"Pi-tish-ka," Sinthia said quietly, half imitation and half correction to Solo's sleepy utterance. She couldn't blame him for being tired; orgasm would do that if you were the least bit inclined and she considered it a good sign. "It takes some practice to learn Russian. And being drunk at the time doesn't hurt," she added, making light of the language's difficulty. She herself had learned it early in life, but it had taken effort even then, as someone used to gestalt and romance languages.

"It means songbird," she said. It was how she'd known nearly positively that Illya was not a typical Vor; he hadn't tried to kill her for calling him that.