Raju huffs out a breath and ducks his head, caught out, over his sheepish smile. Justifying it. But the urge to argue with Francis about that isn't too strong, not now; Francis has seen parts of him now that no one else has, anyway. So maybe it was more than a joke, maybe he was trying to find a way to justify it.

But Francis wants to, anyway, he thinks, watching the fire. It's growing on its own now, and it'll continue to even if Raju stops tending it. It'll start the long process of warming the place up soon. But Francis wants to, so it's alright. Raju wonders at himself, just asking for his hair washed like he had, but since he did it's already on offer. So Raju stands and moves to settle himself in front of Francis, glancing up at him once and then back down at the floor, still smiling faintly. He crosses his legs, forearms resting over his knees. "You want me to, ah, lean back?"