Cyrus and Roxie stepped off the stage as the security hawks held back the crowd, Nico, Pedro and Dominic grabbing them and leading them outside. It was crazy how much the crowd loved their song, since they hadn't sung in any way in almost two years. Like many things, it may just be like riding a bike. For them anyway.
"For first timers, up there at least, you guys did great," Dominic complimented, trying to hold back his extreme joy and his excitement. He looked at Cyrus and for a moment, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful he looked. The sun was setting, the orange light complimenting his sleek crimson feathers very well. And that body! He was so fit for such a young adult, with such smooth looking curves, he almost looked feminine.
"Thank you," Roxie said with a small, unnoticeable blush. "Truth be told, we haven't sang in almost two years."
"Seriously?!" Pedro said. "You two were so solid in your performance, I don't think anyone could tell."
"I guess it's just one of those things that never goes away," Cyrus commented, noticing Dominic looking at him. He had an idea of what the other bird was doing, but wasn't sure. In fact, he didn't think it likely at all that the other bird was checking him out. That is until he thought about it. When Roxie flirted with him, he shot her down, which was hilarious. But besides that, he did say how many other girls flirted with him, and how he'd turned all of them down.
But, it wasn't like Dominic wasn't attractive either. He had a toned body, definitely athletic. His feathers looked beautiful in the warm sunset, even when they looked well kept and glossy before. He was a little taller than Cyrus, which he liked. He wasn't a fan of the guys who were really built and popular, football players for example. He was more into the leaner guys, ones who had muscle, but not the gratuitous amount that football players/body builders had. Upon deeper thought, Dominic was extremely attractive.
"You guys can come back to sing anytime. All you have to do is ask," Nico stated with a warm smile.
"Thank you Nico," Roxie stated, smiling back at the canary.
"It's getting late. We should head back," Dominic stated, snapping out of his little trance.
"I'm going to take a little fly around the city. It looks beautiful this time of day," Roxie said to Dominic and Cyrus, having just seen the way they were looking at each other. "You guys cool with that?"
"Yeah. Just don't stay out too late," Cyrus said as he gave her a quick hug.
She returned the hug, then flew off. Meanwhile, Cyrus flew off with Dominic back to his nest. As they flew, Cyrus thought more about how Dom was looking at him, back outside the club. Was Dom interested in him? Well, before he could answer that question, he had to ask himself the same thing. Was he interested in Dom? Dom was certainly one of the nicest and friendliest people, or birds rather, he'd ever met. Especially compared to his first boyfriend, who embodied the word abusive. Anyway, Dom was physically attractive. There was no denying that. He was charming, funny, and just a really good friend in general. He'd definitely go out with Dominic if he'd been asked to. He'd always been too shy to ask anyone.
When they got back to the nest, Dominic landed on the branch next to the entrance-way, and sat there, staring at the sunset. He had a slight smile, and let out a sigh of content. He hadn't known why he'd stopped looking at the sunset. It was so calming and beautiful, but having lived alone all his adult life, he gained a sense of loneliness that grew every time he stared at the sunset alone, which was every day. He almost went back inside, that is until he heard something he thought he'd never hear.
"Care if I join you?" Cyrus asked him, having fallen a little behind after getting lost in his thoughts, only to just catch up.
"Of course, go ahead," Dominic replied, a full smile lighting up his face.
"Y'know, when Roxie and I were kids, we used to look up at the stars on the nights we couldn't sleep. We wouldn't really talk, we were just fine with each other's company," Cyrus stated, trying to break what might have been a long silence.
"Sounds really nice. I was an only chick, so I'm just a little jealous of those birds with siblings," Dominic said, sadness lightly lacing the statement.
Cyrus decided it was now or never. Frankly he preferred now.
"Dominic, do you like me?"
The Army Macaw froze a little at the question. "Well, we're friends, so yeah. I do like you."
Cyrus inwardly sighed. Unfortunately, he'd have to be more direct. He wanted to make this as comfortable as possible.
"I mean more than that."
"Ummm," he started, clearing his throat. "I mean, well…maybe."
"Dominic. I'm gay, I can tell when a guy is checking me out," Cyrus stated with an understanding smile. "What you were doing back outside Paradise, you were checking me out."
Dominic didn't know how to respond. He was happy that Cyrus was gay, meaning he was one step closer to being with him. But still, Cyrus hadn't confirmed that.
"You're okay with that?" Dom asked him, still shy about it.
"Yeah! It's a confidence booster when a guy checks you out, although you would've made me blush if you licked your beak. Thank God you didn't do that," Cyrus stated, blushing at the thought of Dominic doing that. He did have to admit that a little bitty part of him would still enjoy that kind of attention. Dominic, after all, didn't sound much older than him. "But, to be fair, I was checking you out too. And before you worry about looks, I go for the bird's personality, so, you're good."
"Thanks. Birds usually hit on me based on my looks, so that's comforting," the other bird said, smiling in his newfound comfort. It was nice to know that Cyrus was that kind of bird. So many times had girls and guys hit on him because of his looks. Frankly, he was sick of it. But when he did turn them down, he tried to be as nice as possible about it. Most birds took it mildly well, with added feelings of disappointment. Some wouldn't take it well, and would end up being asked to leave Paradise.
"Y'know, this really is a whole lot better with someone else," Cyrus said without thinking, a happy and loving tone filling his voice as he said it, one that shared no possible regret.
To that, Dominic put a green wing around Cyrus' shoulders, and pulled him close. Cyrus rested his head against Dominic's chest and breathed in his scent. It was just wonderful. He smelled of so many different fruits, they all blended together into one perfect scent. Dominic did the same thing as he rested his head atop Cyrus' head. He found it odd at first; Cyrus smelled of freshly fallen snow, yet it was mixed with the smell of firewood. But after a second, he fell in love with it, just as he'd fallen for Cyrus. So they sat like that, staring into the sunset, excited about what this new relationship would bring.
Meanwhile, Roxie had just found a tall building to land on and look out at the city around her. It looked beautiful, in a gritty sort of way. She admired how the city looked as if it'd seen hell everyday, yet stood defiantly against it. The way the small cotton balls of clouds gathered together reminded her so much of home. Finally, the sky was tinted yellow-orange with a hint of red. Red. That brought up some old memories of who she was before. She was still Roxie, but she was Roxxenna at the same time, Nobody Number X in Organization XIII.
She'd been sitting with Axel, her boyfriend and fellow Nobody at the time. He'd described to her how of all the colors of light the sun produced, the red light traveled the farthest. She'd compared their relationship to that red light, claiming it would travel the farthest out of any other relationship in the universe. To that, Axel brought her close, and they shared a kiss. That was the last day they had a normal moment; the day before she got her memories back.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to eat here," a voice stated behind Roxie, causing her to turn around and see who it was. The voice came from a bird feasting on a chicken leg, which didn't necessarily disturb her, she just found it odd. The bird, while not old, was an aged white cockatoo with a white crest that ended in yellow. His feathers, contrary to what she'd expected, were very well groomed and beautiful. The stark white feathers looked very soft and smooth, perfect for snuggling up against… wait a minute. Where exactly was that thought of hers going?
"And you seem to be succeeding in your endeavor," Roxie replied, her smart-ass attitude getting on his nerves quickly. Then he noticed something. That familiar body, the head feathers. This was the sister of that Scarlet Macaw he ran into a couple days ago, the one who'd not come back to share a meal like he said he would. Not that that got on his nerves. The bird had obviously changed his mind about having lunch with someone like him. That just gave him extra time to plot his revenge. Conversely, he'd actually come up with nothing, which surprised him.
Then he noticed something. This girl, she was a very nice sight to look at. Her feathers had the perfect colorings of blue and gold, as well as having a shiny, smooth look to them. The girl herself was very shapely and fit, having the most perfectly curved body of any bird he'd ever seen, which said something. Then her beak was the perfect jet-black, which complimented her looks in every way. Finally, her amber eyes were simply beautiful, and even seemed to have a slight sparkle to them. This bird was perfect. He had to be with her.
He changed his demeanor immediately. "I apologize. It's not often that I meet birds as beautiful as you. My name is Nigel."
Roxie was surprised by his change in behavior, but welcomed it with open wings. She smiled. "Hello Nigel, it is very nice to meet you, and thank you for the compliment. My name is Roxanne. Although, everyone just calls me Roxie."
"Would you mind if I called you by your full name?" he asked.
"You may if you wish," Roxie replied. Then she eyed his meal. "So, you eat chicken?"
Fearing it might not please her, he moved to dispose of his meal. Roxie found this unnecessary.
"Hey, I don't hold anything against you for eating chicken. I myself actually like it," Roxie stated, surprising Nigel.
"Really?" he asked her, tearing off a piece of the meat and offering it to her. "Would you like some?"
She did just eat, but a little more food couldn't hurt. "Sure, why not?"
Taking the peace of meat in her talons, she ate it, savoring the fresh taste as it melted in her mouth. She hadn't had chicken in so long, the taste of this morsel was made so much better by that fact. And the way it was spiced! The Brazilian style in which the chicken was cooked was just fantastic!
"You have no idea how long it's been since I've had chicken, Brazilian style much less! You've no idea how grateful I am," Roxie told him, a grin lighting up her face as it spread across her face. "This is so cliché, but how can I ever repay you?"
Nigel tapped a talon on his chin in thought, until he came up with something. "Meet me for dinner tomorrow."
"Same spot?"
"I'll be waiting," he said, a smile on his face contrasting his tired eyes.
The Dark Tunnel opened in a deserted alley in the middle of the city, and a tall figure with a black buzz cut and dark tinted visor stepped out, his hands in the pockets of his black, full body coat. He pulled his black gloved hands from his pockets and pulled off his visor, staring up at the star-crowded sky with his bright pink eyes. He then turned his attention to exploring the shadowed city around him, and maybe even have a small chat with those two pests masquerading as macaws. He always enjoyed ruining the days of his enemies, especially the select ones in this world. Something in his cloak buzzed, and he pulled out an obsidian framed, glass tablet just as an audio feed popped up.
"Have you arrived?" the female voice asked.
"Yes," the man replied. "I have."
"Good. Find the targets, and bring them to me."
"And the two pests?"
"Do with them how you please. Just complete the mission."
"Yes ma'am."
The feed disappeared as the man stuffed the tablet back into his coat before he zipped it up, the cloaking mechanism kicking in as he did so. This way, only people of his race, or those with exceptionally strong hearts, as strong as his or that of a race he strongly disliked, could see him. In order to accomplish such a feat, one had to have one emotion be vastly stronger than the others, love and compassion for all being an example, or a hatred that ran extremely deep within ones mind. But this was nearly impossible to accomplish, so he didn't have any worries.
So, he unfurled his jet black draconic wings, and took off into the sky, putting back on his visor as he scanned the city for his targets.
The next morning, Cyrus awoke in the soft green wings of his new lover, opening his eyes to a very beautiful and perfect sight. Beautiful, because his new boyfriend was the perfect physical package. Athletic build yet not overly built, a cute black beak, and glossy-smooth emerald feathers. Perfect, because he was charming, funny, knew how to pull off the perfect prank on his other friends, but most of all, kind. He was very cute right now too, due to a serious case of bed-feathers. Sure, Cyrus probably didn't look much better, but this was a truly great sight to behold. Dom's feathers looked very, and non-sexually, kinky. Almost every feather stuck out in every direction possible. It was actually pretty funny.
This caused a quiet snicker that slowly developed into a full on laugh, rousing his partner from his slumber. Dominic took on a look of confusion at this as his partner rolled out of his wings, still dying of laughter.
"Wutz so fvunny…?" Dominic asked him, letting out a huge yawn in the process.
"Duhuhude! You have s-s-serious bed f-f-f-feathers!" Cyrus managed to get out before laughing even more, slapping his wing multiple times on the floor as he did so. He'd never laughed this hard in his life, and he'd seen some pretty hilarious stuff in his sixteen years of life. Like that time his friend went literal head over heels the first time they went skating, and landed on the floor with a loud THUD. The best part was they hadn't actually gotten on the skating floor yet.
Dominic got up and looked at himself, his tired, half closed eyes going as wide as they could go, now fully awake and in horror. He'd never had this bad a case of bed-feathers before. This was almost as bad as the first time he'd bartended at Paradise, when he spilled coconut all over himself while preparing his first smoothie for someone. He'd felt really bad and apologized to the bird, who was actually fine with it. They'd commented on how they'd gotten a good enough laugh from his accident and could due without the smoothie. That was just extremely embarrassing.
He slapped his wings all over his body, attempting to flatten all of his feathers back into their original position, surprised to see in his haste, it actually worked. He looked like a normal bird with flat feathers, which in turn caused his boyfriend to finally stop laughing. Cyrus actually used a feather to wipe a tear from his eye, and almost let out another, smaller laugh when he saw the glare on his boyfriends' face.
"What? That was genuinely funny," Cyrus stated with an innocent smile. That fell away quickly when he realized Dom was slowly stepping towards him, closing the distance between them until Dom's chest was just a hair away from Cyrus', showing how tall he was compared to his boyfriend. Something Cyrus just noticed actually.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I would never do that," Dominic stated, bringing his wing up to Cyrus' cheek, rousing a slight blush from his lover. "I'll give you a five second head start. But when I get my wings on you, you will be sorry."
"And that starts…?" Cyrus asked him, slight fear entering his eyes as only one possibility of what Dom would do to him if he was caught.
"Five," Dominic started, a devilish grin spreading across his beak.
No sooner did he say that, Cyrus bolted out the hollow and headed straight for Paradise, hoping he could have Nico and Pedro convince Dominic to calm down, and hide behind Roxie if she was there too.
Dominic kept his word and waited four more seconds, then flew as fast as he could after Cyrus, thinking he would go to Paradise to try and have Nico and Pedro calm him down. If that was the case, he should know that Nico and Pedro would have his back, and he would have his revenge.
Once Cyrus got to Paradise, he spotted Roxie in the crowd, dancing with Jewel and Blu. He walked straight into the crowd, politely pushing past the other birds, not that they minded, and grabbed Roxie and dragged her to the outside of the crowd. She looked rather annoyed a this.
"What is it Cyrus? Didn't you see me dancing with Blu and Jewel?" Roxie asked her brother annoyedly. Cyrus explained to her what happened, and by the end of it, she understood. Although she wouldn't help her brother with his predicament like the evil sister she was, she would make it seem like all was well. Again, she would do this being the evil sister she was.
Just then, Cyrus noticed that Dominic entered the club, then proceeded to yelp and hide behind his sister. Roxie just sighed and walked up to Dominic and led him back outside, much to her brother's relief.
Once outside, Dominic crossed his wings, staring at Roxie expectantly.
"Ok," she said, slapping her wings together. "This is how this is going to work. You will get your revenge. But first, you have to trick him into thinking you've forgiven him for embarrassing you."
"Wait. You're going to help me? I thought you were going to keep me from getting my revenge, as his sister," Dominic said confusedly.
"I am his sister. But I haven't played the role of being the evil sister in a long time, which is something that I miss," Roxie explained. "Now, you're going to tell him he's forgiven, and you, as his new boyfriend, are going to show him an awesome day. I trust you know how to do that. But, after the day is over, that is when you bring him back to your hollow, and strike, for that is when he will least expect it."
"Sounds like a plan," Dominic replied, sharing Roxie's sly smile. "Now tell me, what is it that he doesn't want me to do?"
Roxie leaned over and whispered it to him, his smile growing ten fold, and evolving into a full on laugh. He was honestly surprised. That was what Cyrus was so afraid of? Really? He must've seriously despised it when people did that to him. He wasn't affected by that, but he loved doing it to his last boyfriend. On the contrary, his last boyfriend loved having that happen. But since Cyrus hated it so much, it was going to be so much better.
"Thank you for that little bit of information. I'll use it to my advantage as much as possible," Dominic thanked her, excited for tonight. He was also excited to dance with Cyrus, especially since he was off today. One of the hawks would be bartending today.
They stepped back into the club to see Cyrus dancing with Blu and Jewel in the crowd. They entered the crowd, politely pushing past the other birds, and tapped Cyrus on the back. Cyrus turned around, and nearly yelped after he stopped dancing. His sister silenced him by putting a feather to his beak, and gave him a look that said 'pay attention.'
"Dominic isn't going to do anything to you. We resolved the situation so that the only thing he will do is show you a good time," Roxie stated matter-of-factly, lying about the first part. Then she turned to Dom. "Right, Dom?"
Dom nodded. "Yep."
"Now get to it love birds, I've got to go talk to Nico and Pedro," Roxie said before walking in another direction, having spotted the inseparable pair talking with Rafael at a booth.
Hearing this caused Blu and Jewel to turn to the both of them with a look of mild shock.
"You two are together?" Blu asked the pair in shock.
"Uh-huh," Cyrus replied, wrapping his wings around Dom as they prepared to dance.
"Why didn't you tell us you were gay?" Jewel asked him, seeing as how they were friends for a while now.
"Well, I've known Nico and Pedro the longest, so naturally, they were the first to know. Even then, it took me a few years to work up the courage to tell them. Having met you guys only about a year ago, I was still working my way up to letting you know," Dominic explained, scratching the back of his head with his wing.
"It's not like we were going to hate you for it," Jewel stated.
"And to be clear, if you two did, we would've had words, you guys and I," Cyrus interjected, staring at the couple opposite them for a moment.
"But yeah, that's why I didn't let you guys know until now. I was a little afraid you guys wouldn't except me for who I am," Dominic said with a blush, surprising Cyrus. He'd never seen Dom blush before. But it made him that much cuter.
"We're your friends Dom, we'll always accept you for who you are," Blu stated, placing a wing on his friend's shoulder, comforting the Army Macaw.
"C'mon guys, let's get dancing! I wanna see his moves!" Cyrus exclaimed, wrapping his wings around Dominic, rather firmly. "I'm curious as to what he's better at: bartending or dancing?"
Blu and Jewel nodded before turning to face each other, once again wrapping their wings around each other, moving with the beat, showing a rather impressive display of dancing. Jewel seemed like she was born into it, making her moves seem effortless. Blu, meanwhile, seemed to be putting forth more effort, trying to look as good as possible in his dancing, yet still managing to keep up with his mate.
Cyrus was self taught with his dancing, and he'd tried to cover every genre he could. Classical, pop, hip-hop, Irish (he loved jigs), tap, break-dancing that led him into some parkour. That took up many hours upon many years of his life, so he hoped he could measure up to Dominic. It would be embarrassing for his boyfriend to be a better dancer than him, in the sense of not being able to keep in time with him. But, he was going to try his hardest to keep up with this wonderful bird.
They started dancing, starting with simple back and forth movements, but soon jumped to the more complex and fun stuff. They broke apart a few times to do some solo moves but always ended up back together, spinning with each other, and twirling the other to the music. All Cyrus' worries of not being able to keep in time with Dominic dissolved as he was having the time of his life. The dancing took all of his worries about his friends, Heartless and Dusks, and the Organization away. He was happier than he'd been in a very long time. Dominic, on the other hand, was also having the time of his life. He was happy to show Cyrus his dancing prowess and prove he wasn't just a bartender, although bartending was still fun. Cyrus' dancing, having seen it first hand the night they'd met, was perfect in every aspect. It was just one more thing he loved about Cyrus. He was just a phenomenal bird.
They danced for a few hours, not that they could tell. That's how much fun they were having. By that time, it had gotten pretty late. Some birds were leaving, others retired to the booths to talk with each other, or joined friends at the bar. Cyrus noticed Nico and Pedro hanging back around the box wall, having a chat. They noticed him standing with Dominic, and smiled. Pedro gave a 'thumbs up' with his wings. Nico tipped his bottle cap in compliment, then nudged his head in the direction of the stage. Cyrus turned his attention there to see his sister had gotten on stage. She noticed him staring at him, and gave him a smile.
'This is for you,' she mouthed. She was going to sing everyone, including Cyrus and Dom, one of her and Cyrus' favorite songs. 'All Our Days' by Casey Lee Williams of the Williams' Trio. They held this song very dear, as it reminded them of their mother, whom they hadn't seen the longest out of everyone they held dear.
Gwynivere Hoffmann, their mother, was the light of their dark world. The very memory of her was enough to keep them going, to drive them to find their friends, Zeke and Arden. Their mother was the kindest, most passionate woman they'd ever known. The best mother they'd ever had. At the same time, she couldn't think of her right now, she needed to stay happy in order to sing this song.
"This is for my brother Cyrus, and his boyfriend Dominic," Roxie stated with a happy smile on her face. "This is a slow dance song, so enjoy All Our Days. Oh, and Dominic, if you break my brother's heart, I will end you."
As his sister started to sing, Dominic brought Cyrus close with a smile, glossy red feathers lightly brushing against soft green ones. Dom wrapped one wing around his boyfriends' back, and took his other wing in his. Cyrus gave him a shy smile accompanied by a blush. Of all the dancing he'd practiced, he'd never done slow dance. He just never thought he would need that skill, not until now. Dominic smiled back, the look radiating confidence as he tried to assure Cyrus that everything would be fine.
"Just follow my lead, and you'll be fine," Dominic assured Cyrus, tilting his chin up to stare him in those beautiful, sharp blue eyes as Cyrus started to look down in shame. The signals led Dom to believe his partner had never slow danced before. He was quite pleased that, not only would he be his first slow dance partner, but the one who would teach him how to do it as well.
Cyrus only nodded as he stepped with Dominic, the slowness letting him easily keep up with the bird opposite him. They danced together, first in simple side to side steps as the slowly spun around, eventually going into twirls and other more complicated moves, making it a wonderful experience for the both of them. The song may have only been a few minutes, but time seemed to slow down as they danced with each other, allowing them to savor each wonderful moment of the experience.
At the end of the song, on the final note, with Cyrus in his wings, Dominic leaned the both of them close to the ground, smiling at his lover. Cyrus smiled back, this time with a shared confidence, staring into the beautiful eyes of his boyfriend. Then he did something daring, something that Dominic didn't expect. Cyrus moved one of his wings from Dom's back, to the back side of his head, and pulled him close so that their beaks connected. This action elicited a pleasantly surprised gasp from Dominic, but he quickly kissed back, closing his eyes as the two of them shared in the action's euphoria.
After what seemed like an eternity of euphoria, the two of them pulled apart for air, Dom holding Cyrus close as he brought them back to standing position. Unbeknownst to them, the crowd of birds formed a ring around them, giving them a circle of empty space to dance in. They must've done a good job dancing, because the crowd cheered and applauded them for their show. The semi-new couple payed the crowd no attention as they held each other close, smiling at one another. They didn't even notice Roxie bolt out of Paradise as soon as she finished her song.
"I told you you would be fine," Dominic said, his smile changing to a knowing smirk.
"You were wrong," Cyrus said, surprising his boyfriend. What could he possibly mean by that? Their dancing was great, heck, it was phenomenal. Cyrus quickly silenced his thoughts by expanding on his response.
"I was so much more than fine thanks to you," Cyrus said, falling victim to his urge to kiss Dom on the cheek. "Shall we go home to make the night even better?"
"Let's," Dominic stated with a smile, knowing the perfect way to end the night. So they left the club, flying through the darkening sky to Dom's hollow.
Once there, Dom wrapped Cyrus in his wings, returning a kiss on the Scarlet Macaw's cheek. Cyrus blushed, not that Dom could see, and smiled. Then he proceeded to rest his head on the crook of Dom's neck, the Military macaw resting his head on the Scarlet's. All thoughts of revenge in the bird's mind melted away as he stood there and listened to his boyfriend's breathing, letting out a sigh of content.
Cyrus let out a yawn. The softness of Dominic's feathers, the steady pulse of his heartbeat, the warmth of the taller birds' body against his. It was lulling him to sleep, his eyelids becoming heavy as his smaller form started to sag against Dominic, making the other bird take notice.
"Whoa there, somebody's sleepy," Dominic chuckled as he gently pushed Cyrus to his feet, keeping an extra green wing wrapped around his back for more support.
"It's been a long day," Cyrus yawned. It really was, what with Roxie running off, again, searching for her, finding her again, evading his boyfriend, making up and out with his boyfriend. Just everything that had happened that day had made him extremely tired. "Mind if we got to sleep early?"
"Nope, I've got nothing against extra sleep, especially with my new love," Dominic replied with a smile.
That last word made Cyrus' cheeks grow a little warm. "Alright then."
So the two lovebirds went to sleep in Dom's nest, Dominic forgetting all about his planned revenge as he laid down with his boyfriend, staring at those beautiful eyes as they started to close, and let out a small sigh. He hadn't felt this happy, Cyrus being his first boyfriend in a couple years. His future certainly was looking up.
No words can describe how sorry I am. Sorry for the wait, you few people who read my stories. This one was my to priority, it being my first ever fanfic and all. I will get to Nature of the Storm and finish and post its second chapter. But I must say it does feel good to be back. Anyway, I do believe this is chapter four, extra long to make up for my absence, and I will work on chapter five soon! (School has now also been a MAJOR factor :P).
~SDR
