AN: They're still in the dressing room... :P

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

-...-...-...-

He continued to stare for a few more seconds, no doubt in search of an appropriately witty comeback. "Bravo, Lizzie."

She smirked back at him through the mirror, still awaiting his decision. Zipper or crop?

"Alright, you've made your point. I don't really need the crop for my outfit."

"Turn around, Red. Elbows on the wall."

He chuckled, quite certain that she was joking.

"It seems I haven't made my point at all. Turn around, and I'll show you."

He licked his lips and lifted his chin before doing as she asked, making sure she knew that he was still very much enjoying her little game - whatever it was.

Without further ado, she delivered three heavy-handed whacks to his ass in sucession. It wasn't so bad. He was still wearing his pants, after all. "Now, do you see my point?"

He shrugged and shook his head.

"That's okay. You will." She put the crop between her teeth and reached around him with both hands to undo his belt and pull down his pants, but not his boxers.

He groaned in frustration when she stepped back without so much as even touching him where he needed it. The next lash was just as hard as the first three. He turned his head to look at her, but kept his elbows on the wall as ordered.

Liz smiled back at him brightly.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" He asked, still a bit surprised.

"Yes, darling. Now, pull up your pants. We're done." She could practically hear the wheels still churning in his head, so she added, "That is the point, that I enjoy this side too. When you buy this, don't automatically assume that you'll always be the one wielding it in the bedroom."

A sudden knock on the door made them both jump, startled. "Raymond?"

"Yes, Dembe?" he replied, trying to adjust himself into the least uncomfortable position in his trousers.

"The clerk and store owner are debating what you all are doing in here. You're louder than you think."

A blush rapidly crept up Liz's cheeks, but Red just licked his lips and chuckled at her.

"Here, take my card... and our purchases too." Red passed the card over the door, along with their items, including the crop. "Ringing these up should take a minute or two. We'll just slip out while you have them occupied. Thank you... Oh, wait! One sec." He turned towards Liz. "Do you want that dress or not?"

"Eh... Not really, but I had my eye on a long, hooded red cape. It's on a mannequin by the window. You can't miss it. Could you grab that for me too?"

"Of course. I'll meet you at the car."

"Thank you," both replied in unison.

-...-...-...-

The drive from Asheville to the Pineland Craft School took twice as long as the flight from DC. By the time they arrived, Liz was exhausted and woefully sober. If she happened to trip and fall along the way, she felt certain that she'd never get up again.

But still.

Curiosity reigned king. She very much wanted to see the mountain of man meat, and Red was all too eager to show her.

Night had fallen, mooting the beautiful scenery as he'd described it. From a large water fountain in the center of campus, sidewalks stretched out in all directions, illuminated only by miniature solar-powered lights, each leading to separate buildings that varied in size. An ariel view would resemble a child's crude drawing of the sun.

As soon as they parked, Red jumped out to open Liz's door for her. "Leave your things in the car. I have to get the key to the treehouse from Yuri, anyway."

"Since when do treehouses have keys? And what does that have to do with us?"

"I could tell you right now, but that would rob you of the satisfaction of seeing it for yourself first."

She rolled her eyes. "And rob you of the satisfaction of making me squirm."

"See, I knew you'd understand." He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against his side while they walked.

As they were about to enter the largest building, she stopped at the door. "Wait, does my hair look okay?" The unusual question threw Red off for a moment, but she'd been touching her hair all day, and by feel alone, she still didn't have a mental framework for how it appeared to others.

He gave her a quick peck on the lips. "It's a perfect mess, sweetheart."

"What?"

"Like you intentionally made all the little pieces go in all different directions. It's better than 'good.'"

"Except I didn't do that. You did."

"And it's perfect. Come on," he cajoled, pulling her through the door.

The stillness of the Carolina night belied the bustling activity within the studio, which looked more like a warehouse or a Hollywood film set. She squinted against the bright lighting and searched the open space for her installation in progress, but to no avail. "Uh, where is it?"

"It's everywhere."

Honestly, why does she still bother to ask questions?

A very thin man who bore a striking resemblance to her ex-husband split off from the crowd and approached. "Raymond! It's so great to see you! Well, the rest of you, anyway."

Huh?

The men embraced, and then Red stepped back and nodded towards her. "I'd like you to meet Olivia Shore, the beautiful face behind the super schlong."

"Hello." She scowled at Red and offered her hand to shake Yuri's, but the man grabbed it, brought it to his lips, and kissed her knuckles instead.

"Enchanté."

Barf.

She chanced a quick look at Red's face, not sure if he'd be pissed off or amused, but he gave no indication either way. "Show us what you've got so far," he said.

"Sure. Follow me."

They circumnavigated the enormous studio, proving that what Red had said was true. It was everywhere. As they walked, Yuri offered information about the creative process. Liz tried to forget her immediate dislike for the man. Being kissed on the hand by a scrawny version of Tom was far more preferable than watching Red's ambiguous female associates kiss him on the lips. She'd seen enough of that.

"Right now, we're still in the early stages of construction, so none of the pieces are recognizable as what they really are. With both hardware and software that I developed myself, I scanned the mold and uploaded it as a 3D image. Then, I used several algorithms to scale it and calculate the weight and materials necessary to make the structure not only stable, but truly safe, and also broken down into five separate pieces to be welded together on-site. What you see now is essentially the 'skeleton'. Am I boring you guys yet?"

Liz shook her head. "Not at all. Keep talking. I need to learn as much as I can. No doubt people will have questions. I should have answers."

"Right! Of course. Okay so, the really hard part, no pun intended, will be the exterior. We're using a combination of recycled rubber from tires, silicone, and fiberglass. Inside the skeleton, you'll have the huge barrels of foam, compressed air, and the powerhead to catapult the successful climbers' victory shots into the air."

"This software you've developed, is it like something an architect would use?" Liz asked. "Is it available for use by other artists?"

"Yes, it's like that, but no, it's not ready for any manner of distribution. Not yet. I haven't even decided on a name for it."

She flashed her most charming smile. "Would you mind if we join your team tomorrow while you work on it? I'd like to be involved in whatever capacity that I can."

Yuri looked at Red, obviously deferring to his judgement. Red, in turn, first smirked at her and then turned his gaze back to Yuri with a smack of his lips. "We'd love that. Livi is the most curiously hands-on agent that I've ever met."

She narrowed her eyes at him and sighed.

"Of course, that's no problem. Come and watch. Come and learn. Come and do, you know, whatever you want, whenever you want."

"Thank you."

With a squeeze of her hand, Red gaged the extent of her ever-shortening fuse and offered a small, genuine smile. "Thank you for your help - your whole team. If you'll please excuse us, we'd like to go ahead and get settled in for the night."

"Oh! Right, you still need the key. Hang tight. I'll be right back."

While they watched him walk away, Red wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back against his chest as he whispered directly into her ear, "I don't want you to think that I didn't love your hair before, because I absolutely did, but would you like to know my favorite thing about this look?"

Her breath hitched a little - an adequate answer to his question, he supposed.

He gently nipped her neck and hissed, "Access..."

"Mmhm... Don't forget that your own neck is still vulnerable." She spun a 180 and used her thumb to caress the tiny scar over his right carotid pulse. Her eyes twinkled with the fondness of nostalgia.

"Sweetheart, there are a number of memories that I'd never want to live without. If I forget that one, you have permission shoot me."

"Can I get that in writing?"

As he opened his mouth to spout what she could only assume was a witty retort, Yuri called out to them, "Got it!" His voice echoed throughout the resonant studio. "We've made a few changes since the last time you were here." He dropped the key into Red's outstretched palm.

"Changes for me?"

He shrugged. "More like because of you. Just little things. We replaced the chandelier with an embedded ceiling light, nailed the bed to the floor, and installed smoke alarms. You'll have to either disable it or smoke outside on the deck."

There was certainly a story attached to that - one that Liz didn't want to hear.

He couldn't help laughing. "Wait a second. I replaced that chandelier!"

"I'm sorry," she began, nonplussed. "Are we talking about a treehouse?"

"Well, it was the greatest treehouse ever," Red pouted, feigning disappointment.

"And we'll be sleeping there?"

"That... is entirely up to you."

It usually is.

"Well then, please lead the way."