Theo hissed softly and turned as red as his outfit. "The whole house need not know what I get up to by candlelight," he whispered. "You leave my innocent books out of this lest you find yourself with all night shifts. I'm sure Tiff would adore more evenings at home with his loving wife and family."

He took his usual seat at the piano but sat with his back to it. "As long as she desires. This is to be her future home after all. Will that be a problem?"

"Mm. Yeah. Well. That's what happens when you stay up late filling your head with pirate bollocks. Sounds like a real page turner, that one." Self-satisfied with his own cleverness, Fletch wandered lazily to his usual chaise in the corner and flopped down to lounge against the armrest. He checked the open door before taking one selfish moment to drink in the sight of the man. "I'm sure she'll like what she sees, sir," he replied with a twitch of an eyebrow. "How long is she sticking around today?"

He made sure to brush the back of his hand against Fletcher's as the man fell into step with him. A brow did raise to be addressed as sir and for a brief moment he felt a little panicked that the night before had all been a mistake or a dream. But then the twinkle in his eye and the pull of his mouth was answer enough. Fletcher was playing with him.

Theo rolled his eyes some with a small smile. "I had a lazy morning in bed and now will be missing breakfast entirely. Too many dreams on my mind it seems."

They entered the piano room and finding it empty, Theo stared intensely at Fletcher. "My fiance is coming," he replied with a small smirk. "Of course I want to impress my beloved. Wouldn't you?"

He felt invincible. All the little things that yesterday had dug beneath his armor and latched on like a tick, well...today, they glanced off like it was nothing. Neal didn't bother him one bit. He'd do what he had to, and it wouldn't be his proudest moment, but the man had no power over him whatsoever. Fletcher was in control, and he'd manipulate the pieces to fall where he needed them, and the whore wouldn't see it coming if he so much as toed the line. The thought of Edwina just about made his jaw hurt from how hard his smirk dug into his cheek. Let her have her dalliances and her games. He'd found the real thing in her own fiancé, the stupid girl. Hell, even the Baron's presence couldn't affect his mood. In fact, it made him feel powerful. This was double-edged payback: from Theo to his father, and from Fletcher to his own. His only regret was that he couldn't throw it all in the man's face and watch him die inside in the knowledge that he'd hired a second deviant to corrupt his man-loving son.

Fletch did, however, contain it as soon as he greeted Neal. Well, most of it. It was hard to put a lid on the confidence and swagger, and his change in posture certainly earned him a double take from the man. But he stayed strictly business as he led him up the stairs to Theo's room. "Morning, sir," he said, keeping his expression carefully neutral. A smile of admiration flickered across his dark features, though, as the nobleman got rid of Neal with a quickness. Clever, he thought as he fell into step alongside Theo and they made their way to the piano room.

"Trust you slept well, sir?" he asked, taking advantage of their brief moment alone to allow himself a single mischievous glance at his love. His eye lingered, though, as he realized that Theo had dressed up a bit more than usual. "Impressing someone today, are we?"

Kolara switched moods faster than Arlen could comprehend. 

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

Arlen's mouth hung slightly open in suprise.
"An angel that fell from heaven too hard?" He meekly offered in reply.

She told him to sit still and seemed like she was trying to mend his wing before she just passed out in his arms.
"Kolara!!!!" He anxiously checked her pulse. Her body was cold but she was still breathing. 

What could he do? He definitely wasn't going to try to use another one of her feathers. 
On the island....on Yoreiq where he had been exiled from...his village. He knew a friend there. A healer. Maybe his friend could help!
But that would require having to somehow find that boat again...so Arlen picked up Kolara in his arms as gently as he could, and set off for the shoreline.


By the time Arlen had made it to the shore, a full day had passed and it was night again. He was exhausted. He carefully set Kolara down in the small boat and got in himself.
Across the channel between Le'Raana and Yoreiq he rowed, having to take occasional breaks and check on Kolara. 

Once he got on the Yoreiqi side he wanted to do nothing more than collapse and sleep for a very long time. He pulled on energy he didn't even know he had in him and got her out of the boat, and ran toward the Yoreiqi village. He could see his friends hut. Just a few more strides...one Yoreiqi guard on patrol saw the fleeting shadow and telltale wings of Arlen and quietly slunk off to report that the exiled assumed murderer was in the village.
 Arlen ran around to the back; he knocked and then didn't even wait, going inside anyways and laying Kolara's limp form the table. 

Irak was an old Yoreiqi, the ex-village healer who was now seen as a bit of a crazy insane person by the village. 
Irak came into the kitchen, having heard Arlen knock.  "Arlen Id recognize that knock anywhere—mother of trees what happened to you? We thought you had died!!"
And then his gaze fell on Kolara.
"A Phoenix-kin...is it alive?" He asked in wonder, stepping closer to it. 
"You really shouldn't be here...if the village finds out they'll kill you!"
"She's my friend-got in a fight with gigantic serpentine monsters, I've never seen the like of it!"  Arlen swayed on his feet. His wing hurt.

Irak concernedly looked over Kolara. 
""How is she alive still..."
Arlen didn't even hear Irak's question. He fainted out of exhaustion. 
 
Irak tutted and moved Arlen off of the floor and into the living room onto the couch. 


Meanwhile the guard had reported the supposed sighting of Arlen and now five guards were on their way to Irak's house. 

Theo stayed long enough for him to fall into a deep sleep before finally kissing his brow and slipping out of bed. All his own personals were collected and double checked that no article of clothing was abandoned and forgotten before he finally slipped out and closed the door. Per Fletcher's instructions he bathed and buried his clothes in the hamper. A quick note was written with utmost care and slipped under the man's door. It was as close to a love note as Theo could safely get and he wished he could do more.

But, with his bedroom door quietly unlocked and the moon well high in the sky he too finally crawled into bed with an exhausted yawn. The bed felt so large and cold now that he was alone. It felt like a vast ocean in comparison to being cuddled up so close in Fletcher's arms. He wanted nothing more than to think on all that had happened that evening but the moment his head hit the pillow, he was a goner.

He did not even wake when Fletcher came barreling into his room, a thought that had he known, would have terrified him. But when he did wake it was to the weak sun upon his face and an empty bed. Theo lingered there until the maids came in to make his bed and were startled to find him still in it. He had to take the time to reassure them that all was well and just a lazy morning for him.

But their expressions were those of knowing fondness and they kept their thoughts to themselves that the Young Master was taking some time for himself for once. Once they finally left, he dragged himself from bed and looked over his clothes for the day.

Normally it would matter little to him but he recalled how Fletcher had mentioned he liked how he looked all dressed up fancy for the ball and wanted to be more intentional with his choices. With Edwina coming, he had the perfect excuse to impress as it were. Pity for her that it wasn't her he was trying to woo however.

Theo settled on a red robe set with gold embroidery embellishments and a black silky sash. He preened in the mirror some adjusting his hair this way and that before giving up with a disappointed sigh. Fletcher knew what he looked like. What was the point of trying to be something he wasn't? His misbehaving bangs were just going to fall forward anyway.

And while he did forego the paints and powders he had been strong-armed into wearing for the ball he did dab a bit of cologne oil just below his ears and on his wrists. He smiled back at his reflection, recalling the kisses his beloved had placed there as well as their own secret little discovery. He wondered how long they could both be kept at bay before his face was buried there once more.

Theo exited his room and nodded in greeting to the pair waiting for him there. "Mr. Daw, Mr. Truckett. Good morning. As I am running a bit late this morning, Lady Obower will be meeting us in the piano room this morning. Mr. Truckett if you could see that the kitchen is made aware of this and had some trays made up, I would be most grateful. It's quite alright for you to wait for them to be ready. There's no need for you to have to run back and forth so early in the day," he smiled gently to the other man. 

"No," he mumbled. "Don't leave now. Just...just a few more minutes. Waited too long to get here...you gorgeous, gorgeous thing."

And then he was out, sinking into a warm, soft place that smelled of Theo. It was quiet there. It was peaceful. There were no dreams that night, just that fuzzy feeling of being wrapped up in the presence of the man he'd wanted for so long. Even when he awoke to a cold bed and an empty place beside him, he did so with the remnants of a smile, and that smile broadened into a satisfied smirk as he recalled all that had happened.

He reached out and touched the spot where Theo had lain, fingers gliding across the sheets as though he caressed the man's skin. He wondered what it would be like, now, to spend his daylight hours pretending that they weren't meeting in secret in the dark. Somehow, he thought it might actually be easier than pining away unrequited. As he'd told Theo: if he knew he could come back to this feeling every night, he might just be able to accomplish anything.

"Up. Up. I'm up," he mumbled to himself, breathing deep and rolling over and planting his bare feet on the cold floor. He stood, aching and trembling, his first order of business a shameful one. After the whiskey, he pulled on his shirt from the day before, shoved his feet in his boots, and collected his things for a smoke and a wash up. He paused by the door, eyeing the one between his room and Theo's, sorely tempted to do what he knew he shouldn't at this hour.

And then he saw it: a note. A short note. Theo's perfect, careful handwriting. Words rang hollow in his tired mind: I'm sorry. Take care of the dog. "No. No no no. No no no — "

Without reading it, he unlatched the nanny door and burst into silence and the pale light of a dreary winter morning. He was halfway to Theo's bed before the man shifted and muttered in his sleep. Alive. He was alive. He was fine. The breath that had caught in Fletcher's chest left him. He took another as though breathing in the sight of the nobleman would steady him again. He lingered — longer than he should have, but he did it anyway, indulging in the knowledge that Theo was safe and warm and content. At last, he nodded to himself and stepped back into his own room, closing the door firmly. He picked up the note, eye tracing every loop and line and dot.

"Morning!
Reminder we have Edwina coming today and you have training Neal. Please see that he is on his best behavior."

Theo had left a thumbprint at the bottom as a signature. Fletch smirked at it. The man had been careful not to give a single thing away in what he'd written, but that thumbprint couldn't have read more like a heart if he'd tried. But...he was right. Today was tactical. Today was the start of an operation. He had to wrest his mind away from where they'd been last night, and Theo did, too. "Okay, Pretty Boy," he said to the paper. "Message received. Let's do this."

An hour later, with Niles swapped in to guard Theo, Fletch had bathed and changed and downed his coffee and his pasty with a startling new exuberance for life. As he strode down the hall to meet Neal, he caught sight of his reflection in an oversized mirror. The man who'd glanced back at him in passing was one he'd not truly seen in years: confident, sharp-eyed, and cocky as hell. A rogue, some might call him. A heartbreaker and a rake. But what he saw in it was something else entirely:

Heart and soul, he was Theo's bastard man.

"It is but so is everything we have done and everything we have agreed to do. They are risks I'm willing to take for our happiness. But, if you're that worried I can leave now?"

Theo smiled at him softly. Who would have thought he would ever have the scowling smuggler turned bodyguard curled up in his arms like a cat? He loved this man so much. It still didn't feel real that they were to be lovers, that he was wanted as much as he wanted the other man back. 

"Mine," he agreed giving the other man a warm squeeze. "And completely yours."

He made a soft sound of sympathy and leaned in to kiss his brow. "I will be just next door when you wake. And you can come in as soon as you're awake to check as many times as you need to. I'm not going anywhere. Another promise to you."

"'S dangerous. You sure?" he purred, but already he struggled to keep his eye open. Whether or not Theo could do it, he was right on one thing: Fletch couldn't stay up any longer if he tried. "No. You're...you're right. Mm. Theo. Don't forget. Unlock your door. N' clean up before bed'r you'll smell like me tomorrow. N'...call it whatever you like. M' yours."

As he sunk further and further into his pillow, one last thought ran through his mind. The cabin. A quiet winter morning. Waking up to the end of everything. He shut his eye tighter. "Just...don't like the thought of waking up alone. But...maybe it's different this time."

"Then sleep, my heart," he replied continuing to pet him as the tension of Fletcher backing off eased. "Let me be the one to watch over you for once. I'll get back to bed before it's too late and we'll have tomorrow and the next day and all the days after. You cannot break yourself to steal more hours in the day just because you managed to acquire yourself a—what would we call ourselves?"