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Who would Lee write it all down for? Tarin shrugged, ”Kevin? In a carefully edited version…anyone? Use a pen name or whatever.” he said.

”People who have incredible stories should tell them.” Tarin knew Lee hated any kind of attention for the things she had done and that she hadn’t done them for that reason. Lee also didn’t particularly like it when Tarin suggested that people should know about the things she had done.

Lee said she wouldn’t mind helping him with the whole investment thing and Tarin nodded. They could talk about that later though. It wasn’t like they were going to run out right that moment anyway.

Tarin checked his watch again, still restless and trying to do the mental math on how long it was until he needed to leave.

”I should go back.”

Consultants to the CEO of a medical corporation. Tarin nodded. Lee had told him that much before. He had apparently just vastly underestimated what that sort of gig paid. But she had started investing before that point?

Yeah, Tarin had a feeling that once again, even with all of the credit he gave Lee for being as capable as she was, he had somehow underestimated just how good Lee was with finances. To be able to invest money in New York before the whole consulting thing had happened…had she managed to make the shop that profitable? Lee had mentioned before that for a time it had been enough to support both her and her ex…but she’d also said that their apartment hadn’t been all that nice and hadn’t ever suggested that they’d made ‘trust fund for their kid’ kind of money.

Lee took his hand and started to move towards the couch and Tarin went along with her as she explained that at some point something weird had happened at the shop.

Huge surprise there.

But apparently the other Tarin had been found there, injured and with a…check?

Good lord. Sometimes people did react poorly when they got exactly what they had asked for in the shop. But this sounded a bit beyond the pale.

”I’m guessing it was a pretty big check?” Tarin asked, wondering what kind of ass beating would be worth the kind of money you invested?

Well, at least there was that, Tarin thought as Lee took his hand. Lee seemed to have endless faith in him even when he had next to none in himself. It was galvanizing in ways that he hadn’t known were possible. What he’d said was true though, as soon as the utter and complete haze of panic had worn off and Tarin had pulled himself from that dark little space he hadn’t ever gone back. He never would.

Lee still didn’t like him being alone at the shop and he kind of hated it too, just as much as he hated the thought of dealing with spirits for the rest of the day. It was still a sore spot from time to time that the ones that always hung around the shop would have known what was happening and not a single one of them had tried to warn him or tell him what was happening when he fell asleep those nights.

Lee kissed him and Tarin relaxed slightly, letting go of some of the tension from the last few minutes.

“I don’t want to go back.” he admitted, “Not tonight.” But he knew he really should.

Lee suggested sitting down for a while and Tarin thought that was a good idea. Lee offered to come back with him and as they started to head to the couch, Tarin shook his head. He was about to tell Lee that he didn’t want to drag her back and forth again when his hip bumped the table by the door and the papers Lee had set there fell to the ground.

Bending to pick them up, Tarin’s eyes unintentionally flicked down to the papers…bank statements by the look on them and he stood to put them back on the table before his eyes flicked down again.

“Jesus Lee…I knew you were kind of a whiz with numbers…but, they didn’t put a decimal in the wrong place here, did they?” he said, sitting the papers back down on the table, suddenly a bit sheepish, ”I didn’t mean to look…”

Lee answered Tarin’s question pretty quickly and concisely. She was worried that if he left too soon he’d have to sit in the shop alone and wait for the customer. That was a possibility and Tarin wasn’t terribly eager to sit there by himself in the shop. It was weird how sometimes all of the memories and everything that had happened there seemed so very far away. Even when it was dark he was able to stay there, to be alone in the place where it had all happened.

Today was different though. Today it was impossible for Tarin to separate the shop from the place where all of those terrible things had happened. Checking his watch, Tarin sighed and let his head fall back against the door, ”A little over an hour.” he answered.

“I really should go back.” he said, glancing over at Lee. “It could look bad if I bail on the rest of the afternoon after that particular appointment…not that anyone is paying attention.”

Yet.

As they entered the building Tarin maintained his new ritual of looking at every single face they passed, moving closer to Lee as they walked through the space where the field would usually begin if it was going to be there.

Lee didn’t tense up or grip his hand tighter or move into him more, so Tarin had to assume that the field wasn’t there. Tony and Larry weren’t there right now either. They probably would have stayed there if Tarin had instructed them to, but this wasn’t the normal coming and going time by a while. Despite the fact that they were spirits and time was strange for them, Tarin felt bad making them stay and watch 24/7.

Into the lobby he and Lee went and Lee took a little detour to the mailboxes to check the mail, grab what was in the box and then she was back and ready to head upstairs.

Was today an elevator day? More and more often it was, but Tarin was already on edge and he didn’t want to risk getting himself any more worked up before he tried to head back to the shop. That in mind, he veered towards the stairs, mildly irritated that he felt the need to do so.

Soon enough though, Tarin was unlocking the door and they were heading into the apartment. It had felt odd the last few days to be here this early on a week day, but it was getting less unusual as more time passed.

“You good to go?” Tarin asked before he could get further into the apartment and change his mind.

Tarin could absolutely understand Lee’s reasoning and he looked over at her as she explained why it mattered to her so much that Kevin do well.

“You don’t have to explain…” Tarin said, hoping he hadn’t made Lee feel like she needed to do so. “You’re absolutely right.” This was the easy way. Tarin knew how hard things had been for Lee and knew even better how hard things had been for himself when he’d been that age. Finishing school couldn’t be a priority when you were simply trying to survive.

”Learning good habits now will make things easier down the road for him anyway.” Though Kevin had always had a good example of that in Lee. It was obvious in the fact that Kevin was so good. Sure, he was a teenager and had all of the angst and silliness that went along with that…but that was how things were supposed to be. Teenagers were supposed to have the safety and the ability to make those silly mistakes, they were supposed to have the support to be angsty while they tried to figure out the world and where they belonged in it.

Tarin had told Lee about the cloisters on the other side, and he was honestly pretty excited to see the differences on this side. On one hand it was kind of sad that it wasn’t the same completely eclectic wild space that it was on the other side, but it was still cool that the Met had taken it over here and made it into something cool.

And they could make a day of it. “I’d really like that…” They’d be out of their normal stomping grounds, maybe that meant they could have a whole day without Lee having to worry about that adapted…whoever they were.

By now they were approaching the apartment and Tarin realized that Lee had done every bit as good a job of distracting him as he’d done several times over the last week distracting her from the more troubling thoughts they were dealing with.

”Want me to come up with you?” he asked, ready as always in case they entered the adapted field.