The silence, with only the splashing of water and their quiet breathing, is strangely tolerable, even pleasant, considering how little Sagramore typically enjoys it. There's something about being with Laertes that makes it seem easier, and not just a space for his thoughts to run wild in. He sometimes forgets, when he's gotten to be a dog for a long while, how much he also wants the opportunity to take control over Laertes in turn. It's good not to think and to cede his body to Laertes, but it's equally good to be entrusted with Laertes' body and mind, to be, as he told Claudius, responsible.

Once he has the last of the soap washed out of Laertes' hair he runs his finger along Laertes' jaw, rough with late afternoon stubble. "Turn around now," before he leans over the side to get his shaving kit, where he'd put it while Laertes was out of the room earlier.