"Zeke, don't eat the flowers!" Raquel called out to the faun as he crouched in front of one of the many bushes in the garden.

"I'm not! I'm eating the leaves!" Ezekiel replied while looking over his shoulder. A few leaves poked out of his mouth as he spoke.

"You just had like three sandwiches." spoke Bruce, still seated at the gazebo.

"And I'm still hungry." the faun stated. "I'm not gonna eat it bare. Just a few."

"The Watchdog doesn't keep any plants that are poisonous, does he?" questioned Ashley, causing poor Ezekiel's eyes to widen and for him to immediately start trying to spit the offending horticulture out.

"I dunno. I don't know anything about the plants in the garden." the Macken confessed. "There might be?"

"Am I going to die?!" the faun shouted to anyone that would answer.

"Probably not. If you start feeling weird, though, tell me." It would appear that the morbid humour of Luka's relatives was rubbing off on him. Casually, he bit down on another sandwich while his friend flailed and carried on about how cruel fate was.

"I got too comfortable!" Ezekiel overdramatised. He was being humourous, reveling in the chuckling of his compatriots. "I should have known that the Watchdog's house was treacherous!"

"You fool! You fell for it!" the Macken shot back. "Just wait until dinner! You'll be the main course!"

"I would go best with a side of potatoes." said Bruce.

"I'm very stiff, so I'd need to be cooked for several hours to tenderised." Ashley added with a giggle.

"I'd run away and leave you all here." said Mordecai, rubbing his pointed, goblin chin.

"Liar. You'd get caught trying to steal something on your way out!" Raquel accused.

"Hey, I'm only being practical-minded. If the Watchdog is going to eat my friends, I should at least be uh… What's the word?"

"'Compensated?'" the witch suggested.

"Yeah! That."

"As if he wouldn't come after you anyway, even if you got away." Luka scoffed. "That would be dumb not to."

"Jesus, really?" asked Bruce.

"Yeah. You'd be a witness who could ruin his reputation with Gehenna." Suddenly, the Macken realised that he was being stared at by the rest of the group and blushed. Bashfully, he scratched the back of his head. "Uh… It was a joke..."

There was a moment of silence before Bruce and Ezekiel looked at each other before nodding. A smile formed on their faces again. "We know." said Bruce.

"Let's play hide and seek." Ezekiel suggested. "I'll be it first!"

"Who the heck wants to be 'it' first?" laughed Ashley before she and the others stood up.

"I do! Now go hide!" the faun instructed before everyone dispersed out into the garden. He took a seat, himself, before covering his eyes and beginning to count. Luka stood there, not sure of where to go just yet before someone grabbed his wrist.

Looking up again, he saw Bruce. Holding up a finger to his lips, the wolfboy shushed before dragging Luka along. They got out of earshot of the faun before Bruce finally turned to the demon and asked: "So where's the best place to hide around here?"

"We're hiding together?" Luka asked.

"Yeah. If we hide in a good enough spot, we'll drive him nuts, 'cause he's looking for two and can't find either of them, right?"

"Uh… We could climb the trees." the Macken suggested before looking around. "Or, we could just go inside. He's not going to look there, and it's technically not cheating."

"I've never climbed a tree before."

"Then inside it is, then?"

"Hmm..." Bruce thought for a moment while he considered the possibility. "I kind of want to run around outside some more. It's so green? I've never seen so many plants in one place!"

"Yeah..." replied the other, staring ahead as they walked. "Gehenna doesn't really have a lot in the way of plants..."

"What's wrong, Luka?" questioned the wolfboy.

"What? Nothing. Nothing's wrong?"

"Liar. You seemed uncomfortable ever since we got here."

"I dunno…" the Macken sighed. "It's just like I figured out that I'm weird in comparison to you guys."

"Luka, you go to school with a bunch of supernaturals and live with Mister Lion. Of course you're weird. We're all weird."

"My house isn't like yours, though, and my family isn't, either." the brunet reached up to scratch his head. "Even my sense of humour is a little… uh… 'different.'"

"Yeah. All of that's true, but that's part of what makes you cool." the wolfboy said before crouching down in front of some bushes. "We can crouch down through here, can't we?"

"That's a rose bush..." the Macken pointed out. "You can if you like getting scratched up, I guess?"

"See? There's that funny bit again. You need to quit sweating it. If people are your friends, they'll stick around for the weird."

"Huh. I guess you're right." Luka pondered. "Still it kinda bothers me, though..."

"Everybody has stuff that bothers them about themselves, Lulu." Bruce stated. "Look at me! Thirteen years old, a naturally-born werewolf, and I haven't had my first moon, yet! Ashley had hers, but not me! Am I really a real werewolf? Who knows?"

"Ashley's older than you, so that's not really surprising, Bruce."

"I know, it's just… frustrating. See? Everybody has their own stuff to worry about. I feel left out because I haven't transformed yet, and you kind of feel left out because of where you live. We just gotta deal with it."

"How do you know all of this stuff?" questioned the Macken with an arched brow. Suddenly, his friend smiled and said:

"Me mum's a psychiatrist." the other beamed. "She says that talking about your feelings helps, and she's kinda right. It does."

"Yeah!" Luka affirmed with a smile appearing on his face as well. "I do feel a better. I mean, you figured most of it out, yourself, but knowing someone else knows is kind of a relief. Is that why you wanted to hide together?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. Nobody should feel like an outsider in their own house."

Grinning, the Macken crouched down with him. "Hey, I uh… I actually have another idea on how not to get caught."

"I knew it!" declared the wolfboy. "I knew you were holding out on me! Let's hear it."

"It's kinda creepy, I guess, but the idea is that we follow him. Stay behind him so he can't see us. Just like when you're hunting."

"I've never been hunting."

"I'll show you how! First, we need to figure out where he's at."

Thus, the pair started skulking off in search of their target. The seeker was about to become the sought once they caught up with Ezekiel. They stayed low to the ground and tried their best to remain silent. Each step was careful and precise, save for the few times that Bruce nearly lost his balance.

Watching them from on high, Alois observed them from the office window and pondered whatever it could be that they were doing. Naturally, the eldest of the Macken brothers was curious as to how his sibling was getting along with the other children and was relieved to see nothing that was especially out of the ordinary. That said, all he could see were the tops of their heads. He couldn't hear anything, either, so however accurate this information was was entirely debatable. Alois couldn't help but worry, sometimes, as he wasn't always there to make sure. He couldn't be. Luka would never grow that way, and would only grow apart from him.

"What is it, darling?" Ciel finally called out, capturing his attention. In an instant, Alois concealed the concern on his face and replaced it with a sense of nonchalance that only he could create out of thin air.

"Just making sure the kids don't kill each other." he said in an attempt to be humourous.

"Worried about Luka?"

"Ugh, yes." Alois confessed, dropping the facade as quickly as he donned it. "I want him to get along with the others and for them to like him and… I dunno. I just worry. I wanna make sure he's happy and well-adjusted, but there isn't much I can do to help him, right now..."

"He's thirteen, isn't he? It's the time of his life where he begins to form his own identity apart from you and us. It's going to be tough."

"Do you mean regular thirteen year olds, or kids who were like us at thirteen?"

"Jim-" Ciel began with a shake of his head. "Luka has support that neither of us had at his age. He actually has more chances to be a child than either of us. I'm sure he'll be just fine."

"But what if he isn't?" the menace pondered aloud while running a hand through his hair. "It's possible that he won't be."

Watching his beau fret for a moment, Ciel, too, thought of what course of action he should make. Standing up, he walked over to Alois to join him at the window, standing at his side while placing a hand to the small of his back. Watching the children, he had something he wished to point out.

"They're playing." Ciel said. "All of them. Luka isn't being left out. In fact, he appears to be leading some of the others around. He's having fun, Jim. And that's coming from me."

"I dunno. Maybe-" the menace took in a sharp breath and let it out again. "Maybe I'm just worried about nothing and maybe I could be handling it better. It's just that, it's always been my responsibility to take care of him and look after him, but… How do I explain it..."

"...But now that he's wandering off and spending more time apart from you, you're worried about him and haven't adjusted to the change, yet." the bluenette continued for him.

"Ugh, get out of my head, devil..."

"It makes sense to me. It's probably incredibly normal, too. In fact, it could probably be a sign that Luka is the most 'ordinary' out of all of us."

"Maybe… It doesn't make it any easier… What if I completely fucked up and he becomes a serial killer or something?" Alois lamented while practically headbutting his husband's chest as he rested his forehead on it. With a roll of his eyes, the Watchdog took his hint and wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

"Jim, we're assassins..."

"Serial killers are different. You're not helping me feel better..."

"True, but I think he'll be fine." Ciel reassured with a small smile. "My sixth sense might be rubbish in comparison to yours, but I've got a very strong feeling that he will be."

"Probably, but that doesn't mean it's easy." sighed the menace. "Let me mourn the fact that the small, precious, little baby I knew is growing up in peace."

"Do you want to be left alone?"

"No, I want to continue to use your titties as a pillow."

"Can we not do it standing in front of the window?" questioned the bluenette before pointing. "Luka just looked up and saw us… Ah… He stuck his tongue out at me."

"Did you stick your tongue out back?"

"No."

"What a waste..." The blonde said before pulling away. With his hands, he shooed his husband away from the window and followed him as he went to lounge on the sofa.

"My turn to be a stand-in teddy bear?" the Watchdog jokingly questioned before letting out a hollow "oof" when his husband plopped down on top of him.

"Yes." Alois said in a matter-of-fact-tone. "It feels like we've been doing this a lot, these days, but I can't say I'm too bothered to care."

"Neither can I. It would seem that we're both a bit down, lately."

"We should go do something together." suggested the blonde Phantomhive. To his surprise, the other shifted, holding him in place with one hand as he strained to reach his phone on the coffee table with the other. Alois assisted him and grabbed it for him, despite not knowing what he was doing.

"Let's see..." Ciel began while fiddling with the device. "I have a meeting Friday and Elizabeth always visits on Thursdays, so the weekend seems like the best bet?"

"I was gonna go visit Kris on Saturday, and if it's on Sunday, we'll have to try and miss everybody leaving church."

"Right… And today's Tuesday, so… Are you good for tomorrow?"

"I was planning on lounging around on my ass all day, but I'm sure I can squeeze some time for you in." Alois giggled, wondering what exactly the point of browsing around the calendar was if they were just going to go the next day.

"So, who's taking Luka's friends home? Is it Sebastian?" inquired the Watchdog. "I can meet you somewhere if you're taking them."

"Nah, Sebastian's taking them, so it'll be just you and me, dear heart."

"'Dear heart...'" chuckled the bluenette. "Somehow, that's funnier than 'Pooh Bear'."

"Lovey darling, will you take me out on the town and show me the sights on a romantic date?" Alois grinned. He actually struggled to say that without laughing, but miraculously, he somehow managed.

"Yes, most definitely, I will." Ciel replied, playing along with his beau. "We shall dine and dance and it will be wonderous."

"I'm holding you to that. We're going dancing. Don't step on my feet."

"I will make no such promises."


A/N: I have no idea what the fuck happened here. I'm just gonna post it and move on...

I still haven't figured out Luka's whole thing yet. I'll get there, eventually. Right now, he wants to be like the cool kids and has that business going on. What happened to the good ol' days where he'd watch Pokemon and be adorable?

Anyways, I got a question:

"Ciel's ABBA secret is finally out! To Alois, anyway. what would the others think of this? I think we've already talked about Revy's reaction a bit..." by ell

They'd laugh. They'd laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Then they'd realise that it's not a joke... and then laugh some more.

Their friends are dicks. He's just so serious, though! Yet, him liking ABBA just makes so much sense? He can't be serious and surly all the time. Did everybody seriously think that he ONLY listens to classical music and jazz? That's depressing. Can't a man enjoy ABBA in peace? Ciel can't, 'cause his friends like to make fun of him. That's just what friends do.

Audrey and Dan would be the worst, though. Kristopherson would be the least surprised, and Travis wouldn't care. Patricia would laugh, but Logan wouldn't have the slightest idea what's so funny.

If ya got questions for me or the characters, I'll still answer them.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!