Well, after what-three years?-I am back with a random update for this perpetually ongoing project. I always think I've wrapped it up, and then I come back and read through it and love how it's a tangible demonstration of my progress as a rider, and I end up coming up with yet another blurb about my two favorite lovebirds. So, I won't say expect regular updates with my writing, but I would at least be on the lookout for new things periodically. I'm done with school forever and my writing bug is back, baby!

To any new readers, welcome! To any older readers, by god you have amazing patience for still putting up with me-thank you!

This starts with one thing and ends on a completely different topic, but it's where they took me, so I rolled with it. Comments are always welcome!

Paton's heart pounded in his chest, his legs carrying him across the wooded path at a steady clip. His breathing was even despite his rapid pace, feet pounding out a regimented tempo as they crunched the desiccated leaves scattered across the earth. Left right left right left. His mind was blissfully blank as he ran, these fleeting moments of sheer physical exertion some of the only periods of calm available to him.

The days were short now, late sunrises partnering with early sunsets to cast the city into the cool shadow of night for nearly fourteen hours. For Paton, the extra hours of darkness offered sanctuary, a dark blanket with which he could cloak himself from the scrutiny of the uninitiated. He could venture out late in the afternoon, when the waning sun sat low and heavy on the horizon, and make his way into the world on the mere promise of the night to come.

His habits had shifted dramatically since the fall of the Bloors and Lyell's return—much more confident and in markedly greater control of his powers, he spent a great deal more time outside than he ever had previously. It helped, too, that Julia was decidedly diurnal except in cases where he intervened, and so his habits had undergone a marked shift upon the official commencement of their cohabitation.

His breath came in deep gasps, heavy and even and accompanied by a white whuff of fog upon each exhalation. It was a cool evening, even for late October, and the sweat beading on his arms and face left him shivering slightly as the cool wind jumped and danced about him.

He might allow himself freer reign during the day now, but it was still the night that held his allegiance.

It was one of his favorite times to run, that heady late afternoon interface between the sunset and pure darkness, the last, lonely traces of sunlight streaking orange against the indigo sky. He lived for that intoxicating moment in which one sat poised on the cusp of nightfall, straddling the boundary between clear, sparkling daylight and the shroud of night.

His trail veered left, over a makeshift earthen bridge scattered with decomposing leaves. Paton pressed onward, breathing deeply through his nose, inhaling the crisp autumn air with every gulp of air he took. He loved nothing more than to take in the earthy aroma of the woods, the rich scent of decaying leaves and static-laced air a heady cocktail of odors. He could catch the faintest trace of a bonfire in the distance, smoke trailing up above the trees in a thin lonely curl.

The trail he ran was one that cut through the woods alongside town, overshadowed by towering trees. This late in the autumn, their leaves were a brilliant, fiery collage, a tumultuous mixture oranges and reds and yellows of every shade. Tall though he was, the looming vegetation overpowered him in its majesty, those ancient oaks and hawthorns, the gleaming rowans and birches, immense in their jeweled splendor.

Borne by the brisk wind, their leaves rained from their limbs and tumbled through the air, whirling in complex loops across the earthen path. They coiled and twisted about Paton, buffeting his torso and skipping between his legs in a wild dance. He raced them, the fiery colors stark against the black of his jogging pants as he loped along the creek.

Lost in his mind as he was, Paton's steady stride faltered somewhat as he rounded the corner and was faced by the sprawling horizon of lights of the city beyond. It was with no small amount of regret that he followed the curve of the trail toward the fluorescent and neon metropolis beyond, the twinkling lights of the city in the looming horizon taunting him with every glimmer against the night.

Darkness had truly fallen now, the harvest moon rising to the left, a spectacular array of stars sparkling into existence behind it. One by one, they sat themselves in the night sky, each another bright pinprick of light until the artificial electric cacophony ahead was nearly eclipsed. For just a moment, he could pretend the lights of the city did not exist, could ignore the sprawling metropolitan mass and lose himself in the smattering of stars beyond.

A colony of bats rose from the trees behind Paton, darting off into the night in a fleeting black cloud, screeching its defiance to the heavens. Paton smiled, his teeth glimmering in the moonlight, and inclined his head toward their retreating forms.

Gradually, the path beneath his feet passed from worn earth to gravel to asphalt, and he crossed from the boundary of the forest to the narrow city streets. He let his pace slow as he neared the looming shadow of the cathedral, loping run fading to a brisk jog and finally a swift walk. Breathing heavily as his body caught up to the reduced speed, he followed the asphalt to the cobbled square before the cathedral, pausing to gaze at the darkened structure that towered before him.

The shadowy stones were rough in the shining moonlight, caught between the clear white beams from above and the warm, welcoming glow that emanated from the front window of the bookshop behind him. Paton stood with his back to the shop for a long while, just staring up at the majestic building before him. He had a lot of memories built into this square, both in the cathedral itself and in the building behind.

Eventually he couldn't ignore the goosebumps that rippled across his pale flesh, his drying sweat clammy against the late autumn wind. Shivering, he turned and crossed the square in a few quick steps, fishing a key out from beneath the mat and unlocking the heavy oak door.

He pocketed the key, having placed it there prior to his run, and locked the door behind him. Though the hour was not yet late, he knew Julia would likely be sequestered in the back room, reading and willfully oblivious to the world beyond. He envied her at times, her ability to turn off whatever part of her mind dedicated itself to worry; even when he was immersed in his research—or on a very rare occasion, a good novel—he could never completely shut himself down. Smiling softly, he crossed through the silent shop and slipped behind the counter, climbing the stairs to their bedroom in a few long strides, doing his best not to intrude on Julia's quiet time.

His sweaty shirt he cast off into the basket by the door, loosening the tie of his sweats as he crossed the room to his dresser. Sifting through the drawers, he fished out a pair of dark plaid flannel pants and a black thermal shirt, laying both articles across his forearm as he turned stepped around the bed toward the bathroom.

"How was your run?" A pair of slender arms slipped around his waist, and he just about jumped out of his skin.

"Julia!" he exclaimed warmly, turning in her grasp to look down at her smiling, upturned face. "I thought you were downstairs, my dear." He would never admit it, but he was deeply impressed at her silent approach. Years of lurking on the verge of obscurity had granted him an innate awareness of his surroundings, yet here in his own home this beautiful marvel of a woman had crept up on him without second thought.

Julia laughed, a bright sound that rang throughout the room; she knew full and well what was going through his mind. "And what if that was what I wanted you to think?" she teased, mouth quirking into a teasing smile. "It's so rare that I see you outside of your typical dress, all rumpled and out of sorts—I thought I would take advantage of the situation." Her eyebrow quirked upward and she let one hand play with the waistband of his black jogging sweats.

Paton was suddenly quite reminded of his rather uncharacteristic state of undress. He chuckled, shivering slightly at her touch. "You, of all people, have that luxury far more than most," he replied, running one long-fingered hand along the arm still wrapped about his waist.

"And yet, not enough," she returned, eyes scanning his bared torso in an appraising manner. The moonlight shone through their bedroom window, causing his pale skin to gleam with an otherworldly radiance. Always pale, his ivory skin glowed in the ethereal light pouring into the room. Julia hugged him tightly, uncaring as to the cold sweat that had yet to dry, resting her cheek on his chest. "My sweaty vampire," she laughed, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to his heart.

He blushed, the faint tinge of pink in his cheeks and the accelerated beat of his pulse just making her giggle harder. "Vampire? I'll thank you to take that back—just because I choose not to spend much time out and about during the day doesn't mean I can't."

Julia chortled. "You're pale as can be with or without sunlight, and you can't deny your nocturnal tendencies. Throw in that red wine you love so much and you're a classic vampire, love."

He smirked and twisted in her arms, and suddenly the dynamic shifted. He caught her hands in his, bringing his mouth down to her neck. "Vampire, am I?" he questioned, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to the long tendon of her neck. "Well then…"

Julia let out a breathy moan as he nibbled a line from behind her ear to down along her collarbone, gripping his arms tightly so as not to fall. "Paton," his name was the barest exhale, and she shuddered in his arms as he bit down lightly at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

She could feel him smile against her skin. "Yes, my dear?"

"You are incorrigible." She extricated herself from him slightly, putting a bit of space between their bodies before she—or he—completely lost control. His heart was fluttering rapidly beneath the hand she rested on his ribcage, his breathing rapid and shallow. Hers was not much better, her heart beating rapidly, her face flushed and her hair mussed.

She grinned slightly and stroked her thumb across his ribcage, marveling as he shuddered beneath her touch. That she could bring such a stoic, reserved, sophisticated man to the point of incoherency was a heady awareness she had yet to realize, even after nearly a year of marriage and more than triple that of knowing him. Taking mercy on him, she slid her hand down his arm to curl her palm around his, lacing their fingers tightly together.

"You're also freezing," she added pointedly, swinging their conjoined hands toward the tell-tale goosebumps that were breaking out across his bared skin. "And a bit…earthy," she reached up to pluck a stray leaf from his black hair, smoothing her hands over the sable strands.

"Well, I was headed to the shower," Paton said lightly, leaning into her caress before raising his eyebrows and giving her a wounded glance, "before someone accosted me on my way there."

Julia only laughed, shooing him through the open door. "Go on, then," she directed. Her honeyed eyes were warm as she met his heated eyes. "I'll be waiting when you get out."

Lips quirking, Paton cocked his head slightly and closed the door behind him. "I'm counting on it," he said, the wood between them doing little to mask the promise in his voice.

As the water turned on in the background, Julia hummed a quiet little tune and rested her shoulder on the window frame, watching the moon creep ever higher in the dark sky. She had grown up on the sunlight, had based her life around the blue skies and bright, golden rays and the heady promise of sleep offered by the dark. But here, in the home she and Paton had built within the realm of her previous life, she had also come to appreciate the night and all of the opportunities it offered.

Paton had unlocked a new world for her, had drawn her into his embrace, taken her out of her comfortable dynamic and passed into the realm moonlight walks along darkened city streets, candlelit feasts and midnight waltzes across the polished wood floor of the shop. She still had her days, and he his nights; but now, day in and day out, they also shared.

And, as she heard the shower turn off and the bathroom door slide open, Julia smiled a small, secretive smile and knew in her heart that this night—one among many and yet so very unique—belonged solely to them.