Happy turkey day!! Hope you all had a great holiday, and here a little something for you all! Hope you like it, for now, the plot thickens!!!

Chap: Tracing the way…..

"I do not believe this! This is so unfair!" the devil fumed.

"Ah, quit complaining. It could be worse," the nun replied.

"How?"

"We could be confined to bed rest until this all blows over."

"Oh, god forbid, stuck in a room with you in a bed for who knows how long—"

"You're just upset because I'm winning," she snapped back with a scowl. "Now shut up and ante in. Jokers are wild card again."

Both Rosette and Chrono had been confined to the infirmary ward until further notice. While Chrono's wound had healed instantly on transforming, he was kept for observation and on bed rest for another day. St. Justice was fascinated with the speed of his demonic healing, and was hoping to make some kind of serum or formula that could stimulate that kind of healing in humans. The man had rattled on about 'metabolic hypertension', or something like that. He was currently studying the devil's blood in his lab.

Remington was currently sleeping deeply thanks to his pain medication for the raging headaches he'd had as a result of his injuries. To be sure they didn't disturb him, the two had moved to the far edge of the hall, setting up their beds down there. Out of sheer boredom, Chrono had borrowed one of the smaller tables while Rosette went in search of a decent deck of cards. She'd brought a deck back, and a couple of marbles, jacks, and cotton balls. When he'd asked what all of that junk was for, she'd replied that that junk was their tokens.

Rosette rolled her eyes as she tapped her cards against her nose. So far she'd won three thousand and eight hundred dollars off the unlucky devil. (Of their own version of poker/gin/rummy chips, rather than money. Like nuns or devils actually made that much off a church salary, ever.) This round, Chrono had finally resorted to betting parts of his body out of desperation. With any luck, he'd manage to get his money back. However, things did not look good. Rosette was currently the proud owner of his left calf, right foot, and even his tail.

Things had at first been awkward between the two of them. After all, its not every day your best friend suddenly grows to double his height, width, and weight in less than two minutes and stays that way. He'd morphed out of his jacket and battle armor, in the attempt to make people a bit more comfortable around him without the spikes and dark colors. Someone, probably the Elder, had rustled up some clothes for the devil, and he was currently wearing a white button up shirt with black dress slacks that were just an inch too short on his long frame. They'd had no luck so far finding him a decent pair of shoes that someone would part with.

Rosette had to admit that Chrono was extremely attractive in his demon from, and she was desperately trying not to blush around him. (Not that he wasn't cute in his child form, but hey, she wasn't Satella.) But after he'd started teasing her after catching one of those blushes, things had gone back to normal.

"Gin!!" the girl called out with manic glee.

"Dammit, Rosette, isn't gambling a sin?!" Chrono said, frustrated, as he tossed in his cards. There went his left arm.

"You're one to talk! You're called a Sinner for the love of!"

"Oi!! That has nothing to do with this! Are you cheating!?"

"No, you rube!!" She suddenly broke out laughing at the look on his face. She nearly snorted as she pointed at him. "If you could see your face right now!"

He smiled sarcastically. "Yeah, well, I have to put up with seeing your face every day"—

She decked him with a pillow, still laughing. He smiled in exasperation at her, shaking his head and nearly spitting feathers. "What am I going to do with you?" He asked rhetorically.

Her answer was instantly forgotten when she felt it. A single claw was lightly tracing up and down the side of her neck, making goose bumps rise on her skin. The claw gently scraped her nape, circling around to her ear---

"Dammit, Chrono! That's not funny!" She instantly lunged over the table and knuckled his head, blushing furiously the whole while.

"Hey, hey, hey!! What was that for!?" he said, waving his arms in protest as he tried to dodge.

"You touched my ear! You perv!"

"What?" His face displayed nothing but honest confusion. "Rosette, I was over here. I didn't lay a finger on you."

She frowned in confusion. "But—but I know I felt a claw on my ear. And my neck."

"Sure you aren't just imagining things?" He smiled cockily, "I know how bad you want me, but this is"—

She decked him with another pillow, nearly knocking over the table. He scrambled to get everything up while she started grabbing feathers that had escaped the casing. Both took one look at the situation and laughed lightly. She smiled at him, "You know, I hardly ever hear you laugh. I like the sound of it."

Both of his eyebrows went up in surprise. "You do?"

"Sure! It means that at least for one minute, you're happy."

The devil smiled at her words as he finished righting the table. It was because of her that he could dare dream of being happy. She sat back down, and shuffled the cards again. "Five-card stud?"

He quickly shook his head at that. "No way, no more betting. Thanks to you, I'm so poor I can't even pay attention."

"Oh come on, how are you ever gonna get your arm back if you don't take a r"—

Rosette suddenly lost all her train of thought as warm breath blew on her ear. She shivered at the feel of it, then the sudden sensation of warm, soft lips on the nape of her neck, kissing slowly around—there was the touch of a warm cheek against her jaw—

Chrono frowned at her abrupt silence. "Rosette?" She didn't answer, just stared out to a spot right past him. He looked, but saw nothing unusual. "Rosette? What's the matter?" Still she gave no answer, but her eyes slowly fluttered shut, and her head tilted back to the side. As if she was inviting a kiss there.

"R-Rosette? You don't think I'm touching you again, do you?!" 'Man I thought I was just kidding when I said she wanted me, but now I'm a little worried'—"I'm all the way over here, I'm not laying one single hand on you"—

"You're not," she said, soft and dazedly. "It's not your hand that's touching me."

His crimson eyes widened and he flushed red at what else could be touching her and was about to protest his innocence yet again when her scent hit him. The devil's eyes went huge in shock, as his whole body jerked in response. Wings unconsciously formed and flared out, almost trembling, in the first stages of something he couldn't name. He began to pant and swallowed hard, trying to get back under control—

Her eyes snapped open and she jumped back further on the bed. "C-Chrono?" She murmured worriedly.

"Rosette, are you okay?" The devil asked. He frowned in concern. Her scent had shifted again. Now she smelled frightened.

Her whole face looked panicked as she almost wailed, "Chrono?! What is happening to me?!"

Ha! Now it begins!

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