A Balance of Harmonies: Interruptions
Dec. 15th, 2012 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frogs_of_warI had a guy enthuse over my work today and all I did was rewrap the flowers he picked for his girlfriend (which also means removing the guard petals {the ugly/bruised/broken/discolored rose petals on the outside of each bud} and changing out the yellowing greens for something not dying) plus I wrapped the flowers and fastened the balloon with ribbon the color he’d mentioned his girlfriend loved. He almost cried. I hope she liked it half as well as he did.
I’ve been reading Wired for Story by Lisa Cron which is a fascinating book about how our brains work and how to make the most of what we know about Brain Science when writing. In the chapter I’m reading, she says it’s our responsibility as writers to push our creations (characters) to survive the worse we can give them and allow them to live up to their potential. And so I rewrote two scenes in this chapter.
Title: Interruptions
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter one hundred of… more than a hundred
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: moving, book signing, a happy baby, getting to know you, an offer, confrontation turned, the right tool, invitation, the doorbell, rumor, pain, joy, a question, a timer
Length: about 2,400 words
Summary: Emil signs a book. Peregrine gets to know Saf. And Kurt can’t help himself.
Master list
Emil looked up from setting the blender on the floor of the guest room. His fan was in the doorway. The kid swallowed hard and pulled a book from behind his back. Emil smiled and put out his hand. The kid slowly handed it over. This was Emil’s one on Wolves, one of the first books he ever wrote. He led the way into the kitchen and got a pen. “How do you want me to sign it?”
The kid looked at the floor. “This one isn’t my copy. It belongs to my grandparents, but they have every one of your books and so for Christmas…”
Emil smiled. “Their names?”
“Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Steve.”
Emil grinned. “To Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Steve, with Love from your grandson and me?”
The kid nodded. “My name is Tom.”
“So with love from Tom and Emilio?”
Tom grinned. “Just like that.”
The foreman stood in the door to what would be Kurt’s office. “Get in here.”
Tom hung his head. Emil patted his back and handed him the book. “Good luck.”
Tom grinned and hurried to his uncle. But later he walked through the door with a spring in his step, so any lecture he may have received hadn’t brought him down.
--
Peregrine stepped up to Tank’s door, but before he could knock, Saf opened it and gestured Peregrine inside. “Tank isn’t home.”
“I know. I’ve come to see you.” Peregrine scooped up little Knox on the way by. The baby squealed and giggled and bounced in his arms. Peregrine flipped him upside down then back up. He laughed harder. Peregrine sat on the offered couch. “I want to get to know you better before I paint you. And I do mean to paint you.”
Saf smiled that shy smile that made his already pretty face even prettier. “Thank you. But if you do, you’ll need to do it soon.” Saf’s smile widened. “We’re moving.”
“Congratulations. Back near you family?”
Saf’s eyes lit up. “Yes.”
Tank was one lucky man.
“And thank you for pushing Tank in the right direction.”
Peregrine bowed his head. “Any time. Your babies will be happier there.”
Knox giggled around the fist in his mouth.
Peregrine smiled. “If that’s possible. But no matter how cute and sweet your little guy is, I came to talk to you.”
Peregrine tipped Knox over and he squealed with laugher. This kid was addictive.
“About what?”
“I don’t know. When are you moving?”
Saf grinned. “Before Thanksgiving. That isn’t a celebration where we are from, but my family has made it our own. Everyone will be there.”
“So will you need help moving?”
Saf cocked his head. “Do you want to help?”
Peregrine nodded. “I could always count on Tank. I want to be as good of a friend to him.”
“And this will make you so?”
“I’m willing to help drive the moving van so you can fly down with the kids. Or even just pack boxes. Where would you rather be painted? Here or there?”
Saf frowned. “Does it matter?”
“For the backdrop.”
Saf nodded. “Inside my family’s restaurant. That’s always been home to me.”
Peregrine put out his hand. “Agreed.”
Saf stared at it for a moment then shook it. “Agreed.”
“Now what can I do for you in the meantime to give me an excuse not to spend all my time at my parents’?”
Saf laughed. Tank really was a lucky man. Not as lucky as Peregrine, but then no one was.
--
“Kurt.”
Kurt looked up. Veronica walked into his office and shut his door. He gestured her to a chair. “How can I help you?”
“You can start by telling me why you felt the need to tell the bosses what I wasn’t ready for them to hear yet.” She placed her hands on his desk and glared at him.
“Sorry. I had to do something.”
“And why couldn’t you have at least coordinated with us?”
Besides the fact that Veronica and Beka had both been drunk?
“I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. That would be tantamount to condoning that client’s actions.” Like Kurt had unwittingly done at the lunch.
Veronica sagged into a chair. “You couldn’t help yourself. That’s what Beka said. But why that particular higher up? Why did you pick the dreamiest guy in the whole company to tell about my little problem? Now I look like some helpless damsel who can’t protect herself.”
Kurt looked her over. “I don’t think he’ll see you that way.”
“I look like someone who can’t take a joke and who is offended by everything.”
Kurt shook his head. “He took my concern seriously.”
“Since you’re a man.” Veronica rolled her eyes then sighed. “And now when I bring it up, I won’t sound like I’m blowing smoke, but Kurt, why him?”
“Because he seemed like a nice guy.”
Veronica nodded and her eyes lost focus. If Kurt were the betting kind, he’d have been willing to wager that she wasn’t thinking about the man’s personality. He grinned. “And since he’s decided to work of this case personally…”
“That will give me a lot of opportunity to get to know him better.” Veronica grinned. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Veronica stopped at the door. “You wouldn’t happen to recall the company policy for dating across departments, would you?”
Kurt shook his head. “But I think I could find out.”
“No.” She opened the door. “I will. And I think I could use it to my advantage.”
Kurt watched her leave before he returned to his work. Anyone who saw her as damsel in distress needed better glasses. She was a woman of action, one he was quite willing to call his friend.
--
Peregrine smiled at Saf’s daughter’s frown. “No, Emil isn’t here.”
“Why did you come without him?”
Peregrine laughed. “It feels so good to be loved.”
Saf again attempted to hush his child. “Sorry.”
Peregrine shook his head. “I think I’ll have to get Emil down here if I’m going to get a good drawing of her.”
She looked up, eyes wide.
Saf ran his hand through his hair. “We are trying not to spoil her.”
Peregrine patted Saf’s arm. “Don’t think of it as spoiling. Emil is the right tool for the job of keeping Kali happy.”
Saf looked at the floor.
“And you are planning on inviting him down to your housewarming once you move in?”
“We are.” Kali nodded vigorously.
“Of course we are.” Saf smoothed Kali’s hair. “Especially since you so graciously offered to help us move. Would you like to stay for dinner?”
Peregrine grinned. “Yes, very much, thank you. I am willing to eat your cooking at every opportunity.”
Saf laughed. “You will have to eat at my family’s place.”
Peregrine planned on doing just that.
--
Emil sat back in his chair. The last of the workmen had finally gone and dinner was in the oven. He deserved a cup of tea in peace before Kurt got home. He wouldn’t get another moment in the condo alone until the kitchen was finished. The workmen would come early and leave late for the rest of the week and next week they’d be living in a hotel. Emil breathed in the bergamot and took a sip. The doorbell rang. Emil sighed. It rang again. He put down his cup. It rang yet again. He pushed the chair back. This time it rang twice quickly. By the time he got to the door the person was hitting the doorbell so fast that it just went ding-ding-ding and never actually got to the dong.
If kids were going to be playing with his doorbell like this, he wanted one that was long, but couldn’t be interrupted. Maybe chimes, or something.
But the person at the door wasn’t a kid. The man grinned. “Glad you were home. I just had to stop by to tell you that when you think your man is at work, he’s really in a bar entertaining drunk young… women. I can’t call them ladies because they are not.”
Emil’s heart sank. He’d had this conversation one already this year. Greg had called him while Emil was out of town and informed him that Peregrine had gone home with Kurt. He hadn’t believed it at first and rationalized Peregrine leaving with Kurt. They might just have gone to coffee or something. But then he’d come home and looked at Peregrine and known Greg had spoken the truth. Emil still hadn’t forgiven Greg for that. He frowned at the stranger. “Who are you?”
The man waved his hand in front of his face. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re being cheated on.”
But it did matter. It mattered a lot. Was this just some random guy that had seen Kurt and Emil together, dancing maybe? But if so, how did he know where Emil lived? Maybe he was someone from the building. But what was making this disclosure getting him? Emil studied the man’s appearance so he could ask Peregrine if he’d ever seen him before. “Ok.”
The man frowned. “Ok? Aren’t you angry?”
Emil was and he was getting angrier by the second. What right did this man, this stranger, have to come and disrupt his peaceful life? What right did he have to waltz in and tear Emil heart out? Greg had at least been an acquaintance. This guy was a stranger. Or maybe Emil had seen him at that meeting Kurt had been so brilliant at. But how did that give him the right to interfere in Emil’s business? He wasn’t going to give this stranger the satisfaction. “No.”
“Your guy — the big tall guy who always wears suits — he was seen with a drunk young woman on each arm yesterday afternoon.”
Emil frowned. The description could be anyone. It certainly didn’t sound like Kurt. Maybe this whole thing was a misunderstanding. “Do you know who I’m dating?”
The man lowered his eyebrows. “Don’t you?”
“Yes, but if you don’t even know his name, how can I be sure we are talking about the same guy here?”
Kurt had been so careful to ask Peregrine’s permission before he so much as laid a hand on Emil, he wouldn’t just have a fling. And between Emil and Peregrine, they kept him satisfied in bed. He shouldn’t need anyone else. He better no need anyone else.
“He’s tall.”
Emil nodded. “So are a lot of people.”
The city had a basketball team all of who would make Kurt look short.
“And he’s blond.”
“Like half the population.”
“And he wears suits.”
Emil crossed his arms. “How many tall, blond men wear suits downtown? More than one surely.”
The man stamped his foot. “He was your guy.”
Emil shrugged. “Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. What did the women look like?”
Kurt had taken ladies from the office out more than once. He’d always told Emil about it afterward. Hadn’t he?
“I… they were young.”
Emil had to deliberately unclench his teeth. He hadn’t even been this angry at Greg when he’d pushed his nose in. Peregrine hadn’t been happy, at least compared to his carefree ease now, but Kurt was, damn it, and Emil wasn’t going to let some stranger rip his heart in half. He wasn’t going to believe this guy. At least until he had some proof. “Younger than me? Or just young compared to you?”
The man scowled.
Emil pressed his advantage. “Blond? Dark hair? Red head? White? Black? Hispanic? Asian? South Asian? Mediterranean? The list goes on. Did you see them for yourself?”
The man looked away. “No.”
Emil crossed his arms again. He hated this guy. “Then why are you here?”
“I,” the man looked down the hall. “I just thought you should know.” He scampered off.
Emil stayed in the doorway until the stranger got on the elevator and then closed the door and locked it. His tea was no longer hot. And he was too agitated to sit still. So much for his pleasant afternoon.
--
Peregrine grinned as the children abandoned him in favor of their papa. Tank was really happy. Peregrine picked up the sketch book that he’d brought in and captured his friend’s joy.
--
Kurt sat down his briefcase. He wanted to be loved and spoiled and to feel like he was perfect if just a few minutes, but he was finally home where that could happen in Emil’s arms. “Do I ever rescue you when you don’t want rescuing?”
Emil stepped against him and wrapped his arms around Kurt’s neck. “I like being rescued by you.”
Something was slightly off about him. Like he was trying too hard. Peregrine would know. But then he’d leave it to Kurt to find out the specifics. And since Peregrine was in California, finding out if something was actually wrong was up to Kurt. “Good. Because I can’t help myself.”
“Don’t even try.” Emil melted into his arms as if he had no problems in the world. Or maybe that was just Kurt libido talking.
He kissed Emil and he felt Emil overwhelming response. Emil preferred to talk after sex, didn’t he? So maybe if Kurt could get him in the bedroom, he’d spill. “Dinner?”
“Will be ready in,” Emil glanced into the kitchen. “Twelve minutes.”
“I won’t be.” Was Kurt a horrible person for wanting the comfort of Emil’s arms when Emil had worries of his own?
Emil gave Kurt his sexiest smile. “It can be our timer too. As long as you let me up to take it out of the oven.”
Kurt never wanted to let Emil up.
“Or we could have a quickie now and head back to bed after we eat.”
Kurt grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
They could talk over dinner.
Emil stepped away and pulled Kurt after him. He didn’t have to. Kurt would follow him anywhere.
I’ve been reading Wired for Story by Lisa Cron which is a fascinating book about how our brains work and how to make the most of what we know about Brain Science when writing. In the chapter I’m reading, she says it’s our responsibility as writers to push our creations (characters) to survive the worse we can give them and allow them to live up to their potential. And so I rewrote two scenes in this chapter.
Title: Interruptions
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter one hundred of… more than a hundred
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: moving, book signing, a happy baby, getting to know you, an offer, confrontation turned, the right tool, invitation, the doorbell, rumor, pain, joy, a question, a timer
Length: about 2,400 words
Summary: Emil signs a book. Peregrine gets to know Saf. And Kurt can’t help himself.
Master list
Emil looked up from setting the blender on the floor of the guest room. His fan was in the doorway. The kid swallowed hard and pulled a book from behind his back. Emil smiled and put out his hand. The kid slowly handed it over. This was Emil’s one on Wolves, one of the first books he ever wrote. He led the way into the kitchen and got a pen. “How do you want me to sign it?”
The kid looked at the floor. “This one isn’t my copy. It belongs to my grandparents, but they have every one of your books and so for Christmas…”
Emil smiled. “Their names?”
“Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Steve.”
Emil grinned. “To Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Steve, with Love from your grandson and me?”
The kid nodded. “My name is Tom.”
“So with love from Tom and Emilio?”
Tom grinned. “Just like that.”
The foreman stood in the door to what would be Kurt’s office. “Get in here.”
Tom hung his head. Emil patted his back and handed him the book. “Good luck.”
Tom grinned and hurried to his uncle. But later he walked through the door with a spring in his step, so any lecture he may have received hadn’t brought him down.
--
Peregrine stepped up to Tank’s door, but before he could knock, Saf opened it and gestured Peregrine inside. “Tank isn’t home.”
“I know. I’ve come to see you.” Peregrine scooped up little Knox on the way by. The baby squealed and giggled and bounced in his arms. Peregrine flipped him upside down then back up. He laughed harder. Peregrine sat on the offered couch. “I want to get to know you better before I paint you. And I do mean to paint you.”
Saf smiled that shy smile that made his already pretty face even prettier. “Thank you. But if you do, you’ll need to do it soon.” Saf’s smile widened. “We’re moving.”
“Congratulations. Back near you family?”
Saf’s eyes lit up. “Yes.”
Tank was one lucky man.
“And thank you for pushing Tank in the right direction.”
Peregrine bowed his head. “Any time. Your babies will be happier there.”
Knox giggled around the fist in his mouth.
Peregrine smiled. “If that’s possible. But no matter how cute and sweet your little guy is, I came to talk to you.”
Peregrine tipped Knox over and he squealed with laugher. This kid was addictive.
“About what?”
“I don’t know. When are you moving?”
Saf grinned. “Before Thanksgiving. That isn’t a celebration where we are from, but my family has made it our own. Everyone will be there.”
“So will you need help moving?”
Saf cocked his head. “Do you want to help?”
Peregrine nodded. “I could always count on Tank. I want to be as good of a friend to him.”
“And this will make you so?”
“I’m willing to help drive the moving van so you can fly down with the kids. Or even just pack boxes. Where would you rather be painted? Here or there?”
Saf frowned. “Does it matter?”
“For the backdrop.”
Saf nodded. “Inside my family’s restaurant. That’s always been home to me.”
Peregrine put out his hand. “Agreed.”
Saf stared at it for a moment then shook it. “Agreed.”
“Now what can I do for you in the meantime to give me an excuse not to spend all my time at my parents’?”
Saf laughed. Tank really was a lucky man. Not as lucky as Peregrine, but then no one was.
--
“Kurt.”
Kurt looked up. Veronica walked into his office and shut his door. He gestured her to a chair. “How can I help you?”
“You can start by telling me why you felt the need to tell the bosses what I wasn’t ready for them to hear yet.” She placed her hands on his desk and glared at him.
“Sorry. I had to do something.”
“And why couldn’t you have at least coordinated with us?”
Besides the fact that Veronica and Beka had both been drunk?
“I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. That would be tantamount to condoning that client’s actions.” Like Kurt had unwittingly done at the lunch.
Veronica sagged into a chair. “You couldn’t help yourself. That’s what Beka said. But why that particular higher up? Why did you pick the dreamiest guy in the whole company to tell about my little problem? Now I look like some helpless damsel who can’t protect herself.”
Kurt looked her over. “I don’t think he’ll see you that way.”
“I look like someone who can’t take a joke and who is offended by everything.”
Kurt shook his head. “He took my concern seriously.”
“Since you’re a man.” Veronica rolled her eyes then sighed. “And now when I bring it up, I won’t sound like I’m blowing smoke, but Kurt, why him?”
“Because he seemed like a nice guy.”
Veronica nodded and her eyes lost focus. If Kurt were the betting kind, he’d have been willing to wager that she wasn’t thinking about the man’s personality. He grinned. “And since he’s decided to work of this case personally…”
“That will give me a lot of opportunity to get to know him better.” Veronica grinned. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Veronica stopped at the door. “You wouldn’t happen to recall the company policy for dating across departments, would you?”
Kurt shook his head. “But I think I could find out.”
“No.” She opened the door. “I will. And I think I could use it to my advantage.”
Kurt watched her leave before he returned to his work. Anyone who saw her as damsel in distress needed better glasses. She was a woman of action, one he was quite willing to call his friend.
--
Peregrine smiled at Saf’s daughter’s frown. “No, Emil isn’t here.”
“Why did you come without him?”
Peregrine laughed. “It feels so good to be loved.”
Saf again attempted to hush his child. “Sorry.”
Peregrine shook his head. “I think I’ll have to get Emil down here if I’m going to get a good drawing of her.”
She looked up, eyes wide.
Saf ran his hand through his hair. “We are trying not to spoil her.”
Peregrine patted Saf’s arm. “Don’t think of it as spoiling. Emil is the right tool for the job of keeping Kali happy.”
Saf looked at the floor.
“And you are planning on inviting him down to your housewarming once you move in?”
“We are.” Kali nodded vigorously.
“Of course we are.” Saf smoothed Kali’s hair. “Especially since you so graciously offered to help us move. Would you like to stay for dinner?”
Peregrine grinned. “Yes, very much, thank you. I am willing to eat your cooking at every opportunity.”
Saf laughed. “You will have to eat at my family’s place.”
Peregrine planned on doing just that.
--
Emil sat back in his chair. The last of the workmen had finally gone and dinner was in the oven. He deserved a cup of tea in peace before Kurt got home. He wouldn’t get another moment in the condo alone until the kitchen was finished. The workmen would come early and leave late for the rest of the week and next week they’d be living in a hotel. Emil breathed in the bergamot and took a sip. The doorbell rang. Emil sighed. It rang again. He put down his cup. It rang yet again. He pushed the chair back. This time it rang twice quickly. By the time he got to the door the person was hitting the doorbell so fast that it just went ding-ding-ding and never actually got to the dong.
If kids were going to be playing with his doorbell like this, he wanted one that was long, but couldn’t be interrupted. Maybe chimes, or something.
But the person at the door wasn’t a kid. The man grinned. “Glad you were home. I just had to stop by to tell you that when you think your man is at work, he’s really in a bar entertaining drunk young… women. I can’t call them ladies because they are not.”
Emil’s heart sank. He’d had this conversation one already this year. Greg had called him while Emil was out of town and informed him that Peregrine had gone home with Kurt. He hadn’t believed it at first and rationalized Peregrine leaving with Kurt. They might just have gone to coffee or something. But then he’d come home and looked at Peregrine and known Greg had spoken the truth. Emil still hadn’t forgiven Greg for that. He frowned at the stranger. “Who are you?”
The man waved his hand in front of his face. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re being cheated on.”
But it did matter. It mattered a lot. Was this just some random guy that had seen Kurt and Emil together, dancing maybe? But if so, how did he know where Emil lived? Maybe he was someone from the building. But what was making this disclosure getting him? Emil studied the man’s appearance so he could ask Peregrine if he’d ever seen him before. “Ok.”
The man frowned. “Ok? Aren’t you angry?”
Emil was and he was getting angrier by the second. What right did this man, this stranger, have to come and disrupt his peaceful life? What right did he have to waltz in and tear Emil heart out? Greg had at least been an acquaintance. This guy was a stranger. Or maybe Emil had seen him at that meeting Kurt had been so brilliant at. But how did that give him the right to interfere in Emil’s business? He wasn’t going to give this stranger the satisfaction. “No.”
“Your guy — the big tall guy who always wears suits — he was seen with a drunk young woman on each arm yesterday afternoon.”
Emil frowned. The description could be anyone. It certainly didn’t sound like Kurt. Maybe this whole thing was a misunderstanding. “Do you know who I’m dating?”
The man lowered his eyebrows. “Don’t you?”
“Yes, but if you don’t even know his name, how can I be sure we are talking about the same guy here?”
Kurt had been so careful to ask Peregrine’s permission before he so much as laid a hand on Emil, he wouldn’t just have a fling. And between Emil and Peregrine, they kept him satisfied in bed. He shouldn’t need anyone else. He better no need anyone else.
“He’s tall.”
Emil nodded. “So are a lot of people.”
The city had a basketball team all of who would make Kurt look short.
“And he’s blond.”
“Like half the population.”
“And he wears suits.”
Emil crossed his arms. “How many tall, blond men wear suits downtown? More than one surely.”
The man stamped his foot. “He was your guy.”
Emil shrugged. “Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. What did the women look like?”
Kurt had taken ladies from the office out more than once. He’d always told Emil about it afterward. Hadn’t he?
“I… they were young.”
Emil had to deliberately unclench his teeth. He hadn’t even been this angry at Greg when he’d pushed his nose in. Peregrine hadn’t been happy, at least compared to his carefree ease now, but Kurt was, damn it, and Emil wasn’t going to let some stranger rip his heart in half. He wasn’t going to believe this guy. At least until he had some proof. “Younger than me? Or just young compared to you?”
The man scowled.
Emil pressed his advantage. “Blond? Dark hair? Red head? White? Black? Hispanic? Asian? South Asian? Mediterranean? The list goes on. Did you see them for yourself?”
The man looked away. “No.”
Emil crossed his arms again. He hated this guy. “Then why are you here?”
“I,” the man looked down the hall. “I just thought you should know.” He scampered off.
Emil stayed in the doorway until the stranger got on the elevator and then closed the door and locked it. His tea was no longer hot. And he was too agitated to sit still. So much for his pleasant afternoon.
--
Peregrine grinned as the children abandoned him in favor of their papa. Tank was really happy. Peregrine picked up the sketch book that he’d brought in and captured his friend’s joy.
--
Kurt sat down his briefcase. He wanted to be loved and spoiled and to feel like he was perfect if just a few minutes, but he was finally home where that could happen in Emil’s arms. “Do I ever rescue you when you don’t want rescuing?”
Emil stepped against him and wrapped his arms around Kurt’s neck. “I like being rescued by you.”
Something was slightly off about him. Like he was trying too hard. Peregrine would know. But then he’d leave it to Kurt to find out the specifics. And since Peregrine was in California, finding out if something was actually wrong was up to Kurt. “Good. Because I can’t help myself.”
“Don’t even try.” Emil melted into his arms as if he had no problems in the world. Or maybe that was just Kurt libido talking.
He kissed Emil and he felt Emil overwhelming response. Emil preferred to talk after sex, didn’t he? So maybe if Kurt could get him in the bedroom, he’d spill. “Dinner?”
“Will be ready in,” Emil glanced into the kitchen. “Twelve minutes.”
“I won’t be.” Was Kurt a horrible person for wanting the comfort of Emil’s arms when Emil had worries of his own?
Emil gave Kurt his sexiest smile. “It can be our timer too. As long as you let me up to take it out of the oven.”
Kurt never wanted to let Emil up.
“Or we could have a quickie now and head back to bed after we eat.”
Kurt grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
They could talk over dinner.
Emil stepped away and pulled Kurt after him. He didn’t have to. Kurt would follow him anywhere.
