Veti felt the shift long before her eyes saw the difference in the man she loved. She had seen him before but only in glimpses, the golden man beneath Max. She felt him glimmer beneath her hands, light made flesh, as the goddess brought them to London on her breath, the words he spoke with the divinity a personal prayer between them she could neither hear nor understand. She wasn't meant to, and she did not mind

But when Veti's boots hit the herringbone wood floors of the London Office, she could see it all, feel the transformation coming over him completed when he turned to shake Atticus' hand. Max spoke, but it was Thad who finally gripped the incubus' hand in a firm welcome. 

He was whole.

He was himself.

[i]He was beautiful.[/i]

Bits and pieces of the semi-chaotic scene around them came into focus, and in the few moments she had, Veti did her best to take in the cacophony of light and sound and so many of the people she cared for, back in one place all over again. The initial welcome wasn't for her of course, but for the man returned from the other side of death, as it should be. Still, Veti's eyes were riveted to Daisy with Artie curled up neatly in her arms once more, and she smiled at her friend the Reaper, who had never really answered her words in the Vaults.

Perhaps she never would. Actions always spoke the volumes words never did, and Veti had said what she could. Daisy would do what she would, and that would simply have to be that.

Nestor poured an obscenely large amount of whiskey into his tumbler before settling into one of the vacant chairs. Semyon was returned as well, holstering his pistol, the expression on his face - for as much expression as wights could make - seemed suddenly thoughtful, even concerned for a moment.

Veti had not a moment to ask her friend why that should be, what troubled him great or small, before her eyes flickered to Siya, lovely little Siya shining darkly in Atticus' shadow. The werewolf could smell the blood tingeing those happy tears, and knew the infernal source instantly. Veti was no mind reader, could not have known the doubts lurking behind her friend's eyes. But she could see the joy in that smile, those tiny little fangs just peeking from the covering of pale pink lips. She could not remember the last time she'd seen Siya so perfectly... [i]Content.[/i] It was beautiful, it was glorious and Veti wanted to just wrap her arms so tightly about Siya too, find out all that had happened - 

But Veti found herself swept up for the second time in as many moments without so much as a "by your leave," and could only give a quick, happy farewell wave over Thad's shoulder to the tiny vampiress, and a hope-filled grin to Daisy and Artie, the werewolf's low, warm laughter trailing behind the couple like a bridal train. 

This was a moment some nine years in the making, when the werewolf could finally look into the true eyes of her maker and her lover, the man who loved her enough to die for her - with no more masks between them. As he carried her to the room they had shared nearly a year ago, with its massive four-poster bed and the elegantly tasteful antique furniture, Veti studied Thad's face, sapphire eyes and surprisingly gentle fingers tracing every line of his face. 

He seemed heedless of the stone dust and sweat, and so then was she as they lay on the bed. Veti could not take her eyes from his gently smiling face above hers. Of all the impossible things she had ever known, the werewolf felt somehow [i]virginal[/i] all over again with a new and heady anticipation, almost as terrifying as it was delicious, as she lay beneath the weight of his body, the feel of his lithe muscles under her fingers. 

"It was you," she whispered as she smiled up to him, "It was[i] always[/i] you. Max was reckless, thrilling, insane in his foolishness - there was never a dull moment. But it was always [i]you[/i] Thad, who brought me back when I swore I was done, time and time again... " Veti gave up any pretense to words with a kiss that deepened until she was as lost as he, blissfully and entirely.