Summary

Jade and Peony's mostly settled lives become a little more interesting when they cross paths with three youth on a run down, Victorian house's front porch. The lives of the rich, the poor, the content and the abused cross to make a wonderful, quirky and often hilarious weave of life.

This story is told from Peony and Jade's perspectives except for three parts where Jade has recorded the bohemians stories, and written them down in their orators' own personal style.

Peony and Jade are often nipping at each other with sarcasm and puns to lighten the mood around the heavier weathered bits. Laughter, tears and scalding sarcasm will be had by all.

Couple of Notes for Info/Easier Reading: I'll try to keep this short and sweet, guys. Sorry ahead of time if it's not, but hey, who says you've gotta read it anyways?

1) This fic's got a couple narrators so I've I tried to make it as clear as possible who is speaking and (hopefully if the FFnet Gods allow) the narrator's name should appear before sections.

2) When something's in brackets it's commentary of the narrator (i.e. Jade/Peony/Luke) *not me*, just like in the summary outside of this fic. I'm not a fan of the author inserting hm/herself into a story, even as an omniscient voice. I'm just trying something different and hopefully it doesn't upset the flow too much (maybe you can let me know if it's good or would be better without it?).

3) This fic is M because there are sexual shenanigans. Guys do get it on, tastefully, and also Jade's job requires a little dirty talk. It's also M for some heavy themes, but there story is pretty fluffy (just a heads up).

4) Pairings: Jade/Peony, Guy/Luke, Luke/Tear and maybe light Anise/Ion if you're so keen.

5) Disclaimer: The characters are all Tales and hopefully they're all relatively in character. Song references are not mine and belong to Extreme, Rise Against, Bon Jovi, Janis Joplin, The Beatles and Queen (gotta love the oldies!). The setting is also based loosely (very loosely) on Toronto and the weather is based on what Canadian weather was like ten years ago (maybe it was because I was shorter, but I swear the drifts were bigger when I was in grade-school).

*7 Chapters* in total. Here's the first of it. Comments are muchly appreciated!


Part 1: The Bohemians

Would you believe that it first happened when we were pressed against the brick wall of corner-store that I honestly can't remember the name of – I think the sign might have been yellow or maybe blue, but it was definitely glowing because there was a sort of strobe light show in the puddles just beyond the eaves, and Jade's breath puffed out over the lit water like steam...oh shit. Sorry, that's not very important, is it?

Let's just say you believe that I had enough sense to get under the eaves and out of the weather as buckets of rain washed Cabbagetown's streets clean. I also had enough sense to pull Jade out of the rain too and tuck him under my arm like he was some shivering puppydog (he wasn't but the man is skinny so I'm sure he didn't mind too much).

"Peony, you are like the movers who handled Mother Curtiss' eighteenth century Hodd crystal vase," Jade said in what my memory tells me was a loving, simpering voice (yeah right, I remember he stomped on my foot as he said this and it made his words all the more prominent) as he pulled closer to the wall of the convenience store. He stopped us, took his arm out of mine and wiped the fog off his glasses. He looked over the lenses at me and gave me this candid grin then heaved a sigh as he said while placing the glasses on his nose, "It's in a million little pieces and possibly spread over a dozen of this city's dumps. Historians are likely weeping over the glass of less expensive candy dishes and bongs wondering if the pieces they are tweezering are part of the nearly extinct Hod lineage. In short, you really are too rough on my frail, delicate body."

I think I might have thrown my head back a little as I laughed.

"That's great, Jade," I said and probably turned to look out over the street and cars that likely sloshed on into the dark. I moved my hand in a pantomime that covered at least three city blocks as I said, "I see it now. Little widow-peaked men in bright yellow raincoats sifting through diapers to discover history. Their tears melding into the rain much like your mother's vase is melding into the splinters of bongs. Funny, I don't hear you crying. She gave it to you as a parting gift, yeah?"

"Let the scholars do the weeping," Jade said as he burrowed his hands in his pockets and out of my grasp. He smirked at me like he knew (of course he knew) I wanted to hold his hand and said, "Besides, I kept it to please Mrs. Curtiss and only secondly for its historical value. Humble doctor I may be, but I do believe the people of Hod were known for architecture and not glassware. It is no great aesthetic loss."

I might have said, "Those poor scholars" or maybe even "That poor vase" but I was busy thinking about how sorry my life was with Jade denying my every move. Now all I can think of was the sign above us yellow or blue?

I moved closer to him, put one clichéd arm against the wall next to his head and took another step closer. I know we both had to have been smiling because I'm smiling now and Jade is always smirking. Despite his two steps back from my every step forward he never backtracked from a kiss. And then I said it.

"Have my babies."

"Well that's physiologically impossible," Jade snorted.

Oh yeah. I said that first before I said –

I laughed at his laugh then closed my eyes and kissed him again against the corner store wall, in the city, as it rained. And there must have been traffic because I remember when I whispered it I thought the sploosh and rush of a car covered it up. When I opened my eyes he was staring at me and he wasn't smirking. He didn't glower and he wasn't swooning from the kiss or misty eyed from what I told him. He stared intensely, said nothing. Just as I took my arm away from the wall, put a hand in my hair and crinkled my nose in a I-was-joking-when-I-said-it way, Jade moved forward, had his hand fisted in my shirt, his toes nosing mine and a hand in my hair.

Jade kissed me.

"Sayin' 'I love you' is not the words I want to hear from you."

We both drew away and looked behind me, across the street. In a city you expect to see lights, you expect to see car headlights, billboards and convenience store signs even late at night (especially late at night) but...

Across the street in a square of darkness was a red light that didn't burn like neon, it glowed like embers, red and warm. From that homey light came singing and guitar playing, really gentle music.

"More than words is all you have to do to make it real. Then you wouldn't have to say..."

I crossed the street and I guess there wasn't much traffic because no one honked at me for darting across. I crossed because I was touched; the voices were raw, they had feeling, the guitar was acoustic and I didn't know anyone who sang with that much open emotion on the streets of a big city (and trust me, there are a lot of street corner musicians). Jade crossed probably because he was curious and because he's the sensible one that slaps me when I'm about to throw my life's savings away for art or song, but hey, I like only great art and great song. It wouldn't be such a waste.

Across the street now with the convenience store's light fading away, the dark square became a little more illustrated. The darkness yielded a house that was shadowed by a twenty story, seedy apartment building on one side and on the other, brushed up against a factory that hadn't been open in decades, I'm guessing. The homey light was actually a garbage can on fire, but the flames were only just lapping at the rim and made the glow more red than yellow. The voices I thought that could have been the heart of the city, didn't belong to stars or angels. Three kids sat lounged around the trash can, flames and youth sheltered by the roof of the house. They looked and sang like that were parts of the same thing. The girl and the guys all wore worn jeans that hugged at the hips and nowhere else. They wore patched jean coats or plaid flannel shirts. The girl sang with her eyes fixed lovingly on a redheaded boy as he lay in her lap and she stroked his hair. The same redheaded boy had his legs bridged over the guitarist's legs. The guitarist strummed along and, every once in a while, stretched a finger out to scratch the skin showing through the redheaded boy's jeans.

I stood on the patchy lawn soaking in the rain for a good twenty seconds before Jade pushed us under the eaves.

"...that you love me, 'cause I'd already know."

I know Jade whispered something in my ear, but I really didn't hear the words. (Even better) I heard the feeling in Jade's voice and felt the warmth of his breath on my ear. He could have told me (and probably had) that we were trespassing and that we were stepping in on someone else's moment, but my only thoughts were how much I wanted to listen to these young people (and maybe kiss Jade).

Funny enough, the musicians didn't startle when two men with suits and a briefcase between them stood at their rotting porch and listened. Their music slowly teetered away and their eyes turned on us with curiosity.

When no one said anything and Jade turned to stare candidly at me I spoke.

"You guys sound amazing," I said or something like that.

The boy with the guitar ran a thumb down the strings and the instrument made a modest chirping noise. The girl blushed and tried to hide a smile as she focused her attention on the mop of red hair in her lap (she actually wasn't just playing with the hair, she was cutting it and rubbing the boy's head lovingly). The boy who had been singing along and was lounged across the other two's laps, cracked an eye open and glowered a little, but closed it again when Jade smirked at him.

"Thanks," the guitarist finally said and saluted me. He looked like a younger, paler, scrawnier me and I thought he might have a nice voice too by the happy way he talked. He set the guitar aside gingerly and pulled the redheaded boy's knees to his chest as he said, "Music and singing keeps us dry on nights like this."

"It brings us together," the redheaded boy muttered shyly.

"Yes," said the girl as she too set her scissors aside and gave the boy's head one more brush before turning to us, "and it keeps us together."

The boy in her lap made a happy, grunting noise in his throat and the guitarist squeezed his knees tighter and kissed the redhead's thigh.

I probably asked them about where they had learned to play and they might have told me a little more about their lives and music, but all I can remember from that meeting are their names; Tear, Luke and Guy.


Five days a week I go to my office in the busiest part of town and sit on my ass behind my desk working more with paper than people. I can't even really tell you what I do there because the company is big and I'm pretty near the top (Vice President is my title) so naturally, I don't have a flying fuck of a clue what all goes on. What I do know by heart is the date, time and place of this month's and the next's and the next's social events. I'll skip on half of them because Jade (brilliant doctor that he is) also has social events and of those half that I'm supposed to accompany him to and he accompany me to, we spend half of them at home accompanying each other (he's still a brilliant doctor at those times and would choke me with my own stupid words if he knew that I wrote this).

Work today was only worth mentioning because my routine changed and I actually got to work with people (I laugh now as I think about the ambiguity of that statement. It makes me smile and blush). I was sitting behind my desk, not actually working. I was staring out my window wall, not actually looking at the buildings that poked the sky or the elevators that run up their sides. I was busy thinking about the night when I met those kids. They had been polite – nah, kind is a better word and their kindness felt like it had more to do with us and them than it had to do with our suits and their serenades to the burning trash. They must have led interesting lives or at least interesting to me because I didn't live where they lived or lived how they lived. Somehow they stuck with me and they must have stuck with Jade too. At home I would look across our living room into his study (I had the apartment modified so that no rooms but the bed and bathrooms had doors; I like open concept and we weren't students anymore, so damned be it that Jade would have an office in our place with a door). I would just be finishing a thought about those kids and I would look over at him, expect to see him hunched over his desk and instead find him staring at me or just looking up. Maybe we have been together for too long or maybe Jade's just a sly fox, but I'm pretty sure he could see the thoughts and wonder just fading from my eyes. Sometimes he would smirk, other times he wouldn't express anything and simply return to writing (I know now that it did mean something, back then I was only guessing).

So I suppose I was either thinking about those kids or I was thinking about thinking about those kids when there was a rap on my door followed swiftly by the clunk clunk of heels as the door was pushed open. I knew without looking away from the window that the person behind me was either familiar with my slogan of 'knock for business, enter for pleasure' or she was higher up than me or she was a little self-centred. Natalia falls into all three categories, actually.

"Peony, I need to speak to you. I have business to discuss with you on behalf of my father and a proposition for you. Are you even listening?"

"With both ears; it goes in one ear and out the second," I answered and casually swivelled my chair around (and I had been, but teasing the boss' daughter was to be my treat of the day. Maybe people would visit my office more if I was more serious).

Have you ever seen a lion with a bone stuck between its teeth? The lion would probably sneer about the pain and be pissed because he's the king of the jungle, but he has to deal with his food, of all things, refusing to pass on. Natalia was something like that lion that day. She stood before my desk with her legs in a wide stance and arms as twisted and cross as her face. In comparison to the kids I had been wondering about, Natalia was daddy's little poodle. Black Guess skirt and blouse, Prada shoes; I bet if she had cavities daddy would have them filled with diamonds (maybe that's why I smartened up; if I got her angry enough she could bite through steel and I really am only a man).

I faced her and straightened as I said, "I'm listening. Really."

She blinked and her shoulders relaxed.

"I have news from daddy; you're up for promotion."

"Promotion? Huh, I thought the only higher I could get is your dad's position. I don't think I deserve the enhancement if I don't even know my own company's hierarchy."

And I really didn't want it; I spent more nights out of bed than I did with Jade at the moment. I shouldn't even be this high in this company at my age. The death of my father had meant a Saturday in my college years spent in a black suit beside the grave of a man I wasn't quite sure I liked and, months later, learning how to run our company. I bargained with Lanvaldear to join with Malkuth, but I didn't make any compromises about the length of my hair. No way in hell would I cut it knowing that my father had hated it (and I'd figured out I actually didn't much like the guy considering I couldn't pursue my passions because of him) and figuring out that Jade really liked it (that was one good thing that happened after the funeral; I drank myself stupid in pursuit of my true feelings for my father and wound up finding Jade's feelings for me).

Natalia smiled but behind those painted lips there was pain. So I wasn't the only bone then.

"Actually, Peony, you do know your placement well...you're not wrong."

"Oh, Natalia..."

I kicked my chair away and it bumped dully against the window as I walked around the desk and held her in my arms. She kept her nose to my chest and slowly I felt a damp warmth in two spots just below my collar (later I would get some questions as to why I had mascara marks on my shirt).

"I'm sorry to hear he's not well. How bad is it? How sick is he?"

She shook her head in reply, clung tighter to me and crushed her nose against my neck as she sobbed.

(Hell...here's where I don't particularly like telling the story, it makes me feel awkward and I might as well point out now that I'm blushing and Jade's being ass by pointing it out. Maybe paperwork isn't so bad...)

It was already a little uncomfortable to be holding my boss' daughter while she cried against my neck in my office, and there was a point when her sobs subsided and I thought she would pull away to rub at her eyes. She didn't though, and I should have sat her down in my chair and grabbed her a glass of water. I didn't because she really didn't want to let go. So I rubbed her shoulders and patted her back and asked her if she was alright. She didn't reply and after a couple seconds my blood went cold, my thoughts froze and I went stiffer than my dad on his funeral day.

Natalia was done crying but her eyes were still wet or so I thought. But it wasn't her eyelashes batting my neck like the hairs of a wet paintbrush, it was her lips.

"Uh, Natalia..."

Her hands jumped to my neck and she let out a sob as she kissed my neck more fervently.

"Natalia..."


-Jade-


(Peony always gets bashful about this part, but thankfully we've always had an honest relationship so I know all the details and the ones I don't I'm sure about, I can fill in).

Acting as the knight in shining armour that he is, Peony attempted to console a grieving Natalia and in return she attempted to seduce the man I share a bed with. Naturally, should he have succumb to her in his office that day, I would not be here to tell this story. I would never share a man with a woman who lets her emotions whisk her life away. My bed already has one fool in it and I don't wish our relationship to become like those bohemian youth, no matter how well they play the guitar (and by the way, I believe Guy had been playing the sitar the first night we saw them. Of course, I am only a humble doctor and Peony is, as the saying goes, Queen of the Theatre).

Apparently Peony is not as strong physically or morally as he appears, for Natalia had all but laid him down on his desk before he managed enough personal restraint to order her to stop. He didn't actually put a hand to her provocations until her thigh pressed deep against him at which point he pushed her off with a gasp of surprise (and stimulation, I suspect). He then likely led her around to the other side of his desk, sat in his chair and stumbled bewilderedly over to his personal refreshment cart where he poured her a glass of water and a shot of brandy for himself. Surely, he then stumbled back to her, shooting the brandy and spilling some water because of his nerves as he went. He handed her the water, pushed a tissue box near her like a man prodding a mouse closer to a hungry snake, and then pulled a chair for himself to the other side of the desk. He smoothed his shirt, took a calming breath and spoke to her far more professionally than he ever had before, I'm sure.

"Natalia, I didn't mean to be rough with you, but...I have to say I am very...shocked. Not in an entirely bad way, but definitely in a way that is unwanted to ever be experienced again. You are far too young for me and I do not have any feelings that extend beyond respect for you and your family. Besides, I like men."

(I may have made up that last statement, but I do not doubt those were the first thoughts on his mind when he thought about what he would say to her, as he stumbled about his office.)

"I know," she half spoke, half sobbed into the tissue in her hand. She took a drink of water before looking bashfully at Peony, "but is it at all possible that you could consider my proposition-"

"No, Natalia, no. I can't and won't after this sentence. It's not what I want and something tells me it's not exactly something you want for yourself," Peony said as he regarded her teary face that turned embarrassedly from his searching gaze. She blew into her tissue and Peony straightened his shoulders as he added emphatically, "Besides, I love Jade."

(...I'm not quite sure what possessed me to add that, but Peony, at the bar shortly after this incident with Natalia, adamantly swore that he told her he loved me as the main part of his argument. I am not so sure how great a part that confession was, but it is possible it was included in his rebuttal considering he confessed his love for me for the first time in our relationship a few weeks before Natalia's seduction. I was rather surprised about his confession when it happened, but mainly because for all his boasts about being a romantic, he certainly isn't considerate of location or setting. He confessed his love to me on a street corner in a poor part of town outside a convenience store. And by the way, the sign was green.)

Upon hearing Peony out, Natalia cast her gaze down and nodded dolefully.

"I see now. I see...I'm sorry, Peony. It was rude of me and I shouldn't interrupt you any further," she stood quickly from the chair, caught her heel on its base and nearly knocked the little sense she ever possessed from her head on the desk's edge. Ever the gentlemen, Peony stood hastily to catch her, but quickly withdrew his hand upon remembering what had happened the last time he offered his body for her comfort. He put a hand to his hair and laughed, and Natalia responded with a watery chuckle.

Peony was curious about her reasons for the muddled seduction, but dared not put himself between her and the door.


Peony was rather intuitive (for once) when he supposed that I knew how he had been thinking about the young adults we had met at that derelict house. It worried me how attached he was to them and I was naturally curious as to how they had ended up living in such a place and state. Besides those concerns, winter was to come in less than a month and they ought to be as physically prepared as possible. I decided to visit them one evening when Peony was staying late at work.

I made my way to the outskirts of downtown with my briefcase packed with simple supplies and several poignant questions listing themselves in my mind. I had wondered if they were vagabonds and possibly moved from derelict place to derelict place around the city, but no. The girl, Tear, and the red haired boy, Luke, were on the porch. They wore similar shabby clothes in the chilling fall evening, but they found a way to keep each other warm.

I walked up the porch and the two promptly separated and rearranged their dishevelled state.

"So sorry to interrupt you," I said as they wrapped their shirts tight around them and looked up at me with rosy cheeks (no doubt, some of the rouge was credited to embarrassment). I smiled as I said, "I wondered if I may be delighted the chance to speak with you."

"Uh, I guess so," Luke replied.

"Very well," I said and sat my briefcase down at their feet. The bohemians looked at me and my briefcase before sharing a look.

"Why don't I go find Guy. He should be here for this too," Tear said and got to her feet. Luke startled and made to protest but quieted when he remembered I was standing before him. He settled, but watched Tear disappear beyond the screen door and into the house. The door was held in place by a single hinge and there was no other door to block cold air or mischievous sorts of people.

I wasted no time waiting for Tear and Guy; I set into asking Luke some questions seeing as he was almost literally pinned to the wall.

"Luke, correct?"

He nodded reluctantly.

"Luke, I want to ask you some questions. Do you mind?"

He pulled his knees close to himself and shrugged, but quickly followed up his nonchalant response by saying guardedly, "Depends on what you want to ask."

"I want to know more about you and your friends and perhaps provide some assistance."

I have perfectly good hearing so I was able to catch his less than impressed muttered swear of my audience of one. Naturally, I ignored his discomfort.

"My first question is, well, actually I think I had better start with a statement. Your fly is undone and I suggest zipping it up considering how nippy the weather is."

He seemed startled and quickly put a hand to his zipper. My curiosity about his back story was pushed to the shadows as the well seasoned doctor in me was reminded of how I had come upon the boy and Tear.

"I suppose I'll start with a rather simple question given your reluctance earlier; do you practice safe sex?"

"I – wait – you just? You asshole!" Luke said rather emphatically and crawled with his back pressed firmly against the wall of the house to a standing position. It was peculiar how terrified and furious he looked simultaneously. His chest swelled with indignation as he spat nervously at me, "Just 'cause I live out here doesn't mean I'm a whore."

"I'm sorry if I came off insidious. Forgive me, propositioning was not my intention. I am a doctor, you see, and it is my job to worry about people's health."

Luke stood stuck to the wall, swollen with anger and fear before he barked rather confusedly, "I don't care how much money you make. I won't do it."

I had been aware that Guy and, likely, Tear too were waiting at the screen door, attempting to deduce my intentions. Guy mustn't have viewed me as a threat for he put the old, aluminum baseball bat down just outside the door and joined Luke and I on the deck.

"You're not a social worker then?" Guy asked me and I replied negatively. Guy seemed to believe me for he waved to someone in the house, Tear I suppose, and then moved across the deck to pry Luke from the wall and kiss and cuddle the boy.

"I certainly hope you are practicing safe sex considering you are not practicing monogamy," I said as I put my hands in the pockets of my long coat and waited for Tear to remerge. Bashfully, she too set a piece of timber with a couple nails sticking out of it next to the bat and then went to put her arms around the other side of Luke. She buried her nose in his red hair and suddenly I had all three watching me curiously.

This was the first and probably the most timorous of visits I was to have with these three young people, but they all seemed to end in a similar fashion. The first, second and third visits were to gain their trust more than information. However, I conducted a quick medical check-up that was mainly verbal, found nothing mentally nor physically concerning with any of them, then prescribed them some condoms. Luke blushed, but Tear and Guy accepted my advice.

I left with the three of them peering at me from the deck as I walked to the bus stop a couple streets over.


~Peony~


It was probably around the time that Jade started visiting the kids behind my back that I started dragging us to little restaurants and bars around the area that the trio lived. Jade knew (of course he knew) that when I would suggest going for walks after eating and drinking, come sleet, rain or intoxication, that I wasn't doing it for my health (again, of course he knew. He's a goddamn doctor and a great one, so no shit he knew that I wasn't drenching myself for my health). He didn't say anything about his visits though and for a while I couldn't figure out why.

So Jade and I spent our evenings together walking around the kids' neighbourhood, often seeing them lounged on the porch and now and then standing on their front lawn to listen to them play and sing. After a couple weeks they invited us onto their porch to listen to them play (I guess because Jade had finally weaseled his way into their trust. It was probably pretty damn easy considering he supplied them with condoms every time he saw them, sly bastard). During those two weeks Jade spent his time learning about them and I spent my time trying to figure out Natalia (while keeping my distance, dear Lorelei, I kept my distance). She, unlike me, was a dutiful daughter and hung around the workplace often. It had been cute when she was seven and wore one of her father's ties as she sat on his lap at his desk giving orders. Cute wasn't the word used to describe her as now she clip clopped past cubicles and office doors barking orders and making suggestions to people far more specialized in their field than herself (though she was usually right...It was sometimes amusing to see the accountants gnash their teeth and swallow their pride as a size two in a skirt and blazer told them to check their math). I probably wasn't born to be a detective since after a week of ignoring my duties and following her around, I simply walked up to her and asked if we could talk. Our conversation didn't exactly go as I planned.

I cornered her next to the water cooler three doors down from my office and asked if I could speak to her. She glanced over her shoulder as she filled her glass water bottle and asked me to wait a moment. As she straightened and twisted the lid on her bottle she asked what it was I wanted to talk to her about.

"About something we discussed in my office a couple weeks ago," I said casually with my hands twitching on my hips. Natalia nearly shattered her bottle and let out the closest word to a curse I ever heard her utter.

"Oh, Yulia's holy choir...Darn it. Forgive me for appearing, ah, disgruntled. Just let me sop this up and we can talk. In your office."

Natalia reached for a stack of papers on one of the many business man's desks to soak up the water. I heard the businessman protest rather politely for someone whose work was being used as a rag. I continued on my way to my office, finding some amusement when Natalia quipped, "You would have had to redo this project anyway. The stats are completely wrong."


Like I said, the talk really didn't go as planned since I made the mistake of asking her a question that either should have been asked at the end or not at all.

I sat on the corner of my desk and Natalia sat in my chair in profile as she stared out the window. I poured her a glass of water and a drink for myself (and FYI I don't keep brandy in my office. It's rum. If Jade's going to stain my reputation at least get the booze right. Geez, you would think we'd only been together for a couple months. It's been five long years and I wish time would slow and the years would get longer. I would be fine with that). Natalia nodded at my offerings but didn't turn towards me. I had my glass to my lips but lowered it, probably with a sigh. Then I asked the question.

"Natalia, are you okay?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, sighed then uncrossed her legs and moved around the room. I shifted in my seat on the desk to watch her pace.

"No, Peony, I am truly not," she said in an agitated voice. The way she tossed her hair as she turned in her pace made me think of a lion again, flicking its tail as it snarled to itself.

"Father is sick and it seems as though his number two has no desire to take control of the business-"

"Sorry," I interjected with a shrug (it was true after all). Natalia ignored me and continued speaking and pacing.

"I have a great many things to do in the next couple months and now I have to try to whip all of daddy's employees into top shape in case he falls further into illness. There's my mother's winter wardrobe to create. Then there is daddy's will and final wishes, I'll have to reconsider my future yet again. There's also my humanitarian work which I wanted to talk to you about considering your partner is a doctor – Oh dear!"

"What?" I asked probably just as startled as Natalia looked. She stopped in front of the window looking out over the city and had a hand clasped to either side of her cheeks. I thought maybe she had seen something tragic going on outside, but she wasn't looking down and unless she had developed a fear of pigeons I saw nothing at our level to make her look so mortified. I got to my feet and took a couple steps closer. My imagination had me thinking that the young women had realized how busy her future looked and she was going to leap through the pane of glass to end it all (horrible as it sounds, I was saddened by the thought that I wouldn't have a window to stare out of while daydreaming for a couple weeks after Natalia threw herself to a fifty story death). My rational side (Jade side) told me that standing with only two feet between her and the glass wasn't enough space for her to take a running leap and expect to make it through the window. Still, I put a tentative hand on her shoulder because she had been doing her impression of Scream for nearly a minute. At my touch she whirled around and I took three steps back, worried that the blazing look in her eyes was another fit of passion that would end with me on my back and her sitting on my hips on my office floor. And we almost ended up in such a position when she clasped her hands in mine and I stumbled over my feet. Turns out daddy's poodle has the grip of a Rottweiler.

"Peony, you must tell me where your doctor's office is immediately," she begged and shook my hands in hers like she was trying to ring the information she needed out of them.

"Uh, what day is it?" I asked disorientated by her turnabout and incredibly firm handshake. "Wednesday?"

"Yes, Wednesday! It's Wednesday," she chirped.

"He'll be at the clinic-"

"Which clinic? Where?"

"Just off of Church Street-"

She let go of my hands and bolted for the door while yelling for me to call her driver to the front of the building. She had created a loud scene in my office, but now there was no one pacing or nattering except for my thoughts (and really all my mind was doing was thinking how women in high heels run like ostriches). I flopped heavily in my chair and rolled across the floor until the head of my seat bumped the window. After thinking about nothing (and ostriches), I remembered that I had been attempting to figure out what Natalia was on about and realized that she had said a lot, a lot of a lot (so much so that I had to make up half the things she said because I honestly can't remember), but none of what she said amounted to much. I was supposed to ask her to draw me a picture and instead I got a cloud of dots to connect.

I kicked my feet up on my desk and leaned back.

"Oh hell..."


-Jade-


Oh yes. This part. I swore there would be hell to pay for this, didn't I, Peony? My day had gone well that day (only one unwanted pregnancy and three cases of syphilis, which was a dramatic drop since last week). The waiting room was empty at quarter to seven so I switched the sign to closed and went to my office to pack my supplies (I planned to visit the bohemians before I met with Peony for dinner). I had just finished buttoning my coat when I heard three sharp raps on the clinic's front door. I knew that no matter what sexual health crisis this person was in I could diagnose them as either illiterate or idiotic for knocking on the door when it was now three after seven. I made my way to the door slowly, savouring the time I had to irritate him or her on the colder side. My method worked for there were another three raps, louder than the first series.

I came to stand in front of the door. A young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair was outside and I suppose she fit into the less than intelligent category since she was standing on tiptoe to see over the closed sign. I pantomimed glancing at my watch, but upon seeing me she merely arched her feet more and waved emphatically. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose and cracked the door open enough to speak through, she, however, was not only of the less than intelligent variety but also a deadly concoction of ignorant and talkative. I have spent nearly two decades in medicine and to this day there is no pill or therapy to cure quite the poisonous disease that this young woman had.

"Well, you'll have to open the door more than that if I'm to enter," she said, apparently diagnosing me as idiotic (I thought that was charming).

"I am sorry, miss, but if you are concerned about an STI or pregnancy then you will have to wait until tomorrow for a test. The best prescription I can give you is to remain sexually inactive for the night and buy a pregnancy test from your local drugstore. They are not as accurate as a doctor's analysis, but they are easier to read these days. 'Yes' means you are with child and 'no' means you are not."

"Well!" she huffed as I stepped outside the door and locked the clinic. I turned around to see her swollen indignantly and suddenly I thought she looked familiar.

"Excuse me, have we met before?" I asked as I pocketed my keys.

"Yes, but certainly not here," she said and gave a scornful look at the clinic's sign.

"Then perhaps at one of Peony's social events."

"Yes, Doctor. We were introduced at the charity event to preserve Hodian artefacts three years ago."

"I don't recall that event, but I will be sure to not tell Peony or any of his co-workers that you stopped by my clinic, even if it is afterhours and I am no longer on duty. Good evening."

I made to make my way across the street to the bus stop, but the young lady latched onto my arm with a grip like a sphygmomanometer.

"I am not here because I believe I am pregnant or have contracted some disgusting disease. I came to speak with you, Dr. Curtiss, about Peony."

"Peony?"

"Yes, there is something I must say to you concerning him."

"Perhaps we could talk at a later time. My bus will be here in a few minutes and I have an engagement that may not be terribly prudent in regards to time, but I like being consistent."

"Then I shall accompany you."

(Peony, I have highlighted those words for if I ever hear them uttered by that woman again and the reason is because of you, I will bring as much misery upon you as those words brought on me during my bus ride that night).


Natalia does not enjoy silence, nor does she enjoy a steady pace of conversation. Her words per minutes rivalled the wheels of the bus' revolutions while traveling at top speed through the city. She spent the first five minutes admonishing me for supposing she had been to visit the clinic for sexual health reasons, especially since I had flipped the sign to closed. Why would I assume an educated young woman would be knocking on my door at three minutes after the clinic's closing time? she asked me. She also had a peculiar understanding of the city. Whenever she glanced out the window or the bus made a stop in a new part of the city she would ask where we were. I would respond with the street name and she would say "Oh, we are near Queen" or "Main" or "King" and would be exactly right. In short, the woman may not have been to the side streets of the city, but she knew where every name was on the map.

My stop was four stops away and still she had not breeched any subject concerning my dear Peony when I asked what she wanted to discuss. She replied that the bus was far too noisy to talk about delicate matters so she would get off with me and discuss what she needed to then (you could not believe the joy I felt when I heard her say "I shall accompany you").

And so it was that I walked down the darkening street with only the sound of Natalia's clicking heels for the first few moments. I didn't particularly like the idea of spending an hour of my evening in her presence, but I wondered if someone who knew only the main streets and rich suburbs of the city, would be frightened from me if I showed her the lifestyle of my three voluntary charges. Halfway to their house she spoke and in a subdued tone.

"Dr. Curtiss-"

"Surely the daughter of Peony's boss must actually interact with the man, and no doubt he gave you the address of my clinic. If that is true then I am sure you have heard Peony call me by my first name; please, do so as well. If you cannot manage to articulate something so informal then call me by Mister or Doctor Balfour. I seemed to have developed a case of verbal constipation over the past half hour and the surname 'Curtiss' only makes my condition worse."

Natalia's lips flapped open and closed noiselessly once or twice and suddenly my case of verbal constipation became bearable.

"Very well," she huffed and the click of her heels grew sharper, "Dr. Balfour, I have something I wish to talk to you about concerning your partner Peony. It seems I made not only a great personal error, but also a moral one for which I – where are we?"

We had taken a sharp left and were now cutting across the lawn leading up to Guy, Tear and Luke's abode. The bohemian trio were huddled on the deck as Peony and I had met them on our first encounter, singing, playing and embracing by the burning trash can.

"We live on front porches and swing life away, we get by just fine here on minimum wage. If love is a labour I'll slave till the end, I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand..."

"I presume you mean where are we in regards to why are we here instead of the street name, which you already inquired about. I have no easy answer for you," I said as I ascended the stairs and Natalia remained in the poetic shadows at the foot of the steps. The only other answer I supplied was, "Some people may call this lustful sin and others may call it nirvana. Personally I call it their life of choice, but even some may dispute that."

"The winter's so cold summer's over too soon, so let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees..."

Tear's melodic voice cut off in a series of coughs that had me suspecting the sickness was in her chest and not her throat. The moment I came parallel with the garbage can, Luke and Guy swarmed me and almost rivalled Natalia's rate of speech with a full description of Tear's malady.

From Tear's state and the boys' description, I guessed that she may have bronchitis, (or any other number of viruses that induced coughing) but they unanimously refused to visit a hospital to be certain. The boys asked what they should do and, once again, refused to see a doctor that was not me. I ordered that she be taken inside, eat something warm, drink something warm and be put to bed without any further activities that night. I followed them inside to make sure that they didn't put her to sleep in a room with the roof opened for stargazing.

"Um..." Natalia said as I stood by the screen door while the boys accompanied Tear down the hall.

"I don't think you need to ask permission for entrance," I said to her and then walked inside.

The boys had taken Tear to a room close to the center of the house. I was impressed with how they had attempted to make up for their lack of electricity by cutting a hole in the floor and stuffing a garbage can in it to use as a fireplace. Guy, being the most technically and mechanically savvy, had even figured out how to make a chimney that more or less directed the smoke out of the house.

Tear laid herself down in a pile of blankets in the corner of the room and Luke joined her to press his bodily warmth against her.

"You will actually keep each other warmer with skin to skin contact, but for civility's sake that will do until I leave," I said to Luke.

"Right. Thanks, Jade."

"And speaking of skin, how's your rash, Luke?"

"Dammit! I told you it's a scrape from when I fell off the factory's roof, okay?"

"It seems in my old age I am confusing patients. I had another redheaded patient who looked much like yourself diagnosed with syphilis today. My apologies."

Luke huffed, but turned from me with a secretive smirk on his lips.

"Uh, Dr. Balfour..."

I wondered briefly if I had been taken in by the bohemian trio for we all turned to stare at the girl in the doorway (only then did I realize that even with glasses, my eyes didn't function with one hundred percent accuracy when it came to seeing the big picture, as it were. Natalia standing in her high heels and expensive clothes truly did look out of place there).

"Yes, Natalia?" I asked as I crouched next to Tear and unclasped my briefcase to extract a thermometer.

"That's not a needle is it?" Luke asked and shifted beneath the blankets.

"Boy, Luke, you've been away from modern medicine for a long time," Guy chuckled as he leaned up against the wall.

"I didn't think that was a bad thing," Luke teased back and twisted his neck to stick his tongue out at his other lover. He turned back to me as Tear took the thermometer in her mouth and said, "I just couldn't see it properly from this angle. Now I get it; it's a thermometer."

"Dr. Balfour," Natalia repeated for I had purposely neglected her. Whatever she had to say about Peony I was sure I could live without knowing (Peony and I rarely hide matters from one another without good reason. So unless Natalia knew of a hitman targeting Peony I doubted I needed to hear anything from her regarding him). Natalia made her way into the room, pausing to nod to Guy as an informal request to enter his house and room. He saluted her and watched her amusedly as she clicked her way over to me.

"Dr. Balfour, I have something important to say to you and I must first start off by apologizing to you."

"Really? I think that's a poor way to start considering I have no idea what you are apologizing for. It could be an unneeded apology or for a matter so grand that an apology would seem satirical," I said as I read Tear's temperature. "You're a bit warm, Tear."

"I know," she simpered, but even laughing was a bit of an effort. She settled deeper into the blankets and rested silently on Luke's arm for a pillow.

"Well, I will start off with an apology and hopefully what I am apologizing for will become clear. Dr. Balfour," she said crisply, but sincerely. I looked away from disinfecting my thermometer to regard her with vague interest. "Dr. Balfour, I am sorry for the harm that I did to you and your partner Peony. About a week ago I intruded upon your relationship and soiled your love by trying to tempt Peony into a relationship with myself. I did great harm to you and you never knew until now."

I could feel the eyes of the room on me, but really I was focused on the dinner Peony had set up for us tonight (I had grown tired of walking in the cold air to hear songs that I could request anytime I visited. Also, I had planned to tell Peony about my visits tonight, but with Tear sick I couldn't collect all that I needed). Tired by trying to be a doctor to three young adults who were watching me with worry and amusement, I stood and turned to Natalia. She took half a step back with one click of her heel, but remained stoic otherwise.

"You really should have explained the situation before apologizing," I said as I rearranged my glasses. "Now you've wasted a perfectly good apology on a perfectly worthless situation. You had no real need to apologize since I am not offended, though I suppose it is something like a formality to say you're sorry for kissing another man's man."

"Not offended?" she asked and her eyes went wide. "How can you not be offended by my forcing Peony to cheat on you?"

"Oh, so he actually had intercourse with you?"

"No! God, where would we have - ? We were in his office! Of course we didn't! I just kissed him. I kissed him passionately!"

"I hardly call that cheating considering it was a kiss that wasn't returned. Had you had sex with him I believe you would owe the apology to Peony since it would be considered rape."

"How – how can you joke about something like rape? You're a doctor!"

"My apologies, it was not intended as a joke, but as a statement," I said as I picked up my brief case and clasped it. "Apparently it's difficult for people who have known me less than a couple years to deduce when I am being sarcastic and when I am being genuine."

"Yes, it is difficult," she snorted and clicked her heel. She was silent but continued to tap her shoe before she burst out, "Are you truly not upset with me?"

"Oh my, it seems you truly don't believe me when I say I am not offended. Very well," I said before I started rhyming off reasons why I was not upset, "I am not offended because it sounds as though Peony did not enjoy himself. Not to tarnish your lips' capabilities, of course, I am sure they are very able. I am also not offended because the experience has not seemed to have harmed Peony or our relationship in anyway; had it then I would be rather upset with you and an apology would not have done. And lastly, I am not offended because I find the idea of Peony writhing highly amusing at the present. It may have something to do with my verbal constipation and me owing him some hell. In summation, I am not offended, but I will be late soon."

I relayed the instructions for care of Tear to Guy. My advice about seeking medical attention at a hospital was rejected again by the bohemian trio, and I was stopped from leaving only once more by Tear. She gently tapped my ankle and I turned to look down at her.

"Jade, tonight I was meant to tell you," she said, her sentence broken by her cough.

"I am aware, but the matter isn't pressing. Another time when you are not so sick and I'm not so hurried."

She nodded and huddled beneath the blankets with Luke. I passed Natalia who had been standing silently in shadows cast by the flaming can with her head bowed in thought and mouth in a frown. I expected she could find her way about the city considering she knew which streets connected to which. I paused once more by the door as I handed a couple strings of condoms to Guy and then left the house headed for the bus that would take me home.

(Peony owed me quite a bit for that day's worth of troubles).


When I entered our condo I felt some of the verbal constipation I had acquired over the past hour dissipate and my mind ached less. Peony has always been a decent to fair cook and, after that fateful afternoon when I took pity on my drunken friend sometime after his father's funeral, Peony had mastered my favourite dish. The condo was dark because Peony insisted on candles for such occasions, but any surprise I was meant to feel about the meal was negated by the cumin scent that pervaded every room (perhaps it wouldn't if Peony hadn't insisted on modifying our home to be open concept, though the smell of good food is welcome even in the bedroom. Peony wadding paper balls to bombard me with while I am in my study and he in the living room is not).

I hung my coat in the closet by the door and neatly tucked my shoes in before (skirting the pile of coat, boots and the week's worth of scarves Peony left by the door) crossing the living room and finding Peony bent over the island. He was reading the paper by candlelight while our food lay covered on either side of his elbows.

"I apologize for being late," I said quietly (darkness always seems to inspire soft speaking). I moved about the kitchen to grab a couple of wine glasses.

"You're not that late," Peony murmured and I heard him shuffle the paper and sigh as he straightened. I had just uncorked a bottle of red wine when Peony draped himself much like a blanket over my shoulders. He put his hands down the neck of my shirt as he spoke in my ear, "You were actually really well timed. I just had time to finish cooking and put everything away."

"Then," said I as I took his hands away from my skin and walked to the island, "I suggest we eat promptly."

(I had my reasons for denying his affection. If you really couldn't understand then you must have missed the last six or so pages where I was hounded by a young lady and her flickering tongue and clicking heels, and I suggest that you reread that section so that you may understand my indignation. That and it is just fun to unsettle Peony and quite a task).

Peony seemed to comprehend that from the wine uncorking through to the end of our meal something involving himself had made my day less than enjoyable and, over the course of our romantic evening, I would make him work for my affection when I would normally yield on such occasions. I had my fun with this too; we sat at the table across from one another and my chair was pulled farther from the table that etiquette dictates. I didn't lean into any of the conversation topics we talked about and gave to the point answers. Peony sat on the opposite end quite often with his fork in his mouth as his lips worked about, uncertain of what to ask. And to every unasked question I replied with a smirk and a sip of wine. Now my day was following a design I enjoyed.


~Peony~


Jade's a bastard, he really is. I'm no genius in the kitchen, but if there is one thing I can make it's curry and I made it because the bastard loves it. So all that time I spent making dinner and actually cleaning up to please and sooth him was wasted (yeah, I cleaned up the kitchen because Jade's picky about leaving food out. He also says that the room most likely to catch on fire is the kitchen so we should keep it as mess free as possible, which I get. The day I hear about someone's toilet catching fire is the day I'll stop worrying about keeping a clean kitchen and laugh my ass off instead). I spent my entire meal watching him for some indication of where I had stuck my foot this time, but the bastard wasn't telling. He just sat across from me, too far away to kick and too straight-backed to actually engage in conversation (and apparently that was all done on purpose), and the only hint he gave me was a smirk. So that meant that I had probably put my foot either in my mouth or up my ass and Jade was just having a laugh as I choked myself. Ice Queen.

He was gracious enough to volunteer to do the dishes and I was too distracted by my thoughts of where my foot was that I didn't even slap his ass as he took my plate away. I felt like a kid ostracized to the corner when I shuffled to the couch and flopped on my back. The bastard was washing dishes in the kitchen and it was like mommy had told me to think about what I had done while she went about her day (he was smirking the entire time too).

I did actually take a moment to think about what I could have done and came up with a couple things, but nothing really seemed right. I thought maybe Jade was annoyed with how much time I was making us spend on the trio down in Cabbagetown, but he probably would have told me point blank he wasn't impressed. I also thought that maybe he had tripped on my boots when walked in, but I would have heard that (besides, if he was still tripping on them then, then it really was shame on him. Really, he should have figured out by now that I'm a slob, built a bridge and got over it). I was just starting to go through events in the last couple hours, and probably would have thought about Natalia dashing out of my office with "my partner's" address between her teeth, when Jade decided to be merciful. Or so I thought (just because a demon brings you wine and cheese on a silver platter doesn't mean he's actually being kind).


-Jade-


I brought Peony and myself a plate of cheese and glasses of the leftover wine once I was done the dishes. I had been peering over for the duration of my washing to see that the man was truly ruminating on what had caused my callousness and this pleased me. Peony, eager for my attention apparently, made to sit up and take the tray, but I put a hand to his chest and set it down before settling myself over him.

"You didn't finish your wine," I commented while looking down at him.

"Wine is more your thing. Must have something to do with sour grapes."

I laughed at him and teased him as I leaned forward only to grab a glass from the floor and take a sip from it instead of kissing him. I let the flavour settle on my tongue for a couple seconds while Peony watched me something like a zoologist with his eyes on the animal while he reaches from the tranquilizer. I let Peony run his fingers down my side while the flavour set. Then I swallowed and leaned forward to kiss him and I made sure he tasted the wine before pulling away from his hands. He sprang on me like a trap, but they missed their fox (perhaps Peony saw me as more of a snake. That is his go to animal for me generally).

"Sour grapes...did that taste sour?" I asked him before taking another sip without swallowing.

"Nah, I'd have another taste," he said and proved his willingness by pulling me forward. I smirked into the kiss and with a fair amount of precision and delicacy, I let the wine roll off my tongue and onto his.


-J/P~


There was a reason why you were being slow, wasn't there, Jade?

I suppose you could say I was attempting to lull you into a false sense of security, Peony.

Ah. That was the reason. Well, good job, bastard, it worked.

Why thank you, Your Majesty.


~Peony~


Jade did everything slow from the kissing to the actually laying his body limb by bloody limb on mine. And after nearly ten minutes of him pulling away to feed me wine, I was getting impatient and warm from the kisses alcohol and teasing. I expected Jade to just ignore me when I undid my belt buckle and to carry on pretending like all he wanted to do was wine and kiss me, but no. When I undid my pants he stopped and pulled back to give me a look that actually wasn't accompanied by a smirk. He was considering something (guess considering me).

I stopped moving too and for a moment we looked at each other, kind of like how people stare at each other confusedly because one of them thought they were going out for drinks and the other thought they would be eating. Jade, that bastard, made things simple.

He reached into his back pocket as he asked me casually, "Tell me, how do you think this night is to go, Peony?"

If my memory serves me right, I'm pretty sure both our cheeks were red, but for Jade the flush had more to do with the three-quarter empty wine bottle beside us (Oh! And I just realized that we hadn't touched the cheese and he didn't get up to put it away so point for me because Jade is a hypocrite. How dare he berate me for not cleaning up food I'm not using when he doesn't do so himself. Point for me).


-Jade-


(Well, I don't know about scorekeeping, but if that is how you wish to play then we really should wait until the end of our evening to tally the score).

And how did you answer me, Peony?

You lay beneath me with your fly open and mouth a little slack jawed at my question. Then the wine made you brave as you grabbed me by my hips and tried to roll me onto the couch. I wouldn't let you though, and for a moment you lay beneath me and I bent was over you. We were two cogs refusing to turn with one another; you wanted to spin one way and I another. I believe my cog won with a jagged movement downward that ground you my way.

(My point).


~Peony~


(I'll say, your point.)

Y'know, I think I'm actually thankful for the wine because it probably relaxed me. So thanks for the mercy, bastard. Still, I think my eyes were almost squeezed out of my head by my heart leaping up when I realized you weren't gloving me. You really are a control freak, you know, but I guess I don't mind. The last thing I remember clearly enough was taking your glasses off, leaning back, and having my arms locked above my head.


-Jade-


(I have a hand pressing against my forehead in exasperation as I realize that for once Peony has his story straight, and at the time when he experienced this part he was drunk on red wine and endorphins).

I am a doctor, it is in my nature to take care of myself and those I attend to. Peony and I always practice safe sex and I suggest that anyone who reads our tale does too.

There is a reason why Peony usually takes the more active position during intercourse and it likely has something to do with taking the morning commute by bus down a potholed street while bouncing on a metal seat.

I had the benefit of self-control when we battled for dominance and now I had control over Peony with his arms pinned up above his head. Everything that followed was so simple.

I kissed him and gave him the remaining taste of wine as I pushed inside him. I kept my body close to his and pushed a little deeper with every breath in. The wine had him truly relaxed seeing as I needed only one hand to keep his two in place (I doubt Peony was lucid enough to remember how he breathed words in my ear that egged me on). I kissed down his throat, kept a hand firm against his lower back as I pressed in more than pulling out. I only took my hand away when I began breathe quicker than him and dropped it to his lap to pull him ahead.

His lips moved faster, but I don't believe he said anything important, except my name and only once.

"Jade..."

I let go of him and his hands and twined our fingers in his hair. I vaguely remember seeing snow falling lightly outside the balcony window before burying my nose in his neck, teeth in his shoulder and squeezing our hands tight for the final press.