“You’re good at this,” he tells her. “Do you work on commission?”

At first he thinks the joke doesn’t land, but when he glances up again to meet her eyes in the mirror, she’s grinning. Just quiet, then. That’s alright. Peter can work with that. Peter’s favorite person in Wellington these days is quiet, too.

Thinking about Balthazar isn’t safe, though.

Peter and Balthazar before and after the events of LLL, and the long processes of learning a little self-reflection and communication.

2021 note Lovely exploration of how Peter and Balthazar’s relationship develops over the course of the series.