Commonalities

Aishe shook her head at Fallon in mock reprimand. "I did tell you the truth," she said. "I would be happy in a barrel if you decided that was the look you were going for." Giving her sister a cheeky grin, though, she added, "Though it would be decent of you to sand down the insides first."

While she spoke, Kem slipped off into the kitchen to play host, which suited her fine. She had to give him credit for being more than tolerant as the women invaded the largest room in the house and filled it up with wedding-chat. Not that she'd expected any less of him but she knew it made him the slightest bit squirmy, as inevitably their friends seemed to be looking at him with questions in their eyes as to if and when he would take the same step as Cyrus.

Turning her attention from Kem to Ana, Aishe tilted her head slightly, her lips turning up into a little smile as Ana made gentle fun of Fallon's question. She wasn't entirely sure where Fallon was heading with her questioning, but she was interested in Joey, too, so she joined in.

Flopping onto her stomach on the floor, leaning on her elbows and kicking her feet up, Aishe rested her chin in her hands and added onto Fallon's question. "Oh you know... give us the details! How did you meet? Was it romantic? Have you done anything really fun?"

Yes...she supposed she wanted to hear all those details of how they met, and why Ana had fallen for him. But Fallon now understood she wanted more to hear all that Ana knew of Joey.

The relationship Fallon had with Ana was one she didn't think she shared with anyone else, including Aishe. It could have been that way, simply because Ana had shared more of herself with Fallon than anyone else besides Cyrus ever had. Feeding from someone you loved was entirely different than feeding from someone you didn't know, and while those feedings gave Fallon the same type of nourishment as the others, they also filled her with emotions the others never could.

Deciding why she felt the way she felt was let go of for now. Fallon could dissect all that in the privacy of her own company. But in order to be fair, and impartial...as impartial as she could be, in what she decided to feel for Joey, Fallon would need a lot more details. So when Aishe joined in, and gave more reasons for wanting to know about Joey, Fallon just smiled and nodded, and kept her eyes on Ana.

Encouraged by the honest curiousity in Aishe's tone, and the patient gaze and smile on Fallon's face, Ana complied.

"Details, details. Aishe and Fallon want details. Do you mind if I take off my shoes and get comfortable? Thanks." Ana popped her shoes off and set them at the end of the sofa where she wouldn't trip over them.

"I'll start with meeting someone entirely other than Joey, so you can get a feel for the flow, okay? I was going for a walk to explore my new neighborhood. Went to the convenience store down the road, ended up meeting two lovely women, one with a dog, one with a new dance studio under construction. We went to The Studio - and I'm verbally capitalizing The and Studio, because that's its name, see? I have cards in my purse if you guys want one - and that's where I met Joey. He is the maintenance man there, and also painted a lot of the murals there, too. Anyway, when we went inside, Joey came out, talking about painting or carpet or something, and the dog ran over and peed on his foot. We were all introduced after the giggles stopped, and I said to him that I wouldn't have to pee on his foot to tell him I liked him. Which of course made me blush like a tomato, right?" Ana shook her head, looking mildly embarassed. Even to this day, four or five months later, she couldn't believe how stupid she'd sounded when she said that.

"It wasn't until The Studio formally opened, and I attended the opening, that I gave Joey my phone number. We played phone tag and kept each other awake for hours on the phone for a couple weeks, then finally got to go out for coffee" spoken with her true 'cawfey' accent "but it was another couple weeks that I didn't see him in a dately capacity until the Winter Festival."

Aishe listened eagerly to Ana's story, chuckling and nodding over the visual of her friend blushing as she did her best not to pee on Joey's foot... it was so silly, and so very Ana, there was nothing to do but laugh at the oddity of it all. Only Ana could stumble across the right man for her.

When Ana paused in her tale, Aishe burst in with a smile. "Oh. I saw you there!" She glanced over at Fallon, unable to remember if she'd mentioned it to her Anantya sister. "I was skating with Kem. I made him drag me the other way before Ana could see us. I didn't want to break in on them... they did look rather cozy togther."

If she recalled properly, she'd been enjoying the snuggling she'd been getting as well, mild as it had been. Her smile turned warmer just remembering the fact that Kem had been watching her and Pak the entire time, and aside from a couple spills on her butt, he wasn't about to let anything bad happen to either of them.

Forgetting all about the magazine, Fallon crossed her legs, leaned forward, and wove her fingers together around her knee.

The whole meeting with Joey seemed casual, and innocuous enough, which should have made Fallon quite at ease. Ana deserved to find happiness, and Fallon wanted that for her sweet friend, more than anything else. She just wished she could get past the feeling that Joey wasn’t the one to give it to her.

Fallon did give into the grin that fought its way out, when she heard about the dog peeing on Joey’s foot. For some perverse reason she found it rather funny, but didn’t laugh outright.

Her grin turned into a small, slight frown, as she realized just how long Ana had known Joey. All that time and Fallon hadn’t a clue that a romance was blossoming. What a horrid, self-absorbed friend she was becoming.

It was nice that Aishe had been able to share in the good news, at least, and Fallon forced a small smile back on her face. She refused to let herself bring either Ana or Aishe down tonight…not when everyone was feeling so festive and happy.

Instead she remained silent…afraid to say anything for fear it would be wrong.

Grinning at Aishe, with a 'well why didn't you poke your head in?' sort of feeling flitting across her mind, she continued her story. "So we went to the Festival, ice skated, created decorations, and went on a sleigh ride. He didn't laugh at me too badly when he discovered I can't carry a tune in an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and he opened the car - er, Jeep - door for me and helped me in and out."

Ana shifted in her seat and crossed her legs, Indian-style, while trying to keep her gaze and give her expressions and attention to both of her girlfriends. "At some point, the decision was quietly, mutually made that we'd go home together. And I realize now that, at the time, I was thinking of it more like a sleep over. You know me. Last to pick up on innuendo and such? Well it wasn't until we went to Target that suddenly all the puzzle pieces clicked together and said 'He wants to get lucky.'" Ana knew her friends would comment, so she plowed ahead: "No no, let me go on. We got pizza for dinner, then went to my place. I told him up front, out front, that if he couldn't take 'no' for an answer, then he shouldn't come in... But he acknowledged my wish and we had a fun night. He read to me, and took care of the puppy, and we went to bed shortly after midnight."

Ana took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, before returning her vision-enablers to her face. "It was an interesting morning. He made breakfast after we showered, then shared gifts and hung out for the most part."

Ticking off on her fingers, Ana went on, "We didn't do anything for New Year's, though. He gave me some horribly lame excuse that I can't even remember. Three days I didn't get to talk to him. It was rather frustrating. Aren't relationships supposed to get a kickstart at New Year's? The midnight kiss, beginning the New Year with a proverbial or literal bang? Anyway. We've gone out a few times since then, he's stayed over a few times too, maybe once a week or less. I see him three times a week at the Studio when I go for my dance and exercise classes. Though there's a few points where he always has something else to do, for two or three days at a time."

She continued, "I'm pretty sure he's not married. I did an Internet search. Well, more than one." She smirked evilly. "So I don't know what it could be. That's not what bothers me so much, though. I really do think I want to sleep with him, but being a virgin, and book smart, I just have no idea where to start, especially for not wanting to deal with or ponder the possible consequences. Or worry overmuch about them. My friend Shay - who disappeared late November and from whom I inherited the puppy - had once told me, just after meeting Joey, that sex is just sex, but sex when in love can be amazing. Of course this was before there was a Joey in the picture at all."

Ana raised her hands, palm up, to both of her friends as if she was offloading her troubles to Aishe and Fallon. "So... I dunno."

Aishe listened raptly to Ana, glancing now and then at Fallon and wondering what had her looking so concerned, or her smile so forced.

Ana's floodgates seemed to have opened wide, and the conversation was taking a distinct turn toward "very girly" that she knew Kem would want to avoid like the plague. She informed him of the direction of the conversation with little guilt; he'd made repeated offers to head out for the night so the women could have the house to themselves but Aishe had wanted him around, to meet her friends as much as for herself.

As if on cue, Kem buzzed the living room, dropping off the tray he'd been sweet enough to assemble. He smiled at Fallon and Ana, gave them a little bow and an "excuse me," and bent to kiss Aishe gently on the lips.

She looked on with amusement, then turned to her friends as the door closed. Then she laughed out loud as his sending reached her.

"I think he's gone to get a coffee table," she said between giggles. "I hinted that there might be girltalk. I'm surprised there wasn't a trail of flames."

Drawing her knees up to her and plucking a sliced strawberry from the tray, Aishe tilted her head at Ana. "You need to keep talking!"

((ooc: Kem out before he gets all girlified!!))

The longer Ana talked about Joey, how they met, what they had done since, and how he treated her, the angrier Fallon got with herself for doubting the man.

Ana was a smart woman, and so far had shown Fallon she had a good sense of a person’s character. She had never judged Fallon, and had accepted Cyrus as Fallon presented him. Why in the world couldn’t Fallon be the same way?

“Puppy?”

Fallon said the word almost silently, under her breath, surprised yet again. There was something else new that she was just now hearing about, but she let her friend continue. She tried not to tense up as she waited for the rest of the news, but remained a little detached. She was almost afraid that pretty soon Ana would be announcing she and Joey had gotten married, and Fallon would have missed that too. Not seriously, but anything close wouldn’t have shocked her at this point.

The gaps in contact…three days here and there…with no logical explanation? It seemed fishy to Fallon, yet she still remained quiet on the subject. It wasn’t until Ana herself mentioned the possibility that he might be married, that Fallon finally had a real reason to ponder. Unfortunately given the short time she had to analyze all the news, she couldn’t make it fit her suspicions. Unless…

“You checked on the internet to see if he was married? How did you do that? Do you know if he goes out of town on those three days? What lame excuse did he have?” So…he wasn’t pressing Ana for sex, and there were gaps in between days when he was around to see her…Oooooo…if she found out this Joey really WAS married… Suddenly it seemed very logical to Fallon, and her anger shifted to the maintenance man.

She then wondered what Cyrus might be able to do about it, if this was the explanation?

“Shay? I met Shay…she disappeared?”

Shaking her head, Fallon didn’t want to hear more about her. She had only casually met the woman twice, and whether she left town or not, Fallon was too fraught with concern about Ana to add a virtual stranger to the conversational mix.

When Aishe explained Kem’s sudden departure, Fallon laughed. The action was as much a reaction, as it was a method of release. Reaching to the tray, she absently picked up a few grapes, and popped one into her mouth. Aishe had urged Ana to continue talking, and Fallon’s worries required more details, if she was going to be able to allay them.

“So now…you want to have sex with him…you’re sure about that…but not how to proceed?”

She hoped her question sounded blasé, and objective, as she tried to keep any hint of emotion from it. A good friend would do that, wouldn’t they? Wouldn’t they be there as a sounding board, and then offer up objectivity in any comments they had to make? Telling Ana that Fallon thought the man she might be falling, or in love with, could be a total creep, just didn’t seem something a friend should do…no matter how strongly she felt otherwise.

Ana shrugged at Fallon's question about her searching. "Name, birthplace, local papers... It's pretty easy to find a lot on the Internet about people. Kind of scary, sometimes too, but a girl has to do her due diligence, right? I just don't remember the excuses. I mean, it's not like he's a werewolf or something... He could be donating bone marrow for all I know and just be too embarassed to say that he's being selfless."

Sadness replaced Ana's matter-of-fact expression as she pondered her loss of Shay. She nodded sadly as she replied, "Yeah. No warning, obviously, and I haven't found out anything else since then."

A flush crested her cheeks when she pondered the weight of Fallon's last question. "I understand the physics of it, of course. Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina. S'not rocket science, though I'm still more likely to understand the rockets than what the guy's got in his pockets. I know how I feel around him... Listening to him read makes me all twitterpated... Hearing his voice in my voicemail or calling for seven point eight seconds at the library to say hi and that he's thinking of me makes me flush and warm. He's a great kisser - not that I have a whole lot of experience in that department, mind you, and he's good with his hands and ... yeah." Heat sparked in Ana's ears as she allowed her brain to briefly alight on the memory of Joey's 'ministrations' but she quickly pushed that aside to focus on her friends. "I know how my body wants to react when with him, I just can't keep off the brain or heart block that are telling me "It's only been three and a half months, stupid. If he really wants you, instead of just wants you, then waiting won't hurt." Does that... make sense?"

Aishe listened, quiet now, as the conversation turned to things she had a feeling her experiences would differ vastly from Fallon's on. Fingers steepled under her chin, she wondered if she could tiptoe around this conversation without really delving into too many details... but no. Probably not. Besides, if you couldn't talk to your best girlfriends, who could you talk to?

"There's nothing at all wrong with waiting," she said finally, softly but emphatically. "If he cares, he'll wait until you're good and ready."

There was a good deal of feeling in the words, albeit a quiet, understated sort of feeling, but Aishe had a very vested interest in that particular statement. "There's no hurry. If he's 'the one' then you'll have the rest of your lives together. If not, then you'll be happy you held back."

And yet something else had happened to Ana…she’d befriended Shay, and apparently lost that friendship, all in the space of the time Fallon had been busy doing other things. From the look on Ana’s face, Fallon guessed they must have made a pretty good bond, to have affected her friend so.

Smiling warmly, Fallon patted Ana’s thigh, and gave it a quick couple rubs.

“Don’t fret hon…I’m sure Shay is fine. It does seem odd she would leave you her dog, but believe me I understand how sometimes its necessary to just go when the time is right.”

Shrugging, Fallon let that topic alone. She supposed if Ana wanted to find out more, she might be able to contact the police…but if Shay’s leaving was anything like Fallon’s had been, she would just as soon forget about it, and leave the woman in peace.

The red tint that soon colored Ana’s cheeks, again made Fallon smile. Her ability to talk about sex so matter-of-factly seemed somewhat of a stark contrast to the young woman’s experiences.

But what really surprised Fallon was the dramatic difference between how she felt about Ana’s situation, and how Aishe did. Especially considering Fallon’s feelings toward Joey.

To Fallon, three months seemed a lifetime, on one hand. She didn’t think she would have ever been able to wait three months to be with Cyrus. Sure, her circumstances had been very different, but desire was such a heady emotion, and with everyone being consenting adults, waiting seemed unnecessary.

Of course Fallon hadn’t been a virgin in a good many years, and found it difficult now to remember if she had felt anything remotely like this before she and Ted had been together.

Still afraid anything she might offer would be tainted by her concern over Joey, Fallon remained mute, and gave Ana the opportunity to consider Aishe’s suggestion. She chewed her bottom lip as she watched to see how she would react.

Ana shrugged at Fallon's gentle comments about Shay. "It is what it is," she thought to herself; if her friend was truly gone, then she had the memories of their friendship, and her life was better for having had the journalist/novelist in her life.

Ana nodded at Aishe's suggestion. "I don't mind waiting. In my head, at least, or in my heart. But my body's the one that's screaming 'go girl go' and sometimes it's hard to come down from that high without giving into the nearly out of control desire to tear all the clothes off my body - and his - and, well, you know. Make like rabbits. Or raccoons!" She giggled and half pointed at Aishe.

"Nuff about me. What about you, woman?" she asked pointedly, suddenly reversing the interrogation onto Aishe. "Kem's a great guy. I see the passion, the love between you when you kiss. Are you going to wait for your eternity? Or has the long honeymoon started yet?" She leaned over and nudged Fallon's arm playfully with a wink at her enamored teacher friend.

"Wait a minute..." A sudden thought perked up into her brain. A certain part of her twitched in imagined pain as she asked, "Aishe, are - or were - you a virgin when you were changed? Uhm... if you were... how does that play into, you know, the full healing and regeneration thing?"

Aishe had meant to deflect attention from herself, not attract it, with her softly-voiced opinion. Now she was in a position that made her squirmy, not because she was uncomfortable with the topic, but because anything hat involved Kem's personal life she considered top secret. Once again she considered that Ana and Fallon were her very best friends and it would be all right to tell them, but that idea warred with her innate respect for Kem's privacy.

"I'll wait till we're both good and ready," she said, continuing as tactfully as she could. "And no... I don't profess to be any expert on the topic. I was far more into my studies in school than I was into guys, so the two brief relationships I did have were exactly that... brief and unfulfilling. But I'm not a virgin either."

She lifted one shoulder and smiled. "Just bear in mind my boyfriend's a little rusty," she pointed out. "Something to the tune of over a thousand years of bachelor life, and still working through vampire-issues. He comes around slow," she said with a wink, "but like I said there's no hurry. One of these days we'll get there. And even if we never do, he's all I could ever want anyway."

Not wanting to chuckle, but finding it a little difficult not to, Fallon covered her mouth with her hand, and tried to remain serious. Ana's declaration that her body was more than ready to consummate the relationship than her head allowed, was one Fallon readily identified with.

And yet though Fallon's emotions wanted to push Ana forward, knowing how lovemaking had been so astounding between her and Cyrus, there had also been her experience with Ted that now shadowed her immediate suggestion. That, and her still unresolved issues about Joey himself.

"Or cats..." She did offer, when comparisons were being made between sex and animals. A couple giggles escaped then as well.

Attentions turned back to Aishe, and Fallon's gaze paralleled. There was someone she could feel happy for, without any reservation, and her heart swelled with her own love. Again a few twitters of tiny laughter escaped Fallon, hearing of the 'rusty' Kem. How like Cyrus she imagined the man to be. Not that her Cyrus ever seemed to lack anything in the lovemaking department, but she would imagine he would be the first to admit to his own rustiness, when they had first gotten together.

To even begin to consider Aishe and Kem never consummating their relationship was pure absurdity to Fallon. Anyone who could share such a love as these two had, deserved to know that love in it's fullest form. Momentarily distracted by the thought, Fallon's gaze wavered a bit as she chewed her lip and thought about having Cyrus speak to Kem.

"Aishe? You know...if you ever want Cyrus...to talk to Kem...I know I could convince him to do so..." It was an offer she really had no right to make, and felt even stranger in the sense that she was butting into something highly personal, even if it was with her best friend. And yet it was that love for her sister that spurred her into her declaration, and wanting her to also sustain the level of pleasure Fallon had come to know.

"And even though 'YOU' say there's no hurry...you never know about these men. Sometimes they really do put us before themselves...Kem might be very ready now, but keeping careful around you. He obviously loves you enough to do so."

But that was up to Aishe to decide, of course. At least Fallon didn't have to worry about Aishe having 'virgin' issues. It was something Fallon had never thought about, yet could see why it would spark interest in Ana.

"And you, little miss...just make sure if Joey turns out to be a vampire, that you get that issue resolved beforehand."

Her caution was given with a very motherly tone, but Fallon only wanted to make sure Ana took necessary precautions. Being 'devirginized' night after night was not something Fallon could fathom going through eternity dealing with.

More giggles ensued when Fallon thought about Joey being a vampire. While Fallon knew so many people of her ilk these days, and associated with them for the most part, having Ana helped keep her grounded in the real world of humans. Nachton might have a propensity for the night dwellers, but the world was still mostly comprised of humans, and it was a good thing to keep in mind.

And was that it? Was that why Fallon felt uneasy about Joey? Was it simply that he too was a vampire, and because she wasn't sure how she felt about Ana joining the fold, that she didn't trust the man? She pondered the matter as she sat there, tapping her lip with her fingernail.

Ana snickered at the same time she heard a titter from Fallon at Aishe's comments about Kem being 'rusty.' The idea tickled her, that one would forget such wonderfulness, but she imagined it wouldn't take much work on either of her friends' parts to get their parts up and running at full capacity.

Ana nodded sheepishly at Fallon's command, to have 'the tissue issue' dealt with before any significant 'changes' took place.

She watched Aishe and Fallon, then focused on the teacher as she saw a pondering expression on her face. "I can see wheels turning in your head, Fallon. Please, share?"

Even Aishe had to giggle; not at Kem's expense, but at the absurdity of it all, and the strangeness of their relationship altogether.

With a little grin at her friends, she just said, "Oh no. I'm sure I know what it's all about. You know, I chased the man down from Egypt to the US to Nachton, and I even died for him... and yet he still finds ways to make sure he's not forcing himself on me. He's so gentlemanly it's amazing. I can be patient, though. One of these days he's going to wake up and realize I'm not going anywhere and I like being with him. He's getting it, slowly."

She gave a little shrug of her shoulders. "Some day I'll clobber him over thehead and drag him back to his - our - cave. But only if it becomes necessary. I think he'll get it in time."

As Ana drew the attention back to Fallon, Aishe watched their thoughtful friend go through a variety of expressions. She knew Fallon had reservations about Joey, but Aishe's practice was, as always, to be patient and see what happened in time. She wondered though if that was exactly what was on Fallon's mind at the moment.

Nodding along with Ana she added her own opinion to the mix. "Oh yes... share with us please!"

Fallon didn’t seriously think Aishe would take her up on her offer of Cyrus’ intervention, but she still had felt the need to make it. Unlike her feeling the need to protect Ana, Fallon had no such similar feelings for Aishe. In fact, quite often Fallon felt a little intimidated by Aishe’s confidence, and strength, but had long ago tried to see those traits as something to emulate, rather than fear. And knowing that Kem was who he was, Fallon had no such concerns about how he would treat her sister, unlike the unknown Joey.

“What, hmm?” Pulled from her musings by the questions of the other two women in the room, Fallon quickly sought some explanation, but came up short.

“It’s silly, though not completely unlikely, but I just thought…well, no…it is probably very unlikely.”

She was making no sense at all, but thought sounding nonsensical was better than sounding outright absurd. Yet the four eyes on her seemed unrelenting, and she realized the truth would be her only out.

“I’m sorry Ana…I can’t explain why, but I have misgivings about your Joey. I know I have no concrete basis for my feelings…that are really nothing more than intuitions, but…perhaps the whole thing boils down to him being a vampire as well?”

There, she’d said it. Would it make any difference, probably not, yet until she resolved the mysterious forebodings she carried about her friend’s new beau, she’d remain uneasy about the alliance.

“Not that what I think should amount to a hill of beans in the grand scheme of things, but I do care about you little one.”

Would that explanation carry any weight? Fallon thought so, even if just a little. She didn’t expect Ana to live her life around Fallon’s feelings, but she hoped Ana wouldn’t be upset with the reason behind them.

Ana nodded thoughtfully at Aishe's comments about slowly wearing Kem down. "Erode his stubbornness, like the wear of sand against the pyramids..." She tittered at her very bad pun and paid attention when Aishe suddenly agreed with her for Fallon to share.

The librarian couldn't fully admit she hadn't pondered the possibility that Joey might be a vampire... But she'd seen him in full sunlight multiple times and knew for a fact that, for the duration he'd been exposed, no vampire of any age would be able to endure such contact for that duration. "I really do appreciate your candor and concern, Fallon. I must point out, however, that I have seen Joey in full sunlight, and he suffered no ill effects. And so far as I know, from what you've told me, even a very old vampire would suffer some sort of damage from severe sunburn." Quirking her lips as she tried not to smirk, she shrugged and leaned her chin in her palm, elbow on her knee. "Perhaps next time he tells me he needs to be free of me for three days I'll impose upon him to tell me why, when he returns."

She shrugged expansively, then removed her glasses from her nose to wipe on the hem of her shirt. "But you both should know, you two would be the first to whom I run screaming or crying or bouncing happily for joy." Replacing her glasses, she smiled. "And of course I expect the same from both of you!"

"Well there you go then..." Fallon smacked the heel of her hand against her forehead hearing Joey had been seen during daylight, but without much force.

"It's so strange for me to think about the daytime anymore...I've adapted to the nightlife so easily. Of course being with Cyrus, and around so many others who live the same way...I even forget sometimes that you're not one of us Ana. Your lifestyle seems to mimic ours as well, and since you've known about us for so long..."

Fallon shrugged slightly, not knowing if what she had said made sense or not. But she did feel a little foolish for considering Joey would be a vampire.

There was still something about him...something Fallon just could not put words to.

Thinking she was doing her friends a disservice being so preoccupied with the man her friend seemed to taken with, Fallon gave herself a shake, and sat up a bit straighter.

"Well enough about my silly qualms...I suppose this is another reason why its a good thing I never became a mother. I likely would have filled any child I had with such neurosis that they would have ended up real head cases. I do love my little kittens, almost as if they were my children, but I think they're safe enough from my meddlings."

She tried to make light of things, hoping she hadn't turned a fun evening into one of doubt and misgivings. Ana was an adult, and had done quite nicely with her life till now, without any help from Fallon. There was no reason she couldn't continue.

Aishe shook her head at Fallon's self-criticisms. "Your children wouldn't have been neurotic," she said. "They'd be cognizant of the dangers of being on your own that we all assume will never happen to us."

She turned to Ana and offered her own opinion. "I agree, it is odd for him to disappear for three days like that. Have you written down the days at all, seen if there's a pattern to them? Maybe it's rainy all three, or something."

Then she considered. Stealth and subterfuge had been, in her mind, necessary with Kem. They weren't necessarily the right way to go all the time. "Or maybe your way is best, and you simply ask. Maybe he has kids or something that he's visitng and he thinks you'll be turned off to the idea. Who knows?"

She didn't know why she was defending someone she'd only met for a few seconds. Perhaps for Ana's sake. She wanted her friend to be happy, and if Joey brought her such happiness Aishe would do what she could to keep it coming.