Her smile was lovely, breaking through her sadness like a rainbow after a storm.  Leolo had to resist the urge to reach out and lightly trace her lips with his finger, forever etching their shape into his memory.  He wanted to see her smile more often and hear her sparkling laughter.  Was the mark making him feel this way?  Or was a different sort of magic happening inside his heart?<br/><br/>“Weird isn’t bad,” Leolo assured.  “It’s much better than being dull and ordinary.”<br/><br/>As Leolo lifted his companion, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and Leolo experienced a nearly overwhelming surge of protectiveness.  He’d known that the mark would bind her to him, but he hadn’t realized how strongly he would also be bound.  Fairy magic was always a twisted and devious thing.  “I won’t drop you,” Leolo vowed, gazing deep into her eyes.  “I won’t ever let any harm come to you.”<br/><br/>Was that true?  Leolo felt it now, with deep and powerful sincerity.  But there were many in his past that he’d cared about and ultimately hurt.<br/><br/>“Rose,” he murmured, when she told him her name.  “Those are my favorite flowers.  They blossom in the heat of summer -- fragrant and beautiful, defended by thorns to prick the unwary.”<br/><br/>Outside the club, the air was cool and crisp.  Leolo nodded when Rose handed over the keys to her car, but inwardly, he realized that his plan had hit an obstacle.  No cars existed in the fairy realm.  As a result, Leolo couldn’t drive.  Still, Summer’s King wasn’t the sort to panic.  In a matter of seconds, he’d devised a way out of the dilemma.<br/><br/>Once he’d located Rose’s car, Leolo gently set her back on the ground.  Opening the passenger’s side door, he helped her get comfortably seated, before circling around to the driver’s side.  Leolo had visited the human world often enough to know that cars were started by turning the key in the ignition, so he did that.  But, at the same time, he sent a surge of magical energy into the machine, frying its electronics.  The car rumbled mournfully, then promptly went silent.<br/><br/>Apologetically, Leolo looked over at Rose.  “I’m afraid that it’s not your night.  Your car seems to have died.  Do you live near here?”