Sao awoke from a perfectly normal dream in which his teeth were falling out and he was dressed like a clown in public. He loosened his grip on the quilt and sat up to find himself in Marsh’s guest room. The sun was high and white, the sky ashy, and the snow was coming down thick. He remembered Rai calling him a taxi around the time the sun had just started to rise. Sao stumbled into the house just as Marsh was heading out. He’d asked without acrimony if Sao would be staying for the weekend.

It was Saturday. An official day of leave, outside any bearing of Rai’s.

Sao could have hopped on the first bus back to Mainline and spent the next two days catching up on his naps. But instead, he had told Marsh he was staying one more day, because he couldn’t possibly miss the brunch.

Sao addressed the state of his face in the bathroom, then boiled himself some water for tea in Marsh’s chrome-marble kitchen. Sitting on one of the stools by the kitchen island, he watched the snow piling up on the lawn. He thought of tracks disappearing in a blizzard, dark halls with tall windows, Triad camouflaged in the abyss of black and white - and Rai’s third, nameless, faceless suspect. Tinsel and Jin’s possible accomplice. Both had said they didn’t have many friends.

He went to the living room and began to feel rather friendless himself as he studied the photos Marsh kept on the mantel.

When his tea was nearly finished, Skogul came down the stairs, her long slim fingers concealing a yawn. Her hair, even more majestic in its uncombed state, streamed behind her like wings. “Morning.”

It was almost noon. “Good morning. I was wondering, how long has Marsh been who he is today?”

She swayed over to the photo gallery. “Ten years, give or take a few. You see this one?” She straightened the frame containing a teenage Marsh in spectacles and another young man with long hair and a cap. The two were posed, grinning, in front of a wooden totem pole. "In this shot, he’s the one with the hat.” She smiled. “The original Marsh was a good friend of his. There was an accident during a hiking trip and our boy came back as, well, Marsh. I know how it sounds - but it was a real accident, the friend slipped and his his head. And he said he couldn’t bear to leave the true Marsh’s family hanging.”

“And left behind his own?”

“He wasn’t very attached to them; they had never been close. He was following the guidelines at the time: only adopt a life that wouldn’t be missed.”

“I suppose that was to his benefit when he made the switch.” Sao reevaluated the two in the photo. Another friend lost. There seemed such a shortage of good ones, but he counted Marsh among them. “If he was following the guidelines, I assume he was already part of our family, when he made the change?”

“Which made his shift to Marsh a violation of code, it’s true.” Skogul straightened the rest of the pictures, with some tenderness. “I petitioned for him. I was the one that found him in the first place. He was perfectly capable of switching identities; just a little staged amnesia from the hiking trip and they’d take him and everyone’s happy. He and his buddy were enrolled in the same college courses already, so that meant he got to finish a degree in the boy’s name too. For both of them, really. Plus, he had known him since they were kids.” She smiled. “The boss has a crater sized soft spot for that kind of story.”

A spot not unlike her own. But then, for Skogul, human relations - the drama and catharsis of it all - were a true specialty. She enjoyed gossip, she loved to hear who was seeing who and where and when, but it was a gathering of knowledge and not just gleeful voyeurism. She could always take that step back, and her judgment remained clear. Sao was unsure about their boss at times. But a beast like their boss didn’t have to play safe.

Stepping back, Skogul pulled her satin robe closer to her skin. “Is the heating on? It’s freezing down here.”

“Sorry.” Sao. “I’ll be heading out soon for the Valentine’s event at the Alumni House.”

Her fingers flew to her lips. “Oh god, I overslept. Marsh asked me to meet him there - and as you can probably guess, he’s always early. Give me ten minutes to make myself presentable.”

“Gilding the lily,” Sao sang. Skogul floated back up the stairs, laughing.

Sao washed his cup and thought of making something for himself to eat, an egg maybe, before heading out. The problem was, he was lazy. Gluttonous and lazy, but mediocre on both counts. Not gluttonous enough to fry himself an egg, and not lazy enough to admit he’d rather spend his Saturdays in bed.

She took fifteen minutes precisely to finish preparations upstairs. It took six more minutes to pull on, lace and buckle her thigh-high boots. The snowfall lightened a little by the time they stepped out on the pavement, and they could raise their heads and pull down their scarves to talk.

Skogul asked him about Rai and the job, and Sao told her about the trio at the police station and their attempted collusion. She got a kick out of it, as he thought she would, but she became appropriately serious when the topic of Triad’s mysterious third visitor arose.

“And the professor’s still missing. Rai would have told me if he was found.” It was getting late in the day, too. “I somehow hope he is still inside that building, or at least somewhere warm. There are blizzards forecasted for the next few days.”

Skogul nodded, loosening some hair that she had stuffed into the wide fur-lined brim of her coat. “Marsh and I tried to learn a little bit more about Triad during the lunch meet yesterday. Colleagues said he started becoming withdrawn about a year ago, after coming back from a trip to one of his hospitals. It was in Plateau, I think? I’ve only seen pictures - it’s Highland cattle country. After that one wrapped, he sent one of his trusted students to finish up a project in Arena, but then there were no more plans. The others in his department thought that was unusual. He always had projects lined up.”

“Triad told us several times himself that his prognosis was not good.” Sao let Skogul brush off the snow that had been building on his shoulders. “But he was still physically capable when we last saw him. The unknown intruder wouldn’t have been able to force him to go anywhere, even if he was unconscious. The man was three heads taller than I am. I mean, he is." Sao shivered. “Perhaps he just fled into some room we didn’t check. Or there’s a back door we aren’t aware of.”

“A ground floor window?”

The tall mullioned panes of the ground floor didn’t open more than a few inches but, Sao reasoned, vents, chutes and hidden tunnels weren't out of the question. Murnau had been a warlord’s keep, at one time.

They had reached the campus. They passed through the main arch entrance on the east side, and found the Row lights were on, a welcome surprise, and couples were taking the opportunity to take photographs in the scant daylight.

“So, how are you doing?” Skogul asked.

“I’m hungry, I suppose.” Sao grinned. “You always ask me, so how about this. How are you doing?

“Fabulously, as you can see.” More hair flew free from the hood; it could never be contained for long. “Marsh is waiting for us, let’s pick up the pace.”

“How long are you planning to stay with him?”

“Not much longer now. I think he’s about ready to strike out on his own. We just need to come up with a story… that’s the hardest part. I need him to know that I’m still on call if he ever needs me. Let him hear that, if he goes to you for advice, will you?”

A pack of male students passed them, clearing the path for her but letting their looks linger a little too long and low for comfort. Sao slowed briefly to stand behind her until the group moved on. “Rai thought he was going to propose to you yesterday when you left for lunch.”

She laughed, a pleasantly warm chime in the cold. “It would have been flattering, but Marsh is too professional for that.” She smiled with freshly colored lips. “Tell Rai he’s a sweet one.”

And Sao laughed too.