The group split off gradually as they climbed toward the higher floors, Ben and Aunt Lucy peeling away first with a promise to return for dinner, and Killian pausing at his own door long enough to accept the small stack of supplies Penelope pressed into his hands.
"Your share," she said. "Ben insisted on the antiseptic again."
"He's persistent," Killian said, though something warm sat beneath the dry observation.
"He cares about you." Penelope lingered a moment longer than strictly necessary, the same easy comfort that had settled between them over weeks of shared coffee and quiet conversation. "I'll see you at dinner? Aunt Mary's going to want the whole floor there tonight, given everything that happened today."
"I'll be there," Killian said, and something in the simple certainty of it made Penelope smile before she turned to continue up toward her own floor, Persephone's hand still loosely linked with hers.
