Sidestory:
Inner Sanctum

by Angie and Tami

"Sure you don't want another?" Nell offered. "I know I couldn't stand reading in Italian when I first learnt it."

The small woman beamed at her red-headed friend, leaning back against her countertop as she gave Cecily a grin. Her apartment was beginning to see more and more of the curly-haired English woman, as Nell slowly coaxed her into more and more contact; the scene was by now a familiar one. The grin on Nell's face was pleased and infectious.

Cecily contemplated the book in her hand and then shook her head. "No, pet, it's okay," she replied. "I might as well learn it proper if I'm going to learn it at all." She smiled at the petite woman. "The newspaper's getting easier anyway."

"Able to do the crossword yet?" Nell crossed over to her kitchen, running one hand through her pale hair. "Sure you don't want a cup of tea?"

"Positive, Nell. I really ought to get going but thank you so much for the loan." The redhead chuckled. "I'm sorry for treating you a bit like a lending library."

"You can treat me like a lending library any time you like." Nell's face glowed. "I love having you so feel free to drop by and do it any time you want."

"Well, I hope you know the same's true for my flat to you. Completely open, pet." A sudden, amused smile flickered over her face. "Just call first since I live with Savina."

"Promise." Nell grinned at Cecily good-naturedly. "And don't forget we've got a lunch date on Friday that I'm holding you to, since I had to skiv out of the last one."

A shadow appeared in the taller woman's blue eyes and she studied her friend closely for a split-second. Then she nodded, smile returning. "Oh, I'll be there. Just make sure you are, too, pet."

Nell sat up on the counter, pale legs dangling out of pink gingham shorts. "I promise. No pop essays this time around. I'm all yours."

"And I'll hold you to that."

"Fine by me!" The pale girl smiled shyly. You can hold me any time, she muttered inwardly.

"Pukka." Reaching forward, Cecily absently pushed a spike of lavender hair out of Nell's eyes before turning away and heading towards the front door. "Friday at the cafe and are bells required?"

"Rings on your fingers and bells on your toes." Nell pushed herself off the counter. "Looking forward to it, Cess."

"So am I, pet." Reaching the door, Cecily turned and smiled once more at her younger friend. "You take care of yourself until then, hm?"

"Only if you do."

The redhead laughed at that. "Oh, Nell, you know me," she chuckled. "A regular dictator on the race-track. I'll take care of myself just fine."

"You're so torn up with making everybody else takes care of themselves you think of yourself last," Nell scolded gently. "I know you by now! Think of Cecily before you think of others for a change, all right?"

"And change my entire reason for living?" Lightly, quickly, Cecily hugged her friend and then stepped towards the door, hand on the knob. "I'll see you Friday."

Nell only barely managed to hide the happiness at the hug that seemed to infuse every cell of her. "See you, Cess. Have fun with the book."

"Oh, I will." Opening the door, the redhead half-stepped out backwards, still smiling at her friend. Something told her to halt before she went much farther, though, a tingling all along her spine, and she spun on her heel, jaw tight.

A surprised-looking young man stared at her, wide-eyed, hand raised to knock. After an instant of mutual staring, he grinned warmly and ducked his head and offered the raised hand. "Ciao, signorina," he murmured, his accent strange and not quite native. "Is this where Miss Daray lives?"

"Adam?" At the familiar voice, Nell stepped forward a bit, head tilted and an immediate blush coming to her cheeks as she stared past Cecily.

Craning his neck, Adam managed to look past the redhead he had greeted and spotted the petite lavender-haired girl. Immediately, he smiled, hazel eyes warm. "Hey, chere," he called. Then he raised his other hand, a notebook in it. "Sorry to stop by without calling but you never gave me your number. I found your notebook after that meeting we had."

Cecily stepped slightly more out of the way, opening the field of vision, and eyed the newcomer warily. Nell gets wonky around men; who's this one then?

A relieved smile came over Nell's face, the nervousness obviously melting away. Most of it. It was still mixed up with a blush. "Oh, Goddess, you're a lifesaver. I thought I'd lost that for good." She beckoned him inside and her look softened as she turned to Cecily; "'Till Friday?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation and then the redhead nodded. "Of course, pet," she agreed. "I'll see you then." She glanced at Adam one final time, appraising, and then she smiled at Nell and waved before disappearing down the hall.

Adam watched her go and then turned back to his teammate by way of alliance. "She looks kinda familiar," he commented as he stepped into the apartment and handed over the notebook.

"That's my friend Cecily, Cecily McRae." Nell smiled to herself, closing the door before taking the notebook and setting it down on the coffee table. Her voice was slightly quicker than usual, words tripping over themselves. "She's just lovely. I'll introduce you when she's not so busy," she offered shyly.

"If you want, chere." Adam smiled at her. Then, however, his eyes roamed vaguely over the decor, carefully remaining beside the door. "You have a lovely place, Nell."

"Thank you." The little woman blushed, but her pleasure at the compliment was obvious; she loved her apartment to death. Sunny and airy, the walls painted pale green, her decor showed her love for natural wood, the colour pink, and purple. There was a discreet altar in one corner with a wreath of flowers on it and a stick of incense, as well as a few oil burners scattered about. It was also obvious she did not want for money; it was not the usual type of student's flat... which was obvious in that it was scrupulously clean.

"Lucy," she called out. "Lucy, Adam's here."

After a few moments of silence, she frowned. "She must have gone out. She loves to go and pay calls on other Romanus." Realizing that she was in fact alone with a man in her apartment, Nell got the usual tingle of apprehension; to cover her nervousness, she giggled. She seemed to do that a lot, voice light and high. "Poor them. D'you want a drink? I was just going to make myself some green tea."

"If you don't mind, that'd be great." Still Adam hesitated by the door, his eyes landing on the altar and bringing another slight smile to his mouth. "Wish Ay would do more visiting," he admitted vaguely. "All he seems to want to do is mope under our shed and yell at me."

"Make yourself at home." Nell moved over to her kitchen, pleased that she had something to do with her hands as she opened her cabinet for her teacups. "Oh, Ay just needs company, I'll tell Luce to visit him, I'm sure they'd get on like a house on fire."

"No, chere, I've met your Lucy." He chuckled and walked carefully deeper into Nell's apartment, footsteps light. "She's much too sweet to be left alone with him." His pathway carried him to the altar and he stood in front of it for a moment, a foot's distance away, before ducking his head at it in respectful silence.

She set her cups down, boiling water, stopping when she noticed him in front of her altar. "Diana wasn't thrilled when I didn't dedicate it to her," she murmured after a while. "Then again, I don't hold with blood sacrifice, and she likes animals."

Adam nodded. "I go mange sec myself," he replied softly. "There's no sense in harming something that's never harmed you."

Nell turned back, preparing the tea again, curious blue eyes still on him. "What religion are you? I don't recognize the symbol on your shoulder as being anything pagan or part of Wicca."

A warm, gentle smile curved his mouth and he reached up to rub at the tattoo on the upper part of his left arm. "It's ti bon ange, chere," he explained. "Little good angel. Guess you'd call it my guardian angel or spirit, hm?" He ducked another respectful bow at the altar and padded over quietly to lean against the kitchen counter, eyes on Nell's hands. "Anyway, I'm like my maman. I'm voudou."

A smile lit up her small face, waiting for her water to boil as she beamed at him. "You're voudoun? I've never met anybody who practiced that. Well, you know, except for the silly thirteen-year-olds who think it means sticking pins into dolls, but never anybody who practiced for real. And it's your family religion?"

The wince that had sped over his face at the mention of pins disappeared quickly in the face of her interest and he nodded. "Maman's a priestess." Then he laughed, a sudden warm sound. "Dad's Protestant, though."

Nell giggled, soft and light. "Now, that's something interesting. Talk about religious tolerance." Her smile held new interest and mild fascination. "You know, that's some background, Mr. Le Blanc."

"Just call me Adam the Hobo Stew," he grinned back. "Religion's only part of it, too."

"Looks it." The kettle clicked and she waited patiently for the water to cool down some, shifting from foot to foot before she looked back at him. "You've got the most interesting face I've ever seen." A blush came to her cheeks as she realized how crass the statement had sounded. "Not to be rude or anything."

"Nell, chere, I don't think it's possible for you to be rude." He folded his arms and leaned down further on the counter. "And I'd say the same about your face. Very lovely." Chuckling kindly at the look she shot him for his words, he added, "Maman's French and African-American, I think. Maybe some Choctaw. Not sure. Dad's English and Chinese. Got all mixed up in my face, I suppose."

Her expression was sweetly serious as she looked over the face in question. "That's where it's from," she said eventually, satisfied. "The shape of your eyes and your face and your nose." Her lips quirked in a small grin. "Though I'd say you had a run-in with that nose and something hard once." Nell turned back to the teacups. "Sugar?"

"Football." Realizing that his answer had jumped back in her line of questioning, he straightened and grinned. "Sorry, no. No sugar."

"Aaah. Footie player." She spooned the tea into the teapot and let it steep. "You have the body for it." Hot color came into her cheeks again. "Oh, dear, I'm being so awful today and I don't mean to."

Adam shrugged. "No shame in paying attention to things," he replied philosophically. "Being recognized as a footie player is better than what I've been called before."

She blinked. "Which is?"

A strange tightness appeared around his mouth, set odd in his open, friendly face, and he shook his head. "No, chere," he murmured. "I'm not going to say ugly things in your apartment; it's too peaceful here."

A smile touched Nell's lips. "Thank you," she murmured. "Keep the vibes clean."

"Only the best kind of karma." His usual smile reappeared on his face. "And back to observations, chere, I'd have said you were a dancer. If you don't mind me saying?"

"I don't." Usually she would have; men commenting on her body lead to heat in her cheeks and an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach of shame, but Adam wasn't swimming in those waters. That was surprising. Pouring the tea out, she glanced up at him. "I'm not, though... I wanted to be," she suddenly confessed.

"Ballet or jazz?"

"Jazz. I didn't have the temperament for ballet." Smiling, she passed him his cup and saucer. "Though I loved all the pretty dresses ballet dancers got to wear."

Adam grinned and leaned on the counter again, setting the cup in front of him. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me about you at all."

"I know. I'm shallow when it comes to pretty dresses." She set her own cup down, warming her hand against the side of it.

"Nothing shallow there." Unfolding suddenly, the dark-haired young man shifted to pick up his cup and saucer and lean his hip against the counter. He held her delicate china in large, sure, tanned hands, fingers light on the handle. "Dad says I'm part magpie and you really can't get much shallower than that."

"I like magpies." Her voice was dreamy as she settled her elbows back. I always thought they were so pretty, all black and white."

"Better than a crow, hm?" Eyes thoughtful on her, he added in an undertone, "What's that rhyme again? One for sorrow, two for mirth?"

"One for sorrow, two for joy." Nell picked up her tea again to sip it, smiling as she put her lips to the rim. "Three for a girl, four for a boy. Five for silver, six for gold, and seven for a secret, never to be told." Her eyes went slightly distant. "We used to play I Spy with that."

"Never played a game with it. Maman used to sing it to me when I was little. Don't know why."

"You're lucky. My mum just used to sing The Carpenters' Hymn To Her to me and now, twenty years later, I can't listen to it." Nell giggled warmly, crossing one ankle over the other. "So your mama would be the French influence, huh?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah."

"You are a multicultural soup." Her blue eyes were amused as she looked at him. "You're lucky. I think it's terribly interesting to have that kind of blood in you."

Shrugging, he grinned at her. "You can't choose your blood, though, p'tit. You just have to work with and be proud of what you have. We're all interesting."

"I know. All of us unique snowflakes." Nell sipped again. "Still, you have to admit, you're privileged."

"No more than you, chere. No more than anyone else."

"I'd say you had one up over me genes-wise," she said playfully. "You don't have to smear yourself with sun cream just to go outside."

"Well, no but I don't get much darker either." Grinning, Adam reached up to lift the few spikes of hair that fell over his forehead. "Dad gave me oily skin for my puberty present, though. Does that make us even?"

"Yes. We're even now." Nell knocked back the rest of her tea, giggling. "Even and equals."

Finishing his own tea, Adam set it aside and ducked a teasingly courtly bow. "In everything but pure lightness, p'tit."

"Except that you seem to be a dreadful tease." She took his cup and her own and set them in the sink, rinsing them out thoughtfully before standing back from it.

He leaned against the counter again, watching her solemnly. "... Anything up, Nell?"

She washed her hands, staring down into the water for a few long seconds of silence before letting out a breath. "... I have to apologize."

"To who?"

"To you." Nell looked up and her small face was somber. "For Lucy and I."

He was quiet for a moment, hazel eyes studying her face. Then he shook his head. "Nothing to apologize for, really," he assured her. "Can't think of a single thing you've done wrong."

She made a face, examining her hands as she washed lime soap off them. "Lucy shouldn't have told you about Poseidon," she murmured after a while. "It's got nothing to do with anything, and least said, soonest mended."

An unreadable expression flickered over Adam's face and he was shaking his head before she even finished. "No, chere, no. It hurt you and you have a lot to do with everything. Nell, chere, you're a human being and, far as I'm concerned, you're a down-deep good one. No one should hurt you like that and I promise you right now - it's not going to happen again." He smiled, a trifle forced and it didn't reach his eyes. "Usually I trust to karma to sort life out, loas to watch over us and all, but you can't always count on it happening soon enough. We're all be looking for that..." He trailed off as if unable to find the proper word to describe Poseidon.

She walked a few steps away from him, hands clutched to her stomach; with a little intake of breath, Nell started to laugh. It wasn't a happy sound; low and dry and more like something Diana would come up with than anything else. Oh, Goddess, what do I say? He couldn't hurt us, not me, not Diana; Diana doesn't care about anything but the insult and I - I've been hurt by worse and people who knew what they were doing. And I'm not good, I'm not good at all.

The moon senshi pivoted around on one foot, trying to stop her half-hysterical chuckling and finding that she couldn't until she choked, gagging a little until she stopped. "It shouldn't be used - not against the Graikos. They can't all be like that. They can't..." Nell groped for the right words to say. "It was used against us. It was insult. It was... body doesn't matter, see?"

"No, not really." Abandoning his post at the counter, Adam followed her, careful to remain a respectful distance from the petite woman. "And I didn't say anything about the rest of the Graikos, p'tit. Just him." He paused, hesitating. "Nell? How badly did he hurt you? I mean, you don't have to tell but... Merde. You're healed now?"

"We're... Diana's strong." She smiled at him, apparently composed. "It was the beating more than the rape." Nell grimaced, using her hands to indicate size; "He's a big man - old - armored from head to foot and us, we're, we're tiny. He dislocated both my arms during."

Sympathetic pain flashed over Adam's open face and he raised his hand, palm up.

"She popped them back in afterwards." Nell flopped down on her couch, grabbing a cushion to hug to her middle as she tilted her head back to look at him. Talking about it, especially to a man, was odd - but it was somehow a relief, getting the pus out. "I just wanted to make sure that... the others didn't know, except to stay away from him if they were alone. It was provocation but... Willow and Nyssa, they're too little and sweet to have something like that done to them."

"So are you, chere." He sighed and reached up to scrub his hands through his dark hair. "So are you."

That caused a smile. "Take it off your shoulders, Adam," she advised kindly. "M'not that little and I'm not that sweet. But... thank you for caring; not a lot of boys would."

"More than you think or the whole planet's doomed, p'tit." He eased over to the couch and motioned vaguely. "Can I sit down?"

"Oh, please do! I'm sorry, I'm an awful hostess, I almost never have anybody over but myself." She patted the couch hesitantly. "My mum would kill me, being so rude."

"Not to worry. I won't tell her." Adam smiled and sat down carefully to one side. There was a long pause and then he suddenly looked up at the petite woman. "You keep talking about Diana like she's another person," he murmured. "Is it that bad?"

"She is another person." Nell bit her lip, looking earnestly at the dark-haired Kemet. "I was - kind of surprised, seeing that other senshi didn't have... my problem. I can't control her when I transform, and she can push to make me transform when I'm just normal me. It's kind of... fascinating, having this ancient goddess in your head." She dimpled. "And a bit horrible."

Adam nodded. "I don't hear Geb, don't feel him. He's just, well, a power within, something I can feel when I think about it." Idly, he toyed with the leather band around his wrist, head tilted slightly as he thought about it. "I haven't run into anyone else who gets ridden so hard, not like you." He suddenly smiled at her warmly. "Not outside of a proper riding."

"I feel like an inadequate pony." She looked at him warmly. "You'd be a bit more used to it than the rest of us, wouldn't you, being voudou. Lucky boy, wish you'd got Diana instead of me."

He chuckled. "Not sure that would have been such a good idea. I can imagine her trying self-castration on me." Then he shook his head. "Actually, I've never been ridden. Not properly anyway. By the time I had made my choice, we were out of New Orleans and can you imagine the problems of finding a good group outside of there?"

"Not really. Unless you wanted to take a trip to Haiti to see it raw." Nell shuddered theatrically. "And don't even talk about self-castration - she keeps on suggesting I cut off a breast so I can learn archery."

Shuddering dramatically, he grinned again. "Keep refusing, p'tit. Archery's not much good in this fight." Carefully, he leaned back and shifted, making himself more comfortable. "And, actually, Haitian voudou is different than the New Orleans variety. Oddly enough."

"Really?" She sat up, stretching a leg out, eyes focused on him. "More sophisticated? Or different way of practicing?"

"My sort is more mix-y," he explained. "More hidden and woven together with some of the ideas of Catholicism but not Catholic. If that makes sense?"

"It makes sense." She dug her fingers into the cushion-cover. "Though, be kind of my ignorance, half of what I've gleaned about voudou is what comes out of suspicious textbooks that suggest you might attempt to raise zombies on weekends."

His eyes darkened slightly at that but it was not anger directed at her; it was more amused annoyance over her repetition of the stories. "Not my sort of voudou, chere. Nor my maman's. Nor anyone I know's. There's a base rule of bounce-back in most branches." He considered his words and then nodded. "You know the Wiccan Rule of Three?"

"Yep. Teflon law." She smiled at him. "Voudou's got the same rule of thumb, then?"

Nodding, he folded his hands behind his head. "Zombies, black magic, bad gris-gris. All that stuff is disrespectful and the loas don't fly with it. Not usually anyway."

"Who'd want to raise a zombie anyway?" Nell flopped back lightly. "Ugh. Let dead things lie."

"And it'd be worse than following a dog around on a walk, eh? You'd have to carry around baggies for the body parts as they drop off."

Nell burst into silvery giggles, head tilted back against the cushions. "I think I'll stick to watching Night Of The Living Dead if I want any zombie action."

"Or maybe Army of Darkness, huh? Some good fake skeletons in that one."

"I watch Army of Darkness just for the fake skeletons."

Adam laughed, head tilting back. "And this, this is my -boom stick-."

"Hail to the king, baby." Nell laughed outright. "Don't usually watch horror movies. Except, you know, filtered through my fingers."

"Probably a safe thing to do with some of them." Adam shrugged. "I like the really old ones best. You know, Nosferatu and all those great Hammer flicks. Black and whites, Christopher Lee, Lon Chaney Jr."

"I think Hitchcock would probably be my favorite. Still can't watch Psycho without getting shivers down my spine."

"You know, I've never actually seen that movie," he admitted, twisting in his seat to put his back against the arm of the couch and look at her.

"You haven't?" Nell pursed her lips, pretending to look shocked and really trying to hide a giggle. "That's a crime, I hope you know."

"Fine or jail time?"

"Fine. Steep."

"I'm just a minimum wage waiter, you know. Is there a payment plan? A barter system?"

"Hmm." Nell jumped up from the couch to sit on her wooden coffee table, grinning at him as she reached up to touch a rose petal in a vase of flowers. "Maybe we could work something out. You look like a nice person who doesn't deserve to have this hanging over them."

Ducking his chin slightly, he regarded her with earnest, puppy-dog eyes.

She burst out laughing; Adam's eyes were deep liquid hazel, and sadly perfect for the hangdog look. For some reason, she had relaxed totally; the little panicked voice of oh god he's a man and look at those muscles you couldn't stop him ever had ended. "Stop! Don't look at me like that! I give in!"

The look evaporated immediately and he grinned at her, carefree again. "You do?"

"I do, I do. You're off the hook with a warning."

"Lovely." He saluted her, grin gone cheeky. "You are a kind and benevolent jailor and judge."

"No, you've just got a mean pout." Nell peered over at him, raising a lilac eyebrow. "And the longest eyelashes I have ever seen on a man."

"Ah, geez, Nell." Melodramatically, the dark-haired young man wiggled in his seat. "You're going to make me blush." He paused and then beamed at her. "And you know what? Mascara is horrible stuff."

"Isn't it?" she beamed, deciding she liked him always and immediately then and there. Any man who knew the troubles of mascara was all right in her book. "I try not to use it. Goddess, it sticks. Is there a special reason you were wearing mascara? You'd make a pretty girl, you know, you have lovely cheekbones."

Adam laughed and, if it weren't for his dark caramel skin, she would have noticed a blush. "Bit of a joke with a footie team," he admitted. "They put me in drag since I was, quote, the prettiest and had the longest hair, unquote. Didn't have my sideburns, though, then." Lightly, he touched a finger to one of the curves of tapering dark along his cheek.

"Sideburns tend to ruin drag," she agreed mildly, not quite managing to hide another flood of giggles. "Do you play for a sch - oh, you couldn't, you're too old. Local team?"

He nodded. "Wherever I can find it, mostly."

"What position?"

"Usually goalie." He tapped his nose, smiling crookedly. "That's what happened here."

"Caught a goal with your face?" She tilted her head, hissing in sympathy pain. "That must have hurt something awful."

"You're telling me." Absently, he rubbed at his nose. "Believe me, I never did it again."

"Adds character to your face." She grinned at him, small and shyly.

His smile went lop-sided and he rubbed at the back of his head. "Merci, p'tit."

"Oh! Um." Nell went over to her sink again, standing, washing her hands absently for no other reason than that she did it subconsciously a lot. "Diana wanted to ask what days you patrol. I tell her to keep it to weekends but she never listens to me so we're out most days."

"I pretty much go whenever I'm not too tired," he sighed. "Ay doesn't believe in down-time. Though I've been lucky so far to still be getting my eight hours. One good thing about my job, hm? Flexible." He turned in his seat to study her. "Name a night and I can probably be there."

"Thursday?" she guessed. "Or Friday? I usually have afternoon classes, so I can patrol late... I'm usually horrid in the mornings and not fit to be associated with, so I pick my times carefully."

He considered her words in silence for a moment and then Adam nodded. "Thursday would be better if we could do it," he replied. "They usually need all the help they can get on Fridays."

"Thursday's lovely." She gave him a smile. "Thank you. I know dealing with Diana can be a bit... off-putting."

Shrugging, he stood up. "She's a strong one. No question about that. You just take it as it comes, really." He grinned. "Anyway, it's not like I can't talk to you ever again because she exists. That would be bad."

She flushed bright pink, giving him a lopsided smile as she propped herself up on the counter. "You're awfully nice about her and me and the whole business."

"Will me being close-minded and dismissive make a difference to the situation?"

"Other than a kick from Diana, I don't think so."

"And I don't much like the idea of getting kicked." He grinned winningly. "I have an idea where she'd aim."

That prompted another set of giggles. "Your shins. She'd use her knee for the other." Then she turned red again; men didn't like it being insinuated that a girl was going to kick them in the groin. It was threatening.

Adam, however, just winced before laughing. "I wonder if something protective would travel with the gear when I transformed. Just to be on the safe side, you know."

"Bring along a muffin tin or something." Nell relaxed. "It's a bit unfair, though; some of us get inch-thick armor and... well, look at you and Diana, scraps of cloth and a prayer."

"A good question. It'd be nice to be able to ask someone some day about that sort of thing."

"A plaintive 'Why'?"

He nodded. "It's one thing to accept how things are but you don't have to really love it all. I'd just like to know a few things about the end." A funny look slid over his face, there and then gone. "Not that I bother asking Ay, though. Or even mentioning it, really."

"He seems like a nice guardian." Nell tilted her head. "Just a bit grumpy. Lucy tries to answer my questions but..." She pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Sometimes I just don't bother asking. It's easy for me not to think on it."

"Lucy does seem to be a sweetheart."

"She's a bit..." Nell groped for the right word to say that didn't include 'domineering cow' because she loved the wasp, and gave up when none occurred. "She is."

"Will she be along on Thursday?" Adam smiled. "I'll leave Ay at home then."

"That'd be lovely. Lucy will be thrilled for the company." Nell grinned at him peacefully.

"Sounds great to me. Do you have a place you usually go or anywhere is fine?"

"Anywhere." She rolled her eyes back. "Wherever Diana feels like."

Adam sighed. "Well, that makes meeting up a bit hard, huh? Think you could give her a clue? Or send Lucy to find me or something?"

"I'll do both. I'm pretty sure she'll want to go and find you anyway."

"I'll be awake and home, then. Ready to go. Maman and Dad don't check up on me too much so it's no problem. Well, not so long as it's not some truly awful hour, huh?"

"I'll get her out early." Nell moved out of her kitchen, hands clasped behind her back as she nodded at him, expression that of intense sweet seriousness. "So you can get your sleep."

"Oh, no. Who's been telling you about Adam the Bear stories?"

She blinked, giggling again. "Bear?"

"As in I become one if I don't get sleep." He grinned and nodded at her. "And I just realized something. I showed up here out of the blue, drank your tea, and talked your ear off. You must think I'm a pushy jerk."

"You brought back my notebook and... We had a really nice conversation and..." Nell took a breath. "I think you're... look, let's just say that I don't really get on with men but you've been really nice and kind to me." Suddenly somber, a smile sprang to her face with equal quickness. "Thank you for being entertaining. Can't we do it again sometimes?"

An equally bright smile answered hers. "I'd like that," Adam agreed. "You're fun to talk to."

"That's settled, then. We don't think the other is pushy or a jerk." The small lavender-haired girl dimpled at him. "Thanks."

"Any time, p'tit. It's been my pleasure."

"You have my phone number." Nell braided her fingers together. "You can call any time you like. And, I mean, drop by if you're in the area..."

"I'll try and call first, though," he assured her. "Unexpected guest can be not so much fun."

She knew that all too well. "Eh, I'm here most of the time. But calling would be good." Pulling her hands apart, she smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem. Like I said, my pleasure."

Nell ducked her head momentarily before taking another breath. "Well... I guess we leave it 'till Thursday, then. I don't want to eat up any more of your time."

"My time to give." Adam shrugged. Still, he moved towards the door. "I'll see you on Thursday then. Near the restaurant?"

"We'll be there." She crossed over to open the door for him, eyes still shy, flicking him a peace sign with one hand. "I'll... see you around."

"You bet." Adam hesitated, though, halfway through the door and turned solemn eyes on her, a faint smile curving his mouth. "And take care of yourself 'til then, okay, p'tit?" The smile widened into a grin and he waved, moving out of her apartment and down the hall before she could respond. "Bye, Nell!" With a final wave, he disappeared down the stairs.

Nell closed the door after the dark-haired Cajun, looking slightly perplexed. Goddess. She'd never expected anything like that to happen. She'd never met a man before who was just so unbearably... She couldn't put a word to it. Kind. Gentle. Yes, that was it; gentle, terribly so, and she found herself warming to Adam immensely. He carried no fear and worry and none of the normal things she found associated with men that usually made her grow apprehensive or even found a nigh-on loathing with him. What an amazing thing.

And Cecily had hugged her, too.

Unable to wipe the smile off her face, Nell ran a hand through her hair and went back to her kitchen. It was a good day.

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