's softer than it looks—maybe it's just because the rest of her always looks a little disheveled, but he'd been expecting it to be a little tangled up.

Maybe it is, after a fight with a kaiju. He's glad he'll never have to see that.]

She'd stay like that until I fell asleep, but...

[Probably not a good option if she doesn't want to be perceived like this. Also probably not a good idea for his heart, which is already pounding. It really does feel different when he's the one providing a lap pillow—and when it's for girl he's got a crush on.]