"Like an appointment!" he insisted, "A date like an appointment!"

That sounded weak even to his ears. Of course he'd love to go on a date with her, but asking so soon and in such an awkward fashion was unbelievable. He knew he had no social skills but he'd hoped to be able to ask her out with a little more finesse. If she'd still been there then he'd be blushing furiously. As it was he just felt like he'd happily sink into the pavement. Still, she'd said yes so it hadn't been a total loss.

Dave watched wistfully as the train pulled away. Heading downtown was the girl of his dreams, and one he felt he hadn't acted completely stupid in front of. He went over the encounter in his mind. In fact he was sure he'd managed to impress her. Becky had smiled a lot, something he treasured. It brought to mind the girl who'd stolen his heart when he was a lonely little boy in an orphanage, still mourning his parents.

He still remembered being cloistered in the library. Outside were the other children. Most of them were too loud for him, too rough. The boys hadn't really welcomed Dave and he could see why. Even then he knew he bruised too easily and was weak. He had a feeling that he was set for a crash course of geekdom. As he had learned through the course of his teenage years; he'd been spot on.

Then the door had opened quietly. He'd looked up but he hadn't been able to see anyone. Then the door had shut again, still quietly. There had been a few soft footsteps. Dave had known that they'd been getting closer to him but he'd ignored them. After a little bit he'd heard the footsteps stopped. He'd felt eyes on him but he continued to pretend to read.

Finally he'd looked up to see bright blue eyes staring at him. He'd shrunk away from her then. Not only was she a stranger, but she was also a girl. Dave had practically hid behind his book after that. However, her persistence had her talking to him soon. He was sure that was when he'd fallen for her. Though he'd been only ten, and immature to boot, he had been crushing on her something awful.

They'd played games together and he'd shown her faeries. Most of thier games had been the fantasty games of children. He'd loved playing princes and princesses because that was what he saw her as. She was a fairytale in and of herself.

To have all of those feelings reignited after ten years felt strange. Dave had matured a lot since the last time he'd seen her. He no longer saw things in terms of princes and princesses. Now he saw her as a woman he'd like to get to know, to touch her face and tell her how he felt about her. He'd like to listen to her talk about anything and everything. In truth, he'd like to love her. If she'd let him of course.

It's not like anything could really go wrong, could it?

"Love is a distraction."

He nearly jumped out of his skin. Turning around he saw Balthazar staring stony-faced at the retreating train. His tone was derisive and a little angry. It was like he was answering the question that Dave had been asking himself. Sometimes he wondered if his Master really could read minds.

"You followed me?" asked Dave.

"Of course I did," Balthazar said, "You don't think that after that dragon incident I'd let you wander around alone did you?"

Wasn't this wonderfully convoluted? It was like one of those old Zen proverbs; turn right to turn left or something.

"What happened to fight your own fights?" asked Dave, "'cause right now you are sending me some seriously mixed signals."

"I never said you had to fight them alone," Balthazar said, "I just said that you might have to one day. I might be injured or get myself killed."

Dave flinched from that. Balthazar had done such a good job surviving over the years that Dave couldn't see him dying. He really couldn't and the mental image warped his world view.

"Or not," Balthazar said, not noticing Dave's discomfort, "I might be busy or it might just come down to you and Horvath for all I know. We don't know so the best thing to do is just be prepared."

He shrugged.

"Besides, two against one isn't fair. And believe me when I say that that's what it'll be if Morgana and Horvath catch you," said Balthazar, "Even though I'd count Morgana as something closer to a cumulative of fifty people."

"What?"

"We're not exactly defenseless," said Balthazar, "I'd count us each as more than one person, but fighting Morgana is generally equivalent to one against fifty."

He shrugged again.

"Besides, it's my fight too."

His tone was steely. Dave knew better than to press the conversation with him when he sounded like that. It made sense. Morgana had murdered his Master and Horvath had betrayed him. This fight was more Balthazar's then Dave. It made him wonder why he spoke like he saw Dave as the major player in it all.

It was probably just his imagination.

"So don't let your time with your girlfriend get to your head Dave," Balthazar said, "Horvath and Morgana are still out there."

What was he eight and with poor short term memory? As if he could forget the last few hours of his life.

"I know that," Dave said, rolling his eyes, "I know that I need to keep 'my head in the game' or whatever. And believe me, I wish she-"

Dave paused. A thought had occurred to him.

"Girlfriend, really?" he said, smiling, "You get that kind of vibe from us?"

Balthazar turned his stony glance towards him. He felt his smile slipping off his face, but nothing was going to ruin this for him.

"Dave," said Balthazar warningly.

"She's the one Balthazar," Dave said, his voice sounding stubborn and difficult even to his ears, "She really is."

"Whatever you say," said Balthazar, "But you've still got a lot of training to do before you're ready to face Morgana and Horvath."

He jerked his head towards the exit.

"Come on 'thunder and lightning'."

A/N: I'm not going to be able to post tomorrow, so I'm posting two chapters today. See you all again Monday!