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-12-

He came to her as she lay spread across the bed, lying atop covers too hot to sleep under. She rested on her stomach, her head buried in the pillows, yet she heard him as soon as he entered, felt the subtle shift of weight as the mattress sagged from where he climbed up to join her at its base. Hands, large, rough, but oh so very hot, grazed the back of her heels and traveled up the back of her legs, feeling, rubbing, massaging as they moved to her hips. They danced along her inner thighs, the touch a gentle glide that provoked a twitch from her body as a spike of anticipation launched up into her core.

She angled her head to look back at him, yet the darkness of the room obscured his features, obscured his expression. She knew he was smiling though, could feel it in the way his hands explored her inner thighs before progressing to her butt, squeezing firmly before those hands dove beneath her shirt and to the small of her back. His fingers explored its length, grazing across her sides with such delicacy that she shuddered. His arms caused her shirt to rise as he explored further up, and she could feel cool air drift across her form. His knees dug into the bed on either side of her waist, and she felt him tower over her as those same fingers moved to caress her breasts, playing with the sides offered to him until she angled her chest up, allowing him access to the curves of her top.

He took it with a hearty rumble, and it was then that she felt his weight press down on top of her. He braced himself with his forearms, yet still bore down on her, and she could feel the large bulge of his manhood dig in between her butt cheeks. She groaned as he whispered something to her, yet the words were lost as a fresh bolt of electricity struck her core and made her melt, and as he squeezed and played with her breasts she could feel herself moisten in amorous anticipation. A pair of fingers toyed with her nipples until they were hard and pert against his grip, and her hands curled into desperate fists against the sheets of the bed as he kissed her between the shoulder blades, on the back of her neck, then the side, working his way up the line of her jaw until she angled her head and met him with her own lips. She felt a thrill of energy traverse her body as their lips met, felt his tongue dart into her mouth, and purred into his kiss.

He gave her breasts a final, hard squeeze, pinched the nipples just hard enough to create an excited ache along her womanhood, and then they departed in favor of pulling her shirt off. She helped him, eager, hungry for his touch, then moved to the shorts she wore, her hands darting up away from herself and to his massive frame. He was naked, unlike her-an irony that was not lost to her-and it was only the slim pair of jogging shorts that separated their sexes.

He helped her out of them with an swiftness that spoke of his own hunger, and when she was finally free of the offending cloth those tickling, massaging, tantalizing hands moved to her opening. A finger grazed along her cleft, moving down with an abruptness that stole her breath, and she jerked up as a hot ball of fire settled in her groin. He found her clit, and she groaned into her pillow as he pinched it and played with it, sending spikes of pleasure from her core up to her breasts in quick, spasmed bolts.

She grinded against the fingers, eager, desperate, and heard him chuckle against her back. Those magic fingers shifted to her opening, and there the digits slipped inside, their entrance eased by her own moisture. They began to pump into her channel, and she squirmed and gasped beneath him as her inner walls yielded to his touch. His other hand trailed up her side once more, and she leaned towards him at an angle, allowing him ample access to her chest and hissing as he grabbed one breast and squeezed it hard. His length was hard and unyielding against her rump, and she reached back towards it, grazing the head of his manhood before he swatted her away, his voice teasing as he once more bore down on her.

Her breath hitched as the fingers inside her began to dance and play in earnest, and in her center the pleasure mounted, building like water flooding into a dam and threatening to overflow as he continued to play with her, fondling and squeezing, teasing and massaging, biting and kissing and grabbing her body, her flesh, like he owned it, and oh, how willingly she surrendered it to him.

She writhed beneath his touch, desperate now for release, yet his actions remained teasing, leaving her teetering along the edge of ecstasy as he played with her, holding back just enough to the point where she feared she might cry, might beg for relief, to feel him inside her, to be completed. Despite her efforts though he ignored them, ignored her, and it left her trembling with unfulfilled desire.

When his fingers finally departed her inner channel she thought she might scream with anticipation. She shuddered as he shifted above her, and she rose to meet him. For a moment she felt something hard press against her back door, and then his head lowered, rubbing to and fro along her lower lips with such frustrating torment that once more she reached for him. Again he avoided her grip, swatting away her desperate hand with an amused laugh. He stroked her back, whispered those not-words aloud, and she stilled with agonized anticipation. She felt him push past her lips and into her, and-

Urd awoke with a moan, her fingers burrowing into the pillow beneath her as her lower body quaked with unfulfilled passion. She blinked into the early-morning lights produced through the curtains of the bed, and still half-asleep, she thought she felt a ghost of a body rest its weight against her back. Her body jerked with fading anticipation, yet the fulfillment was gone, leaving her high and dry. In its stead was nothing but the pillow that had somehow maneuvered between her legs through the night, and as the dream faded Urd groaned once more, this time with waking frustration.

She looked around the room, for a moment not recognizing it, and then buried her head back into her pillow when she recalled the bed was Keiichi's. The pillows smell like him. She thought, then recalled her shadowy lover with a thrill that sparked the fading heat in her groin.

"Oh...fuck!" With a growl tore herself out of the bed. She felt hot and bothered and, well... "Damn it." The Norn looked down at herself, part of her expecting to be nude, but the black tank top and blue jogging shorts that had become her standard wardrobe for bed were still on her person. They clung to her body, and as the cool air of the air conditioner struck her person she shivered. They were cool and damp against her frame.

This was why she hated wearing clothes to bed. She'd started wearing them upon coming to Keiichi's house as a show of respect for the man in question. That and Belldandy, especially when the nightmares kicked into high gear; no one needed to see that much skin when waking up from whatever atrocities Belldandy was going through, but goddamn if they weren't a pain in the ass to sleep in.

For a moment she considered drying them with a spell, but then thought better of it as once more the imagined touch of a lover reached her breast. Better for the damp clothes to cool her flames a bit rather than keep them warm and nestled in some fresh clothes. "I need a shower," she muttered, if for no other reason than to fill the silence of the room and banish the residual touches that even now left her quaking with desire. "A long, hot shower. With no interruptions."

Yes, no interruptions, no one needing the bathroom...What time was it?

She looked to the alarm clock that balanced precarious against the bed's headframe. The analog lights displayed 6:52 a.m. in bright red. It's Sunday, though... She frowned and departed the room. Skuld she knew wouldn't be a problem, but if Keiichi and Belldandy had succeeded in staying up all night... Heading down the stairs the goddess looked into the living room. The living room lights were on but the flat screen was off and the laptop beside it was closed. There was some kind of videogame console resting beneath the flat screen, and she could see wires, dusty with disuse, that connected the black box to the television. The room was quiet, yet if Urd listened carefully she could just catch the gentle breathing coming from someone-two someones-in the room.

Frowning, she moved into the living room, spying the duo she was searching for piled up together on the Ugly Beast. They looked almost like a pair of drunks who'd passed out on each other, however Urd was not blind to the arm that held Belldandy close to Keiichi's body. Her own curiosity getting the better of her, the goddess drew near. Neither of the Ugly Beast's occupants stirred at her approach, signaling the duo were dead to the world around them. Belldandy's sleep in particular held a level of peace Urd had not witnessed in the past week, and with it a soft smile came to the elder Norn's face.

It faded when her eyes traveled to Keiichi. The heat in her person pulsed for a moment, and she twitched, then grimaced. "This isn't good," she whispered. She approached the man passed out on the armrest, then sighed. "We might have a bit of situation on our hands, Jank." Almost against her will, she ran a hand through his hair. It felt soft against her fingers, and again last night's dream flickered through her mind. "I'm not supposed to develop feelings for you." She pulled her hand away-almost jerked it, as though it were a dog pulling taunt against its leash, and then straightened and shook her head. "You should be haunting Bell's dreams, not mine."

Without thought Urd collected the two can's of root beer-one empty, the other almost full-that resided near Keiichi's arm at the base of the Ugly Beast. The Norn then departed for the kitchen, her thoughts so conflicted that she didn't notice Keiichi's head turn towards her. She dumped the residual liquid down the sink, then disposed of the two cans before heading back down the hallway and to the staircase. She paused only for a moment to observe the couple passed out on the ugly, pink couch, and then sighed, shook her head, and moved on.

She proceeded up the stairs and into the bathroom, determined to fulfill what the man of her dreams would not-could not-do.

Belldandy awoke that morning to a stiff body, a rising headache the likes of which she'd never known, and a mouth that tasted like chalk. Her head felt thick and fuzzy when it wasn't throbbing in her temples, and the goddess pried her eyes open with a grimace. The morning light was dim thanks to some godsend who'd drawn the curtains, but the small little ray that did filter through was blinding.

The woman groaned and shielded her eyes with an arm, turning away from the light in an attempt to ease the pain in her skull. "Well well, good morning to you too, Sunshine."

The goddess grunted, and it took her a moment to sort through the static that so clouded her mind and to the owner of the voice. "Kei...ichi?" she mumbled, and lifted her arm just enough to peer around her. Keiichi's voice was soft, yet that didn't stop the pain it brought; at this point anything shy of a pin drop hurt. She leaned back, finding her neck protesting the act, and stared at the man she was leaning against.

The SEAL smiled at her. There were noticeable bags under his eyes, yet the man's demure was bright and almost cheerful. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a brick." Belldandy replied, and then scowled at her own voice. Never mind the fact that she sounded like a cat that'd been screaming herself hoarse all night. The goddess never made such generic comparisons on her own status. I never watched silly movies or played silly games either until last night. An image of a large screaming man rose in her mind's eye, and in an explosion of fire he vanished.

"No nightmares?" Keiichi asked.

Belldandy stared up at him, for a moment confused. "Why would I have nightmares?" she asked, and somewhere within her muddled mind a memory arose, and the goddess made a face. "Oh. Right." But that brought up the question; had there been any nightmares? The goddess wracked her brain for clues, yet nothing aside from screaming, exploding men and singing, dancing knights who later got hit by monsters and died came to mind. "I...don't think so," she said. "Some...rather...interesting dreams, but no. No nightmares."

No nightmares.

Wait... The knowledge took a moment to sink in. No nightmares. "No nightmares." Her head was pounding and there was an urgent need to rinse her mouth out. Her body was stiff from sleeping on an ugly beast of a couch on top of Keiichi, and the light from the morning sun hurt her eyes. "No nightmares." None of it mattered in the wake of this new knowledge, this new freedom, and even with her own grievances warring for dominance in her head the goddess felt a smile blossom on her face. "No nightmares-Keiichi, I-" The SEAL was smiling down at her, and in a burst of impulsiveness embraced the man with a laugh.

The man started a moment, then chuckled as well, embracing her in turn. "Good," he whispered in her ear. "I'm glad for you." They departed after a moment, and with a groan from Keiichi that caused Belldandy's head to throb (what had she drunk last night?) the two sat up on the couch. The man rubbed his neck, then focused on Belldandy. "Any theories on what changed this time?"

You, was Belldandy's immediate thought. She didn't have the courage to speak it aloud. "It could have been a variety of factors," she said instead. "Though I'm certain the sleep deprivation itself wasn't one of them." For a moment the image of The Screaming Man kicking Aoshima's disembodied head, where it promptly exploded, drifted through her mind. She fought to hide the resulting smile. "Perhaps those absurd videos you showed me helped." Perhaps you helped.

"You think?" Keiichi stretched his arms over his head, and Belldandy leaned back, enjoying the way the sun highlighted the flexing muscles along his upper arm. He is rather well toned. Her heart leapt against her rib cage, and without thought she swallowed, then grimaced as the after taste still in her mouth. I need to brush my teeth. Maybe ask Urd for a potion. Goodness, what had she done to herself last night?

"I think it was something else," Keiichi continued. Belldandy raised a questioning eyebrow, and the man nodded. "I know this is going to sound kind of stupid, but..." For a moment, he trailed off, eyes darting out the window in thought, or perhaps embarrassment over what he was about to say. Belldandy held her peace, and was rewarded when the SEAL looked back at her. "...what if it was because you felt safe?"

The statement caught her off guard, and startled, she stared at Keiichi, gesturing for him to explain. Keiichi looked away. Is he uncomfortable? Belldandy wondered, taking in the subtle change in the SEAL's body language. But why? He was fine a moment ago. "Keiichi?" she asked. The man leaned forward on the couch, propping his knees on his elbows and folding his hands in front of his face. His left heel began to beat a tempo, and the man stared directly in front of him, lost in thought.

"Alright, so this is kind of hard for me to talk about, okay?" he asked out of the blue. "So bear with me...I don't know how much of what I'm gonna say is even gonna make sense, but I'm going to try anyways."

"Alright." Belldandy turned to face him entirely, however Keiichi's eyes remained fixated on the front of the room.

"Okay." He said again, and frowned. "So...I've got a younger sister, right? And, well...something bad happened to her when she was a kid. Real bad." Tap tap tap tap.

"I see." Belldandy knew at once who he was referring to. While she'd not seen the event first hand, she'd borne witness to Keiichi receiving the news while he was still a trainee at Great Lakes, and the resulting pain he'd gone through attempting to deal with not only the stifling environment of Basic but also attempting to come to terms with the knowledge that he couldn't be there for Aiko. It had been part of her initial surveillance that promoted him to a candidate in the GRO.

"So... yeah, she had some pretty bad nightmares following that. Kind of like you." Just like you. He meant. She could almost see the words in his head."I...wasn't there to experience a lot of it. There wasn't much time between Basic and 'A' school-where we go after Basic to learn our jobs-but I caught a bit of it." He sighed and rubbed his face with both hands, then returned to his previous position. "Sorry, bad memories. This is something I don't like talking about." He glanced at her as though worried that what he was saying might alienate her, but Belldandy nodded, hoping it was reassuring. He gave her a small grin before returning his gaze to the wall with the flat screen on it. "So... she'd have nightmares over that time, couldn't sleep, woke up screaming, all this bad shit... and, well, I had to actually ask her about this, but... one of the things she claimed helped stop the nightmares was a gift from me."

He leaned back into the Ugly Beast, and now his expression grew embarrassed. "I ended up giving her a bear from Clothing Sales after Basic. I didn't think anything of it at the time- I'd just graduated, wearing my dress blues, I thought I was the top dog 'cause I was a brand new Sailor-you know how it goes." The man dropped his hands into his lap, and unconsciously began to massage his palms as if they pained him.

Belldandy did not 'know how it goes', but she nodded regardless, encouraging him on. He glanced at her and gave her another slim smile before continuing.

"I got bears for both my sisters-one for Megumi, who's two years younger than me, and one for Aiko, who's almost a decade younger than me; she was the one who was hurt, by the way... and they were...you know, just those overpriced little uniformed teddy bears you can find on almost any base. But for whatever reason, that thing worked like a charm." He shrugged his shoulders. "She said it was because the bear smelled like me." There was a hint of a blush in his cheeks now, and again he glanced towards her and then away. "It smelled like someone she trusted. Someone she felt safe around."

"I see," Belldandy said, then pursed her lips. Someone she felt safe around, is that so? She'd not heard of this bit about Aiko. "And you believe that is the case here as well?" she inquired. "That I felt safe around you? That I could smell you in my sleep and that somehow that kept the nightmares at bay?"

The man beside her flushed. "Told you it sounded stupid," he grumbled.

"It's not though." She said. Keiichi looked at her, though his face was still a bright red. "It's not," she insisted. "Urd stayed with me a full week and could do nothing to stop the nightmares. Her exhaustion was proof enough of that, and what happened on Friday..." Her voice faltered, and it was her turn to look away as a lump of guilt settled in her throat. "You saved me from Aoshima, Keiichi." She tried again. "I...You were what gave me strength when I felt like I could not go on. I watched you, Keiichi. From when you first became eligible for a wish, I watched you grow and I watched the experiences of your life shape and mold you into the person you are today. I...I had been excited, once upon a time, because I wanted so badly to meet you in person. I admired your strength of character and the morals you held so close to your heart, but then..."

"Yeah." Keiichi's voice had grown quiet and soft. "Yeah, after Aoshima... things changed."

Things changed. Belldandy almost laughed at the vague interpretation of the last ten years of her life. She nodded. "Things changed," the Norn agreed. "Things changed, and it was all I could do to stay afloat. I-" She stopped herself, falling silent for a long moment. Her throat locked, and taking a deep breath the Norn looked to the Ugly Beast, taking note of the various details that made up the couch-her couch- before calming enough to continue. "The thought of meeting you...that was what kept me going for so long. Not the knowledge that Aoshima was a mortal man who would one day die. Not the idea that my sisters were attempting to reach me. Is was the strength displayed by you throughout the years leading up to my inevitable...servitude to Aoshima."

She looked up at Keiichi and found the man watching her with a grave expression. "So I suppose for me it is not so strange a concept...not so silly or so stupid a theory to warrant my disdain." She shook her head and closed her eyes, and within her mind the events of last night flickered through her brain like sparks from a fire. I love you. Had she said that? Or was that just part of her dreams? "I trust you, Keiichi. I trust you more than I ever thought imaginable. And...despite the nightmares, I've never felt so safe now than I have in my life."

An arm slipped over and across her shoulders, and she didn't resist when Keiichi drew her close. He smells safe. Some long-forgotten piece of her whispered. He is safe. The goddess inhaled deeply, then released her breath in a long sigh. Gunpowder. He smelled like Old Spice and gunpowder and the forest. "I apologize," she mumbled. "This is not what you needed to hear from me."

"You're fine," Keiichi murmured. "I got told of a little something that might help you at night, but I wasn't sure until now, so..." Belldandy looked up into his face, and the SEAL shrugged. "I don't have anymore stuffed bears I can give you, but...think a pillow will work instead?"

"A pillow?" Belldandy stared at him queerly. Keiichi smiled.

"I've got two, but I only really need or use one of them," he said. "Want to try that out and see if that will keep the nightmares at bay tonight?"

Belldandy clutched her head and tried not to grimace. It was starting to pound pretty bad. "I'd rather sleep with you," she said absently.

Keiichi laughed nervously, and like that the solemn mood that had so fallen atop them vanished. "Believe me when I say I would like nothing more," he said. "But I don't think I'm ready to take that step with you yet. I also think there is a lot more that you need to work through before that happens." He sighed wistfully.

"Maybe we can have another slumber party sometime this next weekend, if you want," he offered instead. "I had fun last night, and I'll be more than willing to stay up with you as long as you like if it means watching stupid videos and playing videogames with you-well, maybe not playing, but watching you play, sure." He laughed at that, and Belldandy allowed a small half-grin of her own to squirm onto her face. "You're pretty good at that Dark Souls game. Better than me, that's for sure. Maybe better than Keigo-I don't know how far he ever got before he left for home again."

The small half-grin on Belldandy's face threatened to expand into a smile with his words, and her initial tension and melancholy that had so awoken by those black memories once more retreated into obscurity. "I would like that," she admitted, and as his smile grew so too did hers. "I would like that very much. Thank you, Keiichi. I appreciate that."

"Well don't you two look adorable." Belldandy yelped, and then blushed as she turned to observe Urd from where she rested against the entrance to the living room. She felt the heat rise to her face as she caught her sister's eye, which sparkled with mirth. "So I take it everything went well last night?" The goddess had a towel around her shoulders, in a pair of fresh jeans and a violet blouse that complimented her eyes. She looked like she'd just finished a shower. "I don't remember waking up to any screams last night. I'm hoping that because I didn't just sleep through everything, right?"

"Not so much as a twitch," Keiichi replied in Belldandy's stead. "Took your advice. Had a lot of fun. Think I might have a new Monty Python fan on the rise." His arm didn't fall from her shoulders, Belldandy noticed. She felt her blush grow stronger.

"No kidding?" Urd cried. "Which one you guys watch?"

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Belldandy murmured, and now she could feel the blush rising to her ears. "Oh goodness."

Urd cackled, then said, "And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more–no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.'"

"One...two...five!" Keiichi quoted.

"Three Sir." Belldandy corrected in an English accent.

"Three!" Keiichi cried, and all at once screaming erupted from the second floor.

All three present froze, then looked up at the ceiling as a high, angry voice penetrated the household. "Urd! You used all the hot water!" Skuld screamed.

Urd winced, and for a long moment nothing else arose from the trio. Then Keiichi whispered in a hoarse, Scottish accent, "It's the White Rabbit!"

And just like that the trio erupted into roars of laughter; that deep, belly-aching type of laughter that overwhelmed the senses at left its victims short of breath. The arm around Belldandy's shoulders fell away as Keiichi moved to clutch his stomach. Belldandy didn't notice, however, because she'd already fallen to her side on the length of the Ugly Beast. She announced one stuttering, rasping word, "Ec-Ec-EXPLOSIONS!" And felt a fresh wave of painful laughter engulf her. Not even Urd was safe from the strange bought of madness, for the woman had to grasp the threshold frame to keep herself upright, her legs growing weak and threatening to drop her as she tried to breathe through the laughter.

By the time the laughter faded, everyone, not just Belldandy, was red in the face. Tears were streaming down the Norn's face, but for a change Belldandy didn't mind them, and everyone else seemed too exhausted for the moment to comment on them. There came movement from upstairs, followed by Skuld's footsteps as the goddess scurried down the stairs. The goddess appeared in the threshold, her expression irritated and suspicious, and it was at that time Keiichi, his throat aching and his abdomen throbbing, once more spoke in his best Tim the Enchanter imitation. "Look! That rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide!"

A fresh peal of fresh laughter erupted from Urd and Belldandy, and Skuld stared at the man in white-faced rage. "Oh, so I'm a rabbit now, is that it you overgrown mule?"

XXX

Later that day, it was going on seven o'clock, and Keiichi was sitting on his back porch sipping on a glass of water. The light of the sun was already fading, and there was a chill in the air still as spring had not fully taken hold quite yet, but he did not care. Today, no, the last forty-eight hours had been a good time. Not only for him, but he dared to guess it had been for Belldandy and her sisters as well.

In fact, he could hear laughter emanating from the house behind him. He knew that Skuld and Belldandy were in the kitchen finishing up dinner. Urd was with them as well, sitting at the brand new kitchen table that they had assembled earlier that day. That had been an adventure in and of itself as Skuld had insisted on helping him, complaining that all this time sitting idle around the house was causing her to get rusty working with tools.

That had degenerated into something of a battle of wills. He, who wanted to follow the directions, and she who thought she knew better than the engineers who designed it. It nearly came to blows at one point, but eventually they made it through and completed the project. He did allow for a couple of post-build modifications that the youngest Norn claimed would enhance its durability. That seemed to satiate her in the end.

Keiichi heard the sliding glass door open and close behind him. Someone walked up beside him and placed their hand on his shoulder. He reached up and squeezed it affectionately.

"Dinner is almost ready," said Urd quietly.

"Ok," was his automatic reply. He looked up at her and saw that she was staring off towards the tree line. "See something?"

Urd narrowed her eyes a bit, as if she were trying to discern some minute detail in the distance, then shook her head. "No, nothing. Sorry."

He gave her a sideways glance, not really believing what she said but decided not to push the issue. With a heavy sigh, he moved to stand up. When he turned towards the silver haired goddess, she punched him in the arm, hard. "OW! What the hell was that for?"

Urd crossed her arms across her chest and smiled at him. "Can't tell you, secret." He recognized the mischievous glint in her eye. "All I can say is that you deserve it."

"Well, whatever I did, would you tell me WHEN I do it next time," he said as he rubbed the now sore spot on his arm.

Urd simply turned and headed to the door. "Probably not," she replied just as she opened it and slipped inside without a glance.

Keiichi just shook his head and followed. Through the door, he saw Bell and Urd head up the stairs, probably going to the bathroom to freshen up for dinner. He opened it, stepped in and closed it behind him. When he turned, he was confronted by Skuld. There was a look in her eyes, an angry one. He had seen her angry before, but not quite like this. It was as if she wanted to tell him off about something, but something was holding her back.

Suddenly she punched him in the same arm that Urd punched him. "OW!" he cried as he leaned his injured appendage away from her. "What the hell, Skuld!"

Without a word, she turned away from him and ran up the stairs after the other goddesses, leaving Keiichi to wonder what the hell had gotten into Belldandy's sisters.

Behind him, out in the woods, two golden-ringed eyes watched for a moment longer. Having seen enough, the enormous mountain lion flicked an ear with a small, hoop earring before turning and stalking deeper into the woods.

XXX

Lind had the decency to wait until they finished dinner that night before making her next appearance. As before, she appeared dressed in the standard white outfit of what Keiichi came to recognize as a uniform. As before, she greeted him at the door with an uncomfortable stony expression, as though she was at odds with either displaying her emotions or uncertain of how to do so properly.

Keiichi smiled at her regardless. Some small part of him had been expecting her. The goddess had thus far been regular in her weekend visits, and the man decided he'd be more surprised if she didn't show sometime before work on Monday. "Hey Lind," he greeted. "How goes it?"

The woman blinked at him as though startled by his warm greeting. "It...goes?" she asked, staring at him with guarded worry.

Keiichi chuckled. "I take it that's a good thing?" he asked. "Come one in. Sorry, you missed dinner this time, but if you haven't eaten yet there's still some leftovers I can grab for you."

"No thank you." Lind was quick to turn the offer down, and he looked over his shoulder at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't like imposing on others," she explained.

The SEAL smirked. "You know, in some 'mortal' cultures, it's considered impolite to turn down food or drink that's offered." Lind stiffened, then looked at him with the familiar, horrified expression of a soldier attempting to 'win hearts and minds' and then fucking up by explaining the concept of bacon to a tribe of Sunni Bedouins. He laughed. "Relax, Americans ain't one of 'em. Just something to keep in mind. And don't worry; if you were imposing, I wouldn't have offered you any food."

"R-right," Lind stammered. Her cheeks were a bright red.

There was soft chatter from upstairs, and Urd, followed by Belldandy, headed down the staircase. Urd was speaking on a topic that took Keiichi a moment to realize was videogames; discussing the size of 'hit boxes' and character animations detailing enemy actions. Most of it was beyond him-Keiichi never bothered learning the more nerdier aspect of videogames any more than he'd bothered trying to get past the first tutorial boss at the start of Dark Souls 3. That stuff was more in line with Keigo's interests rather than his own.

She paused when she caught sight of the newest guest. A look of surprise flashed across Urd's face before the goddess sent her an earnest smile. "Hey Lind, what's up?"

Lind started, looking up at the sisters. "Ah...you...two?" The duo stared at the Valkyrie in confusion, and next to Lind Keiichi snorted back laughter. It seemed American slang was something the poor woman was not well versed in.

"It's a greeting, Lind," Keiichi explained.

"Oh." The goddess looked back at him, then up to the Norns. "Oh."

The siblings continued down the stairs, and Urd asked in a joking manner, "You're not here to take me away again, are you?"

"Ah, no, not this time," Lind replied. "I'm just here to ensure things are going well with you. I received some notification of high levels of magic use and wanted to ensure nothing bad happened."

Belldandy stiffened, yet Urd laughed it off. "Oh, that? Yeah, Skuld and I had some issues we needed to work out. We got into a bit of a scuffle."

Lind looked between the two sisters with a raised eyebrow, not in the least bit convinced. "What kind of a scuffle forced you to tap into the heavier spells in your inventory?" she asked. "The amount of magic being thrown about was enough to draw the attention of even the local spirits. With how things were going I was starting to wonder if you'd even draw the native mortals' attention."

Urd shrugged. "Sleeping rights," she said. "Skuld and I couldn't agree on sleeping arrangements between who slept with Belldandy and who got the other guest room, and we only just got the couch." She grinned, and there was a spark of mischief to it. "You want to see the couch? Belldandy chose it herself. It's an amazing couch."

Lind stared at her in bafflement, and Keiichi had to give Urd points for the quick topic change. "Urd, I don't care about-" Yet already Urd was hooking an arm around Lind's shoulders and dragging her away, quick as can be, leaving Belldandy the chance to release a relieved sigh.

This was quickly followed by a fresh word of protest from Lind. "Oh Yggdrassil, what is that?!" She exclaimed. Belldandy and Keiichi looked at each other. "Why is it pink?" There was laughter from the other room, and sending a shrug to Belldandy the couple moved to the living room as well. "No I don't want to sit on it, it's pink!" Lind exclaimed. The duo entered just as Urd pulled Lind down onto the couch with her with a laugh. Lind's protests rose in earnest, and in a move Keiichi had taught Urd throughout the years Team 12 had known her, the goddess locked the Valkyrie's arms together.

The woman squirmed to no avail, and Urd shot a smile up to Keiichi. "Quick!" she cried. "Get a picture! We need blackmail material!"

"Urd!" Lind cried. "This isn't funny. Release me!" There was more pounding coming down the stairwell, and from the corner of one eye Keiichi spied Skuld coming to join them, a keen interest on her face.

"Is that Lind?" Skuld whispered, and Belldandy stepped to one side to allow the younger Norn a view.

"Would you relax?" Urd laughed. "You act like I'm waterboarding you or something. It's a pink couch."

Keiichi pulled out his phone and used the quick app on the lock screen to access the camera function. Lind continued to protest. "That's the whole point!" She snapped. "It's pink! I don't want anything to do with your horrible taste in furniture, Urd!"

"Hey now, don't get like that." Urd looked hurt. "The Ugly Beast has feelings too, you know. That's how you convince it to eat you when you sleep on it at night."

"You named it?" Lind froze, eyes wide as she stared at Urd in bafflement. Keiichi took the opportunity to snap a photo. "You named it the Ugly Beast?! And you're accusing me of being cruel to a piece of furniture?"

"This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Skuld whispered.

Next to Keiichi, Belldandy sighed and buried her face in one hand. "I never should have glanced at that couch." She muttered under her breath.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Keiichi snapped another picture of a struggling Lind and laughing Urd. "I think it's the best investment I've made in a long time."

Belldandy rewarded his comment with a small smile.

Eventually Urd released Lind, and got a good amount of curses, threats, and arm punches for the trouble. It took Belldandy making some tea to help soothe the Valkyrie's ire. The woman had surprised them all when she actually made a cautious request: "Do you have...mint?" And had been delighted to discover that mint tea was one of the boxes Keiichi had bought in his first run to the store Saturday morning. It was spearmint tea, and for the life of him Keiichi couldn't figure out why that seemed to make the Valkyrie smile so much.

Maybe she just enjoyed mint.

At Lind's request they gathered around the dining room table Keiichi and Skuld had constructed earlier that day. There were only four seats, and so Keiichi grabbed one of the spare folding chairs that they'd been using with the TV stands earlier. They sat around the table with Keiichi squeezing in beside Belldandy at one of the longer ends, placing himself between her and Urd, who was on one of the shorter ends. Skuld sat across from her, leaving Lind across from Belldandy and Keiichi.

The Valkyrie looked like the odd man out in her standard white uniform, and she played the part, too, wearing another uncomfortable frown that spoke of possible bad news. Belldandy had been kind enough to make tea for everyone, though while Lind had mint tea, the goddess was quick to make more Chai for Keiichi and the other Norns, and the resulting mixed scents of spice and mint was strange but not wholly unpleasant.

"So, what'd I do this time?" Urd leaned forward onto the dark, hardwood table, a smile that was half-joking, half-serious on her face.

Lind looked at her with a raised brow. "Aside from getting in a supposed 'scuffle' with your sister?" she asked. Urd's smile became strained, yet she said nothing else, and Lind sighed when it became apparent that the elder goddess wasn't about to give up the ghost. "Nothing, as far as I'm aware," she said. "I'm actually here for Skuld."

The change that overcame Urd's face was a startling sight to behold. All at once the good nature dropped from the older woman's body language, and in its place was a cool stillness that reminded Keiichi of the calm before a thunderstorm. He could almost feel it, and the man found himself leaning away from the Norn, a part of him entertaining the idea of moving the folding chair to the other side of Belldandy. "What of?" Urd asked. "Lind, if this has anything to do with what I did to save Belldandy..." There was an edge of aggression in her voice, and Lind met her gaze with a pair of cool blue of her own.

"Oh will the both of you lay off?" Skuld snapped, and with a start both Valkyrie and Norn looked over at her. "Shit, you two are friends one moment, at each others throats the next! How about you stop and hear what Lind has to say before jumping to conclusions, Urd?"

Urd opened her mouth to protest, yet before she could get a word in Belldandy cleared her throat. "I agree with Skuld, Urd. Let's hear what Lind has to say first before making any assumptions." She sent a meaningful look to the older Norn, and for a moment it looked as though Urd was ready to argue further. This close, Keiichi could see the muscles of her jaw work in visible tension. Her gaze circled the occupants of the room, and then gritting her teeth, Urd leaned back in her seat with a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. To Keiichi it looked almost as if the woman was pouting...if the glare she was directing towards a wall wasn't so deathly.

Lind closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair as well. She almost looked relieved. "Thank you." She opened her eyes and looked back to Skuld. "When are you returning to Asgard?" she asked. "Yggdrasil is showing symptoms of a fresh bug infestation, and I'm being harassed by the Powers that Be to figure out why you aren't solving the problem. The debuggers on station are at their wits end, and higher supervision is close to panic because they haven't heard anything from you since you came down here. As far as they're aware, you just upped and vanished."

Skuld winced. "Ah...shit." She ran a hand through her hair and gave a nervous laugh. "In everything that's been going on down here, I forgot all about my job."

Keiichi leaned over the table to look at Skuld in curiosity. "What's your job?" he asked.

"You're still a debugger for Yggdrasil, isn't that right?" Belldandy looked over at the younger Norn with her own curious expression, and at Skuld's nod the woman dove into an explanation. "Skuld ensures that Yggdrasil, the World Tree, operates smoothly. Without a debugger, the tree is likely to be riddled with bugs that slow down the network processing and eat into the tree's lifespan," she said, and there was a small, almost undetectable note of pride in her voice.

Keiichi frowned. "You guys have mentioned Yggdrasil before, but I don't think it's really been explained to me."

"Yggdrasil, otherwise known as the World Tree, is the primary interface that runs the multiverse," Urd spoke up, and Keiichi looked at her with a start. "Think of it as one of two main servers keeping the universe and all its many variants of itself running smoothly, like a videogame. The other server is Nidhogg which is manned by demons, but that's a story for another time." She gave a dismissive wave. "So, the servers help run the world in the game, right? Now, think of all the characters inside-NPCs, enemies, playable characters, whatever-as all the life in the worlds. The game world needs to be pretty big to host the amount of content and characters, right? That means you need someone to look after the server and make sure it's running smoothly. That was my job as Chief Administrator of Yggdrasil. Run diagnostics, ensure the firewalls are up to date, run support, all that stuff. But sometimes, there are things that just sort of happen in the system. Gremlins. Bugs. Malicious worms introduced by hackers who want to ruin the game or tilt the scales to their advantage, right?"

Keiichi nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm tracking so far..." he mumbled. "So is that what Skuld does?"

Belldandy nodded, and once more she took over. "Whenever there's a glitch-sparks in, say, the computer's 'wiring', I suppose you could say, or a command sent by Urd doesn't make it to the other end of Yggdrasil properly-those are signs of bugs. And when those bugs appear, they can start a literal infestation in the World Tree-like a beetle infestation, only worse-and whenever they appear, the resulting hiccups in the processor causes glitches in the universe."

"Like what?" Keiichi asked, and now he found himself honestly curious. This was some Matrix-shit right here, and he wanted to know just what passed for a 'glitch' in the universe.

Skuld sighed and began ticking events off with a finger. "Groups of people disappearing. People disappearing from one timeline and reappearing in another. Dead volcanoes erupting without warning. Earthquakes where there shouldn't be earthquakes. Sightings of animals that don't exist in one universe crossing over into another for a time. Dead souls being whisked back to their bodies from underneath a death god's nose. Unexplained phenomena that give rise to legends of haunting grounds or portals to other worlds." She stopped there, then shrugged her shoulders. "The list goes on, but you get the idea."

Keiichi nodded. "That's...pretty impressive." Fuck, that was beyond anything he could ever do. The Norns were literally keeping the universe operating smoothly. "But Lind said there were other debuggers. Why's it matter if Skuld's missing?"

"Skuld's the best there is when it comes to her job, that's why," Urd said with a huff. "She's a Norn, and not just that, but she's the Norn of the Future-Skuld can predict where infestations are liable to sprout and draft countermeasures before they even spawn." Across from her Skuld blushed at the praise, then looked down at the table. "Without her expertise in the matter, it's very possible that Yggdrasil could be overrun-but that has less to do with Skuld's ability and more to do with how lazy the rest of the debugging crew has got since she joined the team." Urd's expression darkened for a moment. "They've all been slacking because there hasn't been as much work for them to do with Skuld around, and now I bet they're bitching and moaning about having to get off their ass and work."

Skuld's flush deepened up to her ears. "Hey now..." she protested. It sounded weak. "That's not fair. They do what they can."

"And you do about three times their combined work." Urd eyed her from across the table, then sighed and bowed her head. "Sorry Skuld. I don't like it when people take advantage of my younger sisters."

"We know, Mama Bear." Skuld said flatly, and Urd jerked back as though a bee had stung her on the nose. Belldandy brought a hand to her face and was forced to look away to hide her smile. Skuld continued. "You get like that when it comes to anything dealing with us. I swear there are times I wonder just how big an affect Mother had on you growing up, because there are certainly times you act like her."

Lind cleared her throat loudly, bringing the attention back to the present. "Regardless," the Valkyrie said. "Skuld needs to head back before anything like what she mentioned starts to manifest on the Lower Planes. She's needed by the Higher Leadership, and she needs to reassure her own organization that she hasn't just been sealed by a demon or succumbed to a worse fate." She looked pointedly at the woman in question, who frowned and crossed her arms over her chest in an unconscious imitation of Urd.

"I'm not going." Skuld said.

Lind stared at her, face slack with shock. "You're what."

"Skuld, what are you...?" Belldandy stared at her younger sister in concern, and then trailed off as she caught the expression on her sister's face.

"I'm not going," Skuld repeated. She stared at Lind, her expression dark and unreadable. "I'm staying here, Lind. My help is needed more down here than it is up in Asgard." Her voice was quiet and soft, and there was something in it, something Keiichi could almost identify at the edge of his perception, within the Norn's voice that rose a chill somewhere deep in his soul. "Belldandy is stuck down here because of the wish she made with Keiichi and Urd is stuck down here as well because of the punishment extracted against her," the goddess continued. "Right now, I'm the only one of my sisters who can travel to and from Asgard. I need to stay down here in case something happens that warrants aide from back home." She stared at Lind, her gaze fierce and unapologetic. "No offense Lind, but I'm not about to trust the lives of my sisters to a Valkyrie who makes weekly visits and a mortal who's got all the brains of a gorilla when it comes to the Divine."

"Skuld, that isn't fair and you know it," Belldandy protested, yet Skuld wasn't swayed; indeed, would not be swayed in matters involving her sisters. "If Yggdrasil is suffering from bugs than you're needed up in Asgard," the middle Norn continued. "You have an obligation to ensure that Yggdrasil works properly-an obligation not just as a goddess or a debugger, but as a Norn, Skuld. You know just as well as I that we have responsibilities to uphold to Yggdrasil. Those cannot be ignored or abandoned on a simple whim." She stared at the younger woman in concern, and Skuld met her gaze with a heavy frown. "We're in a safe location. Lind is checking on us regularly and if something were to happen to either of us we still have means of communicating with Asgard," she explained. "You shouldn't let us get in the way of your official duties."

Skuld bristled, and the look she sent Belldandy was so clouded with anger that it startled not only Keiichi, but Belldandy as well. Never before had the woman directed such a heated expression to the goddess, and it left Belldandy taken aback as Skuld began to argue. "What, so you're saying my job is more important than helping out down here?" she demanded. The woman stood abruptly, slamming her hands down hard on the table. Keiichi could feel the vibrations travel up into his arms. "After everything you've been through, you're just going to get all flippant and dismiss me like I'm some little girl? Why, because I'm you're little sister? You think I can't help out too?"

"Skuld that's not what I-" Belldandy rose to meet her in alarm.

Yet already Skuld was shaking her head. "No," she interrupted. "No, fuck this shit. I'm not going to just stand around here and be talked down to like a goddamned child. Screw this mess." She moved away from the table and out of the kitchen, stomping in a rage as she proceeded into the hallway, past the living room and out the front door. Those present at the table flinched as she slammed it behind her.

"What...what did I say?" The goddess looked at Urd, startled and hurt.

The woman rose with a sigh of her own. "She think's we're trying to get rid of her." The Norn shook her head. "I'll go talk to her." Without another word Urd made for the hallway, leaving in her wake a perplexed Valkyrie, a wary man, and a wounded sister. She headed outside and quietly closed the door behind her. Skuld was standing on the small balcony that overlooked Keiichi's front yard. Her hands were gripping the railing, and the silver haired goddess could see that her sister's knuckles were white from squeezing the metal.

"What do you want," barked the black haired goddess without turning around.

Urd crossed her arms across her chest, observing the younger woman with a raised brow. "I was wondering if you were going to revert back to your younger self," she said.

The youngest Norn turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Tears trickled down the corners of red, irritated eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Well," started the silver haired goddess with a shrug. "Since you're acting more like the child you were ten years ago, I figured you might as well get ready to go back to looking like one as well."

Skuld whirled around to face her older sister. "That's not it, it's just that-"

"Just that what?" demanded Urd as she leaned in closer to her unruly sibling. "That you're not in to the whole 'adulting' thing anymore? That you don't want to deal with the responsibilities that come with it?" She uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on Skuld's shoulders. Her voice softened. "You were forced to grow up very fast not too long ago, don't ruin what progress you've made.

A fresh tear rolled down Skuld's cheek. "But I need to stay here with you and Belldandy!" she insisted.

"And do what, exactly?" Urd's purple irises bore into Skuld's chocolate brown. "Sit around the house and play Parcheesi with the rest of us misfits? I didn't sacrifice my position and career just so that you can throw it all away along with me. I took the blame you'd have gotten so that you can return to your job, Skuld. I know how much you love Yggdrasil."

"But I don't trust Magilla," came the weak reply. "And...Urd, what if..." The woman bit her lip, and in the warm glow of the porch lights Urd became all too aware of the fear nestled in her sister's gaze. She was unable to complete the sentence, and Urd left it to die in its silence.

"Keiichi is one of the best thing that's ever happened to Belldandy," replied Urd, placing as much emphasis on his name as possible. "You know it, and it's making you jealous. I've seen how you glare when Bell looks at him with those lovey dovey eyes when she thinks no one is watching."

Skuld wrinkled her nose and turned away from Urd. "But he's not the same guy that was supposed to get the wish," she complained. "That guy, I might have been able to tolerate. But gorilla arms in there..."

Urd smiled when Skuld trailed off. "Do you really think that the Keiichi Morisato from ten years ago could have handled Belldandy the way she is now?" The sullen expression on the youngest Norn's face was her answer. "Contrary to what you might believe, Bell is in the right place at the right time to get better. He's helping her heal, Skuld."

"But what about further down the road?" Skuld looked back up at her. "I've seen things, Urd. I've seen things, and I don't like it. I don't like it at all."

There was a hint of accusation in Skuld's voice, and the silver haired goddess was reminded of the dream she had this morning. "Not going to happen."

Skuld's eyes lingered on her sister skeptically as she turned and faced the yard again. Urd stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her siblng and hugged her from behind, placing her chin on Skuld's shoulder. "You better make sure of that," replied the Norn of the Future.

"You can bank on it," replied the silver haired Norn of the Past. "You know, it's not like we're going anywhere. It's also not like you can't come down here pretty much on a whim and check on us. You know how things are between here and home."

"I know." Skuld's voice was a whisper, so filled with reluctance and worry that Urd felt her heart go out to her. "I know, it's just—Urd, there's still that part of me... that tiny bit of me, that little girl... it's stupid, but... I don't-" She stopped herself, her face scrunching into a grimace before swallowing and speaking on. "I'm afraid, Urd," she admitted. "We just got Belldandy back, and now I have to leave so soon, and you—"

"It won't come to that." The elder Norn assured. "No more than any of those other things you've been seeing. I promise you it won't." She kissed the back of Skuld's head. "We may be damaged goods, but that doesn't mean we can't watch out for ourselves."

Skuld leaned forward against the rail slightly, gripping it even harder than before. Urd simply watched, knowing that there was a war raging in her sister's mind over what to do. As she waited, she glanced back behind her, wondering what the other three were doing while she was talking to Skuld. She caught just a whip of almond colored hair as she looked at the small window that was set high in the door. She snorted to herself, knowing that Bell's insecurity had probably gotten the better of her.

"Fine."

Urd turned her head back to her youngest sister. "Fine," repeated Skuld. "I'll go back."

The silver haired goddess smiled. "Good girl," she quipped.

Skuld turned and glared for a moment, the comment touching well exposed nerves from years gone past. "I am not a kid!" she replied angrily. But there was a mischievous smirk there that gave way that she knew Urd was only kidding. The brown haired goddess stepped out of her oldest sister's embrace and stepped to the door, throwing it opened and marching inside, Urd following close behind. When she reached the dining room table, she glared down and Keiichi for a moment before shifting her gaze to the Valkyrie. "I'll go back."

Lind moved to rise. "Good, then I will start-"

"In one week," interrupted Skuld.

The Valkyrie stopped half way once she processed what the Norn had said. A frown appeared on her features as she eased herself back into the seat. "I do not think they will accept that," she replied evenly.

"Bullshit," replied Skuld. "They can take it or leave it. Retro to last week, I am taking two weeks vacation. If they don't like it, they can get bent."

Lind looked to Belldandy for assistance, but the middle Norn kept her silence. She rose again out of her seat, stood, and pushed it under the table. "I will take your proposal back and see what they have to say."

"No, you will inform them that this is how it will be," said Skuld as she placed her hands on her hips. "If you, one of them, or even Brynhild herself darkens this doorstep with the intention of getting me to come back before this Saturday, then I quit." The iron in Skuld voice was unmistakable, and everyone else in the room could tell that she meant it.

Lind and Skuld glared at each other. As the staring contest dragged on, the tension in the air caused Belldandy to start fidgeting in her seat. Urd was about ready to say something, but Belldandy stopped when Keiichi took her hand and squeezed it. After several long moments, it finally ended when one of them gave in.

"Fine," said Lind, the anger in her voice was almost palpable. "Just remember that when Saturday comes, I'll be back."

"And I'll be ready," retorted the Norn.

The mood lightened considerably after that. Urd strong armed Lind into staying a little while longer, breaking out some more of the Sake that Keiichi had gotten for her. Between Urd, Lind, Skuld, and Belldandy, they polished off the bottle. Keiichi took a fair amount of ribbing from the Valkyrie and the silver-haired goddess for not partaking, but he had to go in to work fairly early tomorrow as McGinness had scheduled an early training exercise.

As such, around about ten-thirty, the SEAL helped a somewhat inebriated Lind out the front door, where she punched him in his already sore arm and told him that he was a good friend to Urd and the others. He then assisted an even more enebriated Urd to her bedroom, where she winked slyly at him and told him that she was going to be meeting with McGinness sometime either Monday or Tuesday, so he should not be surprised to see her around. When the man headed downstairs to help Skuld as well, he found the Norn already passed out on the Ugly Beast. Not wanting to rouse the angry poodle, he left her there, grabbing a blanket to cover the goddess up.

Much to his surprise, Belldandy was none the worse for wear compared to her drinking partners.

It was as Keiichi was going to bed afterwards that one final event happened to seal the evening. He'd given Belldandy one of his two pillows right as he was getting his gear ready for work tomorrow, and the way she'd clutched it to her chest had reminded him of how Aiko would hug her teddy bear close to her when something scared her.

It wasn't until Keiichi began to drift off to sleep that the final event occurred, and that final event was his door opening on almost-silent hinges. It was the slight creak of those hinges that awoke him, and for reasons that eluded him Keiichi found himself ten years old once more. Ten years old and recounting the stories Megumi used to tell him of Deb's house growing up. It was a house that had been burned down in the sixties, killing the family that lived there.

Megumi used to claim that the lights would flicker for no reason at night. That doors to empty rooms would creak open on their old hinges and that, on occasion, she would spy a ghostly miasma like a patch of mist hanging around a vent. One time she even claimed to see an old woman watching her, though what had scared her the most had been the time when, just as Keiichi was now, the door to Debra's bedroom had opened late at night. There'd been no one around to open it, but all of a sudden Deb-she'd only been a gangly nine-year old back then-had jumped out of her bed and started screaming, started hollering, started jumping up and down with such fright that Megumi had started to scream too.

It'd been so bad that Deb's dad, Mr. Johanson, had called the police, fearing someone had snuck into the house. He'd sent Megumi and Deb to the Morisatos down the street to help try and calm them down and distract them, and both girls had been too scared to sleep in Megumi's room that night. They'd opted for Keiichi's room instead, and after a lot of begging, his younger self had finally given in and let them sleep in his room, on the condition they didn't touch his stuff, of course.

Yet before they'd drifted off to sleep, Deb had whispered something to him, and it had haunted his sleep for months until they'd managed to put the strange event behind them. "It lives in the groans of the wood and the creaks of the hinges. You can't catch it, but it can catch you." Those two sentences had kept him up and staring at his bedroom door for the rest of the night; whenever he was close to drifting off, he'd hear a groan in the wooden floor, like that of a moaning beast, or something like a squeaky hinge that might have been the shriek of a creature in agony.

Why that memory resurfaced now Keiichi didn't know, but it left him wide awake. Wide awake and aware as the near inaudible creak fell silent and something wisked in on feet lighter than feathers. A floor board groaned, and Keiichi took a deep breath, fighting the sudden, ridiculous urge to cover his head with his blanket. It lives in the groans of the wood and the creaks of the hinges. Deb's voice, young and childish once more, rose in his ears. He swallowed, but could not manifest the courage to breathe. He didn't even want to move for fear of what he might see. This is stupid, Keiichi, he told himself. It's probably just one of the girls is all.

And if it wasn't? You can't catch it, but it can catch you. The little girl that was once his wife spoke up in earnest. Don't move, Kei. Don't let it know that you know it's there. It'll gobble you up then, and the only thing left will be your sock, Kei, that's it. Just a sock and nothing else. Not even a bit a spit or drop of blood. Just a sock. And wouldn't that be an accomplishment, giving that he'd stopped wearing socks to bed after joining the military.

"Keiichi?"

The man started, almost screamed, then turned to look at it's source. His room was dark, but the hallway lights at Belldandy's back shadowed her face and body, creating a dark silhouette that reminded him somehow of a boogy man. A pillow was under her right arm, and she stared down at the SEAL with a soft frown.

"Belldandy?" His body protested rising, and the hair along his arms and the back of his neck stood stock straight, like a cat that'd been startled by a cucumber. Dude, calm your tits. It's just Belldandy. What's got you in such a rush? The voice of logic asked him, and truth be told, Keiichi had no answer for it. Nothing other than the fact that for whatever reason, he was scared because (you can't catch it, but it can catch you) something had brought to mind one of the creepiest moments of his childhood and he couldn't shake the fear that the monster under the bed or some kind of boogie man was about to eat him. He swallowed his fear and said, "...what's wrong, Belldandy?"

Belldandy held the pillow out to him. "It smells too much like Urd." In the strange lighting produced by the hallway lights the triangle on her forehead seemed to be glowing and it almost looked as if her eyes flashed a brilliant blue. Yet that was just his mind playing tricks on him, he was certain. "Is it alright if we exchange pillows?"

Is that all? "Oh, yeah, sure..." The shadows played games with the Norn's expression, and for a moment it almost appeared as if Belldandy was upset. Yet even as he moved to sit upright the strange impression was gone, and again Keiichi chalked it up to his imagination getting the better of him. "Here you go." He grabbed the pillow behind him and offered it to her, watching bemused as the goddess took the offered item, sniffed it, nodded, and then handed him the other pillow. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that." He grumbled, though the SEAL wasn't certain why he was apologizing. "Forgot that Urd was using my bed last night."

A flash of surprise slipped across the woman's face. "...Ah," she said. "I'd...yes. I'd forgotten about that too." For a moment the hallway lights dimmed, then brightened again, and now it appeared as though less shadow engulfed the goddess's face. She almost looked...guilty, yet before Keiichi could get a better look at the expression Belldandy turned away. "Thank you again for the pillow, Keiichi. Sleep well."

"You too." Keiichi mumbled, eyes darting between the goddess and the hallway lights, daring them to flicker again with his mind. They didn't, and Belldandy departed once more, leaving him in the darkness of his room as the goddess shut the door behind her.

This time the hinges didn't creak.

What the fuck was that about?! Keiichi wondered, staring at the light that flooded through beneath the door. The lights flickered once more, and Keiichi could not suppress the shudder that tickled his spine as the floorboards groaned with the Norn's departure. Nope. Don't care. Wanna go to sleep. Want to forget this ever happened. Screw this, screw all this shit. He brought the blankets up to his neck and covered his head with the pillow originally meant for Belldandy. His last thoughts before awaking to his alarm the following morning were, I guess it does smell like Urd.

And then he too, slept.


A/N: Oh, the twists and turns that we have in this story, it'll almost give you whiplash.


Comments of a Madwoman: A little late Halloween treat towards the end. Ten points to anyone who can figure out the reason behind Keiichi's sixth sense acting up.