Sinead smiled, and though there wasn't any smugness about her, it was clear that she felt pleased with what she had been able to accomplish
From across the table, Avi was grinning at her, with what could only be described as astonishment
Sinead, in turn, outstretched her ar towards the still-open door to the hallway urging Tanis to go first.
"I'll see you in the afternoon, love" Sinead spoke, this time directed at her husband. She did however, make no move to cross the room to accompany her words with a caress.
"Drive safe," came Avi's reply several nuances summarized in those two words.
Sinead, hearing all of them, raised her brows in a understanding gesture. "We will. Goodnight, don't stay up late."
With that, she, too, exited the office.
When it was just the two of them, Sinead's tone eased up. No longer was five years of marriage audible in her infliction or choice of words. Instead, her voice was girlish, as if what she was speaking was a secret to be kept from Avi.
"I've packed you some leftovers," Sinead smiled at Tanis, "- Let me get them out of the oven and we can go."

No matter how many times Tanis got to experience it, she doubted that she was ever going to get used to just how kind Sinead and Avi were being to her. She found herself wanting to cry several times whenever she was around them, unable to see what she could have possibly ever done to deserve such kindness.
“That’s too much,” she tried, already knowing that she was going to end up going home with leftovers, no matter what she said, but she still felt like she had to at least try. There was no way she was just going to accept the kindness they were constantly offering her, without at least trying to do things in return for them.
“I am never going to be able to repay all the kindness you are offering me,” she added, knowing that it definitely was not why the couple was doing these thing, but it still made her feel guilty.

_________________

"You're doing plenty," still sounding as if the distance to her husband allowed her to speak freely. In reality, Sinead knew she wasn't saying anything Avi didn't either already know or expect.
Sinead accompanied her words with another private smile, before leaving Tanis in the entryway in favour for the kitchen.
In the still of the evening, her voice easily carried through the small home as she went on, even with the other woman no longer in sight.
"We really appreciate all the work you do," Sinead was interrupted by the sound of the oven opening and closing. Once again, Sinead's tone was made different by the distance, appearing more honest. "Getting yourself arrested. We can't do that anymore."
When Sinead reappeared in the entryway, she held in her hand a dish covered and a dishtowel. Meeting Tanis' eye, Sinead once again smiled, sheepishly.
"Avi can help out with legal representation, and the least I can do is to make sure you're all fed."

Despite how involved with activism Tanis was and how much she knew who she was fighting for, it still surprised her to hear Sinead thank her so earnestly for it. It wasn’t something Tanis felt that she had much choice in, finding that she didn’t have much other options rather than just speaking out against the way people like her were treated.
“Don’t say that,” she said with a sheepish grin, grabbing the elbow of her left arm with her right hand, feeling flustered by all of the praise coming from Sinead. It meant a lot to her to know that at least some people appreciated what she was doing, no matter how much chaos she was creating and how much she was going to jail.
“You are both far too kind, I am just doing what I can with what I have,” she stated.

_________________

Sinead's hands preoccupied, she found that she wasn't able to reach for Tanis, smoothing over whatever embarrassment her words had brought upon the other woman. Instead, her smile grew milder, a brief moment of tenderness about her.
"So are we," she softly argued, though the corner of her mouth tugged upward with her addition. "We just have different things, is all. I've had to figure out new ways of helping."
They weren't that far apart in age but Sinead had already married Avi when she was Tanis' age. It sometimes grew to be a bittersweet realization, seeing more and more people her age coming to Avi for help. It had grown to be an endless loop of leftovers and food bank donations.
Sinead refocused on the conversation with a flashed grin with the same effect of a wink.
"I need people like you making up for what I couldn't keep doing," she grinned, finally setting into motion. It was an off handed remark, grinned in girlish secrecy, as she circled Tanis towards the entryway.
"Come open the door for me, love, please."

Tanis immediately went to open the door, knowing that it was silly but she was desperate to help Sinead and Avi, but Sinead in particular, in any way that she could It was stupid only because it was something small like her opening the door for her, but if she felt that it made a difference and was helpful, she was going to do it, solely because Sinead asked her.
“Well, it’s my pleasure,” Tanis said with a sheepish grin, knowing that she probably enjoyed herself at rallies a little too much. It hadn’t exactly been necessary for her to punch that cop in the fact, but it had felt good at the time and that had been all she cared about in that moment.
“It’s a good thing we have people like you and Avi too though,” she added, feeling endlessly thankful for all the help she had gotten from the couple. She could understand why it could be frustrating to Sinead that she couldn’t do more, but Tanis thought that they did more than she ever could.
“I would have been more ****ing than I already am if it hadn’t been for you guys.”

_________________

Sinead sent her a genuinely thankful smile, but had otherwise grown quiet. Even despite the odd hour of the night, she refrained fro answering at the fear of a neighbour overhearing. Encouraging this behavior among the working class was looked down upon, and specifically that was a conflict Sinead didn't want to get into.
"Thank you," she answered gently, leaving the pot on the hood of their car as she went to unlock it. Having done so, she opened the back door, wanting to stow away the dish there.
When Sinead returned to the abandoned dish, she also once again halved the distance to Tanis. Feeling reassured by that, Sinead allowed herself a more weighted response. "I doubt you hear enough praise for the work you do, though, so please accept mine."

Tanis kept feeling that her interactions with Sinead were too heavy, too weighted, for them to be passed off as just er lawyer’s wife, but she also didn’t know what else it could possibly be. She was far too dependant on Avi’s help for her to mess this up, so she kept pushing down whichever feelings she might have for Sinead, other than just extreme gratitude.
“I’m trying,” she said with a shy smile, running a hand through her hair, only to realise she she had tied it up in a bun earlier in the evening. Wanting to fiddle, she loosened it once more, allowing it to cascade down her back and frame her face.
“You’re right, I am not used to praise,” she said with a warm smile, as she opened the door to the car and stepped inside of it, finding that that was easier for her to handle.

_________________

Tanis' reluctant response made Sinead chuckle, immediately serving to dissipate some of the heaviness of the exchange. It made it easier to maneuver, allowing for Tanis to seat herself.
Sinead, in the mean time, picked up the dish and instead knelt by the car, placing it on the floor behind the driver's seat.
"That's okay," Sinead accepted with a smile, looking over at Tanis through the diagonal line of their car. Tanis was barely visible, hardly any light lit on the street. They had only just left the house, and already it had gone dark. Still, in the darkness, Sinead could still tell that Tanis' hair was an entire differently shade of inky black, making the light appear lighter solely by comparison. It made Sinead smile.
"It's a learning curve."
With that, Sinead straightened her posture, quietly pushing the door shut, before seating herself behind the wheel. She did so with a little huff, and as she closed the door behind her, before having put the key in the ignition, there was a moment of total darkness between them.
Thoughtless, Sinead had turned to look at Tanis as she turned the key. Another smile grew on her lips as the lights washed over them, feeling inexplicably comforted by the fact that Tanis' hair remained just as pitch black in the light.
Finally looking forward, Sinead put the car in reverse.
"I'll just start driving and you'll let me know where we're going, alright?" she clarified as they rolled out of the driveway.

No matter how much of a reoccurring thing it was starting to become, Tanis doubted that she was ever going to get used to getting rides from Sinead. She felt that it was too big of a favour for someone to do her, even if she knew that Sinead said it wasn’t a big deal. There was nothing she wanted more in life than to be able to return the kindness Sinead kept showing her, but she knew that there was nothing she could do to make that happen.
“Yeah, sure,” she said, glancing over at Sinead and struck again by how beautiful she was. It seemed unfair that someone who was so kind and so helpful to Tanis also happened to look so stunning, but that was what Tanis was forced to face right now. It was difficult to be alone in the car with her at times, but Tanis focused on the road in front of them, not wanting to make the situation weird by staring for too long.
“Just go left on main, it’s fairly straight forward.”

_________________

Having reversed out of their driveway, Sinead put the car back into drive, turning out into their street. The neighbourhood was dead quiet in a way that Sinead didn't even feel it to be appropriate to turn on the radio.
This left her nod come across far graver than intended, the hum of the motor settling between them. "Alright."
Sinead and Avi's house was in the middle end of a lower-middle class suburban neighborhood, leaving for quite a few streets of white picket fenced houses. It came as no surprise to find all streets deserted, and yet, it was only when Sinead turned left on main street that she seemed to relax.
The first thing she did was to turn on the radio, late night blues spilling into the silence. Then, she reved, accelerating to meet the new speedlimit.
"I don't know if Avi offers to drive you home as often as I do," she started, clearly a conclusion to a train of through she had had in private.
Sinead's eyes were still directed the street, but she could barely make out Tanis' reflection against the windscreen window. "But I think it's better like that. At least at this time of night."

The silence of the car and their drive caused Tanis to lull a little, not fully sleeping but the feeling of exhaustion settling in her bones as Sinead had her eyes focused on the road in front of them. It always seemed strange to be on the road at this time at night, almost feeling as if they did something they weren’t allowed to do, even if Tanis knew that that was ridiculous.
Once Sinead spoke again, a soft smile made its way to Tanis’ lips. Avi did indeed offer to drive her home very often, he was just a lot easier to dissuade than Sinead ever were. It was endearing in a way and while it always served to make Tanis flustered, it was something she greatly appreciated.
“He does, he is just easier to talk out of it and go to bed than you are,” she admitted, knowing that Sinead probably would be able to tell that she was teasing at least a little.
“Besides, he spends plenty of time together with me. He really shouldn’t drive me home as well.”

_________________

Sinead let out a surprised little laugh, though the surprise itself stemmed out of surprise for Tanis' honesty rather than the content of her words. Avi was essentially working two jobs between his paid work and his pro bono work, and Sinead couldn't really blame her husband for going to bed whenever possible.
She, however, also knew she barely felt safe in her own neightbourhood at night; she could barely imagine the hassle it was for Tanis to figure out bus connections out of there.
"I've been trying to convince him to get an office down town," she elaborated, not wanting to, once again, get into the back and forth of whether Avi did or didn't do enough to help Tanis out. "It would increase the accessibility."
Sinead fell silent, once again getting in her head about possibilities and complications with Avi's work. Unable to process that line of thought, she instead sighed, shaking off the thought with a little shake of her head.
"You'd miss me too much," she instead commented, the tease in her smile making it hard to judge whether she was using the plural or singular you. She accompanied the addition with a grin, glancing over at Tanis. "Who else's gonna help me out around the house?"

For a moment, Tanis thought it would be a splendid idea if Avi got an office downtown, feeling sick and tired of her commute to get his help. However, she also knew that Sinead was very right and that she would miss her terribly.
She had grown so fond of helping Sinead around the house and just generally being around the other woman, that Tanis had a hard time imagining that not being a part of her life anymore. It felt too overwhelming to admit that though, not wanting to make things awkward by admitting to her deeper feelings for a married woman, so she knew that she was going to have to push it down.
“I think you’d be the one who’d miss me,” she said with a teasing smile, trying not to think too much about how much easier their interactions were now that Tanis were too exhausted to overthink.

_________________

Sinead should have expected her taunt to be turned back towards her, and yet, she could suppress a sheepish smile. Tanis was right, both in the general and specific sense. Tanis' case had dragged on further than others, seemingly both enough of a petty offense for the courtroom to prioritize other cases, and complicated enough to keep Avi occupied for hours on end.
"You're right," Sinead admitted, the girlishness of her grin subsiding into a too-gentle honesty.
As they pulled to a stop at a red light, the rumble of the car changing into just a hum, Sinead turned to look at Tanis. Her hands had left the steering wheel, and for a moment, they could almost be seated in a couch.
"If Avi gets an office I'll just be a house wife, and I don't know if I could stand that."
Finally, a joke reappeared on Sinead's features, even though the tease was on her. "So really I'm just being selfish."

Hearing the honesty seep into Sinead’s voice made Tanis’ heart sing, feeling like it was something she wasn’t supposed to know. It didn’t do anything to help her feelings towards the other woman, probably putting too much into the statement rather than just thinking of it as a nicety. Sinead was a married, Christian woman after all and despite all of her shortcomings, Tanis knew better than to mess with that.
“Is this how you treat all of Avi’s clients?” She instead joked, finding that it was better to keep the teasing edge to their conversation. She didn’t want to think of this as anything more than just Sinead doing her a favour, she couldn’t.
“And here I thought that I got special treatment.”

_________________

Sinead grinned, putting the car back into motion as the light turned green. She could tell from the conversation that Tanis was corralling her in, that it would only be a matter of pointed questions before Sinead had talked herself into a corner. It was thrilling, unexpected, wanting to share many thoughts and considerations with Tanis, even without having been egged to do so.
"Well, do you think that?" Sinead instead challenged, the grin still on her lip.
She barely glanced over at Tanis, though her smile remained interested rather than accusatory. It was late at night, and Sinead could tell exhaustion had made Tanis talkative. It was hard not to take advantage of, wanting to know what the other woman thought of her.
"Do you think I treat you differently?"
Sinead knew the answer to that, and she wondered if Tanis did so, too.

The question, while it was one that Tanis should probably have anticipated, caused heat to flush to her cheeks. She didn’t really know how to answer the question without embarrassing herself completely, probably ending up talking herself into a corner, but she also found that she wanted to be honest with Sinead, trusting the other woman with that part of herself.
“I like to,” she admitted, looking down at her hands rather than looking over at Sinead. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle actually seeing Sinead’s reaction to her words, finding it difficult to real what reaction Sinead expected, or maybe even hoped?, to get out of her.
“I’d like to think that you treat me differently.”

_________________

Tanis' response made Sinead's heart do a flip. She had been fully aware of how differently she had treated Tanis, seeking out her company whenever it felt appropriate. It was thrilling to know Tanis had picked up on it, the reply more loaded than Sinead could have ever hoped for.
"I do," she confirmed, eyes on the road ahead. "I didn't expect you to notice."
Sinead had a gut feeling about Tanis, but the question was hard to ask; the response even harder. She knew Tanis was in her life on limited time, her court date only weeks ahead. It felt overwhelming, feeling like it was a question of either being too-forward or accept Tanis' disappearance.
Sinead's eyes drifted to the mirrors, never properly at Tanis. She didn't know how to go on.
"It's a right up here, isn't it?" she instead asked, having a idea of where Tanis might live, her tone comfortable even at off-topic question. In reality, Sinead's heart was racing.