Chapter 35: Niles


Niles stood in the middle of the room for a while after Daphne left, still trying to process what had happened in the last 24 hours. He still felt dazed, and utterly adrift, but now, it was like Daphne had thrown him a life preserver, and was slowly bringing him back to solid ground. Niles lightly touched his lips, where moments ago Daphne kissed him, and assured him she was here for him.

No matter what... I'll have Daphne…

The thought alone put a large smile on his face, his mood lifted. His phone rang, and Niles answered it.

"Niles Crane."
"Niles, it's Frasier. I thought- did you want to have dinner tonight? I got us a reservation at Le Cigare Volant."
"That sounds great. Anything to escape here."
"Excellent. Uh, Niles..." Frasier paused briefly. "Is Daphne still there?"

Niles was surprised for a moment that Frasier knew she had been with him, but then realized that Daphne must have told them she was helping him move.

"No, she just left. Why?"
"Oh, I wanted to ask her to pick something up on her way back. I'll call her cell. Anyway, dinner tonight. Meet at my place at, say, 6:30?"
"I'll see you then. Thanks Frasier, I appreciate this."

They ended the call. Niles heard a muffled squawking sound, and he remembered that Baby was still shut away in the small bathroom. He made sure the front door was closed before he let her out. Baby seemed cranky at being confined for so long. In true cockatoo fashion she flew to the top of the kitchen cabinets and proceeded to pull the already peeling paint off the wall; sulking indignantly about her confinement.

"No, Baby, no! Stop that! Go to your perch, your perch!"

Baby ignored him, continuing to peel the paint - dropping the pieces to the floor. Niles gave up. It wasn't going to change the fact the place was still a ramshackle, and it was keeping her amused for the moment.

He flopped back onto the recliner and sighed. A quick glance at his watch revealed it was barely 10:00am.

It's going to be a long wait until dinner.


Niles rang the doorbell to apartment 1901 at precisely 6:30pm.

He had sat in his hatchback in the Elliott Bay Towers carpark for the last 20 minutes – glad to be away from his new home, but not wanting to turn up at his brother's place earlier then agreed. Niles figured that Frasier might still be slightly annoyed with him for overstaying his welcome the last couple of weeks, and he didn't want to push it – at least, not just yet.

Daphne opened the door.

"Hello, Dr Crane." Daphne smiled warmly at him, and Niles thought he could see affection under her smile.

Niles smiled back, just as warmly. He noted that she wasn't dressed for dinner.

"Hello, Daphne. You're not joining us for dinner?"
"No, it'll just be you and your brother tonight I believe."

His heart sank a little. But, at least he wasn't at the Shangri-La.

Niles entered, greeting his father. Martin was in his chair as usual, watching TV.

"Hey, Dad."
"Hi, Niles. Your brother will be out in a moment."

Niles sat on the couch. Martin turned towards his son.

"How's the new digs? You know, Duke lived there while he was going through his divorce. It's a great place, I'm a little jealous."

Niles cringed. Anything that was Martin approved didn't bode well.

"Um... it's fine. Although, I do miss my old home, my old life." He sighed.
"Ah, you'll be fine, son. You know what they say - what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

Niles wasn't so sure about that.

"Not everyone makes it into that second group, Dad."

Frasier entered from the hallway.

"Niles, ready for dinner? I was also able to get a couple of tickets to La Boheme for tomorrow night as well, if you're interested."

That sounded wonderful to Niles, who hadn't been able to afford anything like that for the last month or so.

Maybe I haven't lost as much of my old life as I thought.

At dinner, discussion inevitably moved towards his current situation. Frasier freshened both their glasses with more wine, before asking about it.

"So, have you heard from Maris since the divorce proceedings started?"
"Not a peep. Any communication is going through her lawyers to mine, and vice versa. Honestly, I think this whole financial coup is to try and break me so I come crawling back." Niles laughed bitterly. "And I will admit, at times, I have been sorely tempted to do so."
"You must be commended for staying strong. I know it mustn't have been easy for you."

Niles nodded, sipping his wine.

"Yes. It took a lot of nerve to even sign the divorce papers in the first place." Niles was thoughtful for a moment, before continuing. "You know, after I signed and returned them, Maris called me. When I spoke to her, Maris said it was all pretense. That she never expected me to sign them, and was now ready to go into counselling."

Frasier looked surprised at this revelation.

"Really? You didn't mention that before. And... you didn't take her up on counselling?"

Niles shook his head, remembering his disbelief at Maris' actions.

"No. I think I realized at that point that there was no use. Frasier, she just spent the last year ignoring my requests, only to try and use divorce as a way to avoid counselling. She never wanted to work things out, she just wanted me to concede to her. To beg for her forgiveness."

He sighed, and looked down at his glass, swirling the wine around as he spoke.

"It hurt, you know. That Maris only saw our marriage just as tool to manipulate me."
"Well, I would have stood with you no matter what you had decided." Frasier raised his glass to his brother. "But I'm glad this is the choice you made."
"Thank you, Frasier."

After dinner they returned to Frasier's for a nightcap. Daphne was still awake, straightening up the living room before bed. Niles found himself lost in thought, sipping his sherry, watching Daphne. He wasn't intending to stare at her, but Niles had always found watching Daphne when she did mundane, everyday tasks strangely calming.

Niles thought back to his discussion with Frasier earlier that evening about his divorce. Remembering how Daphne had supported him through his decision to sign the divorce paperwork, even though at the time it felt like the hardest thing in the world. The things that have happened with Daphne since he made that decision.

I'm glad this was the choice I made too.

Daphne bent over to finish putting things away, and Niles suddenly became aware of Frasier speaking to him.

"-Niles!" Frasier glared at him, annoyed. Clearly this was not the first time Frasier had tried to get Niles' attention.
"Sorry, I was someplace else."

Daphne stood up and turned around, looking at them. Niles saw that there was humor in her eyes, as if she found Niles caught staring at her by Frasier amusing. He gave her a slightly apologetic look, and she shook her head imperceptibly as she shot a different sort of look towards Frasier.

"Well, I'm off to bed. Good night, Dr Crane." It wasn't clear which one of them she was referring to, but both Niles and Frasier responded.

When Daphne left, Frasier turned on Niles.

"Have you no shame?" He hissed - completely oblivious to the looks that Daphne had given them both a moment ago.
"Frasier, I don't know what you mean."

Frasier glared at him again.

"You know exactly what I mean."
"I wasn't, I jus- I was lost in thought. Thinking about the last couple of months, about my divorce. That's all." Niles sighed.

Frasier softened a little; his brother's tone sounded dejected.

"Well, I'm sorry, Niles. But, you know you shouldn't stare at Daphne like you were."
"Sorry. I'll try not to in the future."

At least, not while Frasier's around.