[i]"I really wish you would come home sooner." 

Sayako stood in the doorway to their home in a short black dress with a plunging V-neck, blocking Ryobi's entrance as he removed the keys from the cart he drove to work. Her voice was steady and quiet, but her folded arms belied more than simple annoyance. Ryobi sighed quietly as he stepped out of the small vehicle. 

"I don't control my hours; the warden does. You know this." They had gone through this conversation so many times previously that their neighbors could probably quote it verbatim. He stepped towards the door from the tiny parking space alotted and reached for Sayako to give her a kiss, but she turned her head away. 

"Sure, she does," Sayako murmured. "You missed Benji's game again." On the station, there were very few sports that could be played, but the Captain had set aside an area to work as a soccer field for the children on the station. Sure, gravity worked a little differently in space, but the exercise was good for them. Every couple of weeks, the teams would hold a few scrimmages and reshuffle the players, helping the children learn teamwork instead of team identity. It was a brilliant system; Sayako was one of the parents who helped create it.

"Ah, shit. I forgot... I'll make it to the next one, I promise." Ryobi tried to push past Sayako, but she didn't budge. "You gonna let me in?"

"You said that about the last game. And the one before that. And you seem to have forgotten one more thing, Ryobi." 

He glanced past her, seeing the candle flickering on a table, a half-eaten meal getting cold, the bottle of 2037 Chardonnay half empty. The realization hit him like a sack of bricks. 

"Benji is at Sam's tonight. And you're going to Lucian's. If you have a problem with that, talk to the warden." Sayako stepped back into the room they inhabited and closed the door in Ryobi's face, turning the deadbolt. "Get moving, Ryobi," she called through the door as he stood dumbfounded. [/i]

~ = + = ~

Ryobi expected little different from Pryce. His only response was a nod before turning to exit the showers. The pair rejoined Kitt outside the office, and Ryobi collected the backpack and other items before handing a bottle of pepper spray to the warden. "If they aren't an inmate and they try to hurt us, we should use the spray if we can, "Ryobi stated, despite the fact that they both knew already. "Heck, probably should do that with inmates too. Gunshots will alert half the station to our position." 

He picked up the radio and handed it to Jan. "Want to do the honors?" he asked. "Remember what I said. We shouldn't give away more info than we get."