"Yeah." He nodded down the hall toward his door. "That one right at the end, if you, uh--" He stumbled, hurriedly discarding want and need before settling on "--if anything comes up. Desk'll ring you through if you call down there, too."

Here he halted, caught between saying "Good night" and a terrible, unreasoning sense that when Kit went on up the stairs she'd once again vanish from his life without a trace. However he might tell himself it would probably be for the best if she did, the thought was already enough to inspire something akin to panic. Not good, not good at all.

"See you tomorrow, then," he said at last, awkwardly. But he found he could summon up a smile, if an uncertain one. They'd been friends once, he and Kit--there had to be something left of that, if they could just get past the other thing enough to find it. If that's what they were going to do. Should do.

Christ, he needed a drink.