"I'm just about ready to hurt someone," Marianna says as she sits down on one of the couches at Club Calypso.

"As long as you don't end up hurting yourself or our babies," Alan says, putting an arm around her and pulling her close.

"Shh, don't want anyone to know! We're going to be fine. I just wish... Daniela's starting to get on my nerves again. She's so thrilled that I got her out of trouble with the Feds, and she's back to her old tricks."

"I heard she's been torturing that botanist in town for the Science & Gourmet Food Festival."

"Oh, yes, she's having a special flower made for Coli, for their one-month anniversary. My stupid sister- when is she going to realize she's straight? This thing with Coli, it's just a growth thing for Daniela, there's really nothing behind it. Poor Coli's going to be crushed when Dani dumps her."

"Are you sure? Are you sure Daniela's just experimenting?" Alan glances at the dance floor, dominated of course by the Dancin' Queen herself, Ms. Daniela DeSka. She seems to be as tall as Alan with her thirteen-inch platforms (silver, with gold buckles and rhinestones set around the seams), and fairly towers over Coli. They appear to be as much in love as any couple their age could be, which is probably enough to sleep together, but not enough to get married.

"I'm not sure of anything right now," Mari sighs. Just then, Polly walks up to them and glares silently. "Hi, Polly-wog. You're still mad about Marina, aren't you?"

"I'm mad about everything," she says, still glaring.

"Well, hey. You can't stop life, right?"

"Why isn't he in jail yet?" She jerks her head at Alan. "And what about Marina? Why won't Inda let her come back?"

"Oh, Polly... what say we all go home and have a nice long talk?" Marianna looks pleadingly at Pollythene and Alan, and even tries to stand up before Alan jumps up to help her.

"Why're you doing that?" Polly asks crossly. "She can get up. She's been pregnant before- and on her own- and I turned out just fine."

"Polly, I think we need to talk." Marianna is trying her damndest right now not to snap at either her daughter or her over-cautious husband. "In private."

"Why in private? What do you have to say that you can't say to everyone here?!" she shouts, causing the entire Club population to stop, shut up, and look over curiously. Marianna shoots a glare of her own, covering the entire room before settling on Polly. The Club nervously returns to its own business.

"Young lady, there are some things about my life and other peoples' lives that you don't know about yet, and that other people have no right knowing," she says through clenched teeth. "If you would stop acting like a teenager for half a minute and actually listen to me, maybe you'd find out some of these things and the reason we need privacy to tell them." Marianna turns fast enough to spin her hair out behind her, and walks past the bar into the kitchen.

"Not my fault she's in a bad mood now," says Pollythene. Alan just runs after Mari. "Well, fine, ignore me. See if I care..." Polly stalks back to the juice bar, where she is still experiencing a lack of customers since Marina's departure.

Back in the kitchen, Dream is trying to avoid cooking any meat. So far, she's substituted tofu for chicken in soup, and veggie burgers for hamburgers. But now she's received an order for steak, and there's no getting around it. Steak substitutes just aren't available- especially since the customer wants it cooked rare. Unfortunately, the vegetarian elf has no idea of how to cook meat, and as Mari tries to move through the kitchen directly to the basement stairs, Dream accosts her.

"Dream, I really don't have time right now-"

"Mari, this is your Club. I'm not getting paid for this, and quite frankly don't much care whether this guy gets his dead cow or not. But he is a paying customer, and I recommend that you HELP ME!!"

"Alan?" she asks, looking close to tears and trying desperately to escape to the apartment.

"I've got it, don't worry. You go lie down." Marianna goes as quickly as she can, down the stairs and into the apartment. Alan turns to the steak, throws it on the grill, and leans up against a counter to wait. "So, Dream... where's the difficulty in that?"

"It's a dead animal."

"True. Do you need any help with anything else?"

"Maybe. It's hard to cook, I never had to before. I hardly ever eat at home. It's sort of hard to cook in an elm, and the forest doesn't much like fires and such." The corner of her mouth twitches in a sort of grin. "I've always eaten here."

"Me, too. At least, since I've been here. I've lived other places, of course. I had to cook a bit while I was in Pennsylvania, but the other places usually had a similar bar or pub or cafe where I could get most of my meals."

"Hard to imagine that there could be anywhere like Club Calypso."

"Or like Layla:)," he nods in agreement. "This place is very special. For one thing, it's always felt like home to me. Even if I were to go back to where I was born... nothing feels like home as much as here. I get the feeling that I've known everyone forever, but that's impossible."

"Maybe... you know everyone... in an alternate Universe. Like my double from that Star Trek Universe- well, maybe it was the future or something- and Uly's double, and the doubles of a few people I remember from high school... they all were on that ship. What's the chances of them knowing each other, and all of the people in our Universe knowing each other? You can't just say we're meant to be grouped together- because I don't think fate works like that, cross-Universe."

"That's a lot to think about..."

"Basically what I'm saying is, maybe your double was on the Infinity, or connected to it, but nobody from our Universe ever met him."

"Maybe connected to it. I like to think my double has his own ship!"

"Umm... is the steak supposed to smell like that?"

"Burning flesh? Yeah... how was this supposed to be cooked, anyway?"

Dream glances at the order before replying. "Rare."

"Dammit, I overcooked it. Is there an order up there for medium-well?" Dream nods no. "Oh, well. Maybe I'll take dinner downstairs. Let's throw on a veggie burger for Mari, too."

"I'll bring it down when it's done," Dream offers. "I'm hardly getting any orders back here except for the most starving people. I guess they all heard I was cooking tonight." She laughs at her own inability in the kitchen. "And I'm starting to go crazy, staring at my reflection in all these shiny metal surfaces."

"Ah, yes, Marianna's amazing, all-metal kitchen. I wonder whatever possessed her. I think I'll take you up on that offer though. I should be with her. Just... throw the steak on a plate for now, and keep it on the warming shelf above the stove. It'll be alright until the burger finishes cooking. Remember, she likes it plain, no condiments, no bun-"

"I know. Go," she quietly urges him. Finally, he obliges. Funny, Dream thinks. It's almost as if he's afraid to go talk to her.

Downstairs in the basement apartment, Marianna has been (pleasantly) surprised by UPChuck, seated at the kitchenette counter and leafing through a bridal magazine.

"Hi, Marianna," he says, looking up from the magazine. "What do you think of this one?" He shows her a fairy-tale wedding dress, dripping with fancy hand-embroidery and tiny pearls.

"Are those rhinestones in there?" she asks, staring at the sparkles that seem to leap off the page at her.

"Diamonds."

"Wow. Very nice, but white really isn't your color."

"What do you mean, white isn't my color? Anyone can wear white- it's like denim. Universal clothing color."

Marianna is laughing, and when she catches her breath she smiles gratefully at him. "Thanks, UPChuck! I hardly ever get to laugh like that anymore. It's been so long since I got a chance to talk to you, do you realize that?"

"I knew my life had been extraordinarily peaceful lately!"

"Love you, too." She sits down on the couch and puts her feet on the coffee table. "It's a nice dress, but don't you think it's a little expensive?"

"I get the second half of my inheritance when I get married. Price is not a factor."

"Cripes, UPChuck, how much are you gonna be worth?"

"Why? Changing your mind about who you want to marry?"

"No, never!"

"Alright then. The house is worth about a million, the cars about half a mil... stocks are in the twenty millions right now. I'd have to ask my broker to be sure-"

"I didn't know you had stocks," interrupts Mari.

"Other investments... a casino in Vegas, for instance, and a major league baseball team... those are worth about a billion. Then there's the real estate. All told, about a billion and a half."

"I hate you."

"I can't help it. I was a dutiful nephew. And I promised to get married."

"I hate you." At that moment, Alan walks in. "Hey, babe," she greets him.

"I didn't know you were down here, UPChuck. Keeping my girl occupied?"

"Something like that."

"After he gets married, he's gonna be worth a billion and a half," reports Marianna, using a jealous, little-girl voice that no-one's heard from her in years. She swallows hard, forcing the voice back into the depths of her soul, and resumes speaking with her normal voice. "Not that money matters or anything."

"I'm worth two bil," Alan says quietly, and at first, Marianna isn't sure she heard him right."Uh... 'scuse me? Did you just say what I thought you said?"

"Lots of money in killing people," he says, voice still low, and eyes on the ground. "Saved a lot, in foreign bank accounts. Figured I might want to quit someday, and I'd need the money available. The Swiss don't question anything if it means you're putting money into their banks."

"Okay, I'm not dealing with this right now. Just write me a book of all your secrets, and I'll read it when I'm in the mood."

UPChuck glances at Mari, then at Alan, then at the door at the top of the stairs. He chooses the stairs without hesitation, pausing only to collect his magazine before running up to join Dream in the kitchen.

"Polly didn't follow us down?" Marianna asks Alan.

"No, I think she went back to the juice bar. Dream's going to bring down dinner for us, okay?"

"Yep. You know, Polly's right."

"About which?"

"I don't need to be babied because I'm pregnant. I told you, we'll all be just fine."

"You're not going to stop me from worrying."

"I've done this before!" Mari has screwed her face up in impatience, and Alan looks just as ready to argue as she is.

"But not with these complications!"

"I'm the mother- can't you trust me?" He falls silent, looking at her with a puppy-dog expression that is terribly hard to resist. She reaches out to him. "I don't like fighting... please just trust me with my own body."

"It all matters so much," he murmurs into her hair, a few strands of pink hair catching in the corner of his mouth. "The babies matter so much, you matter so much... you're my entire life, Marianna. I can't let anything happen to you."

"I know, I know," she soothes. "There's an old Beach Boys song..." o/Don't worry baby, everything will turn out all right, don't worry baby o/ she sings softly.

"Such a beautiful voice... you should sing more." As is inevitable when they are together, he starts kissing her neck. She squirms and tries to continue the conversation.

"It's hard to sing. I haven't much the mood for it. I should sing... babies can hear, even before they're born. It's supposed to be good for their development and IQ if you play music- like if we put headphones on my belly. We could play some Mozart into there and they'd come out geniuses."

"They've gotta be at least as smart as you. You're perfect, y'know that?" Alan starts biting her neck.

"Yeah, I'm a goddess," laughs Marianna. "And I have the ability to make vampires fall madly in love with me..."

"I thought that was because you're a Sorceress." She moves him away from her neck and teasingly traces his lower lip with her tongue.

"That too." Words lose any meaning, and they fall into each other yet again.

Dream is just pulling Marianna's veggie burger off the grill when UPChuck comes bounding up the stairs.

"Oh! I forgot you were down there," she says as she notices the door opening.

"Thanks."

"Oh, come on. How's Mari?"

"Fine. Arguing with Alan again. They'll be making out pretty soon. Hey, why don't we ever do that?" UPChuck says as if it's just occurred to him.

"Just occurred to you my foot... oh, no..." Dream backs into a sink as UPChuck advances, eyes glinting evilly. "Don't do it... this soap is turning into a cheesy romance novel."

"Nothing wrong with cheesy romance novels," he says as he reaches her. She protests weakly, but can't stop him from covering her with kisses. "This would be a good scene for one of those novels. All-metal kitchen, elf girl, billionaire human..."

"Oh, just perfect."

"Now all we gotta do is get rid of these clothes."

"Uly, in case you hadn't noticed-" she is cut off temporarily as his roving lips meet hers- "we are in a kitchen. One that is in use right now. By lots of waitresses, who at any minute could walk in."

"Nah, they're not coming in anytime soon." UPChuck runs his hand down Dream's side and stops at her thigh, wrapping one arm around her there, and the other around her waist. He lifts her and carries her into a storage room. "But just in case..."

"In the broom closet?" she moans, wondering how she could be letting this happen.

"Why not? Adds to the cheesy romance novel aspect."

"Did you say billionaire?" UPChuck stops short, dropping Dream onto the floor of the closet. Luckily, Mari has been storing throw pillows and slipcovers for the Club couches in this closet, and Dream lands in a soft, fluffy pile of these. "You knew these pillows were back here, didn't you?!" she accuses.

"Yeah, I knew about the pillows... um, I did say billionaire."

"When were you planning on telling me?"

He sits down next to her before continuing, and when he replies, he sounds confused. "I thought you knew."

"How could I know?" She sounds even more confused than he.

"Well, you're psychic and all, and I know you spend a lot of time in my mind..."

"Not so much anymore, I never really did."

"Well... I just figured you knew. Mari knew to some extent. She didn't know everything, until I picked out this dress and she commented that it was sort of expensive looking." He holds out the magazine, which he has had rolled in his back pocket up until this point, and shows her the dress. She gasps as she looks at the intricate lace, embroidery, pearls, diamonds... "So she made me tell her how much I'm going to be worth after I get the second half of my inheritance."

"Second half?" Dream asks, still staring at the wedding dress.

"After I get married, I get a few large investments and some cash."

"How much is this dress?"

"I think that one, with all the diamonds and pearls and the train and veil and everything, is about $500,000. It all depends on the person it's for, and how nice the designer and seamstresses are."

"Uly, you weren't seriously thinking of having this dress made for me, were you?" She looks into his eyes, and he can see that she doesn't want this dress, not in the least. Her eyes are filling with tears as she gazes up at him.

"You'd be beautiful in it, but if you don't want it... it's your wedding, you can have whatever you want."

"I just think there are better ways to spend half a million dollars."

"You're worth it."

"No, I'm not. Clothe a thousand children before you buy me a dress worth that much." Dream stands up and leaves the storage room, indicating that the conversation is over and the matter closed. She will pick her own, simple, inexpensive wedding dress, no matter what he says.

Still sitting on the pile of pillows, UPChuck grins in concession. Who am I to win a fight against a woman? Especially when she's got such a good point- I can do a lot with what I have, and not just clothing children...

Pollythene, after hanging around at her juice bar- her extremely empty juice bar- for a few hours, watching the Club patrons drinking alcoholic drinks and acting like children, decides she'd like to find some adult conversation. Unfortunately, her usual source of such diversion, Marina, is currently hundreds of miles offshore, miserably seeking land. So Polly tries the next-best thing- her Wizardly mentor, Dava Guru Jini.

She knows he is somewhere nearby- her growing psychic abilities tell her that- but she doesn't know exactly where. So, she locks up the miniature cash register, pulls out a "Closed for Lunch" sign (so what if it's mid-afternoon? nobody will notice anyway), and uses her private door to head to the alley outside the Club.

Outside, she mounts her mountain bike (a surprise gift from Marianna, hoping to keep her happy after Marina's departure- obviously, it didn't work) and takes off in the general direction of Layla:) City. The road, Calypso Main Street, eventually turns into Layla:) Main, and as it progresses it also becomes Foret Main. It's a six-lane highway by that point, and Polly isn't allowed on it under any circumstances, but she doesn't plan on going that far. Even if she ends up going to Dava's house, a more direct route is on the main road south of Main Street, aptly named South Street.

As she pedals through Layla:), Polly thinks about the unique geography of the area. The town is situated on the shore, which looks like a man's profile, slightly demented at the lips and chin. Near the 'bottom lip,' the Sphere Archipelago forms a lip ring off the Surf Strip coast. Calypso Beach is situated on the nose, Newshregsburg is the eyes and temples, Layla:) City the cheekbones, and Foret des Reves/ Place des Orignals is the neck and hair.

Oddly enough, while all major roads in town pass through Calypso Beach, only three of them pass through Layla:) City. Polly wonders why the entire town isn't named after Calypso Beach- certainly it is more well-known, has more tourists... even the police department has its headquarters on North Street. Then again, Layla:) contains town hall, the courthouse, the main fire station, and large department stores. Calypso Beach is mostly clubs, boutiques, and thrift shops. It is decidedly more bohemian, more casual, than the urban city center. It's usually not a good idea to be casual about government, especially in a sprawling town such as this one.

Polly shakes herself out of her reverie as she enters Layla:). The road here is a divided highway, two lanes on either side of a grassy strip. At this time of day, as people are going home from their jobs, biking is very dangerous. Luckily, most of the traffic is heading opposite Polly, probably toward Club Calypso on Calypso Main Street, or one of the seedier clubs on Calypso South. If Mom ever decided to use her political clout, thinks Polly, that area could be cleaned up in no time.