#kaylou

These are only for romantic pairings, not platonic.

The ships in the polls are the twelve (12) most popular ships for each character based on the number of fics on AO3.

F.A.Q.

Me reading these two on their date:

In the evening after their rest Lou and Kay were back at the Inquisition in Ivo Martin’s waiting area when Morgan Parker joined them.

“Good evening, Mademoiselle Parker,” Lou said.

“Morgan,” Kay nodded to her.

“Good evening, Kay, Mademoiselle Reed,” she greeted them.

All three Psionics were in their Assistant Corps uniforms. Morgan sat down across from the partners who sat right next to each other, casually touching. They were looking at something on Kay’s phone, Lou leaned towards him. Morgan looked on awkwardly. They didn’t speak out loud, but it was obvious that they were communicating. At one point Lou touched Kay’s hand and then pointed at the phone, Kay in turn nodded very slightly. A bit later Kay gently nudged Lou’s knee with his own and she squinted at the screen, then shook her head once.

“What are you two looking at?” Parker asked, unable to take the silence any longer.

The partners looked up from the phone in one motion as if they were a single person.

“A layout of the venue,” Lou lied.

“Haven’t you been there before?” Morgan asked.

“Of course, we’re just reviewing it,” Lou told her.

Morgan looked at Lou and then Kay, the partners were silent. She didn’t know Lou well enough to know if she was lying or not and Kay’s face was completely neutral. Moreover, Morgan knew that Kay was a damn good liar when he wanted to be, without touching him, he could fool even her.

“Do you know what the deal is with this prisoner is?” She asked.

“Of course,” they said together.

Morgan waited for more information, but they stayed quiet again. “I see,” she said rolling her eyes.

Then they heard the elevator ding, announcing the arrival of someone, who turned out to be Mark Joncière.

“Reed, Stone,” he greeted the partners informally. Then he looked at the third person in the room. “Good evening, Mademoiselle Parker.”

“Monsieur Joncière,” Morgan nodded to him.

“Monsieur,” Kay tipped his head to the Inquisitor.

“Hi, Mark,” Lou said as looked up at him, oblivious to Morgan’s stare.

Mark sat down with the Psionics and looked at the partners. “Have you spoken to the Prior yet?”

“Yes, briefly,” Kay said.

“Good,” Mark nodded in approval. “Who’s on there with him now?”

“Hector,” Lou told him.

“Good, good. Parker, do you understand why you are here?” Mark asked her, in a harsher tone than the one he’d just used with Lou and Kay.

“Yes, sir, I believe so,” she answered.

“Not the most confident answer,” Mark grumbled.

“Oh, be nice, Mark,” Lou said, not even looking at him. She and Kay were focused on the phone again.

Joncière made a slight face at her, Kay smirked without looking up, Lou was unbothered.

Morgan couldn’t believe what she was witnessing. This new girlfriend of Kay’s was talking to an Inquisitor like she was his equal or maybe more like a friend?

Joncière made no comment on Lou’s scolding. “Is that the information the Prior gave you that you two are studying so intently?”

“It is,” Lou said.

“Good,” Mark nodded again.

Lou looked up from Kay’s phone at Joncière, then she leaned over the empath towards Mark.

“If I didn’t know any better, Mark, I’d say you’re nervous,” she smirked at him.

The Inquisitor sat a bit taller in his chair. “I don’t get nervous, Reed,” he was indignant.

Lou titled her head.

“Whatever you say, Mark,” then she leaned back so she wasn’t so far over Kay’s lap.

Mark squinted at her. “I feel like I should be asking you that, Reed.”

“If I’m nervous? Why would I be nervous, that bastard is getting what he deserves,” Lou spat with bitterness.

Kay turned quickly and looked at her with surprise, having felt the sharp surge of emotions flow through her. Mark look at her with concern and even Morgan was surprised by Lou’s words.

“What?” Lou looked at each of them, but had trouble maintaining eye contact with Kay, who looked very concerned.

“Trust me when I say that you don’t want to go around wishing for people’s deaths, Reed,” Mark said. “Moreover, it isn’t your place to say who deserves death and who doesn’t.”

Lou wrinkled up her nose. “Isn’t that exactly what you do? What the Prior does?”

“Yes, Inquisitors can make suggestions based the laws and the Prior decides if what a person has done is something worth being executed for, but it’s our job, not yours. It’s our burden to bear, not yours. Don’t darken your soul with such things,” Mark said.

Lou looked at him thoughtfully.

“Besides, look what you’ve done to Stone,” Mark told her.

Lou’s eyes shifted to Kay and then away, looking in the opposite direction. She didn’t need to look at him to know how concerned and worried her words had made him.

“See you know what you’ve done to him, if you won’t even look at him,” Mark chuckled.

“You’re awfully concerned about my soul there, Mark,” Lou said, redirecting the conversation.

“You’re young, Reed. Don’t blacked your soul so soon, pace yourself,” Mark smiled.

Lou scoffed, then chuckled, shaking her head at the Inquisitor, who smirked at her.

“You’re such a bastard, Mark,” Lou said.

“I’m aware, Reed,” he replied.

A smiled passed between the two. Kay was unbothered, but Morgan thought it was strange.

Then they heard a door open, Mark, Lou and Kay stood up right away, Morgan followed. The Prior and Hector Baretti walked out of the office and into the waiting area.

“Good evening, everyone,” Ivo Martin said.

“Good evening, Monsieur Prior,” the four of them said.

“Do all of you understand your assignments?” Martin asked.

“Yes, Monsieur Prior,” they answered.

“Good, let’s go,” The Prior said.

Once they were at the execution stage The Prior and the Psionics waited while there were final security checks. After they were done The Prior, his escort of Psionics and Mark Joncière walked out onto the stage. The Prior sat in a chair to the left of the gallows, Morgan stood on his left and two steps behind, Kay and Lou on his right, two one step in front, this way the group of them were angled towards the crowd. They stood tall, with their feet shoulder width apart, hands tucked behind their backs. Kay and Lou stood so close together their were almost touching, much to Morgan’s annoyance.

There was already a large crowd that has come to watch the execution. The two empaths used their Psi to search the emotions for trouble while Lou’s eyes did the same. Morgan noticed that occasionally Lou would tap Kay with her elbow, one to four times, and Kay would respond by shifting his weight from one foot to the other, sometimes right to left and sometimes left to right. Morgan deduced that they had some sort of code between them, and couldn’t help be feel jealous again.

Morgan was right, Kay and Lou did have a code. The information The Prior had given them earlier that they were studying together on Kay’s phone wasn’t the layout as Lou had said, but was pictures of people suspected of being involved with the attempted assassination of Mark Joncière or known to be outspoken against The Prior. Lou’s job was to look for their faces in the crowd, and alert Kay. Stone’s job was to “sniff” for trouble, but also double check who Lou alerted him to. So far there had been no confirmed sightings of any suspects.

As soon as the scheduled time came, Joncière stood at a podium and spoke about the laws and the reasons society must follow them, as with every execution. After that the prisoner was brought out, and then Mark spoke about his crimes specifically. The crowd grumbled a bit at some of the crimes, but when Joncière spoke about the 19 year old that he had killed there was a quiet gasp, and the crowd was less favorable toward him after that. Once that was done The Prior stood and ordered the guards to put the noose on the prisoner.

“Any last words?” The Prior asked.

The prisoner looked out into the crowd and nodded slightly. Then he turned to face Lou and Kay, made eye contact with Lou, and said: “You’re next.”

Lou and Kay didn’t react to his words outwardly, but inside Lou’s heart beat faster. She refused to show any fear to this monster who had kill Vincent Cane, and tried to kill her and Mark. So she stared at him stoically even as Martin called for the execution and the trap door fell out from beneath his feet. The sickening sound of his neck snapping didn’t even make Lou flinch. As he hung there lifeless Lou looked out into the crowd where he had looked and she spotted a face from the suspect list. She nudged Kay twice, which was code for which part of the crowd she wanted him to look in. Kay looked in the area indicated shifted left to right to say he didn’t see anything, Lou nudged him again, then he saw: Councilor Harmon. Kay leaned down and whispered in the Prior’s ear telling him who was in the crowd. Martin didn’t look but he gave Kay a subtle nod. Kay then stepped close to Morgan and reached his hand out to her, she took his hand and felt concern.

“Stay with the Prior,” he whispered slowly.

Morgan was confused, but she squeezed his hand to show she understood and Kay let go to step back to Lou.

Kay touched Lou’s elbow and tapped it slowly three times.

“Go,” he whispered in her ear.

Lou moved first, walking quickly across the stage, Kay followed. When they got close to the edge of the stage their target started to retreat. Lou broke into a run, slid off the stage, and hit the ground running. Kay stayed in The stage and calmed the crowd who had become startled.

“Kay?” Morgan took a step towards him, wanting to help him.

“Stay with the Prior!” Stone yelled without looking at her. She stepped back and kept close to Martin, a couple of Baretti’s men were there too.

Meanwhile Lou had caught up to Councilor Harmon, but he pulled a gun on her. Lou held her hands up in front of her as if she was showing him that she had no weapons, but really she was preparing to use her Psi. As soon as the gun had come out, Kay was off the stage and running to get to Lou and the councilor.

“Take it easy, Councilor,” Lou said calmly.

“Stay away from me!” He yelled at her, still pointing his gun at her. “What do you want? Why are you attacking me?”

Lou known he was trying to make it sound like she was the dangerous one. She could see Kay coming towards her, she wasn’t going to take any risks until her partner was there to back her up.

“I’m not going to hurt you, we just need to talk,” she told him.

“I don’t even know you, why would we need to talk?” He said.

“Not me, The Prior,” Lou corrected.

“This is not how The Prior asked for an audience, you are trying to trick me!” He spat his words.

Behind the councilor, Lou could now see Kay poised with his gun raised. She was glad because she was already sick of his bullshit.

“It is when you’re pointing a gun at people,” she said.

“You came at me! I’m defending myself!”

“Hmm,” Lou leaned out slightly to see around him. “Isn’t bringing a gun to a public execution illegal, Acolyte Stone?”

“Yes, Initiate Reed, it is,” Kay said in a stern voice.

“Huh, well, I’m sure that if you come and talk to The Prior something can be worked out,” Lou said.

The way that the councilor looked at her made her think that he was considering shooting her.

“I don’t recommend pulling that trigger,” She told him. “You see, my partner there is really fast, and whereas he probably won’t kill you, even though he easily could, he would probably just wound you and then you’ll still get taken in, they’ll interrogate you, and then that,” she gestured to the dead man still dangling from the noose. “Is your fate.”

The councilor looked at the gallows and then lowered his gun. Lou reached out for the weapon which he put in her hand. Kay came close, he took the gun from Lou and then she handcuffed the councilor; only then did Kay holster his own gun. Then the partners both took ahold of the councilor’s elbows and led him out of the crowd and back to The Prior. Then The Prior and the whole group left and went back to the Inquisition.

Barerri’s men took the councilor and the Psionics went with Hector, Mark, and The Prior back to his office. In the waiting area Martin turned to them.

“Lou, Kay, you did excellent. I’m very happy with your performance today,” he said.

“Thank you, Monsieur Prior,” they said.

Then he and Joncière went into his office.

Hector Baretti turned to the Psionics.

“Stone, Reed, sit down,” he wasn’t looking at them, he was staring at Morgan.

Lou and Kay sat down with their backs to Hector and Morgan and stayed quiet. Kay pulled out his phone and together they reviewed the footage from the crowd at the execution looking for when Councilor Harmon first showed up.

“Follower Parker,” he was clearly unhappy. “Did you or did you not understand your assignment?”

“Yes, sir, I did,” she told him.

“Did you?” Hector growled. “Because it looked to me like Stone told you to stay put and yet you stepped away from The Prior towards Stone and he had to tell you AGAIN to stay put.”

Lou leaned on Kay slightly, finding it uncomfortable to listen to Baretti berate someone else.

“Yes, sir, that is what happened,” Parker stood tall as the head of security questioned her angrily. “I was concerned that Stone might need-”

“Your only concern was The Prior!” Hector nearly yelled. “What was your exact assignment?”

Lou shifted uncomfortably in her seat, Kay took her hand and squeezed it.

“To guard The Prior no matter what,” she told him.

“No matter what,” Baretti repeated. “And yet your attention shifted to Stone even after he gave you a direct order.”

“Yes, sir,” she admitted.

“If this is the way you carry out assignments I can assure you that you’ll get no more from this office,” Baretti continued.

“I deeply apologize, sir, but I assure you that it was a brief lapse in judgment and it won’t happen again,” Morgan said.

“That is yet to be seen, I will be telling your chaplain about this,” Hector said, calmer now.

“Yes, sir, I am prepared to fully accept any and all consequences for my actions.”

“Good, now go sit,” he gestured towards the chairs. “The Prior wants to speak with you all and then after that you will be free to go.” With that he left and went into The Prior’s office.

Morgan had sat down across from Lou and Kay, who still studying Kay’s phone. Parker sighed, the situation was just like before the execution, only now Morgan felt even more awkward. As she watched the partners Lou nearly jumped with excitement, grabbed Kay’s hand and pointed at the screen.

“Good eyes,” Kay said proudly.

After that Lou looked up at Morgan, who averted her eyes. Lou was kinda surprised that Kay stayed quiet.

“Are you alright?” Lou asked.

Morgan looked up at her surprised and confused.

Lou smiled. “I’ve been on the receiving end of many of Hector’s lectures.”

“Recently even,” Kay said with a straight face and without looking up from his phone.

Lou turned her head and squinted at him, Kay still didn’t look at her, but the smirk on his face said he felt his girlfriend’s stare.

“Recently even,” Lou repeated his words with playful annoyance, still staring at him. Then she cleared her throat and turned back to Morgan. “Anyway, my point is that I know how it feels. And if it makes you feel better, Hector is always like that. I’m pretty sure he enjoys lecturing people.”

Morgan’s eyes shifted to Kay.

“Well, not Monsieur Perfect, over here,” Lou jabbed her thumb at him.

Kay smirked again, but said nothing.

“Don’t let Hector get you down, though,” Lou said to Morgan. “I appreciated your help.”

Morgan stared at Lou as if she was trying to read her just by looking. Lou smirked and held her hand out to shake. Morgan took it slowly and was surprised when the gratitude was real.

Kay seemed to stiffen next to Lou he was watching the surveillance video of Morgan’s step away from Martin over and over, she nudged him with her elbow.

“Why are you still watching that?” Lou asked him, her voice almost scolding.

Kay turned off the video, put his phone away and smiled at Lou.

Morgan shifted uncomfortably. “You’ve been awfully quiet,” she said to Kay.

He turned to look at her. “I don’t have anything to say.”

“Bullshit,” Morgan fired back at him.

Kay looked her for a moment before speaking. “You really want to hear what I think?”

“Yes, I do,” Morgan insisted.

Lou watched the exchange with some surprise. She was also slightly confused by his silence.

“It was careless,” Kay said. “And you should know better.”

Morgan squinted at him. “Well, maybe if I had been in on the whole plan I wouldn’t have done it.”

“What you were allowed to know wasn’t up to us,” Kay told her. “And it shouldn’t matter, your job was to remain by The Prior at all times.”

“It was one little step, Kay,” Morgan said, annoyed.

“One little step is all it takes, Morgan!” Kay didn’t raise his voice, but it became harsh. “One step is all it takes for there to be enough space for a bullet to get passed you and into The Prior. The whole point of you being there was so that Lou and I could leave The Prior’s side if necessary and there would still be someone to protect him.”

Lou put her hand on Kay’s arm, trying to pass her calm onto him. He sighed and put his hand over Lou’s and turned to smile at her.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

Morgan sighed. “Fine. You’re right, it was stupid.”

That’s when Mark came out of the office and told them that The Prior was ready for them and then he left. The three Psionics walked into Ivo Martin’s office and up to his desk.

“Lou, Kay, please sit,” he gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk.

The partners sat, The Prior made no acknowledgment of Morgan at all. She stood tall in between the two chairs.

“I am very pleased with how you two handled the situation,” Martin told them. “You defused things quickly so that no one was hurt. You also sent a very clear message that I am well protected. You both can expect bonuses.”

“Thank you, sir,” they both said.

“As for you,” Martin looked up at Morgan. “Monsieur Baretti told me that he already talked to you and he believes that you understand your mistake.”

“Yes, Monsieur Prior, I do,” she said.

“Good, I won’t lecture you again then,” Martin said. “I do have a question though.”

“Yes, sir?” Morgan said.

“For Lou and Kay,” The Prior clarified.

“Yes, sir?” The partners said.

Martin looked at his bodyguards for a second. “Would you two work with Mademoiselle Parker again?”

There was a slight pause.

“Yes, Monsieur Martin, I would.”

Morgan was surprised that it was Lou who spoke first. Martin looked at Kay.

“Yes, sir,” Kay said. “I would.”

“Why?” Martin asked.

“She clearly understands that she made a mistake,” Lou spoke first again. “And we’ve all had those,” she cleared her throat, “momentary lapses in judgment.”

The very corners of The Prior’s mouth turned up, understanding that Lou was talking about herself.

“And if you hadn’t given me the benefit of the doubt, you might not be sitting there right now,” Lou finished.

Martin gave one soft chuckle. “A very compelling argument, Lou.” He then looked at Kay. “Do you have anything to add?”

“I agree with Lou,” Kay said.

“But do you agree with her simply because she’s your partner,” Hector said, looking at the pair of them as if to add the word “girlfriend” silently. “Or do you have an opinion of your own?”

“The truth is, Monsieur Baretti,” Kay said. “If there had been a threat to The Prior, Follower Parker would have felt it, and that small movement is unlikely to have prevented her from protecting him. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a mistake because it was, her only concern should have been The Prior. It could also be said that if she had been privy to the whole plan she wouldn’t have moved at all.”

Hector looked like he was about to speak, but Kay didn’t stop.

“And I’m sure you can agree, Monsieur Baretti that a bodyguard needs all the information in order to protect his charge effectively,” Kay finished.

Baretti said nothing, but gave a slight nod. The Prior had a tiny smile on his face.

“Thank you both for your opinions, you two are free to go, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Martin said.

Then the two of them got up and left the office, leaving Morgan alone with Martin and Baretti.

Kay and Lou went back to Kay’s apartment, had a snack while they filled out their reports, and then crawled into bed. Curled up in their favorite spooning sleeping position, Lou couldn’t settled her mind, Kay gave her some time without butting into her thoughts. But after awhile she seemed to become restless, Kay placed a kiss on her neck. Lou turned to look at him over her shoulder and smiled when she saw the happy look on his face.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked.

“Talk about what?”

“Whatever it is that’s keeping you awake,” he said.

Lou sighed. “I’m just having trouble turning off my brain. Just thinking about the whole evening.”

He kissed her shoulder. “You know what I’d say.”

Lou smiled. “‘Talking about it will help’?”

“That’s right,” he said, smiling.

Lou rolled over so that she was facing him. “Why are you so harsh with Morgan?”

That wasn’t what Kay expected, he paused for a moment.

“Was I harsh?” He asked.

“Yeah, you kinda were,” she confirmed. “Would you have talked to me like that if I had done it?”

“You wouldn’t have done it,” he countered.

Lou sighed, again he was right. “If I had made a careless mistake would you talk to me like that?”

“No,” Kay said honestly. “But if you made a mistake like that I would think that there was something more to it.”

“Like what?”

“Like an old trauma or a serious lack of sleep,” he said.

“So why doesn’t Morgan get such consideration? Because she’s your ex?”

Kay sighed. “No, love. It’s because I know why she did it.”

Lou titled her head. “Why?”

“Because she was more concerned about me than she was about doing her job.”

“Are you sure that’s why?” Lou asked.

“I felt her concern, that’s how I knew she’d moved,” he told her.

That made Lou think about something else.

“It was her you felt this afternoon when we were leaving the AC, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Kay stroked her face gently. “I felt her jealousy when we were kissing.”

“Oh, no wonder you looked so confused.”Lou sighed. “You can’t be mad at her for still loving you, Kay.”

“I’m not, but regardless of how she feels about me or anyone else, she needs to do her job,” Kay explained.

Lou looked at him for a bit, considering his words. Kay was quiet for a little while, letting her think.

“The whole point of having her there was so that you and I could leave Martin and there would still be an empath to protect him,” Kay told her.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Lou said, running her fingers through his hair. “But you were still harsh.”

Kay sighed. “The reason Morgan was reassigned was because she protected me instead of the cardinal she was supposed to be protecting.”

“Oh, shit,” Lou’s eyes went wide. “Did he survive?”

“Yes, it was just a flesh wound, but needless to say he was mad,” Kay said.

“But you said that she was reassigned for the same reason that you broke up with her,” Lou said.

“Yes, because that was the last straw. She has proved to me that she had lost sight of her priorities. And that she didn’t trust me, she didn’t trust that I could handle myself in those situations.”

“If she hadn’t protected you would you have died?” Lou asked quietly.

“No, I probably would have taken a hit, but not life threatening,” he said.

Lou was quiet again, Kay stroked her face while she thought.

“You were still harsh with her,” She said again.

“I was upset,” he admitted. “And yes, I was harsh. If it will make you feel better I’ll apologize to her.”

“You should apologize,” Lou said. “But not to make me feel better, you should only apologize if it’s for her, and you.”

Kay sighed happily, smiled at her, and then touched her cheek tenderly. “Just when I think there is no way I could love you more, you go and prove me wrong.”

“You have no idea how frequently I feel that same way about you,” she smiled at him.

Kay leaned in and kissed her, enjoying the sweetness of her lips for a moment before releasing her.

“You’ve been very kind to Morgan,” Kay said. “Not many women would be like that with their boyfriend’s ex.”

“You mean they’re more likely to flash their gun at them?” She teased.

Kay looked guilty for a moment until Lou smiled and then chuckled.

Then Lou looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, I have no reason to worry about you going back to her, so to me she’s just another person who loves you.”

Kay touched her face, tracing an invisible line from right near her eye, down her cheek, and along her jaw. He looked at her with such happiness and such love, that is was sometimes hard for her to hold eye contact with him.

“You are so wonderful,” he said lovingly.

“I know,” she teased him.

Kay chuckled and then kissed her soft and slow.

“That wasn’t the only thing keeping you awake though, was it?” Kay asked after releasing her lips.

He felt the shift in her emotions before she could say anything. She was clearly upset, but she emotions were so meddled that even Kay couldn’t make sense of them. She wasn’t looking at him anymore. her face was serious.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

Kay held her a little tighter. “Of what, sunshine?”

He felt her getting more upset. “Of going to sleep. I’m afraid I’ll see it all over again and if it isn’t bad enough sometimes it’s you I see.”

She was more upset with each sentence, Kay didn’t shush her, he just held her tighter, tucking his head down against her neck and shoulder.

“Or Kiddo, or Jonas, Tom, Irma, Dogan, my mom, even Rebecca. I’ve seen them all dead just like Cane, I don’t want to see it anymore,” she said, her voice shaken.

“I know, love, I know,” he said, nuzzling against her neck.

“I just want it to go away,” she said, stroking his hair.

“I know, I understand. I wish I could make it go away for you,” he squeezed her gently.

“Why won’t it go away?” She said, close to tears.

“You been through a traumatic event, you saw a something that was violent, bloody, and disturbing. Your brain is still trying to process it, it will take time.”

“I don’t want it to take time, I want it to go away,” she hugged him tighter.

“I know, sunshine, I know,” he said.

She had ended up on her back, Kay snuggled against her shoulder the way she loved. She stroked his hair with one hand and her other arm was wrapped around his neck. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her tightly, he placed an occasional kiss on her neck or shoulder. They laid like for awhile, enjoying touching each other, if anyone could have seen them they probably would have thought that she was comforting him.

“I could help you go to sleep by influencing you, it might prevent you from dreaming,” Kay told her.

Lou pushed him away slightly so she could look at him.

“I can’t guarantee that you won’t dream, but it might work,” he said.

“But I don’t want to hurt yourself,” she said.

“Don’t resist, and I’ll be fine,” he reassured her.

Lou paused thinking about it. “Well okay, just please be careful.”

Kay smiled. “I promise.”

Lou kissed his forehead.

“Close your eyes, relax, feel how tired you are,” Kay spoke softly.

Lou felt him in her soul, like it was when he shared his feelings with her, but this time there was something else that she could only describe as pressure. It made her want to push back.

“Shhh, relax, don’t resist,” came Kay’s voice in her ear. “It’s just me, relax and trust me, sunshine.”

Lou felt safe with him, she relaxed and instead of pushing back, she embraced him; surrendering completely. Then she fell asleep. Kay felt the sharp pain behind his eyes just before she drifted off. As soon as she was asleep he stopped influencing her. He grabbed tissues and wiped the blood off of his face, thankfully there wasn’t much. Then he snuggled back down against Lou’s shoulder.