Kel woke late that morning, it was no surprise considering the events of last night, she bit her lip remembering how Dom's kiss had felt. She looked around and saw she was still wearing last night's dress, she shrugged and guessed that she had simply fallen asleep after saying good night. Her neck was stiff because she had fallen asleep against the headboard. She looked next to her and noticed an arm lying next her hers, clad in a blue shirt, the hand over her own. She let out a muffled scream as she looked at sergeant Domitan sitting comfortably next to her, trying to put a hand to her mouth unsuccessfully.

"What's a matter?" he asked groggily, eyes creeping open slowly. He saw Kel and the horrified expression on her usually blank face and opened his eyes wide, realizing what she had screamed about. He relaxed, though, recalling what had happened the night before. "Shh," he said softly, "Kel, we didn't do anything, don't worry."

She calmed down considerably at this, "Well, then," blushing a little, and suddenly seeming a bit annoyed "why are you here?"

Dom sighed and rolled his head, trying to ease the stiffness out, 'I should've known she'd be upset.' "Look, Kel." He said aloud, "I walked you here, we sat down and were talking, and we must've just fallen asleep or something, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" she repeated him, "of course there's something to worry about, Dom."

Now it was Dom's turn to be confused, "And what exactly are we distressing ourselves over?" he shot her a puzzled glance, truly stupefied.

"Neal," her voice was almost a whisper, "Neal's going to wonder where we are, or rather, where we were. He's going to go to your rooms to see how your night was, and when he doesn't find you there he'll come here, looking for both of us." As if the gods were listening in on their conversation, there was suddenly a flurry of knocking at the door.

"Kel? Are you in there?" Neal's voice was sharp as he rapped on the door. He gave them a second and started to pound with both fists. "K-E-L? KELADRY!"

"He must be waking up the whole hall by now," Dom whispered, "stupid Meathead," he thought, 'always ruining the most interesting of times.'

Kel shrugged at this, "Coming, Neal! I'm coming, hold on!" she sighed and pushed herself up from the bed, forgetting Dom's hold on her hand as he pulled her back down and kissed her warmly. She blushed furiously as he let her go, but was smiling nonetheless.

When Kel finally opened the door Neal was standing with arms crossed and tapping a foot, muttering to himself angrily. "Yes, Neal? Did you want something?" Kel asked sweetly, trying to plaster an innocent look on her face.

"Do you always sleep in elegant gowns, or is it a new habit?" he said almost pleasantly, but he saw Kel's face and grew serious, his tone lofty as he asked, "Alright, where is he? He can't hide forever, you know." He pushed past her into the room and gasped, jaw dropping, as he saw Dom sitting on Kel's bed. He was tilting his head back, trying to fall asleep again and smiling as the sun hit his face and warmed him.

"Neal, calm down, we can-" Kel tried to explain, but Neal had rushed to Dom and pulled him up by the collar with a snarl.

"What could have possessed you?" he was nearly yelling, and shaking a very frightened look Dom.

"Meathead, calm down, please!" Dom said, raising his hands, 'I think I've pushed him too far this time,' he thought to himself.

"Calm down?!" Neal was at a roar now, "How can you expect me to calm down? My best friend and my cousin! How could you?" he abruptly let Dom go, only to cover his head as Kel started to whack him with her fist.

"Listen to us, Meathead, you might learn something," Dom said, brushing off his front, "thank you, Kel, for warding off my uncivilized attacker."

Neal sucked in a breath of air, but looked at Kel's fist and decided to stay quiet, for now.

"Now," Dom began, "we have done nothing. No, don't interrupt me, Neal." His voice was serious now, using his cousin's real name for once. "Kel and I went to the ball, as you may remember, we took a walk in the garden, and I walked her back to her rooms."

Neal snorted in disbelief, "You expect me to believe that's all that happened? Honestly, Dom, I've heard better stories from-" Kel whacked him again as Dom nodded to her thankfully and continued.

"No, Nealan, that's not all that happened," there was a triumphant gleam in Neal's eyes, "we came inside, sat down, and talked until we fell asleep. Kel woke up a while ago, had the same thoughts that you did, and woke me up. We talked and then you came and knocked upon her door. That, dear cousin, is all that passed from the time the ball ended until this very moment."

"O-oh," Neal seemed a little ashamed of himself, "Well then," he coughed, shifting his feet and looking for a friendly face among them. Neither Kel nor Dom were feeling very friendly at the moment. He started to hum and tried to quietly slip out of the room.

Kel reached out and stopped him from leaving. "You know, Dom? I was thinking," a sly grin crossed Kel's face.

'What is she up to now?' Dom though, "Yes, Kel?"

"We said we'd kill Queenscove, how do you think about the practice courts after breakfast?" She was outright grinning now.

Dom laughed as Neal went pale and started stuttering, "I love the way you think, Kel," he responded, chuckling, "the practice courts should be quite fun."

~~~~~~~~~~~