He waved his fork in Ronan's direction. "You know exactly what I'm talking about," he said. He wasn't going to speak of it by name, because that felt like bringing around some kind of curse. But maybe it was already too late for that, since he'd brought it up in the first place.

After he finished eating, he scooped his plate into the sink to be washed in a little bit, then turned back towards Ronan. "Wait here," he said, before disappearing upstairs.

When he came back into the kitchen, he held a plain blue vase in both hands, like it was precious. The vase might have been nothing special, but the flower in it was. It was unlike any other flower in the world. Red and pink, beautiful, delicate, eternal. It didn't even need water, and indeed there was none in the vase.

Adam's face wasn't pink, but his ears were. He took a deep breath. "This is for you."