Graves doesn't just stop going away to his missions even after they come together with Ved'ma, and she has to compromise on that, even though she does start pushing him to choose his jobs differently.
There's tension in the air when he deploys first time after he's back in business and already with a certain Slavic witch haunting his apartment. For two weeks he is constantly returning to the heavy, disapproving gaze Ved'ma sent him off with, and wonders if he's gonna come back to an empty - or even trashed and burnt down to the ground home. He has no doubts Marusya would act ruthlessly if she set her mind on it, and by the time the plane lands back home, Phillip is already halfway to coming to terms that the radio silence on his phone means she chose her beliefs over him.
Their apartment is dark and quiet when he enters thr front door and sets the duffel bag down. Shedding his jacket, Graves listens in, still too scared to call out and hear no response - but when he turns around, it happens quickly, like a gunshot.
Warm weight lands on his back, nearly toppling him over, four suffocating limbs wrap around him, and before Phil can tear the attacker off his back and pin to the ground, Ved'ma presses a kiss to his ear and grumbles: "Missed you, bitch."
And if he stumbles into their bedroom to fall face first into the bed and pass out, half-undressed and squished under Ved'ma's weight, before he even learns there's food for him in the kitchen... so be it. It's not like he'll wake up alone.
