Had a nice length of a chapter the last one, nice for a short one. Sorry that battles and fighting may be absent for a bit here. Got some personal things going on in my life that is causing me to project what I`m about about to do for the next few chapters into this story. Only a few people know what is going on (and depending on their level of understanding of me, may understand WHY it`s being handled in this fashion). Anyone who does know, please keep it private, don`t leave any comments that would reveal what`s been happening.
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Shadow is relieved for the end of the day being here and happy to have Maria back in the condo where it`s safe. She still has her injuries to take care of so she goes into the bathroom to dress them and to get ready for bed. Knowing she will be in there for a while, Shadow pulls out a book from his messenger bag and heads for the living room.

He sits down on the couch and drops his bag on the floor. For a moment, he looks at the cover of the book. It`s a red book with a picture of a couple holding hands. The title reads "Courtship." It`s supposed to have information on the courtship of humans, so Shadow feels that it would perhaps give him some help in figuring out what to do. He repositions himself on the couch, laying across it on his back in a lazy fashion. Opening to the first chapter and Shadow begins to read.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Maria has her scrapings all cleaned up. None of them are bad enough to need any bandages so she leaves them as is. There is a bruise on her hip but nothing can be done about it except wait for it to heal itself. She brushes her teeth, brushes out her hair and washes her face, doing the last of the bathroom needs. Finally, Maria changes into her night clothes, which is still using one of Shadow`s button up, white shirts.

She leaves the bathroom and carries her clothes into the bedroom. She tosses them into the laundry basket and turns to the bed. But her smile drops seeing that Shadow isn`t in the bed. Then her smile comes back, knowing where he is. Maria grabs the blanket off of the bed, wraps it around herself at the shoulders and heads into the living room, with the blanket dragging across the floor behind her.

Shadow hears the soft sound of fabric rubbing together and looks over to the entrance of the living room. Standing there is Maria, who is looking straight at him with the blanket draped over her shoulders. She bears a tired smile on her face. Shadow automatically knows what she wants.

Wanting to keep the subject he`s reading on a secret from her (as in his mind, it would show weakness and his lack of knowledge in something basic), Shadow tilts his hand back and allows the book to slide from his hand and drop on the floor. It falls front cover down so Maria can`t read what the book is on. Luckily, she has seen him read books before so reading is a normal behaviour of his so she won`t feel the need to prod.

Now that the book evidence has been taken care of, Shadow motions to Maria with his hand for her to come over. Maria`s smile increases in happiness and she comes over to Shadow and the couch. She climbs on top of Shadow, trying to be careful in how she does it. Shadow patiently waits until she gets herself settled. In the meantime, he holds his arms up somewhat, keeping them out of the way. She settles down, laying on top of Shadow on the couch. She pulls up on the blanket she has brought with her and covers herself (as well as Shadow since he`s beneath her) well. With a happy smile on her face, Maria settles herself down completely, snuggling her head into Shadow`s chest. With that, Shadow brings his arms back down, lightly hugging Maria. He tilts his head down, looking at the golden haired girl on top of him.

Maria snuggles herself a little more into Shadow, with both of her hands delicately grasping his shirt. She lets out a soft sigh. At this, Shadow closes his eyes, going into deep thought again. He will wait a bit before he continues reading the book again as he wants to be sure that she is asleep. He is sure he could get through most of that book, if not all of it, tonight. He doesn`t need sleep so he could pull it off.

Shadow rolls his head over to the side lazily and looks down at the book laying on the floor for a moment or two. Then he leans his head back against the arm of the couch. Thinking of what he has read so far in that book, he wonders, how could those chapters be applied to his situation? He looks down at Maria sleeping on top of him. Then his embrace on her tightens a little as he internally states that even though this will take time and work, she is worth it.

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