Ah, love was in the air again as Valentine's Day peeked out over the clouds in streams of pink and orange and rays of sunshine. And Ty, was plopped on the couch in his underpants with the remote in one hand and Leverage on television. Last year he'd tried going all out, and it took him nine months to get things back right with Tses. This year, the kid wasn't taking any chances. So today was just going to be an ordinary day for the two of them, and this year, when all was said and done, they'd still have each other. He hoped. That was the plan; he wasn't losing her again.

He couldn't sleep, but tonight the nightmares weren't like the ones he'd faced ever since they got back together. This time, it was a mixture of flashbacks of the past year mixed with fears of losing her again in similar fashion. That, he just couldn't deal with. Not again. At least he found a marathon on television that was supposed to be on all day. And such, were his plans.

"Who knew a Sedan could hit 140?"
"Parker, you are never to get behind the wheel of a car again. Ever."

Ty couldn't help but laugh--loudly, even though he knew Tses was in the other room asleep. "That is soooo Tses," he murmured with a small smile.

Tses would have found Ty's laughter rather rude...if she was actually sleeping in the other room.

Sometime after Ty wandered to watch television, Tses took the opportunity to casually sneak out. It was a lot easier when you could walk through walls, and if anyone saw the green glowing figure dart through the doors, they were too sleepy to pay much attention.

Ty might not have anything planned for Valentine's day, but she did. After last years failure she figured there were safer alternatives to going out and being with the rest of the sappy hearts and rainbow crowd. The alternative?

Bring valentine's day back.

The task wasn't easy to accomplish, and she had quite the shopping list as she hoisted her backpack up on her shoulders, ignoring the sting of old injuries making this difficult. There were chocolates to collect, stuffed animals, steaks, some nitroglycerin maybe...

Hopefully, Ty wouldn't notice she was gone. He seemed pretty content with television when she left.

And Ty didn't have a clue. He thought she was still sound asleep in bed; but hey, after what they'd been through, one of them at least deserved to sleep well and peacefully. But little did he know, neither of them would cash in on that, at least not this morning.

The redhead at this moment though was drinking his coffee and watching five "bad guys" take down other really bad guys. And there were laughs in between. Hopefully he wouldn't wake Tses up...

Dogs had a habit of ruining what would otherwise be stealthy robberies. Tses was innocently stealing food from some rich couples refrigerator, when their obnoxious little terrier came chasing after her. Scrambling onto the counter (owe..) darting out the window (ouch), the barks were soon accompanied by shouts of profanity from inside the room. The next house was a bit better. It was easy enough to steal some cash, and the next trip was into the grocery store to pick pocket chocolates. Each stop, her bag got a bit heavier, digging into the scars on her shoulder.

The nitroglycerin was a bit harder to find, definitely not on the same shopping list as strawberries and chocolate. She nearly dropped the small tank she managed to come by down the fire escape when her arm got tired. The loud clang on the metal made her flatten herself onto the grate, hoping Ty hadn't heard...

Despite the coffee, Ty was growing tired from sitting in the same place for so long. On the couch, covered in a blanket...he was comfortable. As comfortable as he could be, if he had a certain blonde bombshell-pun intended, curled up next to him or asleep in his lap. The TV was rather amusing, and the coffee flowed through his veins, but the comfort was taking its toll. His eyes slowly drifted shut...

Clang!

Then popped wide open. "What the **** was that..." he grumbled, too lazy--er...comfortable to move. Maybe he'd get lucky and it wasn't anything so he wouldn't have to move. Within moments, his eyes closed again. *Snore*

Tses wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or annoyed Ty didn't check on the noise. If someone was robbing the place, she would have hoped he'd at least wake up to defend the house. Maybe that was her job though. She was always the punch first, ask questions later person. Slipping the window open and piling the stuff inside, she scooted quietly to the kitchen and hid what she could. There was no use starting anything yet. Not until closer to dinner time.

Tses perched on the counter, legs dangling off the edge as Ty kept snoozing in front of the T.V. With a mischievous glint in her eye, she picked up the stuffed bear she'd brought and threw it across the room, landing with a flop on his back.

It wasn't that Ty wasn't curious or concerned about the noise, he was just comfortable and sleeping peacefully. Peaceful sleep was a rarity these days--at least the kind that lasted all night--so he'd take what he could get.

However, something landed on his back, and Ty sprung awake, flailing and falling off of the couch and landing on the floor with a crash. In a very cutesy fashion, the bear ended up perching precariously on the edge of the sofa cushion, falling on Ty's stomach after he'd landed.

"Ah! Sh--wha?" He blinked, looking at the bear before scooping it up and working his way back up to his feet. Oh that had to have been a sight, a grown man standing in the middle of his living room in his underwear holding a teddy bear.

A smile crossed his face when he saw Tses perched on the counter. "Mornin' Wisp," he said, still half-asleep.

Watching Ty terrorized by a stuffed animal was totally worth the pain it took to steal it. She smirked at him and rolled her eyes, popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth.

"Hearts and rainbows." She commented, decidedly avoiding using the phrase 'valentine's day'. She wondered if they'd ever really be comfortable with the date again, but at least maybe her adventures would erase some of the tension.

Ty blinked again, looking at the bear, and the chocolate, realizing that Tses hadn't been asleep in the other room after all. He wasn't sure how, when, or what exactly she was up to, but he knew she had something up her sleeve.

Inside he felt a lump tug at his throat; so much tension surrounded this day of love and hope and puking rainbows that it was ridiculous. But then again...the tension this year was his fault from last year. But he had to smile at her; she was still trying to make things work. Those that thought he was crazy only thought so because they never saw--and probably never would see--the other side of her that existed under the explosives and the temper.

"You too, Hun," he replied softly, doing her a favor and going to the bedroom for a second. When he came out, he had on a pair of jeans and a purple tee shirt. "You're up to something," he murmured, looking at her.

Tses made a face at the Hun comment, but let it go for now. She swung her legs lazily and gave him a 'I have no idea what you're talking about' glance as she popped another piece of chocolate into her mouth. She had been up to something, of course, since the moment she left the apartment. But she wasn't sure when she would reveal what exactly that something was.

Plopping back to her feet, she wandered back to the kitchen and started fiddling through drawers. Maybe she could start on the strawberries, but she wasn't exactly sure how people melted chocolate for those things. Asking could be helpful, but that would me admitting she was up to something.

The full refrigerator would give that way too though.

Ty quirked a brow, looking at her, but knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of her. Inside, he made a mental note to try harder at sticking to "Wisp," as it was the only pet name that got a positive reaction. Picking up the bear, he took his fish-beanie off of the table and put it on his head, halfway starting back toward the couch.

"You need any help in there?" he offered' "or should I just sit here and chill with Mr. Bear while you're in there not being up to anything? I promise not to grill him for information. Do your thing. Or not-thing. Or...whatever you call it," he teased with a chuckle.

Tses glance at the refrigerator then back at Ty, mentally calculating everything she was going to do. She finally just shook her head no and finished off the chocolate in her hand. "Nah, I got it. You seemed pretty into your show anyway." She remarked glancing at the television screen.

She moved into the kitchen and sifted through the cupboards, pulling out a few pans and setting them on the counter. Could you melt chocolate in a pan? She frowned at them cautiously.

Ty chuckled nervously. "I couldn't sleep so I came in to watch TV. Thought you were still in bed. But yeah...it is a pretty amazing show. Maybe when you get done in there with whatever you're doing you can chill and watch it with me? I mean, I got no plans today." Giving a shrug, he plopped back onto the couch.

Then he heard the clanging of pots and pans and he felt a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead. Tses was...cooking...Ohhh crap. "Uh...Tses? Are you sure you know what you're doing in there? I mean uh...are you sure you don't need any help?" he asked, peeking over the counter from the couch.

Tses smirked slightly, somewhat proud of her sneaky antics. Not that she readily wanted to sneak out of the house, but the fact she could was amusing. Tses was free spirited, and even in a relationship, there was something restless about her. If she ever felt caged, it would be hard to keep her. She was a bird that would return to a perch only as long as the door stayed open.

Continuing with the pans, she glanced at him, looking at one pot then a slimmer one, considering his offer. "Do you just throw chocolate in this to melt it..." She asked finally, trying not to give away too much, but realizing...she had no idea what she was doing.

Did they own smoke alarms? Fire extinguishers? Maybe she should have stolen those too.

Ty was on his feet, chuckling lightly. "Not quite. Melting chocolate can be quite the beast. Let's see..." he looked around, trying no to ruin too much of the surprise, so he found the chocolate he needed as quickly as possible. "These are what we need. Those in the heart-shaped box you can munch on while we're cooking. Now...we'll take this pot..." He soon had a setup consisting of a pot of water, with a bowl setting on top of it, but not touching the water--a home-made double boiler.

"Now...you wanna turn the heat on low, chocolate burns easily, and make sure the chocolate doesn't come into contact with the water. That'll ruin it. Okay, now that it's starting to melt, take this wooden spoon and keep stirring." he handed her the spoon. This was actually kind of sweet, him teaching her about cooking. In fact, the redhead preferred this to TV, as hard as that would be to believe.