"You're not giving him a fair chance," Vin complained, stopping beside Elend's chair.
He looked up at her, smiling wanly, his vest unbuttoned, his hair an absolute mess. "Hum. . ." he said idly, taking her hand. "I really like that shirt. Red looks good on you."
Vin rolled her eyes, letting him gently pull her into the chair and kiss her. There was a passion to the kiss—a need, perhaps, for something stable. Vin responded, feeling herself relax as she pulled up against him. A few minutes later, she sighed, feeling much better snuggled into the chair beside him. He pulled her close, leaning the chair back into the window's sunlight.
He smiled and glanced at her. "That's a. . .new perfume you're wearing."
Vin snorted, putting her head against his chest. "It's not perfume, Elend. It's dog."
"Ah, good," Elend said. "I was worried that you'd departed from your senses. Now, is there any particular reason why you smell like dog?"
"I went to the market and bought one, then carried it back and fed it to OreSeur, so it can be his new body."
Elend paused. "Why, Vin. That's brilliant! Nobody will suspect a dog to be a spy. I wonder if anyone's ever thought of that before. . .."
"Someone must have," Vin said. "I mean, it makes such sense. I suspect those who thought of it, however, didn't share the knowledge."
"Good point," Elend said, relaxing back. Yet, from as close as they were, she could still feel a tension in him.
Tomorrow's speech, Vin thought. He's worried about it.
"I must say, however," Elend said idly, "that I find it a bit disappointing that you're not wearing dog-scented perfume. With your social station, I could see some of the local noblewomen trying to imitate you. That could be amusing indeed."
She leaned up, looking at his smirking face. "You know, Elend—sometimes it's bloody difficult to tell when you're teasing, and when you're just being dense."
"That makes me more mysterious, right?"
"Something like that," she said, snuggling up against him again.
"Now, see, you don't understand how clever that is of me," he said. "If people can't tell when I'm being an idiot and when I'm being a genius, perhaps they'll assume my blunders are brilliant political maneuverings."
"As long as they don't mistake your actual brilliant moves for blunders."
"That shouldn't be difficult," Elend said. "I fear I have few enough of those for people to mistake."
Vin looked up with concern at the edge in his voice. He, however, smiled, shifting the topic. "So, OreSeur the dog. Will he still be able to go out with you at nights?"
Vin shrugged. "I guess. I wasn't really planning on bringing him for a while."
"I'd like it if you did take him," Elend said. "I worry about you out there, every night, pushing yourself so hard."
"I can handle it," Vin said. "Someone needs to watch over you."
"Yes," Elend said, "but who watches over you?"
Kelsier. Even now, that was still her immediate reaction. She'd known him for less than a year, but that year had been the first in her life that she had felt protected.
Kelsier was dead. She, like the rest of the world, had to live without him.
"I know you were hurt when you fought those Allomancers the other night," Elend said. "It would be really nice for my psyche if I knew someone was with you."
"A kandra's no bodyguard," Vin said.
"I know," Elend said. "But they're incredibly loyal—I've never heard of one breaking Contract. He'll watch out for you. I worry about you, Vin. You wonder why I stay up so late, scribbling at my proposals? I can't sleep, knowing that you might be out there fighting—or, worse, lying somewhere in a street, dying because nobody was there to help you."
"I take OreSeur with me sometimes."
"Yes," Elend said, "but I know you find excuses to leave him behind. Kelsier bought you the services of an incredibly valuable servant. I can't understand why you work so hard to avoid him."