As I stood there staring down at my work, a chime echoed from down the hall toward the door. It was a pleasant almost bell-like noise, then somewhere faint and distant the sound of metal echoing as if it had been struck. It sounded enough like a knock that it was jarring. The entire time I'd been on ship, Esayr and I had been the only ones in this district.

I approached the door wearily. I had asked the ship to contact Esayr. Had he come directly to me? He was easily my first instinct when it came to the possibility that someone had approached the door, but I suppose there was the chance that it was someone else.

I brushed my fingertips as lightly as I could against the metal door, intending for it to open softly -- not that I really had any reason to believe the interface worked that way.

The door whooshed open a lot faster than either of us anticipated, I think. At the very least Esayr looked surprised as soon as he saw me. And I know that my mind blanked as soon as I got my first look at him.

"What the fuck?" The words were out and for a moment I didn't even think I'd been the one to say them.

Esayr looked even more startled. "I-- the ship informed me that you'd contacted me and asked for assistance. I tried to knock, but I didn't want the door to open if I touched it--"

When my mind caught up with my mouth I managed out a frantic, "What the fuck happened to your face?"

Realization dawned on Esayr's face, a stark contrast to the dusky color of purple that shadowed his right eye and brow. He'd been hit. One of his hands ghosted to the bruise and he flinched when he touched the skin under his eye. He had the good grace to look abashed, though.

"I was in an altercation."

"Yeah, and managed to get socked pretty badly," I answered as I stepped out of the doorway letting him enter. "What was it about?"

Esayr gingerly stepped into the room and seemed somewhat awkward, as if he didn't know what to do now that he was here...with me. He seemed to take a moment to mull over the topic, "There was a male that had some choice things to say about one of my Riniere --Laene, he said things about Laene."

"Unprompted?" I ushered him into the dining area, engrossed in this debacle he'd found himself in the middle of enough that thoughts of asking him to help me cook all but fled my mind.

"Somewhat...not quite unprompted, truly. But, they shouldn't have been said. He's in a tough position. One that most males won't like."

"No?" I let the question hang in the air. It was obvious he was reticent to discuss the topic with me, he tended to air on the side of keeping information about Laene and the things he struggled with to himself, mentioning that they were topics that Laene should tell me not him. I wasn't inclined to push him to reveal his friend's secrets to me if it bothered him.

"No. They shouldn't have been said. I also shouldn't have struck the male for them either."

That was surprising. Esayr never lost his cool. I'd never even seen him approach a state of violence at all, so the fact that he could be roused to such a state of anger was out of the norm. "You hit him first?"

"I'm not proud of it." He didn't look pleased that he had to tell me...but he also didn't look sorry for it either.

I searched his face. Even with the bruising, he was a beautiful male. "You think you were in the right."

His emotions were quiet through the bond. I couldn't glean anything from them, but he smiled and I knew I was right. I knew I could read some finer emotion on his face, had become accustomed to him in a way I hadn't anticipated. "I do. I shouldn't have gone about my response in the way that I did, but I do believe my anger was justified. Bask shouldn't have taken the shot at Laene that he did."

Bask. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. Before I could ask Esayr any more about this Bask, he had noticed the scattering of papers across the table and approached them.

"You've been working." He gently shifted some papers slightly, making sure not to vastly disturb the organized mess I'd created. He glanced my way, "May I look through them?"

I nodded and stepped up beside him. We were side by side as I watched him pick up papers and scan through the writing and the highlighting. I was acutely aware of him. I supposed maybe I had always been aware of him, but with his absence and the bond fading into near silence having this awareness flare back to life made it almost unmanageable.

The left side of my body was warmed even through the inches of space that separated us. Every move he made felt like an electric pulse down my side. I was constantly waiting for a gentle touch along my arm or maybe my spine. The touches that a lover would give to remind themselves that you're here, but they never came.

I couldn't decipher the disappointment I felt at that. I shouldn't be disappointed. Instead, I should be focusing on the task at hand and not mooning over the very male that had the power to send me into a tailspin if he so much as glanced at me.

"You've done a lot of work." His voice was soft. Everything about him was always soft with me. Esayr was large, larger than most human guys, and made entirely of lean muscle. If you looked at him you'd equate him with tanned leather, but I knew him and easily I could tell you the man was velvet. Luxurious, soft, and when the moment struck even provocative. It made me want to run my hands over him and assure myself that he was truly here with me in this room.

"I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd be productive," I plucked paper after paper and laid them out on the table in front of him in some semblance of an order, "I highlighted all the things that definitely need to be addressed, whether changed or just talked about in the media."

"I can see that," he nodded absently, "Do you think we could change these aspects of the contract? To make them less questionable?"

No. It wasn't the answer either of us wanted. "I'd be more than surprised if the government even entertained it. I think our best bet now is damage control. I think we need to be completely honest about what the Temani Bercari entails and the meaning behind all of this shit in this contract. Aside from that, I can't think of anything else we can do."

Esayr looked thoughtful. I snuck glances at him in my peripherals, through the sheet of my blonde hair. Something struck me from his expression. I wasn't entirely certain what it was, but it had me turning to face him, searching his face to find the answers that I seemed to somehow be able to glean.

He met my stare, unflinchingly and it almost turned the moment to a more intimate affair.

"What are you thinking?"

His eyebrow quirked up and the corner of his mouth threatened to follow suit. It was an expression I'd become used to in the short time we'd been together, and it made my chest feel tight. Whatever he'd thought about saying, he'd decided against it and his expression sobered when he glanced back down at the papers. "I'm thinking that there could have been no one else as perfect for this job as you." He touched a paper almost reverently.

"You're hiding something." It wasn't an accusation, merely a comment. I don't know how I knew that he was, but I did.

There was silence for a minute before he finally responded, "Are you going to ask me what I'm hiding?"

I watched his profile as he stared down at my handiwork and for some reason, despite everything, I trusted him. "Do I need to know it? Not from your perspective, but from mine?"

"No. In truth, it would probably be better if you didn't. It's a matter we are trying to keep to ourselves for the time being. You haven't been trained to shield your thoughts, and we can't keep Laene with you to make sure you're protected. You'll be under a lot of scrutiny working this closely as a human liaison," he paused for a moment and met my gaze with all the sincerity I had ever seen, "but if you asked me I would tell you. I would make it work somehow so that you could be involved and help us."

"I trust you," somewhere deep I felt our bond shiver and pull tighter. I couldn't suppress the wave of relief I felt at that. In the dark of the night, I worried that I'd killed it, but at least now I knew it was still there and still woven between us even if it was a concept that gave me pause I realized I'd come to rely on it.

Esayr smiled and it was light in that dim room. "You called me to show me this?"

I could feel the blush creep up my cheeks, "Uh...actually no. I called you to help teach me how to cook."

When he laughed I could think of nothing more than how bright it made that small room.

*****A/N*****

Hello everyone, I'm so sorry it's been so long. As school rapidly approaches I get more and more stressed over getting stuff done and that ends up translating into me getting absolutely nothing done if I'm being honest. But I'm still working chipping away at this story as best as I can. I've become more invested in all of these characters than I ever anticipated and I don't think I could let any of them go if I even tried. That being said I do want to warn you that in the next few weeks, classes will be starting up and I will likely be INCREDIBLY busy until about August at the earliest. I will still be working on this story, but it will be slow going for a little while, while I suffer through some very busy months of work, school, certification classes, and eventually an internship.

That being said, onto more fun news: In approximately 20 minutes from when I'm writing this, I will officially be 25 years old! Hitting the quarter-life crises tomorrow. So that will be fun. Honestly, time flies. I don't ever feel more than 18 on my best days. Cherish each day and make memories that will last a lifetime. The memory of sharing this story with all of you is a wonderful gift. Thank you so much. From the bottom of my heart, genuinely, thank you.

Love always,

Layla.