Thievesandwhores 3

"Be. Quiet." Chris gritted through his teeth at Justin and one of Justin's friends, the boy from the pastry shop Chris thought, but he couldn't be sure. All he knew is that they were wrestling and shrieking with laughter, and Chris's head was ringing like the inside of one of the cathedral bells, and he hadn't had nearly enough sleep. "Justin, go. You have errands! Go pay the baker and the butcher, and try to find Colin again. Take company for that last." His glare sent them both scurrying from the parlor, and Chris sat back down with his maps, rubbing at his aching head. It would probably have hurt a great deal less if he hadn't been awakened before dawn by AJ, Jace and Justin going for round three.

Poor Nick, too, had never found his bed, or anyone else's. Chris had found him curled up by the fire when he came downstairs, though Nick looked perfectly content to be there. It had burned brightly late into the night, and was still quite warm in the morning.

He could feel someone coming up at his side, but didn't even want to turn his head to see who it was. Obviously someone from his household, because the place had been cleared out by morning and hadn't heard those bells going off in his head.

"Tea," said Manda, and pressed it into his hand. "And there are warm rolls when you feel up to it."

Chris found a genuine smile for her, and wrapped his cold fingers around the mug of tea, warming them and breathing in the fragrant steam gratefully. "Thank you, kitten. You're my favorite." He pulled an outrageous face at her and made her giggle, and managed to hide his wince at the sound. "How is the cleanup going? Have you given all the scraps away to the beggars, like I told you to? And has Lance cleaned up the spilled beans and honey?" He tried to keep people out of the pantry, but it was never entirely successful.

"We have," she said, nodding solemnly. There was a time to have fun and there was a time to be serious again. "And the little bits we took them down to the Father's kitchen, down the street. He says he's going to make a good stew with it, for whoever comes by seeking shelter." They'd all sought shelter there at least once. It was the least Chris could do. "Lance is still busy. He's really not happy. I think he had a lot of wine after you found your bed."

"Ahh." Chris nodded in sympathy, then remembered Lance pressing more ale into his hand and scowled a little. "Well, he will know better next time. Tell him when he finishes in the pantry he can go back to bed for a while, he'll probably wake up feeling much better." Chris sipped his tea and felt the knot of pain behind his eyes ease. "Where is Nick? I want to thank him for making the lights so nice last night. And you lot should thank him too, since for once you're not rubbing torch-soot off the walls."

She wrinkled her nose, but that was the only outward sign of displeasure at either of those things. "I suspect he might be in bed," she said thoughfully. "Justin and Trace chased him out of his cosy spot by the fire, but I think he may have found his way upstairs." She hesitated for a moment, then said, grudgingly. "The lights were awfully pretty. And he has a nice singing voice." And really, that was more than Chris could have expected from her, at this point.

He reached out and tugged gently at the bottom of her braid. "He does sing well," he nodded, giving her another real smile. "And I'm very glad you're getting along with him better. He's a very nice boy, Manda, really." He tugged again, then let go. "I think I'm ready for those warm rolls. Especially if there's any honey left to put on them? And don't forget, you and AJ are still to be watching the young lord's house come sundown. I need to know when he usually returns from his supper."

"We haven't forgotten," she assured him. "Or I haven't, and AJ never forgets anything, though he's off on another errand right now and so I can't ask to be sure." She patted him on the shoulder and stepped back. "I'll be right back with those rolls, and I *know* that we salvaged some of the honey." Chris was very sure he didn't want to know what she meant by "salvaged", but it was a foregone conclusion that he'd eaten much worse in his time, no matter what it was.

He waited a few moments for her to return, but when someone approached him again it wasn't Manda, but Nick. "I was told you wanted these," he said, handing over two rolls. His voice was mercifully soft. "I took one for myself, too. I haven't eaten yet."

"You? Missed a meal?" Chris raised his eyebrows disbelievingly. "You must have been sleeping VERY hard." He kicked a stool so it slid gently in Nick's direction, a silent invitation to sit down, and started smearing only slightly dusty honey on his rolls. "Did you have a good time last night? You looked very comfortable, by the fire."

"Mmm," Nick murmured contentedly, taking a seat. "I decided it was better to stay put rather than risk walking in on someone who didn't want to be interrupted. It seems to be the custom here to pair with someone at the end of a gathering. There was one lovely young thing, but some young man I didn't know swooped in and claimed her. I think he worked for Joey, so she probably got the better end of that deal. It was very late, before everyone stumbled upstairs or home."

"It generally is, at one of these parties." Chris took a bite of the roll, and chewed carefully, trying not to move his aching head too much. His stomach was a little restless, but he hoped the roll would help. "And I'm not sure you can call it a custom, the coupling up, but it's certainly becoming a tradition. Especially when both Joe and I are present, with our apprentices. Too bad for the girl, though, I think she probably missed out." He smiled at Nick and toasted him a little with the teacup, before drinking the rest of it quickly.

Nick smiled back and blushed, even as he shook his head. "I may enjoy it," he said, the first time he'd really admitted that overtly, "but I'm certainly no expert yet. I can't even..." He couldn't even seem to finish the sentence with the right words. "There are some things I don't even do yet. Though she was a girl and I do have some more experience with that. I don't know as much as I thought I did, though. Did you and... did you have a nice night?"

"Yes, we did," Chris said, a little reserved about that for the first time with Nick. He was never sure how to gauge Nick's reactions to him and Joey, not since Nick had seen them kissing outside and misinterpreted. "It was lovely, and too short, and frankly I need about three more hours of sleep before I am civil." He grimaced an apology, and scrubbed his hands through his short hair. "I know better than to drink so much ale. I'm sure you're sweet, Nick, and would be a delight for her or anyone to be with. Experience isn't everything, you know, or skill. Sometimes it's good to just be with someone you genuinely like, no matter what they do or don't do."

Nick smiled shyly and looked down a moment. "I'm sure that's true," he said. "As a matter of fact, I know it to be true. But I'm equally sure that's not what she was looking for last night, so it probably all worked out for the best. I got some desperately needed sleep and she got... well, you know." He gobbled down the rest of his roll and looked like he could do with about a half dozen more. "What are you working on? Is it anything I can help with?"

"Just maps," Chris slid one over to him so he could see. "The day after tomorrow we have a big job planned, so everyone needs maps. Since I've been in the building, and on the roofs around, I'm making them." He looked at his copy with some pride. "Now, if I can just keep the boys from doing stupid daredevil things, the job should go smooth as silk. And make me a whole lot of money, really, since it's a contracted job and I've already got a buyer for the take." He offered his remaining roll to Nick, since his stomach had decided that one was really enough.

Nick snatched it up quickly, even as he studied Chris's map, trying to take it all in. He reached out with one finger and lightly traced the boundaries of it. "This is the balcony here," he said, tapping it gently, then tracing a line into the room with his finger. "And this... this is a door, but what's this symbol that you've used here? I don't recognize it."

Chris looked vaguely embarrassed. "None of us can write, so I've made codes for common things I need people to remember. That one there is 'silence', because the manservant's quarters are just next door. It's a signal that anyone in that room must not make a single sound. Here, see," he pointed to the part of the map that was a lower floor. "That one means dogs. It's where they keep the hounds. And the goal, the target, if we know its location it gets this." He pointed to a third symbol.

"Teach me all of them," said Nick excitedly, bending closer to the map, obviously so that he could see it better. "Silence... dogs... target... okay, so what's this one?" He poked at another one, on a door near where their target was. "Wait, let me guess, does that one mean locked? Is it locked?"

Chis nodded, grinning at him. "That one's locked, yes. And see, right here? It's a manor house, so they have guards, and these two places are where they stand." He pointed to another one. "I've got all the unlocked exit doors drawn in yellow, you see? So that everyone who goes in will have options if things get completely fucked." He shrugged a little. "This map is mostly for fun, though, or in case things go bad and I need rescue. I'm the only one going inside on this job. But I like drawing them."

Nick was still studying the map intently, face just about pressed up against it now as he leaned over it. "This is really good," he said. "It looks really good. That's the first step towards a successful execution -- simplicity and organization. And anything can be made simple by breaking it down into pieces." It sounded very much like something Nick had been learning for many years.

"Funny how I tell my apprentices that and they don't listen," Chris commented idly, watching Nick look at his map. "No, no, I'm kidding, they listen. It's really the only time they don't, but they never argue with me when it comes to work." He realized that his headache was almost unnoticeable now. "See, I'm going to go in there-" he pointed at a balcony door, "-because it'll keep me in the house the least amount of time. That's the goal, to be in and out as fast as possible."

"How are you going to get in there?" said Nick curiously. "Is that why the tree is drawn onto that map? Or is that just your protection from being seen? Or is that even a tree? It looks like a tree..."

"I'm glad to see my artwork is appreciated," Chris said, sighing and pulling the map back. "It's a tree, yes, but it's nowhere near close enough to the house for me to get in that way. They're more sensible than that. I'm going up this wall here, then the window casement, see? And up one more, I've got a rope for that, and then in the balcony." He traced the route with his finger, imagining it in his mind, clean precise steps falling into place like clockwork. He always imagined jobs going like that. Sometimes it even worked.

"It looks very difficult," Nick admitted, pulling back from the map, and rubbing his eyes for a moment. "I don't think I could do that, I'm far too clumsy. When are you doing it?"

"Tomorrow night, if all goes well," Chris said, taking the map back and leaning in to look at Nick's eyes. "What's the matter? Do your eyes hurt from the smoke?" The fire wasn't smoking much, though.

Nick chuckled softly and shook his head. "No, it's just from looking close to see your map," he said. "I'm fine. I should've brought some more light, that would've made it easier. For both of us, probably."

"Probably," Chris agreed. "Oh, I wanted to thank you for the lights. Last night, they were so perfect for the party, they made everything lovely. I know it was easy for you, but for the apprentices, it was truly special. So thank you." He rubbed Nick's shoulder for a moment, grateful, then pulled back again.

Nick look so pleased, though, that he'd said it. It wasn't nothing. "It was my pleasure, really," he insisted. "There's not a lot I can do around here, so if I can do anything little things like that... it's special for me, too. Did Justin tell you what we were working on together? With the lights?"

"He mentioned something, but he was being coy about it. Something about lights, and how I'd be amazed, and how smart you were." Justin had blurted it on the fly, and Chris had laughed, and not taken it very seriously. "What ARE you doing with the lights? Nothing inflammatory, I hope."

"Oh no, no," said Nick quickly. "No, of course not. You see, Justin told me that it would be really helpful to have those lights on jobs, and *I* said that I didn't think that would be useful at all, because you couldn't turn them off, and because they were tied to me to keep them going. But then I got to thinking about how I could get around those things, and I think maybe I have something."

"Yeah?" Chris leaned forward, very interested suddenly. "you think you can find a way to turn them on and off, and for us to bring the lights with us? Because once in a while, it gets very tiring, working in the pitch blackness. And fire is unreliable and dangerous." He flashed through a couple of memories of being stuck in a black hole with no light, and shook his head. "Very useful. Very, very useful. If you come up with something that works, it'll be a huge help to us."

"I think I have," said Nick. "But I don't want to say for sure yet, because it's untested. I could show you, if you like. Would you like? All I need is a feather..."

"A feather?" Chris looked at him sideways, then reached out and pulled a goose quill from his ear, grinning when Nick blinked. "The hand is faster than the eye," he intoned, handing the feather over.

Nick grinned at him, looking positively gleeful. "You're not going to get this back, though. I just want to be sure you know that. The reason it's a feather is that they're so light they can float."

"You can have it, I've got more," Chris nodded at him, watching curiously. "Don't you want to wait a while before you sing more? You were rubbing your throat last night, it looked like it was a little sore after all those songs."

"Oh, this is nothing," insisted Nick. "It's still a very simple thing to do, almost as simple as the ones I made last night." He flipped the feather around in his fingers for a moment, then thrust it into the candle flame until it caught fire. Chris almost instinctively stopped him, but half a moment later Nick was singing softly and the fire was wrapping in on itself, into a ball, what remained of the feather on the inside. He let go and it hovered in the air, bobbing around and looking no different than any of the others he'd made.

Nick looked at him and smiled proudly. "Now blow on it." Chris eyed him and the bobbing ball of light suspiciously. "No, really, blow on it!" Nick insisted. Chris did, and the ball of light was extinguished, the feather floating back down and landing on the map. Nick looked pleased, like that was exactly what was supposed to happen. "Now blow on it again!" Chris didn't question him this time, he just did it. The ball of light came to life again, and bobbed back up into the air.

"Oh," he said, and couldn't stop grinning, and clapped his hands, and almost danced in place, hangover forgotten. "And will it follow me? Or does it need to stay by you? Either way, Nick, what a fantastic idea! How many times will it go off and on? Can I just carry the feather with me wherever I go?" He wasn't even thinking when he leaned in and gave Nick a smacking kiss on the mouth, just as he would do to Joey if Joey had come to him with good news.

Nick just kept on grinning broadly, taking it in stride. "It's separate from me now," he said proudly. "It's more like mixing a potion than the magics I've been doing so far. I put the magic into the feather, you see, so now other people can use it, not just me. You can take it with you, or give it to someone else, or anything. It won't last forever, but it takes so little power to make such a small light it should last a very long time. And it'll get dimmer before it stops working, so you'll have warning. And I can make them in different colours and brightnesses too..."

Chris shook his head, impressed almost to the point of speechlessness. Not quite, though, and he blew on his feather again, watching it light and then extinguish. "A feather," he said, admiringly. "And it sounds simple when you explain it like that, but no one's ever thought of this but you. I've seen magic lamps before, but only for mages to use." He grinned wider. "Amazing."

Nick even bounced a little bit. "I love discovering things like this," he said eagerly. "Now, there might be unexpected complications, I don't know for sure yet until we use it for a little while, but it seems to me like it works. I had to experiment with a few things until I discovered that blowing on it was reliable. Because you blow on a flame to make it burn brighter, but you also blow on it to extinguish it, right? When you're working with magics like this, you have to consider the integral properties of all their parts and... " He chuckled softly. "And you propably aren't interested in another other than the fact that it's working."

"No, I am," Chris shook his head a little, gesturing for Nick to go on. "I understand, I think, you have to take the essential nature of the elements into account when you're figuring out what might work and what might not. I understand." He blew on the feather one more time, putting it out, and then gingerly reached out and grabbed it. It was cool and entire in his hand, and even when he stuffed it in his pocket nothing happened. "Now what happens if someone blows into my pocket?"

Nick's eyes got even brighter when it was clear to him that Chris understood what he was talking about. Chris wondered if maybe no one ever really had before, or if he'd even had the chance to find out. "You have to blow with intent," he said. "It's like the way I can sing, and not be performing magic. That's how I made it, you have to intend to use it and know how for it to work."

"I don't know if I like a feather being able to read my mind and intent," Chris teased, grinning. "What if I'm not entirely SURE I want light? Will the feather be able to tell?" He took it back out and waved it in Nick's face, brushing his nose, which wrinkled adorably. "This is a damn smart feather! Almost as smart as you are, Nicky. Not quite, of course, but close."

"If you blow on the feather and you're not sure you want light?" said Nick, grinning back, "It's not the feather that's smart, it's you that's dumb!" He nudged Chris's shoulder with his own, then laughed softly and ducked his head.

Chris snickered at him and thumped his shoulder lightly. "That's right, go calling me names, boy. I'll squash you!" He waved the feather again, mock-threatening, and then with a quick gesture, made it disappear instantly. "Uh oh. Lost the magic feather." He made a great show of patting himself down, then Nick, laughing at the faces Nick was making.

"How do you *do* that?" he asked delightedly, squirming, trying to see where Chris was going to inevitably pull it out of. "It just vanishes!" For a moment they ended up nose to nose, and Nick ducked in to kiss him fleetingly before giving him a bright grin. "If you lose that feather for real, you're not getting another, you know..."

"It's magic," Chris intoned, matching him grin for grin before placing the feather in Nick's hand, pulled seemingly out of thin air. He stared right into smiling blue eyes and felt his own smile fall away, and his breath come a little short, and something almost desperate catch his throat tight, and then he was surging forward ungracefully and cupping Nick's face in his hands, bringing their mouths together in a sweet crush that almost stopped his heart.

Nick, bless his heart, was smoother about it than Chris had been, curling his fingers around the feather and wrapping the other arm 'round Chris's back and kissing him in return, just as sweetly as Chris had imagined he would. And Chris *had* imagined how he would kiss, no point in pretending he hadn't. But he hadn't imagined how Nick's lips would part and how he would suck in a tiny, gasping breath, and how he would then press their mouths together again, his tongue tracing Chris's upper lip.

Chris's fingers relaxed a little as they slipped into Nick's soft hair, winding it through and around and gripping just lightly. And he kept his eyes open, watching Nick's lashes flutter, so pale at the tips they were almost white. So pretty. And he tasted like honey, when Chris finally slipped his tongue inside to tangle with Nick's, wet and hot and sweet, and then Chris was making a little gasp of his own and drawing back, hands shaking as they dropped from Nick's hair.

Nick didn't look shaken as his eyes fluttered back open and he gave Chris a slow smile. But he was a little breathless. "That was nice," he said, and licked his lips, and it took all of Chris's self control not to do it all again. Nick uncurled his fist and blew on the feather and the sphere of light bobbed to life again, hovering over Chris's work. "You should show me more of your maps, now that we have light," Nick said innocuously. "Light and a few minutes where you don't need to be anywhere else. And then we can get some more to eat, because my tummy's going to start begging soon, I think."

"We can't have that," Chris said inanely, trying to pull himself together. "Your begging days are over, remember? So we should get that food soon." He steadied his hands, and reached into the drawer for his favorite map, the big one that he'd been working on for over two years. It was the whole city, drawn out in exacting detail, with different colors and little illustrations in the corners, elaborate and, Chris thought, beautiful. He unfolded it and laid it out for Nick, smoothing it carefully. "See, here we are." He placed his finger on the tiny drawing of his house.

"You did this?" said Nick, his mouth dropping open as he leaned in to examine the map. "*You* did this, Chris? I've never seen anything like it! Not even in father's war room, and he boasted he had the best maps in the region! This is so astonishing...." His fingers traced the curving streets of their neighborhood, past Joey's house, out to the river docks and along the river. "Have you been everywhere? Have you seen everything?"

"I've lived here my whole life," Chris nodded, "and I've only added things I've seen myself." He was grinning like a fool at the praise, he knew, but it was wonderful, getting to show his map to an appreciative audience. "See, I was born here, I think," he put his finger down on the riverside slums and warrens of the very poor, "and that," he moved his finger a fraction, "is where I met Joey, before we'd joined our guilds. And here," he touched another spot, "is your bridge. The one where your shoes were stolen."

Nick scowled about the shoes, but his eyes were still wide and fascinated. "That bridge was good to me, mostly. Keep the snow off and the wind out." He licked his lips again as he studied it closely, so close his breath ruffled the paper. "I hardly know this city at all. I knew my home very well, though. When I was young I could go out in the woods on our land and never get lost. I... I suppose I should stop calling it "our" land, huh? So you and Joey... you've known each other a long time..."

"Many years," Chris nodded. "We've taken care of each other for a very long time. But it took us years to learn the city, and it will likely not take you half as long, since you'll have guides and maps for your wanderings." He tapped his finger on the map. "Just because you live here now, does not mean you have to forget where you were before," he pointed out, as gently as he knew how. "It's where you were born and part of you. This is not instead of your old home, it's in addition to. And someday I'm sure you'll be able to go back, if you choose."

"I don't think so," said Nick, and as always when he talked about his former home, he sounded sad. "It's not the place I thought it was. I think it's better to have the good memories of it, than to go back and face the reality of who those people were. I have a good home here, better than I could expect and better than many." He gave Chris another smile, shakier this time. "It's very kind of you to suggest that home was still mine, but I believe that to be something in the past now, and better left there."

"Whatever you say," Chris said, nodding. He had had more than one apprentice with no desire to think of their pasts, and he always respected those decisions. "In any event, you DO have a home here. And I forgot, you've earned your first week's pay." He dug in his desk again and came out with two gold coins, which he handed to Nick solemnly. "There. Buy ale with it, buy fancy clothes, do what you like. It's yours." And it was a strange feeling, since he did not pay his apprentices, at least not in coin.

Nick took them hesitantly, a strange look on his face. He flipped them over each other in his hand. "During my first weeks here," he said finally, "before I met you, I longed for the kind of coin I had when I was in my father's house. Now I have coin again and I haven't the faintest idea what I want to use it for. Except, perhaps, to buy shoes that are my own." He pocketed the money. "Thank you," he said. "Do you want me to make more of the lights, for your apprentices? I would recommend you use them around home for a while before taking them out, to be sure they work as intended."

"Make some for all of them, if you can," Chris nodded, closing and locking his money drawer again. "I definitely want them to become accustomed before relying on the lights for a job. They can play with them here in the house, and find out how they can best be used." He stretched, feeling the tension of sleeping in a strange position pulling across his shoulders, and the stiff neck of too much drinking not helping a bit. "Now, you mentioned food, did you not?"

Nick's rumbling stomach answered for him, and he gave Chris a sheepish grin. "Yeah, you had to mention food, didn't you. Now my tummy will never let it go. You want to go down to the kitchen and have something with me, to quiet this beast down?" He squeezed Chris's shoulder as he stood up. "Has Joey gone already?"

"Joey left early, with most of his crew," Chris nodded. "He never stays long, he likes having his own house and things around him. I'll join you for some food, since my own stomach has stopped rocking like a small boat in a big ocean." He rubbed it gingerly; it stayed calm. "Let's go quiet your beastly tummy. And after that, when Justin returns it's off to the warehouse with you both. Don't forget, I need that silver sorted."

"I haven't forgotten," said Nick, and he even looked *eager* to be doing it. Anyone else, Chris figured he might have had to issue threats. Which is probably why it had been left so long as it was. "It'll be a couple days before I can cast the wards there, though, if that's all right. I'll want to be at full strength, and that's still taking me more time than it ought to." He stomach made noises again, as though to express just *why* it was taking him so much time.

"Yes, we want you back at full strength first," Chris nodded, smiling at Nick's importunate stomach. "Come on. Let's get you fed, before the noise brings dogs down on us. I'm sure there is still plenty of food left from last night, and if Justin paid the bill properly there should be fresh bread. After that I'm going to sleep for a bit longer." His head was still heavy and feeling a little slow, and he knew rest would be the only cure. "Joseph snores," he added. "And Justin, AJ and Jace were next door. It was not a restful night, I should have slept down here on the floor with you."

"You would have had a late night, if you had," Nick warned him. "And there were a few who hadn't rooms to go to before they started their..." He cleared his throat politely. "Amorous attentions. I might've preferred to have been in the room with the lovely threesome, had I known. At least I would have had a bed." Chris wondered if his night would have gone differently, had he believed Nick to be in the next room, and not just a noisy trio of lustful boys.

"So you got a show too," Chris nodded with a smile. "And you looked quite comfortable down here this morning when I looked in. It was warm, at least. And if you were in the room with those three, I doubt if you would have escaped without some play. They were at the very least extremely energetic." He made it into the kitchen, hiding his yawn in his hand, not-thinking about the kiss and Nick and the way his hair turned gold in the sunlight through the kitchen window.

"That doesn't surprise me," said Nick, nodding his head. "Justin's been with me for some nights now. I'm sure he was aching for the things I couldn't give him. Once I was alone, I slept well, yes. Warmer than I've been in some time, I think, even with another body to warm my bed. I'm finally beginning to feel rested again. I haven't really felt rested in a long time now. Shall I get you something to eat? What would you like?"

"Just oatmeal," Chris slumped into a chair, yawning wider and rolling his shoulders to ease the ache. "I may be feeling better, but not better enough for anything too exotic. And I think the sauce on that ham definitely qualifies." He watched Nick move around the kitchen, noted the little bounce in his step, the sure way his hands reached for things. "You are looking better. Less worn down and brittle. Even your hair looks more lively."

Nick glanced back over his shoulder. "You're looking at my hair?" he asked, grinning, before turning back to what he was doing and bringing Chris back a bowl of oatmeal, with a touch of sugar, even. And one for himself, turned out. "I'm gonna take it easy, too," he explained. "My stomach is ambitious, but I'm not sure how pleased my body will be with spices and heavy meats right now." He cut up an sweet apple into his oatmeal and started shoveling it down.

"You ate those meat pies quickly enough, and the venison pastries," Chris pointed out. "Or did you have more to drink last night than I thought? You're certainly perky enough, I assumed you hadn't been even a little tipsy." The oatmeal was perfect, warm and smooth and untroubling to his stomach, and Nick had inhaled his entire bowlful before Chris had taken more than three bites. "Go ahead, help yourself to whatever," Chris chuckled.

"People kept giving me drinks," Nick admitted, getting himself another bowl. His cheeks flushed only slightly. "I lost count, and woke this morning with a troubled head. Finding my bed and sleeping longer fixed it, though. But I don't think it would be wise to tempt fate." He rubbed his own stomach and made a face. "I'll fill my belly with oatmeal and fruit, and wait until we come back from the warehouse to try anything else, except perhaps some bread. Do you want anything else? Water? Tea?"

"Go easy on the fruit," Chris advised. "And I've had enough tea for today, I believe. Any more and I won't be able to get that nap once you and Justin leave for the warehouse. Where is that boy? The butcher's is just down the block, and the other errand shouldn't have taken him so long." He grinned at Nick. "People kept giving you drinks because they wanted to be sure you were having a good time. It was your party, after all, and you being the guest of honor, it would have been a shame if you weren't at least a little merry."

"Oh, I seem to recall being very merry," chuckled Nick. "I'm still convinced that most of the people there had no idea that it was in my honour, though. They just wanted to have a good time, and they got that, and I'm certainly happy to be in the background of it all." He sat down again and started shoveling food in. Growing boys. Chris should probably try to find a few more *girls* in his next bunch of kidlets. "I'm. Um. I'm glad you liked your offering. And I'm almost equally glad I don't have to worry about it anymore. Really, I'd make a terrible thief."

"You don't seem to have the heart for it," Chris admitted willingly enough. "But your talents lie elsewhere, and there are more than enough of them to make up for any reluctance you might have to thieve for a living. And when it counted, you stole brilliantly." He reached into the secret pocket and touched the pin with a fingertip, smiling into his oatmeal. "I thought your offering was perfect." He took another careful bite, while Nick was almost done with his second bowl.

"It just felt right," said Nick, with a modest shrug. "Justin said I was really clever, how I did it. I kind of thought I took the easy way out, using a bit of magic. But he said he never woulda thought of that, even if he *could* do magic himself." He glanced up at the door, as though Justin was standing right there, but when Chris turned he wasn't. "You said Justin was just running errands for you?" he said. "You know, he probably stopped at Joey's. Either to see Jace or to say hi to Joey himself."

"No," Chris shook his head. "Not when he was supposed to get back to meet us here. Justin's a little wild, but he's responsible when it comes to his work. At least, when he knows I can catch him." He smiled a little at Nick. "He probably wouldn't have thought of that, nope. But he would have gone at it a completely different direction, I'm sure, and come out with a similar result. The two of you are very, very different thinkers."

"Very, very different," Nick agreed with him. "He's good enough, he probably could've snatched it right out from under her nose, that's how different." Chris felt a now-familiar ring in his head, of someone passing into the house who didn't belong. But he wasn't expecting anyone. "Are you okay?" Nick was asking him, reading the look on his face.

"Someone's home, someone not one of-" he broke off and stood, heading for the door, only to stop and rock back on his heels when the sight of Justin's face hit him like a blow.

Justin's eyes were swollen shut, one more than the other, and his lip was puffy. His nose was still dripping blood, and he looked half-dead, swaying where he stood. But stepping out from behind him where he'd shut the door...

"Colin," Chris said, rage trembling barely contained under his words. "What happened to Justin? Nick, grab him, get him inside on the couch. We need something cold to bring down the swelling. You." He couldn't even get past that word.

"Hey, hey!" said Colin, raising his hands as Nick swept Justin away. Chris trusted Nick to look after him right. "This wasn't none of my doing, Chris, you oughtta know that. I got my principles. But my boys... they get carried away some o' the time..."

"Your boys follow the example they're set," Chris ground out, following Justin and Nick after a moment and not caring much if Colin followed him, needing to make sure that Justin was all right. Also not caring if they overheard what he wanted to say. "Your boys...I have put up with a lot from you." He paused, froze for a second when an achingly familiar touch brushed his shoulder, then kept moving, following into the parlor where Justin was already lying. "I have, for the sake of years gone, but this is too much."

"Now, Chris," said Colin, right at his shoulder. "You know well there's always a few you can't control. A few who like to make up their rules as they go. An' sometimes they're just so brilliant you don' wanna cut 'em loose. Now. Did'n I make sure your tyke made it back all right?"

"I haven't had trouble cutting someone like that loose in years." Chris felt the ice in his chest, cold around the pain, harden and spread. "Someone like that should be cut loose and cast away, no matter how brilliant, because with them around things like this happen, bloody and stupid and dangerous." He dropped his hand into Justin's curls, bent over him. "Justin, are you all right? You awake in there, boy?"

"Mfine," Justin mumbled, eyes barely slitted open but focused on Chris. "Dunthurt abit. notta sissygirl, been beat worsan dis afore."

"Shhh," said Nick, pressing a finger lightly to Justin's lip. "You just lay here, I'm gonna get a cold cloth, I'll take care of you."

"You look all right, tyke," said Colin, ruffling Justin's curls then backing away quickly, as though he knew Chris would give him a good hard smack for it. He probably did, he probably knew exactly what Chris was planning to do. "You're a tough one, fer sure. Could use a guy like you on my crew."

"I'm afraid Justin's already on a crew." Chris stood up again, facing Colin and taking a deep breath before looking him in the eyes. Those dark, snapping, merry eyes, still laughing now, still beautiful. And Colin looked good, lean and strong and fit, no taller than Chris, still. But Chris let the cold place spread and take him over, and he balled his fists to keep from swinging at that smile. "This is the final step, Colin, boyo. You should know better, and from personal experience, then to damage one of my children."

"S'why I'm here!" he said, good humor -- or appearance of it -- still firmly in place. "Good faith, Chris, good faith. My most sincere apologies, for what happened to the tyke here. It was certainly never my intention that he be harmed, particularly not ever by one of *my* boys. Would I be here totherwise?"

"Probably," Chris said, through the first hint of uncertainty that was creeping in despite his anger. "Yes, you would, for whatever reason of your own. You've been snooping around my home, stealing my takes, questioning my apprentices. You can smile that smile at me all you like, snap your fingers and run your tricks, but I'll not be buying it this time. Too much water under a burned-out bridge." He glanced back, saw Nick pressing a cloth to Justin's face. "This is carelessness that I will not forgive."

"Aw, the tyke'll forgive me, though, won't you?" cajoled Colin before turning back to Chris. "I think you and me, we got business to discuss in private, don't ya think, Chris? The littles will be fine, they'll take care of each other."

Nick whispered something to Justin, then drew himself to his full height, significantly more than either Chris or Colin. "I'd take care who I called a little," he said. Chris could tell that he was deepening his voice a little, but Colin wouldn't know. "Chris, do you need me to take care of him?"

"Isn't that sweet," Colin said, all but cooing at him. "But there'll be no need. This is just business."

Chris shook his head a little at Nick, unwilling to tell him to back down, though he knew Colin could have had him flat and unconscious in a matter of seconds. "No, Nick. It's business." He fought down the twinge at that, the same one that had kept him from pursuing matters before they got so out of hand. Colin had not been his love and life for years now, and he braced himself to stay cold. "We'll just step over here. Nick, we're leaving the door open, call if you need me." Some things WERE private, but knowing that Nick was in earshot and easy vision would hopefully help him stay firm. Looking into Colin's smiling, warm, unmarked face, and then back at Justin's bloody one, Chris thought maybe the witnesses would keep him from trying something stupid as well.

"You take care of the tyke, now, Nick," said Colin with cocky familiarity as he following Chris. "Ah, Chris, it's good to see you. This place brings back memories, don't it?"

Chris tipped a noncommittal shoulder, and leaned on his desk, folding his arms, meeting Colin's gaze as evenly as he could. "I'm sorry I can't say I'm as glad to see you. What brings you back around these parts, sniffing around, interfering in my business? You were gone clean, and could have stayed gone, with none missing you."

"Aw, now don't be that way, Chris. You know I didn't mean for the tyke to be hurt, I told ya already. Was just a terrible misunderstanding." He made himself comfortable in the room, like he had so many times before. "Now, for the rest, I ain't been interfering, Chris. You been doin yer business and we've been doing ours. It just seems like your business and our business been crossing, from time to time."

"I can't imagine misunderstanding somthing so completely that a boy gets beaten within an inch of his life," Chris said smoothly, coldly, arching a brow. "Then again, I suppose I shouldn't expect more from someone who allows his crews to cross the quarter boundaries. This is your warning, boy, so heed it. If you want to branch out, go after Constantine in the North Quarter or Angelika in the stews, but stay out of the East, or I'll have your scalp for my wall. Are we clear?"

"We ain't never *been* not clear," insisted Colin, leaning forward, legs spread wide. "The only thing that we're maybe not clear on, Scruffy, is just where those quarter boundaries fall." He let his mouth spread into a grin. "You maybe got a map we can look at?"

Chis didn't want to show Colin the map, show him how much it had grown and how much it showed of Chris's free time. But perhaps Colin was right, and the boundaries had shifted since he was last running the rooftops. Shrugging, Chris pulled out the map again, spreading it as carefully as he always did. "East," he said, tracing the boundaries from the Market to the dockside, from two streets past the Green Feather and up again to the courthouse. "This is mine, and you don't set foot here."

"That's an awful big chunk you're claiming there, Scruffy," Colin said, peering at the map eagerly. But not the same way Nick had, not at all. "You sure you and your tykes can handle it all?"

"Don't call me Scruffy," Chris snapped, then reined himself back. "We've been handling it fine for the last two years. It's the East quarter, set out in guild rules, and it's mine for the having as senior master in this city." He ran a fond thumb over the drawing of his house, before refolding the map and smoothing it flat. "If you want to stay I can't stop you, yet. But you stay away from mine. No more...'misunderstandings.' And keep out of this house."

"You *used* to enjoy my company," Colin reminded him. He wasn't making any suggestive gestures, but just the way he was sitting was an obvious reminded of what they'd once been, intentional or not. "Have things really changed that much, Chris?"

"Things have. Did you think I was here, waiting breathless for your return, pining away?" Chris forced a little laugh. "You flatter yourself. I've no need nor desire for your company these days." He finally met Colin's eyes again. "So I'll have your word, if it means anything to you, that you'll stay off and away."

"Well, I wouldn't have thought *breathless*," said Colin, with something that resembled earnestness. "And not even waiting. But I didn't think my welcome here would ever be so cold. Regrettable accidents aside."

"Regrettable acciden-" Chris broke off, and rubbed the bridge of his nose to ease his returning headache, and to yank his attention from the way Colin's hand was reaching towards him. "Your welcome here is what you've made it. And now..." he stood, hoping his body language was clear, "it's time for you to leave. Thank you for returning Justin, no matter the reason he was injured. Let it happen again to a legitimate messenger and I'll kill you myself. We've nothing more to say."

"Pity," said Colin, but he seemed to be getting the idea he wasn't going to worm his way back into Chris's good graces again. Chris wasn't entirely sure he'd expected to. "Looks like our business is concluded then. Take care o' yourself, Chris. I'll be seeing you around, then. I'm sure you know where." He stood up and gave Chris a wink and he was on his way.

Chris watched him go, habit strong as ever, and closed the door gently behind him, before hurrying back to Nick and Justin. Justin's one eyes was completely shut, but the other looked better, and the bleeding had stopped. He was lying on the couch stiff and careful, though, like moving hurt him, and he was holding Nick's hand so tightly his knuckles were white.

"Justin, hey." Chris pulled up a stool. "How is he," he asked Nick, when Justin didn't say anything.

Nick looked a bit wiped out too, Chris realized when he looked at him. "He'll be okay," Nick said confidently. "I... I made him something to drink. You know? Something to... help him." He ran his fingers gently over Justin's forehead, and Chris understood in a flash that Nick had whipped up a healing elixer for Justin to drink, when he obviously didn't have the strength build up yet to do it without any strain on himself. "He's fine, in the head. And the rest will have to heal on its own. He should sleep, though, unless there are things you need to ask?"

"No, I can find out who did this when he wakes up." Chris rubbed a thumb over Justin's chin, fondly. "Nick...he wasn't fine? In the head, before you made him the potion? And damn it, I should be scolding you for pushing so hard again, but I can't. Not for this." He sighed, bit down on his tongue to keep the leaping rage inside and controlled, and stood. "You should rest, too. Go, back to bed with you, by way of the kitchen. There'll be no working for you two today."

Nick shook his head, though, even as Justin drifted off into slumber. "I'm happy not to have to work today, I'm not sure my head would be in it, but I can't sleep, not right now. I'm a little too..." He waved his hand vaguely. "Up," he finished finally, looking unsatisfied with the word. "I'm not a healer, I couldn't tell what happened with him. But he was talking nonsense and I wanted to be sure his brains weren't addled. It was a bit of a quick and dirty drink, used more of myself than I ought, but I didn't feel like I had much choice."

"You did well," Chris said, tugging Nick gently away from Justin and pressing him down onto the other couch. "I'm getting us tea, and you need more food, no doubt, and it will be good for us both to settle, just a bit. Stay put." When he got back with the steaming mugs and tray of food, Nick hadn't moved an inch.

He smiled when Chris returned to his side. "Smells good," he murmured, making room for Chris to sit. "So that was Colin, was it? And from the look of you, he didn't say anything you wanted to hear. If it was him did that to Justin, I can magic up some very nasty things to happen to him, and damn the consequences..."

"No," Chris responded reflexively, then thought about it, and repeated "no," a little more slowly, with a sigh. "He didn't do this to Justin, though he's responsible somewhat for the actions of his people. He's just..." Chris shrugged helplessly. "But anyway, I don't want you using magic for harm. No matter what the circumstances, unless your life is in danger. There is no quicker way to draw attention to yourself than that."

"Those being the consequences that I was damning," said Nick solemnly. He very clearly knew what he was getting into, if he did anything; Chris hadn't realized until now just *how* fiercely loyal Nick had become to them. "But I won't." He did look at Chris curiously as he sipped his tea, his head even tilting to the side. "You don't look at all at ease. Is it just Justin you're worried about?"

Chris tried to smile, but his face didn't quite cooperate. "Colin and I, we have history." He turned his cup around and around in his hands. "Seeing him is always difficult, and moreso because I know I can't trust myself to see clearly around him. He's only a few years younger than I am, but he was once an apprentice here as well." This smile at Nick was a little more successful. "He is the prime reason for my rule about fraternization."

Nick gave him a bit of a knowing look and nodded his head. "So I've heard," he admitted. Apprentices talked, after all; Chris should have known that. "Sometimes it's hard to believe how people can turn out to be not who you thought they were. Or more who you suspected they might be, in some cases." He sipped his tea thoughtfully. "I think it's a good decision, not to fraternize with anyone in your charge," he added finally. "It's a different sort of relationship, after all, whether you are friends or not. Becoming lovers with someone puts you on the same level, something that it's difficult to do successfully with a student, I would think."

"Yes," Chris nodded, tucking his feet up underneath him and trying to get comfortable. "He wasn't a true apprentice, because he'd had experience in another guild house. I should have been more careful about investigating why exactly he'd left them, though he told me it was simply because he missed the city. He was...he was a brilliant thief, and completely uncontrollable. More so after we became lovers." Chris ducked his head a little as memories of the blinding adoration he'd had swept over him. "It was a mistake. One I won't make again, in any event." He shook himself, and leaned in to look at Justin. "How long will he sleep, do you think?"

"A long time," said Nick, with such certainly that Chris figured it was part of the drink that Nick had given him. "Long enough for his body to start healing itself. He'll be useless to you until tomorrow at the earliest, at any rate." Nick was watching Justin carefully, but seemed to relax as Justin breathed evenly and appeared to be as comfortable as possible. "I don't envy you, you know," he said. "Having to balance your position of power, with trying to find the things that will make you happy. I'm only just learning to be able to pursue the things that I want in my life, and already I know that it would be a sacrifice to give them up. Not," he added, "that I'm not already well accustomed to making sacrifices in pursuit of things that I think are important."

"I guess the important thing is what those sacrifices are made for," Chris mused, watching Justin sleep and wincing a little at his battered face. "I have a wonderful position here, and wonderful people, so I don't see the burden as being so heavy. Joey, now, he thinks I am crazy." He smiled a little. "Joey's idea of sacrifice is somewhat different than mine, I think. But still, we all must make them. And learn from the mistakes we make along the way." Colin's smile teased his memory, and he refocused on Nick to banish the image. "You should eat, and recover. Today, you both will rest."

"And you as well," said Nick, reaching for Chris's leg but not so fast that Chris couldn't move further away if he wanted to. Which he wasn't sure he did. "Let me rub your knees again. You know it relaxes you." And despite the moment they'd shared earlier in the day, the offer seemed innocent enough. "I'll eat more shortly, believe me. I think, given half a chance, I might never stop eating these days. How long was Colin with you?"

"A little over two years, and he's been gone almost as long as he was here," Chris said, straightening his leg carefully to give Nick's hands more room. "I thought for a long time that he was my life-gift from the gods, and even now, I can't hate him. Not truly. He was a brilliant thief, and so clever, my perfect match in every way." He sighed as Nick's fingers started to rub, and leaned back, so tired. "Or I thought so at the time. His more glaring character flaws didn't show up until later."

"The gods must have something else in mind for you, then," said Nick, putting his hands to work. It seem to relax him to *do* it, so Chris couldn't feel too guilty. "Clearly he wasn't a perfect enough match. Sometimes, it's wiser to be with someone who complements you, not with someone who is so similiar to you." He met Chris's eyes and gave him a soft, self-deprecating laugh. "I read that somewhere," he confessed. "Obviously I don't have the experience to back it up. But it makes sense."

"It does," Chris said, melting a little under the smile and the touch. "People used to think we were brothers, Colin and I, with him the far handsomer one, of course. He used to love to shock those people, kissing me in the tavern, and suchlike." He smiled at Nick. "The gods clearly do have something else in mind. He's just a memory now, truly, and there's little use in dwelling on it. Now, tell me about this healing potion you used on our Justin. It's clearly marvelous."

"You're the handsomer," Nick argued, looking perfectly seriously and not like he was solely trying to flatter Chris at all. "Colin looked..." he hesitated while searching for the word again, long enough that Chris wondered if they were even conversing in Nick's native language. "Used. He looks used. You just look good." He finished the last of the tea and set the mug carefully on the floor.

"The healing potion was no different than another other really. I've explained to you, how object magic works?" Chris nodded his head hesitantly. "What these potions do is just use the natural properties of the ingredients. The magic enhances those properties, speeds them up, changes them a little to be most effective. You didn't have most of the usual ingredients on hand, so I had to use just tea and honey -- which both do have some restoritive properties. Which meant I had to enhance it with a *lot* of magic, rather than the modest amount one would usually use."

"Hmm." Chris nodded again. "So it's tea and honey, with their positive effect multiplied many times. I can understand that. If you have need, in the future, there is an herbroom in the back, where the cook keeps her dried seasonings and herbs and spices. I know some of them are also effective." He glanced away from Nick's eyes, uncomfortable with the compliment earlier. "You're letting your sentiment cloud your eyes," he scolded mildly. "I am no ogre, but Joe used to jest that Colin could have made his fortune on his back. Though with Colin, his back was never his favored position..."

Nick coughed politely and blushed, and Chris was reminded just how shy and inexperienced he was when it came to actual sex. It was easy to forget, when he was so open and engaging about so many other things. "I'm not letting my sentiment cloud anything," Nick insisted, though. "I enjoy your company a great deal, Chris, and I'll freely admit that there are certain... wishes there, but I'm a practical man. If you were plain, I would say you were plain. Colin is an attractive man who looks as though he's had it hard and hasn't had the resilience to bounce back from it like you have. Hasn't had the many people caring about him that tend to erase the lines from a man's face. This is what I mean, by used. To some, it is the more attractive. To others, it simply isn't."

Chris just shrugged again. He knew better than to argue personal taste, and Nick was firm enough in his opinions to be flattering. "I never said *plain*," he couldn't help but grumble, though, and he smiled a little at Nick. Once again, those magic fingers were massaging the ache and cramp out of his knees, and once again he could feel knots loosening all the way up to his back. "I've been very fortunate in my friends," he added almost as an afterthought, though it wasn't really an afterthought at all, or anything he took for granted. "Old AND new. That feels marvellous."

"You've earned your friends," said Nick, giving him a smile in acknowledgment of his compliment and continuing to work on his knees. "You inspire loyalty and friendship, Chris, and you deserve every friend you've got. What... what happened, with Colin? What made everything change? If you don't mind my asking, of course. You sound like things were very good between you, for a while."

Chris smiled softly, shaking his head. "They were. He wasn't really an apprentice any more, he'd passed his tests and he was a guildmember in good standing. I was still master, but he was my right hand." He sighed and sipped his tea again. "But he got wilder and wilder, and he finally went too far. He left me trapped during an escape from a job that had gone bad because of his recklessness, and I ended up nearly losing both my hands. When I managed to get away, he was busily fencing the take." He shrugged, draping his legs over Nick's lap and finally relaxing all the way. "Old history. He pulled a few more tricks that got him banned from the city for a while, but he's back now."

"Old history," Nick repeated, like he didn't quite believe it. "I don't know much about this guild or this way of life," he went on slowly, "but I'd think that one of the main things you need is to be able to trust and rely on the people you work with. It may be a somewhat shady occupation, but the people are good. Mostly." He wasn't telling Chris anything he didn't already know, or hadn't thought about many, many times in the days after Colin. "I could see how a person's judgment could get clouded, though, by the people he loves. A person would have to take care to love the right people. Though I suppose life doesn't always make that choice easy."

"No, sometimes life bites her thumb at you and leaves you holding an empty bag," Chris agreed, managing--he hoped--to keep most of the bitterness out of his voice. "Then again, sometimes she gifts you with a special treat, and I'm sure someone somewhere is keeping track of the balance. I have been more than fortunate in my apprentices and my friends and my loves." He bumped his knee into Nick's to make sure he had his attention. "YOU should take care to love the right people. You're a good boy, and a good soul, and you deserve someone who will treat you as you deserve."

"Well," said Nick, tilting his head to the side again as he moved his hands down to rub Chris's ankle, as though curious, or thoughtful. "You're not the only one who's been fortunate in the friends he's found. I think I've had my fair share of bad luck so far, I'm due for something very good in my life. But I have a full belly and a roof over my head and a place to ply my trade. I have no complaints. Anything else, I suspect, will come in its own time. And if I maybe spend a little time encouraging it along?" he added, giving Chris a crooked grin, "Well, I don't s'pose that'll do any harm."

"No," Chris chuckled, "that doesn't do any harm." Thinking of Nick's fairly straightforwardly expressed intentions made him feel strange, excited and a little trapped and uncertain, all at once, so he'd decided on a policy of ignoring the hints. "And anyway, you should be taking this time to rest and regroup. You haven't even been here a week yet, you're still settling in. I think you arriving here might be more our good luck than yours."

"That," said Nick, "has yet to be proven, I think. So far I've mostly been eating you out of house and home, and giving you headaches. And speaking of -- the food, not the headaches -- I think I need to get myself more. Do you want anything while I'm up? How *is* the head?"

"Sore, and tired," Chris admitted, moving his legs so that Nick could stand. "I had a feeling that porridge wouldn't last you too long. I am still not quite ready for food, yet, though when Bess gets here I'll probably have bacon. She had a few rashers last night that never got used." He curled over onto his side, resting his head on the bend of his elbow. "You don't give me headaches. ALE gives me headaches."

"Ale and bells ringing in your head," said Nick, gently helping to move Chris's legs aside as he got up, giving his calf a soft, swift caress. "More tea, then? Because once I get back with more porridge and apples, there's not much that's gonna get me up again. And I plan to keep you talking, so if not tea, maybe you'll want some water?"

"No more tea," Chris shook his head. "I think you should eat some of the ham, though. And the roast, that's in the cold room with the bread. You need good solid food to get your energy back, not porridge. But bring the water pitcher, just in case. And another roll for me!" he called after Nick's retreating back. The house was quiet and warm, the windows drawn against the wind and fires going, and Chris drowsed a little, listening to Justin's even breathing and the snap of the damp wood in the fireplace.

Nick had a whole tray in his arms when he finally returned, piled with more than just he could eat. "I couldn't decide," he confessed, setting it down where both of them could read it. "And I really don't want to have to get up again. I thought maybe *you* could have some of the roast, since it's not spiced like the ham. Well, at least it's there, so you have the choice." As he sat down, he pulled Chris's legs into his lap again. "Justin will be very hungry, when he finally wakes, I think. His body will need it."

"You said he wouldn't wake up until tomorrow!" Chris laughed, eyeing the food. "Well, I'm sure someone will eat it. Once my stomach settles and my head stops throbbing, I'm sure I'll be very hungry." He reached for the roll and nibbled on it lightly. Nick's legs were warm under his, and he wiggled his toes happily. "Your body needs sleep too, you know. You should rest, not haul food around the house and rub old mens' knees."

"I didn't mean *this* was for him," Nick laughed. "This is for you and me. And my body needs food more than it needs sleep. My brain is too active to sleep right now anyway. If I weren't spending time with you, I'd probably just be searching for a book to read anyway. So why do you keep calling yourself an old man, Chris?"

"Because I'm surrounded by children," Chris shot back instantly, smiling a little. "I don't know exactly how old I am, but I can remember back before Joe was born. And back further even than that. So I'm clearly quite old, and starting to get creaky." He bent his knee and it popped startlingly before straightening back out. "You lot are the next generation. I think in this crop or the next I'll choose my replacement." He didn't want to think of that, though, so he piled a slice of meat onto his roll and went back to chewing.

"I don't really think you're that old," said Nick with a shrug, popping a handful of berries in his mouth. "No really! I don't. I don't think Joey's that old either. Living hard just makes you feel older is all. Or at least... I feel a whole lot older now than I did a couple months ago."

Fifteen or sixteen replies to that, all of them hysterically funny (to Chris) but probably hurtful (to Nick) were thought of and discarded in the split second before Chris replied. "I'm sure you do," he said, as gently as possible. "But there are years and years to live and learn yet. How many years DO you have? Seventeen, eighteen? Around Justin's age, I'd wager, and with plenty of time left before you reach mine. I'm old for this business, truly."

"Perhaps," Nick agreed with him dubiously. "But this is a business for the very young and nimble. And I passed eighteen this midwinter, I'll have you know. I know that the life I have yet to live is much more than the life that's behind me, but the same is true of you, Christopher."

"Possibly, possibly," Chris nodded, willing to concede that point. "You're a bit older than I thought, you're far too thin and it makes you seem younger. Eat, eat, and don't fret. Time comes along whether we like it or not, and teaches us what it wants us to know." He smiled at Nick, still curled up and comfortable and basking a bit in the heat of the fire. "And here I thought mages were all old men with long beards."

Nick grinned and scratched at his hairless chin. "That's what they'd *like* you to think," he said, and he sounded half serious. "They keep us in our apprenticeship long past when we're capable of striking out on our own, you know. Long past when we've reached full power. I think it's just because they're waiting for us to begin to look grizzled." Chris couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. "I, however, appear to be fated to always look younger than my true age. I would have been in apprenticeship until I hit forty, if things hadn't taken a... a wrong turn."

"And so instead, you ended it a bit prematurely," Chris nodded comfortably. "Age does accompany wisdom in many minds, and there's a certain weight to experience, but you seem very capable to me. Even though you do look like a mere child." He bumped Nick with his knee again, and smiled. "Now you're here instead, and stretching yourself. Fated, I would think."

"I"m better here than where I was," agreed Nick. "Even without the, uh, unpleasantness. It's like I told you when we met, I was already at full strength when I left John -- I... I had to be, for what he wanted to do with me. There was not a lot left for him to teach me, though there are some things. Some tests he would have done, were I to become licensed. But here... I love making things, creating things, Chris. I'd almost forgotten how much. I might have forgotten forever had I not, well..." He chuckled. "Had I not tried to steal from a master thief."

"Possibly not the brightest move in your distinguished career," Chris agreed with a smile, "though in hindsight it turned out well. And here, we'll welcome your magic feathers and your pretty lights, and anything you like to invent. As long as it doesn't burn the house down or freeze everyone solid, that is."

"Believe me," said Nick with a shudder. "I won't be burning anything down. Again. Unless I uncover evidence that you're plotting to kill me -- then all bets would be off. But somehow, I think I can trust you and your apprentices not to do that. I have a feeling." He smiled at Chris and was obviously *very* comfortable in his presence. "*Is* there anything that you could use, that maybe I could make for you? Not today, of course, but in the long term?"

Chris thought about it carefully. He thought about all his wishes, the times he'd thought "if only I had THAT," but now that the question was asked, there wasn't anything he truly needed. "I've got this house," he said, thinking out loud. "I've got my crew, we all eat well and have warm clothes for the winter. I want for nothing, really." He smiled at Nick. "Which is not to say that your offer will not be taken. Just that I can't think of a single thing right now, except possibly a way to scare away angry dogs."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," said Nick, giving him a grin as he reached for more food to fill the bottomless pit that was his belly. Chris approved. "So what do guild masters *do* when they give up the trade, anyway? Do you just hang around the house and let all the thieves you've trained over the years take care of you? Because really, that would be a pretty sweet deal. You could laze around in bed all day and never want for anything, not material, not companionship, nothing."

"Many guildmasters don't live long enough to retire," Chris shrugged. "They try to have one last dramatic score and get caught, or get killed by a rival, or simply become careless. But those that do tend to leave their houses in other hands and move away entirely. It's too hard to stay out, otherwise, and too difficult for the NEW guildmaster to have the old hanging around. But I've saved coin enough to do that in a few years, should I choose to, so we will see."

"I think you would be missed a great deal," said Nick. "You are beloved and respected here. But there is a big world to see and if you have the coin to see it, well, it's only right that you do. And I'll keep working on that lead-into-gold thing for you as well," he added with a wink. "You just never know." With one hand he kept feeding himself; with the other he was rubbing Chris's leg again, but more gently now. "You seem less tense. This is a good thing."

"I *am* less tense, and it is definitely a good thing," Chris agreed. "I suppose it's all that talk about retirement, and now that my knee and head aren't hurting as much, it's easier to just kind of wind down." As much as he ever wound down, at least. "Now, if you do figure out how to turn lead into gold, I'll retire tomorrow, and buy a boat, and sail to the Spice Islands where it never snows and people don't wear clothes." He grinned at the thought.

"And believe me when I say that I would be right there alongside you," said Nick fervently. "You'd need someone to handle your boat after all. And if there's one skill I possess outside of working magic, it's handling boats out on the sea. My family made sure of that; even my sisters can handle boats of their own, perhaps even better than I since my training these last few years has left me fewer opportunities to get out on the water."

"We're fairly far inland here anyway," Chris pointed out, "though with our harbor we have all the fishing boats in for the winter. But I think a boat would be lovely. I've never been on one." He stretched and sighed, tucking his feet under Nick's thigh where they would be warmer, glancing over at Justin again. "I'm going to have to make rules, I think," he thought out loud. "You will all have to stay in pairs when you travel outside our area."

It was a jump of topics, but Nick clearly followed it easily enough. He was a quick boy. "That's... probably not a bad idea," he agreed. "And someone will have to teach me what your area is. I won't be wandering around much, but it's probably something I should know, for my sake and yours. Justin *will* be okay, Chris. I swear it to you."

"I'll give you a map," Chris nodded, and tucked a pillow under his cheek. "And definitely no wandering at all, for you. If he's asking questions about you, it means he's already interested. I'll have someone walk you back and forth from the warehouse." He yawned. "Do you think anyone would notice if I slept a while? And if I do, can you tell the others about Justin if they should come home while I'm asleep?"

"Sure," said Nick easily. "As long as I don't fall asleep myself, though that's still pretty unlikely. Just get comfortable, Chris, and get as much sleep as you want. It's going to be a slow night, and you might as well get sleep where you can."

"Hm, yes. Have a couple of big jobs coming up soon, and those always keep me awake," Chris let his eyes fall closed. "Wake me right away should anything happen, with Justin or the others. And definitely before dinner, I can tell already that it will be good. I need to give Bess a raise. And if Manda comes in, make sure she's paid the milkman?" He yawned again, jaw-crackingly huge, and let himself slip down towards sleep.

* * *

Nick had been lying awake, staring out the window, for what he thought was at least two hours now. He didn't really mind, though; he welcomed the opportunity to clear his head, to not *have* to be anywhere else, or doing anything else. So much of his life these last few years had been all about having to do certaint hings all the time, this was a welcome change.

Justin had been snoring loudly, but Nick couldn't fault him for it. It was the injury to his face, he knew. He'd seen it before, when one of his father's men had been injured. Not that he'd spent any time sleeping with his father's men, though from the distance of space and time he could admit that he'd thought about it.

Justin's snore stuttered, stopped, started again more quietly, and then there was a small earthquake in the bed as he flailed out with a shout, clipping Nick on the shoulder but only glancingly.

"Stop, get off!" Justin's loud voice cut off abruptly, as he blinked hugely puffy eyelids at Nick and slowly seemed to come back to himself. "Ouch," he said, sounding like he had a terrible illness and couldn't breathe. "Whazzit, who, whadhappened?"

"Justin, Justin," said Nick calmingly, clamping a hand on Justin's shoulder and gently forcing him to lay down again, on his side so he could breath. "Shhh, it's okay. You're home now. Do you remember what happened yesterday?" It was possible that he didn't. Nick knew that he had taken care of any damage Justin might have taken inside his head, but that was no guarantee Justin's memories were intact.

"Nick," Justin said, though with his stuffed nose it sounded more like "dick," and Nick hid a smile. "Somebody hit me, right? I member that." He kept blinking at Nick, looking more and more confused. "I dunno why though, don't member doing anything wrong. I can't remember where. Was it at a party? Did I get in a fight at your party?" He shook his head, as if that might help. "No, no, I member waking up with Jace and AJ. After?"

"It wasn't your fault at all," Nick assured him immediately. "Chris sent you on an errand, remember? And something happened, we're not sure what. But some of Colin's guys did this to you. Do you remember where you were, when they did?" Justin tried to get up again, but Nick again made him lay back down, and pulled the covers up close. It wouldn't do at all for Justin to come down with a cold on top of this.

"Colin was there?" Justin still seemed very confused, and pressed up against Nick's hand. Nick had seen this before, in hurt people and animals, the instinctive need to get on their feet as soon as possible, but Justin gave up fairly easily once his eyes started focusing a little better. "I don't remember that at all," he admitted, his voice coming clearer once he relaxed on his side. "I think I remember seeing Chris and hurting a lot, and thinking I'd be okay because I was home. And you were there?" He moved restlessly, clearly distressed.

"Colin brought you home," said Nick gently, stroking Justin's skin once he'd begun to relax again. "Chris and I were here when you arrived. We took care of you and made sure you were okay. And Colin made sure you got home safely, though... though I do not know what happened before or after that, with him. You wil be fine, though, Justin, so no need to worry about that. You just need to rest."

"I hurt," Justin whimpered a little, then cut it off. "I can't see so great," he said, a little more calmly, leaning against Nick and pressing up against him as much as he could. "Is my, do I look terrible? Is my nose all smashed flat? Am I ugly?" He sniffled, then winced as it presumably hurt his swollen face to do so. "Did the other guy at least look bad too?"

"Knowing you," said Nick, giving him a grin, "the other guy probably looks worse. And you'll heal, you'll heal up good as knew. By the day after tomorrow, your eyes should be well, and the rest of your face will follow. I... I have not examined the rest of your body for injury, though. There was nothing you were favouring so I left well enough alone. I could do that now, though. Examine you, that is. I'm no physician, but I can see when something is discoloured and something is not."

Justin was quiet for a moment, and touched delicate fingertips to his own ribs. "All right," he said finally. "But my head will stop hurting, too? Because I can feel my heart beating, behind my eyes." He closed his eyes for a long beat before slowly, carefully starting to pull his clothes off, without moving more than he absolutely had to. "What can you do about it even if I am injured?"

"Things," said Nick, already making up his mind about what he was going to do about it regardless. "At the very least, make sure you don't try to walk on a bad leg or bleed from an injury we haven't noticed." It was unlikely, though. Anything that severe would have at least been moderated by the healing potion he'd given him the previous day. And Justin would have noticed something like that. Nick was more worried about his head again.

Justin's left side was a rainbow of colors, but the healing potion had clearly had some good effect, since the edges of the darkest bruises were already fading to yellow-green. "I don't think I'm bleeding," Justin rambled a bit, lying still as Nick looked. "I'd be able to feel that, I think. No bleeding, but I think maybe one of them kicked me in the stones. Bastard, that's not nice or fair, and they do hurt. I wish I could remember who did this, I'd kill 'em. Me and AJ, we could take them all."

"And just imagine what Chris would do to you if you tried," said Nick, examining further down. "This would be like a pleasant tickle in comparison, I think. Do you want me to, uh, check down there, for you? Make sure everything's okay?"

"No, no," Justin said hastily, actually flushing red, and cupping himself protectively. "I'm sure it's fine. It's no worse than what I have gotten just wrestling. Oh my." His head swiveled towards the window. "It's snowing hard outside. It's a good thing you fixed the roof, Nick." He rubbed his temples in a ginger, circular motion. "How long was I asleep?"

"A full day," said Nick, peeling Justin's hand back and checking anyway. Just in case. He'd looked before, so he knew -- more or less -- how it ought to look. "You're a bit swollen and a bit bruised," he concluded awkwardly, letting him go. "Since you're up, I'm going to get you some tea, all right?"

"My stomach feels sick," Justin griped, sounding petulant. "I don't want tea." He looked uncertain, though, and finally nodded. "My mouth's all dry, like paper inside. And it tastes bad, and funny. Maybe tea's a good idea after all." Justin still looked strange, like he was lost without his repertoire of big-eyed teasing looks and laughter, and he tugged the blankets back up around himself stiffly.

"Just stay right where you are," insisted Nick, waiting until Justin nodded in return. "Today, you don't have to do anything, Justin. Chris's orders. Don't gotta see anyone either. So just... stay right there." Nick looked back over his shoulder once as he got up and left the room, but only once.

Down in the kitchen, once Nick had the tea poured and steeping, he sat down on the bench and wrapped his hands around it and started singing. Quick and dirty again, but he hadn't gone looking for the proper ingredients for a healing potion yet and it might be a while before he was able. Chris would *not* have approved of this, but Chris wasn't around to argue and Nick was glad of it.

He was exhausted when he hit the stairs again, making his way back up to Justin with the tea, but it was worth it.

Justin hadn't moved an inch when Nick came back through, and even looked like he was drowsing again, but his eyes opened as well as they could when Nick sat on the edge of the bed and handed him his tea. "Thank you," he said politely, and that was almost the most disturbing thing of all. He sipped at his tea, though, and then as if suddenly realizing how thirsty he was, he gulped it down eagerly. "Oh, that's good," he murmured, voice already a little clearer, color slowly blooming in his cheeks. "That's wonderful. That's the best tea I've ever tasted."

Nick smiled at him, satisfied. "Just drink it all down," he insisted, struggling not to yawn. "I tried to make it the way you like it. No eating yet, though, but I'm sure you're not hungry." There had been bruises on his stomach; Nick guessed he'd been kicked there, too. "No harm, the tea is good for you."

"I didn't think I liked tea," Justin mused, finishing the mug in a few long swallows, and wiping his mouth gingerly, "but I feel much better now. Oh, but look, I'm hogging all the bed." He inched over carefully and tugged weakly on Nick's arm. "Come, lie down with me and keep me warm." Even battered, Justin's face knew it's way around an endearing pout. "Tell me all the things that happened while I was sleeping."

Nick set the mug aside before sliding into the bed again, careful of Justin's injuries. "Nothing much happened while you were sleeping, Justin. Chris talked to Colin before sending him away. And I talked to Chris. And we spent a very quiet evening, the quietest I can remember in a while. No one did any jobs."

"No one at all?" Justin frowned a little. "But you talked to Chris, that must have been nice. Were you weeping and wailing over my injuries and begging me not to go?" The tea had made Justin coherent, Nick noted, and also considerably more perky, though he still moved with great care and his head was kept very still. "Did you at least take the opportunity to sleep with him?"

"Justin!" laughed Nick, masking another yawn. Justin's head may have been clearing, but his own thoughts felt slow. "I did not! And even if I'd tried, you know Chris would not have gone for it. Especially not while he was still sated from Joseph. Would you feel better if I told you we weeped and wailed, though?"

"No, because I would know you were lying," Justin said promptly, "you heartless bastards. You did stay up watching me, though, didn't you. You look exhausted." He patted Nick's shoulder gently, and yawned himself, though he jerked a little when the split in his lip pulled open again. "We should sleep. It's very early, I can tell, and we can talk about you bedding Chris when we wake up again."

"There would be nothing to say, if we talked about me bedding Chris," said Nick, rubbing Justin's back carefully. "And there's no way for you to hasten whatever might happen, so do not get any thoughts in your head about it. Just... yes, go to sleep. Go to sleep confident that all the heartless bastards in this house are looking out for you."

"I've been sleeping all DAY," Justin protested sleepily, curling closer. "You have to promise to sleep with me, if I do, because your eyes look all funny, like clear glass. Do they do that a lot? Is it a magic thing? Is it just a heartless bastards thing?" Justin smiled a little at him, clearly teasing.

"Yeah, I'm a real heartless bastard," said Nick, giving Justin a careful, gentle kiss. And closing his eyes as he did. "And maybe I did stay up a little more than I should have, making sure you were sleeping okay. We can talk about... magic things, or anything, later."

"We should," Justin grumbled, just on the edge of sleep, and on the edge of Nick's hearing. "I know you put *something* in that tea." But Nick couldn't even muster the energy to reply, not when he was warm and comfortable and everything was quiet in the house, and he slipped down into sleep without so much as a tremble.

* * *

"Do you need me to do anything?" asked Nick, leaning against the wall, letting it support him so he looked more alert than he felt. "Do you need anything for the dinner like you did for the party? I could maybe..." Or maybe not. He fluttered his eyes closed and had to fight to open them again.

"No, no," Chris, just in the door and with the smell of snow all around him, cold and red-cheeked, hurried past him on his way to the stairs. "I think it will be fine. This is just family, not a large gathering like the party, and we aren't doing anything too fancy. I'm going to go check on Justin, is he doing better now?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah," he said, "he's doing okay. Bruised, but we were talking earlier and he seemed fine, seemed chatty, You know how Justin is. Uh, do you want me to go up with you?"

"I figured you would," Chris said, still sounding a little absent. "But you don't have to if you don't want." He glanced back at Nick, gaze sharpening. "Are you doing all right? No one's been hitting *you* on the head with anything, have they? When I glanced in at the two of you earlier, you were sleeping peacefully."

"I'm fine," insisted Nick. He felt like he could use a few more hours of sleep, but a good meal would be even better and he couldn't wait for this dinner. "No one hit me on the head, though Justin did call us heartless bastards for not weeping and wailing over his injuries, so maybe he smacked me when I was sleeping." He gave Chris a shaky grin so he *knew* Nick didn't truly believe that, but then the rest of what Chris said filtered through his sluggish brain. "You watched us sleep?"

"I did," Chris nodded, looking at him even more probingly. "Justin had been asleep for over a full day, and you were worn thin earlier and neither of you had stirred, so I had to make sure you were both still breathing. I will say this, you possibly looked more awake then than you do now." He frowned a little. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know," said Nick, giving him half a shrug as he pulled himself up the stairs. "Been looking out for Justin. All that damage to his face, you know, and he was most worried about being kicked in the stones..." He tried a grin again and thought he did better this time. Just the though of food was perking him up. He should have swiped something from the kitchen.

Justin was sitting up in bed with his arms wrapped loosely around his knees, and he swung his head to look at them when they came through the door. His eyes were still swollen enough that he couldn't see to the sides very well, but his nose was much improved, and he smiled at them both.

"Hello, hi Chris," he said. "I woke up and you were gone, Nick. But I'm feeling much better."

"You look much better," Chris smiled at him, ran a hand through his curls and surreptitiously checked his bruises. "His head is all right?" It took a moment for Nick to realize that Chris was talking to him.

"What?" he said as he pulled his thoughts together. "Yeah, oh, yeah. He's head's good. Or at least as good as it ever was." Justin looked like he was trying to make a face at Nick, but really, there wasn't much more he could do with it than had already been done. "No need to worry about that."

"My head's fine," Justin said stoutly. "And I can see better too. You should be more worried about Nick's eyes, anyway. He brought me tea, and his eyes went white. That's not normal, I don't think." He huffed a little as Chris bounced off the bed and got to Nick's side in one long step.

"Nick?" He looked angry and concerned and something else, all at once.

Nick sighed and shot Justin a look, and wondered if it was even possible that Justin could keep his mouth shut about anything. Unless he was paid to. Maybe Nick would have to consider that, the next time.

"He was talking about how bad his head hurt," he confessed finally, "the first time he woke up, I mean. I just didn't want to take any chances with that." He hoped his eyes had regained at least some of their colour. He hadn't thought to look.

"That's no reason to be draining yourself dry," Chris said, an edge of anger in his voice. "How will it help anything, to cure him but put yourself in his place? I-"

"I was," Justin cut in, sounding a little guilty. "It's all fuzzy, before I had the tea, but I remember my head pounding like a drum, and wanting to throw up. He fixed it."

"I know." Chris smiled at Justin, nodding. "But you see how his eyes are still all pale? That means he'd dangerously tired. Nick, you need food again, I can tell. Did you at least eat, since?"

Nick was forced to shake his head, he wouldn't lie outright to Chris. "I fell asleep, right after," he told him. "And I'd only just gotten up and gone downstairs, when you got home. I was going to find myself something; I do know how to take care of this." It was difficult to try to explain why he'd chosen to do what he did without sounding reckless, and he knew how Chris felt about recklessness. "I'm no martyr, Chris," he added finally. "I knew I would tire myself, but I also knew it would do no permanent harm. If Justin had injury in his head, that was more urgent."

"How far can you push before 'permanent harm' occurs?" Chris asked evenly. "I get the feeling that you do not know. I am very grateful you could help Justin, and please don't think I wouldn't have wanted you to." He reached out and stroked Justin's curls again, a gesture of almost infinite affection. "But you should be careful of yourself. You admit you're not up to full strength yet, and yet you keep pushing."

"He looks all right to me," Justin pointed out. "Maybe tired, but not fainting or anything or falling down."

Nick gave Justin an appreciative smile. "My body," he assured Chris, "would give out before I was able to do myself permanent harm. The only way that performing magic, by itself, could harm me, would be if there was some other force acting against me, pushing me beyond my limits. Otherwise I would just lose consciousness, my body's own defense against me abusing it too far." Chris didn't look convinced, though, and Nick sighed and went on. "

he real danger," he admitted, "would be for me to become unconcious in the middle of performing certain magics, like casting the wards. It would have been dangerous for me to leave that half done. But if I were to give out halfway through creating a healing potion, no harm done. Unless, of course, I banged my elbow on the way down." He smiled, but no one smiled back. "I would never perform a major magic without being sure I had enough strength to complete it. I'm trained too well to risk that."

Chris looked unhappy about the fact that there wasn't really anything he could do about it, either way. Or at least that's the way Nick interpreted the scowl. "Trained or not, no more magic for you for a couple of days. Consider it an order from your employer." Chris punctuated that with a nod. "You just keep wearing yourself down, without ever allowing yourself to get back to full strength. I don't care if it's mystical or practical, that's no way to recover energy."

"Chris always makes us take time off after big jobs," Justin confirmed helpfully. "But I feel much better now. When is the feast tonight? And do I look completely terrible?" He touched his face with anxious fingers.

Nick took hold of Justin's fingers and gently pulled them away. The damage was best healed unmolested by Justin's roving fingers. "Not nearly so bad as I look, if the glances you are both giving me are any indication," he said ruefully. "You look like you've been beat up, but you already know that. You already look much better than you did yesterday."

"You don't look bad," Chris informed him, "you're merely in the bad books at the moment for risking your health. And Justin's just guilty because he thinks he's gotten you in trouble. Don't worry, I would have worked it out sooner or later."

"It itches," Justin complained to Nick, wiggling his fingers in Nick's grasp. "Do I look enough better that people won't run screaming away from me? I bet I look tough."

"You look like you took a beating," Chris said, dry as the desert. "Which is not the most attractive look on anyone, no. Try to avoid it in the future, if you can. Nick, sit down, you're swaying a little."

Nick obediently sat, as much because he felt he needed to as because he didn't want to make Chris any more upset about this than he already was. "I'll eat the first chance I get," he promised him. "Justin should eat now, too -- your stomach feels okay? If it doesn't, more tea." He shot a glance at Chris. "Regular tea."

"It feels fine," Justin confirmed, looking at Nick with worried eyes. "Thank you for fixing my head," he added, sincerely, taking Nick's hand in his own and squeezing gently. "I didn't want you to make yourself sick over it, you know. I've been hit harder than that before and I've been fine, eventually."

"No one wanted Nick to be sick, but he made the call, and I can't say I'm not grateful," Chris sighed, looking at them both. "I'm going to go get you both something to eat. And then we'll discuss whether either of you is well enough to attend the feast tonight."

"What?" said Nick, feeling more mentally alert than he had in an hour. "I'm not sick, all I need is a lot of food and to sleep it off after. And what better than a feast to do that?" Justin looked equally appalled that he would have to miss the feast. "My nurse," Nick went on, "always said that the best medicine was the love of your friends and family. So you *can't* keep us away from the feast. It would be bad for us."

Justin was nodding frantically. "It would be terrible for us," he agreed. "I would definitely relapse, I can feel my head hurting already." He put the hand that wasn't holding Nick's to his forehead. "I think the distraction of having people around me would make me feel *much* better. And good food. That would make me feel better too."

Chris rolled his eyes at the two of them as they sat holding hands, but he was smiling, too. "Eat, and rest, and we'll see how you feel in a few hours. Justin, this is the second time you've been in trouble in a week. And Nick, you're clearly overextending yourself. Perhaps a little enforced rest will cure you of these little problems." With that parting shot, and a raised brow, he left the room, presumably to get food.

"Don't worry, we're *not* missing that banquet," Nick assured Justin once Chris was gone. "You know he won't really make us. It wouldn't be the same without everyone there. Now are you honestly feeling okay? No more bad ache inside your head? I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was using magic; I didn't want you to think about it, I just wanted you to get better."

"It's okay," Justin assured him, smiling a little. "Believe me, I'm not going to complain about something that made sure my brains weren't mushed. I really am feeling much better now, too, and I've got you to thank for that. I can remember a little about waking up, before you gave me the tea, and it wasn't nice at all."

"No, it didn't sound like it was nice at all," agreed Nick. Justin did look much, much better now. With a real healing potion -- two of them no less -- he would have been practically healed up, except for those things the body simply had to do on its own. "I need to ask you something, though. When you say my eyes went clear, were they *totally* clear, or just pale with some colour still? It's important."

Justin frowned and looked thoughtful. "I don't remember, exactly. I was only awake for that little while, but they were really close to clear, if not totally. I can't remember, they might have been either. They looked kind of like glass." He tipped over slowly until he was sprawled across Nick's legs, wincing until he inched into a comfortable position. "There's more color in there now, but it's still kind of washed out. I didn't know eyes could even do that, is that some kind of magic thing?"

"Yeah," murmured Nick, sighing. "It's a magic thing. It's kind of like... drinking down a glass of juice. When the glass is clear, the juice is gone. You follow?" He was pretty sure that Justin would. He was also pretty sure Justin would tell Chris that if Nick didn't take some preemptive measure. "Just between you and me."

"So when you made my drink, it drained all your juice?" Justin was watching him sharply. "What happens if you go *completely* clear? I thought you said you were too well-trained to let that kind of thing happen." He was frowning a little, too, peering up at Nick from his sprawl. "Could something bad happen to you if you get completely drained out?"

"I said I was too well trained to let it happen when it would be a danger to me or to others," Nick corrected him. He'd been very careful about the way he'd phrased that. "My juice drains out and I lose consciousness and I can't complete what I'm working on. So a little more and I might've fainted in the kitchen for a little while. But I didn't, so I judged what I had left in me okay."

"Well, don't do it again," Justin said, rather sharply. "Fainting's dangerous. What if you'd hit your head when you fell, with no one around to make *you* a drink to fix you up? Chris would have a fit." He sighed a little. "I hope Chris lets us come to the feast. I like Pink, she was my first time with a lady, you know? Before she met the man she's marrying, of course. I'll be sad to see her go." He sighed again. "We're all getting old. Pretty soon AJ and Lance will be testing out of their apprenticeships."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," said Nick with a little shrug, blinking a couple times as though that would help mask the paleness of his eyes. Which he knew it wouldn't. He remembered that John had never let him drain himself to that point; in spite of what he was to the rest of the world, and in spite of his hideous ambitions, John hadn't been a bad teacher. He'd made sure Nick was cared for, and Nick had learned a lot, more more than many of his peers, he suspected. "I've never met Pink. Is she nice, or will she pinch me like Manda did?"

"She won't pinch you," Justin promised. "She's really nice, she can be sarcastic and stuff and she doesn't like whining, but she's a very smart person and very nice. And beautiful, too. And Chris will probably be all sad, because she's leaving." He glanced at the door as Chris came back through, carrying more food.

"I should change my job description from master thief to barmaid," Chris said mildly, "the amount of time I spend carrying food to you lot. Here, eat this. I'm going to need to see some marked improvement in both of you, if you're to attend the feast."

Nick didn't hesitate to dig right in. The only thing that was going to fix this was to get a lot more energy into himself, in the form of good food. People sometimes said mages were gluttons, but it was just necessary intake. Nick did hope, however, that in time it would level out a little. The food needed to fuel his craft, plus the food needed just because he was still growing, was a large amount indeed.

Justin wasn't quite as quick as he was, but quick enough, and the very fact that he even wanted to eat was a good sign. "I think you want us at the feast," he said, giving Chris a smile that he was feeling more and more. "Really, what fun would it be without Justin at the table, anyway?"

"Other people might get a word in edgewise," Chris commented, sitting in the small chair by the bedside table and watching them eat with a satisfied smile. "I hope you are at the feast, so that the whole family can be present, but I meant it: if you're not both improved by then, you're not to come. And Nick, you are never to drain yourself so far again, are we clear? What if someone from your old life had chosen that moment to appear to take you back? You would have had nothing to fight with."

"People want to take him back?" Justin was watching him, bright-eyed with curiosity. "Really? Why?"

"None of your business," Chris said quellingly.

"You should tell me," Justin declared, scooting closer to Nick. "I'm ill, I need distracting and entertaining with stories."

"It's not the kind of story that would make you feel better," said Nick, resisting the urge to glare at Chris only because he was right, and because Nick hadn't thought of that. "Justin will have to avoid getting hit on the head again next time, maybe. Or..." Because that wasn't a solution, and Chris respected people more when they came up with something useful, "in a few days, when I'm feeling strong, I should enlist someone's help and make up a real batch of healing elixer, and bottle it and keep it in the cupboard so when someone is hurt, it won't require such drastic measures to ensure they recover fully."

"Now that's a good idea," Chris approved. "But no magic, and I do mean none, for a few days, until you're back to full strength. You can sort silver through non-magical means until then." He watched Justin pout for a moment, then smiled a little. "If you're feeling well enough to sulk, I suppose you're feeling well enough to eat at the feast with the rest of us. Any dizzy feelings or pains, though, and you come straight back up. I'm not going to lose any more apprentices to injuries, I'll tell you that much." Given Chris's fierce protectiveness, Nick was a little startled by the idea that he'd ever lost any at all.

"I'm feeling much better," Justin assured him, brightening at the mention of the feast. "But I still want to know who's chasing Nick."

"Justin," said Nick, sighing. "You really don't." He glanced up at Chris, but he didn't think Chris was going to be any more forthcoming about it. It was Nick's choice what to say now. "I escaped from a very unpleasant situation, which you know a little bit about, and the people I escaped from think me dead. If they did not think that, they would surely want me back. And that is probably all you need to know."

"But that doesn't tell me anything *interesting*," Justin protested, before giving up under a quelling look from Chris. "Oh well. At least you got away. That's very romantic, though, the mysterious strangers with the false death and the escape, and coming to a new city. It's like a play." He chewed on the turkey leg almost reflectively, sitting indian-style and looking much better.

"We sometimes think Justin's true calling was the stage," Chris informed Nick, laughing when Justin growled protest. "Oh, stop. You know it's true. You would have had a devoted following of admirers and lovers and lived in shabby luxury all your days."

"I don't want anything shabby about my luxury. I like quality," Justin said, and ran a rather smug hand up Nick's side as if in illustration.

Nick grinned a little into his lap and enjoyed the touch. Justin always did seem to know what he wanted. "It's a story for another time, Justin," he insisted, and that was his last word on the subject. One night, when he and Justin were lying in the dark, awake but sated, Nick would tell all of it to him. But not right now. "And I'm sure there are far more interesting stories out there. We should get *you* telling *us* stories, really."

"I never tell stories," Justin said loftily, which was such a blatant lie that Chris almost fell out of his chair laughing, making Justin growl again. "I think Chris should tell stories, about what it was like for him and Joey back in the olden days." He curled in closer to Nick, rubbing his hipbone with gentle fingers and just generally making himself comfortable.

"Ah, back at the dawn of time," Chris rolled his eyes. "No, I have to get back to the office, AJ and Lance will be back soon with my report. But you two stay up here, eat and rest. I don't want to see your faces till the feast." His eyes lingered on Justin's hand, but then he smiled at Nick. "Don't come down till your eyes are sky blue again."

"I'll do that," said Nick, winking at him. "Just for you. Because I know you like my pretty eyes so much." Justin giggled beside him, but Nick just grinned. "Honestly, Chris, we're both already doing better. Things will be fine. You take care of what you need to take care of, and we'll see you a little later. I won't even offer to help, since I suspect you'll probably growl at me if I do."

"You've got that right," Chris nodded, tugging gently at a shaggy strand of Nick's hair before heading for the door. "No helping. No moving for either of you. And don't get too frisky, either. Remember that you're supposed to be conserving energy, eh? I want to be able to see *both* sets of pretty blue eyes at the feast." He left the room, and Justin nuzzled Nick's neck just a little.

"You're getting braver with him," Justin said approvingly. "I think he likes that."

"I'm just not scared to death of him anymore," said Nick, though it was clearly more than that. He'd reached a level of intimicy with Chris that was both comfortable and awkward at once. "That's all it is. If he likes it, it's because I don't act like he's going to kick me out, every time I see him."

"Chris has never been comfortable around nervous people," Justin nodded sagely. "He always wants to poke at them and make them twitch. At least he's just treating you like normal now, that's good. He doesn't yell at people unless he's pretty confident they'll understand. Unless he's worried. Which he totally was, by the way."

"He didn't need to be," Nick sighed, tilting his head so that Justin would nuzzle at him more. It felt really nice. "It's so hard sometimes, being around people who don't understand magic, don't understand what's safe and what's not. *You*, he had every reason to be worried about. Me? He really didn't."

"Good fortune to you, if you try to convince him of that. He takes fainting apprentices very seriously, you'll see." Justin's words were a wash of warm air over Nick's throat, justin's body a heavy resting weight against his side. "And he knows that you can hurt yourself by doing too much, because you told him that yourself. So it's really your own fault." He reached for another slice of cheese and bread, sounding satisfied. Timbatonal signed off at 8:24:11 PM. Timbatonal signed on at 8:24:28 PM.

"That wasn't what I was trying to tell him," said Nick, shaking his head lightly. "I was trying to tell him that I was *okay*." He was going to have to sit down with Chris some time and really explain how things works. How dealing with magic wasn't the same as dealing with the things Chris was familiar with. "I was trying to convince him that we were both healthy for the feast tonight."

"I think you did that. But Chris is wary of things he doesn't understand," Justin pointed out, wrapping Nick up tighter in his arms. "And he always errs on the side of being overcareful anyway. He says we have time enough to be reckless morons when we're out from under his roof and on our own, and he says we give him sleepless nights and grey hairs. But I think he likes it."

"I don't think he would do this if he didn't like it," said Nick, daring to rest more of his weight against Justin. He seemed strong enough. "It's not the sort of thing that you just do to make enough money to eat and shelter yourself. It's a calling."

"For some people, yes," Justin agreed. "Many guild masters go through a lot of apprentices, though, sending them on reckless runs or putting them in harm's way. Chris is unusual, and we are very lucky. I think Chris would be a good master no matter what guild he was in. But this one is very lucrative." He took Nick's weight easily, without so much as a quiver. "What are you going to do, do you think? When you get back to full strength?"

"What do you mean, what am I going to do?" Nick asked him, doing a little nuzzling of his own. "Do you mean, what projects do I have planned? Because I'm starting to have a lot..."

"No, I mean, after this," Justin said, tipping his head with a little giggle. "Do you have a plan that's more than just, you know...staying here as the house wizard for the next five guildmasters? *I* am going to save my money, and move to the capital city. Or possibly stay here and work for a mighty lord keeping his house secure. I haven't decided."

"No," Nick had to say after a long moment. "No, I ... I actually don't have a plan. I haven't thought that far ahead. I'm still... I think I'm still just trying to survive. Trying to sort out everything that's happened to me."

"Ah." Justin nodded a bit, leaning back against the bedboard and bringing Nick with him. "It took me almost a month, once I was here, to stop looking over my shoulder and believe that things were better now. I forget, sometimes, that you're so new here, because you're so calm. It will all settle down soon."

"I don't know about that," Nick confessed to him. He'd never really let the enormity of everything that had happened hit him. He didn't think it would be a good thing at all when it did. "I'm just trying to start over. I'm doing my best with what I have."

"You've already got a job, a home, friends, and someone to sleep with," Justin pointed out. "You're doing well, better than most. And you've still got your skills and talents, which you can always take with you no matter what." He pulled Nick's head down to his chest and ran gentle fingers through his hair. "Now rest, or Chris will have both our heads, and any future plans will be useless."

"I thought this *was* resting," said Nick, but he really, really hadn't gotten enough, and the food he'd eaten was making him sleepy again. "I know I'm doing good now. I know I've gotten good. I just need some time until it feels real."

"You were worrying, all tense and hard and grim," Justin contradicted him. "That's not resting, that's fretting, and it just makes you tireder. It'll feel more real every day. And once you start sleeping with Chris it will seem *very* real. I hear Joey through the wall when he visits." Justin snorted a little laugh that sounded quite admiring.

Nick smiled shyly. "You say that like it's an inevitable thing," he said, and wished he was as confident as that. "I'm not fretting. I'm not worrying. I'm just thinking. And I'll stop that now. Okay?"

"Okay, good," Justin approved. "Worrying is no use to anyone, anyway, that I've seen." Justin WOULD think that, Nick thought dryly, since he had everyone else doing his worrying for him. "You should sleep, so your eyes will stop being that scary color, and so we can go down and see Pink when she gets here."

"They're not scary," said Nick, though he closed them obediently and wondered how this had become about Justin taking care of him and not him taking care of Justin. Stubborn bastard. "You sleep too, then. Or Chris won't let you go." It was the best threat he could come up with, but he figured it would be enough as he felt Justin begin to settle beside him.

Justin grunted and gasped a little as he snuggled in, freezing momentarily when he hit a sore spot, but with so many healing potions in him it could only have been residual pain. He wrapped himself around Nick, and then there were warm hands burrowing under Nick's shirt, lying flat on his side and back, fingers stroking a little. "I'm sleeping," he finally sighed in satisfaction when he was arranged to his maximum comfort. "We're both sleeping, because if we're not good Chris will definitely crack down. The bastard. I'm not a baby." The grumble was almost reflexive, with no real heat behind it.

In that position, Nick could think of a half dozen things they could be doing that weren't sleeping, and that was just from his own limited experience, but he couldn't imagine how any of them would be particularly fun in the state they were in. Another day. "Sleep well," he said to Justin, but his words seemed to be unnecessary because Justin was already breathing deeply and evenly beside him. A few moments later, Nick was doing the same.

* * *

Nick awoke to a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he blinked into the darkness, realizing that he had rolled so that he was blanketing Justin. Justin didn't seem to mind at all, since he was moving just a little with his hips, still asleep, but working up some very pleasant friction. The hand on his shoulder shook again, and Nick heard a chuckle that could only be AJ.

"Come on," he said quietly. "Wake up, both of you, Chris wanted to give you time to wash up before the meal begins."

Justin just made an inarticulate noise, but Nick was jolted to full consciousness. "Already?" he said. He felt like he had just closed his eyes, though obviously some significant time had passed. "Justin," he said a moment later, shaking him a little. "Justin, we need to get up now."

Justin murmured "noooooooo," and kept rubbing himself on Nick's thigh, until AJ reached in and grabbed his ear and twisted. Nick was almost deafened by the shriek Justin let out then, and he WAS knocked sideways when Justin, wide awake and snarling, lunged for AJ's hand and missed.

"Get up, Justin," AJ laughed, from a safe distance away. "He'll just keep rolling over unless you do something drastic," he added to Nick. "Sorry."

"Next time, you want to let me get out of the way first?" suggested Nick, nursing what he was sure would turn out to be a bruise on his shoulder where Justin had smacked him. "Really, I'm in bad enough shape already, I don't need to be knocked senseless right before dinner." And speaking of dinner, he could smell it all the way upstairs. "Oh wow," he murmured, attention now on things more important than a grumpy Justin. "I am SO hungry..."

"Me too," Justin stopped scowling long enough to agree, and sniffed appreciatively. "Mmmmm. Oh, hey, I can smell things now!" The swelling in his nose had gone down significantly, though his eyes were still ringed with black and puffy.

"Justin, apologize," AJ ordered, still laughing. "You smacked Nick. That's not nice. And Chris says if you're not washed and downstairs in ten minutes, we're starting without you." He looked at both of them searchingly, from behind the mirth, and then his face changed to pleased relief. "You both look all right to me."

"We're *fine*," insisted Nick. He could only imagine what Chris had told everyone was wrong with them; he really did worry too much. "Or I'm fine, at least, and Justin looks great, compared to what he was before. Can you see, Justin, as well as smell? I'd hoped you'd be able to see again by now. And how's everything else? Is the stuff I made working?" He blinked his eyes a couple times and hoped they'd gone back to looking mostly normal, though he suspected the wouldn't until after he ate more.

"Still a little blurry," Justin yawned, blinking at him. "And my face kinda hurts still, but my ribs feel much better. I think it's working great." He peered close to Nick's face. "You look much better," he declared. "Chris will be happy, so we should go eat."

"As I've been saying..." AJ sighed, holding the door open with a shake of his head as Justin eased off the bed and walked gingerly towards him. He was limping and holding his side, but was moving without much obvious pain.

Nick himself was feeling all right, if still a little weary. But food was highly motivating, and he was right on AJ's and Justin's tail to get washed for the meal. "So you guys promise that Pink isn't going to be mean to me, right? She's not Manda's bosom buddy or anything?"

"No, no," AJ assured him, leading the way. He splashed water on his face and scrubbed his hands at the basin in the small washroom before making way for the other two. "She's sweet. Well, not sweet, but she won't be unkind to you. And Manda's coming around anyway, slowly but surely, so it wouldn't matter."

"Manda thinks Nick's cute," Justin declared. "And she doesn't like that at all, 'cause she hates magic. She's all conflicted, it's sad."

"Manda does not think Nick is cute," said Nick firmly. "Manda thinks Nick is going to turn her into a lizard or something. Which I'm not! That would be completely useless, and Chris would get mad at me because it would mean she wouldn't be able to work anymore. If she doesn't believe that my ethics would keep me from doing it, she should at least believe that *Chris* would keep me from doing it. She's not conflicted, she's just stubborn."

"As you wish," Justin sighed, shaking his head. "And anyway, I saw her smiling at you at the party, so no matter what she is, she's getting over it." He patted water gingerly on his face, avoiding touching anything obviously bruised. "I wish I could remember who did this," he blurted suddenly, then frowned.

"Me too," AJ said grimly, looking dangerous.

"Yeah, if you could remember who did that, bad things would happen to him," said Nick darkly, and he meant it. Justin had been a wreck when he'd come in. And even though Colin had brought him home, he'd cheerfully dumped him when they'd gotten there, with assurances that he was fine. If Nick had anything to do with it, someone would pay for this. "But tonight is supposed to be a celebration. I wouldn't want to ruin that."

"Well, it would have to wait till after the feast, of course," AJ mused, eyeing Justin. "I heard what you looked like when you came in, Just. Lance told me. And it wasn't good."

"Nick gave me something that fixed me," Justin said, subdued again. "I don't remember much of anything at all, and it's not fun. But don't you go starting anything without me, because Chris will blame me no matter what, and I might as well do what it is I'll be punished for." He dried his hands and tucked his fingers into Nick's belt. "Let's forget about it and go eat, anyway."

"You're a wise man, Justin," said Nick, watching AJ warily. AJ seemed the type that would take it upon his own shoulders to get vengeance for Justin, where Nick was more likely to plot and scheme and then wait for Chris's nod before acting. One of many ways he felt so different from many of the people here. "The smell is getting stronger, and we're wasting time."

As soon as his hands and face were clean, he was the one to lead the way downstairs.

"Justin!" A whirlwind of dark hair and pale skin and long skirts grabbed Justin away from Nick the moment he was through the door, and he was smothered in hugs and kisses and solicitous scolding. AJ bumped a shoulder into Nick's, grinning, watching Justin's ears turn scarlet and his feet scuff the floor as he was told to be more careful, dammit!

"That's Pink," he said quietly. "She's always had a soft spot for that boy."

"She's definitely nothing like Manda," Nick had to agree. Pink looked lovely and strong and was just the kind of girl that Nick would probably pick for himself, given the choice. Except she looked like she might steamroll right over him. "I think I'm just going to slip into the kitchen, try to find Chris. Let everyone have their reunion. Or goodbye. Or whatever."

"Oh, that won't happen until later," AJ assured him, walking with him towards the kitchen. "After the ale starts flowing. This is just Pink making sure her puppy hasn't been bruised too badly, and saying hello. All the tearful goodbyes will happen later." He pointed Nick into the kitchen, where Chris was bent over something small. "There you go, there he is. I'm going to go kiss the party girl myself, before Justin sinks through the floor."

"You do that," said Nick, giving AJ a familiar pat on the hip that surprised him a little before heading straight for Chris. "I'm fine," he announced when he got there, preemptively. "I told you I would be, and I am. Perfectly fine. You need help with anything?"

"I need help keeping that chair warm," Chris said, pointing. "You're not perfectly fine, your eyes still look like rainwater, not sky, and you're too pale. Sit." He bent back over the small thing on the table for another moment, then held it up for Nick's perusal. It was silver filigree, a necklet set with moonstones and one pale ruby in the center. "It's for her," he said, almost diffidently. "What do you think?"

Nick's eyes widened as he looked at it. "Chris," he said, stumbling into that seat. "That's so beautiful. Does she know? Has she seen it yet? I can't think of anyone who wouldn't love something like that." He wouldn't ask where it had come from; he probably didn't want to know. "And I really am fine, Chris. The eye thing just takes a little time is all. I'm as fine as I can be without sitting down to a good feast."

"She hasn't seen it," Chris answered, turning it so that the gems caught the light. "It's her going-away gift." He slid his eyes sideways from the necklet to Nick's face, and smiled a little. "I won't be happy till your eyes are blue again, you know. It's the only sign I can see that gives me any idea how you might be doing. It's not like you're bruised or anything."

"Well, then you're just going to have to feed me, aren't you?" said Nick, emboldened by Chris's smile. "You had no idea what you were getting into when you dragged me in off the street, huh?" But he really did hope that the good was outweighing the inconvenience. "I'm allowed to get up to eat, right? Or are you going to demand that I stay right in this chair all night, hm?"

"Tempting, but no," Chris snickered. "You're allowed to get up to eat, and talk, and even walk around if you so choose. And just as soon as your eyes get back to normal, you're free of all constraints, except the one against doing magic for the next while." He dropped the necklet into a bright enameled box, and carefully closed the lid. "If you did nothing else during your stay here, healing Justin's head would be more than enough repayment for any inconvenience you might cause," he added, very seriously.

Nick just nodded in return, but still, he felt it was the least he could do. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have even been a difficult thing for him at all. "Are you going to want me to counterward Pink?" he asked him, instead of continuing down that road. "I know that she is leaving the fold, but I didn't know if you still wanted her to be able to come and go as she pleased."

"Yes," Chris nodded without hesitation. "She may be leaving, but she is still family, and she'll always have a place here, just like all of you will when you move on." He slipped the box into his pocket, and straddled a chair facing Nick. "I'll probably want you to counterward others, as well, old apprentices and colleagues. And Joseph, of course." He smiled at Nick. "Don't forget to counterward yourself, now."

Nick cleared his throat politely. "Actually," he said to Chris quietly, "as the caster of the wards, I don't actually need to be counterwarded against them. But yes, anyone else, just bring them to me or me to them. I don't even need to know who they are, if you don't want me to. Of course, I'm sure there are also people who you work with a great deal, but who you will still want to be warned about when they enter your home." He looked past Chris, where the food was being laid out. "I get to eat soon, right?"

Chris glanced over at Bess and her servers, who were putting the finishing touches on the feast. "Yes," he said, still smiling. "You get to eat soon, and as much as you like." He stood up again and clapped his hands at a nod from Bess, shouting for the others. "Come in, come in! It's feasting time."

Justin, Pink and Lance fought to be first through the door, though Nick noticed that the elbows thrown in Justin's direction were remarkably gentle, and that the others let him get in first and take his seat, flushed and touseled, at Nick's side. He poked Nick gently.

"Isn't she great?" He beamed in Pink's direction.

"I... guess?" said Nick, giving Pink a smile though she wasn't looking in his direction. It certainly looked like everyone adored her. "I haven't even met her, you know, Justin. I don't even know what she's like! How are *you* feeling? Do you think you got enough rest?"

"Probably not," Justin admitted, but he looked too animated to be very exhausted still. "I ache, still, down by my bones, but I'm feeling better and smelling the food helps." He sniffed appreciatively, then waved Pink over to his side. She came with a laugh, and draped an arm over his shoulders, looking at Nick curiously.

"This is Nick," Justin said, grinning. "He's new, and he's special."

"Hello, special Nick," she said, her voice pleasant and low, extending a hand to shake.

"I'm special?" laughed Nick, glancing back at Justin as he shook her hand. "I'm not so sure about that, but I'm definitely new. And after everything I've been hearing since I arrived, it's a real pleasure to finally meet you." A little bit more effusive than he was feeling, but it seemed to please her. Or amuse her. One of the two.

She was smiling even wider, and squeezed Justin's shoulder against her side a little. "Definitely special, from what Justin's told me about you. Welcome to the family, I'm glad to see it's growing, and not just shrinking."

"No, Chris has his eye out for new ones all the time," Justin reminded her. "And Nick's the one who kept me from being like Jem the Simpleton down at the butcher's, he fixed my head. Jem was kicked in the head by a horse," he added to Nick, wincing a little.

"Very special, then," she agreed, a little more warmly. "Now I think we're taking our seats. It was lovely to meet you, Nick."

Nick nodded at her as she found her seat, and as Justin clutched at his arm a little. "We don't know for sure that you would have been addled," Nick whispered to him. "I just wanted to be sure you wouldn't." But that didn't seem to matter to anyone, and they would never know what might've happened if Nick hadn't done what he did. "What is this vegetable?" he asked, pointing at a tray that had been placed near them and drawing Justin's attention away from his injuries. "I don't think I've ever seen it before."

"That's kale," Justin said, wrinkling his nose a little. "I don't like it, it's too bitter. There's turnips over there, see, those are really good, and the little red potatoes?" Justin reached for them, but his hand was slapped lightly by Manda, who was sitting across from them.

"Ahem." Chris was standing at the head of the table and glaring at them, but it was clearly false, since his lips were twitching. "Attention, please. This feast is to say farewell to our darling Pink, who has served out her apprenticeship well, graduated to thief, and been a credit to this organization for many years. She's off to get married to some lucky man--" there was a mock groan from the table, "--and we will miss her greatly. Raise your glasses, please, to her." Chris raised his own, and toasted her.

Nick toasted her as well, though certainly not as lustily as most of the others did, who knew her well. Though his was not entirely without affection; anyone these people cared about that much had to be a good person.

"And now we eat, right?" he said lowly, for Justin's ears only. He hoped it didn't carry further. "I get to eat now? A lot? Even the kale?"

"You can eat ALL the kale," Justin nodded, pushing that dish in his direction as he reached for the potatoes again. "And you can eat anything else you want, as much as you want, only not if I get to it first." Justin's hands were almost shaking with eagerness as he served himself food, and Nick was reminded that Justin had slept for a day and a night and most of a day, without food.

"Here." Lance set a large turkey leg on Nick's plate. "That should hold you for at least a little while, until Justin gets done plundering the rest."

Nick shot him an appreciative grin, digging into the turkey almost before Lance had let go. "I'm *starving*," he confessed, letting Justin pile his plate high with food. The leg would content him for now. "I don't suppose there's any chance at all that someone managed to scrounge up some milk for this feast?"

"Here." AJ pushed the pitcher over towards him, and for a long time the only sound was people serving themselves, eating happily, and occasionally murmuring to each other.

Nick was shocked that Justin almost kept up with him, but after his fourth refilling of his plate, he was the only one still eating with any committment. Even Justin was simply picking at his pie.

"Where do you put it all?" Lance was watching him with lazy, sated amusement, leaning on AJ's shoulder. "I've never seen someone eat as much as you and Justin have just now." Chris was talking softly with Pink, his arm around her, but he glanced over with a little approving smile of his own.

"We're growing boys!" said Nick with false indignance. "And besides. I'll use it all, believe me." Especially if he wanted to accomplish everything he had planned, under Chris's employ. The list grew daily, and he was sure that Justin -- that all of them -- would come up with other things that could be useful.

"As far as I can tell through the wall," said AJ, "you aren't using up *that* much of it yet!"

"Not like *that*!" said Nick, and could feel himself flushing darkly. But that didn't keep him from continuing to eat.

"Let the boy eat in peace," Chris commented easily, laughing a little. "No matter how he chooses to use it up, if he's that hungry he needs the food."

"But he blushes so prettily!" AJ complained, getting himself a little dig from Lance. "He does! It's impossible to resist. You should have seen him when I caught him coming out of the bath." He grinned unrepentantly at Nick.

It wasn't as though Nick could blush any *harder*, though his body certainly tried when he saw everyone, including Pink and Chris, enjoying AJ's comment wholeheartedly. "If I didn't know better," said Nick, "I would have thought you were *waiting* for me to come out of the bath. Hmm?"

"Oh, no," AJ laughed. "Don't try to turn this around on me. I was simply waiting my turn, and certainly didn't expect you to be roaming around mother-naked."

"Oh, is that why he was so red?" Justin asked, curious. "He came back into the room and demanded why people were roaming around the halls in the middle of the night, and then wrapped himself up in a blanket and wouldn't come out. You know," he told Nick, "most people *like* it when AJ looks at them like that."

"Oh, now you're exaggerating," said Nick quickly, shaking his head. They were *trying* to embarrass him now. "It's not like was alone in that-- these are good beans. Does anyone else think these are good beans?" It was like all the blood in his entire body was in his face, and he willed it to go away.

"Does he always do that thing with his hands, when he's naked?" AJ was still grinning, and talking to Justin while ignoring Nick completely. "We don't know, you've been keeping him to yourself, Justin. Selfish boy. Some of us are limited to quick bathtime peeks."

"Now, now," Pink scolded, "stop torturing him. I think the beans are good, Nick, and really, you should take a bath sheet with you if you're worried about it." She reached over and smacked the back of AJ's head. "Behave."

"Didn't have one," mumbled Nick, eating his beans. Wishing they would talk about something -- anything -- else. Which they probably wouldn't if he kept encouraging them the way he was, looking embarrassed and vulnerable and trying to make excuses for himself. Best to keep quick, and just keep eating while there was food in front of him. Because he never knew when one day there might not be.

Justin leaned against his shoulder and nuzzled his ear. "I like it when you come back naked from the bath," he whispered, too low for anyone to hear. "Don't mind AJ, I'll take care of him if he peeks again." He dropped a little kiss on Nick's ear, and then went back to eating his pie.

Chris was staring at them intently again, the way he sometimes did when Justin was being affectionate, or when Nick was laughing at Justin's antics. "There are extras in the linen chest," he informed Nick. "Help yourself."

"I know that now, thank you," said Nick, helping himself to some more ham, watching Chris just out of the corner of his eye. "I wish I'd known it then, though."

"What, and spoil all my fun?" said AJ. "You're a cruel man, Nickolas. A cruel and heartless man."

"And what's with everyone around here calling me heartless?" Nick added.

"It's just because you won't give them exactly what they want when they want it," Pink said serenely. "The boys in this house are all infants. You're a refreshingly mature breath of air, Nick."

"Hey!" It chorused from three sides, and then Lance, Justin and AJ were all flushing, and Chris was grinning gleefully at them all.

"Are you sure you can't stay," he begged Pink, "you're so GOOD for them!"

"I've been taking lessons," said Manda with a wicked grin. "I've been learning all about keeping these boys in line. *Including* Nick, thought not as much as the others. I don't want to be turned into a badger, after all."

"A *badger*?" sputtered Nick. A badger, of all things? "Please, Manda, a girl like you, I'd turn you into something much classier than that."

"Nick..." said Lance, a note of warning in his voice, but Manda just giggled.

Pink stared back and forth between them curiously. "What do you mean, badger? Turn her into something?"

"Nick's..." Chris trailed off, glanced at Nick, then shrugged. "Nick used to be a mage's apprentice, and he's brought some of those skills with him to us. But he doesn't turn people into animals, badgers or otherwise."

"Oh." She looked at Nick with wary, curious eyes. "I've never heard of a mage's apprentice losing his post."

"He's family," Chris said firmly, and she nodded acceptance after a second's pause.

"It's a long story, and not one many people know," was all Nick added to that. Pink was clearly a smart girl, and Chris was surely going to give her fair warning not to spread Nick's existence around. She would have had to know at some point anyway, so Nick could cast the counterwards.

"He doesn't turn anyone into anything," agreed Justin. "He just does things like fix the roof, and make it so I didn't become addled, when I was hit over the head."

"How could you even tell if you were?" smirked Manda.

"Ooooh," Lance hummed, smirking. "She's on fire tonight! You really have been taking lessons, hm?"

Justin just scowled at her. "It would serve you right if I DID become addled and followed you around and drooled on you all the time."

"Fortunately, that's not a concern, thanks to Nick," Chris interjected smoothly. "Who also did fix the roof, for which I'm sure we're all very grateful. Justin, if you throw that potato you're leaving the table. This is Pink's feast and you know how she feels about food fights."

She shuddered and touched her embroidered blouse protectively.

"I only know how she feels about food fights she doesn't get to *start*," argued AJ, but it looked very much like that was something in Pink's past now.

"If you waste any of this food," said Nick, as menacingly as he could, "I *will* turn you into a badger. Or something. Now give me that potato; I'm still hungry."

Justin looked at him incredulously, but handed over the potato, shaking his head. "There's LOTS of food left," he commented, scanning the table. "You wouldn't miss one little potato." But he sat back, deflated by Pink's hard look. And he leaned over and rested his cheek on Lance's shoulder, yawning surreptitiously and blinking.

"I suppose this is as good a time as any, before the brandy comes around," Chris said, looking at Justin. "I want you all to be very careful in the city, this next little while. Justin was jumped by some of Colin's crew, as you know. So, and I mean this seriously, everyone travels in pairs now."

"What?" said AJ, jumping up in his seat. "No, Chris, I can't do that. The things I do require me not to be tethered to someone who can't move as quietly or as quickly. I'd lose half my sources!"

"You'd lose all of them, if you were dead," said Manda, shooting him a look, and Nick quietly agreed even though he'd been more comfortable with AJ's ear to the ground, knowing if people were after him or not.

"Chris," AJ pleaded, ignoring Manda and Nick and leaning forward intently, "you know I'm not going to get caught by any of Colin's goons. People barely know when I'm around, much less those goons, and I will spot them coming a mile away. You can't hobble me like that!"

"For the next two days, at least," Chris said, quiet and firm. "If you have a special project that you need to deal with alone, you can come to me and clear it first." His gaze swept the table, hard-eyed. "I mean it. Anyone wandering alone will be in serious trouble."

AJ sighed, but he seemed to know that he'd already lost this battle. "I have a meet tonight. One hour past when the moon is high. I'll need to go alone to that, I won't be gone more than a full hour. I'll leave you a map where I'll be." Chris paused a moment and looked at him hard, but finally he did nod his head.

"At least that's something I don't have to worry about," said Nick, somewhat cheerfully, in the heavy silence that followed. "You have someone looking out for me anyway, and I have a feeling you're not going to let me leave the house. Are there more sprouts down at the end there? Those were good..."

Justin chuckled and shook his head again, breaking the tension, and Lance handed the sprouts along with a grin. "You won't be able to leave the house," he commented, "you'll never stop eating long enough!"

"You and Justin can shepherd each other around," Chris said dryly, though his grin was bright. "Between his bruises and your fatigue, I figure you shouldn't be able to get into too much trouble." He rapped his knuckles against the wood table for luck, though.

"I do still have all that silver to count," Nick admitted, smiling a little to himself. Holed up in the warehouse, free of the crush of people and able to do some of the things he did best. It sounded heavenly. "And as long as I keep Justin from opening any mysterious chests, we can't get into much trouble out there. And maybe we could package some food up to take with us? It looks like there is going to be lots left over."

"Not unless you stop eating at some point," teased Manda. It was still always a pleasant surprise when she said something to him that didn't have the tone of 'curl up and die, wizard scum'.

He smiled at her, surprised and pleased, and she flushed a little and looked down at the table. Justin elbowed him in the side with a grin, and handed him the rolls.

"We'll get lunch packed for you," Chris said, looking relieved. "That is a very good idea, and if you need help from any of the others, let them know. I want you all to lay low, at least until I resolve the Colin situation." He looked very grim for a moment, then lightened up. "And that's that. Enough of the serious topics. Pink, I have something for you, to remember us by." He pulled the box out of his pocket and presented it to her with a flourish.

She had to have been expecting something, some token before her departure, but she seemed genuinely stunned at what was handed to her, especially when she opened it up to see what was inside. "Chris!" she said, hand splayed on her chest. "Where did you--?"

"Tsk tsk," AJ interrupted her. "You never ask where or how. You only say 'Thank you, Chris'."

"Thank you, Chris," she sighed, drawing out the necklet and showing it around the table, to a chorus of appreciation. She gave Chris a long, sweet kiss on the cheek, and then tugged at his beard.

"I got the box!" Justin piped up, and she laughed and gave him a kiss too, leaning over the table.

"I'll be back to visit," she promised, looking around the table. "How could I leave all this?"

"You'd better," said Lance, his voice strangly thick. "You have to wean us off you, you know. You can't just disappear all at once and never come back."

"She would never do that," said Manda firmly. "Besides, I can't be the only girl here. You have to keep coming around until Chris finds someone new, at least!"

"It'll be a little hard for me to just drop by, from all the way in Sarn," Pink reminded her gently, her own eyes suspiciously glassy. "But I'll do what I can. You will all be fine." She rubbed Lance's hair fondly, leaving it in spikes.

"This clearly means I need to find another girl," Chris said brightly. "Between finally getting rid of Pink for good and making Manda happy, it's impe-" he yelped and threw up an arm to ward off the piece of bread Pink threw at his head.

"For old time's sake," she said with satisfaction, brushing off her hands.

"Now you see?" whined Justin. "*She* gets to throw food. *She* started it!" With that he grabbed a fistful of sprouts and off they were, in AJ's general direction. Though sprouts rarely stayed on the trajectory one intended.

Nick just grabbed the tray of turkey and crouched down with it, so he'd at least be left with something to eat if they should decided to make a mess of the rest.

Pink yelped as one of the sprouts hit her in the arm, and dove under the table, laughing. "Hey, hey!" Nick could hear her, and then a *thump* as Lance went down after her, a handful of kale ready to go. There was another yelp, and then Nick was staring at a gleeful Justin, who painted a line of gravy on his face.

"I am NOT involved," Chris declared, moments before getting potato down his open-necked shirt, and diving in with a growl.

Nick backed away as much as he could, not for fear he would be overpowered in the fight, but because he was still stuffing his face with turkey and didn't want to have to stop. His body would tell him when he'd had enough, and given *this* much food -- despite the fact that it was being flung around at the moment -- he was going to keep going until it did.

"No, not my shirt!" he heard Manda say, though he could no longer see her, and there was a wet smack as something hit someone else and he didn't even *want* to know what that was.

"He's still eating!" AJ's voice laughed, and then he had a faceful of something greenish, and things were chaotic for a long moment, and when he finally cleared off his eyes, everyone was just sitting still and laughing and trying to wipe themselves clean.

"I liked this shirt," Pink's dire voice came from under the table, and Justin's high giggle melded with something a little lower that had to be Lance.

"Too bad!" Manda, clean as when the meal had started, said cheerfully. "You DID start it!"

"I *was* still eating," moaned Nick, wiping himself cleaner. "And now there -- what *is* this? -- all over the turkey. I hope this is edible at least." Someone licked his cheek -- he had his eyes closed as he wiped them again, so he didn't see who -- which at least took care of the question of whether it was edible or not. "I hope you don't think I'm helping you clean up!"

"It's edible." That was Justin's voice, and he sounded sure. "And it's tradition, everyone has to help clean up after a food fight. Even Chris. Especially Chris, because he is usually the one who starts them!" Nick's eyes were finally clear enough for him to spot Chris, sitting on the floor and leaning against a table leg, completely covered in something that looked like there were cranberries in it somewhere. He was grinning and hugging Pink tightly.

"That's right. And I always win, too," he crowed, and Justin groaned in protest.

"But I'm still *eating*," said Nick, licking his lips. It didn't taste bad, even. "Do I have to clean up before I'm done eating. And are those *beets* on the floor? I can't believe someone threw beets and... oh honey, that's going to stain, isn't it?" Pink's sleeve was covered with it. "Anyway. Um. I haven't even started my dessert yet!"

"Oh, he's darling," Pink said admiringly. "You should keep him, Chris."

"I plan to," Chris said with a warm smile in Nick's direction. "Go ahead and have your dessert, the pies are all still on the sideboard, thank goodness. I think they escaped intact."

"Waste of ammunition," Justin muttered from his slump against Nick's knee. "Also, he's going to get out of helping to clean because he's still hungry? That's not fair."

"I think we'll all have brandy before we clean," Chris declared. "That way Nick can finish his meal, and the cleanup will be much more fun."

"I'm not sure he's ever going to *finish* eating," said AJ, sounding almost admiring. "I think he's already eaten his entire body weight."

NIck wiped off his face a little more and cautiously got to his feet, going for the pies. Justin would have to content himself with propping up against the table leg. Nick thought maybe he might -- might -- be ready to stop and let the food settle soon. After a couple pieces of pie.

"I think it's a magic thing," Pink said thoughtfully. "The assassin who was courting me once--Chris, you remember Jesse?--was hired to kill a magician once. He said the only way he could figure out to do it was poison him, since he was all warded, but never seemed to stop eating."

"Oh, that's just lovely dinnertime conversation, Pink," Lance said, still from under the table. "I'm sure that will help Nick's appetite."

"I don't think Nick's appetite needs much help," Justin answered for him. "It's doing quite well on its own."

"So *that's* why you weren't doing magic to support yourself when you were under the bridge," Chris said, understanding dawning in his eyes. "I had wondered, you know."

"I would've said, if you'd asked," said Nick, mumbling through a mouth full of pie. He swallowed before continuing. This wasn't anything he felt the need to keep secret. "That and, you know, didn't want to be caught doing it. But yeah, I had nothing in me to make magic from. And I don't think Chris wants to be poisoning me, what with all the work I'm doing for him. There were easier ways to get at me this last little while. So it's gonna take more than *that* to kill this appetite."

"So, you feed him and he keeps your roof from leaking," Pink smiled. "That seems like a very good deal, to me."

"To me, as well," Chris admitted, offering Nick a glass of milk. "It's only one of the many reasons we're keeping him, but it's a big one. And he can eat as much as he likes." Manda was on her feet again, bustling about and serving everyone large glasses of dark, aromatic brandy.

"Do you want me to do the thing right now, Chris?" Nick asked, washing down the pie with milk. And grabbing more pie. "You know... the thing? With Pink? Since everyone else here is already done? I'm pretty full up with juice at the moment, it wouldn't take long."

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