The devil was in the details, which he scrutinized at length once he took hold of the deed. Once he'd finished thoroughly reading it, he handed it back to her. "I think you better put that back in your pocket, Katarina."

That was not quite the response she had anticipated, but she gingerly took the paper back and folded it up once more, "Dun worray, i's nah th' real thin'. So," she motioned over her shoulder, "Wan'ta go explore it?"

As soon as she had folded and pocketed the paper, he quickly bridged the gap between them, wrapping her up and lifting her into a big bear hug and spinning her around. He didn't respond to her first statement or answer her question, but let the wide smile on his face that also shone brightly in his eyes speak for him.

"Oh!" More unexpected responses brought out loud and natural laughter as he spun her around. All the jittery nerves were quickly replaced by the warm and hopeful feeling of love. She returned the hug in earnest, "Ya were scarin' me there fer a secon'. I wasn' quite hones' wit' th' money th' Count gave me, an' wan'ed ta surprise ya. I hope yer nah mad. I know this was th' one we wan'ed mos'." Feeling the need to explain herself despite his obvious showing of happiness, her words began to pick up speed with her need to explain.

"It's your house. It's your money. I'm just there to be a fly on the wall, savvy?" He set her down on the sidewalk with a wink. He was kidding, and he hoped she knew that. "But yes. I want to see the house." He didn't quite dare to say 'our house,' yet.

"Fly 'n th' wall. Hardly." The wink did ease the doubt and question that began to rise with his words. She almost frowned at the thought, unsure of why the words could bring up such questions and thoughts. She shook her head briefly, not wanting to muse on that in the moment of bliss. So instead she wiggled her brows. "Race ya!" And then she was off into a sprint towards the house.

She had a split-second head-start, which was enough to give her a slight lead starting off, and Locke ran just hard enough to stay a step or two behind her. He spoke between breaths. "You know....I'm going...to catch you...mate. You might...as well...slow down...save...the effort."

"I could.. bu' tha's nah fun... is it?" She giggled and pushed her legs to run faster and her arms to swing quicker. In truth, she liked the anticipation of wondering just when he would come into her sight, or try to reach out and grab her.

He saved that last burst for when the porch was in sight, hoping it was enough to carry him past her, up the steps and to victory. He sneaked a glance over to his side, wondering if she had matched pace, fallen behind, or stayed ahead.

She knew that he was holding back, even as he came into view and past her by a few inches. By that point, they were on the land that she had purchased, so she laughed warmly and slowed her pace.

He slowed his pace as well, sensing her falling behind, and rabbit hopped up the steps onto the porch itself, arms raised in triumph. He did a little victory dance that consisted of much shimmying and shaking, and a little bit of arm rolling for good measure.

It was a perfect moment to throw something at him, and her hands were empty. A few deep breaths were all that was needed to bring her breathing back to normal, and so she stuck her tongue at him instead before joining him up the stairs and onto the porch. "Those ar' quite th' dance moves ya go' there." Her smile was slow and teasing.

"A few years of clubbing, and Bob's your uncle." The dance, mercifully, came to an end, as Locke took a few steps away from the stairs and towards the railing, looking out across the lawn and towards the street. "Remarkable."

"Clubbin'. Righ'. I knew tha's th' trainin' 'm missin'." She rolled her eyes, before watching him in his lean against the railing. Her hands itched for a camera, something more than her memory to capture the scene in front of her. "We'll hav'ta git some chairs an' thin's ta put ou' here. Too pretty nah ta, yeah?" She stepped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist for a moment, before pulling out the key from her pocket to open the front door. "We're home!" She said cheerfully into the empty living room before stepping inside, leaving the door open from him.

"Some plastic chairs, and potted flowers to hang, perhaps?" He looked over his shoulder to see her unlocking and opening the door, after she had hugged him. He straightened up and walked over and inside the house. He leaned against the door frame with one arm just momentarily, taking it all in briefly before stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. "Indeed. Welcome home." He glanced back over his shoulder. "We'll need a welcome mat as well, it seems."

"Yeah?" The comment had her moving her leg to glance at the bottom of her flats to make sure that they weren't tracking in dirt, and glanced down at the floor for reassurance that they were in fact, still clean. "Yeah, I guess we will." She paused in front of the stairs, before walking in the other direction towards the peninsula that offered seating that was connected to a counter of the kitchen, "I hav' a feelin' i's gonna take a bi' o' time ta git jist 'bout everythin'."

"But that will be fun, right? Shopping for all those little knick-knacks and bric-a-brac that turn a house into a home? It should be aces, salkaamin." He headed for the kitchen counter she had just walked to her and rested his forearms on it. "I am quite glad that you bought this. Exceedingly glad, you might say."

"I might say?" She pursed her lips as she walked down the counter, fingers staying on the surface and slightly behind her. "Bu' yer very righ, 'cept fer one thin'. Jist knowin' tha' yer 'n here wit' me, even though we ain' got'a thin' but each otha an' th' deed, 'lready makes it a home, yeah?" She gave him a gentle smile over her shoulder before she turned with the counter to the other side, and more properly the kitchen.

The smile and the words were enough to melt his heart. His smile back was just as gentle, and the single word he spoke was barely audible. "Yeah." He cleared his throat, worried that he hadn't been heard the first time, and said it again, louder and with more conviction. "Yeah, Katarina. I can feel it in my bones and in my heart."

"Nex' room! Well, actually.. " she wandered out, and gestured to the three remaining doors, "Ya kin pick which one we're gonna chill fer ya." She gave him a wink, "An' I know ya wanted yer own bathroom, too, so tha' one kin be yers, if ya wan'."

As he headed back towards the stairs, he opened the door to the small room he passed on the way back. Much too small to be anything other than half a bath, closet, or laundry room, Katarina and Locke had previously mentioned the last option as the most likely one for it. He left the door open, before heading to the smallest of the three rooms, although there was a bathroom still attached to it as well. Here, the shag carpet was a particularly unpleasant shade of brown, the walls as white as the ones in the prior room. "I think this will work...as long as we get rid of the bloody carpet first." He stuck out his tongue and squinted, as if spitting out something particularly foul tasting.

"Nah? Bu' I though' it suited ya so well..." With the way her voice trailed off, it was obvious that she was teasing. "We kin do tha', pu' 'n wood er whateva ya wan'. An' git rid o' this white." She patted a wall for emphasis.

"You don't like the white? I find it to be...exceptional." He was clearly teasing her right back, as he mock-caressed the section of the wall nearest him.

"Yeah huh. I mean, I giv' ya free liberty o' this room an' all, bu' I'll pain' it if i's th' las' thin' I do." She grinned before sticking out her tongue at him.

He lifted his hand from the wall, resting it at his side. "Oh, all right. We'll paint it. But I shall select the color of the paint. Does that sound fair to you?"

"Sure thin', 'less i's white. Then I'll overrule it an' make ya pick somethin' else." She took a few steps into the room to be closer to him, "An' well.. tha's th' house." Her smile reached her eyes and brightened them.

"What about cream? Or ivory? Or..." He searched furiously through his memory banks, before giving up. Once she had stepped close enough to be within arm's length, he threw an arm around her waist. He looked over and saw her smile, and imitated it.

"Mahbe, if yer real convincin' like." She giggled as his arm went around her, and she turned so that she could also put her arms around him, "It'll take a few days ta git everythin' 'n here, bu' 'm hopin' ta talk Jo inta helpin' ou'. 's tha' gonna be shiny fer ya?"

He tipped his head up just slightly to look at her, as his other arm wrapped around to turn his impromptu half-hug into a full one. "It shouldn't take me too long to gather up my things and move them in here. It might take me longer to find furniture to replace everything that was furnished for me by the Elemental Arms." He chuckled at that.

"Well, I go' mos' o' it, so nah ta worry. We'll git everythin' square an' shiny 'n no time." A white gloved finger reached out to tap his nose. Her feelings for him were bright in her eyes as she considered just a few days being all that they needed to make the home livable. Her voice softened to repeat earlier words, "Welcome home, melamin*."

"It is good to have one, A'maelamin**." He didn't complete the thought verbally, but the words swirled around through his head, and brought a sappy smile to his face when they came to mind. It is good to have a home...at last.



My love
My beloved