Louisa looked up from the two folders laying open on her desk to the two children to whom they belonged sitting in the two chairs on the other side. Anya kicked her feet and kept her eyes on her shoes. Damian gazed at the ceiling, the walls, the floor; anywhere but directly at her. She sighed and tapped her pencil eraser on the blotter.

What am I going to do with these two?, she pondered, chewing her bottom lip.

"This is the second time you two have been in my office this week," she announced to stall while her mind scrambled for a solution.

The first visit this week had occurred when Anya accidentally stepped on Damian's toes while they were standing in line after lunch to return to the classroom. He shoved her, swearing it was on purpose because she had done the same thing during the school tour.

Today the incident took place after the dodgeball match in P.E. Unnecessary verbal roughness had transpired between the two. Damian's preferred derogatory for Anya had become uggo which he used several times during the hour long game. So far Anya had not settled on repetitive, single word insult for him.

Bill Watkins waited for her in the hall as well. That kid terrified her. A six year old the size of a twelve year old with the voice of a grown man must have a glandular issue. Professor Henderson already issued Bill a Tonitrus bolt for shouting "Die!" when targeting Anya with an unnecessarily forceful throw of the ball, however, he believed a counseling session would still be in order for saying such a thing.

Damian had protected Anya from the devastating shot by using his own body as a shield but quickly tossed an "uggo" her way when walking off the floor. At the end of the match when she lost, he commenced to berating her and calling her names like idiot and stubby legs. She told him she still disliked him, and he was a big stupid jerk. The two children fought like natural born mortal enemies. How do you make the archetypal cats and dogs stop fighting?

Thank God it's Friday or there would probably be a third visit from these two after getting in another scuffle. Perhaps she should take a "third strike and you're out" approach. She did not like baseball, but maybe the threat would be enough to make them stay out of her office for at least an entire week.

"If you are called here again I will have no choice but to call your parents," she warned them.

"Hmph," scoffed Damian, crossing his arms and sticking his nose in the air. "My father is far too important to come see the likes of you."

Louisa ignored the outright insult and demeaning attitude from the spoiled child. His father is a high ranking government official and an important man. Mr. Donovan Desmond would more likely be far too busy to attend a parent-teacher conference even if it was to discuss his child's mental well being and his future at Eden College. Besides, it's not like he had to worry about Damien being kicked out no matter what behavioral infractions he racked up.

She sighed, pitying the child rather than being irritated with him. But that did not keep her from being annoyed with the boy's neglectful, self-important father.

Tears had formed in Anya's huge green eyes. Her little fingers had turned white from holding her hands balled into tight fists in her lap.

"Please don't call Mama and Papa," she pleaded. "I don't want to make them sad."

Louisa bit her lip to prevent herself from issuing an audible "aww." A headache from tension was beginning to build across her forehead. She massaged her temple in an attempt to alleviate some of the ache behind her eyes.

"Fine. If this doesn't stop, you two will walk around campus picking up trash together."

"WHAT?!" Damian yelled, hopping off his chair. "You can't do that! My father will - "

"Your father will do nothing, Damian," she calmly replied, writing the proposed punishment in his folder. What could be more humbling to the son of the Chairman of the National Unity Party than being relegated to garbage duty?

"But it's her fault!" he yelled petulantly, pointing at Anya who gaped at him.

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'it takes two to tango'?" she asked, closing his folder.

"What does that mean?" He plopped back down on his seat, folding his arms over his chest again.

"It takes two to argue. You both have said awful, mean things to the other. Neither one of you are innocent in this matter." She threaded her fingers together to form one big fist, tapping the pads of her thumbs together. There was no need to force them to apologize to each other when it would not be sincere and spoken in anger. "If you can't get along, why don't you at least stay away from each other? I can speak to your teacher about your placement in the classroom and in lines."

Instituting physical distance would stop most of the altercations until a better and permanent solution could be found. If these two could just ignore each other, there would be peace. For some odd reason they seemed to be caught in each other's gravity despite one having a polarizing effect on the other.

"Do you two have anything you would like to say?" Louisa asked, her kind brown eyes shifting back and forth between the two children.

"No, ma'am," they answered in unison.

"Fantastic," she said, slapping her hands on the desk as she stood up. "Finally, something you kids can agree on."

Louisa walked to the door, opening it to usher Damian and Anya out. Both hung their heads as they walked past her. Surely they could get along for the remaining two hours of the school day.

She poked her head out of the door to see Bill sitting in the chair with his chin on his chest.

"Bill?"

He blanched and glanced up quickly. His glasses were fogged up and tears dripped from his chin.

"Are you going to call my daddy?"

Disappointing his father, a major in the national army, would be a fate worse than death for Bill Watkins. She figured he had already punished himself enough while waiting.

"No," she replied, giving him a sympathetic smile. "Come into my office, Bill. Let's talk about this."

~\'/~

Louisa stopped by the store for a bottle of wine on the way home. She wanted to buy a single steak for dinner, but they were only sold in packages of two. Why did everyone have to have somebody? When did it become not okay to be alone? At least she could buy just one potato. Then again, she might as well buy two to have one with the other steak later.

The phone began to ring when she inserted her key into the door lock. She did not feel the need to hurry. If it was important, they would call back.

But a call back was not required because the phone did not stop ringing until she answered it on the tenth ring.

"Hello?"

"Miss Eleazor?"

"Mr. Briar," she rejoined, barely containing her sigh of exasperation. She was too tired for this.

Oh yeah, it was Friday evening. He had promised to call to confirm their plans for tomorrow night. This call should not take long. A hot bath and a steak dinner with a bottle of wine were her plans for this evening.

"How are you this evening?" he asked.

"A little tired," she responded honestly. If you don't want a truthful answer to a question, don't ask it. "How are you?"

"The same. It has been a long week, hasn't it?" he politely rejoined. "About our date tomorrow night..."

Her stomach tightened with anxious anticipation. Is he going to cancel? She could not decide if that possibility was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Yes?" she prompted him when he did not continue.

"Would you be okay if we had dinner at my sister's house? She called to invite me to dinner. I don't get to see my dear sister often so I couldn't say no," he explained, adding a forced chuckle at the end.

Of course he could not tell his dear sister no. Having dinner with his family is a huge ask considering they had not even been on their first date yet. Perhaps he was hoping she would say no.

"I know it's early to meet the family so if you don't want to, I understand. We can always - "

"Sure, we can do that," she cut him off.

"Wait...what?"

He sounded shocked and bemused by her positive confirmation. What kind of game is he playing here? Why ask her out if he was just going to break the date anyway? He probably regretted asking and decided this was the best way out.

Or he genuinely couldn't say no to his sister to whom he is way too attached. Well, whatever. Game on friend.

"Can we still go to the movie afterward? There's a midnight showing of my favorite romantic flick," she said, expecting an immediate no.

Nothing but silence on the other end of the line.

"It's a real tear jerker. You better bring a box of tissues. You'll need them," she added, waiting for a sharp rejection.

Silence. Not even heavy breathing like an obscene phone caller. Had he hung up?

"Mr. Briar?" More silence. "Yuri? Hello? Are you still there?"

"Uh, yeah." He cleared his throat. "That sounds great."

Obviously he hated the idea almost as much as she did. She preferred a psychological thriller or horror movie or action movie. Even a rom-com. Well, she could always pick something else when they were actually at the theater.

Louisa glanced at the package of steaks and two potatoes sitting on the counter. It would probably be best if their first date wasn't dinner with his family.

"Hey, Yuri, would you like to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Tonight?" he repeated as if there was an echo through the phone.

"I think we should get to know each other a little better before having dinner at your sister's," she suggested hoping it did not sound too suggestive. She certainly was not hinting at getting too friendly.

"A-are y-you s-sure?" he stuttered.

Oh, dear, he's definitely getting the wrong idea, she thought to herself. Despite not being exactly socially appropriate for a young man and woman to dine alone together in her apartment, they did not have time to adhere to all of society's unspoken social guidelines.

"I'll get the potatoes in the oven so they will be done by the time you get here. You can pour the wine while I cook the steaks? Deal?"

Their relationship was beginning to sound more like a business venture every time they talked.

Yuri chuckled. This time it sounded warm and sincere.

"How can I resist?"

"You can't," she teased. "See you soon?"

"I'll be there in thirty minutes."

"Oh, I better get busy. Bye." She hung up without waiting for him to respond in turn.

In his apartment, Yuri stared at the phone wondering what just happened. Had he really accepted her invitation to have dinner in her apartment? Her brazenness had caught him off guard. Surprising himself, he did not find it off putting. He found her rather intriguing actually. He had chosen well in his endeavors.

Now he only had to make Yor see the error of her ways. She did not need any man in her life but him. Certainly not this Lloid Forger jerk who is most likely a spy.

"I'll save you, Sis," he swore. "You're mine and mine alone."

Exactly thirty minutes later, Louisa heard the knock on her door. Yuri Briar is punctual at least. However, that did not work in her favor because she had just slipped the dress over head. Forgetting her shoes, she ran for the door not wanting to leave him waiting in the hall where her excessively nosy neighbors could see him.

She flung open the door fluffing both of their hair from the resulting burst of air. Dressed neatly in a black suit with a black tie, he held a bouquet of white daisies in his hand. The color of innocence and purity - and friendship.

His eyes opened wide as he looked her over. For the first time she could see their dark color was a unique shade of reddish brown. Becoming self-conscious under his scrutiny, she backed up to allow him inside. He must think her obscene being only half dressed. She had not donned her stockings and shoes. She had at least brushed her hair and put on lipstick.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, twisting a lock of her slightly damp hair around her forefinger.

"For what?" he inquired, blinking at her as she closed the door.

"I'm positively indecent," she said, feeling the rush of embarrassment warming her face.

"I think you look beautiful," he said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his entire face turned crimson. He shoved the bouquet of daisies tied with a white silk ribbon into her face. "Here. Take these...uh, er, I mean these are for you."

"They're beautiful," she said, touching the delicate petals of one bloom. "Let me get a vase. You can hang your coat on the hook by the door."

Louisa went to the kitchen. She owned one vase which she kept in the cabinet under the sink. A tall, heavy cut crystal vase her abnormal psychology professor, one of the judges of her dissertation, had given her upon receiving her doctorate. She never thought someone would buy her flowers to fill it. So far, he had done so not once but twice. She could grow accustomed to this treatment. The fact he knew the language of flowers made it all the better.

"Did you want me to pour the wine?" Yuri inquired behind her causing her to jump as she stood up from retrieving the vase.

"Yes," she replied breathlessly. Pointing to the drawer on her right, she said, "The corkscrew is in there. The glasses are in the cabinet right above."

"All right," he said, picking up the bottle of wine from the counter to study the label. "Nice vintage. I see you like good wine too?"

"Is there such a thing as bad wine?" she joked.

There most certainly is such a thing as bad wine but they both laughed, the sound coming out a bit strained on both their parts due to first date jitters. And such an unusual first date too.

"How do you like your steak?" she asked, placing a grilling pan on the stove top.

"Rare," he replied.

Bloody things never bothered him. He pulled out the cork with a satisfying hollow pop. Waving it under his nose, he inhaled deeply which made him feel a tad light headed. Despite being a lightweight and cheap drunk, he did enjoy acting like a wine snob.

"What is it you do again, Mr. Briar?" she inquired unable to remember if she had asked. The night they met was such a mess and weird to boot making the memory a bit muddled.

"I am an envoy with the Foreign Ministry," he replied, opening the cabinet she had indicated to get two glasses.

"So you travel a lot. I'm sure you've gone some to exotic places. seen lots of interesting things," she said to make small talk.

"You have no idea the kinds of things I've seen," he murmured.

The wine pouring from the bottle made a soft glug glug sound. The cold steak dropped into the hot pan sizzled loudly. The aroma of cooking meat met his nose.

For some reason, in that moment he realized the smell of grilling meat was not too different than the stench of human flesh when it is put to flame. He had employed lit cigarettes and even a hot frying pan once as torture devices to withdraw information from a nefarious spy or less than patriotic civilian bent on bringing down their great country. He would gladly beat Lloid Forger with a hot frying pan just because he married his sister.

"Yuri? Yuri," Louisa called. When his bleary eyes cleared and focused on her face, she smiled at him. "Are you all right? Although you were standing right beside me, I think you left for a second there."

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. Wine?" He extended the glass toward her.

"Thank you." She took the glass, ignoring the brush of her fingers against his.

She refused to allow there to be any kind of spark between them. Falling in love and all of those silly notions had a tendency to cloud the mind and impair judgment. Something neither one of them could afford tonight.

After sprinkling salt on the steaks, she flipped them. She placed a dollop of garlic infused butter on top of each to allow it to melt over the meat. Since they both preferred rare steaks, it was already time to take them off the heat once the outside was swiftly seared by the high heat.

"Do you like butter and sour cream on your potato?" she asked, opening the oven to reach inside with a oven mitt covered hand.

"I do," he replied.

"Will you get them out of the fridge please?" she requested, jerking her head toward the refrigerator. "Top shelf."

Louisa picked up the plates to take them to the dining table in the small nook that was actually part of her living room. Yuri followed behind her with the containers of toppings for their potatoes.

"I'll get the wine," he offered, going back into the kitchen.

"I'll get the utensils," she announced, walking right behind him.

Despite still being strangers for the most part, there was a comfortable familiarity between them presently. Perhaps it was the implied domesticity of their current situation.

Is it like this for married people?, Louisa mused, taking forks and sharp serrated edged knives out of the drawer to cut the steaks. If being married could be like this sometimes, maybe it's not so bad.

"What the hell am I thinking?" she mumbled out loud.

"What did you say?" Yuri asked, poking his head back into the kitchen from the dining area.

"Oh, uhm, I was reminding myself to get the napkins." She opened the drawer and snatched out two of her not often used cloth napkins. She mostly used dish towels. Why bother messing up the good stuff when it was just her and no one to see if she was using proper manners?

"This looks really good," Yuri complimented, taking the napkin she handed to him on her way to her chair across from his.

"I hope it tastes as good as it looks," she murmured uncertainly. She was a good cook, but making a great steak is actually quite tricky despite being deceptively simplistic.

"I'm sure it will," he said, slicing through it easily with the knife. "That's a good sign."

Louisa watched him, waiting with her fork and knife poised over her own steak. Her eyes studied the movements of his jaw muscles under skin as he chewed. When he moaned his approval, her attention was drawn away to his eyes which were closed as if to savor the bite a little longer before he swallowed. After the low audible gulp, he opened his eyes to meet hers. The red color returned to his flawless porcelain cheeks.

"It's that good?" she inquired, her left eyebrow slowly rising toward her hairline.

"Uh huh," he replied, stabbing another piece of the steak with his fork.

Her entire body flushed with warmth and pleasure from his short, almost nonverbal, but nevertheless sincere assessment.

DAMMIT!, Yuri screamed inside his head. He didn't expect her to be a good cook. His eyes meandered over to her face. Although she looked a lot like his sister, she was not, in fact, Yor. Despite the obvious, he still expected her to be like Yor. He was being unfair.

Louisa took a dainty sip of her wine resisting the urge to chug the entire glass. His eyes were on her. Those deep maroon-brown eyes made her nervous. They weren't inviting and friendly nor were they cold and devoid of emotion. He possessed a perpetual distance in his eyes like his mind was somewhere else entirely. When he did look at her, he seemed to be thinking, calculating, assessing - planning. Planning for what?

"I am guessing you have met my sister and her..." Yuri paused, his top lip peeling back from his teeth. "Husband."

The expression of disgust only lasted a second but it was hard to miss. What a strange reaction. But then again, not too unusual for this man with the sister complex. Lloid Forger seemed like a perfectly decent man, a good husband and father. Calm and controlled, soft spoken and polite.

"I have. Naturally I am acquainted with Anya their daughter since she's a student. They seem like quite a nice and happy little family."

"A nice and happy little family," he repeated mockingly, his face contorting with repulsion.

Louisa found herself feeling a little bit envious of the Forgers. She would bet they shared the cooking duties and washed the dishes together. She could picture them after dinner: Lloid sitting on the couch reading the newspaper while Yor sat on the floor with Anya in her lap reading a book. On the weekends they probably enjoyed wonderful outings to the park and aquarium. It was all a very sweet, sweet ideal.

Yuri sat staring into space, his glassy eyes glittering like rubies. Although he looked empty headed, there was something definitely going on behind those intense eyes that presently appeared more red.

She refilled his empty glass then topped hers off. Hopefully dinner tomorrow night will not be too awkward since the Forger's are not total strangers.

"What do you think of your niece?" Louisa asked to break the tense silence.

"I haven't met her," he answered, lifting his glass to his lips.

Now that's weird. How could he have not met her?

"You haven't me her?"

"Nope." He twirled the wine glass by the stem making the wine inside swirl around. A rather dry and sardonic chuckle escaped his lips as he stared at the liquid almost sloshing over the rim. "I didn't even know Yor was married. She forgot to tell me."

"Forgot to tell you?"

He glanced around as if looking for something.

"Is there an echo in here?" he slurred. He emptied his glass again, issuing a noisy exhalation after swallowing. "Yep. She forgot to tell me she was married. For a whole year."

A whole year?! Louisa bit her lower lip to avoid repeating his last words no matter how shocking they may be. How do you forget to tell someone, especially your brother, you're married for an entire year? Such a bizarre family.

Yuri finished off the glass of wine and reached for the bottle. Louisa pulled it out of his reach. He almost fell onto the table making a grab for it.

"May I pl-pulease have sommore?" he drawled.

Louisa upended the bottle to pour the rest down her throat to prevent him from drinking it. There was no room in her still have full glass.

"It's empty," she informed him, placing the bottle back down on the table.

"But I'm thirsty."

"I'll get you a glass of water. Finish your steak," she said, picking up her plate to take it with her. Although her steak was only half finished, she had lost her appetite, and he needed to sober up.

Louisa turned on the tap to fill a glass. She did not hear him behind her, but she could feel his presence. Seconds before he touched her, she detected the warmth of his hand hovering over her shoulder as if he was trying to decide whether or not to place it. She flinched when he lightly lay his hand on her so she quickly reached forward to give the impression she had simply moved her arm to turn off the faucet.

His fingers extended over her collarbone, but he did not grab her. She did not move a muscle, waiting for him to say whatever he wanted to say.

"I'm sorry. Did I offend you?" Yuri asked, his voice soft and gentle.

She shivered. For some reason his muted voice frightened her. It was almost like a whisper; a whisper from the dark of her past. Closing her eyes, she reminded herself this man was not her drunk father, and he had no intention of hurting her. At least she hoped he didn't.

"A little, yeah," she confessed, opening her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean - "

Louisa pivoted on the ball of her foot forcing his hand to fall away from her. When their eyes met, she extended the glass to him.

"Your water. You're in no condition to go home until you're sober."

"Thanks." He put the glass to his lips, his eyes following her as she slipped from between him and the counter to go to the table gather up the dishes. "I can help with the dishes."

"You really don't have to," she said, stacking them beside the sink.

"Really, I don't mind," he insisted, flipping on the hot water spigot.

"You really shouldn't drink, Yuri Briar," she murmured, adding the soap the stream of water.

"Yeah, I know. Yor is just as much of a lightweight as me."

Ugh, she groaned inwardly. The man can't go ten minutes without mentioning his sister. He's cute and all but I don't know if I can do this.

Yuri scraped the remaining food off the plates into the trash can in the corner. Standing beside her, he slid the dishes into the sink one by one.

Louisa thrust her hands into the hot, soapy water. She began furiously scrubbing the plates.

"Where are your dish towels? I'll dry," he offered.

"Right there." She nodded to the drawer on her left.

Rather than walking around her to reach the drawer, he reached around her. When his arm brushed across her back, she inhaled sharply, leaning forward as if to avoid the light contact.

"Louisa? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. It's just...it's just something I'd rather not talk about."

Yuri issued another one of those scornful little laughs as she handed him the first cleaned and rinsed plate.

"We're quite a pair aren't we?" he asked as if it was a rhetorical question.

"What do you mean?" she rejoined, thoroughly bumfuzzled.

"I mean," he sighed, taking the next dish to begin wiping away the water. "We're both horribly damaged in our own way."

"I wouldn't say - "

"Oh, come on, Doc, yeah you would."

Louisa turned her head to look at him, their eyes meeting. He knew a bit about psychological warfare himself it seemed. Who is this man really? He piqued her curiosity again, forcing away her better judgment. She couldn't blame the wine either due to being completely clear headed.

"Yeah, I would say that," she confessed.

"Whatever happened to you...is that why you chose your profession?"

"Uhm, well...ah...yes, it is."

Yuri was asking the difficult and serious questions now. Something was happening here, between the two of them. Something unexpected. They were making a connection.

"Why? Please be honest with me," he pleaded, scaling the crumbling emotional wall.

Louisa felt incredibly weak. He had broken her down in no time. Perhaps it had been far too long since she had an open and truly honest conversation with anyone. Maybe she wanted to spill her guts to this man who definitely had his own issues. She smiled, a sorrowful, resigned smile. I give.

"I think I believed if I could understand my own pain, work through my own problems and find healing, I could help others do the same," she explained, returning her attention to the soapy water and dirty dishes in the sink.

"That sounds like a noble enough reason."

"Is it? I think I was being selfish really. By helping others, I make myself feel better," she confessed.

"No one wants to be alone, lost in the vast ocean of their own pain. There's nothing wrong with offering a drowning person a life preserver," he said rather poetically.

"Wow, ,that's very - " The complimentary words froze the tip of her tongue when he leaned in close to her, the tip of his nose almost touching hers.

"Just remember," he whispered, "not everyone wants to be saved."

Louisa contemplated if she should take his statement as warning. It never occurred to her he did not feel the need to 'get better' from his sister complex, to let Yor go and move on with his life to have a normal relationship with a woman. Normal was extremely subjective anyway. But still...

They finished washing and drying the dishes in silence. He assisted her with putting them away so she did not have to stand on her toes and push them onto the shelf with the tips of her fingers.

"I should go," Yuri said, folding the towel and placing it on the counter.

"Yes," she agreed. "It's getting late. I'll walk you to the door."

Louisa followed him to the door, standing more than arm's length behind him while he pulled his coat from the hook beside the door. After he opened the door in preparation to leave, he turned back to face her to bid her farewell.

"It was a lovely evening. You're a great cook. Thank you, Miss Eleazor," he said with extreme politeness.

Yuri bowed graciously, reaching out to take her hand. His fingers were slightly calloused but gentle as they grasped her hand, lifting it away from where it had hung limply by her side.

Louisa held her breath when he pressed his silky lips to the back of her hand. Her wild imagination took over, wondering what it would feel like to have his lips pressed to hers. She chewed her lower lip as he straightened up to stand tall in front of her.

"I do hope you have not changed your mind about coming to dinner tomorrow night," he said, pulling on his coat.

Louisa had thought surely he had changed his mind about inviting her.

"Uh, no...no I have not," she responded.

"Is it okay if I come by about six to pick you up?" he asked, backing away from the door.

"Of course."

"Good night then." He was still backing away slowly down the short hall toward the front door of the building.

"Good night."

Louisa closed the door despite the fact he was still facing her. She flipped the lock and leaned back against the door to exhale the breath she did not know she had been holding.

"Who the fuck are you, Yuri Briar?"

The better and more pressing question is, why does she care? She wanted to know more, wanted to know everything about him.