When the others came back, both demons were fully dressed and looked as though nothing happened. As far as everyone aside from Kristopherson were concerned, nothing did. Ciel was making tea and the blonde was seated on the couch with his laptop, clicking away and rubbing his fingers against the pad to scroll. It was an odd concept, but Alois was actually working, going over plans and reading reports and testimonies as to how the Pyestock project was going. Everyone had simply assumed he was messing around, but then Daniel stepped behind the couch in order to get a glimpse of what he was doing.

"What's that?" questioned the Westley, resting his forearms on the back of the couch while peering over his friend's shoulder.

"Oh, it's just work." bluntly answered the Lion. "Just a minute, I'm almost done with this page."

"You brought work to your vacation?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

"There are always affairs of the supernatural to oversee. Looks like Pyestock is making alright progress. They've got workers moved in to actual housing, now."

"Really? That's great!" Kristopherson declared. "How far have they gotten?"

"One building finished, one half, two cleaned out, and one half cleaned." informed Alois. "They're also introducing American supernaturals that are being relocated. According to this, a few of them are rather surprised by everything that's going on. They'll adjust in time, I think."

"It's still weird that you'd bring it." stated Daniel, reintroducing the original question. "Shouldn't you be like, relaxing or something?"

"Probably, but I wanted to do this instead." the menace replied. "I like it."

"Huh. I guess I just never pictured you as being a hard worker..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means he thought you were a fuckin' slacker." Kristopherson answered despite understanding completely that Alois understood.

"I'll have you know, I care a lot about my towns." the menace said, closing the window and shutting his laptop. "In fact, I think I've finally found my calling."

"I'm glad you've found something you're passionate about, honey." piped up Ciel, walking into the room with a teacup balanced in a saucer for each hand. Setting one down on the coffeetable in front of the blonde, the Watchdog kept one, straightening his back. Awkwardly, he cleared his throat as he accidentally made eyecontact with Kristopherson on the way up. Recovering, he turned his attention back to his spouse. "It's nice, seeing you work so hard on something."

"Well, people are going to be living there. I have to. People shouldn't be living in squalor. It's not a controversial statement."With that, the blonde's fingertips began dancing rapidly on his laptop's keys. "I need to reply to this e-mail..."

"Do what you must." Ciel said, taking a sip of his tea. He sat down next to his spouse, refraining from putting his arm around the man while still avoiding eyecontact with Kristopherson. It was difficult, as the wolfman was staring right at him, replaying things that he shouldn't have seen inside his head. Kristopherson was blatantly aware of this but elected to ignore it.

"You willing to put it down and hang out with us?" the faux-blonde questioned.

"I guess I can fit you guys into my busy schedule." Alois jested back. "You'll have to make your own tea."

His work needed done, but he was really into the idea of having fun with his friends at that moment. It took priority over work and he did have a good time once nothing related to the sea. All they did was talk about everything and nothing at all for hours, stopping once to order food. It cheered him up, despite him wanting to work some more. As much as he hated it, though, hanging out with all of them at once just didn't have the same spark as it once did.

Alois didn't know if it was just him getting older or that they haven't done this in ages, but he figured that he would much rather hang out with one or two of them, rather than the entire group. There was so much pressure to be funny and interesting that he didn't realise was there before. He simply didn't know what to do with it anymore!

He wasn't the only one, however. Travis felt similarly and so did Kristopherson and Ciel. Daniel was having fun, however, as he ensured that he was the center of attention and Audrey enjoyed tearing into him whenever he could. For the most part, they kept to themselves. They stayed in much smaller groups and hardly interacted with the others once they were in a conversation. Travis and Patricia spoke rather intensely. It was to the point where the usually silent man was out of breath at times. Meanwhile, Audrey spoke with Daniel, of all people, whom he seldom had one-on-one conversations with in school. Finally, Kristopherson spoke with Alois and Ciel, although Ciel would sometimes tune into the conversation that Travis and Patricia were having when it was more interesting.

It made them feel a little self-conscious because they felt as though they were supposed to be spending time with everyone at once, but they weren't. Some of them even went into the kitchen to talk after they all got up to get another drink or a snack and ended up staying there. It was somewhat inevitable, though. It wasn't because they didn't like each other. Far from it. They simply found it difficult to talk in a large group without constantly trying to talk over each other in order to be a part of it. This realisation prompted the others to have a few questions about Travis, yet they decided to keep them to themselves for the time being.

All of them fulfilled their mission of cheering Audrey up and drawing him out of his solitude while figuring out a bit more about how things were going to function from now on. If they weren't good in a group, they might have to make smaller "playdates" between a handful of them at a time. That wasn't a bad thing, though. Everyone would adapt just fine in due time. Their friendships were always evolving no matter what. Given everything that they've been through together, as long as they have each other's backs, growing up wouldn't hurt them.


A/N: My favourite thing about these guys is that they grow up so organically. I don't plan this shit. It just happens. But it makes perfect sense.

Also, I'm sorry for the delay. I had schoolwork to do. Y'all know how it is...

I'm probably gonna cut away to some other characters in the next chapter. I wanna... I need ta...

But first, I need to stop watching Weird Al videos. Once you watch one, you gotta watch another... and another... and another...

Help please I beg of u...

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "to any of the original seven - do you miss how things used to be, like they were back in warwick and such?" by forestkiid

Audrey: "Not really. I can't really picture it anymore. Things have changed so much, and I kinda like it. I miss Preston, though. It's a little lonely without him."

Kristopherson: "People need to grow up. It's a necessary part of life. Besides, I've always wanted my own clothing line."

Daniel: "Kinda. Things were really easy and simple back then..."

Travis: "No. It's unhealthy to linger in the past for too long."