[written]

[there's a flicker of surprise at that, caught in the snapshot as her pen hovers above the page. It wasn't that they hadn't settled into more familiar terms of address in private. She'd never been one to set a great deal of store in propriety, and a year spending time with women such as Buffy and Amelia had left her all too willing to put aside such formalities.

But without a filter, this was very nearly public...and while she might have been rather loose with social mores, Horatio never was. It's when the ink blots that she realizes she's taking too long to respond, and she jots another short note in that unfamiliar hand]

And if spring storms come to ruin your hard work? What then?