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A t day’s end, Viv gently ushered the last customer out the door and into the brittle cold. She locked up behind them and turned back to her friends, spread throughout the shop.

Thimble fussed with a rack of cooling baked goods, Tandri was wiping down the machine, and Cal examined the hinges on one of the big doorjambs.

Viv simply watched the three of them for a moment, the soft, low bustle such a contrast to the cacophony of the day. The chimney pipes thrummed, and the icy wind sang under the eaves.

She quietly unclipped the cord across the stairs and went up to collect a leather scroll case, which she brought to the counter.

Tandri halted in the middle of scrubbing out a mug to look at her askance.

“Can I have the inkwell?” asked Viv.

“Sure.” Tandri dried her hands and retrieved one from under the counter. She gave the scroll case a speculative look.

Viv cleared her throat, suddenly nervous. “Can I get everyone up here for a minute?” she called, overloud.

They gathered together, gazing at her curiously.

She took a big breath.

“I’m… not really good at speeches. So I won’t try to make a good one.

But I wanted to thank you, all of you.” Her eyes suddenly stung.

“This… all this…. This was a gift you gave to me. And I….” She grimaced at Cal, and then at Tandri.

“I didn’t deserve it. The things I’ve done in my life…

I don’t have any right to this kind of good fortune.

“But more than this place, I don’t deserve you.

If there was any justice in the world, I’d never have met you, much less have even a scrap of your regard.

And for a while… I thought maybe I’d cheated fate to have you near me.

That I was bending the rules—forcing some impossible streak of luck—and any moment, you’d find out who I really was, and then you’d be gone. ”

She breathed out, slowly.

“But what a stupid thing to think. Unfair to you. Did I think so little of you? Did I think you couldn’t see who I was, really? Was I foolish enough to believe I could make you see something other than what was there?”

She looked down at her hands for a moment.

“So. I might not deserve you. And you might forgive too much. But I’m damned glad to have you.”

It was quiet, and she held each of their gazes in turn.

The silence stretched, during which Viv became increasingly uncomfortable.

“Hm,” said Cal. “As speeches go… wasn’t too bad.”

Tandri snorted, and Viv’s tension evaporated as though it had never been.

“Uh. Well, with that out of the way….” Viv opened the scroll case and withdrew a roll of foolscap. “These are writs of partnership. One for each of you. This shop isn’t mine. It’s yours, too. You built it. You made it work, and it’d be nothing without you. All you have to do is sign.”

Tandri picked up one of the sheets and quietly read it over. “This is an equal partnership. When did you have this done?”

“A week ago,” said Viv, rubbing at the back of her neck. “I mean… the ad I posted mentioned ‘advancement opportunities,’ so….”

“Ain’t right for me to sign it,” said Cal.

“Of course it is!” said Viv in surprise. “What in the hells do you mean?”

“Don’t work here,” he continued. “Just don’t make sense. Ain’t fair to the rest.”

“Cal,” said Viv, sliding a sheet across to him. “When I say that you all built this place, in your case, you literally did. There’s nobody who deserves it more.”

“Sign it,” said Tandri. “And if you want to be persnickety about it, I know who to bother when things break.”

“Or when Thimble decides this kitchen is too small, too,” added Viv.

Thimble squeaked supportively.

And with much grumbling on Cal’s part, and much chivvying from the rest… eventually, he made his mark.

* * *

“One last thing,” said Viv, and from the pantry she retrieved a small brandy bottle and four fine glasses. She set them in a line and poured a careful measure from the bottle into each.

“A toast. To all of you.”

“ To what the flames could not consume ,” murmured Tandri, and they all nodded solemnly.

They drank… and Thimble coughed and had to be patted on the back several times.

Then they quietly gathered their things to leave.

“Tandri,” said Viv, quietly. “Stay a minute?”

Cal gave them a glance, then nodded to himself, and left behind Thimble.

* * *

The two of them stood together in the warm center of the shop, with winter stealing in around it, the brandy glowing like coals inside them.

“There’s… something I wanted to show you,” said Viv, almost too low to hear. Then she quickly turned and went to the stairs, beckoning for Tandri to follow.

At the top of the stairs, a hallway split the upper story, with a door to the left, and one to the right. Viv strode to the one on the left and opened it, stepping inside.

Tandri peered in after her and gasped. “You bought a bed!”

“I did,” said Viv.

The room was also furnished with a small dresser and table and a wardrobe.

“Even a rug!” said Tandri, nodding appreciatively. “Well, it’s bound to be an improvement over my floor.”

Viv closed her eyes and took a slow breath. “There’s one other thing I want to show you,” said Viv, with a cold flush of terror.

Tandri gave her a wry smile. “You didn’t make a room for the cat, did you?” she asked, which did nothing to quell Viv’s nerves. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Viv didn’t trust herself to reply, so she went to the door across the hall and opened it, as well. Tandri’s brow creased as she stepped inside. This room, too, was furnished with a bed, a vanity, and a wardrobe. A set of art supplies—ink and chalk and stencils and parchment—sat atop the vanity.

Tandri drifted to the center of the room, where she stood very still.

In the silence that followed, Viv couldn’t breathe.

“Who is this room for, Viv?” she asked, quietly. Her tail made a cautious, flickering ‘S’ behind her.

“For you. If you’ll have it.”

And there was a pulse of that warmth, that hooded self which only shone forth when Tandri was at her most unguarded.

She turned to look back at Viv.

Tandri didn’t answer, instead closing the distance between them. Wrapping her arms around Viv, cheek to chest, she released all of her restraint.

For the first time, Viv faced the totality of Tandri’s essential self, and was struck by the eloquence and delicacy that was revealed.

It was easy to see how one might mistake her nature for something purely sensual, how one might glean only what they most desired from that densely-twined rush of feeling.

Hers was a potent dialect of emotion, rich with meaning, comprehensible only to those intimately aware of its subtleties.

Tandri didn’t have to say yes .

The language was understood.

And when her lips found Viv’s, no doubt could have survived.