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eyes. “Every lady needs a hobby.”
    He laughed and rolled with her until they were on the edge of the bed. “I would be delighted to be your hobby.”
    “I will consider this your application, but now, I do need a shower and some breakfast. I might be able to drink some caf this morning without you warming it up.”
    He leaned in until his lips were touching her ear. “I look forward to warming up whatever you need whenever you need it.”
    She shivered, and for once in her life, cold was not a factor.
     
    After her shower, she put on a tank top and flippy skirt with some sandals. Now that she knew that skin exposure cut down on how cold those around her got, she was willing to sacrifice dignity for cotton.
    When she entered the common space, Devnin looked up from the plates he was piling.
    He blinked. “I thought you needed that other fabric.”
    She smiled. “Not today. If my temperature changes, I will go and change. For now, I feel normal, so I want to look normal.”
    Rowen came in wearing a bodysuit and her belt. “I know that feeling, but if you are an Irudan woman, you need to dress like one. Pleska would be happy to take you shopping if it will injure Devnin’s masculinity.”
    She rubbed her neck. “I can’t go shopping. I can’t pay.”
    Rowen grabbed a cup of caf and walked around Devnin to fill her own plate. “You have an account as a Guardian. Yesterday’s assignment should have earned you enough for a decent wardrobe. Skorin should have set up your account if Devnin didn’t.”
    Devnin walked around the kitchen, and he set the plates down at the table. “It slipped my mind.”
    Rox headed for the table, and she sat next to him in the chair he held out. The fabric of the seat was cool against her thighs and she rethought her skirt length.
    “Did you want to go shopping today? I could arrange it?”
    Pleska came around the corner. “Did someone say shopping?”
    Rox sipped at her cup and lifted her head. “I need Irudan clothing, but I need it made out of thermally reactive fabrics. I don’t think that can be arranged in one day.”
    Rowen laughed. “You haven’t met my mother-in-law. I will call her once I have finished breakfast and ask her to get in touch with the research division with the file for uniform requirements that came with you.”
    “I came with a file?”
    Devnin nodded. “We all do. We all begin with a file, and then, we see what we can make of ourselves. My suits are thermally resistant, so I know that there are fabrics out there that can do the job.”
    “We can probably use the same fabric.”
    He blinked. “There is a point. Both of our fabrics are designed to contain and modify heat. You could probably go to my designer for your work uniform.”
    “Does he or she design for women?”
    “I will make a call.”
    “Lots of calls going on on my behalf. I like it. Step one, fix the money.”
    Skorin came in on that note. “I started the account last night. I should be able to finish it in a few minutes and get you a payment chit to wear with you at all times. It will be rigged to your biometrics, so you will be able to authorize it in a number of ways.”
    Uadon was the final arrival, and he didn’t talk in the morning. He overfilled a platter and put it in front of him, going to work on it with aggressive determination.
    Breakfast at the Guardian base was silent, and aside from the stabbing of breakfast foods, completely peaceful.
    Rowen bumped into her while reaching for the carafe of caf, and she commented. “You are so much warmer than you were yesterday.”
    Devnin puffed up proudly.
    Rox sighed, “I got some heat therapy last night and this morning. If I am lucky, it might just change my baseline temperature into the normal range.”
    Devnin put his hand over hers. “There will be adaptation on both our parts. I feel delightfully cool myself this morning. No hour under the shower to drop my temperature.”
    Rox blinked. She hadn’t realised that Devnin