Happy Birthday dear Emily

Lochlann felt worn out. If Emily could taste states of being in addition to emotion, she'd realize that the panic earlier had set a fire burning inside him that quickly sizzled out without oxygen.

But with Emily in his arms, Lochlann felt safe. The gratitude didn't fade.

He felt like he could pretend not to be a monster for a little bit more.

When she sat up and asked him if he found what he was looking for, Lochlann was looking at her when he answered.

"Yes," he said. "I found what I was looking for."

She'd been right in front of him the entire time.

Lochlann closed his eyes for a moment and tried to summon the energy to sit back up. He finally did, although he leaned against the headboard for support.

"What happens now?" Lochlann repeated her question. He looked at her, and then he found himself treating her to a very wicked smile. "Now you let me make up for giving you the worst birthday."


Lochlann did not quite dive across the bed--he didn't have the energy for that--but he did move swiftly. He grabbed Emily by the hips, planted his feet on the floor, and picked her up over his shoulder all in one fluid motion.

"I am taking you out," he told her and began to walk around her apartment before stopping. "I suppose you'll want shoes, and maybe a jacket. But it's non-negotiable. I'm taking you on an adventure. A proper birthday adventure."

He was so tired, but this wasn't forced.

There would be no dead ex girlfriends or murders haunting them for the rest of the night.
Lochlann refused to let that happen.

"Well, if you want to be put down, I will put you down," Lochlann told her. He located what he thought might be a jacket from within Emily's apartment while he was still carrying her.

"But you'll have to ask," he told her.

IT was mostly a joke. For all his flaws, Lochlann was a monster that couldn't operate without consent. It's part of what made every death hurt him more. Every girl who'd ever come into the river trusted him enough to come when he asked them to.

There was a brief moment of sadness that escaped him before he buried it in preparation for the birthday adventure.

"Where are you shoes?" he asked her, turning around and seemingly oblivious to her kicks.

Lochlann set her gently on the ground. He kept his hands on her hips for a moment to make sure she was steady before removing them, or maybe he was just looking for an excuse to touch her.

Lochlann didn't realize that he felt different towards Emily yet. She'd seen parts of him he'd never shared with anyone else and he felt...connected, somehow. Intimate.

"But of course!" Lochlann said, bringing her the shoes like a well-trained puppy. "Is there any where you want to go? Otherwise it's going to be both an adventure and a mystery."

"Well," Lochlann said, and then he considered some Emily places in his head. it was night already, but it was the Manta Carlos, so something was probably open.

"A bookstore, a coffee place, somewhere with ice cream, some place that has a large quantity of small fuzzy animals that want to be your friend, the library, the underground with all the tarot card shops, or hmmm," Lochlann considered. These seemed like they might be Emily style adventures.

He was not going to take her to any place that might involve any sort of angst.

'You tell me," he told her. "Otherwise, we'll let the night decide."

"Yes," Lochlann told her, in reference to the underground.

He considered this for a moment but realized that he probably had a much easier time than Emily for a variety of reasons. For starters, he was a little bit more dangerous than her in appearance. Appearance didn't actually mean shit on the island when there were world-famous spell casters that looked like children, but Emily had a way of moving and approaching things that was rather innocent.

"No one will really bother you in the streets," he told her. "But the stores are another matter. If one gives you a bad feeling, don't go in it."

he waited until she was ready and then grinned, reaching out his hand for her.

"Then we'll just see where the night takes us. Is that a plan?"