Katarina was very careful to quietly shut the door to Hannah's room behind her. The Smith house was dark and quiet with the very, very early hour of the morning. Her sleep had been restless, and when she was irked with just tossing and turning, she made the decision to sneak into her room where Locke would be.

Her immediate response to just get up and go needed revision. Despite the fans and ice blocks, no one would consider the night air to really be cool. And so when sleeping comfortably required sleeping in as little as possible, the thin and short nightie was the best she could do. However, on the slim chance someone would be awake also, she did not want to be caught in a nightie walking into another room. A blanket at least, could save her dignity from anyone getting the wrong idea.

Careful to avoid the known groans and squeaks on the flooring, she missed one and it's noises seemed to at least fill the hallway, though really it wasn't loud at all. She bared her teeth at the sound and almost made a "shhing" noise. More careful this time, she managed to make it across the hallway to the door of her old room. She couldn't help the small grin of victory - her sneaking habits were not quite gone.

Careful with the door next, she slipped inside and sighed with relief. Pulling the thin blanket closer around her, she took small steps into the room, and glanced at the full sleeping bag, "Locke?" Her words were hushed and barely above a whisper.

With the lights off, the room was dark and still, the bed, desk, couch, poster and picture frames all mere shadows without definition. Right after Katarina spoke, there was a muffled sound from within the sleeping bag, before it was unzipped just enough so that Locke could peek his head out. Glowing blue eyes nearly seemed bright enough to light the bedroom, and his hair, though down from the usual spiked style, was not as messy as it would be when he woke up, though it was perilously close to covering up an eye. "Katarina?" Genuine surprise suffused his features, as he immediately turned towards her.

She felt some remorse from waking him up from his slumber, but they would be leaving tomorrow, and he could sleep all he wanted to on the ship. Right now she sought his comfort, and more importantly, alone time. "Sorry fer wakin' ya up, yeah?" Her words were still soft and quiet, probably more so than was really necessary for secrecy. She approached the bed, arms still holding the blanket to cover her, "Couldn' really sleep, yeah?"

"No worries." With his arms still pinned inside the sleeping bag, it was a difficult task, but he managed to scoot his body up into a seated position with his back and head resting against the headboard. Still mostly zipped in, he looked very much like a cocooned butterfly struggling to escape. "What's wrong?" He immediately cut to what he thought was the heart of the matter.

She released one side of the blanket so that she could unzip his sleeping bag just far enough to where he could access well enough for himself. With the blanket falling off of her shoulder, she sat on the empty side of the bed that she would usually occupy. "I..." she shook her head slightly, and took a deep breath before blurting, "I feel like I haven' been fair ta ya, yeah?"

"Fair in what way?" He blinked, dimming the glow of his eyes somewhat, as that surprised look was replaced with curiosity.

"Well... today I was reminded 'bout how... differen' thin's ar' 'tween us an' mos' otha couples, yeah?" She sighed and scooted back to rest the back of her head on the headboard and close her eyes. "An' Lance 'xpress some concern 'bout it. I guess now I dun blame him, bu'... all this time, there's been a way ta fix all o' it, an' I haven' done it." She couldn't bring herself to look at him just yet, to see if he had made her connection.

"What, the mods?" He arched an eyebrow up at the thought of that. It prompted a slight frown from Locke, as well. If it was meant to be a riddle or a puzzle, he wasn't following her logic yet.

"Yeah, th' mods." She sighed again and opened her eyes to look at him, and there was torment lingering in her eyes, "All this time, I talk 'bout how 'd do anythin' fer ya, an' there's somethin' ou' there tha' kin give us wan' we wan', an' 've known 'bout it.. an' still 've done nothin'."

The frown disappeared, replaced by a wan smile. He reached an arm out instinctively to hug her, and just as quickly pulled it back, as his arm was bare and his hand was ungloved. "Katarina...you don't have to beat yourself up over it. I am in the same boat as you, regarding the rings. I have not spent nearly as much time as I could - or should - researching the next step. Please...it's not your fault."

She shook her head halfway through his words. She had clearly thought he would say this, and already had her response in mind, "Bu' i's completely differen'. Th' rings migh' be trail an' error, an' will take a lo' o yer time, ta be sure. Nah wonda ya dun hav' near all th' time tha' ya wan'. Whay should I be waitin' ta see.. when.. when all I gotta do is fin' th' righ' place an' sign up?"

"Because it is a tremendously large decision to make, one that could potentially have repercussions for you. There's the dosh it'll cost, there's the potential side effects, the fact that mods aren't legal everywhere. And you yourself said that there was something not shiny about it." He placed the arm that had tried to hug her behind his head, for additional support.

"Bu' none o' those thin's matta!" Her hands ran through her rumpled hair and tugged slightly on the ends. "I ain't leavin' Rhy'Din, an' they're legal there. I kin ask othas tha' hav' 'em where ta go ta.. an'.. an' I jist kin't put a cos' 'n somethin' like tha', yeah?"

"Yeah." It was difficult to disagree with her, when deep down inside, he wanted the very same things she wanted. He turned his upper body fractionally, to look at her head-on. "I won't repeat what I've said before, regarding my misgivings, but I will ask you this. Are you abso-bloody-lutely sure that is what you want?"

She felt tears well and pool within her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. There was no desire for another bout of tears after yesterday, no matter how much cleansing her soul needed. She pursed her lips, before giving a slight nod of her head and taking care to enunciate the word, "Yes."

He paused, looking her over thoughtfully. The longer he spent staring at her, the more time he had to contemplate the enormity of what she was proposing. In all the time he had been cold, he had never thought that there would be anyone out there willing to spend money and risk their health just to be with him. His voice cracked, and he could feel his own vision blurring with tears on the verge of being shed. "I-I-can you grab a long-sleeved shirt out of my bag for me? Any one will do."

In response, he held up a finger, as he shimmied fully out of his sleeping bag. He placed his feet carefully on the bedroom floor, before standing and walking over to his messenger bag. One of the compartments was unzipped, and he pulled out a pair of black gloves and donned them. With a few nervous tugs on the fingers, he strode back to the bed and sat down on his sleeping bag again. With gloves in place of shirt sleeves, he was able to reach up and thread his fingers through her hair. "I couldn't do that."

Her eyes followed him with curiosity as he moved to his things to retrieve his gloves. She sighed gently and her eyes couldn't help but flutter closed for several moments when he was finally able to run fingers through her hair. After a little while, her eyes opened as she tried to gently catch his wrist and encourage him to lay back down with her once more, "So, wha' did ya tell my mother?"

He flopped down on top of the sleeping bag and pillow, giggling as he did so. The laughter went away as soon as he started to answer her question. "I told her that she should talk to you as well, if she wanted to know what the plan was. I told her that as for me, though, there were some things that needed to be resolved-" Just as he had done when talking to Trisha, he reached up and pinched his own cheek briefly. "but that I couldn't picture a future without you. And that I am not going anywhere."

A smile spread across her lips when he started giggling, and it remained well after he had finished talking. She seemed to be memorizing his features - the colors of his eyes, the way dimples appeared when he smiled. A slight flush started at the base of her neck and made it's way to her cheeks and ears, but she didn't offer any explanation for their cause. Instead she used the corner of her thin sheet to shield her fingers as she gave a feather-light touch to the cheek he had pinched, "Well, seems like we'll hav' tha' all sorted ou' soon 'nough, yeah?"

His eyes shut, and he grinned from ear to ear as she touched his face again. Fatigue added an unintentional drawl to the word he spoke. "Yeah..." Immediately following that, he yawned, his arms stretching out to either side.

She took advantage of his outstretched arms and moved in between his arm and his body. Curling up against his shoulder, she couldn't help but yawn as well and close her eyes. "Ya ready go home 'morrow?" Her own fatigue brought out omitted and slightly slurred words.

His arm went lightly around her back as she tucked herself against him, but there was no less affection in the gesture, delicate thought it may have been. "I am ready. The break from work has been good, and I cannot complain about the company, but all good things must come to an end, savvy?"

She took a deep breath in, and lightly shook her head, "Mmm, nah they dun. Whay go afta good thin's if they're only temporary?" She tucked one hand under her cheek.

"Because..." A yawn interrupted him momentarily. "Because they, and the memory of them, get us through the bad?" His eyes half-opened, glancing over to her as if preparing to gauge her response.

"Yeah bu'... bu' if they dun go 'way, 'n they're th' rock tha' keeps us stable durin' those times, yeah?" She opened her eyes as well to peer at his response and when she caught his gaze, it brought out a silly grin.

As soon as he caught sight of her looking and smiling, he couldn't help but laugh lightly. It was brief, before he pondered her words and looked into her eyes. "I...I don't want them to go away. I won't let them." He set his jaw firmly after he was finished speaking, with a short, swift nod to accompany it.

A low chuckle emerged as she moved the hand that her cheek was resting on to his chest again, right above his heart. "O' course ya wun. Nah like ya hav' much o' a choice, though." She closed her eyes and chuckled again, mumbling into his shoulder, "Like ya could git rid o' me; 'm perfect." She didn't even bother hiding her grin.

"So...I'll be your rock, and you'll be mine?" One of his gloved hands touched her chin, as his eyes found hers once again. It was more than just his night vision that made his eyes glow. It was hope, and vulnerability, and a million other little feelings he couldn't quite place, each of them seeming to conspire to make his heart beat just a little bit faster than normal.

Her breath caught at his tender expression and words, and it took several moments for her to remember that breathing was important. The previous sleepy haze was almost instantly replaced with a clear expression and her attention solely on him. She wanted to tell him that she'd been his rock back when she gave him tickets to her show, or that he had been hers that same night when she shared her deepest secret with him. Her answer was much more simple than that, "Yeah, Locke. Always."

He wanted nothing more but to bask in the moment, to stay there in her tender embrace until the sun rose, but the warm Hope weather, even in the early morning hours, was too much for him. He dipped his head in a slight, barely perceptible nod to her, before a soft smile suffused his features. "Aces." After that, he reluctantly pulled away from her, so that he could snuggle back into the cold depths of his enchanted sleeping bag. Before he zipped himself up, he cast one last look her way. "Soon, Katarina." It sounded like a promise and a benediction.

It never seemed to get easier, moving out of his embrace so that a sleeping bag could once more part them during sleep. She quickly learned to act like she felt nothing, for Locke's sake. Still, she didn't move an inch further away than was necessary, "I know. An' then you'll be a' th' mercy o' my flailing limbs 'n th' middle o' th' nigh'." Not that he already wasn't, simply by sleeping anywhere close to her, but the tease was easier to handle. She should have stood and bade him goodnight, but instead she huddled as close as she dared to the sleeping bag and pulled the thin sheet up to her chin, "Quel kaima, Locke. Amin mela lle*." She didn't ask a request to stay, or offer an explanation. She figured he'd get it.

She didn't ask, and he didn't even bother to suggest that she remain. As soon as he realized she was there to stay, his smile seemed to split his face in half. A gloved hand emerged from within the sleeping bag, touched his lips, and then brushed against her own, lingering there before drifting upwards to ruffle her bangs.

She pressed her lips against his covered fingers, paying too much attention to his smile to realize he was going to ruffle her bangs before it was too late. She giggled, and lazily reached for his hand to bat it away. Instead she just grabbed it and lingered in holding it, before putting that hand beneath her cheek, not bothering to fix the bangs, "Karnarashwe*." She said the word fondly as a yawn swiftly followed.

*Goodnight, Locke. I love you
Troublemaker