Chapter One

Sam hesitated for a full second before reaching out to take the spoon like he was half expecting his hand to be slapped away, which was ridiculous, really. He popped the spoon into his mouth and quite immediately made a pleased noise, nodding his head in approval, "Maybe a little pepper, though," He suggested quietly, smiling vaguely and stepping around Luke to the stove and reaching for the pepper grinder. "You do experience boredom, don't you?" He asked Calvin, "and then there's the nutrition problem, I wouldn't be well if I just ate tomatoes, we need a mixture of things, so it's actually more complex than just eating anything at hand."

---

"I'm going to send Hazel this in an email," She said, not really moving despite the proximity (and the fact that he was being moderately distracting, damn him) as she keyed in a brief email, all the details they had. "She'll come up with something, I'm sure, if she has time, and- Oh, whatever, why the hell not? Sounds more fun." She hit send, snapped the laptop shut and shoved it into the side of the couch and then leant back, reaching up to brush her fingers up his jaw and tug him down into a kiss, swift and unhesitating.

"Yes. I do expect the redness would become quite a problem." Calvin frowned at the object in his hand thoughtfully. He brought it up to his mouth and took an experimental bite. His frowned deepened.

Luke chuckled softly as he took the grinder from Sam and added a bit of pepper into the mix. He began to stir again.

----

Yuki let his own laptop fall from his lap in order to replace it with the woman before him. He held onto Satori tightly as he deepened the kiss, a small smile tugging at his lips.
He ran a hand up her back to tug at her hair lightly as his other hand slipped down her back to rest on her hip.

"So how long were you working with them, before you called it quits?" Sam asked, moving to tidy up the rest of the kitchen, the few scattered plates lying around - working days were starting to get too long for him to be entirely enthused with cleaning when he got home, and while Calvin and Akaria certainly tried to keep things tidy, their version of 'cleaning' still needed some work, so it was preferable if they left things, for the time being. "If it's okay for me to ask, that was- Probably insensitive after just a day. Sorry." He said quickly with a wince, a glass clattering a little as it tipped over in the sink.

---

Satori twisted in impossibly closer, a hand slipping underneath the loose cotton of his singlet, fingers dragging up over his stomach. She kissed him in short, sharp  bursts, letting his lips slide against hers, settling a hand on his neck. She shifted a little, getting a little more comfortable, breaking only for a short laugh before her teeth caught his bottom lip, scraping a bite into the soft flesh before pressing in another kiss.

"Its okay." Luke said as he he began to serve up the meal onto four plates. He made sure everyone had even proportions before continuing. "A year. A whole god damned year and I didn't even know what they were up to until a few days ago. Can you believe that?" He scoffed and shook his head. he glanced around the kitchen.
"Wheres your cutlery?"

---

Yuki groaned against her lips. His hand left her hair to join his other as it pulled her shirt up. He slid his hands against the skin they found and clawed slightly at the flesh. He pulled away quickly to remove her of her shirt.
He lent up into her mouth again as his hands searched the new areas he had uncovered.

Sam opened the top drawer off to the side in answer, collecting the cutlery. "No, I can believe that, I was there longer than you, and I was the one who dealt with them after they'd done whatever they were doing, it was- Well, definitely not what I thought I was getting in there for," He said uncomfortably, blinking down at the utensils in his hand and wearily counting out the pile he'd collected (he was over-tired, going to make mistakes from now on) and then hesitating. Couch? Table? He waited to see what Luke was going to do.


---

She can't help the grin, and then she moves so she's sitting above him on the couch, thighs either side of his chest, holding her entire weight, with her hands framing his face, hair sweeping around her as she kisses him. It's nothing chaste and careful, but dirty and just on the line of bruising, shifting a knee to ruck his shirt up to his elbow, leaning back for a second to arch a brow at him, breathing heavily and looking nothing but amused - entirely unabashed about her lack of a shirt. "Something like what you had in mind?"

Luke just looked confused. He soon turned to Sam and just gave him a nervous smile. "Where do you usually eat?" He lifted two plates into his hands.

Calvin looked confused again. "Isn't food done in the bedroom?"


---

Yuki just grinned up at her, his hands sliding up and down her legs. "Right now my mind is thinking we should continue this in a bedroom, or lock a door."

"Bedroom? Uh, that's- We don't eat in the bedroom," Sam said, covering the bottom half of his face and looking somewhere between horrified and amused. "I normally get toast and go, start a six most days, so I'm not really up for a sit-down breakfast at five-thirty." Sam explained, rubbing the back of his neck, "So I guess we can go to the table?" When Luke didn't seem to object to that, he crossed the floor and started setting out the places, returning to carry in two plates, leaving the others for Luke to bring over - not that they would all be used - Sora was out to the world, Calvin was vaguely dismissive of food, Akaria had been reading for about two days straight and Tosh didn't like strangers. At least there would be leftovers.

---

It was a good while later before Mori finally got back. Shutting the door behind him, he gave the living room a resigned once-over (take-out and plates left all over the table, expensive laptops just crammed into the gaps in the couch cushions, paper on the floor...) Not that he was going to clean it up, but really, it was maybe, just maybe, starting to get close to a state he should consider too far. He grabbed a stack of manilla folders, shaking them a little to realign the papers and then opened his bedroom door; immediately spotting a very naked Satori sprawled out on her stomach with a sheet covering everything that you wouldn't normally worry about covering and nothing else, an arm tucked over a similarly naked Yuki's chest.

And then he just stood in the doorway for a moment before it actually clicked, and by this point she had lifted herself up on her elbow, arching a brow and offering a rueful grin.

"I'm seriously sorry, some warning, next time, maybe?" He asked, snorting a laugh and putting the files down on the dresser before turning back and heading back out of the room. "Hi Yuki, so I'm going to go make coffee." He added, waving a hand and then vanishing out the door.
"Unplanned," She called out by means of explanation, shrugging at Yuki before sinking back down in the pillows in a way that should have looked graceless, turning her head to face the other.

"Coffee or sleep? Or did you want to go?"

His eyes remained closed. The only evidence that he was actually awake was the goofy grin that was spread across his face. He opened one eye and looked at her. "Or we could go for the forth option and invite your lovely man friend to join us."
His grin widened as he pushed himself up and turned to face the door. He was still deciding if he should run out there naked and have coffee, call Mori back in and toy with him a bit or just roll over and ravish Satori all over again.
All the choices sounded so awesome. He wanted to do all of them.
"Hey Mori!" He called out. The bed was comfy, and he really didn't feel like moving. Second choice it was then. "You should come back and join the naked party. There's fire works and everything."

----------

"You know whats awesome?" All eyes turned to the voice making itself known from the couch. Sora was staring at the roof, his eyes distant. He had a small frown on his face.
"Feet. I mean.. You walk on them and they have all these... tingly bits. They feel so much and we just walk on them and they never cry at us for it. Yeah man, Feet are awesome."
Calvin wandered over during the mans babbling and lent down beside him, nodding seriously through Sora's explanation.
He began to add in a few of his own points.

Luke looked to Sam, an amused expression covering his face. "This happen often?"

"I only join in once people know the lines of what's actually going on, thank you, and right now, that's probably not even a single one of us, knowing the both of you," Mori reprimanded loudly from the kitchen so they could hear through the door and over the clattering of mugs and the sound of the kettle. Satori smirked lightly in acceptance of that point (and dismissal) and started kissing lightly at Yuki's neck.
"Give the guy some headspace," She said with a flash of a grin, drawing herself up to look at him and mostly dislodging the sheet. "We're meant to be researching and we have uninvolved company, could you maybe be less hot," She said, "for just, five minutes?"

---

"You have no idea. Just be glad you weren't here for the conversation about the necessity of clothing. That was also mildly concerning," He settled down at the table, rubbing the middle of his forehead for a moment before taking a mouthful of pasta, "And you're a good cook, I did mention that the room back there is free, didn't I?" He asked jokingly, still sounding uncertain with the conversation, but steadily less awkward.

"You did, you must be tired. Is your memory failing you?" Akaria asked worriedly as she stepped out from down the hall, peering at Sam with wide eyes as she reached the table.

"And the conversation about the healing properties about band aids, which is far easier to just leave be, at this point," He continued, like she hadn't spoken.

Yuki let his mouth drop in mock offence. He pounced on her, pinning her beneath him before grinning at her happily. "I would if I could, but its just the way I am." His grin grew wider. "Maybe if I can become even hotter Mori will join in. Not that I'm minding just you of course."
His grin turned almost predatory as he began to kiss her neck. He didn't pull away as he spoke. "But I supose we should fill in lover boy about what happened today." He pouted sadly, his lips still pressing against her neck.

---

"Well," Luke smiled at him softly. He folded his arms against the table and turned all of his attention onto Sam. "At least you wont ever be board around here." He chuckled softly. "I may take that room though, if thats alright with you."

Calvin motioned for Akaria to join in Sora and his conversation. The angel was now wearing Sora's glasses making his eyes almost comically large.
The demon lay on the couch, talking animatedly about the similarities between dust and stars. He did not even appeared worried about his missing glasses.

"You could start by filling me in," She said, and then blinked a few times at the ceiling in bemusement, reaching up to tangle her fingers in his hair. "...About what happened today," She amended after a moment. "As much as I'm into the whole... Making out, casual hookups side of things - very much into that, that's great, and that was definitely a great use of time, I'd quite like to know where your head's at, before something gets misunderstood - because misunderstandings are not something I'm into."

---

"Go for it, it'll probably be rough trying to sleep out here anyway, unless he falls asleep sometime soon. It's... Really not much, just a mattress with bedding, but there's a bedside table and a lamp, and curtains, so... Well, that's something; I'm sure it will do for a night, at the least." He continued with a small twist of a weary smile, any suspicions about Luke's threat level set aside for the moment. He had been nothing but friendly since he got here, and that was enough for him to go on. With the length of time he had worked for SHADED, who was he to judge?

Akaria knelt down beside the couch Sora was occupying, reciting something about nebuli that she had read earlier that day (and was used in the completely wrong context).

Yuki let his whole weight fall on top of her as he groaned into her neck. "Talking? Do we have to do the whole talking thing? The serious talking thing sucks. Now the dirty talking thing is something I can get used to."
The demon pushed himself up to grin down at Satori. It took only a moment to realize she wasn't going to budge from her 'serious' plan. He groaned and rolled off her.
"Fine." He sighed, making it as whiny as possible. He placed an arm under her head and turned to face her. "Look, I like you. I'm sure I haven't been that subtle in hiding it so there's no point in starting now. I like you, I like your face, I like your body and I love your attitude. But I also like other people. I like other peoples faces and other peoples bodies."

He pushed himself up onto his side and looked down at her. He smiled at her in a way that was very unlike him. It was soft, caring and held no humor or any sexual undertones. "So if this is a casual thing, I'm totally down for that. I kind of like the penis too much to give it up for you, darling." He laughed. "Unless you want to invite me into a three way relationship, I'm totally down for that." His playful smile was back.

---

"Exactly!" Sora exclaimed. He sat up a little too fast and ended up falling face first into his legs. He let out a small giggle before flailing madly. The flail continued until the angels stopped what they were doing to help him upright.
The demon took hold of Akira's hands. He poked her in the forehead. "You get it. You get everything. The universe is totally in your mind, man."

Luke looked down at the plates. He took the two empty ones and stood. "Is it cool if I do the dishes? I feel kinda useless if I don't help up with the cleaning." He gave Sam a bashful smile.

Dirty talk? She could take that without batting an eyelid. Actual 'improper' or scandalous behaviour? Not a problem. But she was caught slightly off guard by his sudden and rather disarming change-around from an easygoing, joking attitude to something that sat firmly within the bounds of caring, and once the earlier expression crept back over his face she found herself giving him an inquisitive smile with two barely there spots of colour in her cheeks.

"I'll set it out plainly; I'm with Mori, I'm also with someone I work freelance with - more rarely, these days, but that's a commitment - and outside that anything I do is my own call. That last bit is the same for Mori, and that's not something I'd ever have a problem with in any of my partners, so if we end up in some form of partnership, you don't have to feel a need to justify anything. If it's really something you're interested in, I'd like the idea of having something more than just casual, but I'm not a package deal with Mori," She said, smiling up at him with more than a little humour in the cant of her lips. "I had no idea about that, by the way, so talk to him yourself." Satori said, "And, by the way, if you ever, in bed or out, call me any variant of 'baby' I will tattoo it somewhere inappropriate on your body."

---

"Well, truth be told, it is," She said, like it was the simplest thing ever, tilting her head as she watched. "Do you not have the universe in yours? Such odd creatures."

"You are so, so welcome to clean," Sam said very seriously, collecting the plates of leftovers and starting for the kitchen, though a somewhat relieved, confused smile tugged at his mouth. "Thank you, really."

Yuki slid his arm out from under his body and wrapped it around her neck. He lent forward and pressed his forehead to hers, a smile smile tugging at his lips. "I will never, ever call you baby." He promised, giving her neck a small squeeze. His grin returned full ball. "I already have a baby. His name is Taro."

He paused for a moment, letting the silence sink in before he moved forward and kissed her. The move was almost tender. "If you'd have me, I would love to be one of those commitments you mentioned earlier. I might even take you out on a proper date one time." He grinned at her again.

---

"I have a brain in mine." Sora frowned at her like she was the most confusing thing to ever sit before him. "Weirdo." He huffed before lying back on the couch.
"You know what else is weird? Bees. I mean, they make honey from flowers. Why can't we make honey from flowers?"

That started Calvin off on an explanation of why.

Luke just smiled at Sam. "As you get to know me, you'll find I can be a pretty awesome guy." he turned away as he filled up the sink. There was a lot to be cleaned before he got to crash that night.

"I'm more than interested in that proposal. Well, now we've worked that out," She said, kissing his cheek and then tilting her head to brush her lips against his own, just a chaste, lingering thing, and then she leaned back and smirked lightly, trailing her fingers down his neck, "I'm going to shower and then come back, and if, after that time bracket, you're still here, then you've got me and the bed for the night. We have such nice couches for a reason - and speaking of which," She said, standing up and not bothering with the sheet, "Tomorrow morning you're having a brief discussion with Other Commitment, whether I have to enforce it or not." She gave him a shit-eating grin and leaned down to kiss him again, bracing her hands on the edge of the mattress, "Only real rule; some level of communication or you're out. Suck it up."

She brushed a hand through his hair and then turned and strode casually out through the living room and into the bathroom, speaking inaudibly to Mori as she went, the both of them acting entirely as if it wasn't unusual that she was buck naked or had another man in their bedroom (the kids were out, all bets were off).

It wasn't a disagreeable setup.

---

"You don't need to do all of that, just one or two would be a great help, I can do the rest tomorrow night, just- I'm going to stay up with Sora for a while, make sure nothing happens overnight, and I'll probably be gone by the time you're up." He said, absently neatening his hair and shutting the fridge, one heaped plate somehow shoved in between the eggs and the bowl of salad.

Yuki grinned as he watched her leave. Her offer was inciting. He would make sure to be in the bed by the time she returned.
The only thing he didn't agree with was leaving the discussion with Mori until tomorrow. He had time to kill and didn't see the point in just lounging around in the bed, even though it was a comfy bed.
And he enjoyed having no pants.
Because Pants were stupid.
Pants were now banned from his body.

The demon stood, wrapping the sheet around his waist as he walked out into the living room. He moaned loudly at the smell of coffee and made his way to the kitchen. He stopped shot though, instead deciding to lean on the large wall of a man that was Mori.
He pressed his forehead into the mans shoulder. "If you pour me Coffee I would love you forever. Like maybe even fivever. Because Coffee is awesome and so are you."

---

"I don't mind." Luke smiled at Sam softly. "i'm still kind of wired. Escaping like we did kind of leaves your body pumping for awhile."
He gave a slight nervous laugh.

Kietsu had, at one time, been told that when he 'popped' into existence in certain proximity to demons, if they knew what to listen for, there was a very faint buzzing undertone the very moment before he 'popped'. Most of the demons he spent any large amount of time with learnt to listen for it when they were expecting his company, but to his knowledge only a few were able to keep an ear out for him at all times.
When Kietsu appeared in the kitchen of the Samaria household, he wasn't surprised at all that the only one who jumped was Yuki seeing as the only other person in the room were part of that exclusive group.
Ignoring the general nudity of the group, a situation he had only just recently learn was not as socially acceptable in most groups as was led to believe by the mortals he kept company with, he immediately handed Mori, as Satori didn't seem to be present, the note he had managed to appropriate from a private DI that he'd been keeping an eye on for a while now.
"Baxter's been watching these shipments for a few months now." He said, elaborating on the notes contents, "I'm now certain they are SHADED."

Kietsu had been given the fun task of 'scouting the enemy' as Anei had put it one Tuesday night, as the only one with the freedom of movement Kietsu was capable of, it fell on his shoulders to go to a lot of the places the others were unable, or unwilling, to go themselves.
He wasn't actually sure why he had agreed to it, he'd almost been shot twice in the last week alone and it was only just now Wednesday.

---

Tosh was hungry. Tosh was really hungry, there were also two very strange men outside the bedroom and Tosh was hungry.
During his time outside the lab, Tosh had finally picked up that he was able to eat whenever he was feeling hungry and his food did not have to come on a schedule, it was still a new and slightly nerve-wracking feeling to just go get his own food but Tosh was learning.
Any other time he would have just gone to the fridge and gotten some milk for his Fruit Loops. Tosh liked fruit loops.
He thinks The Sam would have preferred if he ate something else, but he never said otherwise, so Tosh kept eating his fruit loops.
Fruit loops were great.
Tonight though, there were two strange men in the kitchen and Tosh was torn.

Fruit loops or potential danger.

OR

Tosh quickly relieved himself of his clothing, folding it carefully and storing it away in a safe place, they were Tosh's clothes and no one could touch them because they were Tosh's and he was allowed to not let people touch his things now.
Smiling slightly to himself now, Tosh allowed his power to wash over him until he could feel his bones crushing into them self and his skin shifting against his muscles. He was getting faster at this now. He'd never dared to Change when They had him, but now he could, because he was allowed.
When the change was complete, Tosh scampered to the closest wall and made his way to the mouse sized crack under the door, gently sniffing the air and letting his large ears search for any signs of danger.
Finding none immediate, he moved into the much brighter lit room and made a straight beeline for his goal.
His goal was the only one in the room he could trust to acquire him fruit loops without alerting the others to his presence.
Calvin.

Calvin would help Tosh. Calvin was Tosh's friend.

---

Rubbing his forehead with an air of pure frustration and disdain, Richard spent a good twenty minutes just staring at he run down excuse of a building looming in front of him.
He actually couldn't believe he'd agreed to come along to this stupid place, it was a stupid, idiot daft thing to do and he was probably about to get knifed by some drug addict the moment he crossed the threshold.
Never the less he found himself approaching the building anyway, his stupid feet even had the audacity to take him in through the automatic doors, and really a place this rundown was spending it's budget on electric doors? An idiotic waste of resources.
Once inside though, he found himself at a complete loss, the place was actually a lot larger than it had appeared from the exterior and Richard wasn't actually sure how he was supposed to be finding his crazy lady.
After a few moments of staring down corridors there was the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat causing Richard to startle and almost drop his bag.
"Can I help you?" A clearly amused elderly lady asked him from an absolutely atrocious faux leather couch that was located in a previously unnoticed nook next to the main doors.
"Uh..." Richard said quite eloquently, staring at the old woman, because she was old with her hair tightly rolled against her head in pristine silver-white curls, who looked much to impeccable to be sitting casually in such a dirty old building.
Laughter crinkling her eyes, the lady waited a short minute for Richard to pull himself together before prompting him with a "Where you looking for someone dear?"

God. She was straight out of an old fashioned picture Richard found himself thinking, already putting on his most charmingly polite smile.
"I was asked to meet someone here, but it only just occurred to me I never got their name" Richard explained, a wry grin stealing across his face. He wasn't actually sure why that problem hadn't occurred to him before.
'Too distracted by her bathrobe' He silently berated himself.
"You wouldn't happen to know a lady a bit older than myself that wears a bath- A Robe would you?"
Mouth twitching, definitely laughing at him, the old lady nodded slightly.
"That would be our Yuni, she's down in the Yoga room this time of week"
Thankful for the small favours of the universe Richard gave a her a very sincere, thankful grin.
"Thank you" He nodded, taking a few steps away before pausing once again. Actually had no idea where the Yoga room was.
"Down the corridor to your right dear, it's the purple door."
Smiling grateful over his shoulder, Richard thanked the woman again and set off down the correct corridor.

One problem solved. Only a million more to go.

Mori hadn't been expecting the man to face-plant against his shoulder, or to be in nothing but a sheet (he himself was fond of sweatpants, better to be at least half dressed if you had to make a quick getaway) but then again, he probably ought to have been expecting something along those lines. He raised a hand to pat Yuki's shoulder, giving a laugh under his breath and just standing still where he was for the moment.  "I can do coffee," he said, now absently rubbing Yuki's shoulder, barely aware he was even doing it. "You don't have to throw compliments around here just to get-" and then, of course, Kietsu managed to pop into existence in the middle of the room , brandishing papers and disrupting the not- yet-conversation like nobody's business.  He lifted a brow at the Tennin as he folded over the papers, not moving his hand and blatantly ignoring the kettle when it clunked its readiness. "Thank you. While that's great, and all, highly appreciated," He continued, somewhat wearily, "would you mind using the door the next time? Or knocking, or-" He twisted slightly where he stood to get a look at the digital clock propped up on the bench, "Waiting until morning? Not a great time for work discussions, if I'm blunt with you."

---

Sam turned abruptly at that, looking at Luke with unbridled concern. He had seemed like he might be calming down somewhat , but then, that really wasn't saying anything - he was in a strange place full of battle-ready demons his old organisation had treated as mindless creatures (and had been threatened by one) and by his own experiences with the same corporation, it had been impossible for weeks to shake off the feeling that they were about to come barging in through the doorway at any given second. "A benefit of living in a complex full of demons is you'll have more warning than you know what to do with if anyone they don't know gets too close - now more than ever, seeing as you've rather alarmed them. There's an awful lot of security procedures and equipment here. You're safe. And if it's trouble from the people here you're worried about? Don't be. You've done nothing wrong, and even if it takes a while for some of them to come around, they will. With our experience, you can't really blame them for being uncomfortable around strange and potentially dangerous humans. Nobody's getting in here, and if it looks like something is going to happen, you'll know before it does." He said with a small smile, nothing near a grin but an honest and calm expression all the same.

---

Yuni looked up when the door opened and immediately beamed, waving him in and in the process of doing so, elbowing the black-haired youth sitting beside her, both sitting with crossed legs. "Shut it behind you, if you would, we don't want everyone taking a peek in," She said with a pleasant trill in her voice, patting the floor to invite him to sit with them and ignoring the rueful scowl that Raven was sending in her direction. "So," she continued after barely a beat of silence, "I'm Yuni, Shinto Priestess, and this is Raven - he's working on a similar kind of problem to you, control, in a manner of speaking," Here Raven dropped his head into his hands and made a noise of disbelief, muttering something under his breath (she gave him a friendly pat that didn't look even vaguely sympathetic), "So I thought we could all work together, it's a good thing you showed up today, convenient." She flashed him another smile, looking nothing but innocently pleased with the situation. "So, tell us a little about yourself." Raven looked utterly dismayed.

---

"Where have you been for the past hour - Jesus fucking Christ, what the hell happened?" Ethan asked, frustrated tone cutting off into open worry, lurching upright from where he sat just outside Dean's apartment door and immediately moving forwards to stand right in front of him, hands faltering between moving like he thought he might need to help him stand up and jerking away from the bloodstains- eventually settling on his upper arms as he looked him over with increasing panic. "Shit; who the Hell- Your shirt's covered in blood and- did you get into a fight? Tell me that's not yours, are you hurt?"

By now Yuki really should be used to the random appearances that Keitsu liked to make. The man rarely used doors or windows, opting instead for the teleportation.
He really should he used to it by now, but the fact was that he wasn't. When Keitsu made his appearance Yuki made a very unmanly noise and clutched to Mori's hand that had been resting on his shoulder.
It was better than his first thought, which was to jump into the other demons arms and squeal like a girl. Or the first time that it happened, where Yuki had actually thrown a chair at Keitsu, and maybe even pee'd his pants a little.
But not today. Today he simple screamed like a girl and clutched a larger mans hand. Much better reaction.

"You have to stop doing that man!" He cried out finally, directing his statement at Keistu. "How would you be able to look Anei in the eye if you caught Satori or Mori in an unquestionable position?!  Think before you Pop, man. Think before you pop."


---

Luke chuckled softly, his eyes never leaving the soapy water in which the dishes were. "Its not that. I just don't usually sleep much as is. Cleaning clears my mind." He pulled a slight face at his comment"As weird as that sound, but at least my room mates enjoy it. Or rather enjoyed it... Guess I can't go back there, right?"
He seemed a little sad at that thought.


----

Calvin lifted the small mouse from the floor up to his face. He frowned softly at the creature before sniffing him. "What can I do for you?" He asked.

---

Dean reached up and removed Ethans hands from his shoulders. He stepped around the smaller man in order to unlock his apartment. "I'm fine, not my blood, no injuries from me. The folks from upstairs got one of their friends back who had been missing." He explained simply before leaning in. He gave Ethan a quick kiss before pulling away, a cheeky grin on his face.
"Hell to you too love. Did you miss me?"

Sam shook his head slowly, gaze drifting from Luke to the wall just opposite him, "Probably not in your best interests," He said, "Or theirs. SHADED don't tend to be... Friendly, when they catch up with defectors." One side of his mouth curled up in an entirely unhappy smile as he looked around the shabby apartment, the peeling, dated wallpaper, stained counters and creaky linoleum. He reached up to press the heel of his palm in against his own chest, just below his collarbone, "But then again, if you could wind it back and not actually break him out, how long would you wanted to stay with them anyway? And really, once you're in the know, there's no easy way to change occupation." It was just a quiet ramble, more exhaustion fuelled than anything and, he realized, entirely unhelpful, so he let himself trail off, sighing and turning on the kettle.

----

"Did I miss you? Let's examine that," He very nearly scoffed, "No, no, I was just waiting for you for the past... However long, because of reasons unrelated entirely to missing you," The sarcasm was light and teasing, and he ran a hand down Dean's shoulder to his hand, giving it a quick squeeze before ducking into the apartment. "I also missed your body-wash - seriously, that soap that Sandy has stuffed in the staff bathrooms is absolute shit." Ethan added over his shoulder as he draped his jumper over the back of the sofa, ruffling up his hair where the hood had flattened it out.

"Maybe you should go to bed." Luke said. He reached out and gently touched the other mans arm. "I'll take care of here, maybe get one of your friends help. You really look exhausted."
And the man did. When was the last time that Sam actually slept?m He had bags under his eyes that made Luke wince in sympathy.

---

Dean grinned and let against the door frame. He loved how easily Ethan seemed to fit into his life and how happy the man seemed to be.
It had been a rocky start but now, Dean didn't know what he would do without the other man waiting for him every day, pottering around his apartment and using all of his body wash. It was no secret that Dean loved it when Ethan smelt like him.

The bouncer just stayed where he was, smiling at his lover. "Any other reason you're here?"

Sniffing first Calvins hand and then the air surrounding it Tosh gave several small squeaks hoping to get his point across. Calvin didn't always understand things. Calvin seemed to understand things less than Tosh sometimes. Tosh hoped Calvin would understand this time.
Burrowing into the curve of the Tennins fingers, he took a moment to nibble lightly on his thumb before giving a final small squeak.

---

Staring at the hands on Moris shoulder for a while, Kietsu couldn't help but let a small rueful frown cross his features. He knew he was interrupting, but...
"I was told to come if I deemed it an emergency" Kietsu said quietly, shifting slightly as to meet Mori's eyes.
"The detective believes they are..." Pausing shortly to recall the exact phrase the man had used, Kietsu once again let his eyes drift, this time absently, to look at the door that led to Anei's room.
"People smuggling. He thinks they are people smuggling. SHADED isn't interested in people."

---

'Oh. Crazy bathrobe lady has an emo boyfriend' Is the first, slightly unwilling thought that crossed Richards mind when he stepped into the room.
As Yuni, as Bathrobes apparently went by, introduced both herself and her companion, Richard found himself both sincerely regretting coming and overly curious.
He'd never actually been around vagrants of this sort before, and he really had to admit that whilst the possibility of mugging still remained he did want to see how the other side lived.
From a safe distance.
With no physical contact.
The emo boy looked like he could be carrying something contagious.

"Richard" He eventually replies, fake confidence oozing off of him after his initial stutter in the doorway.

As light as it was, Sam startled at the contact and drew his arm back to fold over his chest, eyes snapping back to Luke. After a second or two he offered a faint smile, fixing his shirt sleeve and shrugging jerkily, "Maybe, maybe. I need to stay up with Sora, make sure the painkillers don't wear off too quickly - make sure it doesn't end up having negative reactions, or- Anything. I'm fine, just really starting to look forwards to Sunday," He said, smile hitching into a tired smirk as he filled a mug with boiled water and dropped in a teabag. "Three days."

---

"No they aren't," Mori agreed, shifting slightly and grimacing, "So it's pretty obvious what they're actually talking about. We will look at it, and it will be tomorrow - I have the day anyway - but there's not much we can actually do right now, not with so few numbers. Just give it until morning. You missed a bit of the action while you were gone; we have another ex SHADED operative here, so we need to stay put, just for the moment until we have a few others to call on. So thanks, and i agree, that's not going to be anything but trouble, but there's nothing we can do right this second."

---

Ethan openly smirked, leaning back against the back of the couch and tilting his head back a little, "Well, I could say something about walls and certain interactions - which is on the cards, definitely, that's never not going to be on the cards - or I could just go with suggesting crashing out and relaxing a little, because this is my first night off in how long? And I'm dead beat tired. So, your call, any reason you'd be interested in having me here?" He quizzed, a brow lifting in amused question.

---

"So, Dick - Can we call you that? Going to sit down or do we need to get you a plush cushion?" Raven asked, grinning in a rather unfriendly way and earning himself another side-jab from the smiling woman, who gestured at the floor again.
"Come on, Richard, join us. Be nice, Rue-"
"Raven."
"Raven, okay, be nice. Come on, sit down, we don't have all night." She said, voice full of cheer, which was apparently shielded out by Raven's fringe.

"Maybe." Dean pushed himself off the frame and closed the door behind him. Within a few steps, the bouncer was leaning on the couch behind Ethan, a key attached to a chain dangling in front of the latters face.
Dean grinned. "Thought maybe you'd be sick of hanging out in the hallway."

---

Yuki glanced over to Mori and rose an eyebrow. He squeezed the mans fingers a little harder than needed. "And, Sora's back." He added. "Since, you know. That's also quite important and awesome."

---

Luke drew his hand back to his body quickly. "Sorry, I didn't reali-" He cut himself short, opting for a change of subject instead. He could tell that Sam probably didn't want to talk about his sudden movement.
"Three days." He nodded. "Thanks again for letting me stay the night, it musn't have been an easy choice. I mean, you're already a pretty full house."

---

Calvin watched Tosh closely. He watched as the mouse tried to speak and he watched closer when the mouse bit his thumb.
Ever so slowly, the Angel brought his free hand up to level with the other. He never removed his eyes from the mouse as he rose his thumb into the upright position on his free hand.
He tried for a smile.

Another member of SHADED? It was making him uncomfortable all these ex operatives amongst their plans. He didn't like them here. He didn't like them endangering themselves for these strangers.
It bothered him a lot, Kietsu was finding, how much disregard these mortal creatures could hold for life. Sometimes he felt that they had no regard for death and all that he could bring them, or take from them.
It wasn't that Kietsu disagreed with Mori, not at all, it's just, how casually he was dismissed. It was much the way His Lord and addressed him, if not a bit more polite and with less yelling, but Kietsu was starting to realize it wasn't normal to be treated as he was.
Only.
What else could he do? This was his family now, mortal or not. Kietsu no longer belonged in a higher plane, cast out as he was, so now these fragile,reckless mortals were now all he had.
At least until 'his lesson had been learn't'
He was starting to think, and oh he did that a lot now, that these mortals -these admittedly long lived mortals had as little clue as he did when it came to what his Kami-sama had sent him here for.
How was he to learn a lesson, when the teachers themselves did not understand the subject matter?
His stance on the foolery of the mortal realm may be less extreme now, but that did not change it in it's entirety.
Mortals were foolish and weak. He was starting to learn though, that Tennin and even some of the Gods mayhap be as well.

He needed to think some more, decide on his actions. Nothing good came from being rash, perhaps he'd even have some more time to look into these shipments.
Nodding once more to Mori he simply left once again, reappearing somewhere on the banks of the Nile, where it still ran wild, tranquil on the surface and far from the reach of man.

He could use the break from humanity.

---

Leveling a snide look at the other Richard let himself snear as he gave him a mocking once over.
"Do not me Dick bird-boy" He mocked right back, making sure to let his gaze linger on the more threadbare of the others clothing.
Moving to Yuni's other side, he lets himself sink to the floor, his movement would-be-graceful if not for the sharp twinge of pain shooting from the base of his neck to reverberate around his skull.
Vision washing out into black, he just clenches his teeth and followed through the motion of sitting, not letting the instinctual panic that came with loss of vision show for more than a slight stutter in his movement. His vision would return momentarily. It was just a bad side effect of his migraines and nothing to be worried about.

He'd just have to make sure to get more of those pills from the doctor.

---

Ah. Calvin was smiling. Even to Tosh's somewhat limited vision it looked odd on his face.
Tosh wasn't sure Calvin had really gotten his point.
Giving a small mousey sigh, he started chattering in earnest now, moving back and forth across the other palm and pointing his nose determinedly in the direction of the kitchen.