As the morning sun's rays of light filtered in through the windows, Noble rushed by her husband with her handbag tucked under one arm.
"I love you! I will see you after work!" She kissed him on the top of his head as he sat at the table finishing breakfast.
Swallowing his cereal, Fort raised one eyebrow. "Where are you going?"
"The Orphanage. Opal mentioned that they might finally try to give the dormitory areas a fresh coat of paint. The government supplied the paint months ago, but not the manpower. I thought it would be nice if they had an extra pair of hands." Noble smiled at her husband.
"But you have never painted a room, have you?" The man squinted as if sizing up his wife.
"There is no time like the present to learn. How hard can it be? And if I fail, I will offer to watch the little ones while someone else does the hard work." Noble shrugged off her husband's concern, which only made his grin grow.
"You don't think watching children is hard work? That explains why you have been at the orphanage almost every day for the past two weeks." Fort shook his head in disbelief.
The change in his wife was striking. Although Noble still had her moments, it was like the sun had finally come out from behind the clouds.
The beautiful Awakened had found a purpose again beyond mourning, and Fort was pretty sure he knew what had caused the change.
After all, Noble talked about it almost nonstop.
"They will have to start paying you soon if you spend so much time there," the man teased.
"I don't think they are hiring. And anyway, today is my last day going there, most likely. I am not sure how much free time I will have soon." Noble bit her lip.
Fort stopped midchew and cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?" His words came out slushy as he tried not to lose any food from his mouth.
"We can talk about that tonight." The woman's eyes swirled. "Right now I have to go." Noble turned quickly and floated to the door, not bothering to step with only her husband to watch her.
"Not so fast." Fort's words forced Noble to stop in her tracks. She had nearly made it to the door.
Noble pressed her lips together. "Hm?" She said innocently.
Fort rose from the table and took his coat off the hook. "I am coming with you."
"You want to be my bodyguard?" A wry smile formed on Noble's face. When he had gone two weeks prior, she had gone along to protect him. With her being an Awakened and him a mundane human, the reverse would never be true when it came to physical safety.
"Think of me more as a painting partner," Fort answered with a wink. "One of us needs to know what they are doing, or that place will end up a total mess."
"Don't you have work?" Noble frowned.
"I was already planning to take the day off to spend with you. I have quite a bit of extra time built up, and this seemed a good time to take advantage of it. I thought I told you." Fort scratched his chin.
"Maybe you did?" Noble was unsure. They had been talking and laughing a lot more lately, but she couldn't recall the conversation. "I would be honored for you to come with me. Maybe your presence will be enough for the little miss to say 'boo' at last."
Fort knew exactly what 'little miss' Noble was talking about. The child who had toured the facility with them had yet to say a word to Noble despite her now frequent visits.
"I would hate to be the one to break that spell." Fort opened the door. They headed out onto the quiet street.
"Are you kidding? If you get her to speak, I would be so happy I could kiss you." Noble nodded.
"You know you can do that anyway." Fort wrapped his arm around his wife's waist.
"Good point," Noble kissed her husband quickly, but he pulled her closer, refusing to release her from his embrace.
"Fort, the neighbors!" Noble blushed, glancing around.
"What? They know we are married, don't they?" Fort chuckled as he continued to trap her in his arms. "You must not hate my attention too much, your Awakened body is far stronger than mine. It wouldn't take much for you to break my arm."
"Don't tempt me," she smirked and pecked him on the cheek.
With a sigh, Fort let go and took the woman's hand instead. They moved along in companionable silence. The world somehow seemed brighter than it had. Perhaps it was the clouds. They did not promise rain, but refracted the sun and set the entire sky aglow.
But it was more than that. Noble couldn't put her finger on it, but there was a lightness in her spirit that had been missing for a long time.
Orphanage 113 looked exactly as Fort remembered it, but the sight of the building no longer filled him with dread. He hesitated to name what emotion he was feeling just now.
Noble knocked once before the door flew open.
"Always right on time," Opal greeted Noble before her smile faded slightly. "Inspector Fort. I was not expecting you. We do not have an assessment today, do we? I was not informed!"
"I am here today purely on a humanitarian mission. I was told you might need some help painting?" Fort smiled, realizing he probably should have given the facilitator at least a little warning.
Fortunately, Opal did not question his motive. "Come on in. Someone has been waiting most anxiously for you to arrive. She will be extra excited to see you both."
The woman had barely gotten the words out when a little girl came barreling past her to wrap her arms around Noble's skirt.
"Hey, honey," Noble hugged the child warmly.
"Are you calling her honey now?" Fort patted the child on the head while faking a pout at his wife.
"Not normally. It just came out." Noble flushed.
"I see you snuck away from your room again, little one. I really must have a word with my staff. This is getting out of hand." Opal clicked her tongue, but she did not actually seem angry. Tucking her datapad under her left arm, she took the child's hand and moved to return the girl to her group. "Excuse me. I will be right back."
"If you don't mind, and it isn't against the rules…could she keep us company while we paint? I assume there will be staff also painting. The only reason I ask is that she is likely to find a way to watch us either way, and it is better to know where she is than to wonder." Noble smiled weakly.
It was a rather tenuous excuse, though her concern was genuine. Of all the children that Noble had served over the last couple of weeks, this dark-haired angel was by far her favorite.
'What are you doing? You came to say goodbye!' Noble chided her own foolishness. Spending so much time around the little girl would surely only make things harder at the end of the day.
The facilitator frowned. "I don't think…" Opal's datapad chimed, stopping her mid-thought. She looked down at the screen and her frown faded. She looked at Fort. "Are you certain?"
He gave a short nod.
"Very well, I do not mind if she accompanies you today. Let me check to make sure where the paint is stored." Opal shrugged, releasing the little girl who promptly jumped into Noble's arms.
The Awakened eagerly picked her up. "What did you do?" she asked Fort with both eyebrows raised.
"What do you mean?" Fort's grin belied his innocent tone.
"I know whatever just happened was because of you. So what did you do?" Noble pressed.
"I just convinced her that it would be alright," Fort winked.
The floating Awakened wanted to know exactly what he had done to get such a result. Perhaps she could find out later. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet," Fort told her cryptically. A smile broke across his face, "You haven't seen my painting yet."