"They weren't kidding when they said it was going to be hot," Adel moaned, checking the outside temperature on the airport monitor as they waited for their luggage. It was already in the high eighties, looking to be a high of ninety-three later on today.

"Welcome to Shanghai," Duo Lon smirked, him having rolled up his coat carefully to place in his carryon; as large as it was, he got it to fit, as he didn't bring very much more in that. Mostly some music, various sundries, his much needed hairbrush and a few toiletries, but given the luxury flight hooked them up with anything they needed in terms of the latter, he didn't have to bring many. "Summers here are hot and humid."

Glancing outside, Whip noticed it was overcast. "Is it normally cloudy?"

"Rain is common during the summer, yes, like I had mentioned-but there's bound to be sunny days, too."

Adel looked around. "The last time I was here was in the fall a couple of years ago. I sort of remember some of the airport, though we jumped right into a limo afterward."

The four waited around the luggage carousel; it was separate from the rest and unloaded first, though they did still have to wait a little. After about ten more minutes of lounging casually around the area and checking the place out, they saw their bags sliding down the chute and onto the carousel itself. Within some moments, the four had them all sorted, and a quick glance told them that they had traveled just fine. None of them had brought anything really fragile, just enough clothing to comfortably last them. Packing using the rolling method, they were able to store two weeks' clothing fairly comfortably.

Grabbing them, Duo Lon nodded his head toward the outside. "I prepared a car for us. It's not a limo, but it's a nice one to get us to our hotel."

"Thanks," Adel replied. "Want to check in first, or go right for breakfast?"

"Didn't you just eat?" Whip asked, amused.

"Yeah, and?"

"It's about a forty-five minute drive to the center. It's a little after seven now. We can see when we get there," Duo Lon said, walking toward what he saw was the car. "It won't be a problem to hit up the restaurant right away, if we want."

As they walked, they watched people mill about; mostly tired looking, both locals and foreigners alike. Some looked like they were there on business, others for vacation, and some probably returning from vacations. The airport had English signage all over it, making it easy to find their way around, even if Duo Lon hadn't been there.

The driver-a shorter man on the farther end of middle age-nodded and smiled at them. He spoke quickly in Mandarin, which the others couldn't understand-at best, the crew knew a few symbols from their travels, but those mostly had to do with 'food' and 'restroom.'

Duo Lon answered back, making the man chuckle somewhat; he opened the door for them and let them all in. He then looked at the other three.

"Welcome," he said, warmly.

After they piled in the back, Duo Lon looked at the others. "Shanghai's a major city, so you won't have too many issues with English here. Hotels, stores, restaurants-you'll probably find English on the menus. Smaller places maybe not, though. But you should be fine getting around. If we were to go where I'm from, it might be a different story. I'd probably have to translate."

"Taxis?" Adel asked. Despite his general vast wealth, he usually didn't care to order limos everywhere, especially when he was going for a more laid back vacation.

"Depends. Some drivers speak English, others don't."

"We'll probably end up walking most places, I'd imagine."

"That's what I usually do."

The luxury sedan pulled out onto the highway and headed toward the center proper; traffic wasn't too bad at this time of the morning, so their ride was smooth. The cloud cover made things fairly gray out despite the heat and the stifling humidity, yet the four all felt content that they would be finally relaxing for a couple of weeks.

Duo Lon sat in the front, while the other three settled in the back; Whip leaned over Adel and looked out the window quietly to watch the scenery go by as they saw the city pulling up, its skyscrapers clearly dotting the landscape.

Occasionally the assassin would say something in Mandarin to the man next to him; he was generally quiet as he always was, but he seemed comfortable chatting small things with the man. The other three did not feel like strangers, though-the driver made them feel comfortable, even adjusting the air conditioning in the car down to a nice, cool level.

Eventually they reached the street where their hotel was located. Duo Lon told him to pull over beforehand, though, pointing toward the restaurant. The man nodded, and Adel handed some bills to him; everyone waved politely and climbed out of the car. Before they had left, Duo Lon had told him to try to stick with hard cash here, as foreign cards could be finicky at the smaller places. Large luxury hotels and expensive restaurants weren't a problem since they often saw tourists and traveling business people, but it would be just as likely as not for small places to not take cards. Adel had made a mental note to hit up the hotel's machine every so often.

"Thank you," the blonde said.

"Enjoy your stay," the driver smiled, waving to them all before taking off.

"Still hungry?" Whip looked over at her partner, who was eyeing everything up and down the street; he looked a little out of sorts from the long travel time, though it seemed like he would hold up well today.

"Very," he said, looking over at Duo Lon.

"Over here," the assassin said, waving them a few buildings down to a restaurant, the four of them with two pieces of luggage each between their carry-ons and their larger bags. It was a smaller place, though kept nicely cool. There were people sitting around, enjoying various forms of food and tea. Duo Lon walked them toward a booth; Leona sat next to him, while Adel and Whip sat on the other side. They managed to find a place to stack their bags in the corner, well out of the way.

"What are we getting?" Leona said. "You mentioned something about...crullers?"

"Youtiao. And yes-it's part of what is called the Four Heavenly Kings. Of breakfast, anyway."

"I like the sound already," Adel smiled.

A waiter soon came over; Duo Lon quickly ordered everything that was a part of it, along with a teapot for the table. The waiter smiled, nodding toward the rest of them. The place was close to the hotel, and they were very used to foreigners coming in to try this out, in particular if they had friends who were locals.

Stretching and yawning, Whip inhaled. "This smells so much better than the plane food, and that was actually pretty good."

"This is quite heavy," Duo Lon said. "But I doubt that will be an issue."

"Especially not for him."

Adel stuck his tongue out at her, poking her side.

After a while of sitting and relaxing, the three newcomers sometimes checked out the restaurant before they would look back at the menu, the locals sitting around, some of them with newspapers, enjoying breakfast, sometimes lifting their heads to see someone else walk in. The waiter came back, serving up several plates in front of them, along with more tea. Duo Lon nodded, and started handing out things on the big serving plates to the rest of them.

"Okay...so this is basically a Chinese pancake," he said, handing them some. " Da bing. It's a savory version, as you can see from the scallion and the shallot. These are sticky rice balls- ci fan -they have meat floss inside. And over here we have the dough sticks- youtiao I was mentioning-and the soy milk... doujiang . Some like it sweet. Some salty. Brawls are known to start over it," he smirked.

"What do you prefer?" Leona asked.

"Sweet. I grew up with that. But both are good. This is sweet."

Adel sniffed, taking some fried dough, dipping it into the milk and eating it. He grinned.

"It's like all the milk gathers into the crevices."

"Indeed," the tall man smiled.

The four went about trying everything. They had Chinese food many times before, but they hadn't tried these specific dishes save for having drank soy milk several times, or having dumplings and the like. It was very nice to have it here, as soon as they got off the plane, at a local place that had just made it fresh. It was delicious.

"I'm pretty sure I have eaten this dough before," Adel said thoughtfully, having another bite. "But not quite like this."

"It's not uncommon," Duo Lon said. "But this place makes some of the best that I've had." Indeed, they were thick, heavy, and oily.

It didn't take them a whole lot longer to polish everything off. The sticky rice balls were savory, as were the pancakes; the fried dough, dipped in the delightfully sweet milk, was a great cap to everything.

Having demolished all of the servings on the table, everyone sat back, content. Finishing his tea, Adel yawned.

"That was awesome," he said to Duo Lon. "Thanks. I'll remember to come here."

"I'll take everyone here for some other meals, too."

Leona smiled softly over at Duo Lon, as she liked hearing him more talkative. He was normally not a chatty person by any means, but around everyone here, he found it easier to open up.

"I liked the sweet milk," she said. "It paired so well with the dough...youtiao, was it?"

He smiled at her pronunciation, which was quite good. "Yes. It's one of my favorites since I was a child." He thought. "I'll have to let you try the tofu brains one morning."

"The...what?" Adel blinked.

Duo Lon smirked, an amused look on his face. "It's sort of like soup. Where I'm from, we usually eat that dish salty. Here, too, but you'll find it sweet in other places. Most restaurants you can get it either way."

Now, Whip yawned. "Okay, we need to check in. I think I need to collapse for a bit. I know napping during the day isn't a good idea, but...eh, we'll catch up."

Adel paid for them all and they left, walking the next few blocks to the hotel. They looked around, enjoying the architecture; to Duo Lon, it felt a bit too modernized for his tastes, but he could see where people visiting would like it.

The hotel lounge was rather on the plush and ritzy side, being what was basically the most expensive one in the city. Even the lower floors cost a fair dime. While they were mostly within the reach of a middle class businessperson wishing for a posh room for a couple of nights, the suites were well out of reach of most unless they were loaded.

Checking in with ease-when you paid as much as they did, check-in tended to be almost instantaneous, with bellhops immediately grabbing luggage and taking it up on carts, the four went to the staggeringly high floor where their suites were located. Heading down the nicely designed hallways-the decor had a lot of red, black and gold-they eventually reached their rooms, where the bellhops had already dropped their bags, bidding them farewell. The four all went into Adel and Whip's suite first to check it out, as both were the same anyway.

The room was massive. The bedroom area had two king sized beds and a couch, with a giant TV on the wall, two nightstands and a table. Across the way was the kitchen, next to that a bar area, and then the giant, walk-in bathroom with everything they could have wanted. Whip dumped her luggage on the floor and threw herself into one of the beds; it was incredibly comfy. The others were poking around and exploring the place.

"Yeah, I can get used to this."

Adel finally slumped into a chair, leaning back. "Okay, I think at this rate, I just need to take a nap or something. I'm just going to unpack and then lay in for a while."

"And I need a shower after that flight," Whip added, yawning.

Duo Lon nodded. "I think I'll do the same." He looked at Leona. "Shall we?"

She smiled, nodding. She waved to the other two, stifling a yawn herself.

The two waved as they went to settle into their own suite; the keycard clicked and they walked in. It was a mirror of the other room, and they were just as comfortable here.

Starting to unpack, he hung his embroidered coat up on a hanger, wondering when he might need it in this heat-he figured if they went to a nicer restaurant like they planned to at some point he would wear it. Throwing open his suitcase but then deciding to unpack later on, he removed his sleeveless shirt and tossed it over the chair before kicking off his boots and laying on the leftmost bed with his hands behind his head.

Leona smiled, likewise sliding her boots off and deciding to unpack later. She looked at the two beds; at first she debated getting into the empty one, but she then decided to go over to his, laying next to him.

He looked over at her, smiling softly, as he started to doze.

-Day 2, Shanghai-

The four had ended up turning in rather early their first day, as they could barely stay awake past nine. Even Duo Lon, usually a night owl, was out by midnight.

Most of the first day had been spent getting orientated with their new surroundings; they located the closest markets, a liquor store, the hotel restaurants and shops, as well as some other odds and ends. They had a fairly early start, and then after that, the groups split off to explore in pairs somewhat, as Leona was interested in seeing some more of the industrial areas, while Whip wanted to see the waterside. Walking around was easy, and they knew they could always get a taxi if necessary. Even though Duo Lon had told them not all taxi drivers spoke English, they'd know where the hotel was, given it was one of the biggest, and most posh, in the city.

They felt quite 'touristy' the first day; the group was still mildly jetlagged, though they seem to get over it quickly enough, and the four eventually reconvened at the place they had gone to the morning before for lunch. Duo Lon had suggested they try out their non-breakfast items as well, since they served a great array of comfort food.

Afterward they had picked up stuff from the markets, stocked their suite fridges, and took it easy for the rest of the night, deciding to get a fresher start after not having traveled for over twelve hours.

Adelheid, having fallen asleep far earlier than he was used to, ended up waking at six, unable to sleep anymore. As he went to the kitchen to sort out some coffee, he heard Whip stirring behind him.

"Morning," she said sleepily.

"You too, huh?"

"Yeah, it's always the case when I fly this many time zones."

"Was fun yesterday, though. I liked the waterside. Felt a lot cooler around there."

"Definitely."

Adel brought her over a cup of coffee, just how she liked it, with a little extra sugar. He sat with her, sipping it and looking out the window at the misty, humid morning outside, the city sprawling before them. He had opened the curtain near their bed, and they had a very nice view.

"That looks awesome," he said. "I hadn't been in a building this high up in a long time. I mean I live in an airship most of the time, but it's on the ground more often than not."

"Aren't most of the luxury hotels around the world pretty tall?"

"Yeah, but not always." He drank more. "Hmm. Debating getting some room service."

"I'd be up for that. I'm pretty sure that as long as we're here, we'll have plenty of time to eat at whatever restaurants we want more than once."

Checking the menu, the two glanced at several food items before dialing down and ordering them in.

Before the food came, Adel's phone buzzed.

"Ah, they're awake next door," he smiled. "I'll tell them we decided on room service."

"Tell them to come over if they want. We can just put it all together."

"Sounds like a plan." He added some to the message.

Within a few moments, there was a knock at the door; as he opened it, Duo Lon and Leona walked in, neither of them wearing much-Leona her shorts, socks and a tank top, and Duo Lon his black trousers, his hair in its loose double-tail as it would be in when he'd take his hair down. His eerie tattoos stood out, as usual, against his pale skin.

"I have some good news along with this," Duo Lon said.

"Oh?"

"Okay, it's mostly good news. Shen's going to try to meet us tonight, he said." The assassin smirked, a teasing look in his eye, clearly poking fun at his friend.

Whip laughed. "So he's here."

"Yes, I told him last night I got in. He must have gotten the message in the middle of the night, since I woke up to it. But he said that we can head to this one bar tonight-more on the west side of town-and he might be able to show up."

"Ever been there?" Leona asked.

"A few of times. Not usually my type of place, but I can tolerate it."

The two sat around the table as the room service arrived with a rather large array of goodies.

"Let's dig in. We can figure out the day when we're done," the blonde said, piling his plate sky high.

-Shanghai, Day 2, Evening-

Since they were fairly busy the first day, they had decided to just take it easy most of the second, since they had plans to go to the bar that night. They figured they'd need some rest since they knew they'd be up later than normal.

Arriving at the bar, it wasn't the smallest place in the world, but it was fairly crowded; it had air conditioning, but it wasn't as good as the hotel's. Still, they would enjoy a couple before heading back.

"I guess Shen will show up whenever?" Adel asked as he grabbed a seat.

"He should, unless he gets tied up somewhere." Duo Lon went to the bar to go get a round of beer for the group; being a smaller place, and busy, he knew ordering specifics in English might be difficult. This wasn't so much a touristy bar, but much more of a local one.

It was fairly bustling. A couple of tables had people playing cards, a couple others had men playing mahjong. Duo Lon loved the game himself, but generally preferred it in quieter places, like a park. Still, he suspected his friend may draw him into a game if he appeared, if only so he could bet on the assassin to win.

Bringing the cold drinks back as quickly as he could, he settled into his seat between Leona and Whip, with Adel on the other side of him.

The blonde took a drink. "That's good," he said.

"It's a house beer here. They have some nice ones," he said, taking a drink himself. "It's one of the reasons I will come here for a couple."

Leona looked around the bar, clearly not being too into the amount of people, but also enjoying being around her friends.

"I can see why you don't frequent this place," she said.

"I'll take you to a couple of places I enjoy. Shen finds them boring."

The soldier laughed softly, enjoying another sip of her own beer.

Whip poked around the menu, seeing if there were any bar munchies that looked good at the moment while the rest sort of took in their surroundings. It was rather nice to be away from touristy spots, as much as this may not have been a place they'd usually frequent.

The three enjoyed their beers in relative silence, Duo Lon peeking over at a mahjong game and having to bite his tongue at some of the mistakes he saw being made, while Adel checked out the beer menu with Whip and Leona glanced at some of the other gaming tables.

After they settled back again after a time-still not having seen Shen-they eventually heard a string of Mandarin behind them; while the other two didn't recognize what it said, Duo Lon did very clearly.

"What do you mean, I lost?!" it exclaimed. It belonged to a male, and was somewhat rough.

The two saw Duo Lon grin.

"Excuse me," he said.

The two stood after him to watch; he walked up behind a man with messy blonde hair and an open shirt with the sleeves rolled up. As the man brought his fist up, Duo Lon caught it lightly and held it; the blonde tried to slam it onto the table, but couldn't move. Sighing, he turned around, shaking it free finally and glaring up at Duo Lon.

"How did you know I'd be here, asshole?" Still speaking in Mandarin, Adel and Whip couldn't understand him, but Duo Lon simply smirked slyly.

Shen Woo grinned as he stood to embrace the man in a hug.

"I had a feeling," the slightly taller man replied. "Call it instinct."

The wild man looked over Duo Lon's shoulder; he somewhat recognized the other three. Switching to English, he looked questioningly.

"Are you all here together?" he asked.

"Yes. They are my friends."

"You mentioned you made some new friends, and I couldn't believe it." He grinned.

Duo Lon ignored his teasing. "We decided to come here on vacation, and when I said I'd meet you...well, I had a feeling I knew where you'd be. And then I happened to overhear you about to send another table into the depths of hell."

Shen snorted, pulling a wad of bills out and going to the bar. "I need more beer. I'll see you back at your table?"

The assassin nodded, grabbing an extra chair to set it next to the round table. He sat back next to Leona; Adelheid and Whip were on the other side, still all with their drinks. While the bar was too rowdy for Duo Lon's taste-and Leona's, for that matter, it was Shen's favorite place, and he had not seen his friend for a long time, and the others were curious to actually meet him.

As the boisterous man returned, he set his beer down, and nodded to everyone.

Adel waved. "Hi. I'm Adel."

"Seirah. I remember hearing about you at the tournament."

Leona nodded and waved quietly; she still wasn't quite out of her shell yet. Duo Lon nodded understandingly to her.

"Heard about me, eh?" he grinned.

"Yeah, I told them how you drank us into disqualification."

"I apologized for that several times. You bailed anyway."

"Yes, I did. Only after we were disqualified." He rolled his eyes, but smirked anyway.

"So what brings you guys here? Just...vacation?" Shen asked, scratching his messed-up hair.

"Yeah. Just wanted to get away somewhere. Duo Lon suggested we come here."

"Like it so far?" he asked, taking a drink.

"I do. I had only been here in passing before, and all I saw were two hotels, some highway and the airport, so getting to actually hang around is nice."

"Where has he taken you? Probably none of the fun places."

Duo Lon sighed; the crew would soon get used to his reactions around the man. "They go wherever they want, Shen. You may notice they are adults. Unlike some people at this table."

Shen started to drink his beer almost sheepishly, glancing at his friend out of the corner of his eye, as Leona tried once again to withhold laughter. As always, this made Whip and Adel smile. Knowing the assassin was joking-mostly-he thought for a moment.

"Have you introduced them to baijiu yet?" he asked.

"On the plane, yes."

"The plane? C'mon. I'll buy everyone one here," he grinned, standing up, patting Duo Lon on the shoulder. "It's a lot better."

Whip chuckled. "Is he always like this?"

"Yes, basically."

"How did you manage a team with him?"

"Very patiently," Duo Lon replied, dryly.

Leona pat his leg under the table, smiling softly at him as Shen came back to hand out double shots to everyone.

"Thanks," the soldier replied when she got hers.

He nodded warmly at her, sitting back down.

"Cheers, then," he said, as they all took drinks; Duo Lon downed his own completely, as did Shen, while the others took halves...as they had the feeling that they may be drinking a bit more tonight.

"Any plans this evening?" Whip decided to ask him.

"I was just going to go back to my apartment and catch up on episodes of...one of my shows that I lose track of all the time." He looked around the table. "Want to come back to my apartment for a bit? We can even get a ton of crabs to go."

"I was waiting for you to bring up the crabs."

Adel grinned. "I'm listening."

"They're delicious, and I can't believe he hasn't taken you to get them yet."

"I was waiting for you," Duo Lon replied calmly.

"Well then. We'll grab a bushel and go back to my apartment, then. It's a...bit of a mess, but…any friend of his is welcome."

"It's fine," Whip replied. "Messes don't bother me."

"They sell them this late?" Adel asked curiously.

"Yeah, if you know where to go."

"How do you cook them?"

"I'll leave that up to him," he thumbed over to Duo Lon, who looked toward the ceiling, the look on his face a mix between amusement and exhaustion.

"Yes, fine," he sighed yet again, though smiled at the other three. For them, he'd gladly do so. "They're just steamed. It's nothing difficult."

"Let's get out of here, then."

It took about a half hour for the group to get to Shen's apartment once they left the bar; they took their time getting there, swinging by a market that held the rather costly crabs. Adel of course took care of it, as it wasn't like money was an issue for him. They then ended up walking up eight flights of stairs to Shen's place; the building was older, and Shen had waved them away from the elevator.

"That thing likes to stick on a moment's notice," he said. "Wouldn't suggest it in this weather. The maintenance gets here quick when you call 'em they're so used to it, but still."

Luckily, the crew was in excellent shape, so it was no issue for them.

Shen had an air conditioning unit in his one-bedroom, one kitchen apartment; it was surprisingly not as messy as they'd imagined, but more just cluttered up somewhat. Mostly it was some old drink cans and some glasses around, along with a variety of magazines. His walls were lined with a variety of CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes-musically, he seemed to be inclined toward sleaze and hair metal judging by his collection, and his movies did tend strongly toward the action and martial arts oriented fare, though there were also some various animated compilations...and more than a few adult-themed things, as well, to the surprise of no one.

He had a large, rather comfy looking couch and two big armchairs, and he actually had a balcony, as well, which he'd go out to smoke on often. He shut his bedroom door-this seemed to be a bit more cluttered than the rest of the apartment-and left Duo Lon to his own devices as the assassin rummaged around through his things to try to find kitchenware to steam the crabs in.

"Welcome!" Shen finally said, grabbing a few beers from the fridge and handing them out to everyone, setting one next to Duo Lon in the kitchen. The brawler slid his shirt off, tossing it aside before cranking up the AC as cold as it would go. He then slumped down on one of the chairs, as Leona sat on one of the others, and Adel and Whip took the couch. Duo Lon had put his pipe and his tobacco on the table, planning to smoke after he had gotten the crabs going.

"Thanks for having us," Whip said.

"Yes, thank you," Leona said quietly, opening her beer.

"Not a problem. Again, friends of his are cool with me. Thanks for splashing for the crabs."

Adel shook his head. "Not an issue."

"Where do you keep your tongs, anyway?" they heard Duo Lon say.

"I dunno," Shen answered. "Can't you guys stick your hands in boiling water or something?"

Hearing a deep sigh from the kitchen again, it was followed by some more clanging as he seemed to procure what he needed, with some soft muttering overheard, though it seemed to be in his native tongue.

This made Leona chuckle as she stood to go check out how the steaming process was while Adel leaned back on the couch, sipping his drink. Shen threw on some music with his CD player remote, though he surprisingly didn't blast it.

"Where did you guys meet my creepy friend, anyway?"

"He had been in contact with us for a few things," Whip replied, not going too far into heavy details, which Shen didn't press.

"I met him at a couple of the preliminary tournaments. We ended up sparring some...and let me say I am barely ahead of him."

Shen laughed. "Better than I do."

"You barely scratch me," the voice said from the kitchen, they heard water filling the pot. "Can you hand me that seasoning there?" he said more quietly.

"This one?" they heard Leona say.

"Yeah."

"Smells good."

"It's one of the only ones not dated from around the time of my clan's advent, so it should be alright."

They heard her chuckle again at this.

Shen snorted at his first comment, but then looked curiously on for a few more moments before shaking his head.

"Anyway, yeah. Was curious. He doesn't make friends easily at all. I dunno what scares people off first, the aura or the creepy tattoos."

"I'm right here, Shen," the voice said.

They heard Leona's laughter follow from the kitchen, unable, perhaps after a few drinks, to contain herself at the general situation.

After a few more moments, they heard doors shut and lids go on pots as Duo Lon came out, drying his hands off on a towel as Leona followed, handing him his beer afterward.

"Crabs are steaming," he said, sitting on the armrest of the one chair.

"You guys are in for a treat," Shen said.

Whip smirked at Adel. "Make sure you save some for the rest of us."

"Hey," he replied, scowling, though not serious. "I'm a guest."

After drinking some more, Duo Lon grabbed his pipe and filled it to take onto the balcony.

"I'll be back," he said.

Shen looked outside, nodding to the rest and grabbing his own cigarette. "Same here. Do whatever you like. Get more beer, if you need." Disappearing onto the balcony with his friend, he lit his cigarette as Duo Lon sat on the bench, blowing a thin stream of smoke out.

"Hey," said Shen. He spoke Mandarin to him at the moment.

"Hmm?"

"Can...you come back tomorrow sometime? Tomorrow evening. I got some things."

Duo Lon looked carefully at him...but nodded. "Of course."

"Thanks," he said, taking a few puffs. He relaxed a little more, looking over the city from where he was. "Looking forward to trying the crabs, though. Let's see if you make them as well as the place downstairs."

Duo Lon smirked at this, taking another puff of his pipe. "We'll see. I had to work with what you had in the kitchen."

Shen scratched his head sort of sheepishly. He was more of a salt, pepper, five-spice, soy sauce and hot oil kind of person, though had a few spare odds and ends lying around, some of which may have been a couple of years old. Most of his fare was packaged, take away, or eaten at restaurants.

Finishing his cigarette, he threw it into the ashtray as Duo Lon tapped the ashes of his pipe out, following him inside. He went to the kitchen to go check on the crabs, which were almost finished.

"They're almost ready," he told the rest.

Shen grinned, grabbing a bunch of plates and tossing them onto the table; that was about the extent as he actually set it. Duo Lon kept an eye on them for the last few minutes as the rest started to gather around.

Eventually, the timer went off; they were taken off the stove and removed, put into the biggest pot that Shen had, and taken to the table.

Adel stood. "Okay, then. Let me see what these things are about."

Whip looked at the pot. "Are there enough here for the two of them?" she pointed at both her partner and Shen.

Duo Lon shrugged. "Guess we'll find out. I'd take one now, if I were you." He smirked, taking a few of his own.

The five dug in, soon getting somewhat of the same feeling they had at the summer party a couple of months ago.

"Wow," Adel exclaimed, sitting back, a large pile of shells in front of him. "I might not be full yet, but those were delicious," he grinned.

"Told ya," Shen grinned.

Duo Lon wiped his mouth, having downed several himself. "Not bad. I've made them better. I had to work with some spices that were perhaps aged beyond anyone at this table," he teased.

Flipping the assassin off, Shen drank off his beer and belched. "Beer and crabs. Nothing like it."

Adel smiled. "We'll need to get these again. I think I'm going to start telling the cooks to import these."

"I'd be okay with that," Whip replied, a broad smile on her face.

"Where do you live, some mansion or something?" Shen asked.

"Well, we have land...mostly we're on our airship."

"Goddamn. Living on an airship? That's gotta be cool."

"You should come visit sometime." Adel already got images in his head of Henrik's reaction to the brawler.

"Yeah, Gwan will probably like you," Whip grinned.

"Gwan?"

"The panther cub."

"You have a panther cub?" He looked at Duo Lon, blinking, as if asking him where he found this one.

Duo Lon just shrugged, sipping his drink.

Leona just smiled softly and glanced at Duo Lon; she stifled a yawn with her hand.

Adel looked at her and stretched. "I, too, am feeling a bit tired. Food, drinks, and even an afterparty."

Shen nodded. "I know you gotta be jetlagged. When I fly in I usually end up sleeping all damn day."

"I'm used to travel thanks to the Sky Noah, but still, we've had a long couple of days."

Duo Lon stood. "I'll leave the cleaning to you," he said.

"Isn't it who cooks, cleans?" Shen said.

The assassin gave him a look that made the rowdy man throw up his hands nervously.

Whip had to laugh as she stood; the four soon got all of their things together.

"Thanks for the drinks," Adel said, shaking Shen's hand.

"Anytime. Come back. All of you. He'll cook again," he thumbed toward the assassin, whom he gave a hug to.

Whip and Leona also exchanged firm handshakes with the shaggy-haired man as they waved goodbye, starting to head down the stairs for their trek back.

"So that's what you had to deal with at the last tournament," Adel mentioned, causing Leona to laugh as she brushed a hand over Duo Lon's back lightly, causing him to smile at her.

"Yes. Yes, it was."

"Looking forward to seeing him again."

The four walked back toward their hotel, both a little tipsy and very content, having found themselves already comfortable and relaxed after just a short time here.

A/N: When Duo Lon mentions his province, he lives in what is basically the backwoods of Hebei. That province does see a lot of tourism due to the Great Wall and such, but he lives so far out in the middle of nowhere, he points out that English signage would be very rare out there.

Duo Lon catching Shen's hand to prevent him from pulverizing a table was actually done in his XIII team story, albeit they were in a French cafe. I decided to basically make it a thing with them.

The Shanghai Hairy Crabs are one of Shen's favorite foods; they're actually sort of expensive. They are steamed as a way of cooking them.

The Four Heavenly Kings of Breakfast actually exist, and consist of exactly what you read about. The soy milk comes in both sweet and salty; and people all have their preference. I decided Duo Lon leaned toward sweet soy milk(I recall reading in a few places, sweet soy milk was a little more prevalent in the North, though I'm sure even here there is very much a YMMV aspect to it, just like any food anywhere).

For those who missed Warrior's Respite, the fic where they discussed the trip in the first place, Duo Lon tells the story on how they never made it to the end of the '03 tournament; long story short, Shen drank himself into oblivion and they were disqualified. (They never showed the '03 brackets, and the team seemed to all split up at some point, Duo Lon going after Ron, Ash going after the mirror, that I decided to come up with a reason behind them never finishing.)