A/N: Some months back-maybe a half year or so ago, I had written Company Party, a fun oneshot that involved Adelheid and Whip, about three and a half months into their relationship, going to the Ikari Warriors' yearly christmas party for the military unit. It was a light-hearted story after some deeper ones, and it ended up being pretty cool overall.

So to celebrate the coming of summer, I decided to do Summer Party, now almost a year into their relationship, so they are very, very close; having fought many extremely nasty battles together, and after Nocturne, I wanted to do another light one. Adel is closer with everyone now too, and Duo Lon is also in the mix, as the two had made friends during Nocturne. I just wanted to sort of give a rundown of things so you know you can jump into this without *having* to have read everything else; it's stand-alone, but I did want to point out a few bits and pieces(I include some other character notes at the end, for those curious, like Duo Lon's tattoos-extensive arm sleeves that actually snake a little down his chest and back-and love of underground extreme metal in this verse.)

Other quick notes: In this fic 'verse, Whip started as 19 and Adel 22; his age was never said, so I ballparked it, and at the time I had started this 'verse I had actually tried to move the timeline once in awhile, even if it wasn't a year per tournament, the fact they ALL took place in like, a year felt really weird to me so I stretched it a little bit so it made more sense.

There is a short scene of pretty sexy stuff in this fic, so be aware.

This fic as a whole went a little longer than I had intended; but it sorta took me over, and I just ran with it, oneshot or no.

Also I'd like to thank my beloved writing discord: You all know who you are, since stuff from them had also inspired this one…

"...Did Heidern decide to rent some sort of haunted house for this thing or something?" Adelheid chuckled as the two walked up the very long and winding path to the out-of-the-way manor in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere.

"I guess so. I'm not sure what the deal is with this place, but for some reason they decided this was where they wanted to go for the big company barbeque this year," Whip replied, wiping some of the sweat from her brow.

It was quite hot out, despite it still being very early summer. It was only about a week and a half into June; they hadn't even reached the actual first day of the season yet, and it promised to be a hot one-possibly hotter than the one before when they had first met. Over his shoulder, Adel had a cold pack filled with a variety of some of his pricier bottles of alcohol, to let the crew have some ritzier stuff to drink if they wanted-he'd probably sample around a bit of everything as he would. His other hand held an overnight bag.

While he was packing the food, he had also remembered to bring some of their higher-quality honey to supply Whip with something for whatever dessert she would eat.

The gravel crunched under them as they continued up the path, lined with tall trees; he had gotten a ride from Henrik this morning, since he knew he'd be drinking this day, and they'd just end up getting some sort of ride back into the city if they ended up going back tonight. He wore only his boots and trousers with a loose tank top, and he had a feeling he would be shedding this today very quickly. Whip had on her jeans, sneakers, and a light, white tank top. They were both already sweltering.

"You aren't going to burn, are you?" she asked. Adelheid was very pale. Whip was rather fair herself, but Adelheid was exceptionally so.

"I packed plenty of sunscreen, don't worry," he said. "Plus I can head into the house whenever I need." Looking at the sky, it was fairly sunny, but he could see some clouds on the horizon that could block it out here and there, if they were lucky, even if it didn't cool it off very much. The forecast showed that it would be alternating sun and clouds basically all day long, though no rain was on the horizon.

"Gods...I hope this thing has air conditioning," she said, pushing back some of her hair. "It looks old. And I always wondered why the commander insists on having these things in London?"

"Maybe an easy travel hub?" Adel wondered.

"Yeah, it could be that." She looked at the gigantic manor in front of them, large shrubs grown around. "This place looks great, but it really does look haunted," she chuckled.

"Well, guess we'll be alright. Are we staying here tonight?"

"Not if there's no AC."

"Yeah, I'm getting us a room in the city if that's the case," he agreed. He grinned at her, touching her under the chin. "We could do that anyway to avoid any...issues from last time."

"...Very true," she chuckled, smirking back at him ever so wickedly, knowing exactly what 'issues' he was speaking of, particularly in regards to the coatroom incident. "We can just make it back here for breakfast in the morning...but if there's enough privacy, we could stay."

"Oh, definitely. Wait...they're having breakfast, too?"

"Yeah!" she said. "Usually the summer party is an overnight one. I remember Ralf telling me that there were a couple over the years that went for two nights, even...but they started doing them overnight to apparently prevent the more serious hangovers that would result," She laughed.

Adel grinned, knowing damn well what would have likely happened. Whip continued:

"But the last one I was at was fun. I was...a lot quieter back then...still really shy. And I definitely didn't bring anyone," she said, interlocking her fingers with his, smiling softly at him. "It was a month before I came to the Sky Noah that first time, in fact."

He leaned down to kiss her briefly as they made it closer; they didn't see anyone out front at the moment, more expecting most of them to already be there in the back. They could already smell the tell-tale scent of charcoal and barbeque-and it didn't take long for Adelheid's stomach to rumble.

Once again looking at his stomach unsurprised, Whip chuckled. "You just ate. And all I smell is wood and charcoal...wait, there is meat on, I think? That has to be the pig. They have to start that thing early."

"I started thinking about the ribs. There's ribs, right? And a whole pig roast?" He was no stranger to big, lavish parties of course, but given his company, they usually relied on fare that was 'small, and in great quantities' at parties. Expensive finger foods, caviar, and things of that nature.

"I'm pretty sure they'll have the usual BBQ goodies you'd find a bunch of hungry people eating."

"Sounds like my kind of party. Most of ours just have the usual stuff you'd find a bunch of stuffy, rich people picking at."

They finally made their way to the steps, walking up the large, wooden staircase outside of the manor; they both sighed in relief when they saw the air conditioning units stuck in several windows throughout the house. Despite being a giant Victorian style manor that was likely owned at one point by some incredibly rich family-mansion would easily describe it, and there were smaller townhouses off to the sides and toward the back, even-it was kept well, though not pristine. This, along with the trees, shrubs, and out of the way location overall led to its slightly creepy appearance. It was still rather awesome looking, though, and it was clean, furnished, and fairly modernized with gas stoves, refrigerators, and the like, making it ideal to store things for a large company barbeque of fifty or so odd men and women, as well as a few extras, like Adelheid himself.

Reaching the front door, they found it unlocked. Whip waved to a man whom Adel didn't recognize who had come out at the same time and stepped inside, seeing no one in the main hall at the moment. It was a spacious thing, with a few couches dotted around, and they were incredibly relieved when the initial blast of cool air hit them. This place, for its size, likely even had central air installed at some point over time judging by how it felt, though it seemed the smaller rooms were bolstered by the units. It still smelled old , though, but it was not unpleasant. On the contrary; it had a rather pleasant scent-like old books, wood, and leather.

Adel looked around, smiling. "I've been in my share of these, but…" he said. "Not quite this style." The place looked like it would have been owned by an eccentric bunch of Victorian millionaires who possibly had delved into either the dark arts or some sort of Frankenstein-esque experiments.

"More modern, I suppose?"

"Yeah," he said, checking out the old carpets and the large stairs that started to go up to the other stories. There were three that they could see outside, not even counting what sort of basement or attic this thing had. "We could probably take the entire weekend exploring it, by the look...but, well, food," he grinned, looking outside.

Whip laughed, knowing what she signed up for with his appetite. "Maybe we'll explore it if we get too hot."

"Yeah. I'm aiming more to stay here tonight rather than not, so long as we can lock the door of our room."

"Blondie! Whippy!" a loud, booming voice called, seemingly toward the back of the large floor; wandering over to it, they saw Ralf standing there near what seemed to be the first floor kitchen.

"Hi, Ralf," Adel chuckled, knowing that was the jovial man's permanent nicknames for them. He shook his hand firmly, though, as the two quite liked each other.

"You're here surprisingly early," Whip joked, knowing that Ralf was more of a type to sleep in when he got the chance, even for functions like this. She recalled the year before that he came wandering in after two.

"Decided to show up early once I heard about the pig," he said, drinking a cup of coffee, which he saw Adel eyeing. "Coffee's in the kitchen. There's donuts there, too. The backyard is freaking huge . Just wait until you see it. Boss had the right idea having the thing here this year." He smiled again. "Your weird friend came, too."

"Duo Lon? Really? He made it?" Adel blinked; he knew exactly who Ralf was talking about. He did not expect him, of all people, to want to come to a summer barbeque. He knew the invite was there, but he wasn't sure he'd take them up on it.

"Yeah, he decided to come, after all! I think he'll be glad to see you both."

Adel found what seemed to be one of the large storage refrigerators-a top loaded one-and stuck the contents of the bag in it, as Whip did the same. Luckily, most of their things could just be kept on counters. After their stuff was all placed around, Adel grabbed them both coffee from the company-sized coffeemaker sitting on the counter and yawned, before grabbing a paper plate to put a couple of donuts on it.

"Probably should have flown in last night so we could have slept in some, maybe, but ahh well."

"Yeah, you guys were busy late enough that it just made sense to leave early. Especially given we had to touch down further away," she replied, sipping her cup. They were closer to the city proper than they were the Sky Noah at the moment. She took one donut for herself. "I don't mind, though."

"It's where we usually put that thing when we fly into London for whatever reason, but we did have to move a bit. Think there was some airfield stuff going on." Peeking out back, he blinked; it was, indeed, a massive, sprawling estate. He imagined if his family hadn't lived their entire life on what was essentially 'the road'-even if it was on an aircraft carrier, and then in a giant airship-they'd live in an estate much like this, if not bigger. His sister, he imagined, would want extra space.

Moving next to him, she smiled, looking out back as well. "At least they're all set up." A bunch of tables were out-enough to comfortably sit their crew and a few guests-as well as the barbeques, a couple of fire pits, plenty of coolers, and other odds and ends. She felt bad for whoever had to clean up after this mess afterward.

After getting squared away, putting their things around one of the side rooms to come get later, they made their way out back. The thermometer already read near thirty, and it was still only about ten in the morning. Adelheid immediately shed his shirt-he had already put copious amounts of sun lotion on-and tossed it over his shoulder.

"I should have worn shorts," he grumped, having opted for his trousers for some reason. "I wonder if we can make some iced coffee while we're at it."

"Surprised you didn't want to show off your legs," she teased.

"Eh, I can take 'em off later on. I didn't go commando this time," he grinned.

"This time?" Whip laughed, wondering just what he wore at other functions they had been to. He just shrugged.

"I have shorts in my bag in there, don't worry," he said, tickling under her chin a moment.

Walking down the grassy hill, underneath odd trees and the like, they saw the tables about-long wooden ones-with chairs around. Large umbrellas served to cover them, and there was also a large pavilion tent up in case it started to rain, for people who didn't want to go inside. There were some snack bowls already set up; mostly supplies of chips, trail mixes and the like, and there was a huge, clear tub with a lot of alcohol, soda, and chopped up fruit nearby which, no doubt, was going to hold whatever punch they had this year. There were cases and cases of bottled water stacked up, though the filtered tap water served at the place was fine to drink.

Adelheid saw that and grinned. "Stiff punch again," he said. "Wonder what color it's going to be this time?"

"I can never forget that shade of blue from the christmas party," Whip smirked, brushing back some of her hair, feeling like she'd be starting to sweat soon. She sipped more of the coffee; hot coffee, even on a hot day, didn't much bother either of them. The donuts had been nice and fresh, and they had gobbled them up rather quickly.

"Well, let's see who we can find." He saw a few of the unit's cooks-field cooks usually, though this time they were getting to use the manor's large kitchen to prepare the cold dishes-setting up barbeques and spits. A long, large table was set up in another tent, which would no doubt hold the sides for the big meal. They had seen large boxes of hot dogs in the top-loading fridge; he suspected these would serve as an early lunch before the bigger food rolled out later that afternoon.

Heidern stood at the top of the hill, talking to a few people. His hat was off, and he wore a gray t-shirt; it was not often they saw the man dress down, but this was, at least, somewhat casual. He still had on a pair of olive-drab slacks and his boots, however. He raised his hand, smiling at the two of them. He held a half-empty bottle of water in his hand.

"Glad you could make it," he said to Adel. "Your friend is here somewhere, too. He may have gone inside."

"Excellent. We saw Ralf already."

"The rest are around. We should be having about fifty or so? Some will be going to a hotel tonight. I will be staying in one of the cottages at the side, as they are quite peaceful," he chuckled. "These can get a bit more rambunctious than the winter parties."

"I imagine so. That is a big tub down there for the punch."

Heidern chuckled again at this. "I will be around. I need to do my usual rounds." With that, he smiled and nodded, walking off.

"Shall we try to find our Hizoku companion?"

"Yeah, I'd love to see how he's handling this."

They found Duo Lon standing off to the side, under a large tree for some shade; he held a cup of coffee in one hand and his pipe in the other. Standing next to him was Leona, also with a cup of coffee, who had arrived earlier. They waved as the two walked up. Duo Lon was wearing one of his sleeveless shirts with some sort of band logo on it that Adelheid could not discern for the life of him, though he still had his black trousers and boots on. His hair was in his usual braid, with his bangs down, though he did not have any of the more elaborate decorations or coverings in today, only a couple of weights tied to the bottom. Leona was dressed cooler, opting for her smaller tank top and shorts, though she still wore her usual combat boots, as well.

"Hello," the tall, tattooed man said, smiling. "Did you just get here?"

"Yeah," Adel said, shaking his hand, as well as Leona's. "How early did you get here exactly?"

"Before six in the morning," he said. "My flight was not delayed, and getting out of the airport took mere moments...then, there was no traffic when I took a taxi to the address. Leona and the rest of them found me sitting on the steps before they arrived." He yawned. "I had napped a bit on the couch after they let me in."

Leona actually smiled softly. She was not one to smile often; around her unit, mostly, but she did like Adelheid, and was apparently getting on with the quiet, eerie man somewhat as well.

"We probably should have warned people that we would be arriving around seven. The cooks probably didn't hear anyone at the door, since they're in the basement kitchens," she said.

"It's fine. It was a nice morning." He smiled, starting to fill his black-lacquered pipe with some of his pleasant smelling tobacco.

Adel looked around. "We've seen most of them...not Clark yet, though."

At that, Clark was seen coming out of the house, his large arms filled with various fruits and a few more bottles of alcohol. A couple of people Adel did not know were with him. He nodded toward them; unable to wave at the moment.

"Those are two of the cooks...and it looks like they're doing the punch, now," Whip laughed. "If Clark's helping, we're in trouble."

Leona chuckled lightly at that, knowing damn well what she meant.

The four decided to go watch the punch's creation. First, Clark grabbed several bottles of what they knew was grain alcohol; seeing the percentage at seventy-five on the bottles made them shiver.

Then in went the rum, tequila, and vodka, adding yet more kick to the already incredibly potent concoction.

The chopped-up fruits were thrown in to soak up some of the alcohol as they prepped the flavoring; first, in went what seemed to be pineapple juice, and then some bright green melon liquor as well as blue curacao, which then proceeded to mix with the green liquor and yellow pineapple juice to create a very, very, vivid, nearly glowing, radioactive green. They continued adding some mixers; mainly sparkling soda, to finally start cutting the alcohol down to a slightly more human concentration, and to cut some of the sweetness of the juices and mixers.

Some banana nectar went in as well, and by the time they were done, there was a giant tub of the finished product that they then started heaving large quantities of ice into. Clark grabbed a glass, took some, and christened it by taking a sip; a shiver later and a big grin, he held the glass up to the rest of them and waved them over.

"Punch is on," he said cheerfully.

The four looked at each other, looked at the almost glowing punch, and made their way down.

Here we go, Adelheid thought, taking the blue plastic cup that Clark handed to him, filling it with some extra ice.

"I have to say, Clark, you make a damn fine punch," Whip said, sipping another cup of the stuff.

After the initial servings of the stuff, the group milled around, meeting a few people here and there and checking out the chefs, who were preparing the grills and the fire pit for the food. They had caught a glimpse of the pig; it had been put on the spit early in the morning, and probably wasn't going to be done until after eight-but they would have plenty of food before then. They had already attacked some of the fresh fruit that had been chopped up, as well as some hors d' oeuvres that were set out; some deviled eggs, crackers with meat and cheese, and some chips with salsa.

The crew-Adelheid, Whip, Ralf, Clark, Leona, and Duo Lon-were now all standing around a large tree off to the side. Heidern was relaxing inside that they had last seen. He was generally far more laid back at these things.

"You know...we hadn't had a good competition at one of these in awhile," Ralf started.

"But you guys always arm-wrestle," Whip smirked. "And when was 'awhile', last year?"

"Not that-I mean a competition between all of us," he said. "Like...I'm sure we all have cool stuff we can do."

"Is everything a competition to you?" Clark mused, drinking more of his punch.

"I see someone's mad I beat them last year."

"Only by a technicality. That person was so drunk they just guessed which one of us won."

"Just learn to take a loss." Ralf smirked at his partner.

"Well, if we have another one this year...and maybe if we start it early...say, now, people aren't so drunk that they can't pay attention, then, maybe?" Clark folded his arms, glaring at the other man...though in jest.

Ralf pounded the rest of his punch, tossing the cup away and grabbing a cold beer from the ice tub instead.

"Alright then. So what do you wanna do first?"

The other four stood there, just watching. Adelheid looked at Whip, raising an eyebrow.

"I missed the last one," she smirked. "I think I was inside of the last place we had it at. But I guess we'll get to witness this one."

"You four are coming, by the way," Ralf informed them. "I'd like to see what Blondie, especially, can do."

Adel blinked. "Why me?" he said.

"Well, you kick our ass half the time-"

"More than half the time," Whip reminded him.

"Ahem," Ralf continued, "But, I mean, it'd be cool to get everyone involved. Let's see what you all have."

"You guys can go first," Leona said quietly. She sipped her punch.

"Oh, we will," Clark said. "In fact, I'll start. I'll just grab a log to throw."

"Is...that safe?" Whip asked.

"Oh, that place all down there is open." He waved his hand, showing there was, indeed, a huge and open spot down the hill in the manor's huge backyard, which could possibly be considered a meadow.

"That's true," she said.

Ralf piped up. "Hey, I should pick your log. Just to make sure you get a good one."

"If you pick my log, I'm picking the rock out that you'll insist on punching again this year. Since that's your one act."

"Excuse me," Ralf grumped, "That punch got us out of gods know what."

"Yeah, yeah. Just go get my damn log."

The other four simply stared, trying to withhold laughter. Even Leona was failing.

Ralf came back, a huge log over his shoulder. He even strained some under the weight; he did not skimp on this. Dropping it on the ground with an enormous, thundering thud, he stepped back.

"Here you are, smartass. Try to impress us." He exhaled deeply, taking a drink of his beer which he had set down.

Clark warmed up his arms, flexing some, getting ready for his attempt. Picking up the log, he balanced it in his hands carefully horizontally, and started to run.

He heaved the thing with a huge grunt; the log, to give him credit, flew a fairly impressive distance before it hit the ground with a mighty, loud, hollow thunk. They could feel the vibrations as it rolled and bounced. It was not immensely long, but it was thick; and Clark crouched down, panting, with his hands on his knees. Recovering, he turned around and looked back at the crew, flexing a moment before folding his arms.

"So?" he flashed a big, toothy grin at the group.

Adel applauded, nodding his head. "Now that was impressive, I gotta say."

"I've seen you kick bigger ones," Whip said, sort of bragging about him.

"Well, kicking and throwing them are two different things."

"Yeaaaah," she agreed, mostly teasing Clark. "Yeah, big guy, I gotta admit, that was cool."

He smiled, grabbing his own beer. "What about you, Seirah?" he asked.

"Well...I can't throw that," she said.

"No, I mean, you have tricks, I'm sure?"

"Well…" she thought, smiling. "I do have Voodoo inside. I can show you something sort of cool I can do with it."

Adel grinned. "Show 'em up, then."

She ran inside briefly to grab Voodoo, making her way back out. When she got down to the bottom, she grinned at Adel.

"Mine isn't any sort of impressive strength feat, but…" She looked at the blonde questioningly. "Do you have any coins on you by any chance?"

"Yeah," he said, reaching into his pocket and grabbing a few spare euro coins, which he kept on hand. "What do you want me to do with them?"

She stood away, giving herself room. "Start throwing them into the air. Go ahead and do it quickly, too."

Grinning-knowing exactly what she was planning, now-he wound back, and started to heave the small coins into the air.

Crack! Crack! Snap! Voodoo's telltale sharp, lashing sound rang out as Whip managed to almost effortlessly snap the things out of the air; Adel could barely even see the things, yet she didn't miss a single one, sending them flying all over the place. She made sure to aim them toward the safety of the rear of the field; had anyone else tried such insanity they'd have worried, but they all knew Whip was good. One of the coins came dangerously near plugging a wayward goose out of the sky; the thing yelled at them as one of its tail feathers got nailed.

Tossing the last few, they watched her skillfully send them flying as well; she waited until the final one fell, hitting it with a well-aimed crack...and sending it flying toward the log, where it embedded in the bark.

Adel had a huge grin on his face.

"Jeeze, nice one!" he said, going over to examine the two-euro coin. It was not deeply into the wood itself, but it had flown with enough speed to penetrate the rather thick bark. He came back over to rub her shoulders, as her 'big bros' laughed.

"Gotta admit Whippy, that would sting. Nice aim, too!" Ralf admitted.

She smiled. "I'd get bored a lot early on. So besides shooting...I'd start practicing doing more fine control things with Voodoo here...and I guess it paid off in the form of a party trick?"

"I'm sure it could come in handy in an actual situation, too," Duo Lon said.

Ralf looked at the tall, pale man, chuckling. "Is everything serious to you?"

Duo Lon just shrugged, though he had a noticeable smirk on his face.

"So! " Ralf exclaimed, clearly into the whole thing at the moment, "Who's showing off next?"

The group looked toward Leona and Duo Lon, who, being the quiet and normally more serious ones, had just been sort of watching this whole thing for now.

Leona simply nodded, sipping her cup of punch. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"I think I have something I can do."

The liquor bottles were lined up; they were a decent size, having supplied the alcohol for the extensive punch tub that was already being plowed through at an alarming speed. The crew gathered around the table to watch the next "party trick".

Leona sized up the bottles, looking at what angle she wanted to make the cut at. She opted for a clean one exactly down the center of the first; bringing her arm up in a straight line, she activated the slashing aura around her hand and brought it down.

Snikt.

A perfectly even, straight cut appeared down the center of one of the bottles, vertically.

The group grinned, giving applause.

"That is...shockingly precise," Adelheid said. "And very clean." His own cutting aura-that he could gather around his legs-was much rougher; it tore rather than cleanly sliced things.

Leona nodded. "With some practice, you can get the cuts extremely precise." She went to the second bottle to do another perfectly straight cut, only this time horizontally. Once again, the bottle did not move.

Duo Lon smiled softly, going over to pick up the bottle to look at the perfectly clean cut. He looked over at the others.

"I apologize, but it seems that my little trick-that does not involve me tapping into the essence of the wailing, tormented dead, also involved me slicing things." He opened his hands, showing off his bizarrely sharp nails. They had been hardened through some clan secret to extreme levels, which did enable him to slice things with them rather cleanly. "And I think she is much cleaner with her cuts than I could ever get."

Ralf chuckled. "Ahh well, my strange friend, it's alright. I mean not everyone needs a trick."

Duo Lon raised an eyebrow at his 'strange friend' comment. The beefy man, suddenly getting a chill, eyed both Whip and Clark-seemingly looking for help-but they both stepped back, shrugging, as if to say Ralf was on his own with this one.

"...You can still do it. I don't think there are any rules against this. They're party tricks," they heard Leona say quietly. She even smiled slightly.

Duo Lon blinked. "Well, I think I can, then." He stepped up, placing the other bottle half back before going over to the third one, his large hand forming into a claw. Lining it up for a moment, he swiped with his arm fast enough that Adelheid could swear he felt the wind come off of it even back where he stood. He didn't even have to wind his hand back that far, such was the power of his strike.

Four lines appeared in the front of the square bottle; given his nails were only about an inch long, they couldn't go through both halves, but he had cut clean into the glass. Coming back up quickly, he took the more narrow top of it off with a single nail, before catching it. He could have chopped through the bottle easily, but he decided to stick with his nails for it.

The others grunted in approval.

"Alrighty then," Adel said. "I'm very glad you refused to use those on me when we sparred that one time."

"I didn't know you could do that," Whip blinked, taking a sip of her punch.

Leona walked over to pick up the bottle, examining it. "This is clean," she actually smiled up at him before placing it down, only to the side. "And you only used your nails, too...I need my aura for that."

"They aren't long enough to get through more than an inch or so of glass," he said. "But it's more than enough for what I need them for."

Adel snorted laughter at the fact the creepy, tattooed man usually somehow managed to bring up something grim and death related, though no one seemed to mind.

Lining up her hand again, Leona sliced that very bottle down the middle; only crosswise, leaving the slashed front intact. Holding it up, the light shone through the four slices that Duo Lon had made.

"That...actually looks really cool," said Whip, smiling at the strange piece of 'art.'

"It does," Adel agreed.

Within a few moments, the two had started slashing the bottles in various ways, making rather creative shapes with them as the other four stood back, blinking. By the time they were done, several bottles stood, sliced in rather interesting shapes; some of them quite wicked looking.

Duo Lon stood back and took his pipe out to pack and light it; he blew a stream of smoke out and took the cup that Adelheid was holding for him. He examined their handiwork before looking over at Leona, who likewise took her drink from Ralf.

"I thank you for accompanying me in this," he told her.

Leona smiled at him again; two, full blown smiles in that short of time was somewhat of a record for her. "Your nails are impressive."

"Good lord, even when having fun you two are stuffy," Ralf laughed, clearly jesting, as everyone knew how much he adored Leona. He liked Duo Lon too, from the times he had talked to him. "So," he continued, almost a bit too loudly. "Who's up next?"

"Why not you?" Adel smirked. "Clark went already, and you've been putting it off."

Scowling, he lightly tapped Adel's shoulder. "Fine, then. Clark, pick out my rock."

"So you are going for old reliable."

"Damn straight!"

Sighing, Clark went around down the hill to see if he could, somehow, procure some large rocks from the garden that wouldn't be missed.

Locating one-and it was a rather decent size, he simply stood back, presenting it with a rather sarcastic look on his face.

"Here's the rock, your one-note majesty. It's even made of granite this time."

"That's almost as hard as your head, Ralf," Whip cheerfully chimed in.

Ralf scowled at the two of them, setting his drink off to the side. With no words-just a mighty yell-he wound up, swinging his fist downward at the thing in his trademark, giant dashing punch.

It shattered spectacularly from the blow, as one might expect. Though-as much as he had done this trick-it was always impressive, as much as they hated to admit it. He managed to pulverize the thing, and granite was very hard.

"You know what, big guy? That's not bad," Adel said. "I have to say I'm impressed. I know how hard granite is."

Ralf folded his arms, smirking.

"You know, Adel, you could totally do that, too." Whip had stepped up behind him.

Adel blinked.

Grinning, Ralf laughed. "You know what, Blondie? Give it a try. Your legs could use a bit of a workout, I think."

Adel shrugged, handing his drink to Whip. He even tossed his large boots off, deciding to at least try to make it even, as his boots were reinforced with metal.

"Pick one for me," he said, folding his arms.

"Gladly," the big man replied, slyly grabbing an even bigger one that he broke. "Try your luck here."

Adel focused a moment, winding up his leg; he swiftly leapt and came down on the thing in an enormous, crushing axe kick.

The granite was shattered easily under the blow; his heel even left a slight crater in the ground. He stood, turning toward them-a big grin on his face.

"Good enough?" he chuckled.

Whip applauded. "I think his rock was bigger, Ralf." She handed Adel his drink back, stroking his side a moment.

"I...well you did it, I gotta say," he stammered, blinking. He didn't expect it to be crushed so efficiently.

Clark laughed. "I'd say he beat you."

"Hey now! Maybe he was lucky." Ralf grumbled some more unintelligible words under his breath, going for another drink.

"I think that's all of us?" Whip said.

"I think so," Clark agreed.

"Well," Ralf said, a thoughtful look on his face. "I'm thinking...maybe Blondie needs to do one more."

Adelheid folded his arms. "Matching your boulder didn't do the trick?" he smirked. Whip just laughed; trolling Ralf was one of her favorite pastimes.

"I mean, it was impressive enough," Ralf replied, his eyes trying to find some help from his teammates, to no avail. "But you technically had an advantage. Axe kicking something is naturally more forceful than just punching it."

Whip rolled her eyes at that. Even Leona and Duo Lon were snickering.

Adelheid leaned against a tree, keeping his arms folded and smirking. "So what do you actually propose?"

"Well...I dunno, show how strong those legs really are," he said.

"Why don't you just punt him?" Whip smirked.

"You stay out of this, Whippy!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. Laughing, she looked over to the side; her eyes falling on what may have been the biggest watermelon she had ever seen. She looked at Adelheid, looked at Ralf, and looked back at the melon.

Adelheid raised his eyebrow at her. "You're thinking of something," he said.

"Well…" She thought, giggling. "What if you had to do something where you had to use like, no...weird power ups or anything. Just pure, manly strength." The alcohol had clearly affected her just a bit.

"I think I can handle that." He threw out a few kicks.

She looked over at the watermelon again, and back to Adelheid. She then looked at Ralf.

Ralf stared at her, and then burst out laughing. "Are you...suggesting he…" He then roared. "Okay, if Blondie can take that thing out, with none of his weird... extra strength, then I'll concede." He continued to roar laughter; tears almost started to appear in the corner of his eyes. Somehow , Ralf had managed to pick up her intentions.

Adel shook his head, a rather alarmed expression coming over his face. "Just what are you suggesting I do, Seirah?"

"Your legs are strong, right?"

"I'd have to barely tap that thing, though."

"I don't mean for you to kick it, dear."

Adel stared at her nonplussed, starting to realize what she was thinking. She burst out laughing at the look on his face.

"I...I mean…" he stammered.

"You can handle a watermelon, can't you?"

"I mean...yeah? That thing's easy," he said. "I don't think I'll even need to strain."

"That thing...is big," Clark pointed out.

Adel just shrugged. He looked at Whip, and looked back at the melon again...before pounding the rest of the rather stiff punch. "If my lady wants me to obliterate a giant watermelon, then she'll have it."

Whip, at this point, began to wheeze laughter, nearly spewing the punch from her nose. In the background, Leona and Duo Lon looked on, blinking, their expressions barely changing...but just enough that you could tell that they were highly amused at this whole thing. He took a drag of his pipe, considering at this point filling it with some of the other stuff he had brought.

He ran inside long enough to change to a pair of his spare shorts; he had stuffed a couple into his bag, just in case. Jogging quickly back to the thankfully out of the way spot, he grabbed the watermelon to take it even more out of the way, just in case anyone else walked in on this... event .

Whip couldn't stop laughing.

"Remember, Blondie, no funny stuff here. Pure, unaltered, physical power."

It all happened so fast that the crew could barely even prepare. Adelheid sat down, grabbed the enormous watermelon...and in less than a second, he had exploded the thing with his thighs without a second thought. This was not the few moments of straining it would take a regular strong person, only to collapse the fruit; fit people were capable of this. This was a split-second effort that he had no leverage to start with, even, given the size of the thing.

No one should have been able to do this.

Hopping back up-the power of the exploding, unfortunate fruit hitting a rather large radius-he grabbed his drink from Whip, grinning first at her, and then toward Ralf.

"Good enough?" The blonde took a deep drink of his punch.

Ralf, wiping the watermelon from his face, blinked in disbelief.

"...You win, Blondie!" he roared. "I knew you'd be able to do it but...I thought it would take some goddamn effort!"

Whip shook her head. "Even I thought it would take a tiny bit of effort. But jesus christ." She burst out laughing, leaning against Adel, the two of them clearly needing a shower.

"Beats me in the boulder, and proves me wrong here, too. Fine." He laughed heartily though. Clark couldn't stop snickering off to the side. Duo Lon and Leona had stood back far enough that they got missed with the flying melon, but even they were laughing.

"Shower time, then?" Adel grinned at Whip.

"Yes," she agreed, pulling him inside.

Managing to get inside before anyone could see them covered in watermelon-and hoping that the cooks didn't take strict stock of anything-as soon as the two grabbed their bags and made their way into the third-floor bathroom near some of the servant's quarters in the upstairs, they nearly collapsed laughing onto the floor.

"Seirah," he wheezed. "What got into you?"

Laughing, she shook her head. "I am so sorry, love," she said in between laughter. "But when I saw that thing...and knew your legs...I mean I know people can do that but I wanted to see how long it took you. It's the alcohol. It has to be," she roared, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "And I didn't think you would actually agree to it," she added, leaning her head against his chest.

"I mean…" he said, rubbing her hair, the two of them clearly needing to wash that, as well. "I wasn't about to let that dork win," he said. He was, definitely, more than tipsy right now, though not properly drunk.

"You didn't," she chuckled, kissing him.

"Ahh, hell," he said, after it broke. "I forgot something downstairs. Go get your shower. I'll be back."

It didn't take her long to get in and out of the shower, as she wanted to get back to the festivities...but she had to admit that she was sort of feeling a little frisky and daring again. He climbed in himself as soon as he got back, as she stayed in the bathroom; he figured she was brushing her hair and getting some new clothes on.

Quickly finishing his shower, he stood out of the old bathtub-the type that still had the big metal feet on it, that you had to turn on both faucets and mix them to get hot water-and grabbed a towel. He saw Whip still in there...still naked, however, as she had not gotten dressed yet.

"...Seirah?" he asked, blinking. "You're not dressed."

She looked at him, smirking. She pointed at the door...which was both locked and bolted. She moved over to sit on the high edge of the tub, setting her leg up. She was just tipsy enough to act a little on the provocative side.

He licked his lips, making his way over to her as he knelt in front of her. He started by pulling her forward into a deep kiss that wasted no time. His hand slid down so his thumb could circle her breast during it all. As their kiss broke, she looked at him, heavy lidded...and slid her hand into his hair.

"Hmmm," he teased, knowing damn well what she wanted.

"We might not have much time," she teased.

Adel needed no coercion to slide down between her legs, her sweet scent already waiting for him as her leg went up. Almost immediately pressing his mouth to her, he felt how wet she was, and he simply began to pleasure her earnestly as she moaned.

He then just decided to lay down on the cold floor; she immediately knew what he wanted. Turning, she positioned on top of him to take him into her mouth as he continued to roughly pleasure her, the alcohol and the mood of the moment giving him an intense hunger for her. They went back and forth; each other's actions driving the other mad.

It took him no time at all to wrench a rather large orgasm out of her with his skilled mouth; with her own mouth occupied, she was able to keep rather silent. Keeping at her for a few moments more-until he was content he had reaped his reward-he swallowed, leaning back as she stopped, turning to grin at him as he licked his decidedly wet lips. He had gotten to know his lover's body very well over their time together, and given he would never lose the chance to go down on her, he was more than capable of quickly bringing her over the edge. He much preferred to take his time down there, but after their last incident that involved a painful interruption-he just wanted to ensure she got off.

Taking a moment to prepare, he stood up, pushing her by the wall before sliding inside. He was so incredibly ready-between her actions on him and her familiar, arousing taste still in his mouth-that it only took him a few quick strokes before he tensed, shuddered, and came himself. Panting, he looked at his lover, embracing her in a deep kiss as he cradled her head.

"Glad this worked out," she muttered, shivering in pleasure in his arms.

"Mmm, definitely, " he said, staying with her for a few moments, unmoving.

They had to, needless to say, shower again after that.

Pulling their clothes back on from their impromptu session-thankfully not interrupted by anyone this time-he tickled her side, pulling her close to kiss her again as she laughed.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"Yes," she said bluntly. "At least no one walked in," she chuckled, watching as he threw his shorts on to wear outside; he smeared sun lotion back all over himself-Whip did the same-and he carried his boots in his hand, likely not bothering with them at the moment.

"Okay, I'm hungry," he said.

Whip thought of a comment to make again, and decided she was above that at the moment. "I kind of want a couple more drinks, too," she said as they headed out, cleaning up the bathroom as they left. They were very grateful this giant manor had several bathrooms, thus making it less likely for people to wander up to the top floor.

Pausing suddenly by one of the doors, Whip sniffed. Adel looked at her, his head cocked to the side.

"Everything alright?" he said.

"Yeah…" she sniffed the air again. "You smell something?"

Adel sniffed the air as well; it seemed to be coming from the wooden door near them. As he leaned forward, he also heard something coming from it.

"Huh," he said, puzzled. "Yeah, I smell...something," he chuckled. "Not surprised. Not like it bothers the guys." The Ikari Warriors did not in any way have a problem with grass, as they thought it was stupid it was even criminalized in the first place, and they were both pretty sure that Ralf and Clark's cigars may have been some of a different variety once in awhile. "But...what's that sound?"

She looked at the door. "Should...we?"

"Maybe," he said. "Wouldn't hurt."

Upon opening the door, they finally heard the rather unmistakable sound of extreme metal; definitely something that Duo Lon would listen to. The smell, likewise, was unmistakable-they knew he would partake in it now and again. Adelheid chuckled at this.

"I guess our friend decided to step away to chill a little?"

"Smells and sounds like it," Whip laughed.

"Hello?" they heard his voice call. "Here, you can light this one," they heard him say.

Adel cocked his head, looking puzzled. "Is someone else…"

"...Up there?" she finished, scratching her head.

"You can come up," he said.

Shrugging, they made their way up; there was clearly an air conditioning unit up there, as it was blasting on full. They supposed-due to the steep, narrow stairs and the location of this room-that it was a Victorian servant's quarters, repurposed to perhaps be some sort of attic or guest room. The smell of high-quality grass was stronger now, though the air filter in the room was pretty good. Most of the curtains had been pulled shut, though two were left open, and one of the small lights at the end were on, making the room somewhat dim, though not dark.

Adelheid made it first, and his expression changed to one of surprise; Whip, noticing this, stepped in and immediately started to giggle.

Duo Lon was standing there with an album cover in his hand, having put a new record on; it turned out the place had a stereo up here with a full setup, including a full record player. He had seemingly taken some of his favorites with him on his trip. There was no doubt he had picked this room for its stereo setup.

And sitting on the couch next to it all was Leona, with Duo Lon's pipe in her hand. She saw the two of them and actually smiled; in fact, she started chuckling. The pipe was lit.

The only thing that could have surprised the two of them more would have been Igniz flying in on a spaceship with a martian co-piloting the thing.

Duo Lon turned, a calm look on his face. "Hello," he said. "We just decided to get away from the crowd."

"Leona?" Whip asked, blinking. "I didn't know you…"

"Well...I tried it before, awhile back," she said. "It wasn't bad. This stuff is much better, though," she looked rather mellow, though still also somewhat amused.

"I just asked if she wanted to share it." He sat back on the low couch-given his height, he looked somewhat amusing on this. He put his hair back behind it and took the pipe from Leona when she offered it back, taking a hit. He offered it to Adel and Whip.

"No thanks," Adel said. "I want to save some food for everyone else," he laughed. "Usually I don't double up if I'm drinking. I just get too hungry and then I want to sleep."

Whip nodded. "Same. If I wasn't drinking, I would try it. He'd eat the entire pig out there, though, I guarantee it."

Duo Lon nodded-a smirk on his face-though he was understanding. The two of them hadn't drank a whole lot yet compared to the others.

"Which one is this?" Leona suddenly asked, turning over the empty sleeve that Duo Lon had just put on.

"Abyssal Shadow," he replied, handing the pipe back to her. "They had split some years ago. This is one of their earlier albums. I had actually picked it up when I was visiting these two," he smiled softly.

"I like it," she said, taking another hit. She held it in and exhaled. "Which was the one I really liked before? The first one?"

"Blightwinter," he said. "Out of Northern Europe. Very classic sound. That was their first album."

Adelheid and Whip looked at each other, looked at the record player, and blinked, still nonplussed. Shaking his head, he chuckled.

"I remember quite liking the one you played for me when we were talking," he said, at a loss for words otherwise.

"Delirium Void," he smiled. "One of my favorites."

"Do you have them here?" Leona asked, curious, handing him back the pipe.

"I do," he said. "I'll put them on next." He took another casual puff. He seemed to have a fairly good tolerance. Leona was leaning back on the couch, her hands behind her head, very mellow at the moment.

Whip sat back, nodding her head. "This isn't bad. Hadn't heard this much before I met you. I'm more into the electronic sounding rock, but this has an interesting sound." She wondered if the contact fumes were getting to her.

At this point, Adel's stomach rumbled. Whip's eyes rolled in response, though she grinned.

Adel shrugged. "What?"

"Didn't you eat before the contest?"

"Just a little. And besides..." he cut off before he discussed how sex made him hungry.

"Okay, let's feed you before you end up eating the entire pig anyway," she chuckled. She looked at the other two. "Are you going to stay?"

Duo Lon nodded. "We'll be down in awhile," he said, reaching over to the bag he had carried up that held some of his vinyl; judging by the fact he had brought up both of his bags, he had decided to take this room for his own to stay in. He rummaged through for the album he had mentioned while Leona took another puff of the pipe, exhaling. She smiled softly at the other two.

"We'll want to eat at some point. Tell him to save us some."

"Don't worry," Whip laughed, knowing she was gently poking at Adel's massive appetite, as well.

Adel grinned, scratching his head. Waving goodbye, they left the air-conditioned attic. He looked at Whip, his eyebrows raised.

" That is something I never thought I would see before."

"Same," she laughed.

"The Silent Soldier and the Silent Assassin," he chuckled. "Smoking hash and listening to underground heavy metal. Those are words that I cannot say I would have ever uttered."

"But you know...she seemed relaxed. She's usually pretty distant at the big gatherings-you saw her at the holiday party. While she's a little more open at these than normal, she's mostly just more open around Ralf and Clark. Even when we go shooting, she's a little uptight. Duty almost all the time. So it's nice to see her actually able to relax at all, let alone around someone she was only acquainted with before today. Good for her, though, if she's able to actually relax and unwind."

"Definitely," he agreed as they headed back down, rearranging their bags that they had set to the side. He grinned at her. "More green flavored punch? Or better stuff?"

"The punch is kept nice and cold. So that."

"Yeah. I got spoiled by the AC. It's so goddamn hot out there now."

Wandering out-Adel at this point just stripped to his shorts and Whip not much more-they wandered to the alcohol tent. Plunging their large cups into the green, stiffly alcoholic liquid, they noticed Ralf drinking; the big man burst out laughing as soon as he saw them.

"I gotta say, Blondie...yeah, you win. For sure. I dunno how you did that so easily without...like…effort even."

Adel shrugged. "Don't skip leg day," he grinned, taking a deep drink. He sniffed the air. "Is the food on soon?"

"I think they opened up the salads and stuff over there. And there's the sides. We should be getting the first meat soon. The pig is usually saved for the end, and then out come the sweets."

"I might actually fill up," Adel mused.

"Might," Whip smirked, poking his stomach. She took a drink herself as Ralf ruffled both of their hair as he walked by to join the rest.

"I admit, I was tempted to join Duo Lon and Leona up there, but I'd have eaten...a lot," he laughed.

"You've done that before, right?"

"Yeah, a few times. You don't work with the, ahh, establishments I have without having done some."

Now she laughed again; it was perhaps partially the good feeling, partially the afterglow, and just a little bit of the alcohol that put them in this rather giggly mood.

During their conversation, they had made their way off to the tables, grabbing plates to sniff around the food. Clark was there, his hat off, but his sunglasses still on. He grinned at them, saluting.

"Hurry up!" he said, pointing. "It's all out, and it's all fresh."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Adelheid said, getting in line. He wondered how many trips he would have to make. Checking out the buffet table, there was the usual good old fashioned cookout fare, both hot and cold. More than one type of potato salad, pasta salad, a fruit salad and coleslaw were laid out on the table in huge bowls with massive spoons. A tray of deviled eggs waited next to it. Baked beans, corn on the cob, and vegetables on skewers followed.

Adel quickly collected two plates, since he was fairly sure he'd need it.

The meats were at the grill; they both collected their share of ribs and beef skewers, the pig coming later that evening. Upon finally filling their plates, the two made their way to an empty table, waiting on their companions to eventually make their way over. Ralf and Clark they knew were milling about, and Heidern was doing the same, as he would-he made sure to say hello to everyone. Duo Lon and Leona were presumably finishing up their pipe before heading down to indulge in the food that they probably would be quite hungry for.

Whip started on her food; it was very good. She knew the skill of their unit cooks, and they did not disappoint. Adel, naturally, had started shoveling everything down immediately. Heidern was over at a table with a few of his intelligence officers who he didn't see much; he would try to spend time with everyone, and he had decided to eat with them since he saw his direct bunch very often. Ralf and Clark were lounging by a tree as they ate; and out of the corner of their eye, they spotted the upstairs pair making their way down to the food, Leona shielding her eyes from the glare.

Chuckling, she swallowed a bite and washed it down with some of the iced tea they had there.

"Looks like she's getting the glare."

"Yeah...yep, there they go." They both loaded their plates fairly well before locating the other two and waving. They sat on the other side of the bench with them; they were the only four at the table. Leona drank down nearly an entire bottle of water in one go; both of them looked a touch spaced out, though definitely still together. Duo Lon was behaving no differently; he could hide anything, it seems-or had an incredible tolerance-the only way you could tell was by looking at his eyes. Leona looked more relaxed than they had ever seen her.

"You two good?" Adel asked as he stripped another rib.

"Quite fine," Duo Lon said, starting on his own.

"Umm...do you still have some more, by any chance?" Adel asked suddenly.

"Yes. Would you like to after dinner?"

Leona smirked at this, looking over at them. "Join us if you want. It's not overly strong. I only tried it one time before this, and I feel fine." Indeed, while she looked a little spacy, she seemed sound. She was a little more talkative, at that. While she didn't say anything to the others-she had mentioned it to Duo Lon while they were upstairs-she wouldn't mind having a bit now and again like Duo Lon himself did, as she felt it helped calm her nerves a bit, something she could have trouble doing. He had admitted that he had started relaxing with it himself, during his harsh earlier years of training.

"I...never did it," Whip said. "But I'm curious, now." The alcohol, she figured, was loosening her inhibitions.

"It's mild," Duo Lon said. "I do not do it often, but when I do it's usually a bit stronger. I acquired a milder variant for times like these."

Leona nodded in agreement.

The four continued to eat in a comfortable silence; Adel going to refill his plate again, and Whip beginning to worry what would happen after he smoked something.

After they had finished, the crew decided to just lounge under the tree, drinking a little more punch and digesting. The pig had finally come out, and it was delicious; the meat fell off the bone, and the four of them had eaten what they could of it. They then decided to check out the house, perhaps debating going upstairs.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the two heard as they made their way inside, having collected large plates of the dump cakes that were offered; which tasted incredible. One was an apple-peach flavored one with a vanilla crust, while the other was cherry and a chocolate crust; they took both, grabbing the after dinner coffee to take a break from the alcohol as well. It wasn't overly fancy, but that was just perfect for the situation; the dump cakes could be made in large quantities for a lot of hungry people, and they tasted buttery and sweet.

They also drank extra water; they wanted a chance to rehydrate, and even though they had paced themselves well today, the punch was rather stiff, and they had enjoyed a couple of other drinks, too.

"What's that?" Whip asked.

They heard Clark's voice fairly clear now. "Yes," it answered.

Heidern actually chuckled. "It seems that my men have yet to learn. Well, there is a table downstairs. How about we head down and see how much you've improved?"

"Get 'em, Clark!" Ralf laughed, looking over to the other two and waving. "Hey, Blondie, maybe you can take the commander? You already whipped all of us earlier in everything."

Adelheid coughed, hoping Ralf wouldn't say too much there, though people probably wondered what had happened to the melon. There were several melons, to be sure, and the one they had taken was to be used for the punch-but still.

"What are we playing?" Adel asked, scratching his head.

"Pool!" Clark replied. "This time, I'm pretty sure I can get him. I've done a lot of practicing!" He was pretty fairly well on his way past tipsy, though he wasn't toward rip-roaring drunk...yet.

Whip blinked. "You do know how good he is, right?"

Heidern simply shook his head, having already started to walk downstairs. "They never learn," they heard him say.

Looking at each other, they took their plates and cups down the stairs toward the nice, cool basement; it was fully furnished and the lights were on. A few people were already milling around, a couple watching tv and relaxing. The pool table was there, already set up; it hadn't been used yet this night.

Heidern tested the sticks, picking the one which he felt had the best balance; Clark just ripped one off the wall, and began to chalk it up. Going to rack the balls, Heidern stepped back, waving toward the table. He then went to make himself a whiskey off to the side.

"Please, start." He seemed completely calm.

Clark placed his drink down-at this point, no one knew what was in his blue plastic up, but it smelled strong-and lined up a shot; a crack followed as he broke the balls. One striped ball managed to get in; but he missed his second shot.

Heidern sipped his drink, setting it aside near Adel. He then walked over to the table, lining up behind the 2.

Plugging it into the hole, he then proceeded to knock in nearly every solid ball, one right after the other; banking the shots off the sides, and he barely even seemed to be bothered by it. Every ball that went in caused Adel's eyebrow to raise higher, Ralf to keep laughing, and Clark to continue sinking back, realizing that he stepped into this himself.

The commander finally missed one, and laughed softly, picking his drink back up.

"Your turn," he said.

Clark, at this point, looked pretty demoralized; taking his hat off, he glanced back and forth at his friends, shrugging. In the background, they saw Duo Lon nod to them, motioning with his head upstairs; he was going to start preparing things now. Adel waved, motioning that the two of them would be up soon. He watched Leona look at the table, back up at Duo Lon, and decide to follow him up, chuckling a bit at Clark getting completely trashed by the commander.

Missing his shot, Heidern stepped forward after another sip of his drink and put the last two balls in, setting the stick aside.

"I would have thought you could have gotten a few in that time, Clark." He shook his head, leaning by the wall with his arms folded.

"I...uhh...well…"

Ralf put an arm around his neck, grinning.

"Your fault. You knew this was going to happen."

"Well, you got your ass kicked today!"

At this, Adel decided it was time for him to begin making his way upstairs too, as he wanted to grab a couple of things before heading into the attic. Silent still-though chuckling under his breath-he waved at Heidern, who smiled at the blonde, nodding, as he and Whip took off upstairs after witnessing the absolute slaughter of Clark at the pool table.

As they shut the basement door behind them, the thunk they heard was presumably the pair starting to wrestle in the basement.

Looking down at Whip, Adel scratched his head.

"Heidern seems to be pretty full of surprises. I never would have guessed."

"I had no idea, either, until I saw him one time go against a bunch of our unit. Not one could touch him. If he ever decided to stop being a career soldier, then this would be his calling."

Pausing to kiss her a moment, he looked upstairs. "Ready to go chill?"

"Definitely," she said, curious onto how this would feel.

Arriving upstairs, they were greeted by some music-one that Adel thought he had heard before, once at the Sky Noah when Duo Lon was there-and the blast of cold air.

The two of them sat on the low couch off to the side; Duo Lon had started to fill the pipe again, though they had not lit it yet. They had a supply of bottled water up there, no doubt to take care of the dry mouth that could hit, and also had a plate of snacks off to the side, seemingly preparing to stay in for awhile.

"Hello again," Duo Lon said as he waved. Leona was checking out the sleeve of the album he had just put on; they seemed to enjoy going through the small collection he had brought.

"Hello," she said kindly. She looked back toward Duo Lon. "Nightfrost, was it?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Another band from Austria, actually."

"Hey again, guys," Whip said, as Adel sat near the couch on one of the large cushions that he found there; Whip joined him, sitting between his legs to lean back comfortably against him.

"Glad you decided to join us this time," the tall man smiled, lighting the pipe and exhaling; it smelled rather nice, admittedly. It was definitely mild. He passed it over to Leona first, who put the sleeve off to the side and took a hit herself. She then handed the pipe to Whip, who sort of stared at it a moment.

"First time," she chuckled.

"It's fine. Just take a small amount," Duo Lon reassured her.

She did; just a small hit, inhaling-and then coughing a few times afterward, as she handed the pipe to Adel. She was no stranger to smoke, having been around smokers and in situations where she had to breathe in much worse stuff, but still she had to adjust. Her coughing ended rather quickly, at least, with a sip of water, and she chuckled.

"Not bad," she said, clearing her throat.

Adel took a small hit as well; having drank quite a few today already, he was careful, knowing his limits. It was very smooth, though; better than some of the crap he had smoked a few times with some of the more rough syndicates he had mingled with in the past. He couldn't remember the last time he had, to be fair-it had probably been several months.

"Nice," he smiled, handing it back to Duo Lon. "Yeah, that is mild."

He nodded. "Good for times where you just want to unwind a little bit."

The four sat in a fairly comfortable silence for some time; the only sounds being Duo Lon's evil-sounding music and the air conditioner, which was a relief after all the time spent outside today. They felt sweaty and exhausted, as one did after extended time outside during the summer. Making sure they drank a lot of water, Adel started to feel fairly mellow from the stuff; and he could tell Whip-sitting on his lap-was fairly blitzed at this point, giggling a lot. He found it quite endearing.

Duo Lon and Leona simply leaned back on the couch, comfortable. Adel finally spoke up after some time.

"Are you guys going to come down for some more snacks?"

"Eventually. We may stick around a bit more. There are a couple more albums to go through, I think."

"Of course," he said, Whip looking up at him, nuzzling his neck a moment before glancing out the window. Leona had gotten up to get more water; this time, she moved over to sit on the floor, near the couch, just to change position. Duo Lon stretched out on it, laying on his side and propped up on his arm. The pipe was gone at this point, and now the bunch were just relaxing.

"I didn't know you liked this music," Whip said to Leona.

"Neither did I," she said, smiling softly. "He had put an album on when we came up here the first time, and...I can't explain it, I just think it sounded cool." She also thought it was interesting that the music had actually helped him during his younger years.

"Always nice to find something new," Whip said, squeezing Adel's hand...and hearing his stomach rumble. " Really," she said. "While we're trying to have a touching moment."

"What did you think was going to happen?" He tweaked her under the chin.

"Okay, guys." she said, laughing. "Enjoy your evening, maybe we'll run into you guys down there if we don't get distracted." Whip giggled again. She was clearly affected by everything, though she admittedly felt very good.

"I think you're the one that might get distracted," Adel teased as they head down the stairs.

"Me? " she said, her tone melodramatic.

Duo Lon and Leona watched the two of them in amusement. He lay there with one hand behind his head, the pipe now empty, but fairly comfortable. He twirled it in his large hand as he chilled out to the possessed-sounding vocals on the stereo.

Leona looked over at him, scratching her head. It looked like she wanted to ask him something.

"Hmm?" he asked; Duo Lon had a knack for reading people, even if he couldn't discern their thoughts exactly.

"N...nothing," she said, smiling softly. "Um...want a donut?" she asked, holding out the plate she brought up.

"So, this is our room," Whip mused, flipping on the light and looking around. It had been left to cool for several hours, and it felt just as good as the other attic room. Sometimes, attic rooms in old houses could end up getting incredibly hot, but these were well taken care of.

"It is," Adel said, very buzzed at the moment, though not as much as Whip, who looked positively blitzed at this point.

"Looks cool," she said. "Feels great, too. I can totally curl up under those sheets after we eat," she chuckled.

"Definitely," he said, rubbing his stomach, and leaning back on the bed. "I might wanna relax here a bit, first, though…"

"Same…" Whip replied, collapsing next to him and leaning into him, content.

"What did you think of the stuff?" he asked. "That was high quality. And very mild. I've had some stuff that would put you right on your ass."

"It was...interesting," she said. "I can't say I didn't like it. I'd try it again." Closing her eyes a few moments, she chuckled. "Say, was it just me, or…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

Adel cocked his head to the side, brushing some of her hair back as she lay there; he leaned over her. "Hmm?"

"I...kinda forgot," she laughed.

Leaning down to kiss her, the two soaked in the air, relaxing after their long day.

The two had talked quite a bit for the past hour or so...though they had spoken quite a bit the entire day. It was, to be sure, more than she had talked in absolute ages. Given the mildness of the substance, they were now just basically chilled out, having plowed through about three of the eight water bottles they had brought up.

Once again, he leaned on his arm, as he still lounged on the couch. He was smiling slightly.

"Like I told you earlier...it's fine. I'm pretty sure after everything we had talked about all of today, whatever you have to say is nothing that would faze me. Not that it would, anyway."

"I was going to ask you-have yo...never mind."

"It's okay. Unless you think it's too personal."

"It's stupid. I think it's the stuff talking." She knew, deep down, it wasn't.

"I doubt that."

"Have you...ever been held?"

"Held?"

"Like...you saw with the other two."

"Well...not like that, no. My old teammate would jump on me and put me in a headlock, occasionally. Why do you ask?"

"I...haven't. Just team hugs, with my companions. Like you. I...don't know why I asked that. Again, it's stupid."

"I don't think it's stupid at all."

"It may have come from discussing time spent alone. During long missions."

"It could. Sometimes you begin to think about things after talking about them."

"Yeah...maybe." She looked at him as he lay on the couch; she still sat on the carpet next to it, near him. He seemed to be able to read her thoughts, in a sense.

"I...don't think I would be comfortable to someone. I am cold." He opened and closed one of his hands.

"You...I...no, you were fine when I shook your hand. And we've touched other times."

"Are you...asking, then?"

"I…" And silence, for a few moments.

"You can, if you want. I don't mind at all."

A few more moments of silence, and she shifted from her position slightly.

He slid his tall frame onto the shaggy carpet, leaning against the couch to make it easier as she sat in front of him, leaning back. Arms slid over her as they sat there silently. She then turned after some time, deciding to slide hers around him, too.

"You can move whenever you want and just leave me here." She had no idea what had come over her.

"Don't worry about it."

"T...thank you."

His muscles were dense, and hard-but powerful; though neither of them were soft, and neither cared. His skin was cold, and his heart beat somewhat slow...but he was a friend who understood; who had been through more than a few horrible things himself.

Which gave her any warmth she may have needed.

They had ended up napping for a short time in their room; despite it only being about a twenty-minute power nap, Adelheid and Whip had found they felt rather refreshed after.

Running downstairs-wearing nothing but his shorts-Adel moved into the kitchen. A couple of other clearly inebriated people stumbled about, though everyone was in an exceptionally good mood-a few more people were still outside, roasting things over the fire. He saw Ralf had just passed out on one of the large couches downstairs in the manor, and laughed.

"Hungry," he said, his stomach rumbling.

Whip had to almost jog to catch up.

"Yeah, same...and oh god. Save some for the others." It now hit her that Adel had the munchies. God help the food and anyone wanting to eat more tonight, she thought.

"Don't worry, I'll save a little," he said, going immediately after the leftover rib platter to begin methodically stripping them one by one in his mouth as he leaned by the wall. He blinked. "Where's the other two?"

"They never came out of the attic. They probably just fell asleep."

Adel shrugged. "Their loss," he said, almost chuckling. Whip could see his pupils more dilated than normal; against the stunning red of his eyes, it was easy to see. She imagined hers looked the same. She wandered over to where the pasta and potato salads were, starting to fill up on the more carb-laden stuff. Adel soon joined her.

"This stuff is even better now," she said, enjoying the feel of the cool kitchen; the central air worked nicely downstairs, but the units were needed for the rooms. They were thankful they had thought to cool their room ahead of time.

"These old houses are neat," he mused, shoveling in more potato salad as he looked around. "It's like they're...time capsules."

"Yeah," she agreed, blinking. Her head was somewhat buzzing, though she felt very chill and in a great mood. "You can see where all the quarters were, even."

"Think it's haunted?"

"Why would you ask that?" she laughed, tweaking one of his nipple rings as she swallowed her food.

He shrugged. "What, we're like, twenty-five able bodies still here or something, we'd be fine."

The two decided to finally fill some plates properly; grabbing a couple of the multi-sectioned paper plates that were stacked up, they filled them with some of the leftovers and wandered over to look out the window.

"Whew," Adel said, guzzling water from the kitchen tap nearby, before handing Whip a glass. "I'll be bringing up extra water." He shoved down more food, eying the sweets over in the corner; they had a selection of donuts and pastries that he was planning on decimating.

"Yeah, do that," she said, finishing her modest plate, before leaning back and sighing. She brushed her hand gently over his back. "And...now , I think I'm tired."

He grinned, nodding. "Lemme finish. Then we can go up."

"What time is it?"

"No idea. Probably best not to know at this point."

Cleaning off his plate, he tossed it into the trash can at the side. He then grabbed a handful of said donuts and pastries, hanging onto them in one large hand against his chest. She burst out laughing.

"What...are you even doing," she wheezed.

He just shrugged, shoving a small donut into her mouth before popping one into his own.

"Let's go up. We can snack in bed."

"...That was worded well."

He just grinned.

"The door can be locked. Don't worry."

Stirring, she looked around the attic room; it was not quite dawn, and a quick glance out of one of the high windows showing just a tiny bit of dusky blue in the sky, though she could tell it was starting to become overcast. The air conditioner's hum was the only audible sound, the music having stopped for now. She was still leaning on the other man, chest to chest, her head resting on his shoulder as he held her there. He looked down at her, blinking.

"You okay?"

"I started thinking of a forest, at some point. Maybe I dreamt it?"

"You had asked me where the claw marks came from. I told you the story." When he had taken his shirt off to let it dry after it got damp outside, she had seen the criss-crossed scars on his chest and back, received when he had to hunt down a clan traitor. She had gotten curious, and since they had been sharing some things together during the hours in the attic, getting deeper as the time went on, she had decided to ask since they looked quite different than any typical battle marks.

"That's right," she said, rubbing her eyes, though putting her hand back. "Do you...want to move?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"Can I stay longer?"

"Stay as long as you like. I can sit still for a very long time." While he left it unsaid, he hoped she would stay longer. The feeling in his stomach was like none other he had experienced.

She smiled softly at that. "A nice attribute to have. I see why the commander hired you for some things."

He chuckled at that. "Still talking like you're on duty. I know all too well what that feels like."

She actually softly laughed once at that, and then shifted some, so her head rested closer to his neck. Hours had been spent today, talking about things, eventually getting more personal as the day went on. She wasn't sure how it led to...sitting like this, but it did.

"Are you...still okay like this?" she asked, a bit unsure. They were positioned very close already, and the young woman's shirt was not the most...covering. But somehow having her head this close to his neck felt different.

"If I wasn't, I would say so, don't worry." He slid a hand into her hair, mindful of his hardened nails. While they would not cut at a touch-he did need to apply proper pressure-he had to be careful of them around people.

She tensed for a moment...but only a moment. She was surprised how quickly she relaxed, feeling his hands-normally deadly, now being used for comfort-stroking her hair. She felt strange-her stomach fluttering like mad, though the nervousness she felt was not an unpleasant one. For the past couple of hours she thought that her quickening pulse was due to the substance-it did have that effect, after all-but now, she was no longer so sure that was the only reason. If anything...the peak of the high had worn off, so she doubted it was even part of the reason.

He had closed his eyes for a few moments; when he opened them, he met hers-she had been looking at him. She started to avert them when his gaze fell on her, but she found herself looking back again for some reason. One of his hands-mindful of his nails-brushed back some of her bangs gently. His fingertips-actually fairly rough, despite his outwardly elegant appearance most of the time he had been in their offices-lightly touched her face.

Neither of them knew how, why, or what happened to cause their lips to meet almost simultaneously after a few more moments, or what caused it to linger. Or, for that matter, what caused them to continue kissing after that one had broken...nor what caused subsequent ones to deepen a bit. She repositioned with her legs on either side of him as he sat by the couch, his own long legs stretched out; one of her own hands slid into his hair, wanting to feel it. Eventually, their hands explored each other's sides and back.

This was the first time either had done anything remotely like this.

In the end, they decided that it didn't really matter what happened, or even why.

Stretching, Adelheid rubbed his head; he had not partaken in that sort of partying in one day for a long time-even though it was only a little bit of grass and mostly alcohol. As a result, he had one hell of a special feeling this morning. Looking around the room, it was very comfortable and still somewhat dark. The attic room they had opted for-besides having a very powerful AC unit-had a king-size double mattress that was set directly on the floor in the corner. The dark blue curtains were pulled on all of the windows, only one small window above letting in some of the morning light.

Sitting up, he shook his head, sighing and grabbing for the bottle of water he kept there. He saw Whip stirring next to him as he took a massive drink. His blonde hair was very disheveled, though Whip usually found this cute.

"Morning," he said, his voice low. He licked his lips and drank deeply, trying to get rid of some of the cottonmouth feeling.

Whip moaned, turning over. "I don't wanna move," she said weakly. Turning her head, she looked at him and started chuckling. "Is that water?"

"I have more," he said, handing it to her, helping her sit up so she could drink greedily. "I made sure to bring extra."

"Thank god," she muttered, leaning into him while laughing, marveling at the amount of cottonmouth she, too, had. "Okay, I admit...this is new."

"I know," he said. "I don't do it often at all. Once in awhile, it's fun."

"It was fun to spend some time with those two," she said.

"Yeah," he agreed, sitting up. He leaned over to crack the curtains; it was overcast, though a quick check of his phone told him it was eight o' clock in the morning...and already nearly thirty out. "Yeah, I think we can stay in here until they get the breakfast going," he chuckled, laying back onto the mattress. "It's around nine, right?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "Neat room," she added as she looked around, standing up to head over to crack one of the further curtains open. "I think this may have been a servant's quarters, too, repurposed into another guest room." She checked out the dresser, which they hadn't used. "I guess people can just rent this place out if they have a big function, or as some sort of summer mansion."

"I think so," he said, sitting up himself to stretch and drink more water. "Oh, god. I don't know if I want to sneak downstairs for coffee or not. The upstairs hallways are kinda hot. But now that I think about it...might be a good idea to get downstairs after all to beat the crowds."

"They are hot," she agreed. She drank more water, licking her lips repeatedly. "Ugh, my mouth is so dry," she lamented.

"Yeah...that'll happen. Like we saw last night. Though I think this morning is probably more the alcohol than anything." He rubbed his head, the sheet still over his bare legs. They had, of course, slept naked. The door was locked leading up here, so there was no issue with it. It didn't even bother them that crawling around the house, there were probably twenty-five odd people; the rest they had heard head into the hotel. Heidern, Ralf, Clark, and Leona were there with Duo Lon, along with the cooks, and some of the others who chose to stay.

They were pretty sure a few picked tents outside, though others likely went to the smaller cottages on the estate, probably used for groundskeepers and the like back in the day. Being special, they were able to get their pick of rooms; they were thankful they were able to get a nice, out of the way private one. They were pretty sure Leona had taken the other, empty attic room that had been located in this wing, so the four of them were in the same area. They suspected the place had a mirrored wing on the other side where a few more people had crashed.

Looking around some more, Whip chuckled. "Man, I feel like a bunch of weird possessed dolls should appear at any second."

Adel shivered. "I hope not. Eww." Stretching again, he looked at his shorts that were flung at the edge of the bed. "I think I need the bathroom, but I'm not sure if I wanna move yet."

"Maybe we should go now. Before people start waking up. I don't think ours will be taken by too many...but people will start to come in."

"You're right," he said.

Both of them tugging on their shorts and Whip a tank top, they made their way down the stairs, each holding a spare water bottle. Shutting the door behind them so their room stayed cold-this hallway was a little stuffy, but not too bad-they started to make their way down the hall, past the room with the stereo that Duo Lon had taken for his own...where they saw a rather sleepy, disheveled Leona making her way down. She still had on her small tank top, shorts, and boots, though the latter had been slid on and were unlaced. She tried, to no avail, to stifle a yawn. The top button of her shorts had been undone, likely from falling asleep in them where she lay.

"Uhh, good morning," Whip said, noticing that there was still some music playing up there, and that she had come down from there instead of the room she had initially taken. Listening closely, she could still hear who would presumably be Duo Lon starting to mill about. She chuckled a moment, cocking her head. "Did you guys listen to music up there all night or something?"

"Sort of," she said, scratching her head. "Most of the night. We did sleep a little." She looked toward the bathroom. "You guys can go, if you want," she added quickly.

Whip sort of started to open her mouth for a moment to ask what exactly that meant, but a gentle nudge by Adel directed her toward the bathroom first as he chuckled.

Duo Lon made his way down, his shirt slung over his shoulder, as if he was getting ready to wash up. He still wore his black trousers, though had left his boots upstairs. His hair, surprisingly, was out of its braid; this was the first time Adel had actually seen it like this, and it was a sight to behold. His bangs were loose, as usual, but he had the back pulled into a loose tail, doubled up, just to keep it off the ground due to its extreme length. Even doubled, his hair went to his waist. He held two bottles of water, of which he handed one to Leona.

"Good morning," he said, smiling kindly at Adel. "How do you feel?"

The blonde laughed. "It's been...quite awhile since I had taken part in that," he said. "After we raided some of the leftovers, we just passed the hell out. You?"

"I am fine. I don't do that too often, but every few weeks or so, if I feel like it. Sometimes not even for a couple of months. Still, I am a bit more accustomed, and I tend to burn alcohol quickly. I am a bit tired, though."

Leona stood there, silent still, though she did not look uncomfortable so much as a bit...shy. She drank the water gratefully, though, licking her lips. "Dry," she said, a small smile on her face. She licked her lips again, clearly with a case of cottonmouth herself.

"Yes...that will hit," Duo Lon replied, laughing softly, taking a drink of his own. "Just drink what you need."

"We have the same thing. Seirah was driven nuts by it." Adel sniffed the air after he spoke. "Hmm...I think the coffee is getting started downstairs." He supposed there were some vents or something that allowed some of the smells to reach them.

"Mmmm," the long-haired man replied. "Could use some of that, for sure, sooner than later."

Leona finished off half the bottle and scratched her head again, her own blue hair ruffled somewhat, though still in its tail. "That sounds great." She was quiet, as usual, though Adel liked how she would talk with them. He could , however, see a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.

The four finished up-all of them also washing up with some blessedly cold water from the sink to help perk them up some, as they started to shuffle down the three flights of stairs, occasionally passing by a rather disheveled looking man or woman. Duo Lon's shirt was still over his shoulders after having washed up; his tattooed, scarred torso stood out quite a lot compared to the rest of them, garnering a few blinks from the other soldiers. Soldiers were no strangers to scars or tattoos, but Duo Lon's were quite different. Leona didn't speak much at all to the other soldiers, but she nodded in greeting-and Whip waved to the ones she passed by. She would see Leona say something to the tall man next to her once in awhile, but couldn't really hear what they were talking about, as they walked ahead.

Upon getting downstairs, they peeked into one of the side rooms, having heard some sort of noise; Ralf and Clark were both there, thermoses of coffee in their hands. They were watching some sort of morning cartoons. When seeing the four, he raised his hand in greeting, while Clark grinning at them. He was also not wearing his hat and glasses.

"Morning, gang!" Ralf said cheerfully, though his voice was clearly that of someone who had probably drank until at least two or three in the morning. "You all look like sunshine today."

"Ugh," Whip replied, sticking her tongue out. "Coffee?" she asked soon after.

"Right in the kitchen," Clark said. "They made two, just a bit ago."

Waving to them as they watched their cartoons-arguing over something or other, to their amusement-the four hit the kitchen, grabbing large-sized paper cups of coffee from the machines before heading out back to enjoy the fresh air. They appreciated the fact that they knew the soldiers were likely desperate for it after the night they had, and provided larger cups instead of the usual smaller ones.

Adel headed over to a hill near the house to sit, still only in his shorts. While it was hot, the cloudy sky helped, and there was a fog settled over everything; the air smelled rather nice, and he could smell them starting to heat the grills. Doves sounded their tell-tale call from afar as Whip sat next to him, and Duo Lon and Leona joined in on the other side of Adel. All four of them held coffee and bottles of water, staring out over the sprawling manor yard and toward the large shrubbery wall down the hill. The familiar sound of katydids-which would begin to sleep soon-punctuated the air, as well.

Not much was said; out of all of them, Duo Lon looked the most well-recovered, given his weirdly high tolerance for substances, though he was still somewhat tired looking and clearly enjoying the coffee. He looked over at Leona, who seemed about as out of it as the others.

"Recovering?"

She sipped the coffee, nodding.

"Yeah." She smiled slightly, rubbing the back of her neck. Adel and Whip both smiled at this; anytime she would accept someone new enough to freely smile at them, it was a good thing.

Adel fell backward into the grass, which was slightly damp with morning dew. It felt good against him in the heat, though; the humidity was pretty intense. Whip rubbed his muscular stomach as he lay there a moment. He turned toward her.

"How does this work? Do they barbecue breakfast, too?"

"Usually some meat," she said. "They'll probably prepare the rest in the kitchens and set it up, buffet style."

"...Buffet?" he grinned.

"There are about 45 other people that have to eat, Adelheid," she said, tickling him. She leaned over to kiss him once...and then twice, not even caring who else was there at this point, though they were not types to be particularly physical in large amounts of company.

"Hey, you guys coming back to the Sky Noah?" he asked Leona after Whip sat back up, holding his hand.

Leona shook her head. "I'm going to relax after this...maybe nap some. Then go back to the hotel to catch up on some reports. Been putting a few things off." She had been somewhat bored on desk duty, but she knew it was for the best, for now. "I have some deadlines...I wish I hadn't, though. Otherwise I would definitely come."

"You're welcome back anytime," Adel said.

"Thanks," she said. Turning again toward Duo Lon, she scratched her head. "Could you give me the name of some of those albums?"

"Of course," he said.

Looking over to the side, Whip noticed the cooks starting to carry down trays of breakfast meat; thick-cut bacon, big ham steaks, and a hefty pile of link sausages. The tent was cleared out the night before, to no doubt hold whatever breakfast fare would be waiting for them.

"Gods, that's going to smell good," Adel said, looking over wistfully.

Leona pointed. "It looks like they're setting up donuts and stuff there."

Leaping lightly to his feet in one go, Adel immediately went over to the tent, coffee in hand, before Whip could utter a word. Sighing and hanging her head-though grinning-she stood slowly. The other two looked on, unable to stop smiling themselves.

"I'll just bring back a plate," Whip said, "So we can all have some."

As they settled back, all of them grabbing some to snack on while waiting for the real food, the air soon filling with the smell of hickory and meat. Heidern had made his way over to grab something himself, waving to the group, though continuing to talk to one of his men.

It didn't take long for the cooks to come out to start setting up the tray with the scrambled eggs, french toast casserole, pancakes, waffles, and other old fashioned-breakfast food, causing the four young warriors to look at it wistfully, especially after they day they had yesterday. There were trays of bagels, English muffins, and sliced cheese, for those who wanted some more savory fare.

Looking at each other, they all nodded-the donuts now gone-and went to go about loading up their plates substantially before heading toward a table, this time being joined by Heidern, who had wanted to spend a little time with the bunch before they left. Even Ralf and Clark joined, the two seemingly trying to figure out who could slam down more pancakes at once, before Adel beat them all.

Once again, the party ended with the same warm companionship they had felt at the other one...if not even moreso, by now.

The rest of the morning had been very pleasant; they spent some time lounging around outside before heading back to their rooms to relax. Adel and Whip had enjoyed a nap in their strange, nice cool attic room before calling Henrik, letting them know what time to be there to pick them up. They supposed the other two had gone off to listen to music or pack.

They hadn't packed too heavily themselves. Just a couple of shirts in case one had gotten wet from water antics or something, a couple of pairs of shorts, and the usual toiletries. They were ready fairly quickly; Adel simply pulling his trousers and boots back on for the trip home and Whip throwing on her sneakers. He kept his shirt off, however, just stuffing it into the bag. The day was still overcast and humid, and he had a feeling by that evening, they'd be seeing some rain.

After bringing their bags downstairs to set by the door, he went to locate Heidern.

"Comm-Heidern," he started. "Thank you. Again." He held his hand out.

Grasping it, the commander smiled. He looked none worse for the wear; he would never really progress past a mild tipsiness at these, mostly just a relaxed feeling with a few drinks. "You're welcome. Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yes," he said. "I think this one was even better than the holiday party."

"I tend to agree. It's nice to have more than one day to unwind before we have to go back to our duties."

"I'll be in touch after we sleep this off."

"Of course. Take care of yourselves." Nodding, the man turned to leave to go sort his own things out, and to make sure he knew who was going where.

"Let's go," Whip said, grabbing her bag and handing him his. "I'm ready to collapse."

Shutting the door behind them, they noticed others starting to head back toward the street to get in their respective rides; waving to a head here and there, people climbed into taxis they had called.

Duo Lon would go with Adelheid and Whip, while the rest of the Ikaris would stick around for awhile more, as was said. Adel had invited the tall man to stay a few days if he could, and he graciously accepted.

Before he left, he walked over to Leona for a moment. "Thank you for the company," he said, a small smile on his face. "You know how to contact me."

She returned his smile; indeed, seeing her smile like this was a rarity, but a welcome one. "Thank you." After a pause, to everyone's slight shock, she leaned into him to hug him suddenly. He returned it, not even looking surprised.

The two looked at each other, raising eyebrows.

"Write to me if you want, in the meantime. It may take me awhile to get back to you, but I will." They finally separated, Duo Lon bowing his head a moment.

She nodded. "Same." She looked at Adel and Whip, still smiling, scratching the back of her head. "Take care, guys. I'll visit soon."

"We will," Whip replied, blinking. Adel smiled and waved as the three turned to walk off.

"So that's how your company parties go, eh?" Adel asked, chuckling. Duo Lon actually smirked at that, one bag over his shoulder, and his other overnight bag in his hand; he had tossed his sleeveless shirt back on.

Laughing, she took his hand. "Well, the last one wasn't so festive. To be honest, it was a little wild, but this one had about ten more people and a lot more space. I have to say it was even more fun. I hope the rest are like this."

After some silent walking toward the road to wait for Henrik to come get them-Adelheid had gotten in touch-he looked at Duo Lon a moment, who had not spoken. He had not bothered fixing his hair; he would wash and fix it back at the Sky Noah, and it was still in its loose, impressive double tail.

"So...how did you like the party?" Adel finally asked him.

"It was great, thank you." He smiled kindly at him, before looking at the road ahead. "When you recover, we could get that match in, if you would like."

"Yes," Adel said, blinking and shaking his head. Whip was holding his hand-their fingers interlocked, and she leaned into him. The wind picked up, though the humidity never left the air. More than rain, they almost expected a storm this evening.

"Don't strain yourself, there," she smirked at him, nuzzling his arm.

"Nah, I can take it. Just a little hangover."

As Henrik arrived, the three piled in, nodding hello.

"Just take us right back to the Sky Noah, Henrik. We'll be here a couple more days, until Seirah and her crew head back to Germany."

"Of course, sir."

Adel grinned. Whip leaned on him in the back seat, almost immediately drifting off as Duo Lon leaned back in the car as well, letting the old man drive them back to the Sky Noah, hot showers, and soft beds.

A/N: A little of everything. Ridiculous comedy, people winding down, people mingling. Contests. Naughty stuff. And watermelons. I had to just write something like, over the top and fun. And you know Adel would be able to do exactly what he did with like no effort. I even decided to add some slightly more feelsy things in there. And...well, vague stuff? And lots of other things. A nice way to start summer, maybe?

Adel and Whip had been together nearly a year at this point in this 'verse, so they are very close, as said.

75% alcohol is 150 proof, so the basis of the punch started with what was essentially Everclear levels of booze. This was NOT mild stuff. This punch was the 'I'm not sure if the sweating is due only to the heat' stuff. Granted, it was cut with a lot of juices, bubbly water, nectars and ice, but yeah.

The Silent Soldier is Leona's actual official nickname; the Silent Assassin is Duo Lon's. In this verse, he's a big fan of underground extreme metal, particularly black, and likes collecting vinyl of it; it's one of the character bits I gave him to flesh him out more. He smokes the occasional bit of hash to unwind.

Duo Lon and Adelheid had made friends in Nocturne, as said in the top notes; they had been acquaintances before that. Heidern had hired him in this 'verse a few times to take care of some things that were out of his reach...but in Duo Lon's. Duo Lon tends to dislike killing for fun, but is a trained and skilled assassin as his main vocation, and is willing to do it to make the world a better place. I go into his background more in Nocturne; given this is a goofier, light story I didn't want to go into his bloodier times, but suffice it to say there was a rapport there with his new friend. I tried to handle the more feelsy stuff in a way that it did not detract from the more comedic story as a whole.

Heidern, in my headcanon, is *amazing* at playing pool. It's mentioned in Nocturne, but we actually get to see it here, finally. He also loves fine whiskey, and has shared glasses with Adelheid in the past stories, as they talked.

When Adel and Whip got hot and heavy in the bathroom, the comments about it being locked come from the original Company Party, where they attempted to go at things in the coatroom when the door opened at a *very* bad time, and they were almost caught...but just escaped. That said, they were left a *bit* uncomfortable afterward.

"WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ATTIC?!"

I believe that…*sometimes* leaving things undecided and up to the reader is the best possible thing. I mean I didn't even NAME the people in those scenes or anything...and stuff. ;) Maybe we'll never know what happened up there, maybe we will...if anything!

Or you guys can decide. I mean I just write these things…

Thank you for reading!