Lachlan had gone from a physical job to an extremely physical job over the past few months, and despite being in good shape he still found himself out of breath before the rest of his cousins. Maybe it was the type of work; beaters were required to have strong upper body strength, but dragonkeepers—especially when interacting with and around the dragons—required strength, agility, endurance, everything. They always kept a safe distance, but there was a lot of running and lifting and Lachlan hated every minute of it, even though complaining had never once crossed his mind. The morning had been spent handling a pair of toddling dragons who'd decided to try and fight each other over their afternoon meal, which was probably Lach's least favorite thing, but on the upside he'd been allowed to leave for an early dinner after the conflict had been handled.

He'd washed himself down before returning home, but the thought of a real bath was still appealing. His hair was damp with a mixture of sweat and water, the blond waves slicked back as best as he could, although he found himself continuing to push it back as he approached his house. He had the equivalent of an outdoor mudroom at the back of his home, but his clothes had been so soaked and dirtied by the time he'd left the reserve that he'd changed into a spare pair before returning home, but he was so lethargic and his skin was so slick that all he wanted was to pull them off his body and take a long, hot bath. And he fully intended to do so, but upon opening the door he was snapped out of the temporary exhaustion and was suddenly very alert to the fact that Juliana Binns was sitting in his living room.

He would have laughed at the idea that she'd be here if his cousin had taunted him about it earlier in the day. Miss Binns was still angry at him, never wanted to talk to him again, didn't want to be at his house nor wanted him at hers, and altogether had been disturbed by the prospect of kissing him, which - admittedly was not very good for his ego, but was fair enough. He'd done his best to push the encounter from his thoughts, but every now and then between work and busying himself with housework he thought or saw something that reminded him of her. He wanted to see her again, if only to repair what ever crack in their acquaintanceship he'd caused, but actually seeing her in his home felt... bizarre. Out-of-place. And to make it all the stranger, she had a cup of tea in her hand, and - was that a book from his shelf?

"I... Did I miss a letter?" he asked, because she didn't seem the type to come by without thoroughly discussing the circumstances of their meeting. She hadn't been in the past, between her job and living with her parents and their scandal still circulating in certain corners of society. He found that his heart was beating faster than it had during his walk to his home, but it was not the good sort of quickening heartbeat. He was nervous - a little worried, even. It was only her casualness that kept him from assuming the worst.

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