Heat rushed into Declan's cheeks from a faint embarrassment, although he did grin at Tess' joke. "Be careful," he warned her, "Or your sisters will start to think you've gone soft on them." He did not, really, think he deserved the Whitby sisters — he could have been paid more somewhere else, but then he wouldn't have the warm familial embrace of the Whitby girls.

  

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set by Bee

“They’d never believe you,” Tess scoffed, tapping the side of her nose mock-knowingly. “And of course if you told anyone I’d have to kill you,” she threatened cheerfully, to rescue her reputation. But she was not sure she really was very soft at all – she felt she was much too used to being harsh in here and in the house; whether this was amplified by her near-constant state of stress or just because the ruthless practicality was demanded, because her sisters were softer than she was, so someone had to be.

If – in rare moments like these – she could let her guard down with Declan, well, she had to wonder if that was because, in spite of all the trials the work might bring, she still felt more at home, more herself, in the printshop than anywhere. A sad state of existence, maybe – but now that was enough feeling sorry for herself, when they were now even more behind on work than before.

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The following 1 user Likes Tess Whitby's post:1 user Likes Tess Whitby's post
   Declan Buchanan

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Declan laughed, a cheerful barking sound, in response to her threat. "If you do kill me, promise to put my ashes into some ink," he said. He was not so naive as to think that he loved the press as much as Tess did — her blood and sweat (and maybe even tears) were wrought into the boards and the ink of this place.

Declan did love it, though, which was why he stayed — he'd never thought of leaving, no matter how much he wished he could stop boxing and no matter that he sometimes had to verbally spar with Fabian. (And no matter that basically all of the Whitby girls had literally cried on him at one point or another.)

  

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set by Bee