1. Gentle

Normally, Beka's eyes scared him. That ghostly blue was chilling. But when he saw her sitting amongst her pigeons, surrounded by the cries of the dead, Rosto was surprised by the gentleness he saw there. Her eyes weren't really that scary.

2. Hold

She had been listening to pigeons in the courtyard and their screams were too much. Someone was killing mothers and their children in the city. She couldn't take the injustice and broke down crying. But before she could collapse to the floor, two strong white arms with knife-scarred hands came around her, lowering her slowly to the ground. She needed someone to hold her, and Rosto had become her anchor.

3. Kiss

When she started to get up, he held her tighter. "Don't," he whispered, "for now we're in our own world." She hiccupped, then sighed against his cheek and returned her head to his shoulder. To Rosto, that sigh was more powerful than the most sensual kiss, for in that sigh, she had kissed him with her soul.

4. Devotion

Later on that week, when she was in the Daymarket, she realized that Rosto was following her, whether on purpose or inadvertently. Giving him the slip, she came up behind him. Rosto jumped when she spoke, "You know, that's called stalking."

"It's called investigating, not stalking." His wicked grin and cocked eyebrow were expected.

"Such devotion." Her smile surprised him.

5. Sleeping

No one had ever caught Rosto napping. Beka had walked down the stairs and was supremely pleased with herself when she had peeked into his room and found him slumped over his desk. She grabbed his blanket off his bed and tucked it around his shoulders. She then closed the door behind her. Now he would know he'd been caught, and wouldn't know by whom.

6. Waking

Rosto woke up when he heard the door to the tavern ring. Bold Brian's voice echoed up the stairs. Rubbing his eyes, Rosto rose from his desk, knocking the blanket around his shoulders to the floor. The realization that someone had come in and covered him made him stagger. When he looked on the blanket he found a blond hair clinging to it. Great, the house is full of blondes, how do I figure out who's this is?

7. Naked

It had been a hard day in the Court of the Rogue, and it had been a hard day on the Evening Watch. When Beka returned she went up to Rosto's room to see if he'd figured out who'd put the blanket around his shoulders. She tapped on the door, and at Rosto's grunt, she opened it and her eyes went very round. He was standing in the room buck naked. Beka swallowed heavily, walked right in, picked up the blanket from its pile on his chair, and threw it around his shoulders. She then proceeded to walk out, Rosto's confused grin following her out.

8. Blessing

Rosto considered it a blessing that it had been Beka who opened the door, and that it had been Beka who had caught him sleeping. He also considered it a blessing that when he had knocked on her door and she had grunted to let him in, he had found her in bed with a book, and her hair splayed across her shoulders. No rusher had ever seen Beka with her hair down. He considered it a double blessing when she didn't tell him to get out, when he closed the door behind him and sat down on the end of her bed. That's four blessings in three minutes.

9. Chocolate

His eyes were the sumptuous color of chocolate. Extra dark. Sometimes bitter; sometimes sweet. But always mesmerizing and tempting. What woman could resist them?

10. Heart

He didn't want to do or say anything that would get him very unceremoniously thrown out of her room. But it was the first chance Rosto had to talk to Beka without the veneer of arrogance, and without the persona of a rusher/Rogue. He didn't realize that he'd get so comfortable sitting on her bed and talking to her. How he ended up at Beka's side, with her head over his heart, he didn't know, but he fell asleep there anyway.

11. Innocence.

When Beka creaked her eyes open the next morning, she was instantly aware of a tall blond someone taking up half the blanket and all of the pillow. She was also well aware of what would be said if they were caught in this situation. When Rosto didn't stir she looked at him intently and shook him. "I'm well aware of the situation, love." He cracked open one chocolate eye at her. "No matter how innocent the night was, I'm reveling in this one moment." He leaned his head back. She poked him. "What?"

"If you're going to revel, at least share the pillow."

12. Love

Once that level of ease was developed, it was hard to hide it. More often, they had to pretend that they hated each other and they failed at it miserably. The entire house knew that the person who knew Rosto best, was Beka, and vice versa. Aniki noticed it first, and she approached Beka the day she figured it out. "You do realize, if you keep this up, you'll fall in love with him, right?" Aniki's tone was casual, though Beka could see the glint in her eyes. Beka looked out her window.

"I'm afraid I already have." She whispered. When she looked back, Aniki was staring at her, her mouth agape. What Beka didn't know, was that when Aniki had asked Rosto the same thing, he'd said the exact same thing.

13. Lust

Beka and Rosto were oblivious of each other's deeper feelings for a while. She knew he worried about starting a relationship for the same reasons he did. But, every evening she spent chatting with him, and every morning he woke up at her side, made it very difficult for both of them to keep the relationship platonic. Inside, the temptation was hard to resist.

One afternoon, when the snow was so thick on the ground, and no one was leaving the Dove, Beka strode into Rosto's room without warning and passionately kissed him square on the mouth. "How can we know, if we don't try?" she asked, settling herself in his lap. His gaze fogged with lust and he only knew enough to close and lock the door, before he gave in to Beka's very good idea.

14. Child

Quite finished with cuddling, canoodling, and the like, Beka lay at Rosto's side with a content smile on her face. "Rosto, have you ever thought of having children?" Rosto's look of male satisfaction quickly faded and he checked Beka's neck for her anti-pregnancy charm. Assured it was there, he sighed and leaned back.

"Yes. I thought about it. I'd like a few tricksters and troublemakers of my own running around. A pretty gixie who'll call me 'da' and a lad who'll tug her braids and run laughing. But, keep that charm on, Beka. Anything that comes from me will be tricksters and trouble." He was about to doze off, when Beka tugged his hair.

"Tricksters and trouble make life more interesting. Look what you've done to mine." She sighed against him and dozed off before he did. She didn't see the look Rosto gave her, or the way his lip quivered, or the way his breath caught as he smiled at her.

"Look what you've done to mine."

Author's Note: Did i mention how hard these themes are to me? This took me forever and i'm not completely satisfied with any of them. However, review are much appreciated.

--Lady Wolf--