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"All right."

His eyes twinkled a bit, pleased by her reaction. He was glad he'd managed to catch her in a good mood today...it made things that much easier. He was afraid he'd be asked to explain what the catch of his unannounced visit was as soon as she saw him and that things could only go downhill from there.

He slipped out of her grasp gently and moved to get into the water, cringing only slightly at the feeling of the foam of bubbles on his skin. He'd never taken a bubblebath before and it was...well....it was sort of like the dishwashing sink on a much larger scale. Nonetheless, he offered her a hand to help her in as well.

He gave an appreciative rumble in his throat as he wrapped around her in the warm water. Despite the annoying fizz of the constant popping of soap bubbles on all sides of them, this was nice, yes. "Perfection deserves perfection." he told her. He knew it was trite, but dammit, she was perfect...to him, anyway.

She deserved more, really, than a couple of capfuls of bubblebath and some mutilated roses, and he hoped he'd someday have the resources to give it to her. Talon reached over to brush a stray rose petal away from where it was clinging to her collarbone.

To this he said nothing...rather, could think of nothing to say. He contented himself, instead, with listening to the sound of her breath, the lap of the water, and the sound of nearby finches singing in the trees beyond the privacy fence.

Beneath the foam of bubbles, Yeande would soon feel something small and plastic bump up against arm.

It was, indeed, a duckie. More accurately, it was Raven and Kendall's duckie...and Talon doubted severely that they would miss it. It wasn't as though they bathed together very often anymore these days anyway. Usually only when Karma was babysitting Raven so Youko and Envy could have an evening to themselves.

Around the rubber duckie's neck was a purple ribbon...





And tied to the purple ribbon, there was...



Talon watched her carefully for a long moment, trying to gauge her reaction before he did or said anything. Was it good? Was it bad? He really couldn't tell...all he saw were wide eyes. His stomach had become a tight icy coil within him as he forced himself to move, reaching out with one slightly-tremulous hand to fumble the ribbon off of the ring.

The sun winked merrily off of the gold and silver of the entwined dragons as he realized he had not rehearsed at all what he was about to say. All of his agonizing and planning hadn't allowed him to fantasize far enough to him actually getting to the proposal.

"I don't know what really to expect from the next few months...or what's going to happen in the years to come," he began, taking her hand and sliding the ring gingerly onto her finger. "but I know that I want you with me." He paused, swallowing hard. Getting on one knee wasn't an option, it occurred to him. Not when they were up to their chests in fragrant bubbles and water.

Talon settled, instead, for leaning close and fleetingly touching his lips to her brow, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Yeande...will you marry me?"

For a moment, Talon had almost been convinced she was going to say no...especially when he saw that he'd brought her to tears. The words If you really don't like it, I can take it back. I kept the receipt died in his throat as he suddenly found her in his lap and her mouth covering his own.

He didn't ask if she was sure, he didn't even hesitate, he simply held her, returning the kiss as the insecurities and worries about this much, at least, fled. He really didn't know what he would have done if she'd said no, but that didn't matter now.

It was going to take him awhile, he was sure, to become accustomed to no longer referring to her as his girlfriend and start calling her his fiance.

He blinked, trying to regain his composure after the sudden intrusion and departure from Youko. Talon supposed it shouldn't bother him that they were back...he and Yeande had fooled around plenty of times while they were home, or even right in the next room. It just shattered the "we're the only two people in the world right now" illusion they'd had going.

"And I love you, Yeande." he told her, a smile unfurling across his mouth...not the usual thin-lipped smirk he usually kept himself to, but a genuine smile. He really couldn't describe what it felt like, holding her in the warm water, knowing that she'd just agreed to be with him for the rest of their lives and that, within her, their child was growing.

....it felt like a beginning.

As it turned out, the call he'd recieved that morning wasn't just to set up an interview, it was the notification that they wanted to interview him and all other applicants in his batch before the day was out and to please come down by 10 AM to begin the process. Even in this day and age, communication was something that needed severe work.

He also found it ironic that, of all the applications he'd sent out, the first one to get back with him was a job in customer service, of all things...

"So then, ahh...." the bearded man's eyes flicked to the application. "....Talonfaust. How do you pronounce that, by the way? Was I right?" he asked, pulling a pen from his shirt pocket and clicking it on.

"Yes." he said with a nod. "Fawst. But you can call me Talon or Tal if it makes things easier." He spoke with a certain distraction, focusing so much on trying not to look uncomfortable he was practically radiating it. Everything about this situation was out of his element. Karma had forced him to dress up in one of Dave's pairs of slacks and a white polo shirt, he hated strangers, and not only was he being forced to talk to this particular stranger, he was playing the submissive in hopes of being given a job. The interviewer scribbled a note on the application, clicked off his pen and repocketed it.

"All right then...." he squinted at the application. "And no middle name, hmm?"

"No, sir."

"Interesting." he scanned the application again as Talon felt his stomach clench and knot. "Tell me a bit about your experiences with people." Talon felt his mind screech to a halt. Oh s**t.

"Well...." he began, wondering what he should say. He really didn't HAVE any experience with people, aside from Yeande and he doubted that was what the guy meant. "...I live in a house with five other people at the moment."

"Your family?"

"Not....as such."

"Roommates, then. Must get crowded." she said with a smirk.

"Yes, sometimes it does." he said, forcing a smile back that must have looked painted-on in its falseness.

"No prior experience in customer service, then?"

"No sir..." he bit his lip, waiting for the inevitable then-we-can't-use-you to follow. Instead, the interviewer leaned back in his chair which gave a tired creak, his eyes still on Talon's application.

"Are you married?" he inquired.

"I--" the question seemed to have come out of nowhere and threw him momentarily off the precarious track he'd been on. "No sir...not yet, at least." he felt his frustration beginning to mount and kept it tempered only by the fact that he needed this. If he, Yeande, and their baby were going to have a future OUT of Karma and Youko's houses, they needed an income and if he chased off all his prospective jobs, it wasn't going to happen.

"Talon, if I were to tell you that I couldn't access my Email, what tips would you give me?" he asked.

"Sir?"

"Nono, let's just pretend for a minute that you're the tech guru and I'm the guy who just bought an overpriced Aptiva from his local Comp USA and I barely know how to turn the thing on. Now..." he set the application aside and folded his hands on his chest, looking like a very strange otter. "I've just called you all distraught because I booted up my Windows and now i can't get to my Email. Talk me through it."

The clock on the wall seemed to be ticking abnormally loudly as Talon's mind raced. "I...would first ask if you can see your mouse cursor and if it moves at all..." Seemed like a good start. Karma's computer froze all the damn time in the hotter months.

"Good..." he said, the word lilting upward in pitch in an invitation to go on.

"Then--then I would ask what program you use for your Email and what happens when you double-click on the icon..."

"And now I'm telling you that I don't know."

Talon blinked "....wha?"

"I'm telling you I've never gotten my Email before in my life and I have no idea how to get to it or what it is. But I want it, and you're going to get it for me." the interviewer said, an impish gleam in his eye as he regarded Talon's look of flabbergast. "I'm not giving you a hard time, by the way, you WILL get calls like this."

The gears of his mind got rolling again after the momentary stop. All right, he could do this, he promised himself...deep breath. "I'd ask what version of Windows you were running and then I would ask you to click on My Computer, go to Control Panel, and--"

"Too fast! You're going too fast!" The man said in a purposely-whiny voice, mocking whoever Talon was supposed to be dealing with to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, it only annoyed the Ijiuo. He hated being interrupted. "Okay, now what?"

"Control Panel..." he repeated. "And then look for a Mail icon and--"

"Nothing happened when I clicked it! Just a second...."

I'm not going to scream... he promised himself, falling silent again and shifting his position on the chair in a squirm. "Okay go ahead." the interviewer invited after what he deemed enough time for a computer-illiterate caller to get his business in order.

"What program opened when you clicked on the mail icon, sir...?"

"You didn't SAY to click on it!" the interviewer was obviously having a good time of this as his smile attested to.

"Then I'm saying NOW....click on it." Talon said, his words grating.

"Okay."

"What do you see?"

"A little window appeared that said Windows has performed an illegal operation. Are the police going to come now??"

There was a sharp sound as Talon's hand met his forehead, followed shortly by the sound of the interviewer's laughter.

"Isn't easy, is it?" he chuckled as Talon fought not to glare at him. "You meet all kinds of interesting people in this business...some of them you'll help, some of them you won't...sometimes it just seems to depend on what alignment the planets are in."

"I didn't mean to snap..." he began, testing the waters to see if he'd blown the interview entirely. The interviewer nodded and picked up his application again.

"Well, you lasted longer than the last two applicants, I'll give you that. I'll also give you a little leeway on the fact you're nervous...its all right, we all are at interviews." He seemed to be studying the blank work history on the back of the application, looking it over thoughtfully. "Though I think I should warn you...if you really can't handle difficult people in abundance, this isn't the job for you."

"I can handle it." Talon assured him, really not sure if he could or not, but like hell he was going to back down when it sounded like he was at least being considered for the job.

"Well, tell you what, Talon...we're going to give these references you've listed a call and then we'll let you know. I'd give you an answer today, but you don't have any previous work experience listed and that's kind of a red flag to the hiring manager." Talon tensed at this. "Not a BIG deal, but not something we can ignore either." he added, as though sensing the ijiuo's discomfort as he offered him a handshake and a smile. Talon only returned the first. "It was nice meeting you and you'll hear from us."

"Thank you, sir." Talon replied, making an effort not to sound unpleasant as he did so. Meka had warned him about this...the "don't call us, we'll call you" tactic. As he left the office, his tail wasn't QUITE ducked between his legs, but getting there. Was it him, or was interviewing for a job a lot like getting shot down by a prospective date...?

Karma's Honda pulled into the parking garage and somewhat lopsidedly into a space....but at least it was in the lines. Sick of getting up to taxi him to work every morning, Karma had taken a week out of her schedule to teach Talon to drive. The ijiuo, thankfully, had been a fast learner and had had no trouble getting his license, but nonetheless, this was his first time behind the wheel without Karma there to coach.

In his defense, he'd only gotten them lost twice...

Putting the car in park, he looked apologetically at his fiance in the passenger's seat. "I'll get better at it..." he muttered, embarrassed. He hoped, anyway...tomorrow Karma said he was driving his own a** to work.