Kerry patted her hand, and smiled. "Our turf," she agreed.

"Our turf," Dar repeated softly, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah."

THERE WAS SUCH a thing, Kerry discovered, as being too tired to even want to eat. She was curled up on the leather couch in the living room, Chino in a ball at her feet. She faded in and out as Dar rambled around the condo.

She wanted to just let go and zonk out. She could already feel that sense of disassociation she often got just before she fell asleep. The only thing that was keeping her from giving into it was the fact that she was listening to Dar talk to herself as they waited for their soup and half sandwiches to be delivered. "Dar," she finally uttered a protest. "Let it go."

The light scuff of bare feet against the marble answered her, coming closer along with the sense of Dar's presence until a warm knee bumped up against her elbow. Instead of opening her eyes, Kerry reached out and wrapped her arm around Dar's leg, tucking her hand back under her arm and issuing a small, contented grunt.

Dar didn't speak. Instead, she claimed the edge of the couch and sat down next to Kerry, pressing against her body and draping an arm over her.

Ah. Delightful. Kerry wrapped her body around her partner's and sighed. One eye cracked open as Dar started rubbing her back with the tips of her fingers. "See? Now isn't this much better than you bitching at yourself?" She nibbled at Dar's thigh.

Dar made a noncommittal sound. "I wasn't really bitching," she protested. "I was just going over the balls I let drop in the last few weeks."

Kerry started biting the inside of her partner's leg, drawing a squawk of protest from her. "Bitch tomorrow," she said. "It's chill time." Her bites became kisses as Dar leaned over and enfolded her in a hug. She moved into a more comfortable position, emitting a happy gurgle as Dar laid her head down on her shoulder.

"If I fall asleep like this, I'm toast," Dar said, with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Ker. I get overtired and my brain goes into spin cycle."

"Yeah, I know."

"Maybe we should have gone for some Frosted Flakes for dinner."

"Maybe," Kerry admitted. "But we didn't, and sure as Sunday drivers, the second we nod off they'll be knocking at the door."

"Mmph"

Kerry peered idly at the large screen television across the room. "Oh look," she said, "an iguana." Her brow creased. "What's it doing with its tongue?"

Dar shifted her chin and licked Kerry's ear, making her sneeze in surprise. "Nothing I couldn't do if I really worked at it."

"Oo."

With another gentle sigh, Dar put her head back down and half closed her eyes, seemingly forgetting her previous self-admonishment. Kerry reached up and fit her hand inside her partner's, pulling it close to her heart, taking the moment of quiet contemplation where she found it.

A brisk knock came at the door. Dar snorted in soft laughter, before she hauled herself to her feet and headed to answer it. Kerry remained where she was, wiggling her toes a little against Chino's fur as she watched Dar admit the beach club's waiter with his tray, giving him a brief grin as he passed her to set it down on the dining room table.

"Gruff." Chino's head popped up as she belatedly sensed an intruder.

"Shh," Kerry admonished her. "It's just Carlos. Be nice, or you won't get a cookie."

The Labrador curled up and put her muzzle down on Kerry's ankle, keeping a brown eagle eye on Carlos as he neatly arranged their dinner on the table.

Dar signed the check and hustled the waiter out, turning and leaning against the door as she regarded Kerry's still curled up form. "Want me to bring it over?"

"Hm." Kerry drummed her fingers on the leather, then she pushed herself upright with a sigh. "If it were anything but soup, I'd say yes." She pulled the first chair on the right side of the table out and sat, waiting for Dar to join her before she started sorting out the food. "So, what do you think that whole change of schedule thing means, Dar? It sure seemed abrupt to me."

Dar looked up from buttering a roll. "Can we talk about fishing?"

Kerry blinked in mild surprise, hesitating in the act of pouring herself a glass of juice. "Um...okay."

Dar shrugged a little. "You told me to drop it, remember?"

That's right, she had. Kerry finished pouring her drink and fell silent, opening up her container of soup and poking at its contents with her spoon. Her eyes burned and she lifted a hand to rub them, ending up resting her head on her hand as she made a half--hearted attempt at eating.

For a few minutes, it was so quiet the sound of the air conditioning cycling off and on was almost startling. Kerry could almost feel it as a physical thing between them and she wondered when it would start to become uncomfortable.

Her eyes burned again, and she rubbed them, setting down her spoon and finding little to interest her in the relatively inoffensive soup as her stomach rebelled at consuming it. "Well, crap." She broke the silence with a small sigh. "This is going nowhere."

The sudden feel of Dar's fingers running through her hair was indescribable. Kerry looked up from her plate to find bloodshot blue eyes looking back at her with gentle weariness.

"To hell with the food," Dar said, getting up and shoving the plate back. She held a hand out to Kerry invitingly. "Let's go to bed."

Kerry abandoned her noodle soup and stood up, taking Dar's hand and following her to the bedroom without any further thought. The room's soothing blue tones made her feel better almost at once, and she stood facing Dar as they set about undressing each other with the beginnings of a smile on her face.

Dar saw it. She unbuckled Kerry's belt with one hand, and laid the palm of the other one on Kerry's cheek, rubbing her cheekbone with the edge of her thumb. Kerry's eyelashes flickered, then she tilted her head up and returned Dar's gaze with one of her own.

It was amazing, that look. Dar wondered if Kerry really knew how much of her feelings showed in it. "Sorry I'm being a cranky curmudgeon," she apologized. "I'm expecting that time of the month tomorrow."

The gentle upturn of Kerry's lips became a genuine smile. "Thought you said you never had PMS."

"You said I never have PMS," Dar corrected. "I said I do, but no one ever notices the difference."

Kerry finished unbuttoning Dar's jeans, sliding them over her hips and letting them fall to the floor. She took a step forward out of the shirt Dar had finished unfastening and put her arms around Dar's waist. "You can be cranky, honey," she muttered. "If you don't mind me being completely wasted and way oversensitive to it."

Dar tossed Kerry's shorts into the corner and turned, easing them both down into the waterbed. She rolled over with Kerry still in her arms so they ended up in the middle, the warm surface enclosing them comfortably as she tugged the blanket up over them.

"Mm." Kerry had her eyes closed. "This feels great."

"Yeah, it does. Damn, I'm glad tomorrow's Saturday."

"Me, too."

They lay there together for a while, this time comfortable in the quiet surrounding them. Kerry began to surrender to the lethargy rolling over her, leaving her with barely enough energy to rhythmically trace the centerline of Dar's belly in time with the slow breathing under her touch.

A soft clank caused her to crack one eye open again. "Dar?"

"Mmhmn?"

"Did you hear that?"

"All I can hear is sheep."

Kerry's other eye opened. "Sheep?"

"Counting themselves to save me the trouble."

Another soft clank sounded clearly from the living room, accompanied by a clatter. "Dar."

Her partner selected the edge of the covers and neatly pulled them over Kerry's ears, patting the tops of them solicitously. "Better?"

Kerry grasped the covers and pulled them down. "No, because it doesn't keep me from wondering what the heck is going on in our living room."

Dar pulled the covers back up. "Kerrison, use logic, wouldja?"

Kerry frowned.

"We left food on the table, and a Labrador in the living room. What do you think is happening?" Dar said. "It's a puppy buffet."

"Ew." Kerry' s nose wrinkled. "Dar, she'll get sick." With a groan, she rolled away from the center of the bed and started to climb out, only to be captured and pulled back into a tangle of arms and legs. "Dar!"

"Shh." Dar wrapped her up in the covers and snuggled back down. "Relax. She'll be fine. It's just soup."

Kerry heard distinct sounds of slurping. "She's going to make a mess."

"She's got a tongue, she'll clean it up."

A laugh started to work its way through Kerry's chest. "Honey...c'mon." She tried to untangle herself. "That's fine for my soup, but yours had clams in it. She'll be chewing them for days."

Dar refused to let go. "Chino! What are you doing, you bad girl!" She turned her head and lifted her voice, projecting it into the next room. "Stop that!"

She was rewarded by the clatter of toenails, and shortly thereafter a Labrador jaw was resting on the edge of the waterbed, innocent brown eyes gazing at her adoringly. "Chino. What were you doing?"

Their dog's ears cocked, and she tilted her head to one side in question.

"Very nice." Kerry sprawled over Dar's body and removed a noodle from their pet's black nose. "But you are so busted."

"Gruff." Chino licked her fingers happily, sneezing after a moment and ejecting a piece of clam onto the blankets under Dar's nose.

Dar observed the particle briefly, and then sighed. "Guess we better lock up the chow, huh?"