Warning: Unhealthy relationships, swearing, and somewhat suggestive adult themes. I've tried to keep this T-rated, but if anybody had a problem with it let me know and I'll change the rating. To my knowledge, it should comply with FanFiction's rating system.

Feedback would be appreciated.

Perfect

"What you want, what you need has been killing me
Try to be everything that you want me to be
I say yes, I'll undress, I've done more for less
Now I'll change everything till it's perfect again"

- Perfect, Mariana's Trench

In retrospect, maybe stealing that necklace wasn't such a good idea.

He had promised her he would stop stealing. After all, it was the only way their relationship had a chance. The Captain of Fyora's Guard couldn't exactly date the thief they threw in jail for a living, and they both knew it.

But some habits were hard to break.

He had spent the large majority of his life homeless, living off the food he stole and the 'liberated' goods he sold. For a while he had been taken in by the Thieves' Guild, but that had come to an abrupt end when he was caught stealing from the guild leader himself. In retrospect, that hadn't been such a good idea, either.

There were a lot of things he had done to survive that he wasn't proud of. His list of crimes wasn't just made up of breaking and entering, and selling stolen goods. Stealing didn't always bring in the money he needed, and there were times when he couldn't risk being caught by Brynn, for fear of causing her to her job and possibly losing his head. So he had turned to selling other things when stealing didn't quite cut it. Namely, his body.

After the incident with Kanrik that caused him to flee Brightvale, he had turned back to stealing as his main source of income. The guards in Roo Island weren't nearly as competent as Brynn, and though the blumaroos residents were bubbly, bouncy little creatures, they weren't exactly the brightest.

So maybe deciding to quit stealing cold turkey was another idea that he could add to his list of poorly thought-out ideas.

In fact, he hadn't really been thinking at all when he made the decision. Though in his defence, he had just discovered that the girl he had loved for years was finally giving him a chance, and he sure as hell didn't want to blow it by returning to his old ways.

And at first, it had been great. Sure, there were the occasional urges to steal, but Brynn had tried her best to help him through it. She comforted him when the nightmares about the crash of Faerieland kept him from sleeping. She defended him whenever somebody so much as suggested that he was still a good-for-nothing thief. Hell, she gave him more than enough chances even after she had caught him stealing something.

Eventually she grew tired of him continually reverting back to his old ways. The stress from working as the Captain of the Guard for two lands, as well as Fyora's personal artefact finder soon got to her, and she was no longer in the mood to deal with Hanso's stealing problem.

- x -

"It didn't belong to anybody, it was just sitting there-"

"I don't care! I don't care who it belonged to or where you found it! You still stole it Hanso, and I've lost count of the number of times you promised me you wouldn't do it again. Tell me why I should trust you."

She was standing at the foot of their bed, with an icy expression on her face and her hands on her hips. Waiting for an answer that he couldn't give.

He stood up from the bed, and walked over to her. Wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her, hoping to distract her; if her hands were occupied she couldn't hit him with anything. She shoved him away.

"That's not going to work anymore, Hanso."

"What do you want me to do, Brynn? I'm trying my best. I promise," he pleaded.

"You know what? You're lucky you have me to clean up all the messes you make. Because nobody else would put up with your shit this long." She flounced past him, and climbed into bed. She then added "If you're going to stay up then sleep on the couch; I have to finish unpacking and leave for work early tomorrow morning and I don't need you waking me up."

He hesitated, and then replied "I could finish unpacking for you, if you'd like."

She snorted. "So that you can stash the rest of your stolen goods before I see them? I don't think so." She turned off the lamp on the bedside table and rolled over, leaving him by himself in the dark.

Hanso walked out of the bedroom, and the down the stairs leading to the living room. The coffee table was piled with books, and a large map of Neopia was hung up on one wall; the locations they had traveled to had been neatly marked in red pen. On the other walls various souvenirs from their many travels were displayed. In one corner a paper lantern from Shenkuu was hung, and another lantern from Moltara sat on a shelf amongst more books.

He sat down on the couch, which had been turned into a make-shift bed with a pillow and a mess of blankets. Running a hand through his hair, he thought about what Brynn had said. It was true, he though. Who else but Brynn would put up with his bullshit? All these years, Brynn was the only person who had ever given a damn about him and his well-being. and he wasn't sure if that was even true anymore.

Leaning back against the pillow, he briefly contemplated leaving her. The thought had crossed his mind more than once lately, but he had yet to act on it. It wasn't the first night she had said something like that to him. What had once been teasing had turned into words that were meant to hurt him.

But still he did nothing, because if he left her where would he go? He'd be homeless, forced to once again resort to selling out himself and his 'liberated' goods. She was right, she was always right.

Nobody else would want him. She was the only one who would put up with him and his ways.

He sighed, and closed his eyes. Maybe in a few days she'd let him sleep in their bed again.