That was interesting. She was mad at him, but she still wanted to sleep with him. Marriage was odd, Tarin couldn’t help but think as she studied Lee and her reactions to the things he was saying. Now that they’d gotten away from each other for a few minutes and the childish raging had worn off.

Tarin chuckled when Lee admitted that he was a bit of a tyrant and shifted his weight on the couch so that she was situated in a way that was more comfortable for him. She was so honest, almost to a fault. When he asked a question, he was almost guaranteed to get the truth. When he thought about it, though, it was kind of understandable that she felt that way…if you looked at the situation that way. Tarin leaned his head back against the couch cushions and turned it to look at Lee, hands resting on her pyjama pant clad shins.

“I don’t mean to act like a tyrant…” he said, “but look at you Lee. I still marvel sometimes that you ever even gave me a chance. Girls like you never gave me a chance. I’m not blaming you, because it’s my hang up…and I’m working on it..and tonight.” Tarin paused and took a deep breath.

“I honestly don’t think I’d be any use to anyone if anything ever happened to you.” He said softly, looking at her intently, “I’ve got a unique perspective, and what you did was reckless.” Tarin wasn’t going to budge on that point. “I’m not saying you should have just turned and ran away...but the park is so secluded…is that fair enough?” the last was an honest question, asked without malice or sarcasm.

Lee was forthcoming about the encounter she’d had with the other jogger and as she explained his powers, Tarin took it all in and tried to figure out what he thought. The guy couldn’t even feel anything when his powers were active? That was so strange, even now, when there weren’t any spirits around, Tarin could feel something. It was almost completely second nature by this point, but whenever there were spirits around, he could feel it. It would be so strange to have his power active constantly and not feel anything.

Lee pointed out that it was also strange that his powers had just activated a few months earlier and Tarin’s brows drew together. If the guy was old enough that he was running in Central Park , alone, and was also a cop. He was way too old to only just be coming into his powers.

“That’s so strange…” he said, but then he realized that Lee had said that the guy only realized his powers were active a few months ago. “Well..that’s not necessarily unrealistic to think about…with the registration act and everything, it’s not like mutants were going to go running up to him and ask him what I was he was doing. But not knowing that he’s doing anything…that’s strange.”

Taring mulled over this for a few minutes, then realized his eyelids were drooping. He’d been sleeping so soundly when Lee had gotten into the bed. He took a deep breath, yawned, then looked back over at her.

“So. You want to talk more, or are you still feeling worn enough to go back to bed?”

As Tarin started speaking, Lee couldn't help the blush that covered her cheeks. Yes, they may be married, but he could still do a good job at getting her to blush, especially with comments like that whole 'look at you' one he had just made.

"And I still marvel that you're alright touching me as much as you do," Lee returned, her voice even softer than Tarin's had been. "That you really don't mind my powers still want to touch me as much as you do..."

Yes, they'd been over that whole bit of conversation many times before, going back as far as somewhere around the first month they'd known each other. But just because they had talked about it, and just because Tarin had told her on many occasions of course he wanted to touch her, didn't mean she didn't still marvel over the fact.

But then Tarin was talking again, seriously but thankfully not sounding particularly mad any more. So hearing his final question there, Lee simply nodded. She could agree that Central Park could be secluded at night, but that was part of the reason she liked it; if she really wanted to, she could really let out and run.

But that would have to be something she explained to Tarin some other time. Lee figured that right then, telling him that she liked the park being that secluded to run in probably wouldn't be the best idea.

So they were silent for a while, just sitting there, and it felt really nice to Lee, even with Tarin's hands just resting there on her shins. Then he went on to talk about what she'd said about Jacen, and he was confused about how the man didn't feel anything with his powers.

"I don't know, Tarin," Lee said slowly as she looked at him. "I didn't feel it at first when I got mine. Well, I knew when I had energy and I knew when I didn't have any, but I don't remember feeling anything when I touched people at first.

"I think, for me anyway, it happened gradually, so I didn't feel a sudden change," she continued. "And then it took a while after I figured out my powers to actually start realizing what it felt like to siphon from people. Maybe that's kind of what happened to him?" Lee finished with a shrug.

Then Lee heard Tarin yawn, but didn't actually smile until she heard him ask if she wanted to go back to bed. "When are you going to start realizing I'm right and listen to me?" She asked, leaning forward to give Tarin a soft kiss before swinging her legs off his lap. "Didn't I tell you to go back to bed? But yeah, I could sleep."

As much as Lee tried to act like she knew about men, Lee was still surprised that he was always wanting to touch her. If she’d known nearly as much as she thought she did, she would have understood. Lee was gorgeous, there was no two ways about it and Tarin knew other men thought so too. Lee was so self-conscious of her powers it made her oblivious sometimes. It was cute, though. At least they had an understanding though.

And even if it was only a nod, Tarin sighed in relief at Lee’s acceptance that the park was secluded. She didn’t expand on the issue though, and Tarin let it drop. For now. Was this how married people always fought? If it was, that was kind of okay. They’d both voiced their issues, at least partially resolved the issues, and now they were cuddling and having a conversation about someone completely outside the situation.

“It wasn’t like that for me.” Tarin said, after Lee explained how her powers had come on in the beginning, “For me, it was like having a bucket of ice water dumped on my head. Over time, I’ve gotten used to it happening, but there was no graduality involved whatsoever.”

Lee couldn’t just say, ‘Yes, let’s go back to bed.’ And Tarin rolled his eyes as she swung her leg around and kissed him. He kissed her back and stood, “I’ll start listening to you, when you start listening to me.” He said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up from the couch and hugging her close for a minute, “So don’t count on it anytime soon.”

Tarin didn’t move though, he just stood there, holding his wife, “I love you.” He said, then, “I think I like his whole married thing.” He dropped a kiss on Lee’s head, “And you without heels.”

Lee knew that Tarin's powers had come on anything but gradually. She had heard him tell her about that first time he had seen a spirit, how the night after his father's funeral he had woken up to see his father's spirit there by his bed.

It must simply have to do with what the power was and how it worked for how it came about. For her, at least as far as Lee could tell, it wasn't as if one day she was living normally, and the next she needed to siphon to simply get any energy. Or, if it did happen that way, she didn't feel it happen that way, it took a while for her to realize. For Tarin, though, and probably many other people with much more, especially visually, obvious powers, it must be much more sudden and drastic.

Hearing Tarin's conditions for when he would start actually listening to her, Lee rolled her eyes as he pulled her up off the couch. If that was the cause it was possible that they would never fully listen to the other person; both of them could be quite stubborn given the opportunity.

Now on her feet once more, Lee felt Tarin wrap his arms around her, and she hugged him back, resting her head against his shoulder. And smiled as she heard Tarin start talking again. "I love you too," Lee murmured.

But then pulled back, just enough that she could look up at Tarin with a pout on her face, when she heard his last comment. "But I like my heels," she said, the pout still visible, a slightly playful whine in her voice. "Especially the really cute ones."

This was much more like it, Tarin thought as Lee wrapped her arms around him in return of his hug. He sighed into her freshly washed hair and was glad that they were the type of couple who could have and resolve a fight quickly enough that it wasn’t permanently damaging. Lee was teasing too, that was always a good sign. At least a much better one than the snipping and mean comments that they’d fallen into earlier in the night.

“Mmm I like looking at you in your heels.” Tarin said, his voice getting vague, “We never have gotten you a new pair of boots….and aren’t husbands supposed to buy their wives something pretty when they do something silly?” he asked, then grinned down at her as they stood there.

Inspiration struck Tarin then, and he did something he hadn’t done since his wedding night. Bending down, and hooking his arm behind Lee’s knees he scooped her up in his arms and started walking towards the bedroom. Lee really was so very small, and she felt so light in his arms, it was almost hard for Tarin to not go back to worrying about the situation she’d put herself into in the park. He didn’t though, just kept walking until they’d made it back to the bed.

Gently, Tarin set Lee down and pulled the covers back, tucking them around her before climbing in beside her and reassuming the snuggling position he’d sat up so quickly from before they started arguing. Only, now Tarin was wide awake, and in a bed with Lee.

“So…just how tired are you?” he said…after all…wasn’t make-up sex supposed to be awesome? Even more so when you were married?

Hearing the tone that Tarin's voice took on, seeing the look that started coming into his eyes as he mentioned that he liked how she looked in her heels, Lee knew his mind was wandering. It was a similar look to how he had been when she had been putting on or taking off her boots so long ago, similar, just not nearly as distant.

Then Lee grinned when Tarin commented that the had yet to get her another pair of boots to replace the ones she had lost when she was put in the camps. "No, we haven't yet, have we," Lee replied, the smile still on her face. Then her eyebrows raised as Tarin commented about husbands supposed to get their wives something when they did something silly. Is that how being married worked?

Well, maybe not, it was boots they were talking about. "That could be quite the task, you know," Lee pointed out, a slightly teasing, slightly knowing gleam in her eye as she looked up at Tarin. "I might have to try on dozens of boots, and then another couple dozen, before we manage to find the right pair."

Before she was able to say anything else, Lee felt Tarin ending the hug, and before she knew what was going on, felt something gently hitting the back of her knees and suddenly she was in the air with a little 'oh' of surprise.

This was different, this was unusual, and as Lee looked up at Tarin as he walked them back to the bedroom, Lee couldn't help but let her mind drift back to the last time he had done this as a smile spread across her face: their wedding night as Tarin had carried her into their hotel room.

It didn't take long before Tarin was gently setting her down on the bed, pulling the blankets over her, before crawling in beside her. Snuggling against her.

And asking just how tired she was.

The grin still on her face, Lee felt her face flush slightly at the question. That question didn't really have a whole lot of meaning for her, she didn't have to sleep. What it was really asking, at least in Lee's mind, was did she really want to sleep that night.

She had already figured that she was going to be up all night, and with those thoughts of their wedding right running through her mind, sleep wasn't even close to the most interesting thing at that moment. "Somehow, I think I'll survive if we don't go to sleep right away," Lee said, her smile widening as she leaned over to kiss Tarin.

Boots. Boots were such a better topic than the dangerous activities that Lee liked to engage in at night. His wife pointed out what shopping for a new pair would entail and Tarin actually groaned out loud at the mental image of watching Lee try on pair after pair of boots. “Dozens?” he managed to croak out, slightly appalled at just how much the mental image had affected him. No man on earth could have blamed him though, Lee’s legs seemed impossibly long for as small as she was, and the way the boot removal and application process showed them off. “I think that would probably be my most favorite shopping trip ever…assuming I lived through it or didn’t get arrested for jumping on you in the middle of a shoe store.”

Lee didn’t snuggle into the blanket, she didn’t roll over in the bed. She was looking at him and Tarin had a feeling he knew what the answer was going to be to his question. Lee grinned at him and said that she thought she’d be able to live if she didn’t sleep that night. Then she kissed him.

Tarin wondered why it was like the first time, every time Lee kissed him. It had to be a good omen for their marriage that his heart still did the funny little jumping thing it had done from the first time Lee had kissed him in Matt’s bar. Tarin shifted slightly in the bed, hand going to Lee’s hip to slide up her side and into her hair. There he held her head against his, kissing her long and thoroughly before pulling back and resting his forehead against hers in the dark.

“I love you Lee.” He said against her lips as he leaned forward again to kiss her. He’d just said it a few minutes before in the living room, but he felt the need to say it again. “Let’s never go to sleep on a fight…this is so much better.”