OOC – This thread takes place after Down for the Count, and I’m going to ambiguously assume that there was someone around at the labs who healed Tarin up.

The walk home was way easier than the walk to the labs had been. Tarin had been vehement that there was nothing wrong with him other than a few bumps and bruises, but he’d known every bit as well as Lee had that there was a little bit more to it than that. By the time they’d gotten halfway to the labs, Tarin hadn’t been able to turn his head, and his back was so tight that standing upright had been difficult. It screamed of whiplash and probably a slipped disk in his back, but he’d put on a brave face. The last thing they needed was Lee going into a guilty funk.

He’d gotten healed and as they made their way home in the brisk New York night, Tarin mused over how easy it would be to get reckless when there were healers so close at hand to fix up whatever problems there were. There had also been some good conversation about exactly what it was that had happened in the dojo. From everything they could tell…Lee had figured out something new that she could do with her powers.

They’d tried to replicate the effect at the labs, a few different times, but it hadn’t worked. That made sense to Tarin, though, and as he looked over at Lee, he couldn’t help but notice that she looked a little tired. That was strange in and of itself considering how many people there had been at the dojo, and the labs, and everywhere else. A possible side effect? Something they needed to talk about, that and Tarin’s ideas for after hour lessons.

They were at their apartment complex now and making their way through the lobby and Tarin turned to Lee, “How you feeling? You look a little tired”

Tarin was better. That was the good news. They'd gone to the Labs and whatever had been wrong with Tarin, whatever it was she had done to him, had been all patched up. And while they were there, they had attempted to figure out what it was that had happened, with no luck. Lee hadn't been able to replicate whatever the hell it was.

The best that anyone had been able to come up with was that it was some sort of power growth or evolution for her.

But she just siphoned energy, and then could be strong and fast if she was energized, right?

So most of the way home from the Labs, Lee had spent her time thinking, musing, pondering what they had said at the Labs, and what little she remembered it actually feeling like when Tarin had gone flying across the room in the dojo.

Until Tarin asked how she was feeling as they were walking through the lobby of their apartment building. Turning to her husband with a frown on her face, Lee thought for a moment before she spoke. "I am rather tired," she said, the frown still present. "I don't know why, either. I had tons of energy while we were sparring.

"How about you? You're feeling better now, right?"

It was a long way between Queens and Manhatten, and Lee had been quiet most of the way home. She was thinking, working through what had happened and what they’d found out in the labs and the dojo. Lee was a worrier and by this point, Tarin was used to it, if still a little frustrated that she let things outside her control bother her so much. It was simply the way of things, and after raging against it for the longest time Tairn was content to let Lee think. At least she answered his question when he asked it.

“I’m better than ever…” Tarin said, then raised a hand to stifle a slight yawn, “I’m worn out from all the excitement, but other than that, perfect.”

His suspicions had been correct, though, Lee was tired, and that was probably the strangest thing that had happened all night. There was hardly ever a time after sparring that Lee was tired, Tarin had noticed before in her demeanor and actions, and she’d just verbally confirmed it though. Looking sideways at Lee as they entered the elevator with an older couple that lived a few floors below them, Tarin leaned against the rail in the elevator and thought as the car began to rise.

“Maybe it has to do with whatever it was you did when we were sparring. To toss me that far without even feeling it must have taken a lot of energy…maybe it drained you a little bit?” He grinned, “I can think of a couple ways to charge you back up though….”

The elevator stopped, and the old couple got off, making Tarin grin when the older woman winked at him one her way out.

He let the thought trail off and watched the doors shut, then the numbers as they lit up one after another, “One thing is for sure, though, I’m thinking we’d better take John up on his after-hours idea…and maybe see if Slate or Sebastian is interested in going to lessons with us, just until we figure out exactly what’s going on.”

While it was odd and surprising that she was tired after all that time they had spent sparring, it really wasn't a shock to Lee when Tarin yawned, and then said that he was worn out. He normally was after sparring, even if it wasn't with her; added onto all the physical exertion, Lee had been siphoning from him the entire time.

Tarin waited until they were in the elevator, and there was another couple from the building in there with him, before he asked more about her being tired. And suggested a way to give her more energy. Sure, it hadn't been an overly explicit suggestion, but Lee still shot a glare at her husband, so she missed seeing the other woman in the elevator winking at him on her way out.

Really! As if it wasn't bad enough that he said stuff like that simply out in public, but in front of their neighbours!?

At least they were alone again now that the doors had closed. Shaking her head, Lee just leaned against Tarin as they waited to reach their floor. And, though his next comment wasn't anywhere close to being sexual in nature, Lee wasn't that much happier with it. It was something they needed to talk about, though.

The elevator door opening again as they reached their floor, Lee straightened up and took a deep breath. "That probably would be a good idea," she said slowly as she started making her way to the apartment. "I mean, I don't even know what it was, never mind how it happened." Then Lee turned her head to look up at Tarin (she wasn't wearing heels because of the sparring, after all). "But maybe we should hold off on the sparring, at least for a bit, until we can figure this out. I don't want to risk you, or anyone, getting hurt because I have no clue what's going on."

Tarin ignored the glare that Lee shot in his direction, smiling at the older lady as she made her way out of the elevator. The doors shut and Tarin turned to Lee with a cavalier shrug, “What? She liked it, didn’t you see the wink I got when they were leaving? I’ll bet they’re heading off to take their little blue pills and get it on right now.” He said indignantly, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the rails. Lee leaned against him and Tarin loosed one arm and wrapped it around her shoulders to hold her close as they rode in silence to their floor.

As they exited the elevator, Lee agreed with Tarin that they should probably switch to after hours for their training sessions at the dojo..then she took it a step further by saying that they should stop sparring completely. Tarin winced, this was the perfect time to bring up what he’d wanted to talk to Lee about. Though it wasn’t something he really wanted to do.

“Well…we can stop sparring if you want…but I definitely want to keep going to the gym. There’s a couple of things that I’ve wanted to start working on, and I think John might be able to help me out.”

As he fumbled with his keys out of his pocket to get the front door of the apartment unlocked, Tarin took a deep breath, “I’ve been thinking lately…what if what happened in the graveyard wasn’t a fluke? What if it was something like happened to you tonight in the gym. What if I can learn how to do that on command?”

The lock clicked and Tarin pushed the door open to be greeted by excited yipping from Axel in the kitchen. He’d need to be walked. Depending on Lee’s reaction to what he just said, Tairn thought he might need a walk soon too.

Lee simply rolled her eyes at what Tarin said about the couple that had just left elevator. Even if that was true, that didn't mean Tarin had to bring it up, did it? And it definitely didn't mean that made it already for Tarin to talk about what he had been.

"I didn't say we should stop going to the gym," Lee replied as she watched Tarin digging for his keys. "Just that, at least until we can figure out at least a bit about what happened today, it'd be a lot safer to not spar for a while."

Apparently that wasn't the end of it, though. As he opened the door and they heard Axel's excitement from further inside, Tarin continued speaking, telling her about his thoughts for the after hours training.

Lee blinked, then finished making her way into the apartment, closing the door behind her before turning to look at her husband. "You want to try and do that on command?" Lee asked, her voice quiet, a small worried crease between her brows. "But what if you can't get back into your body, even with Slate's help?"

Axel was still excited, and he hadn’t made a mess, Tarin noticed as they moved further into the apartment. They hadn’t really been gone very long, so it wasn’t all that surprising. Maybe the dog didn’t need a walk right away. That would be good, because chances were looking good that this was going to be a long conversation between him and his wife.

Lee had concerns…and that in and of itself wasn’t surprising to Tarin. Lee always had concerns when anything was remotely dangerous. This wasn’t just dangerous, it was extremely dangerous, if the first time it had happened was any indication. Which Lee apparently thought it was. Tarin sighed and moved the baby gate that kept Axel in the kitchen.

“Yeah. I kind of do want to learn how to do it.” He said softly as he bent to scratch the dog behind his ears, “What if it happens again and I don’t know what’s going on? If that happens then I definitely won’t be able to fix things.” He shrugged his shoulders, “Besides, Slate was able to fix things the first time, why wouldn’t he be able to do it again? I’m pretty sure processes like that work the same way time after time.”

Tarin dropped down onto the couch and Axel climbed into his lap, wiggling while Tarin tried to oblige the pup’s desperate need for attention. Behind Axel’s ears Tarin scratched, trying to puzzle out how exactly he was going to explain to Lee all the reasons why he wanted to try. “I kind of want to understand it too…I mean, it didn’t kill me the first time, maybe it’s something I can learn to use.”

As Tarin started talking again, Lee saw him bending down to pet their over-excited dog. And even though one of them normally gave Axel this attention when they came home, Lee couldn't help but wonder whether Tarin was doing it right then so he could avoid eye contact.

Lee simply followed Tarin out to the couch, sitting sideways so she could look at him easier as the puppy jumped up into his lap. Despite everything that Tarin was saying, Lee didn't think that this was something to sit there and try and sort out like whatever she had done to throw him across the dojo earlier that night. Even if Slate was there.

And then Tarin said something that made Lee's eyes widen. "But you did die," Lee said in a harsh, rough whisper, the emotion pouring forth. Even after the time that had passed since Tarin had come out of his 'coma', it was still hard for Lee to think about it. "You're heart stopped, Tarin. If it wasn't for DocProf...And you want to try again?"

Axel was a great way to avoid eye contact with Lee, at least for the moment and Tarin took full advantage of the situation. Petting the puppy vigorously, he smiled down at the wiggles and the playful growl the dog gave at the scratches at the base of his tail. Lee was not feeling playful, and she really wasn’t interested in what he had to say about trying things at the dojo.

Tarin sighed, then winced slightly when Lee reminded him about the last time he’d managed to separate his consciousness from his body in the bluntest terms possible. He turned to look at her on the couch and scowled slightly, neglecting the poor puppy in his lap for a few moments as he simply held his wife’s slightly angry gaze. “We’ve been over that Lee, and you’re making this way more dramatic than it needs to be.” He sighed, “The only reason….that happened was because it had been so long…the shock.” It was easier to say “that” than admit that for a brief time he’d been dead. That wasn’t what he was thinking about now.

“I do want to try again. You’re thinking too much about what happened the first time…what you should be thinking about is what if it happens again? If it meant keeping the spirits out, I’d do it again in a second…and who knows Lee. With what we’re going to do in Romania…this might help. Maybe I can do more.”

Tarin shrugged his shoulders, “We could make sure Slate is there…If he fixed it once he could fix it again if something goes wrong.”

When Tarin turned to look at her, Tarin was actually scowling at her. Why? Just because she had pointed out what had happened, what she had gone though, what she had feared, when he had come out of his coma.

But he did have a point. And even with how horrible that month had been, Lee knew Tarin, knew what his merges could be like, and was sure that he would try that gain if it came down to that or a merge.

Closing her eyes, Lee pulled her feet up onto the couch and wrapped her arms around her knees. "It's just," Lee said, her voice coming out so much softer this time. "With everything we've gone through, I don't like the idea of walking into trouble like this again."

Tarin sighed audibly when Lee pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. This was what she did when she was shutting down on him. In fact, Tarin probably could have predicted the soft tone of voice and the seemingly vulnerable state Lee had entered into as she thought about everything that had happened the last time he’d separated mind from body.

Scrubbing a hand through his hair and trying to ignore the desperately squirming puppy, Tarin gave up and grabbed the puppy under his front legs, gently setting him on the floor. All it accomplished was moving the squirming mass of fur from lap to wood, but it was a step in the right direction.

“Don’t get all closed up and quiet with me Lee.” Tarin said softly, no snap in his voice, just quiet sincerity. “We’ve been over all the dangers a hundred times…” She said that with everything else, she hated to tempt fate by walking into trouble, but at the same time…”Isn’t that what we’d be doing by ignoring the fact that this happened and could happen again?”

It was an argument he’d already posed that night, but Lee either hadn’t heard it or hadn’t listened the first time, “I’d rather go into the situation in Romania knowing how to handle it if the situation would arise.” Tarin paused, hesitated before he spoke again, “We both know what happened the last time I was involved with camps. We’ve already established the lengths I’d go to in order to make sure that didn’t happen again…so wouldn’t it be better if I knew what I was doing before it was even an issue? We’re going to probably be in the middle of a fight, and if I end up…separating…then my body would just be laying there completely defenseless.”

Opening her eyes when she felt Tarin moving, Lee saw him putting Axel down on the floor before he turned to look at her again. And speak to her again. His voice wasn't at all harsh, though. Just soft, though Lee could hear a bit of firmness under the surface, as though he were wanting to force her to be ok with what he was saying.

And, in a way, it did make sense what Tarin was saying. Actually, it made a lot of sense. But Lee's mind telling her that it made a lot of sense didn't help her heart from thinking that it was a terrible idea.

Lee took a deep breath, then looked back up at Tarin when she realized that her gaze had dropped. "I know, it's just..." Lee trailed off, not sure how to explain this difference between what she was feeling and what she understood about what Tarin was saying.

Instead, she simply moved. Unwrapping her arms from around her legs, Lee scooted over on the couch so that her legs were now draped across Tarin's lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry," Lee whispered in Tarin's ear. "It just scares me, thinking about what might happen."

At least Lee was able to admit that the logic behind what he was saying made sense. That was better than what she’d done times before. When Lee set her mind to something, there was usually no moving her no matter how hard a person tried. Getting Lee to acknowledge that at least his logic was sound definitely helped things for Tarin, even if she wasn’t ready to handle it all emotionally. She started to speak and Tarin just nodded his head, “I know…but I’ve always told you that there were dangerous things about me Lee.” He said softly and gravely, “Isn’t it better that we’ve at least tried to head this one off before it hits?”

As he spoke, Lee moved. She definitely wasn’t staying curled in on herself. Usually, Tarin would have counted that as a definite victory. As Lee’s yoga pant clad legs slid over his and her arms wound around his neck, he chuckled and let his own arm mimic hers, only around her waist. Suddenly, Tarin didn’t care quite as much about this conversation as he had a few minutes before. Maybe that was the idea, though, she was still talking. Whispering in his ear, and Tarin shuddered slightly, rolling his shoulders a little and nuzzling into Lee’s neck.

“I understand.” He said against her neck, “It scares me too, but I’m tired of going into these things blind.” Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Tarin pulled away from Lee and looked at her seriously, which was apparently a go sign for Axel to jump onto the couch and worm his way between them. Tarin let the puppy stay and kept looking at Lee, “Okay? We’ll make sure someone is there to help out if anything goes wrong. I’m just saying…you think it’s bad to play with this. Think how bad it would be if it happened in the middle of a fight.”

Again, Tarin was right. From that very first time she had stepped forth into his shop, he had told her that being around him was dangerous, and from there very first meeting Lee had known that weird things could definitely happen around Tarin.

But that knowledge didn't make some things any easier.

Tarin's arms were around her waist by this point as she was wrapping hers around his neck. And then as he started speaking again, Tarin pulled back once more. Sitting there, Lee just looked into Tarin's eyes as she heard what he was saying, then nodded slightly.

"Ok," Lee said softly after a few moments of just looking at her husband. Then Lee closed her eyes and leaned forward again, wrapping her arms back around Tarin's neck. "I'm going to be worried sick the whole time," she continued. "But alright."

Logic and persistence for the win! Tarin smiled at Lee as she came to a conclusion and shared it with him. “Of course you’re going to worry, Lee, you always worry. It’s kind of just what you do, and I never said you shouldn’t worry. I’m going to be terrified the whole damn time.” He said, pulling his wife close again and laying his head on her shoulder. “And who’s to say it’s even going to work? If it was a fluke, then you’ve really got nothing to worry about.”

It was quiet for a few moments, and Axel settled into his place between them, content to be smushed between the two warm bodies. Tarin was simply content to accept what Lee had decided about the situation and the fact that they were so close. His hands moved a little, tracing slow circles on Lee’s back as he thought about everything that had happened that night.

“So, what about you?” Tarin said on a content sigh, “Are we going to try to work it out too? Just like what I’m trying, maybe it’ll be something useful in Romania. I mean heck, you tossed me fifteen feet without even trying. What did it feel like?”