Author's Note: Oh sweet editing hell, it's finally done. Thank you for your support and feedback. This chapter was overhauled a bunch of times, but I think this is the best I'm gonna get it. We are about halfway through the story. Hope you'll stay with me until the end!

I originally started writing this fic because I wanted to do the exact opposite of a lot of Klema fics I've seen. Somehow, I feel like that suits the pairing well. You'll see what I mean.

Titration by HawkofNavarre

Chapter 7

Maybe We Could Be Friends

Ema Skye woke up in Klavier Gavin's apartment.

Get up. Leave, she'd told herself the night before over and over again, long after Klavier had fallen asleep, but she didn't listen. Instead, she let her eyes droop and her exhaustion set in until she'd fallen asleep too. She wasn't confused or disoriented when she woke up, seeing as she was the sober one the night before. She knew exactly how she'd gotten where she was now.

Her neck had fallen to the side in her slumber and it felt sore from being in that position all night. Her back didn't feel too great either, considering she'd been sitting up the entire time. Turning to glance to her left, she noticed that Klavier was no longer in the bed. It only took a second to hear the shower going in the bathroom next to her.

Groaning, Ema stretched out and fell over into the middle of the bed. She wasn't sure if she was ashamed of herself or not. Yes, she'd spent the night at Klavier's place, but there had been approximately zero sexual interaction. All it had really been were two grown adults feeling sorry for themselves and finding solace in having another person who understood nearby.

...The pitiable nature of that thought made her inwardly groan. She was pretty sure this would be some kind of walk of shame anyway.

Then again, Klavier was still in the shower and they had come up here through the garage. If she left through the front of the building this time, nobody would know any better. If there was one thing she didn't want to do, it was explain to Klavier why she had stayed the night. It definitely seemed unfair considering he had spilled his guts to her last night, but he was the one who had gotten drunk! She didn't have to justify her actions to anyone.

When Ema heard the patter of the water from the shower stop, she panicked. If she was going to make her escape inconspicuously, she needed to do it now. She rolled off the bed and gathered her low stilettos, scurrying to the entrance and sliding them on. Without another thought, she opened the door and shut it behind her on the way out, not sparing a look back.

As a woman of science, Ema wasn't even a little bit religious. Regardless, she'd prayed that Gavin wouldn't bring up the fact that she had stayed overnight at his place (he had to have seen her on his bed when he woke up the next morning) because she had no idea how to explain her actions. His talking about missing his brother had undoubtedly stirred up her own loneliness, but there was no way in hell that she was ever going to tell him that. She wasn't going to tell him that she stayed the night because he was there, sharing the same feelings she had.

Luckily, her prayers—if she even believed in them—were answered when he didn't reference it at all the next time he saw her. Klavier simply thanked her for bringing him home and went about his day as usual. At first she was thankful for that, but then she realized she had inadvertently given him more power over her. He could use that information for blackmail in the future if he wanted to. Well, if that ever happened, she'd...she'd...

She'd do what? Use all his darkest secrets against him?

It was then that Ema realized how absolutely ridiculous she was being. Giving Klavier "power" was the same as being vulnerable. She was being so protective of herself, yet she had way more personal information on Klavier than he had on her. He wasn't shy about being himself in front of her because he trusted her. Why the hell would she think that he wouldn't offer her the same discretion when things were the other way around? Did she really think that he was that bad of a person? Of course not. That was obvious every time she thought about it. Still, she kept trying to protect herself from him and she couldn't figure out why.

Today was a Saturday and Ema had taken over a shift from her junior detective who usually filled in for her on her day off. The guy was sick and there was really nothing she could do about that, but it was definitely a hassle when she knew she had to work yet another one of Gavin's concerts tonight. Time seemed to be going by a lot quicker than she anticipated, though this was only the third of the six concerts she'd been contracted for. After all, she didn't have a lot to complain about. Loneliness at times, yes...she'd concede that to Lana, but she was doing what she loved and didn't have to worry too much about money. Work itself had generally been good since she and Klavier had started working together like a prosecutor and detective should, barring the continued hassling from her persistent coworker.

"Speak of the devil..." she muttered as she approached her desk, ready to pack up her things. Ema didn't have time to swing by her apartment before she left for the Moonlight Theater today so she had planned to just grab her things at the precinct and go. Evidently, she should've also planned time in her day to go downstairs to the lab to kick some idiotic male ass.

The bottle of fingerprint powder would've been useful, but she wasn't going to use it when it came with a note saying, "Why not use this together?" from Dayton. She hadn't touched the bottle of luminol he'd given her on their date experiment either and figured she should probably give it back to him along with today's new gift. There was no way she would be using them; Ema wasn't going to do anything to give Dayton ideas.

She snatched the note off the fingerprint powder and crumpled it in her hand, tossing it into the recycle bin next to her desk. The rest she'd deal with later.

"Is something wrong, Ema?" Klavier asked as they lounged around in his dressing room. "You seem to be...snacking more than usual."

She paused, mid-bite and rigidly turned to look at her boss who was doing his usual warm up before the concert. Swallowing, she resisted from pulling yet another chocolate snack out of the bag to avoid proving his point. "I snack when I'm hungry. Problem?"

"No, you eat when you're hungry, fräulein," he countered with a frown. "You snack when you are irritated."

Ema immediately went on the defence, unwilling to let him know he was right. "You don't know that."

He chuckled at her refusal to acknowledge the truth. "I do, in fact, know. I seem to recall you snacking in the exact same manner for the majority of the first year you worked for me."

As the words left his mouth, she knew the battle was lost. He was using her initial dislike for him as proof, something she'd already admitted to him was real. Besides that, it was too exhausting to have to fight with Klavier after having worked a full day already. They hadn't even really had any altercations recently; only disagreements about evidence and things to do with their cases, and there were no hard feelings when it was proven who ended up being right.

She was also slightly impressed that he remembered her habits from two years back.

"Okay, fine. Maybe I'm kind of annoyed," Ema conceded as she tossed another Snackoo in her mouth. She saw no reason to stop eating now that she was being honest.

He shot her a look, indicating that he had been expecting her to continue. Sighing, she curled up the top of the bag and shoved it into her side bag. "Fine, I'll talk, but this is off the record, alright? Just between you and me."

"I think you are the cop, not I," he replied, his version of an agreement.

It dawned on her for a second that she was about to confide in Klavier Gavin, but finally gave up on resisting because of how much she used to not want to like him at all. The reality of it was that she had become friends with the prosecutor, regardless of how much 26 year old Ema wanted to hate him. There was nothing wrong with telling him about her problems just like she would with any of her other friends.

"Dayton is getting on my last nerve," she told him as she strode over to the couch and took a seat on top of the armrest, looking at the door. She was still on duty, after all. "The guy gives a new definition to not taking no for an answer."

Klavier blinked at her, then frowned. "Would you like me to—"

"Off the record, I said," the detective reiterated with emphasis, turning back to the door. She fidgeted with a strand of hair, really just wanting to vent. "You know, persistence is cute to a point. Then I just want to chuck things at his face." She paused in thought. "Wait, what do you do when you get hounded by fans that don't leave you alone?"

He laughed, standing up from behind her to walk over and place his guitar back on its stand. "I wish I could be of more help, but unfortunately, the last very persistent fan that pursued me I had to get a restraining order against," Klavier explained as he settled against the armrest beside her.

"Yeah, I'm hoping it's not going to get to that point..." Ema sighed in resignation. "I've turned him down multiple times already, gone on a date with him that I ended up walking out on, and I plan to return his gifts to him. I don't see anything else I can do besides officially complaining to you—" He opened his mouth, but she didn't let him start. "—which I'm not going to do."

"There's always the option of dating another person," her boss suggested before smiling mischievously, "or insinuating you prefer eine dame over ein mann."

Ema rolled her eyes and shoved the prosecutor playfully, causing him to stumble to the side a bit. Even with her seriously low comprehension of German, she could figure out Klavier was suggesting she tell Dayton she was gay. "You'd just love that, wouldn't you? The only woman who can resist your stupid rock star charm turns out to be gay."

He grinned back at her. "You said it, fräulein, not me."

"Why did I even tell you this again?" Ema asked in exasperation. "You're not helpful at all."

"Nein, and I never claimed to be," he replied haughtily, "but you're smiling and that is what matters to me."

She had to actually take a moment to feel how the corners of her lips were upturned to acknowledge the fact that she was indeed smiling. In response, her face flushed as she looked away stubbornly. That wasn't part of his rock star charm; it was just his idiotic foppishness trying to get the last word in again. Stupid pretty boy prosecutor...

Huffing, Ema pushed off the couch and strode towards the door. "Well, I have to go on patrol before the concert starts. You good?" she asked, whirling around to see his response.

He didn't move from his spot against the armrest, waving her away. "Ja, I'm ready to rock," he assured her, snapping his fingers before he shot her a sly look. "I'm glad you took me up on my offer, Ema. It will always stand."

Ema stared at him in confusion, then realized that he was referring to his offer to talk months back when he had asked her to do this job and still had the same problems. She had been a lot more reluctant to let go of things when it came to Klavier back then, but she'd still been trying to get Dayton to stop bothering her. Some things changed and some didn't. It was startling Klavier even remembered something that small from so long ago.

"I was just returning the favour," she threw back with a snicker before she walked out the door. She was a little proud about that one, considering she had finally gotten the last word, but there was also truth in the statement. Earlier, she had been already having that dilemma about whether or not to let Klavier know more when it came to her, and it was his own candidness that allowed her to let go of that discomfort. In the end, she wasn't finding herself regretting that decision at all. They really were frineds. It was such an odd thought...

Ema headed for the stage to make sure nothing was out of order, but as she was about to ascend the stairs behind the stage, her earpiece crackled to life.

"Ms. Skye? You should come over to the merchandise table by the entrance," one of her subordinates relayed to her in an urgent tone.

Frowning, she wondered what the heck was going on over there that required her presence. It couldn't be that big, otherwise she'd have heard shouts coming from the other end instead. A fire would have instantly set off the alarm and sprinklers, so it couldn't be that either. It was more likely that someone had just stolen from the cashier or something.

She didn't want to keep the others waiting, so she trekked towards the main entrance, passing the two guards she had placed in the hallway on her way out. As soon as she stepped out of the backstage hallway, she heard the screaming, but it wasn't from anyone in security. Puzzled by the high-pitched shrieks, Ema picked up the pace to reach the scene. People had gathered around and were watching two young women scream at each other at the top of their lungs.

Yeah...she probably should've asked for more detail.

Quickly, she called for one of the guys backstage to come help out. The crowd needed handling and they were vastly outnumbered. She was lucky that the two quarreling females had already been separated, despite how much noise they were making. Even having just a tiny bit less to deal with was nice.

Ema regarded a nearby colleague, instructing him to move back the rest of the crowd in an attempt to handle the situation. As the herding of the fans towards the theater doors began, she stepped into the middle of the fiasco. The two girls were still swiping at each other despite both of them being subdued by a guard.

"What is going on?" she demanded over the squabbling.

One of the guards was clearly trying not to hurt this short girl as she struggled against his grip. "These two were fighting over some shirt," he grunted in annoyance, quite obviously unhappy with what he was having to deal with right now. Ema felt a twinge of empathy for him; she also hated dealing with crazy fangirls.

Both of the aggressive women seemed to stop shouting at his words, however, and the oddest thing happened.

"Excuse me? 'Some shirt'? 'Some shirt'?" the short girl scoffed in outrage. "Do you even know what you're saying?"

"Yeah! What is wrong with you?" the other girl (Ema was thinking about calling her Nasal Girl, since her stuffed up voice seemed like the most notable thing about her right now) demanded.

Ema exchanged a look with the other off-duty officers. Had those girls really just stopped shrieking at each other and suddenly teamed up just because they thought a shirt was special?

The shirt in question was on the floor between them, and the detective bent down to pick it up. Holding onto the shoulders of the article, she let it hang so she could see what was so special about it. To her, it looked like just a normal grey t-shirt with a large Gavinners logo printed on the front. She turned it around briefly to get a look at the back which had the phrase, "imprisoned by love" neatly printed in cursive. She recognized the words as lyrics from the Gavinners' first single "13 Years Hard Time for Love."

"Okay, well it's an old shirt," Ema said with a shrug, still not seeing the big deal.

Nasal Girl stared at her like she had just spewed the most blasphemous words from her lips. "Bitch, that's a limited edition Gavinners shirt that came out only for their first local concert. They only ever made and sold 20 of those. It's a true collector's item!" she explained as if insulted that Ema didn't know the importance of a five-dollar cotton t-shirt.

"That's why it belongs to me!" Short Girl retorted loudly, sneering at her fellow fan. She eyed Nasal Girl up and down before sneering. "I mean, look at you. That wristband you're wearing is from the Guilty Love tour and was sold in mass. Everyone has it."

"Excuse you, but this is a limited edition misprint of the version sold on tour that was only available by pre-ordering their concert blu-ray in 2020! Obviously you must be blind to have missed that."

"You're the blind one, you—"

"Oh my god, both of you shut up," Ema snapped at the arguing females, shooting them the biggest glare she could conjure at the moment, which wasn't actually hard considering the crap she was putting up with right now. She couldn't care less about whose Gavinners collection was bigger and better. All she wanted to know was why this incident occurred in the first place.

Luckily, her demands were met and Nasal Girl and Short Girl both shut their mouths, so Ema started to ask questions. "Clearly neither of you actually own this shirt, and it's way too old to be sold at the merch tables," she concluded dryly as she gestured to the article of clothing that was apparently way more expensive than it looked. "Tell me then, where did it come from? And why are you fighting over it?"

Shirt Girl shrugged. "I dunno. Some chick told me I could have it if I wanted it."

"And then she said I could have it if I wanted it," Nasal Girl added quickly.

"Whatever. I had it in my hands first, so it's mine."

"The previous owner gave me ownership, so it's mine."

Ema stepped between them before the situation escalated again. "Don't start," she warned the girls with a stern glance. "Now the woman that gave you the shirt, where did she go?

Short Girl and Nasal Girl exchanged glance. "I think she bolted?" Nasal Girl answered for the both of them.

The detective's brow wrinkled in thought, trying to figure out the missing woman's motivations. Why in the world would someone randomly give away a rare Gavinners collector's item only to flee from the transaction? It was way too suspicious to do for no reason. The fact that this woman had offered it to two different people at the same time was the nail in the coffin. She had a bad feeling about this, but hopefully she was worrying over nothing.

"Get them out of here," Ema ordered, even as the two females protested her decision. She flourished the shirt as the officers began escorting them away. "And next time? Behave yourselves and show some respect for Mr. Gavin. As far as I'm concerned, this shirt belongs to him."

Short Girl and Nasal Girl looked sufficiently ashamed of themselves as they were led outside. Satisfied that one thing was taken care of, Ema lifted her radio to her lips. "Team leaders, check in."

"Stage team checking in. We're good."

"Floor team checking in. Crowds have settled down. All clear."

"Entrance team checking in. The troublemakers are on their way out."

She waited a moment for the guards backstage to say something, but when her earpiece was silent, she felt her throat tighten in fear. Hesitantly, she clicked the transmit button again. "Backstage team, check in."

Silence.

"Shit," Ema muttered as she took off running backstage, dropping the shirt. There were only two people back there since she'd needed bodies to help control the crowd, but she suddenly regretted not putting more there. "I'm going to check on them. Standby, teams. Hold the guests and tech crew."

The theater was small, but she still had ground to cover. Sprinting, she rounded the corner to the backstage corridor that Officer Eskhort should have been covering. She skid to a stop, seeing him face down on the ground. Her anxiety rose as she bent down to check his pulse, which, to her relief, was still going strong. However, the realization that her other backstage placement was just as unconscious further down the hall near the dressing room narrowed her thoughts on only one thing: Klavier.

She didn't wait. She needed to get to him. Ema wasn't even entirely sure how she got to Klavier's dressing room at all, but the doorknob was in front of her and her gun in her hands. Carefully, she opened the door and her blood ran cold at the scene she was confronted with.

Brown hair. It was that woman she had seen at so many crime scenes following her boss around. The perspiration on her forehead was reminiscent of the first time Ema ever recalled seeing her at Klavier's first concert this year. She had a gun clutched in her hands and aimed at Klavier who had his hands up.

"The detective," the brunette regarded her, never taking her eyes of Klavier though she was fidgeting about nervously. "I was hoping to be done with this by the time you figured it out, but I guess those fans weren't the super fans they claim to be."

Ema aimed her firearm at the woman's shoulder. Non-lethal.

"Put the gun down, detective. I'll make sure to shoot him before you shoot me, I swear," she threatened shakily, still staring at the prosecutor.

"You don't have to do this," Ema replied, the textbook line rolling off her tongue. It was a commonly used first line of negotiation that was taught at the academy. Most of the time it would start a conversation, which was exactly what she was trying to do.

"Yes I do. Now put down the gun, detective!" the woman shouted impatiently.

"Okay, okay." Not willing to gamble with Klavier's life, Ema raised her hands, slowly placing the gun on the ground. Her eyes flickered to her boss for a second. He was focused just as she was, trying to find a way out. She was not going to let him down. She couldn't.

There was silence in the room, the brunette constantly readjusting her grip on her gun. She was clearly working up the nerve to do something other than hold Klavier at gunpoint. Negotiation was definitely the way to go.

"You don't have to do this," Ema repeated quietly, trying to open the conversation again.

"Shut up! Yes I do!" the woman hissed. "He ruined my life!"

"You could go to prison. There are other ways," the detective reasoned calmly, waiting for her opening.

"I don't care if I go to prison! He has to die!" she shrieked, losing her temper. Her eyes were red and she was practically hyperventilating. "He just walks about in his expensive clothes, singing his stupid songs, pretending like he's helping the world, but all he does is ruin the lives of good people."

There were tears rolling down her cheeks at this point in her monologue, but she never budged from her stance. "I had a child...a baby... We-we were going to be a family, and then he stole my husband from me! My husband was rotting in jail and my baby died! I never even got to hold him! We were supposed to be a family and he took it all away!"

She composed herself, hands still trembling. "He ruined my life and now I'm going to ruin his."

That was the moment Ema saw it. Her opportunity. The woman's finger slipped from the trigger, an error that would only be made by someone that wasn't actually ready to fire a gun. It was enough. Ema wasn't going to let anything happen to Klavier.

The reaction was nearly automatic as Ema tackled the woman to the ground, the gun skittering across the floor. She grunted in pain when she felt a foot slam into her shoulder. The woman was clawing at the ground to reach the discarded firearm, but Ema wasn't going to allow it. Though this woman was scrappy as hell, she wasn't a fighter. Surging forward, the detective dragged her opponent back. She saw Klavier grab the guns and alarms were going off her head to get off the floor. They both staggered to their feet, but Ema was quicker.

A fist nearly grazed her face, so close she could feel the air swirling against her cheek. A miss was a miss, though, and the officer in her saw the opportunity. She whirled and her elbow was thrust into soft flesh. Hands clutched tightly around an arm, Ema threw the woman over her shoulder and onto the ground. It was an instinct to grab her gun from Klavier, leveling it at the woman on the ground.

"Don't move," Ema warned her as she lifted her radio. "I need back up to the dressing room."

The brunette on the floor complied as quiet sobs started wracking her body. Ema disregarded this and looked at her boss who appeared stunned and a little pale. He still had the gun that had been aimed at him in his hand as he stood there in a daze, staring at it.

"Klavier, you okay?" she asked, eyes flickering between the prosecutor and his defeated stalker. When he didn't answer or even acknowledge her address, she prodded him again. "Klavier?"

He blinked, glancing at her in surprise. "I... I'm... Ja... I'm fine..."

A second later, three officers came running into the room. Ema holstered her weapon and allowed the others to take over. Her heart rate was going a mile a minute and seeing his attacker in cuffs set her a little more at ease. Klavier was alright. Other than a bit of a sore shoulder, she was unscathed. Ema couldn't even express how relieved she was at the moment.

As they booked the perpetrator, she moved to Klavier's side who was handing off the gun he'd procured. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped slightly, obviously a bit shaken from everything that had just occurred.

"Hey, it's just me," the detective assured him gently.

"Ema..." the prosecutor started as he let out a stressed sigh, "thank you. For saving me."

It hit her in that moment the gravity of what had just occurred. Honestly, she hadn't really been thinking about any sort of heroic action; it had just been all about making sure Klavier didn't get hurt. It hadn't even been a very hard fight, but considering she was a trained police officer and this woman didn't appear to have any combat training whatsoever, it would have been more than just embarrassing if it had been a difficult battle. There was no way around the fact that he'd almost been murdered. The thought of what could have happened if she had arrived one minute later or been a less competent fighter made her heart clench painfully.

She didn't respond to his gratitude because saving his life had hardly been something that required it. Ema had already been scared half to death with the idea that he even needed saving. She was selfish, knowing she wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if she hadn't been there, regardless of whether or not she was being paid. "What happened? I couldn't really understand what she was trying to say other than you ruined her life."

"I...didn't recognize her at first, but she was the wife of a man I convicted years ago," he explained in a voice that wasn't nearly as steady as it usually was. "She was pregnant at the time and before you came in, she told me she'd miscarried and was left with nothing."

Klavier was quiet for a moment. "The case... It was airtight."

Right away, Ema knew what he was thinking. He had been wrong about Phoenix in the past, so what if he had been wrong about this person too? She had to shut that line of thinking down immediately.

"That man, her husband, what did you convict him of?" she asked.

Klavier gave her a puzzled look. "Murder."

"Okay, good," Ema replied firmly with a nod as she crossed her arms. "You followed up with all the leads, discovered the true story, and convicted a guilty man. I know that because I know you, and Klavier Gavin would never half-ass a case. Don't let some woman looking for someone to blame make you doubt your convictions. I'm sorry that she lost her baby and that her husband turned out to be a killer, but that's not your fault. You did your job and you did it well."

Klavier closed his eyes, absorbing her words, then managed a smile for her. "Thank you, Ema."

The pep-talk? That, she was willing to accept gratitude for. However, as she opened her mouth to respond, Argin's worried voice filled her ear. "Detective Skye? What's going on? All the security guards have been smothering he tech team for the last twenty minutes. Klavier needs to be on in five."

Grimacing, Ema knew she had to deliver bad news. Today wasn't helping her dislike of concerts at all. "Argin, I'm sorry to say this, but we're going to have to cancel the—"

Abruptly, Klavier snatched the radio out of her hand and answered in her stead. "Ignore her. Everything is fine. I will be ready on time."

Had he really just done that? Ema wasn't sure which part successfully shoved the speech out of her body: Klavier stealing her radio or his making an executive decision despite it going directly against police protocol. Her jaw had dropped at both those things, and then she was angry.

Argin still seemed confused, but accepted Klavier's answer despite him not having an earpiece in yet. Unwilling to just give in to his whims, Ema tore her radio away from him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Someone just tried to kill you. You can't just go on like that doesn't change anything. There are protocols!"

"It doesn't change anything," Klavier protested stubbornly. "There is a room full of people expecting me out there. I have no reason to keep them waiting."

She gaped at his idiocy. "You almost died! I think that's a pretty good reason!"

"I'm fine," he insisted, his jaw tight.

"You're not fine," Ema retorted acrimoniously, alarming the remaining officer in the room, but she didn't care. "Your hands are shaking and you're as pale as a sheet!"

"This is not your call to make," the prosecutor argued, deliberately avoiding the point she was making.

Her anger was beginning to boil over. It always bothered her when Klavier got in the last word, but she couldn't deal with it right now. He was acting like nothing of note had happened. He'd almost died and she could see he was understandably upset about it, yet he was acting like some nonchalant asshole who thought his own life wasn't worth anything. His life was worth something. His life was worth everything. How dare he act like that after she'd just saved him! Pretending like it didn't matter how close to death he'd come? She couldn't believe it. She needed him to see how dumb he was being.

"It is my call," she seethed, glaring hard back at him. "This might be your event, Prosecutor Gavin, but I am the officer with the highest authority here, and I say that I need to take you down to the precinct to take your statement!"

Klavier looked at her incredulously. "Are you trying to pull rank on me?"

"I just did," Ema replied defiantly, daring him to challenge her.

His face hardened, and Ema hadn't expected him to back down, though she'd hoped he would. Obviously this wasn't going to be the case.

He turned away from her, walking over to his guitar stand in the corner. He picked up the instrument by the neck. "Then I suppose it's fortunate that I already gave you my statement," Klavier retorted in a low voice as she paused at the door. "The show will continue, with or without you, Fräulein Detective."

Klavier left, presumably heading for the stage. Ema clenched her fists as rage bubbled up inside her. She couldn't stop herself from following him out the door. "I'm glad you're finally being honest about where your priorities lie!" she shouted after him viciously.

He faltered in his step for a second, but continued on without looking back. She watched him turn into the corridor to the stage before kicking the closest object, which happened to be a cardboard box.

Today she'd gotten in the last word, but it didn't feel good at all.