Silk eyed the door warily before he put his hand on the knob. He paid particular attention to the gaps between door and doorpost along with the keyhole, which, in his opinion, was far too large. When he slowly slid the door open, his eyes flickered from top to bottom, careful to catch any potential movement.

Nothing.

He exhaled slowly and entered the room. Closed the door behind him.

"Velvet?" Silk called out quietly, edging along the clearest path in the sitting room. Nothing to hide in. He eyed the ceiling. Nothing to drop from.

"I'm here!" she called back from one of the adjoining rooms. The private sitting room, he thought. He headed in that direction.

When he came to the threshold he stopped, doing the same careful scrutinization. If she was in there, she was likely to be in the armchair by the window he knew. Reading most likely. The last time he visited, she'd been reading that biography of Polgara Ce'Nedra had sent over. It was made up of thousands of neatly, handprinted pages and Silk knew she wouldn't be finished soon. Not to mention that when she was finished, he didn't doubt that she would read it again from front to back. She was thorough that way.

He took a deep breath and entered.

"There you are," Silk said jovially. He was very proud of that tone of voice. It'd taken weeks of practise to perfect it. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Velvet looked up, one blond eyebrow arching perfectly. "Since you only arrived in the city at sunset, I do doubt that."

"I have very quick feet," Silk said smoothly. He carefully didn't look around or tense up as he walked over and flung himself down in the armchair across from her. "So, what have you been up to while I was gone? Toppled any empires?"

Velvet put down the book, then tapped her mouth thoughtfully with her finger. "There was that bandit ring I helped take down last week. Though it would hardly count as an empire."

"Oh, I don't know." Silk artfully crossed his legs at the ankle and slumped. "Some bandit leaders I've met have been very organized."

"Not these ones." Velvet's voice was full of professional disgust. "They were barely worth the effort."

"If you came with me, you could help me infiltrate Brador's spies," Silk suggested. It was an idle hobby of his really - he aimed towards having replaced the entire spy service with one of his own in less than half a decade. "I could have use of someone of your...skills."

She gave him a disapproving look. "You know I can't leave now. It's a very sensitive time in her life. She needs to be fully comfortable with her surroundings before I can travel."

Silk winced in spite of himself. "I wish you'd said no when Sadi offered her."

"Why would I?" Velvet patted her bosom gently. "She's a very nice pet. Purrs when you feel sad, defends you when you feel threatened. What else can you ask?"

Ah, so she was in there. Silk relaxed, forgetting to keep his facade up for just a fraction of a second. Velvet caught the change.

"Kheldar!" She sounded positively shocked. He was fairly sure it was at least mostly affectation. "You cannot believe I would let her roam the rooms when you were on the way."

"You would." Silk made a face. "You have."

"Well, that was then." Velvet looked a little chagrined. "I didn't think you'd walk like a cat on a hot tin roof every time you entered here for the rest of your life."

"She climbed up my leg!"

"She likes you!" Velvet gave him a look. "Really, you should do something about that irrational fear of yours. Or at least stop walking around like she's about to bite you every time you come over. It's very hard to become 'in the mood' when you're twitching at every hint of movement."

Silk looked at her thoughtfully. It had been a while. "I know where she is now," he offered with a sly grin.

Velvet stilled briefly, then a naughty grin spread over her face. "Why, I do think you do."

Carefully, she unbuttoned her bodice and removed the tiny green snake in there. The snake purred a little, then obediently slithered into the box Velvet had procured for her. Silk, in the meanwhile, studied the ceiling with some interest. Very nice cracks up there. When Velvet stood, he hopped to his feet in a movement he really shouldn't be doing to impress young women but did anyway.

"Shall we go?" he asked, extending his arm exaggeratedly.

Velvet curtsied extravagantly. "To the bedroom!" she agreed.

They both burst out in laughter half-way there. That was the best part of their relationship, Silk decided and closed the door behind him, barely stopping to shove a blanket into the gap beneath the door and the key into the keyhole. The banter and the laughter. As it should be.

He joined Velvet on the bed.