Out of the Pan and into...

If he hadn't been uncomfortable before he really was now. Blue and lavender eyes caught sight of her moments before she uttered his name. Rhyme couldn't help the flutter in his heart, but sober he was able to hide it better. Mostly he felt pain when he looked at her, pain because he knew what couldn't be. She looked at him blankly, and he tried to mirror the emotion. Rhyme was an expert at hiding pain.

"Shaye," the last time he had spoken her name he had followed with drunken kisses, now he couldn't be near as sure in his actions as he had been then. "I was worried about you," He managed to say, sure that those words might be safe as he spoke slowly. He wished he could decipher how she felt. Shaye held no clue in her facial features, but he could tell from the imperfections in her fur that she felt just as stressed as he did.