justprompts Relax
A/N: This ended up somewhat longer than I expected, about 3K words. And possibly a mild R, turned out somewhat less explicit than I thought it would be, but just in case. Consider this a warning. ;)
The first time ever he saw Claudia's face, she didn't even notice him.
He'd driven up to Stephen's house to talk with the personnel about the next routine change of the wards. More or less give the replacement talismans that'd just been made ready. He didn't know when exactly the switch should be, nobody but Stephen and Solace did, and he preferred it that way.
Hadn't planned on disturbing them on a Sunday morning complete with an infant, after all - he'd see Stephen, probably both, maybe all three tomorrow. And it seemed like they had a guest. Possibly magical, judging by the parked car's sturdiness and lack of newer electrical additions.
And then they all came out, the two hosts walking her out to her car, and his lips curled from where he was talking with somebody (asking if something odd had happened - not being able to rely on cameras, they all had to get information from other people working with them), by the corner of the house. There was nothing at all in Stephen or Solace's body language, nor their body language together, that led him to the thought that the guest had been one invited to their bed - but there never was. The girl-- the young woman? Was a different thing.
Well, she had enjoyed it, he could tell that. Of course, from personal experience and long observation, everybody did. The clouds shifted, and a bit of sunlight fell over her, bringing out her face in better sight, and the highlights in her hair.
Stephen had a fine taste... well, that was also something he knew from personal experience. Starting from the two of them going after the same women, and going into the part where he was himself invited to their bed. Occasionally.
So, this young woman was possibly a wizard, very beautiful, had the body that could turn just about any man on, and was open-minded enough to share bed with a couple - and to clearly enjoy it.
No, Max didn't exactly had to lift his chin from around his chest and roll back his tongue. But his attention was definitely engaged.
Stephen and Solace and her talked some, then she climbed into her car and drove off, just as noise from within the house indicated that Aidan was up and requiring attention. His mother leaned in to kiss her husband and slipped into the house - Max could swear that she actually glided rather than walked sometimes, not quite akin to how her favorite pets did but definitely putting one in mind of that - while the master of the house noticed his Head of Security and smiled, arching a brow in question. Max shrugged, and lifted hand showing the remaining two amulets dangling from between his fingers. Stephen nodded in return, then approached, getting one of his employees to scurry inside the house to do her work, and the other to grin.
Since they'd covered the initial part of the conversation, Max started out with a quiet, amused question, "good one?"
Stephen hummed agreement, then grinned in return. "Care to come in?"
"Maybe, when I finish. Have to see how my youngest security charge is coming along, hmm?"
"Just him?"
"You're insatiable, aren't you?"
"You can say that, yes."
"I know."
---
The first time he ever talked with Claudia...
It was a New Year's party. One of many, noisy public affairs in New York with a colorful front and various quiet backs. Including the poker game room that Max had taken residence in for an hour or two. He was, for a moment, concentrating on the hand's playing out when somebody introduced 'Dr. Claudia Gates-Jones' as somebody who'd replace another face for the next hand, and he looked up and there she was, somehow looking both classically classy and still sweet - knowing her footing around the sharks here, and yet... no, there was no sunlight in her hair this time, but the glow still seemed to be present around her, a little. He couldn't help his come-hither lopsided grin; her answering smile was 'not-impossible' and then there was playing.
And when the table broke up, he leaned closer and murmured, "might I interest you in another game later, to celebrate the new year? A game like... oh. Strip poker, for example?"
Her eyes flew up to his, then briefly looked away (good reflexes... ) but he could see the amusement as she nodded. "Meet me outside in... an hour, Mr. Parker?"
"Sure thing. Call me Max."
Her smile flickered now openly. "Most people call me Dia." Not exactly a permission for him to. Yet.
And he did meet her outside, punctual, careful. She stepped out barely moments after him, finishing putting on her coat, her motions a mix of sophisticated and nice, just hanging on the balance, enchantingly. Yes, Stephen's taste was impeccable, even if it was rare that he took to wizards. Well... not unknown-of. He offered his hand and she took it (hah, he did have his boss to thank for some of the manners instilled...) and he led the way to his car.
Her eyes flickered between it and his outfit. "Not exactly a shiny new ride."
He shrugged in return. "It's a convenient trade-off I've reached." Eyes flickering to her face, he stood by the door, but didn't press her by opening it for her. One of the things about him... he didn't go out of his way to deceive. And this should be cleared out before they got further. "It's lacking in newer aspects for a reason similar to probably why yours is."
Ah good, there was a flicker of wariness, and she stood up straighter, possibly gathering her will. "How do you know anything about my car? Have you been following me or something?"
His chuckle was easy. "No, as a matter of fact. But you were guesting with my employer one day, and I was there for business and noticed you driving off. You're not a sight that one easily forgets, after all."
She mulled over that for a moment, then relaxed slightly, nodding. "At least you'd not need an explanation why eye contact in certain moments is not recommendable."
"Of course not. So..." he gestured towards the car. "Strip poker? Or nicely seeing you off to your car?"
Her eyes flashed in the night lights. "Strip poker. I hope you make this good."
Max opened the door and held it for her. "You can bet, darlin'. You're in for a good ride. I promise." He did like her return smile.
---
Max was sitting in the De la Marcks' library and leafing through Stephen's latest acquisitions, noting a spell here or a potion there to look up later when he had more time at leisure than the bit while waiting for the dinner to be served. His boss had insisted, and since the last few days had been tense, Max agreed. He wasn't always comfortable with family meals, not at Stephen and Solace's level in particular, but... he found himself even less looking forward to spending the evening alone, even with his usual activities... or even picking somebody up.
And while right now he was more in want of the company of his friend, the prospective possible three-way mutual enjoyment of the bedroom was an additional lure. As always.
And there was Aidan. Whose company and toddling and enthusiasm was engaging his father's attention at the moment, somewhere upstairs.
Max looked up at Solace's voice in the hallway. Was it time for moving to the dining roo-- his motion and thought glitched (he was way too settled into the habits of his work to actually freeze at a surprise. After all, that could cause somebody's death, including his) as Claudia - was he supposed to call her Dia now, after...? - stepped into the room, their hostess in her wake. And the room seemed suddenly a bit lighter, which was definitely not Solace's doing. She was finishing with, "you can sit here for a bit while we're ready, if you wish." As per usual, even the politest requests had a ring of command to them; that woman was too many parts steel... but with time, he'd grown to see how well she fitted Stephen. The blades-master.
Unflappable, she went on without batting an eyelash. "Good evening, Max. I wasn't aware you were in."
"Last minute decision of Stephen's. He's upstairs with Aidan." Easy smile. Easy words. Easily rising to his feet, as was appropriate at the entrance of ladies, and not making a show out of it either.
"I see." Solace's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly in amusement - and, tiny as it was at that, it was a gesture of being relaxed around the people present, for her - and flickered between him and her other guest. "Claudia, may I present to you Maximilian Parker, Stephen's Head of Security."
"Well, not his head, he does well enough with the head he has on his shoulders. His company's." That got him a flash of the dark eyes, very quick and almost playful - for her. "Good evening." It would be up to Dia to choose to let their hosts know about their prior knowing each other. Appropriate, he though. Let the lady take the lead, put nobody in an awkward situation.
"Hello there, handsome-face. So this is where you were spying on my modest vehicle?"
"You two know each other?"
"We've met." He was, despite what some people could have thought, above saying something along the lines of, 'we do, intimately'.
Dia's face turned back to Solace and she grinned charmingly with a look that he was growing to recognize already as 'trouble's coming'. "Can you believe he actually insisted on condoms? Is he always like that... so careful?"
A slow smile, not cold or mocking for a difference, slid along the older woman's features. "I can, as a matter of fact. Max is a very safe person to have around." Well, maybe a little mocking. And a little praising. That was his job, after all.
And then Stephen's form, carrying their son on his shoulders, showed in the hallway behind them, and then it was time for dinner, and then the possible threesome melted effortlessly into a foursome, and the next day at work, while still tense and demanding, was way less difficult to get through, somehow.
For both him and his boss. He thought. Occasional stress-relief moments were quite the thing to do, weren't they?
---
He'd given her a ride home the morning after that night at Stephen's. Nobody had paid too much attention to that then, not in the, ah, afterglow of what had been a truly amazing night. There'd been easy teases, of course, along the lines of Stephen murmuring to him, "be careful, she bites," only to get in return a quick glance at Solace and back, and a murmured return of, "all the best ones do." Yeah, yeah, very original, but honestly, as long as it was amusing, with his boss he didn't have to be fully 100% original all the time (only when work was concerned - staying one step ahead there was vital). He was appreciated for who and what he was, and that felt surprisingly... right. So he could use jokes from old science-fiction books. Good. He still got a smile, plus a bonus appreciative glint in the eyes for the implied compliments.
That had been then. As usual, then they were back to work, back to the easily definable interactions, each of them doing his job. Ups and downs. Tension eased occasionally after work, not too often but always well appreciated on all sides. Always by Stephen's or Solace's initiation, and in now way could he figure out why it was one or the other in each case... Those two could have their occasional enjoyment in the office, or conference room, or wherever else they damn pleased, it was his company, and they were... startlingly discrete, in a very open, out-in-your-face way. He doubted almost anyone else really saw it the way he did, but then, it was also partly Max's work to secure the premises so he did keep an eye on; and also it was him who could see... what he had seen in other places.
However, he made sure he was clearly a toy to play with after work. No matter how appealing the teases sometimes. Stephen did rely on him, and it was something he was determined about - not letting him down. And that meant being attentive at work. Fully. And when the invitations came, they were always good stuff. Amazing. More than enough.
And yet...
The evening when he called on her, showing up at the door of her flat with a bottle of wine and take-away food (hah, he knew better than expecting to show up somewhere out of the blue and be fed. Besides, if she wasn't there, or was otherwise occupied, he'd still take the take-away home), it surprised him almost as much as it did her. A fair bit. He didn't... call on the occasional girls or boys again. If they did call him, they'd meet again, maybe possibly even have sex again, but that was it. He made sure none of them had illusions. About any of it. It would just be a bad idea. Yeah, he knew how to please, and be pleased. But he was too strange, too dangerous... his life was too dangerous, had too many secrets involved. He couldn't give or take more than occasional pleasure, it would not be fair, so better gone away quickly - for all parties concerned. And yes, he did have that much control. It was safer this way.
But that night... he was drawn. And she welcomed him, the surprise mixed with genuine joy. She was... there was something different with her. He couldn't put a finger on it - oh sure, there were specific things that he could formulate (less need of secrecy, her being both a wizard and in Stephen's trust to a degree, for example), but that wasn't it. Maybe something about her touch - physical, or not only - that felt purer than most who would have the kinds of knowledge as she did. Or maybe just that sight of sunlight making her glow, still present in his mind's eye. She was beautiful, and with her... for moments that did not involve the physical pleasure, he could indulge in the mutual joy of consciously putting away of the darker things happening. It was a rare pleasure indeed, that.
And then there was the sex, which was absolutely amazing. It had been that first night, and she'd held up her end with the Lamarcks, which was honestly quite something, and this night they dared more, explored more, and it was still great. Against the wall, hard and quick till the first rush was sated. Slower and gentler, later, on the sofa. Play with lips and tongues in bed, where and until it was barely short of too much, then easing back to let it build again, then finishing...
It was with that play that he realized that she managed what very few people (currently, one person; there had been a very small number, before) would achieve - have him relax, surrender control before his body ripped that control away in the last moments of passion. It was something that he really seldom allowed himself. Control... being on the alert, almost all the time, it was part of who and what he was. Stephen could occasionally let him let go of that, with his initially skittish, but fast-learning and ever more exploratory, interesting attentions.
And so could, occasionally... Dia.
In a way, that awareness left him almost as stunned as the orgasms that he gave, and received.
He didn't make any promises as he left in the morning. Neither did she, and neither asked for such.
---
But he did return. And she called too, and ended up coming to his place, only making him marginally embarrassed about the massive focus on security and weaponry - the flat was half a workshop in its own right - both magical and mundane. She did seem to approve of the books (of course. Doctor Gates-Jones would probably have a good respect for education. What he didn't have, technically. And knowledge, which he tried always to gather.)
And his jokes and quips and outrageous statements... she gave him the mixture of eyerolling, exasperation, and laughter that let him know it wasn't just empty amusement, laughing for the sake of showing - but the statements were taken in, evaluated, and then reacted to. As happened always with the people who ended up realizing just how far he could be trusted. The people he could work with effectively. (Oh, he could work for almost anyone if he decided to, if he chose to. Working effectively, efficiently? Was a different thing altogether.) And she was smart, bright, with a keen sense of fun, so full of energy as to be nearly a match for him...
And unstained by the death and danger that his life seemed to have in quantities that would have weighed down on him if he didn't keep his focus on the fact that it was what he'd chosen, and that those happened when he failed only, and he didn't fail all that much (truth). But her touch, her presence - were... almost purifying. It seemed startlingly easy for her to get him to just plain enjoy things that he hadn't truly had for himself, ever before. To get him calm, almost open. Relaxed
... which was the last thing he was when he finally actually learned her real father's name.
The first time ever he saw Claudia's face, she didn't even notice him.
He'd driven up to Stephen's house to talk with the personnel about the next routine change of the wards. More or less give the replacement talismans that'd just been made ready. He didn't know when exactly the switch should be, nobody but Stephen and Solace did, and he preferred it that way.
Hadn't planned on disturbing them on a Sunday morning complete with an infant, after all - he'd see Stephen, probably both, maybe all three tomorrow. And it seemed like they had a guest. Possibly magical, judging by the parked car's sturdiness and lack of newer electrical additions.
And then they all came out, the two hosts walking her out to her car, and his lips curled from where he was talking with somebody (asking if something odd had happened - not being able to rely on cameras, they all had to get information from other people working with them), by the corner of the house. There was nothing at all in Stephen or Solace's body language, nor their body language together, that led him to the thought that the guest had been one invited to their bed - but there never was. The girl-- the young woman? Was a different thing.
Well, she had enjoyed it, he could tell that. Of course, from personal experience and long observation, everybody did. The clouds shifted, and a bit of sunlight fell over her, bringing out her face in better sight, and the highlights in her hair.
Stephen had a fine taste... well, that was also something he knew from personal experience. Starting from the two of them going after the same women, and going into the part where he was himself invited to their bed. Occasionally.
So, this young woman was possibly a wizard, very beautiful, had the body that could turn just about any man on, and was open-minded enough to share bed with a couple - and to clearly enjoy it.
No, Max didn't exactly had to lift his chin from around his chest and roll back his tongue. But his attention was definitely engaged.
Stephen and Solace and her talked some, then she climbed into her car and drove off, just as noise from within the house indicated that Aidan was up and requiring attention. His mother leaned in to kiss her husband and slipped into the house - Max could swear that she actually glided rather than walked sometimes, not quite akin to how her favorite pets did but definitely putting one in mind of that - while the master of the house noticed his Head of Security and smiled, arching a brow in question. Max shrugged, and lifted hand showing the remaining two amulets dangling from between his fingers. Stephen nodded in return, then approached, getting one of his employees to scurry inside the house to do her work, and the other to grin.
Since they'd covered the initial part of the conversation, Max started out with a quiet, amused question, "good one?"
Stephen hummed agreement, then grinned in return. "Care to come in?"
"Maybe, when I finish. Have to see how my youngest security charge is coming along, hmm?"
"Just him?"
"You're insatiable, aren't you?"
"You can say that, yes."
"I know."
---
The first time he ever talked with Claudia...
It was a New Year's party. One of many, noisy public affairs in New York with a colorful front and various quiet backs. Including the poker game room that Max had taken residence in for an hour or two. He was, for a moment, concentrating on the hand's playing out when somebody introduced 'Dr. Claudia Gates-Jones' as somebody who'd replace another face for the next hand, and he looked up and there she was, somehow looking both classically classy and still sweet - knowing her footing around the sharks here, and yet... no, there was no sunlight in her hair this time, but the glow still seemed to be present around her, a little. He couldn't help his come-hither lopsided grin; her answering smile was 'not-impossible' and then there was playing.
And when the table broke up, he leaned closer and murmured, "might I interest you in another game later, to celebrate the new year? A game like... oh. Strip poker, for example?"
Her eyes flew up to his, then briefly looked away (good reflexes... ) but he could see the amusement as she nodded. "Meet me outside in... an hour, Mr. Parker?"
"Sure thing. Call me Max."
Her smile flickered now openly. "Most people call me Dia." Not exactly a permission for him to. Yet.
And he did meet her outside, punctual, careful. She stepped out barely moments after him, finishing putting on her coat, her motions a mix of sophisticated and nice, just hanging on the balance, enchantingly. Yes, Stephen's taste was impeccable, even if it was rare that he took to wizards. Well... not unknown-of. He offered his hand and she took it (hah, he did have his boss to thank for some of the manners instilled...) and he led the way to his car.
Her eyes flickered between it and his outfit. "Not exactly a shiny new ride."
He shrugged in return. "It's a convenient trade-off I've reached." Eyes flickering to her face, he stood by the door, but didn't press her by opening it for her. One of the things about him... he didn't go out of his way to deceive. And this should be cleared out before they got further. "It's lacking in newer aspects for a reason similar to probably why yours is."
Ah good, there was a flicker of wariness, and she stood up straighter, possibly gathering her will. "How do you know anything about my car? Have you been following me or something?"
His chuckle was easy. "No, as a matter of fact. But you were guesting with my employer one day, and I was there for business and noticed you driving off. You're not a sight that one easily forgets, after all."
She mulled over that for a moment, then relaxed slightly, nodding. "At least you'd not need an explanation why eye contact in certain moments is not recommendable."
"Of course not. So..." he gestured towards the car. "Strip poker? Or nicely seeing you off to your car?"
Her eyes flashed in the night lights. "Strip poker. I hope you make this good."
Max opened the door and held it for her. "You can bet, darlin'. You're in for a good ride. I promise." He did like her return smile.
---
Max was sitting in the De la Marcks' library and leafing through Stephen's latest acquisitions, noting a spell here or a potion there to look up later when he had more time at leisure than the bit while waiting for the dinner to be served. His boss had insisted, and since the last few days had been tense, Max agreed. He wasn't always comfortable with family meals, not at Stephen and Solace's level in particular, but... he found himself even less looking forward to spending the evening alone, even with his usual activities... or even picking somebody up.
And while right now he was more in want of the company of his friend, the prospective possible three-way mutual enjoyment of the bedroom was an additional lure. As always.
And there was Aidan. Whose company and toddling and enthusiasm was engaging his father's attention at the moment, somewhere upstairs.
Max looked up at Solace's voice in the hallway. Was it time for moving to the dining roo-- his motion and thought glitched (he was way too settled into the habits of his work to actually freeze at a surprise. After all, that could cause somebody's death, including his) as Claudia - was he supposed to call her Dia now, after...? - stepped into the room, their hostess in her wake. And the room seemed suddenly a bit lighter, which was definitely not Solace's doing. She was finishing with, "you can sit here for a bit while we're ready, if you wish." As per usual, even the politest requests had a ring of command to them; that woman was too many parts steel... but with time, he'd grown to see how well she fitted Stephen. The blades-master.
Unflappable, she went on without batting an eyelash. "Good evening, Max. I wasn't aware you were in."
"Last minute decision of Stephen's. He's upstairs with Aidan." Easy smile. Easy words. Easily rising to his feet, as was appropriate at the entrance of ladies, and not making a show out of it either.
"I see." Solace's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly in amusement - and, tiny as it was at that, it was a gesture of being relaxed around the people present, for her - and flickered between him and her other guest. "Claudia, may I present to you Maximilian Parker, Stephen's Head of Security."
"Well, not his head, he does well enough with the head he has on his shoulders. His company's." That got him a flash of the dark eyes, very quick and almost playful - for her. "Good evening." It would be up to Dia to choose to let their hosts know about their prior knowing each other. Appropriate, he though. Let the lady take the lead, put nobody in an awkward situation.
"Hello there, handsome-face. So this is where you were spying on my modest vehicle?"
"You two know each other?"
"We've met." He was, despite what some people could have thought, above saying something along the lines of, 'we do, intimately'.
Dia's face turned back to Solace and she grinned charmingly with a look that he was growing to recognize already as 'trouble's coming'. "Can you believe he actually insisted on condoms? Is he always like that... so careful?"
A slow smile, not cold or mocking for a difference, slid along the older woman's features. "I can, as a matter of fact. Max is a very safe person to have around." Well, maybe a little mocking. And a little praising. That was his job, after all.
And then Stephen's form, carrying their son on his shoulders, showed in the hallway behind them, and then it was time for dinner, and then the possible threesome melted effortlessly into a foursome, and the next day at work, while still tense and demanding, was way less difficult to get through, somehow.
For both him and his boss. He thought. Occasional stress-relief moments were quite the thing to do, weren't they?
---
He'd given her a ride home the morning after that night at Stephen's. Nobody had paid too much attention to that then, not in the, ah, afterglow of what had been a truly amazing night. There'd been easy teases, of course, along the lines of Stephen murmuring to him, "be careful, she bites," only to get in return a quick glance at Solace and back, and a murmured return of, "all the best ones do." Yeah, yeah, very original, but honestly, as long as it was amusing, with his boss he didn't have to be fully 100% original all the time (only when work was concerned - staying one step ahead there was vital). He was appreciated for who and what he was, and that felt surprisingly... right. So he could use jokes from old science-fiction books. Good. He still got a smile, plus a bonus appreciative glint in the eyes for the implied compliments.
That had been then. As usual, then they were back to work, back to the easily definable interactions, each of them doing his job. Ups and downs. Tension eased occasionally after work, not too often but always well appreciated on all sides. Always by Stephen's or Solace's initiation, and in now way could he figure out why it was one or the other in each case... Those two could have their occasional enjoyment in the office, or conference room, or wherever else they damn pleased, it was his company, and they were... startlingly discrete, in a very open, out-in-your-face way. He doubted almost anyone else really saw it the way he did, but then, it was also partly Max's work to secure the premises so he did keep an eye on; and also it was him who could see... what he had seen in other places.
However, he made sure he was clearly a toy to play with after work. No matter how appealing the teases sometimes. Stephen did rely on him, and it was something he was determined about - not letting him down. And that meant being attentive at work. Fully. And when the invitations came, they were always good stuff. Amazing. More than enough.
And yet...
The evening when he called on her, showing up at the door of her flat with a bottle of wine and take-away food (hah, he knew better than expecting to show up somewhere out of the blue and be fed. Besides, if she wasn't there, or was otherwise occupied, he'd still take the take-away home), it surprised him almost as much as it did her. A fair bit. He didn't... call on the occasional girls or boys again. If they did call him, they'd meet again, maybe possibly even have sex again, but that was it. He made sure none of them had illusions. About any of it. It would just be a bad idea. Yeah, he knew how to please, and be pleased. But he was too strange, too dangerous... his life was too dangerous, had too many secrets involved. He couldn't give or take more than occasional pleasure, it would not be fair, so better gone away quickly - for all parties concerned. And yes, he did have that much control. It was safer this way.
But that night... he was drawn. And she welcomed him, the surprise mixed with genuine joy. She was... there was something different with her. He couldn't put a finger on it - oh sure, there were specific things that he could formulate (less need of secrecy, her being both a wizard and in Stephen's trust to a degree, for example), but that wasn't it. Maybe something about her touch - physical, or not only - that felt purer than most who would have the kinds of knowledge as she did. Or maybe just that sight of sunlight making her glow, still present in his mind's eye. She was beautiful, and with her... for moments that did not involve the physical pleasure, he could indulge in the mutual joy of consciously putting away of the darker things happening. It was a rare pleasure indeed, that.
And then there was the sex, which was absolutely amazing. It had been that first night, and she'd held up her end with the Lamarcks, which was honestly quite something, and this night they dared more, explored more, and it was still great. Against the wall, hard and quick till the first rush was sated. Slower and gentler, later, on the sofa. Play with lips and tongues in bed, where and until it was barely short of too much, then easing back to let it build again, then finishing...
It was with that play that he realized that she managed what very few people (currently, one person; there had been a very small number, before) would achieve - have him relax, surrender control before his body ripped that control away in the last moments of passion. It was something that he really seldom allowed himself. Control... being on the alert, almost all the time, it was part of who and what he was. Stephen could occasionally let him let go of that, with his initially skittish, but fast-learning and ever more exploratory, interesting attentions.
And so could, occasionally... Dia.
In a way, that awareness left him almost as stunned as the orgasms that he gave, and received.
He didn't make any promises as he left in the morning. Neither did she, and neither asked for such.
---
But he did return. And she called too, and ended up coming to his place, only making him marginally embarrassed about the massive focus on security and weaponry - the flat was half a workshop in its own right - both magical and mundane. She did seem to approve of the books (of course. Doctor Gates-Jones would probably have a good respect for education. What he didn't have, technically. And knowledge, which he tried always to gather.)
And his jokes and quips and outrageous statements... she gave him the mixture of eyerolling, exasperation, and laughter that let him know it wasn't just empty amusement, laughing for the sake of showing - but the statements were taken in, evaluated, and then reacted to. As happened always with the people who ended up realizing just how far he could be trusted. The people he could work with effectively. (Oh, he could work for almost anyone if he decided to, if he chose to. Working effectively, efficiently? Was a different thing altogether.) And she was smart, bright, with a keen sense of fun, so full of energy as to be nearly a match for him...
And unstained by the death and danger that his life seemed to have in quantities that would have weighed down on him if he didn't keep his focus on the fact that it was what he'd chosen, and that those happened when he failed only, and he didn't fail all that much (truth). But her touch, her presence - were... almost purifying. It seemed startlingly easy for her to get him to just plain enjoy things that he hadn't truly had for himself, ever before. To get him calm, almost open. Relaxed
... which was the last thing he was when he finally actually learned her real father's name.