Fion had been thinking about it for a few days, ever since he'd walked out of the bakery to confront Dom Leon. Life was short and she tried to live it as well as she could. She hadn't really cared about having someone special for a long time and she didn't believe in Mr Right either.

She did, however, believe that Demkaih was special. She'd put salt in her tea thinking about him that morning. Piran kept pointedly asking if he was going to come have dinner sometime.

Boy was too smart for his own good, bless him.

Fion walked up to Demkaih's repainted front door and steeled herself. She was being stupid. He didn't know her that well. He was probably only concerned about her because she was a woman on her own and men always felt sorry for her because of that.

"Just knock on the damn door, you moony bint!" She thought brusquely to herself.

She knocked three times. Then her stomach dissolved into knots and she tried to remind herself that she was an adult.

Demkaih was patching up a rather large patch of rot in the wall when he heard the knocking. Standing up and dropping his tools on the floor, he dusted his hands on the brown jodhpurs he was wearing. The place was like it was built out of dust, and he had to wipe his torso with a rag before answering the door. It was almost muddy where the sweat and dust mingled.

He walked to the door and opened it wide. It was Fion. He smiled at the seamstess.

"Good day, my beautiful Fion. How are you today?" He had been thinking about here since the incident at the bakery. Worried about her actually. But he'd been afraid that rushing to her house everyday would make him seem like a crazy man. He moved aside and swept a hand across the room.

"Come in, but be careful. I think the dust is getting worse than better."

((I love joddies))


Fion tried to stop her eyes from wandering but they still managed to make one trip down from Demkaih's chest to his shoes and back again. His chest was almost shining from sweat and the man looked stunning in a pair of dusty, tight pants.

She really wasn't good enough for him. No wonder he hadn't come to visit.

"I'm fine," her voice almost cracked from the strain, "Uh, sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. You've made so much progress in such a short time."

Fion looked around the house. The walls had been stripped and patched in places and you couldn't see through the ceiling anymore. Fion hoped she wasn't blushing too brightly. She tried to suck her stomach in a little.

"I was wondering, if you haven't eaten already, would you like to have lunch with me today?" Fion glanced over in Demkaih's direction, kept her voice light and uncommited.

If he said no she was going to go home and cry. Reasonableness be damned.

He looked around the place. Indeed the roof was now a roof, and the walls were coming along, there was a lot of rot in the wood, but he was getting there. At least the door was fixed, and painted.



Demkaih suddenly realized how hungry he was. His stomach growled loudly and he patted it.

"Actually I haven't. I would gladly come eat with you, my good woman. Just let me clean up." He put his finger up as a 'hold on' sign, then walked outside and grabbed a bucket of fresh water he'd had sitting in the yard. Dumping it over himself, clothing and all, he shook his head, then trumped back inside dripping. He quickly jogged up stairs, avoiding the rotted ones, and changed into his red wrap. He contemplated his daggers, finally deciding to take them anyway, then came back down.

"Alright, shall we go then?"

Fion watched as Demkaih walked outside and the came back in with water slowly dripping down his chiselled chest. She'd never really seen a body that looked like it had been carved out marble but there it was. She thought clean thoughts, or tried to anyway, as Demkaih jogged up the stairs. She took at as evidence that she hadn't managed to shrivel up just yet.

He came back downstairs in his usual wrap and was a little relieved. She didn't think she could handle a day with him in jodhpurs.

"Uh huh." She said stupidly, before remembering herself, "So, do you like pie? There's a great patisserie down the road."

She walked towards his front door, smoothing down her shirt as she went.

Demkaih followed her, pulling to door gently shut and locking it behind them. He grinned at Fion and rattled the handle. No more fighting with buildings for him!

"I don't know, what sort of pie is it? Back home, we eat pies with stewed hingle and root vegetables in them. They are very good." The thought of food made his stomach growl even more. Smiling again, he held out the crook of his arm for her. She looked really lovely today, he thought. She looked lovely every time he saw her. But the night of the Caoja he had really seen how beautiful she could be. And the events at the bakery had made him realize how strong she could be. It fired his attraction towards her even more...Demkaih's mind was wandering and he quickly began thinking about pies again. Anything to distract him.

Fion happily took Demkaih's arm, smiling beatifically as they walked together.

"I see the door works now," She said by way of making conversation.

"Think of pie, think of pie, think of pie..." She thought desperately.

"They make all kinds, there's a very nice pumpkin one with a little chilli." She gently steered them towards Crosstown Court, "What do you feel like?"

A group of young men and women were staring moonily at Demkaih as he walked past. She couldn't really blame them, he cut a fairly heroic figure even on a bad day.

He followed her lead, wondering how pumpkin pie might actually taste. There was a group of younger people on the street and they stared as the couple walked past. He set his jaw and watched them silently. It seemed that since the bakery, Demkaih wasn't so quick to see the good in the people around Vienda. He'd never experianced anything like Dom Leon in mugroba and it had made him wary. Realising he still hadn't answered Fion, he looked down at her.

"Pumpkin is a good choice. It's a good sweet vegetable. Goes well with cinnamon or nutmeg." The spice merchant in him was talking again. Force of habit. But something had begun to settle in his mind. It had been nagging at him since the 4th, but he didn't want to be so up front with a woman he had only known for a week.

"Fion, I was worried about you. Since the other day. I didn't want to say anything, but I am a foolish man. If something happened to you," he sighed.

"We've only just met, but I don't want to loose you before I can get to know you. Properly I mean. There seem to be so many things about you that I would love to find out. Like, how one minute you are so quiet and withdrawn, but the next you are so strong and in control." He stopped and looked at her, his blue eye's sincere.

"Like the tiny poppy seed. You bloom into something so amazing and beautiful, its hard to believe its the same person."

Fion noticed the pause in his voice and worried. She was probably boring him to tears. She loved to hear him talk about spices, though.



Fion's eyes watered and she cursed herself for being emotional. Never in her life had anyone complimented character in such a way. She'd never thought of herself like that, she'd only seen caution and necessity. She rubbed her eyes, then looked up at Demkaih.

"That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She blushed and smiled helplessly, "I want to get to know you better too."

She looked away, embarassed.

"I was so worried, the other day, I thought Leon was really going to hurt you. I couldn't bear it." She said emphatically. "I'm so glad you're still here, in Vienda."

She leaned into his arm a little more, happy and nervous and hopeful.

Demkaih reached out and placed a hand on her chin, turning her head slightly toward him. She was such a beautiful woman, his heart beat hard in his chest.

"I will not leave Fion. Leon is a fool. And one day it will be his undoing. It tore out my soul just standing there like some tamed kenser whilst he spoke to you." He averted his eyes for a moment.

"A less wise man may have tried to strike him down with his daggers, maybe that's what I should have done. But I couldn't risk him lashing out at you." He looked back at her again, Oh Alioe he wanted to kiss her. But the gentleman in him wouldn't just kiss her without properly courting her. He stroked her fringe out of her eyes and patted her hand, then started them walking again. Clearing his throat, he looked around.

"So, pumpkin pie then?"

Fion's pulse raced.



Damnit!

"No, I'm glad you didn't try to fight him. The seventen would have seen you hung, if Leon hadn't managed to kill you himself." Fion's shoulders slumped just a little, "Pie's this way."

She pointed and walked with him towards the patisserie.

"I think I owe you lunch, since you paid last time," She said teasingly, as they waited to be served.

Demkaih chuckled at her comment. He'd forgotten that he'd shouted her and Piran to dinner.

"Ah, I don't think so my beautiful poppy. A man does not ask a woman to pay his way." He teased back, grinning at her. She seemed a little slumped and he wondered if he had done something wrong in touching her face. His heart was still thumping madly. All this small talk, walking arm in arm, he couldn't help but think about how sweet her hair smelt. How soft her skin was, and how remarkable the paleness of her skin against his own was. He looked down at her hand on his arm as they walked, tracing his finger along each of her own. He was starting to think pie could just go eat itself.

Fion cocked an eyebrow at him.

"A friend doesn't either." Her hands tingled where his finger touched them.

She loosely meshed their fingers together. He was flirting.

Yay!

She ordered two slices of pumpkin pie and some tea and cold water to go with it.

"Shall we sit outside?" She asked, a little coyly.

He felt so warm standing next to her. She didn't want to let go of him. She was almost too nervous to eat.

Demkaih watched as she loosely held his hand, then looked at her with his pale blue eyes. He lifted her hand off his arm and led her wordlessly to the seats outside. Pulling out a chair for her to sit on, he lent down and kissed her hand.

"Well, my friend, you win this time. But next time I will buy." He let go and sat in the chair opposite to her, across the wooden table, and leaned back, watching her. He didn't really feel quite so hungry anymore, but the tension between them was thrilling, and he needed to control himself. Her coy glances were enough to set his heart racing again, and he couldn't help but steal glimpses of her soft curves when she wasn't looking directly at him.

He began bouncing his leg, what was taking this pie so long?

Fion watched people walking by, chin in hand and kept stealing looks at Demkaih.

"What's Mugroba like?" She asked on a whim, genuinely wanting to know more about Demkaih and where he came from.

Her tummy grumbled a little. She was hungry.

The tall dark man leaned back, steepling his fingers and looking into space. He loved Mugroba, it was something he was extremely passionate about.

"It is very hot. Mugroba is desert country, and we don't travel on main roads like your people. We travel by the rivers and streams, I lived with my family in Thul Ka, and traveled by Turga river to take our spices down to the islands for the trade ferry. The desert is no good for crops, but spice plantations take well if you set it up properly with the right irrigation. The nights are very cold, desert sand doesn't hold heat very well, so at night we gather around a big family bonfire to eat and talk, then set up our bedding around it." He nodded.

"It's a hard place, but I wouldn't have it any different. It shapes a man, gives him a purpose and understanding that life is what you make of it. Hulali will greet those who are finished their trip down the River of Life on the Great Ocean, if those people have lived their life as a good, honest person." Looking at her, he cocked his head.

"I did not always live in Mugroba though. I was born in Knowles, to a farming woman. That life, I think, was harder than my new one in Mugroba. But I was only a boy then." He closed his hands and rested his chin on his thumbs, his mouth against his knuckles.

The pie arrived then, steaming hot and slightly burned around the edges. Obviously, when the customers were human, the patisrerie did not take as much care with their baking.

Fion listened, enraptured as Demkaih described his homeland and his past. He looked younger speaking of it.

"Mugroba sounds beautiful." She said dreamily.

"My parents were innkeepers in the Stacks. We had a pretty nice place, too. Students and wicks and all sorts used to stop by and sometimes minstrels would come and sing." Fion still missed the old place, just a little, "We had drinks from everywhere! Even liquers from Mugroba."

"I can't believe you were born in Knowles, I used to go there from time to time with my Dad, when I was little. Is your mother still there? Maybe I know her."

Fion eyed the pie critically as it was set down.

"We should have been born galdori, Demkaih. They get better service." She shrugged, "It will taste better than it looks, I've been here a couple of times and that's been the case."

Demkaih shook his head.

"She might be. Or she might be dead. My father died and she lost hope, when I left as a child she hadn't left the house in over three moons. I do not know anymore about her. But before that, she was very strong. I remember that."



The dark man nodded and picked up his fork. Breaking off a piece of the pie and popping it into his mouth, he raised his eyebrows and tapped the plate.

"Your right! It is very good. Reminds me of chocolate. Very sweet." He took another big mouthful. Chewing thoughtfully, he looked at Fion.

"I do not understand the galdori here. Back in Mugroba, we know the galdori are high society, but they do not give us fear. They are more like people to be repected. We respect their power and their wealth, they respect our hard work and honesty. The ones here, they are cruel and evil." Shaking his head, he sighed.

"I came to Anaxas to start a spice shop, to bring part of my home to a new land. My experiences here have been so strange. I almost got back on the ferry to go home, but then there is you." He smiled and wolfed down more pie.

"I would face another thousand Dom Leon's just to meet you, my beautiful poppy. You make this place worth trying for." His voice was soft and sincere, his blue eyes looking right into her own.

Fion frowned in sympathy.

"I'm so sorry. She must have been a wonderful woman to help raise someone like you."



Fion had been starting to worry that Demkaih was scant seconds away from hopping a boat to Mugroba, then her heart exploded when he as much as said he was staying for her



Fion smiled, arms starting to wrap around herself girlishly.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," She said playfully, ecstatic.

She quickly kissed her fingertips and pressed them to his lips, moving closer as she did so. She cupped his face for a moment.

"I was... starting to give up on this...this place... before you walked up to my door." She had been getting so tired, "I was..."

Fion looked down, sniggered just a little.

"I was thinking of moving to Mugroba! I could have walked right past you."

"I'm really glad I gave Vienda a second chance too."

Demkaih's took her hand and kissed her fingers gently where she had kissed them. His face felt warm where she had touched him. Smiling, he shook his head.

"I am very glad you stayed here. Too many men in Mugroba would snatch a beautiful woman like yourself up in moments, and then I would be a warrior not a farmer." He grinned, looking down at her pale hand in his. He loved looking at the contrast, it was appealing. He looked back at her smiling face, then down at the last of his pie. With one gulp, he finished it off.

"Do you want to walk back to the house with me Fion? I would like to show you something." He looked down at her plate apologetically.

"That is, if your finished. I did not mean to rush you." He squeezed her hand and let go, leaning back watching her.

Fion pointed across the court, "Look! A distraction!"

Trusting that all people look away when you pull that trick, she took three big bites of pie so she would no longer be hungry and it would look like she'd eaten more. A lifetime spent running about with no free time meant she could eat very, very quickly. There wasn't even a crumb on her face by the time Demkaih was looking at her again.

"No rush. I'm ready to go." She said, grinning innocently.

She stood up.

"What do you want to show me?" She took a few coins out of her purse and placed them on the table. "Let's go."

Demkaih turned, not quite catching the last word. He looked around for a disection, wondering what idiot would be opening up an animal in the main court. Seeing nothing he turned back to Fion's.



Demkaih rose and took her hand, holding it and leading her back the way they had come. He didn't answer her, instead he just walked, his face unreadable.

When they reached the red house with the overgrown garden, he opened the door and pushed it open to allow her inside, following her and closing it behind him.

"Wait here. Make yourself...uh...comfortable." He said, looking around apoligetically at the dusty premises. There weren't any chairs. Only piles of wood, buckets of paint and some work tools. He nodded to her and jogged up the rickity stairs.

Fion inhaled the scent of work. It was dust, paint fumes and dirt. She liked it.

Fion picked a wall that didn't have wet paint on it and leaned back. She hummed a soft tune to herself, imagining just what Demkaih's house could become.

She waited for him to return.

Demkaih entered the room he had picked as his sleeping quarters, and rummaged through his meager travel bag. He finally grasped the item he was looking for and made his way back down the stairs, walking. He walked over to stand in front on Fion.

"I found this years ago when I was working in the spice plantation. They are a type of stone only found in the desert, and mugrobi people consider them lucky." He took her hand and placed a stone in it. The stone was about the size of her thumb, and it was black and glossy, but inside it were beautiful flecks of rainbow colors.

"It is called an Opal. I want you to have it, a beautiful gem for my beautiful poppy."