Piper visited the Plaza once a month, on average, to deliver in person her rent for the little house in which she was currently residing. The last two times she'd been, Paige had not been at the desk, though she knew her fiance's new little sister was working there. This time - again - there was no sign of Paige.

"Fiora must keep her very busy," she chuckled to herself, looking down at Loki. "You stay here. And no frightening Paige when she comes back, understand? Stay."

With a look of such infinite patience that Piper found herself wondering if she'd offended him, the handsome Alaskan Malamute padded around behind the desk and lay down out of sight, content to wait until his recently changeable mistress was finished with whatever it was she was doing here.

Piper checked the diary of Fiora's appointments with the confident air she'd learned from her mother, aware that no one liked to interfere with someone who looked as though they knew what they were doing. Then she turned, making her way along the halls to Fiora's office. She knocked, pausing to await a reply.

"Fiora? It's me, Piper. That time of the month again."

Groaning and laughing, Piper submitted to the hug with a grin. And the baby, for all its having had its magical wings clipped while in the womb, was more than happy to make itself known with a precisely aimed kick.

"Don't remind me," the sable-haired momma chuckled as she released her friend from the embrace. A brown envelope was produced from her bag and waved in front of Fiora's nose. "Rent for the house up until the second week in September, all there. And, um ..."

She fidgeted lightly, her smile halfway between cheeky and nervous. "Well, obviously you know I'm getting married, right? Well, I, uh ..." Piper paused, and evidently decided to just go for it. "Would you be my maid of honor?"

Piper laughed, glancing toward the door as she heard Loki bark his displeasure at the conglomeration of sounds escaping the merry little realtor.

"Yes, you," she smiled, gently giving Fiora a shove so the other woman was leaning against her desk. "You're ... well, you're my closest friend on Rhy'Din, and I'd really appreciate it if you stood up there with me." She bit her lip, wondering what she could offer that would make the deal a sure thing.

"It's on the 10th of September, um ... The colour scheme is purple and yellow - sunflowers and irises, you know? Oh! And you get to choose your own dress, so long as it sticks with the colour scheme. So ... please?"

The wedding had been glorious and the reception fun.

Feeling teary eyed and perhaps a trifle tipsy she'd regaled Euriya with exactly how she'd expect her wedding to progress, while assuring him she had no such intentions of ever engaging in such an affair.

As they pulled into his garage and the car purred to a soft graceful stop, she finally wound down into a rather fearful silence. Euriya had let her run her course and assuming that she was simply sleepy, he unbuckled his belt and slid from his expensively sleek car. Moving around to open her door he was struck by the sudden dreadful seriousness in the expression that greeted him.

"Have ye ever noticed how much the Nexus hates married couples?" She blinked soused eyes up at him, huge drowning pools of the sea.

"Hmm?" The psychiatrist was amazingly deft at making noises that both encouraged and soothed those that listened without ever actually adding any hint of emotion to twist the exchange.

"Euriya!" She turned suddenly frantic hands on him as he helped her from his car. Suddenly it became desperately important that he LISTEN to her in this rare vulnerable moment.

"I'm serious! Have ye ever noticed how whenever couples get really happy, really in love and get the marriage certificate that the Nexus zeroes in on them and they disappear!" Her lower lip trembled and tears turned those sea-swept hues into glittering traps of sorrow.

"Fiora." And strong arms pulled her against a chest that had become her sanctuary. He held her and said nothing else as he realigned his thoughts for the whirlwind of unexpectedness that was Fiora.

Sniffling into the burrow she'd made in his torso she mumbled, "We're not happy. We're not in love. We're just friends with benefits. The Nexus can leave ye alone." She turned imploring eyes upward, her sharp little chin digging into him, "Ye're not going anywhere." Her lower lip trembled as a tear slipped from spiked lashes, "promise?"