'Hi Loid, welcome home! ' his wife greeted him cheerfully.

When he got home, Yor was wearing a new red dress and finishing getting ready to go out.

That 's right, Desmond 's dinner party

, he thought.

Anya was already at Becky 's for the night. Good, that way Franky wouldn 't have to babysit and he wouldn 't have to see him again that night.

'I 'll be ready in a bit, ' he told his wife while she was putting on her earrings.

He headed to his bedroom and took out a tuxedo; it was the only suitable thing to wear for Desmond 's inner circle parties. He had to prepare. In the bottom of the closet, there was a loose tile on the floor; he kept his special equipment underneath. Carefully, he grabbed a small camera and stuffed it in the inside pocket of his jacket, on the other pocket he placed his gun.

Going to Desmond 's always made him nervous. The place was always surrounded by SSS officials, and he knew one wrong move could get him discovered.

No, I 'm safe. Nobody suspects me. Yor is my best cover,

he tried to calm that nervous twinge in his stomach.

For some reason, thinking about Yor 's presence relaxed him a bit.

This wasn 't the first time they were invited to one of these events. And it wouldn 't be the first time he 'd be able to talk to Desmond. Somehow, they had become sort of close. As close as a man like Desmond would allow a stranger. Desmond enjoyed talking to Loid Forger. Because of his profession as a psychiatrist, he considered him an intelligent man, and it was interesting to talk with him about many topics. Additionally, Desmond was fascinated by the way Loid Forger parented Anya.

Donovan Desmond was a distant father, especially to his youngest son. He was tough and old fashioned. A completely different approach to Loid Forger's validation, attention, and closeness with his daughter. Maybe that 's why he felt so curious about the way Loid Forger carried out parenthood.

Desmond was a complicated man. At times, Twilight thought he wouldn 't be able figure him out. It was almost as if Desmond was pretending too.

Loid checked himself in the mirror. His suit was impeccable, his hair perfectly smooth, his face was clean and shaved. He was the embodiment of neatness and perfection, just like Loid Forger had to be.

Yor looked spectacular. As soon as they arrived to the dinner party, every eye was on her, as usual, including his.

(Fake) Marriage really suited her. In the past year and a half, he 'd seen her grow more confident, and that only added to her charm.

She was smiling and speaking with a couple ladies she already knew. A far cry from the shy young woman who would barely talk to anyone. He felt proud of the way she had flourished.

' 'eventually, she 'll probably move on ' ' Franky 's words popped in his mind.

He imagined the long list of suitors Melinda Desmond would prepare for the young 'widow ' once he was out of the picture. One man would be her true husband and she 'd love that man for real.

He was just a stand in.

That oppression in his chest came back, but he managed to stop himself from grabbing the front of his shirt, like he did earlier that day.

Then, as if alerted by his distress, Yor looked at him from across the room and smiled.

All the tightness dissipated as he smiled back.

'I see that, like every man in this room, you 're also enthralled with your wife 's beauty, ' observed Donovan Desmond.

'I think I 've earned the right to look at her like that, ' Loid answered without taking his eyes off Yor. 'After all, I am her husband. '

'Come, Forger. Don 't be a jealous asshole, ' Desmond 's joked. 'Everybody knows you get to take her home tonight, so let these assholes enjoy the view for a minute and come have a drink with me in my studio. '

Get it together, Twilight

, he scolded himself as he followed Desmond.

Desmond 's studio was dark, but Twilight could see it was covered wall to wall with the most luxurious African blackwood. The shelves were neatly packed with books and small sculptures. And of course, there wasn 't a speck of dust anywhere. This place spoke volumes about Desmond 's personality: rich, neat, dark and guarded.

Twilight had been lucky to ever made it there. He wanted to come back by himself and investigate, but he knew it would be way too risky. He had a better chance of getting intel by talking to Desmond.

'How 's your daughter? Any more Tonitrus to report? ' Desmond chuckled.

'I 'm pretty sure she 's been close a few times, but after that second one, we 've been lucky, ' he answered while accepting a whisky from his hand.

'It always amuses me the way you handle your family affairs, ' the older man smiled smugly. 'You know the type of guy I am. I feel better knowing my children won 't dare to step out of line. '

'You like your children to be afraid of you? ' Twilight asked.

'I wouldn 't call it fear. I prefer the word

respect

, ' he corrected before taking a sip from his glass.

Twilight didn 't answer right away. Desmond knew Loid Forger was a dedicated father who didn 't agree with his approach. It was okay to disagree instead of trying to suck up like any other asshole would just because he was an important man. In the end, it was Forger 's sincerity what had gotten closer to Desmond. He needed to keep it up.

'We 'll call it a disagreement, then, ' Loid countered.

Now, how could Agent Twilight prompt him for information? What could he say to a man like Desmond to provoke him? But before he could figure it out, Desmond interrupted his thoughts:

'There 's something I want to ask you, Forger. '

The older man seemed relaxed, leaning against his luxurious solid wood desk and drinking slowly.

'What is it? ' asked Twilight, trying not to sound eager at all.

'It 's about war. '

Twilight had to control his breathing. The agent felt Donovan Desmond 's eyes scanning him and for a second he wondered if he had been discovered, and this was all a trap.

'What is there to talk about? Aren 't we at peace? ' Twilight retorted.

'That can change easily, ' Desmond smiled mischievously.

Twilight felt a familiar twinge of anxiety. His intuition told him this was it, the climax of Operation Strix unfolding right in front of him.

'Oh yeah? How? ' he asked pretending to be clueless.

Desmond sighed before answering: 'You know, the right kind of events can trigger bad memories about old enemies

very quickly

. It doesn 't matter who is responsible, as long as people believe it was someone who tried to hurt their country in the past ' '

Twilight's heart was beating so fast, for a moment he thought he might pass out, but his face showed no emotion. Wise had trained him well.

'What is it that you want to ask me, Lord Desmond? ' he asked directly. No more games.

'Well, I thought that was obvious: I want to know what you think about war, ' Desmond smiled smugly again. 'So, tell me

Loid Forger

, do you think our enemies are monsters? Have you witness their evil deeds? Do you know what sort of people they are? Do they deserve war? '

One big window in the studio was open despite the cold.

Twilight had to stand up and walk towards it.

He couldn 't breathe.

His back was towards Desmond. He had to close his eyes to steady his breathing and only then, he was able to answer:

'No, I don 't think that way, ' he answered truly. 'Our enemies, whoever they are, are not monsters, they 're just people. And no, nobody deserves war. '

For the first time since they met, Desmond smiled at him genuinely, as if his answer was the right one. The older man nodded and said: 'Now I know the kind of man you are. '

Why did it feel as if he 'd just passed a huge test?

This man had to be the most difficult target in all of his career as a spy.

'Why ask

me

? ' Twilight dared to ask.

Desmond walked around to serve himself another drink.

'I needed the opinion of someone who had endured war and suffered because of it, ' the older man explained. 'You 're a veteran, is that right? '

'Yes, ' he answered truly one more time.

'And you lost your parents in the war, correct? '

Twilight nodded.

'All those men out there at the party, 'my friends ', they 've never lost anything because of the war, ' he mused. 'They all support the idea of going to war because it would benefit their businesses a great deal. None of them, nor their families would ever suffer the consequences. Even if bombs dropped right here in Berlint, they wouldn 't hurt, because they would probably wait for the war to be over somewhere far, safe in a neutral country. '

Twilight remained quiet, waiting for the man to continue.

'I have enough power to pull the strings in either direction. There are many like those men outside this studio who want war to increase need and profit. They say our country needs economic development and war is an excellent tool for that, ' Desmond explained, but Twilight knew this already. 'Political players become heroes during wars, so people involved in government favor the idea too. '

Desmond took a long sip and then cleared his throat.

'But before making my final decision, I wanted to look a man who has lost everything because of the war in the eyes, ' he declared looking at Twilight. 'I wanted that man to remind me why war is the worst of sins. '

'And has this man done a good job? ' asked Twilight.

'Yes, ' Desmond extended his hand for him to shake. 'As long as I 'm in charge, I give you my word it won 't happen. '

Twilight shook his hand firmly. Something in his gut told him Donovan Desmond was telling the truth.

***

When her husband returned to the party, Yor noticed he seemed 'relieved.

Discreetly, he grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him.

'You seem happier, ' she noted.

'I 'm always happier when I 'm with you, ' he told her.

'Me too, ' Yor dared to answer back, blushing.

It was true.

Yor knew Loid hated these kinds of events. She didn 't understand why he insisted on coming, but she was sure it caused him severe anxiety. She could feel it.

However, tonight, it was as if all the anxiety Loid usually suffered had left his body and he was light as a bird.

They had a splendid dinner and her husband 's good spirits continued after that, when a band played in the big salon.

Loid and Yor had practiced dancing before, since they knew these parties frequently offered that possibility. However, whenever they practiced at home, Anya and Bond would often interrupt, and practice usually ended before they could dance even half a song.

Tonight, nobody would interrupt them.

The music was soothing and slow, meant for real couples to get lost in each other.

Yor knew little about music, but loved what the band was playing, because it allowed her to dance with her husband so close, embracing each other. Her head rested on his shoulder, close to his neck, where she could smell his minty aftershave and feel him rest on the top of her head.

It 's only pretend

, she had to remind herself, but didn 't truly believe it.

She raised her head to look at his face. His blue eyes were so full of light.

Yor had seen how other women glanced at him whenever they walked together, how her neighbors would call him handsome, how Fiona Frost looked at him. They wanted him.

But what about her? What was Loid Forger to her?

The question the Shopkeeper asked her a few days ago popped into her mind: Did she see him as a man?

Pathologically awkward, (like her coworkers had called her so many times), she thought she 'd never had a chance to have a family, to love someone. And yet, here she was, in love with a man who was

way out of her league

.

Only one question remained:

Could someone like Loid ever love someone like me

?

Far away, she could hear the piano playing softly, almost like a lullaby.

Loid reached for her face. They couldn 't stop looking at each other, as if the rest of the world had simply '

disappeared

.

She wasn 't acting. She 'd always been a horrible liar and an even a worse actress.

Without thinking, Yor gently placed a hand on the side of his face.

With the same gentleness, Loid touched that same hand and leaned into it with his eyes closed.

He was

such

a good actor. So good, she could almost believe that they were really married. So good, she could almost believe that he loved her.

Almost

.

Her heart was beating fast, and she couldn 't hear the music. She was also pretty sure they weren 't dancing anymore.

Loid leaned in and kissed her, just like that day at the park. And then, he kissed her again, and again.

All the things she never dared to want were right there 'in his eyes.

She wanted to keep kissing him again and again, until he melted into her.

She wanted

him

.