After leaving the Inn Friday night, Riley was silent for a good portion of the walk home.? The just-past-full moon limned the edges of the city with silver and the air had a brittleness to it that felt as if it would shatter with one misstep.? About three-quarters of the way home, she finally spoke.? "It was good to see Jin tonight."

It had been good to see Jin, she was right.? There was more, though; she'd been on edge for most of their time in the Inn, and then there was that business with the guy in the wheelchair.? He wondered what the man had done to rouse her obvious ire.? "Yeah, it was.? Nice to see he has a friend, too."? He'd give her some time to bring up the other events on her own before asking about them.

"I had hoped she would...distract him from his apparent infatuation with Aoife.? Honestly, I don't get it.? I don't get anything about that girl."

He nodded.? "That's pretty much exactly my thoughts on her, too.? Pretty much given up trying to understand, though.? Whatever her mystery is, Bishop can have it."

A feral snarl escaped at the mention of Bishop.? Just when she thought she'd figured him out, he died again and she had to start all over.? "He's like one of those Chinese puzzle boxes," she said, mostly to herself.

"Maybe, but that box should be left alone."? He flashed a little grin, tried to lighten the mood.? "Pinhead might come out of it."

She laughed.? "Or that guy who's missing his lips."? She glanced over at him and gave him a grateful smile.? She knew what he was doing, what he always did - giving her time and space to do her own thing.? She saw him suddenly, in a new light.? Rhys had asked her why she was marrying him, what she saw in him, and she suddenly realised exactly what and why.? "It must be really tough to live in my shadow," she said.

He shook his head immediately.? "I like where I am.? Even with all the weird shit that goes on, I'm still happier than I've been in years.? I don't feel like I'm in your shadow."? He paused for a moment, trying to put his thoughts into words.? "More like the shade that separates me from the harsh and burning sun of the past."? Maybe he wasn't quite a poet, but it got the idea across.

She gave him an uncharacteristically shy smile.? "I just hope I never take you for granted.? You're so...steadfast and loyal and supportive."? She chuckled suddenly.? "God, I've just managed to make you sound like a dog, haven't I?"

He snorted.? "Little bit, yeah."

She frowned, annoyed at her inability to express herself.? "I didn't mean to.? It's just...? It seems like with every significant relationship I've had - Andy, Deacon, Rhys - there's never been any...meshing of purpose.? We were at loggerheads with each other, fighting about who got to stand in the spotlight, who got all the attention."? She glanced at him, wondering if she was doing a better job of explaining now.

She was; it made more sense to him now.? "I understand what you mean.? It was kind of like that with Charlotte and I.? Although with us, it was more like no meshing because of no common ground.? But I still get it.? You and I...we go together well.? We each have strengths the other doesn't have, but they complement instead of competing."

"Exactly."? She hugged him spontaneously, and brushed a kiss against his cheek.? "You're awesome."

"You're pretty amazing yourself."? He held her tightly for a moment before letting go so they could keep walking.

She was silent the entire rest of the way home, absorbed in her thoughts, which she apparently didn't feel were worth sharing.? Once they were inside, she shrugged out of her jacket and hung it on the pegs next to the front door and put her shoes on the bamboo rack beneath the pegs.? "I'm gonna have a pear and some tea.? Do you want something?"

He hung his jacket next to hers, nodding as he slipped his shoes off and put them on the rack.? "Some tea sounds good."

"Okay.? Any preference?? I think I'm gonna go with jasmine."? Padding barefoot through the living room into the kitchen, she automatically glanced at the kitchen table.? It was covered with small paper boxes, at least 300 paper cranes, and lots more sheets of colourful origami paper.? She sighed.? "You know I dreamt about being chased by cranes last night," she said and moved to fill the kettle with water and set it on the hob.

From a few feet behind her, he snorted a little laugh and said.? "I keep expecting them to come to life and fly off with me.? Jasmine's fine."? He carefully cleared a space on the table and sat down in front of it.

She nodded and retrieved a pear from the fruit bowl on the counter.? It was a round Asian pear and instead of just biting into it, she plucked a paring knife from the rack and started cutting slices off, nibbling at each one before cutting another off.? "I'll bet you're dying to hear the story of me and Wheels, huh?"

"I'm a bit curious," he said dryly.? "Seems like you've got some serious issues with him."

"It's sort of a weird, convoluted story.? I met him almost exactly a year ago, at a Valentine's dance.? I had only been here for about a month and I was still kind of figuring things out."? She munched a couple of slices of pear for a moment, pausing to order her thoughts. "He's cute; I was desperate.? I came onto him hard.? He asked me out for drinks.? I showed up in a strapless little black dress and he was wearing jeans and sneakers."? She gave David a rueful little smile.?

"Awkward."

"Yeah.? Slightly.? Anyway...? He told me that he would give me his loyalty, his undying friendship, his help whenever I needed it, but that his heart belonged to someone else.? I was...? I was in a really bad place at that time, mixed up with some really bad people and being stalked by the Unseelie; I was not in a position to be turning down someone's friendship.? Especially not someone who ...felt... as powerful as John."

He nodded.? "So you became friends."

"Yeah.? But never really good friends.? He wasn't someone I ever felt like I could call up to hang out on a Friday night or whatever.? But knowing that I had someone to..."? She shrugged and finished off the pear.? "To call on if I needed help was really comforting."? The kettle shrilled and she occupied herself with making tea for a moment.

"I get that.? It helps a lot to know you're not alone."? He stood up and went over to where she was making the tea, just wanted to be a little closer to her.? "So what happened?"

She poured the water into the tetsubin teapot, added the loose tea leaves and handed him a cup.? "Well, Daniel and I went to a Beltane party.? That's in May, in case you're not up on your pagan holidays."? She picked up the teapot and the other cup and headed out into the living room.

Mention of Daniel had him pausing for a second, wondering how he was, what he was doing now.? In the living room, he settled down onto the couch, set his cup on the table and turned so he was facing her.

Setting the teapot and the other cup down on the coffee table, she settled in beside him, drawing her feet up onto the couch and tucking her knees beneath her chin.? "So...? There was this...attack, I guess.? Some lolo with a sword stabbed a woman, killed her.? I ran after him and just before I could grab him, he...disappeared into a flash of white light.? He looked nothing like John, but his scent...? It was unmistakably John."

He'd long since decided her sense of smell was all but infallible, so he believed her when she said it was the guy.? "And he wasn't in the chair, he was walking and running."? It was starting to make sense now.

"I wouldn't mind being there for that talk, if you think he'd still answer.? I think we're on more or less good terms right now."

She smirked.? "I think he'd answer.? You two have never really had any sort of discussion, have you?? You've exchanged pleasantries - and not so pleasantries - but you've never spoken, have you?"

"Just once, after they took you."

Her brows rose.? "Oh?? There was talking, but no punching?"

He chuckled.? "No, no punching."

"What was said?? Or don't I get to know that?"

"We talked for a while, said a lot that I barely remember.? The important bits were that I realized he really does care about you in his own strange way, and that if our positions had been reversed, he would've killed me."? He chuckled a bit.? "Good thing I'm nicer than he is, huh?"

"Wow.? Yeah, no kidding.? Though, if your positions were reversed, and he did kill you, I'm pretty sure he'd be missing something important.? Like his spleen, for example."

"Fortunately, they aren't, and would never be."

She gave him a wicked little smile.? "Oh, I don't know about that," was all she said before finishing her tea and taking the empty cups and pot into the kitchen.

He snorted, shook his head.? "You're an evil woman."

"Yeah," she called from the kitchen.? "And you love it."

She had that right.? "I do," he said, then smiled, thinking of another situation he'd be saying those same words in, less than a month away.

She came back from the kitchen and grinned at him.? She launched into the ABBA song that had been a source of contention...for about 30 seconds.? "Love me or leave me, make your choice but believe me, I love you.? I do, I do, I do, I do, I do."

"That's what I want to hear."? He wasn't talking about the song, either.? He still didn't like ABBA.

She grabbed his hands and yanked him off the couch so she could wrap her arms around him and dance him around the living room, still singing that song.? "I can't conceal it, don't you see, can't you feel it?? Don't you too?? I do, I do, I do, I do, I do."

He laughed, dancing across the room with her.? Sometimes, he thought he loved her best when she was being silly.? That would imply there were times when he didn't love her as much, though, and that was just silliness.

"Oh, I've been dreaming through my lonely past.? Now I just made it, I found you at last," she sang and then spun him out to arm's length before pulling him back in and dipping him.? She grinned and then aimed for their bedroom.

Being dipped by a gorgeous woman was quite an experience.? He laughed some more, letting her lead him into the bedroom.? If she kept this up, he might even start to like the song.

"Spin me!"

He spun her around and down the length of his arm, then reeled her back in so he could steal a kiss. She giggled like a little girl and then stopped dancing, deciding a kiss was more important than dancing...or finishing the song.? She climbed up his body, wrapped her arms and legs around him, and kissed him for all she was worth...which was quite a lot, according to Mr Beetlebrow, the goblin banker.

He supported her weight easily with one hand on her perfectly-sculpted behind, reaching up with the other to cup the back of her head, fingers buried in her hair.? Talk about something feeling like a million bucks.?

"Let's go to bed," she whispered against his mouth.

"Music to my ears," he murmured back.