Tia sleepily opened her eyes as she awoke the next morning, slipping her arms around Jay. Looking down at him sleeping with his head on her chest, she gently squeezed him and then moved her hand aside to pat his head. Last night had been a bit confusing for both of them. He was split in two, just like her. She chuckled when he gently squeezed her, grumbling and reaching to pull the blanket over his head. Tia carefully stopped his hand before he could hide under the blanket. "Jay..? It eight in the morning. We should get out of bed." Jay slowly opened one eye to watch her, slipping out of her grip and falling off the bed, onto the floor. "Tada!" He yawned, curling up in the blanket he'd dragged with him. "And for my next trick, I'll mysteriously lose consciousness for another hour." Tia wheezed when she slipped off the bed and onto Jay, who promptly coughed and let out a pained scream. "Tia-!" She quickly got off of Jay, helping him up and checking him over. Deciding that he was fine, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Jay slowly turned pink after that, chuckling a little. "Let me guess, I get a clean bill of health from Nurse Tia?" Tia chuckled and shook her head, looking down at the button up shirt she was in. "Yes, you're safe and healthy. But we need to get changed." She paused, looking back up at Jay. She knew he likely wouldn't be in control of the body for long, and that JJ might be listening in his head. "I..was wondering if I could ask you something, after we get dressed." Jay raised an eyebrow and just nodded, patting her head before heading off to another room to change. Coming back out after changing into JJ's suit, he paused when he heard an amused and rather sinister chuckle in his head. Jay knew he wouldn't have control of the body for long. Maybe a few more days. He hoped he could hold on that long..Tia really deserved a rest from JJ.

Seeing Tia come out in her dress, he took a moment to admire her. She was just..amazing. Jay hoped she knew that..even with the scars on her face, she still looked beautiful. Clearing his throat and sitting on the bed, he smiled. "So what did you wanna ask me?" Tia looked down at the floor and rubbed her arm. She was a little nervous to ask..what if JJ was listening? "I..was wondering if we could send Deity and Cole to check on Dareth. Especially after what JJ did to him..wounding him and killing Ronin.." Jay shivered, remembering what JJ had done yesterday afternoon. He ran a hand through his hair, getting off the bed. "You know what..yeah we can send Deity and..-" Jay looked at Tia, slight confusion present on his face. "Did you say Cole?" Tia raised an eyebrow and took his hand, leading him outside. "Yeah, I did." Leading him outside to the warehouse grounds, she watched Cole slowly stretch and come out of the house he shared with Deity. The partially stone skinned behemoth grunted sleepily and looked down at Tia, giving her a smile. "You seem happy this morning." Cole yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Why are you happy? I.." Cole's gaze slowly shifted to JJ when he felt a shaky set of hands hold onto his arm. Deity was behind him, and she always hid when JJ was around. He didn't blame her, considering what JJ had done to her three years ago. Cole examined JJ for a moment, stopping at his eyes. Green. Calming, warm emerald green. His eyes flickered for a moment, returning to a soft grey as tears filled his eyes. No! That was impossible. Jay was..dead, right? His best friend was gone, and this was a trick. It had to be! Jay watched the saddened behemoth in front of him and swallowed, feeling himself being picked up by Cole. He gave a nervous laugh, watching Cole stare into his eyes. A few tears spilled down Cole's stone skinned cheeks. "Jay..?"

Jay chuckled and watched Cole, his voice breaking as he spoke. He didn't know if he should laugh or cry. "I didn't know dirtclods could cry." Cole watched him for a moment and pulled him into his arms, squeezing him. "Bluebell!" Jay wheezed and gently patted Cole's back, trying to comfort him and return the hug. Deity slowly peeked out from behind Cole to see Tia confused, so she began scribbling on her marker board. Tapping Tia on the shoulder, she offered the board to her and showed her what she'd written. 'Cole and Jay are the masters of lightning and earth. It's been four years since they really saw each other, and maybe the corruption made them forget who they really were. It..won't last long, though. Enjoy your time with Jay while you can. My mom always told stories about how kind the ninja were, when she was alive.' The marker ran a bit down the board, Deity had started to cry while writing that last sentence and it had mixed with the marker, causing black streaks. Tia lifted her head to look at Cole squeezing Jay, a slow smile crossing her face. Cole slowly sat Jay down and grunted, holding his head for a moment as his eye color forcibly shifted back to a vibrant magenta. Jay frowned when this happened, feeling Tia hold his hand. "It's okay..I think that's the first time Cole has had mental control of his own body..like you." She shook her head, squeezing his hand in reassurance. "His control wouldn't have lasted long. Deity..can you and Cole go check on Dareth? JJ did a heist over there and I want to make sure he's alright." Deity seemed confused, watching Tia. She wanted them to leave the warehouse grounds? Deity began scribbling on her marker board to ask, but was quickly picked up by Cole. The behemoth cradled her in his arms, and Deity immediately turned her head away from Jay. That face..she still couldn't look at him, no matter the circumstances. Cole grunted at Tia and hugged Deity closer, kissing the top of her head. He loved her a lot, and she was scared of JJ. So he had no issue with keeping her safe. "We go."

Deity carefully climbed down from Cole as they approached the shop, silently opening the door. She stopped when a knife was thrown at them as they came in, reaching behind her to grip Cole's hand. Cole grunted and shook his head, watching the frightened older man. "Who are you? Why do you have that behemoth with you? You ain't taking Ronin from me!" Deity frowned, unable to hear him. She pointed to her ears, shaking her head and slowly coming over to him. Dareth frowned and scratched his head in confusion. "Ya can't hear me? Are you deaf?" Deity did her best to read his lips, but her lack of focus caused her to not pay attention to where she was walking. Tripping over something, she fell to the floor and felt a heavy object land on her. It..was stiff. She trembled, slowly turning around to face the thing that had landed on her. Cole saw Deity staring at Ronin's dead body and starting to shake, so he quickly ran over and picked her up. He covered her eyes and felt his hand quickly get wet..she was crying. Dareth rose an eyebrow at the comfort Cole was currently giving this woman. "Why are ya being nice to her? I mean really, you helped JJ kill-" He glared down at Dareth and grunted, gently petting Deity's head and holding her face against his chest. "You be quiet. This is different." Dareth watched Cole for a moment, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Y'know that's kinda hard to believe, seeing as all you did when you were here is help that bastard kill-" Cole wasn't listening, looking down at the shaking woman in his arms. "Love her." He raised an eyebrow, a little confused. "What did you say?" Cole gently moved Deity's hair back from her face when she lifted her head off him, wiping her eyes for her. "Love her. She got hurt by JJ too. He killed her family. But she's not like us. Nicer than JJ, despite her heart hurting." He gently tapped Deity's chest and watched her slowly smile. Cole knew she couldn't hear him-but he knew she understood the meaning behind the gesture. Dareth seemed...confused by the suddenly sweet nature of the stone skinned behemoth, but ignored the questions in his mind. "Why are you here?"

Cole grunted and sat Deity back down, watching her dig in her pockets, only to pull out nothing. She'd forgotten her marker board and marker. Cole watched her panic and gently rubbed her head. "You know how to read sign language?" Cole turned Deity toward Dareth and asked him this as he watched her try and sign. Dareth didn't understand, looking up at Cole. "Deity is mute from what JJ did. Been uhh..four years now, I think." Dareth frowned and dug in a nearby drawer, offering Deity a pen and notepad. Deity seemed relieved to have something to speak with. She immediately began writing, standing still for a few moments and turning the notepad to Dareth, showing him what she'd written. 'Tia asked us to check on you after JJ's heist and attack. Is that Ronin on the floor? I'm sorry for tripping over his foot and making him fall. Did you want us to help you properly bury him and clean up your shop?' Dareth swallowed and looked down at the body on the floor, sighing and shutting his eyes. "Yeah..he deserves to be laid to rest properly." He was talking to himself and Cole, but nodded for the sake of giving Deity a proper answer. Deity watched Dareth for a moment, handing the notepad to Cole and walking over to the shaking brunette. Loss..shock..trauma..everyone handled it differently. She knew it well..they'd both been hurt by JJ. Carefully taking Dareth's hand, she gently patted it and gestured to Cole carefully picking up Ronin when he opened his eyes. Cole grunted and shifted the dead body in his arms, looking at Dareth. "We take care of him. She and I..respect the dead. Not like JJ, he take pictures and put party hat.." He caught himself, pausing and looking down at Deity. He knew she couldn't hear him..or anything at all. But he often caught himself out of respect for his girlfriend. Slowly walking toward Dareth, Cole covered Ronin's face with his hat. "You not need to look at that. Deity want to help you lay him to rest." Deity patted Dareth's hand again and then looked at the ring on his finger. She supposed they'd been married-at least by their own definition.

Cole made sure Deity wasn't facing him-she could read lips, even if it was only a little bit. He looked at Dareth. "She want to help as a favor to Tia, but..also because she never got to say goodbye or let her family rest. I think they still there." Dareth swallowed and looked at Deity, who was silently rubbing her thumb over his wedding band-gold was one of her favorite metals. "She never got to..?" Cole slowly shook his head and watched Dareth carefully pull Deity into his arms, giving her a brief squeeze. Deity blinked in surprise and looked up at Dareth, who gave her a kind smile and rubbed her head. He gently moved her head toward Cole holding Ronin and then pointed outside. Deity only nodded and pulled away from Dareth when he let her go, taking the nod and point as a hint that he wanted to get started. Deity looked back at Cole to make sure he was carrying Ronin properly, and then gently squeezed Dareth's hand. Walking outside with him, she carefully let his hand go and picked up a nearby shovel. She paused when she felt Dareth's hand on her shoulder, turning to him and following his hand when he pointed to the garden he had out back. Deity looked confused for a moment and looked at Dareth, pointing to the shovel and then Ronin in Cole's arms. He nodded and gently squeezed her shoulder. "Please." It was all he said-she could at least read that singular word on his lips. Deity directed Cole over to the garden and watched Dareth head back inside for a few things. Digging a hole between the lilies and the red carnations, Deity thought it was a fitting place for Ronin to rest. Her father had often taught her the meanings of flowers. Red carnations meant undying devotion and a deep love..and lilies often were used to symbolize that the soul of the departed had received peace upon his or her passing. Digging further down, Deity silently measured the depth of the hole. They didn't have a casket, but it would do. He could rest, and Dareth wouldn't have to look at his body in that chair. She lifted her head when Cole nudged her, trying to lay Ronin flat-it wasn't working. She frowned and tilted her head, having Cole lay Ronin down on the ground.

Cole grunted and looked at Deity, who was pointing to Ronin's legs. He raised an eyebrow and made a breaking motion with both his hands. Deity didn't look to happy about it, but nodded. If they were going to get him to lay flat, they had to break his legs. Cole watched her and carefully covered his eyes, as if instructing her to do the same. Deity set the shovel aside and did as she was told. When he was done, he gently tapped her on the shoulder and watched her uncover her eyes. Cole had laid Ronin in the hole after fixing his legs, and had even closed his eyes for him. Deity watched the body and nodded, turning to see Dareth coming up to them. "He..looks real nice, Cole. Thank you.." Dareth gripped the small box in his hands, shaking. Deity gently put her hand on Dareth's shoulder and gestured to the box, a little confused. He sighed and looked to Cole. "Can ya tell her its just.." His eyes watered and he wiped at them. "Dammit, it's the first thing I ever gave Ronin when we started dating." Cole scratched his head and carefully signed to Deity-or tried his best to repeat to her what Dareth had said. Deity nodded and moved aside to let Dareth put the box inside next to Ronin. She wouldn't ask what it was-it wasn't her business. Carefully shoveling dirt onto the body, she filled up the hole with Cole's help. Patting the dirt mound, she set the shovel aside and looked to Dareth. He couldn't stop the tears spilling down his face, staring at the dirt. "He protected me..I think he knew that JJ was gonna kill him. Ronin always told me that if something killed him, he'd want me to keep going. Be a tough cookie, y'know?" He watched Cole signing this all to Deity, and looked at the stone skinned behemoth. "Does it get better? Did it get better for her?" Cole paused and then slowly signed what Dareth asked. Deity seemed to stiffen and look at the ground, signing without looking at Cole or Dareth. He shook his head and turned to the brunette. "She said you take whats left of yourself and try and continue on. It'll be hard sometime. But you loved ones want you alive, no matter what happens. It helps to have people who care about you, around you." He paused and watched Deity signing again. "She said she knows it hurt. It still hurt her. But we'll be there for you." Cole raised an eyebrow when she lifted her head and signed directly at Dareth. He frowned, shaking his head. "What did she say?" Cole grunted and gripped Dareth's shoulders, hugging him like Deity instructed him to do. He gently squeezed Dareth, repeating what Deity had signed.

"I know it hurts. But don't let grief consume you and take your life. You'd break Tia's heart."