"I'll stop giving you that look when you stop bringing him up at odd moments," he said. "I'll admit, part of it's just revenge for all the lectures you've given me on denying my feelings and all that rubbish. But part of it's just common sense. You're plainly tending a flame for the bloke."

"That's your worst habit you know, being right." Gioia gave him a mock-glower, and then sighed a little "Is it that obvious? Maybe that is my problem, I keep being interested in essentially unavailable men that are assholes, so I don't have to get myself too deep in and miss them too much when they're gone. Or something."

She straightened her back and took a deep breath. "There, I'll try to stop bringing him up. If he head it, his ego would just explode anyway."

"You make it that obvious," said Neely as an apology. "Face it. You're going to fall in with someone, sooner or later. If you only get one shot at it, why waste time with someone who's an arse?"

"Because the rest of them are usually too boring" Gioia admitted. "I'm probably spoiled, but all the nice ones are... well, nice. I mean there was Giles, granted he was ten years younger or so, but he was really sweet. And I couldn't help but feel like a big sister or something, protecting him from the evils of the world. Bonet had promise... but I think that was because he is also secretly a bastard deep down." She looked a bit thoughtful, thinking back.

"Honestly, now that I think about it, pretty much everybody I've ever been interested in since I found out boys were for more than teasing has been a bastard in one way or the other. I'm hopelessly ruined" she stated, with a happy smile.

"So long as they aren't bastards to you?" he asked, amused. "No, wait, rule's broken, Morgan's already been a bastard to you. You just like challenges," he added, amused.

"Well, I punched him for it" Gioia admitted a bit sheepishly. "But you're right. Maybe I do like a challenge. I don't know..." she looked to the roof for answers, but found none. "Maybe I distrust life when it's too easy. Maybe that's why I want to go south again, it's been so nice and quiet here I'm starting to feel petrified." And she always feared that when things were starting to slow down, that was when she might be ready to step on. She didn't calculate that the risk would start to become great until the winter seasons, but the intervals were so uneven. And she didn't want to go yet, she had friends here, and she didn't think she was finished...

But then again she rarely did.

Neely gave a dry, resentful look at the book. "I'm starting to feel pent in here, myself," he said. "When things get quiet I fear that something's going on behind my back, that I don't know about, that I'm going to come into unexpectedly."

"I guess neither of us is built for the quiet life" Gioia smiled. "But, luckily there are cures for that, and we just got one handed to us by Queen Fiona herself." The name made her smile a little and shake her head. "Oh, and just so you know it, I don't think it's going to happen since you said you half trusted her, but if you ever hurt her feelings, I am going to kick your ass."

"Why for fuck's sake would I ever hurt her feelings?" Neely complained. "She's a little girl. God knows, there's nothing I could possibly do to her to make her life more miserable than it probably already is."

"I know you have no reason to, I just wanted to warn you. She's..." Gioia frowned a little, trying to put her feelings into words. "I like her. And who are you to judge if her life is miserable" she challenged him. "it's not like you have a perfect track record there yourself mister." The words came out meaner than she had meant to, and she relented and sighed. "I'm sorry Neely, that came out wrong. She just... I didn't know what to expect before I met her, but this sure was not it. I don't think she's miserable, I just think she's shy, she was smiling and even joking towards the end so... maybe she just needs more experience to meet people. Or something. I guess I'm just a bit overprotective."