[Chiefest among the cruelties that Niles had visited on Myr through his attack on L was that loss of easy communication between them. That--more than the fingers that were absent when he reached for them--had made him feel he was Bonded to a ghost and driven him nearest despair in those first days after the attack.

L's inexorable progress to bridge that gap has mended much of that despondency. Yes, things had been--would be--still were difficult as the detective adapted to his reduced circumstances, and Myr's own experience with sudden disability could be a stumbling block as often as it was an aid in understanding what L was going through, but so long as they could freely talk, Myr did not feel those difficulties so keenly. They could make it through, as a team.

His ears lift at the sound of his Bonded's voice not in them but between them; he savors the timbre of it a moment, simply glad (in that way fauns delight in the immediate pleasures of the Now) to be hearing it.]

There's a carnival in town! [He announces, after he's had his moment.] They've come sailing in from Maker-knows-where and brought all kinds of wonders with them.

[He has, as they've been talking, made his way to the kitchen table and begun offloading breakfast. Some kind of custard topped with fruit preserves, eggs poached in syrup, and an oddly ethereal blob of aspic are laid out in short order.]

There's even a sort of Monster with 'em we don't have here in Aefenglom. [The Bond's all but vibrating with his excitement over the whole thing--

So maybe L will catch his next question before he asks it, expression turned suddenly appealing:]

Come out with me to it tonight?