"Good morning Finn. Have you seen Veronica?" Ned asked as he walked into the common room. It felt really good to be back home, sleeping in his bed, knowing there would be coffee in the morning. Things were falling back into their old familiar routine.

Finn refused to look at him as she polishing the metal on her crossbow. Just because Vee was falling all over the guy didn't mean she had to do that too. "She went out to work in the garden," she answered coldly.

He stopped, startled by her tone. "Oh." Ned watched her for a moment as she scrubbed at a spot on the stock. After a moment of silence, he decided to try again. "Is there any coffee?" he asked as he moved toward the kitchen.

"No."

Ned turned to look at her for a moment but got nothing in the way of response. "OK," he muttered under his breath and headed into the kitchen. "Would you like any?"

"Finn," he called when he got no answer. He leaned back to peer into the dining area."Hey, do you want some breakfast? I was going to make some omelets," he said as she put down her polishing cloth and finally looked at him.

She studied him for a moment, fingering her weapon before finally nodding at him.

"Great, give me about ten minutes," he said with a smile and disappeared into the kitchen again.

Finn rolled her eyes. Why was he so cheerful? It was just breakfast. He was acting like it was some wonderful job. If she'd learned anything, it was that most of the time people avoided cooking, especially Marguerite. Well, it was a good thing Marguerite avoided cooking. She made up for it with other things though. She put down her crossbow as she glared at the place she'd last seen him. What did Veronica see in him anyway? He wasn't so wonderful. From the stories Maguerite and Roxton told, he wasn't very good at defending himself. Although he had survived being alone on the plateau for a half a year, so she guessed he had to know a little bit about the jungle. It wasn't fair how well he seemed to fit into the environment. He'd been gone for almost six months yet managed to just slip back in to their household. She'd been here that long and was still trying to figure out these people and how to act.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she failed to notice the rumbling of the elevator. "Something smells good," Veronica said, breaking into her thoughts. She jumped and nearly spilled her polish.

Veronica grinned at her flustered reaction. "Daydreaming, Finn?"

Finn flushed and scowled as she gathered up her supplies. "Malone is making omelets,"she announced irritably.

"You got him to cook? I'm surprised, he hates cooking breakfast." Walking towards the kitchen, Veronica called out, "Ned, could you make something for me too?"

"Sure," came the cheerful response.

"What's the matter," Veronica asked as Finn snorted. Concerned, she sat down next to her at the table.

Finn stood up abruptly. "Nothing," she declared as she moved to put her stuff away.

Veronica was going to press Finn for more, but Ned arrived with a platter heaped with fluffy eggs and sliced fruit for all of them. Finn slipped away, and when she came back, Ned and Veronica were discussing the day's remaining chores.

"So is there anything I can help with," Ned asked as he ate his omelete.

"Well, you could always go hunting," Veronica said with a smile.

"Gee, thanks. I just get home and you're already trying to get rid of me," he teased as he grinned at her.

"It's either that or stay and wash the floor," Veronica said with a hopeful tone.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, I'm going, I'm going," he said as he took his dish into the kitchen.

"Why don't you take Finn with you," Veronica suggested as she popped another melon cube into her mouth.

Ned shrugged and then looked at Finn, who was busy drawing patterns in the remains of her eggs. "Coming?" he asked.

Finn looked skeptical for a moment then said, "Sure why not. I haven't had a laugh in a while." She stood up and went to get her hunting gear.

Ned was about to defend himself, then thought better of it. He was trying to be her friend. So he said nothing and gathered his own supplies.



Marguerite blinked at the brightness of the room. Her eyes adjusted quickly and she began to look around the room. She had been to this hall before, a couple of years before she had left for the plateau. She felt a twinge of disappointment to learn that it was the same as she left it. She'd changed in the three years she'd been on the plateau; why hadn't the rest of the world? The manor had been equipped with electric lights since she'd last been there, but that was the only thing that had changed. She walked into the party on John's arm and suddenly became aware of the looks they were gathering from the crowd. She found herself remembering that Lord Roxton was considered a fine catch by many of the matrons.

Roxton watched Marguerite as they walked into the hall. He let her stand at the top of the stairs for a moment before escorting her towards their hosts. They were about halfway across the room when he felt Marguerite gently try to pull away. Roxton reached over and took her hand, pulling her closer to him.