A/N - I have no excuses, only my sincerest apologies. I got a bit swept up in other fandoms and lost my interest in Soul Eater for… *checks* seven months, my god. I'm… sincerely sorry about that, really. There's not much to say beyond that I at least hope what comes next in the story of Alecto and Tempus is to your liking. Oh, and poll updates: Alecto is pulling the lead at seventeen votes, with Tempus just behind at thirteen votes. The miscellaneous Kishin eggs have three votes (or does that count as less than one each, given how many there are?) and Panthera has two votes,with Nadia pulling up the rear at a single vote, which is one more than she had when this unannounced hiatus started.

So, uh, thirteen reviews in my absence. Let's get on those, shall we? (I will say that going through the reviews, all this and y'all still missed a few big plot details I threw at you. Or maybe you didn't miss them and you just decided not to bring them up. This fic is going to have so much reread bonus once the big reveals are out there, just you see.)

animagirl: Ahehe, well, sorry to say, but you miiiiight be waiting a while. Like, *checks outline* Oh, geez. A looong while. T-to be fair, though, the relationship between Alecto and Kid isn't the main plot or anything! The main plot is about something else. Something related to a certain redheaded witch who I'm growing more and more glad I introduced earlier, that was a really good idea and is really gonna benefit the story in the long run. Anyway, romantic subplot. Patience. They've only known each other for a couple months. Fluff in massive qualities is sure to arrive!

Doragon no Namida: I don't watch Naruto, but last I checked Sasuka Uchiha wasn't some lanky kid with abandonment issues and a yellow sweater vest ;P I jest, I jest, please don't hit me. Temperance is still kind of a dork underneath under all that abrasiveness. (And I might have been overdoing it on the crushing characters thing last author's note. I'm not one of those evil authors that likes to drag my characters through the mud a dozen times for the heck of it, Alecto doesn't have to worry about Tempus getting killed off for the sake of sads or whatever. There's a happy ending at the end of this, I promise.

Demon Sessama: Well, all of that mutual character development could still happen. One does not need a romantic relationship in order to cultivate meaningful interaction and growth as a person, after all. And yeah, the road to true friendship is a bumpy one, especially when one person has social anxiety and the other has aforementioned abandonment issues, but they work it out in the end. I mean, I guess I didn't have to say that, considering we've already seen them at the "worked out" stage, but. Yeah. I guess that's the folly of flashbacks, really, is that we know what Point B was so there is a bit of suspense lost. Ah, well!

Midnight15: Yeah, rushed backstories can be kind of frustrating to me, especially if they're really interesting backstories. Like, no. I don't want a few hints and then an angst-fueled breakdown in which the main character reveals the Great Tragedy that befell them, and then have it rarely brought up again except when it's appropriate for tragedy time! Show us how it's affected them, and how the journey from backstory to now story has affected them! *flails* If you're going to have a maudlin OC, at least make them meaningfully maudlin! Sorry, that was barely relevant to the topic at hand. Point being, rushed backstories = not that great.

MegglesGG: Thank you! The goal was to make Tempus and Alecto relatable and root-for-able while still maintaining that fantastical element of quirkiness that makes the world of Soul Eater what it is. It's good to see I haven't completely screwed that up!

Sweetfall995: Hold on, now, they have to build up chemistry before they get to kiss! Smooching is nice, but it must be earned.

kickarseanime: I understood exactly what you said, and what you said is exactly what I'm going for, so I'm glad that what you said I ended up with is what I ended up with… wait. Confusing sentences aside, Bryan Papenbrook is definitely my choice for Tempus's voice. As for Alecto, I'm partial to Amanda Celine Miller, who you may know as the voice of Sailor Jupiter! You might think her voice is a little mature for a fretful little tiny thing like Alecto, but it really works in my mind.

Aiwa Chanimay: Welp, you asked and so it was delivered.

coelacanthis (This is for both your reviews): I'm really glad you like it, and I'm sorry to say that it did go almost completely abandoned. But you know what they say; fandoms never die, they just cycle out. Tempus Fugit is back on track, and I plan on finishing this sucker even if it takes me years. (Which at this rate it almost certainly.)

LittleInsaneMe: Hello! I'm glad you like the story! As for tea, I've tried a few of the basic flavors as well as some peppermint tea. The latter was nice enough, but it wasn't really my cup of… well, you know how the old saying goes. Feels right for Kid, though. I've been meaning to broaden my tea palate so my descriptions of it in the fic aren't limited to reviews I read on Adagio. Did I get the flavors right? I hope I got the flavors right.

PhantomLion: Well, since you asked so nicely… ;3

Melody1818: Oh, thank you! ^_^ I'm so glad you like it!

Notes and translation for the Latin will be at the end of the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: Soul Eater is the intellectual property of Atsushi Ōkubo. I have no intention of monetizing my fanwork, and this is merely an enjoyable passer of time.


Chapter Forty-Three - Peppermint and Strawberry - Is It Really A Date? Part Four


"So let me get this straight. Not only did you use to be a huge asshole… which isn't that surprising, really… you used to be a huge asshole to Alecto?"

Tempus shrugged idly as he and the Thompson sisters made their way down the dimly lit streets of the market district. "Well, first of all," he said, turning to face the still-incredulous Liz, "I resent the implications that I'm still an asshole. I am the pinnacle of good grace and kindnepfffhahaha, yeah, couldn't say that with a straight face, I'm a snarky jerk and I'll happily admit that. Secondly, yes, it's true that my relationship with my meister started out a bit on the rocky side. Surely you two and Kid had a rough start to your dynamic, given how you're all you and he's all, well, him."

The walk to the Plenitude had been moderately quiet at first, with the three blonde weapons making something that vaguely resembled small talk. However, the topic had soon veered to whatever it was Alecto and Kid were doing, and Patti had ended up asking the question that was always on everyone's mind in regards to meister and weapon pairs: "So how did you two meet, huh?" Not really having anything better to talk about, Tempus had started to tell the girls the story, up to and including to the bits that painted him in a less-than-favorable light, leading to Liz's disbelieving pursuit of the idea that Tempus had ever been less than one hundred percent fond of his partner. Which was a completely true fact of life, as much as it pained him to admit it.

"Well, we did sort of try to mug him at first," Liz admitted in response to his remark, shifting her hold on the shopping bags in her arms. "But it's just so weird thinking of you not liking Alecto and being a complete jerk to her, given how overprotective you are. I mean, didn't you threaten Kid for wanting to wake her up that one time?"

"You know, I should answer your rhetorical question and maintain the tracks that this conversation train is riding along, but right now I just want to know the story of why you thought that mugging a junior god was a good idea."

"Tempus!"

Tempus raised his hands in defense. "Okay, okay. Yeah, things are a lot different between us now, but that's after a year and a half of getting to work together and getting to know each other. Clockwork weapon Tempus is dedicated to being the best shield weapon he can be for his meister. Freshman student Temperance Giles? Not so much. I'm not too proud to admit that I'd been a little… deliberately disagreeable. A dozen meisters worth of cynicism will do that to a guy; I was just waiting for the catch to rear its ugly head, and I couldn't believe that out of all the meisters in the world, the only one I could work with was some timid little half-pint from Maine. In fact, I think those are the exact words I used to describe her when complaining to some of my classmates about the whole thing…"


"I can't believe that I got paired with some timid little half-pint from Maine. Maine! Have you ever heard of a good meister from Maine, Ox?!" Temperance raved, wildly gesturing about in an attempt to truly express his frustration. "And get this; she's the only person I can be paired with because of my stupid time abilities! I never thought I'd be in a position where I would call my totally badass control over the flow of time 'stupid,' but that's where we are, Ox! That's where we are!"

"Uh-huh." The boy with the two single, horn-like spikes of brown hair on his otherwise bald head didn't really seem to be listening, his bespectacled gaze focused on a girl with boyish pink hair in a blue-and-white track jacket.

Temperance didn't notice his acquaintance's disinterest in his ranting, continuing anyway. "I mean, come on! The damn churchmouse can barely string two words together before stuttering and freaking out over it! I'm never going to be able to focus on being a great weapon because I'll be too busy fussing over her during battles to make sure she doesn't get scraped knees and have a full-on meltdown over it!"

"Yeah, but aren't those two things the same for you?" A new voice entered the fray as weapon meister Kilik Rung approached, his two young weapon partners Fire and Thunder clinging to his legs as he did. "You are a shield weapon, after all. You're supposed to protect your meister!"

"Oh, and I'm sure you know all about it, Mister I-Can-Resonate-With-Two-Weapons," Temperance grumbled. Kilik was known for being a bit of a prodigy in the meister department; being able to resonate with two weapons at once was a relatively rare feat, especially with a bond as stable as the two children weapons and their meister. "Do you even understand the sort of situation I am in? A dozen perfectly good meisters who can't sync up with my soul wavelength to save their life, and the one person who can is… is… that?!"

"Well, it's not like the other potential meisters were all amazing, either," Kilik pointed out. "Didn't one of them get some weird crush on you and follow you around for two weeks?"

"...Okay, so eleven perfectly serviceable meisters."

"And wasn't there that one who kept shouting everything he said like he was trying to out-noise Black Star?"

"...Ten perfectly adequate meisters god damn it, Kilik, you're sort of missing the point here!"

Kilik shrugged. "I don't understand what the point is to begin with. Didn't you use to be really desperate for a Meister when you first joined the Academy? Aren't you happy that you've finally got someone that you can resonate with?"

"I…" Temperance sullenly kicked at the floor. "Maybe at first, yeah. But twelve meisters, Kilik, even the most persnickety weapon doesn't burn through that many potential partners. You'll forgive me if I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop." And since the first dropped shoe was him getting paired up with that girl of all people, he wasn't feeling incredibly optimistic.

"I guess I can understand that," Kilik acknowledged. "But if you act like this, you're not just waiting for the shoe to drop, you're forcing it to drop. How much do you even know about her?"

"How much am I supposed to know about her? We've only known each other for a couple days; we haven't even moved in together yet." Oh, wow, did that sound weird out of context. Granted, a pair of barely-teens moving into a shared apartment so that they could learn each other's soul wavelengths better and grow acclimatized to each other didn't sound not weird in context, either. His life was weird. "I know she's got some sort of Italian heritage or somesuch, what with the complexion and the accent, I know she says weird stuff, and I know that if you leave her in a hallway on her own she flips her lid."

"Huh. I guess that would explain why she's been trailing after Tsubaki every time I've seen her."

Temperance blinked. Well, he supposed, that would make sense. He barely knew Tsubaki, but from what he could tell she seemed to be made out of an endless supply of concentrated patience and kindness, so she'd probably be the best choice to handle someone as high strung as his partner. He snorted, thinking that maybe they should have been put together instead. He could go without a meister. He knew such a thing was possible under the rules of the Academy. He'd read stories and heard whispered rumors about the famed Justin Law, who'd become a Death Scythe at the tender age of thirteen without any help from a meister. He could tough it out alone. But at the same time… he didn't want to.

He didn't understand this. This whole "mutual responsibility for each other's well-being" thing that was sort of the bread and butter of the meister-weapon relationship. After all, that sort of bond had never been extended to him, even those who had promised him a home. And now he just… had to forge something out of nothing with someone he didn't know and didn't particularly like, all because he had to. How do you go from "product of the system" to "productive member of society?"

He'd have to figure it out along the way, he guessed. "Yeah, well, Tsubaki can have her for all I care. Look, I'm going to leave early. We're moving into the new apartment this afternoon and I want to get a good head start on staking out official bookshelf spots."

"You found a good place?" Kilik asked.

"Yeah, not too far from the market district. It's pretty small, but the rates are good." Tempus pushed himself away from the wall and because walking away. "See ya. Oh, and snap Ox out of it before he starts drooling all over the floor, will ya?"


"Oh, wow, you really weren't kidding when you sad you'd mellowed out since then. That barely sounds like you at all."

Tempus sighed and spread his hands before immediately shoving them back into his pockets and assuming his "casually disaffected" demeanor. They were getting close to the Plenitude now; he could smell the distance aroma of oven-baked pizza dough. Maybe I'll have something simple tonight. The barbeque chicken pizza, with onions. "Yeah, well, when you're looking after someone as high-strung as Ally, you sort of have to mellow out through necessity, or else it will just be a big screaming crying mess that's no fun for anything."

"Ugh, I know. If Kid sees something asymmetrical back at Gallows Manor he explodes, and guess who has to be the one to calm him down?" Liz sighed sardonically. "Don't get me wrong, I like Kid a lot, but he can be really high-maintenance sometimes."

"Yeah!" Patti giggled. "Like that one time in the pyramid where he ran all the way back home just so he could fix a painting!"

Liz grimaced. "Yeah. Just like that."

"Welcome to the club!" Tempus laughed. "Ally's a mess, but I wouldn't trade her for anything. Besides, I'm a bit of a mess, too." After a few seconds, his demeanor sobered up. "I'm not exactly proud of the way I treated Ally those first few months. I was kind of… okay, no, scratch that, I was a lot of a jackass. But I was a scared jackass. At the time, I was still just getting out of the foster system, where I'd basically spent my whole life getting told 'you're not good enough for us to commit to you.' That sort of shit leaves a mark. Add that to the meister issue and… Idunno, I guess I was just sort of trying to protect myself? I thought that she was going to get sick of me and drop me like the rest did, so I sort of subconsciously crafted this idea of her being the absolutely worse so that when the inevitable happened it hurt more. Or something, I'm not a psychologist. Ooh, look here we are!"

The three blond weapons had rounded the final corner to where the Plenitude stood, small and assuming against the rest of the market district. Nadia was standing just outside the door, drawing something onto the chalkboard special menu. "Hey, Nadia!" Tempus shouted, waving his hands frantically. "Over here!"

Nadia looked up, gray eyes sparking with recognition. "Oh, hey, Tempus! It's been a while, I thought we'd scared you off with the cheeseburger pizza. Where's Ally? And who are these two?" Her gaze slid over to Liz and Patti. "Are they school people? Can they turn into weapons like you or are they meisters like Ally? So is it split evenly?"

"Whoa, there, Twenty Questions," Tempus said with a laugh. "I was getting to that. These are Liz and Patti Thompson. They're friends of mine and, yes, school people. Weapons, since you asked.

Liz raised a hand in a half-hearted attempt at a wave. "Hey."

Nadia's eyes shone. "Thompson? You two must be… the Death boy's partners, then, right? Tempus and Alecto talk about you guys a lot, and the missions that you all go on together."

"Mission, singular," Tempus corrected. "We've only been on one joint mission together; the Lizzie Borden mission, remember? Crazy little girl with the axe who almost gave my meister a concussion."

"Oh, right! Sorry; you tell me so many stories I guess I just get them all mixed up a bit."

Liz loudly clearly her throat, interrupting the two and their brief reunion. "So, uh, who is this girl again?" she asked.

Tempus realized that while he had introduced the Thompson sisters to Nadia, he had failed to do the reverse. "Oh, of course, sorry! Liz, Patti, this is Nadia Chamomile, a friend of ours we saved from a Kishin Egg a couple of months back. Her parents own the Plenitude, and it turns out that people are pretty grateful when you save their teenage daughter from having her soul devoured by the twisted hollow shell of what was once a man, so now we get free pizza all the time. Really cuts back on student living costs."

"Well, now, when you phrase it like that, it almost sounds like you almost care about my for my pizza." Nadia crossed her arms in what was meant to be a firm, displeased stance, but the wide grin on her face indicated that she had taken Tempus's words about as seriously as he had meant them.

Tempus responded in kind with an equally wide and twice as shit-eating grin of his own. "You caught me. Our entire friendship has been a sham revolving entirely around my own gluttonous desires. Cast me down and denounce my name, for I am a horrible manipulative sinner. O, Lord Death, please forgive me for my transgressions against this humble pizza lady!"

Nadia was practically in stitches by the end of his spiel, doubled over with bright mirth. "Well, jeez, you don't need to lay it on so thick!" she said between laughs, her voice a little breathless. "Jerk!"

Tempus beamed. "Yup! Speaking of free pizza, I'm paying for these two." He glanced over at Liz and Patti, who were watching him and Nadia with equally bemused expressions on their faces. It was at these moments where he really could see the resemblance between them. "Consider it a little thank-you gift for putting up with my angsty backstory rambling." Admittedly, he had promised them free food before expositing on his history with Alecto, but it was the thought that counted, right? Right.

Liz shrugged. "Hey, you won't hear me complaining. This place smells delicious; what sort of pizza do you guys make, anyways?"

"Oh, all sorts," Nadia answered with a nonchalant shrug. "We've got your plain cheese, your classic pepperoni, your barbecue chicken, your Hawaiian…"

"Ooh, ooh!" Patti piped up. "Do you have one with all the meat on it?"

Nadia nodded. "I don't think there's a pizza place alive that doesn't have a meat lover's pizza or an equivalent to it somewhere on their menu, and the Plenitude is no exception!" she said, in a way that sounded practically practiced; she probably got that question a lot.

"Yesss!" Patti pumped her fist in the air with a wild grin. Her sky-blue eye focused on something over Tempus and Nadia's shoulders. "Hey, look, it's Black Star and Tsubaki! Heyyyy!"

Tempus followed Patti's gaze. Sure enough, Black Star and Tsubaki were strolling down the street towards them. "Hello, you three!" Tsubaki said merrily as they reached conversational distance. "What are you all doing out this late?"

"Pizza," Tempus said. "It's never too late for pizza."

"We close at ten."

"It's almost too late for pizza. I could ask the same question of you two; do you all have somewhere you need to be? Or are you just taking a stroll?"

"Hah!" Black Star exclaimed, jabbing his pointer finger towards the sky. "The great and mighty Black Star does not simply take 'strolls!' Every step I take has the weight of a god behind it!"

"What Black Star means," Tsubaki said, reaching out and gently covering her partner's mouth with her hand because everything Tsubaki did was gentle, she could be dipping a man into lava while simultaneously sawing him in half and it could still somehow be the nicest burning bisection anyone would ever receive, "is that we're just walking home from the Academy. We were staying late and doing some extra lessons with Sid."

Tempus raised an eyebrow. "I see. Trying to figure out your Enchanted Sword form?" Black Star and Tsubaki were still having some difficulty mastering the latter's newest weapon form due to its volatility and draining effect on the wielder's soul wavelength. Knowing Black Star's hard-headed nature, they were probably trying the ol' "bull versus brick wall" approach to it all. A tactic Tempus was very familiar with, working with Alecto and all.

Tsubaki nodded, releasing Black Star. "Yeah. It's not easy, but Black Star's just so determined to make it work. What about you and Alecto? You two have that new technique, right? Are you still practicing that?"

"Yeah, Alecto's still 'grounded' for the next couple of weeks, but she's gotta feel like she's making headway somehow, and practicing the Soul Shield helps with that. Speaking of which if you come up with a name for that that doesn't suck, feel free to tell me, because I am always open to suggestions."

"Oooh!" Patti interjected, jumping forward between the two. "You guys should come have some pizza with us!"

Tempus could feel his wallet flinch. He did not have enough money to cover for four people, especially when one of them was as big of an eater as Black Star. How am I gonna get myself out of this without seeming like a colossal jerk, I wonder…

It turned out that he didn't have to. "Oh, no, that's quite all right," Tsubaki said with a sheepish smile and a wave of her hand. "Black Star and I already ate, and we really should be getting back to the apartment. Thank you for the offer, though!"

"Ye-ahhh, no problem," Tempus responded, stomping down on his rising relief to keep it from bubbling to the surface. "See y'all later, all right? Don't get mugged or anything."

Black Star scoffed. "Ha, as if!" he declared. "Like some worthless street thug could take on a master assassin like me. I bet I could take on a hundred muggers! No, wait, a thousand!"

"I don't think we have the time to fight a thousand people right now, Black Star," Tsubaki pointed out. She began to gently nudge Black Star towards the direction of their apartment. "It was nice to run into you guys!" she said over her shoulder. "We'll see you later!"

Tempus watched the two of them leave. As soon as his fellow students were out of earshot, Nadia spoke up from beside him. "So who was the hottie wit the figure-eight body?"

Tempus blinked. "Please tell me you don't mean Black Star."

"What, the thirteen-year-old with blue hair and a big head?" Nadia let out a derisive snort. "Yeah, he's totally who I was talking about. With an attitude like that, I'm sure ladies are just lining up for a chance with him. No, I was talking about the Japanese girl with legs like whoa." She grinned and leaned against the special menu board. "I mean, I'm straight, but I would totally let her do all sorts of things to me. Da-yum."

"I… don't actually know if Tsubaki swings that way." If she does, she won't exactly be starving for company. "In the interest of being completely frank, she is really attractive. It's kind of unfair, really; leave some good looks for the rest of us, you know?" Before he could continue the topic of conversation (which was probably a really inappropriate discussion to have right outside a pizza place at eight-thirty at night), his stomach let out a low, sharp growl, reminding him why he came to the Plenitude in the first place. "Maybe we should continue this inside? Where there's food?" he suggested.

Nadia jumped and immediately pushed herself away from the menu board. "Of course! she exclaimed, waving the three weapons into the Plenitude with an eagerly welcoming grin on her face. "Here, let me get you all set up."

Once Tempus, Liz, and Patti had all been ushered into a booth wedged into the corner of the restaurant, right near the windows, Liz spoke up again. "So, you were telling us about how you and Alecto first started out as partners, right? Something about moving in together?"

"Hm? Oh, right," Tempus shifted in his seat. "Anyway, as I was saying, that day that we moved into our apartment was probably the day that we had our biggest argument. Ironically enough, it was probably when we actually started to get to understand each other. I guess you don't really know someone until they've thrown a teacup at you and had an emotional breakdown in their bedroom…"


"No, no, no… not there, there! A little ways to the right, so we have room to put a floor lamp!"

Alecto frowned and stared over at him with irritation written plain as day in her charcoal eyes as she used her hip to nudge the shelf to where Temperance was pointing. "Why does it matter where the bookshel-weh… w-w-where the b-bookshelves go?" she asked, swiping her dark bangs away from her face with a flick of her fingers.

Ugh, didn't this little shrimp know anything? "The furniture needs to be a certain way so that we still have a reasonable amount of space to move around in! This isn't exactly the Ritz we're staying in, we need to be economical with our square footage!" This wasn't the first time Temperance had to deal with cramped living quarters; he'd always slept in whatever room his foster parents of the week could find for him,whether that was an elaborately-furnished guest room specially for him or a futon and nightstand hastily shoved into the warmest corner of a basement. He knew how to make the most out of a little.

Alecto shuffled her feet, her grip on the little plastic teacup in her hands tightening. "Well, w-why don't we just… not have so many bookshelves out in the living room?" she asked. "I-I mean, that way we'll have a bit more room to move around in. We can put the rest of the books in… i-in, I don't know, boxes? We'll have a lot of room in my closet, I don't have that many outfits."

Temperance stared at her like she just requested that he stand on his head and recite the French dictionary backwards. With definitions. That were also in French. "Are you seriously suggesting we put books in boxes and toss them into closets like old clothes or nostalgic paraphernalia? Books belong on shelves, organized and cared for!" Books were all he had, damn it; they were the only things he could really take with him on the moves between foster homes.

"B-books aren't the most important things in the world!" Alecto responded sharply, uncharacteristically so for someone who had been as timid as she'd been so far. "We're training to fight monsters, Tempus, not be librarians!"

There it was again; that weird-ass nickname she'd assigned to him since they first met. What did it even mean, anyway? The word sounded familiar, but he couldn't place where he had heard it before. Well, two could play at that game. "Kishin Eggs aren't exactly going to be hanging out in our apartment, Ally," he snapped, placing extra emphasis on the name. Alecto was a stupid name, anyway.

His diminutive meister bristled and glowered at him, though with her height it came off as less intimidating and more adorable. "D-d-don't call me that."

"Or what? You'll stutter me to death? I highly doubt it." Temperance turned his ire towards the teacup, still half full of warm amber liquid. "And would you put that thing away? You'll spill it and stain the books!" He reached out towards the cup with the intention of moving it to the kitchen, or the coffee table, or somewhere safer. "Come on, hand it over."

She did, if one defined "handing it over" as "throwing at his chest with enough force to bruise, getting lukewarm tea all over his sweater vest." Temperance stumbled backwards, rubbing at his chest and wincing. He shot a death glare at Alecto, who had her fists clenched by her side and was shaking so hard he was surprised she didn't just fall apart from the force of each tremble. "Okay, what the hell? Lady, what is your damage?!"

"Nescio!" Her shout was as sudden as it was broken, as her hands fly to her head as if she is trying to control a great headache. "It's all just a big mess! Things were bad enough at school before, but now I have this time thing and I have to fight these monsters and if I mess up people will die and I have to do it with someone I hate and…! Nescio te, nescio mea opus, nescio…" Her eyes widened suddenly, and she clamped her hands over her mouth. After a cold moment of silence, she let out a muffled "Mihi non audi!" and fled into the bedroom that had been designated as hers.

"Hey, wait a minute, hold up!" Temperance chased after her, tripping over a pile of books as he did (damn it damn it DAMN IT) only to have the door immediately slammed in his face. He moved to open it, but he heard the crying inside and decided against it. Barging in on a crying girl was a dumb move no matter what the reason. So he settled for knocking instead. "Uh, Ally? Or Alecto or whatever? You okay?"

There was a muffled sob. "Tace atque abi! Malum!"

"Uh. Gesundheit? What's the deal, you're speaking gibberish over there."

"It's n-not gibberish." There was a pause. "It's Latin."

"Huh?"

"I said that it's L-Latin! I can speak Latin! I always have been, e-ever since I was a kid! It was my first language, I learned English after I was adopted. I-I don't know why, I don't remember my birth parents so I don't know what my early formati-we years were like. That's why I have the a-accent and it's why I pronounce some words funny. Does that answer all of your questions, you jerk?!"

Sort of. It didn't explain why she was so weird about social interaction, or why she threw the tea at him, or basically anything else. But she covered the basics on the Latin thing; if Temperance had to guess, he'd say that she'd received all those questions before and really didn't want a twenty questions on the matter. "You were adopted, huh?" he said. "Lucky you, I guess. Never knew my birth parents either." There was silence on the other end, so he kept talking to fill the silence. "Is that why you keep calling me 'Tempus?' Because it's a Latin thing? I was wondering where I had heard that before; it's that phrase, right? Tempus fugit, time flies?"

Alecto spoke up from the other side of the thick wood separating them; from where her voice was originating, it sounded like she was curled up against the door. "T-that's actually not true."

"What? So you don't call me that because it's a Latin thing?"

"N-no, no, it is a Latin thing, tempus is the latin word for 'time.' I was calling you that because you're a time weapon and it kind of sounds like 'Temperance.' I thought it was clever. What I meant was that the actual phrase is 'tempus volat, hora fugit.' It means 'time flies, the hour flees.'"

"Huh," Temperance muttered. "The more you know, I guess." He was quiet for a few moments, contemplating. Maybe Kilik was a little bit right; there may have been something to this girl underneath all the smallness and the constant freaking out over everything. She was still small and constantly freaked out over everything and probably most certainly overreacted about things, but she was slightly more palatable than he gave her credit for.

"You know," he said, "that is actually pretty clever. The nickname, I mean. It's certainly manlier; do you know how many times I was wedgied for having a 'girl's name?' Which is completely stupid. It's my name and I'm a boy, so that makes it a boys name, at least in my case. Still, have enough jokes lobbed your way about it and that name change request form starts to look real inviting." He was probably hearing things, but he could have sworn he heard a giggle on the other side of the door. "Sorry for… I'm not actually sure what I did to set you off, but I certainly did something, and I'm sorry for it."

"Y-yeah. I'm sorry for throwing my tea at you," Alecto replied. A pause. "You're still a jerk, though."

"And you're still twitchy and overly anxious, and we're both stuck with each other. Good talk!" Temperance pushed himself away from the door and headed back towards the living room and kitchen. "I'm going to fix up that mess we made and then get dinner started. It'll be done in an hour if you want some!"

"Okay!"

Definitely more palatable than he gave her credit for.


"Well," Kid said, "you weren't kidding when you said you two got off to a rocky start."

Alecto stared down at the empty teacup in her hands, keeping her expression as stony as she could. "I suppose you could call it that. 'Absolutely disastrous' would have been another way to put it. I'm lucky that Tempus didn't end our partnership right there, but he's always taken it almost impossibly well." Her gaze slid over to the clock. It was past nine; she'd been talking about her troubles for almost an hour now. "I dunno if it was desperation for a partner or simple stubbornness that led to him sticking around, but whatever it was… I'm glad he did. I'm lucky to have him around."

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit," Kid countered, finishing off his tea with a single sip. "From what I've seen, he's as lucky to have you as you are to have him."

As annoying as maintaining it could be sometimes, Alecto really did appreciate having hair as long and as thick as hers. It made it easier to hide her blushing face. "U-uh, gratias," she stammered. "I'm… I'm flattered you think that." Her heart was as unsteady as her voice, pumping out a frantic rhythm that was so loud she was surprised it didn't go flying out of her chest. Keep it together, Alecto. Deep breaths.

"I do have one question, though," Kid admitted, setting his teacup down on the coffee table.

"Oh?"

Kid's expression turned serious, so serious that it almost sent Alecto reeling from the sudden shift in mood. Her breath, heavy with fear, caught itself on her throat and remained there. Oh, Iuppiter, with a face like that, what he's about to ask can't be good. He took a deep breath, before… "Did Tempus always have those lopsided bangs?"

What. "What?"

"I'm sorry, I know you probably think it's a ridiculous thing to focus on, but I just can't help it!" Expression turning forlorn, Kid leaned forward, head in his hands. "If he were lopsided all over, it would be fine, well, it wouldn't be fine, it would be horrifying, but it would be slightly more understandable. But he keeps everything else about him so perfectly symmetrical, and then his hair's a complete mess! His bangs are all swept to the side and one side is longer than the other, and his ponytail is always draped over one shoulder! Why can't he just let it hang down the middle of his back, the way a ponytail should!?"

Don't mention the stripes in his hair, don't mention the stripes in his hair… Alecto couldn't help but think that if this was how he felt about Tempus's bangs, he must be constantly internally screaming over the act that Tsubaki only had one stocking. "It used to be shorter…? But yeah, his hair was always pretty messy. Honestly, apart from him growing it out a bit and starting to tie it back a couple months after our first mission, he's kept his hairstyle pretty consistent. I'm the one who's always been changing it up; it's been dyed about half a dozen different colors before I settled on pink, and I've let it grow out about a foot and a half." And the ribbon, that was a very important addition.

Kid looked up, still hunched in on himself. "You dye your hair?"

"Well, yeah. Naturally pink hair with this complexion? Not generally likely to happen." Alecto picked up both her teacup and Kid's and stood up, making her way to the kitchen. "My hair's naturally black, but it's been red, blonde, blue, a couple different shades of brown… honestly, it's a bit of a miracle that my hair hasn't been completely fried by everything I've put into it. More tea?"

"Yes, please." Kid followed her into the kitchen, and now stood idly against the countertop, watching as she checked the temperature of the remaining water. Lukewarm, hardly worth using; she'd have to re-boil it. "I wish I was able to dye my hair the same way you can," he said. "I've tried covering up these infernal stripes several times, but my Reaper body keeps rejecting the chemicals, so it never sticks." He runs a hand through his hair for emphasis.

"Well, dyed hair isn't all it's cracked up to be," Alecto replied. "Especially if the color you're shooting for is lighter than the color you were born with. Bleach stings. Add in the costs of the brand I use, and just how much I have to use, and it's a miracle my parents still make room in our monthly allowance for it. Though I suppose since your hair is so much shorter that wouldn't be as big of a problem for you." Speaking of which, she would have to touch up her own dye job soon; the color wasn't quite the vibrant carnation it should have been.

"A little stinging wouldn't be so bad if it meant I could finally even up my hair."

"A little" was not how she would describe the sensation of having her hair bleached, but she wasn't a Reaper. Lacking a sufficient answer, Alecto settled for a mild hum before putting the kettle back on the stove and turning the heat on. The two of them settled into a surprisingly comfortable silence before Kid spoke up again. "You know, you never said what it was that finally got you and Tempus to get along."

"I didn't?" Alecto frowned sheepishly. "Sorry, I guess we got a bit sidetracked talking about other stuff. Looking back on it, I guess I would have to say that it was our first mission that really sort of brought us together as partners. Have you ever heard of Yamakagashi the Snake-Man?"

Kid nodded. "The name sounds familiar, but I can't place where. Was it a Kishin Egg?"

"Yes, he was a Kishin Egg in Japan who use dangerous toxins to paralyze his victims so he could drag the back to his cave in the mountains and eat their souls at his leisure. The story behind him was apparently that his wife had been killed by an intruder and he'd been driven mad by the loss. He started eating human souls in the hopes that they would make him strong enough that nothing like that would ever happen again. I don't know if that was true; he wasn't exactly spilling the details of his life when he was trying to kill me and Tempus…"


A/N - This chapter is over 7000 words. I hope that helps redeem myself in regards to the disappearance.

I've been waiting to write Nadia's reaction to Tsubaki since Nadia was first a character. Tsubaki: devoted weapon, kind friend, unintentional chick magnet.

The next few chapters are going to be by and by largely flashback, so prepare your butts for lots and lots of italics. They're going to be pretty important in detailing the turning point in Alecto and Tempus's partnership. They definitely had a rocky start, but you know what they say about rock bottoms and the only way forward being up. (Writing their early relationships is definitely a fun challenge, because I'm so used to writing them as the devoted partners they are. Why do your younger selves hate each other so much, you two, it's weird.)

Fun fact: most of the stuff Alecto mentions about her hair dying comes from information I gathered from a neighbor of mine who bleaches and dyes her hair. According to her, bleaching your hair is like someone put your scalp to sleep and set it on fire at the same time. I don't know if she's exaggerating or not, but it's bleach on your scalp, so that sounds about what I imagine it would be.

Fun time Latin times!

Nescio!: I don't know!

Nescio te, nescio mea opus, nescio...: I don't know you, I don't know my task, I don't know...

Mihi non audi!: Don't listen to me!

Tace atque abi!: Shut up and go away!

Malum (and all subsequent repeats): Malum is a universal term referring to things that are bad, and relies heavily on context. In this case, young!Alecto is calling young!Tempus unpleasant and not really fun to be around. TL;DR, he's a jerk..

Chapter forty-four will definitely not take seven months to complete, and should actually be up relatively soon, as it should be pretty dang easy for me to write. In the meantime, feel free to favorite and leave a review. And, erm, please don't kill me for the unplanned hiatus.

- Diana "Nocte"