Morgan came in from a run-around with the twins with their new horse and its meal of sausage. The horse and he had an understanding about not trampling the kids to death--thank goodness for that--but the whole thing left the man with a strange sort of feeling, like an old friend who just wanted to drink and fight and fuck all the time. And while those might have been true, he'd frankly never done any of that with the horse.

Dead horse might want to have a mare. He should ask abou--

Ugh. Why did he let himself think sometimes?

The kids were on strict orders not to try and ride. But he imagined that would mean that they absolutely would. And good on 'em. No quicker way to learn. And no sooner had he begun on some dinner than he noticed something. Or, rather, didn't notice something. He stepped away from the water, putting a quick ward over it to keep the kids from burning themselves on it, and went to the closet.

The false floor hadn't been tampered with, but the book beneath was gone. Son of a bitch. It was him. That tattooed bastard. He just knew it.

She could have danced to deliver her gift, but then her feet would have bled, and the party had not ended yet, and blood would not be shed until midnight. But home had a pull, she did not need to dance, she could only fall, and land in relative comfort.

There was time yet.

That being said, her landing was not graceful, and sent her tumbling to the floor, dress tangled and the packaged still hend in her arms.

She might bruise, but she would not drop her gift.

"Aly?" he said, replacing the false floor and turning toward the woman, "Aly, something's..."

He blinked and looked down at the book for a moment before making a quick, relieved sound. "Oh, thank goodness. I was a..." he blinked and then scowled, leaning toward the woman, "What are you doing?"

"Falling" she replied serenely. "My feet hurts, so it was faster."

She gently placed the package on the floor, leaning back to look up at Morgan. Her pupils were still slightly dilated, and her smile tinged with just a little bit of crazy as it so often was after she had danced.

Morgan huffed a little and rubbed at the bridge of his nose before gesturing to the bed, "Well, come on then. Sit down and we'll see if we can't help your feet, alright?" He shook his head and reminded himself to stop asking her question when she was dancing her Art. Hard enough to get her to talk sense at the best of times.

He shot a look at the book as if it was in a conspiracy.

"I am sitting" she pointed out with a giggle. "And they were taken care of by a very nice woman. Also, I have forgiven my consort now, which surprised me, but I can't argue with the cards. It is best to let him go."

Morgan nodded some, chuckling a little as he dropped to one knee, taking one of her feet in hand and frowning. "You really should stay off these. Especially if you're gonna be dancing," he muttered to what he imagined would be absolutely no heed. But her second statement surprised him and he looked up her, head tilted to one side. "Oh? Well, glad to hear the cards are being kind, then."

"It all became so clear in the end" she sighed, and Morgan would notice that her feet had indeed been taken care of, both with medicines and magic. Still, she had to stay off them to heal. "We were only bad for one another in the end, and... I had to give up something eventually." She frowned a little, looking annoyed. "It made sense at the time, maybe it was her, she felt... solid. She changes things just by being there, I wonder if she knows that?"

"Probably not. Most people don't know when they do things like that. Unless people like you tell 'em." He chuckled a bit at that and gave a satisfied nod at the work done on her feet. "And I'm glad you're done with it. It was kind of stupid, the thought of the two of you fighting one another." He leaned back then, apparently satisfied that Aly's feet were going to be fine. "So... why did you take the book?"

"Because it's not safe here" she nodded. "And because it must go back to its owner, but Magus had moved on already. Both of them. That's when I realized that the dance and the cards knew better than I did, and decided to give it up. I am returning this to the one it belongs to now." She petted the package gingerly.

"I don't want it around the children."