"Dex... ter, that's right," ZEX said softly. "You mentioned that before."

He couldn't exactly say he was happy at the moment, but he was certainly happier than the alternative, of sitting and drowning and not being able to hold on to anything. At least now he was holding on to someone, and they were holding on to him and touching his hair in that way he liked, and the question of whether or not this was really a good thing or not was muted to almost being unhearable. He wouldn't have thought humans could truly embrace each other, with their arms as rigid and inflexible as they were, but they fit against each other much better than he'd thought. If only he had his head feelers... but his hair being touched felt nice as well.

"Dexter..." That didn't sound right to him. Close, in a way, but not right. "DAX suits you better."