-Hebei Province, Day 6-

The aromatic smells hit Leona as she lay in Duo Lon's bed; a variety of spices, both sweet and savory, that made her stomach almost rumble right away. She could also catch some coffee in the middle of it all. It smelled like a comforting, homemade meal.

Sitting up in the dim room, she was only wearing her underwear and tank top at the moment, as she usually wore while sleeping. The bed had been comfortable, and while it had been smaller than what they usually shared, she didn't mind at all sleeping closer to him.

In fact, she ended up liking it very much. They often curled up together in hotels...but they also liked their space while sleeping to sprawl out now and again. Even then, though, they had found themselves entwined together in the morning more and more often.

Checking the digital clock next to the bed-one of the classic ones she sort of remembered seeing around the base as a child, though all black rather than the faux wood that seemed to be on all of them-she saw it was barely seven. He seemed to have gotten up rather early this morning, though he did seem to sleep more in shifts while on vacation, so he could somewhat be on his friends' schedule. He would do the same while visiting Leona, as well.

The air in the house was nicely cool, and the only light in the room so far came from the bedroom's one window, peeking through the dark gray curtains. Sliding out of bed and onto the thick carpet, she walked over to push them open, looking outside; she saw a fairly thick cloud cover in the sky today, promising rain, if she had to guess.

Stepping out and stopping by the restroom-the basement door was still closed, showing the other two still likely asleep-she hit the kitchen, seeing Duo Lon standing there at the stove. He had just thrown on his usual trousers, but was otherwise undressed, his hair quickly put up in the loose double-tail.

Having heard her moving about, he turned and smiled.

"Sleep okay?" he asked.

"Very," she said, coming up next to him to examine the stove. "What's all of this?"

"Tea eggs," he pointed at one pot. "I had already started these last night before we slept. I am frying some youtiao, though it is the packaged variety. And these are tofu brains," he said, pointing at the concoction he was making.

She chuckled. "I remember you mentioned those."

"The tofu is also packaged, so this is only semi-scratch, I'm afraid."

She shrugged, running her hand down his arm. "Coffee?" she asked.

"Right over there. The eggs should be ready if you want to try one."

Grabbing a cup-his coffee cups were black enameled ceramic-and one of the eggs, she sat at the table to continue watching him put the stuff together. Peeling the cracked egg and taking a bite, it filled her mouth with a very nice mix of tea and the traditional five-spice mixture. He had made them slightly soft in the middle, which she liked. She had these once or twice before at restaurants, though it had been a long time-she had somehow even kept forgetting to order them from the room service at their hotel. There was always, of course, something better about ones that were homemade, however.

After sitting around awhile, she scratched her head.

"Can I do anything?" she asked, watching him set up soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and chopped green onion into bowls; he then added tiny shrimp to each one before placing the tofu chunks-almost like big globs of the stuff rather than squares-into the bowls and garnishing with some more green onion.

"Well, you're a guest," he smirked at her. "But if you want, just get the bowls of the dipping milk ready. It's on the stove here. I already sweetened it."

She walked over to spoon some of the warm, sweet soy milk into four bowls to set around the table; he took the fried dough out of the oil and stuck it on another plate. The paper towel became soaked with oil alarmingly fast.

"These look healthy," she joked.

"That means they're going to taste better," he replied, a sly smile on his face. "That's still tame compared to some."

She chuckled at that, putting them on the table as well. The tofu brains were kept covered on the counter, waiting for the others to wake up, and he had already set plates on the table, as sort of a makeshift buffet. He finally put some pancakes out-sweet ones, covered in sesame seeds-to compliment the more savory tofu brains and tea eggs.

Leona grinned. "Thanks for all of this."

He shrugged. "Again, you guys are my guests, which I don't get many of around here."

Pausing for a moment, she faced him, brushing a hand down his face; looking at each other a moment, they met in a rather spontaneous kiss.

They didn't hear the other two coming up the stairs at the time, as they had walked up rather quietly, thinking Leona was perhaps still asleep. Adel had gone first into the bathroom, but while she was waiting, Whip went the rest of the way down the hall to the kitchen to see what was going on.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, grinning. "Good morning."

They quickly broke apart, as if the other two didn't already know what was going on between them. Between the time they had seen the bite and nail marks at the Sky Noah, or even when Whip had seen them come downstairs at the party, clearly disheveled in a way that most people weren't unless they had some 'bedroom time', there was no mistaking it. That said, they had never actually done much more than perhaps affectionately touch in front of them, the hand holding the other night being the first time Adel and Whip had seen them in a much closer sort of contact, so it did somewhat come as a surprise to see the two embraced in what looked like a deep, even somewhat sensual, kiss.

"Hi," Leona said quietly, scratching her head and going to poke around a particularly interesting sesame seed that had fallen onto the counter.

"Don't mind me," she joked, catching the tiniest hint of red on Leona's face, which was something she thought she'd never have seen in her lifetime. "Smells amazing."

Duo Lon coughed. "I said I would treat you guys, so here you go."

"I'll be out as soon as Adel's done."

Within a few moments, Adel came out of the bathroom, sniffing the air and rubbing his stomach.

"Okay, that smells awesome. I didn't know you could cook like this."

The assassin smiled. "It isn't completely from scratch, I'm afraid. Just somewhat."

"Still." He looked at the bowls on the counter. "What's this?"

"Tofu brains."

"Ohh so this is what it looks like," he grinned. "Smells really nice. So do the tea eggs. I had ordered those the night after the bar. But I have to try this stuff."

"I suggest the hot oil on it."

The crew gathered up their bowls and surrounded the table, complete with cups of coffee.

"Mix it up first," Duo Lon said.

Doing so, after adding some of the hot oil, Adel took a bite. "Okay, I like this. It's different. Savory. Some nice heat, too."

"Yes. You can get it sweet, as well. It doesn't have the green onion and such. I didn't eat that version as much, but it is nice."

Settling in, the crew started on dismantling their breakfast. Duo Lon turned out to be a fairly decent cook; while he never considered himself amazing at it, he was capable of putting together fairly tasty dishes, living much of his life on his own. He figured unless he wanted to spend most of his time eating takeaway, restaurant fare or packaged stuff-which he still did often-he should pick up at least some level of cooking.

The group really liked everything; being fairly open to dishes. Even the strangely-textured tofu brains ended up enjoyable for them. Duo Lon had told them to try dipping the youtiao in that as well, for a more savory bite to compliment the sweet, which they did.

They all demolished the tea eggs, and Duo Lon made a note to make these again. He had stocked on about three dozen of the things, given he knew they would be there about four nights. Not much was said at the table, as the group was too busy digging in.

Afterward, they settled back after a coffee refill. Adel sighed with a smile on his face.

"Okay. That was good. I gotta hand it to you. Semi-scratch or not this was great. You're better than me in the kitchen."

"And way better than me," Leona said quietly. She knew how to prepare ramen and heat rations.

The tattooed man waved his hand. "It's nothing." He stood, looking outside; he seemed to be in thought. "One second."

"Everything alright?"

"I need to check the weather," he said. Heading into his room, he opened his laptop to see. "Hmm," they heard.

"Rain?" Whip asked.

"Thunderstorms, actually. And they're not far away. Good news is, they'll probably be hitting in a couple of hours. The bad news, if we want to take the trip to those hot springs, we ought to go now, since walking there quickly is about twenty minutes. We'll have enough time there, I think."

Leona stood, going to get one of her towels from her suitcase in Duo Lon's room. She was quite looking forward to this, having liked the time in Adel's hot tub.

Assembling rather quickly with towels and whatever they were wearing for the walk, the four soon took off, wanting to get there sooner than later.

"Do...you even need to lock up?" Adel smirked.

"When I leave for longer periods I do, just in case an odd tourist shows up, but I've never had that happen before in my three years of living here," he said. "But now? Not at all."

Looking around at their surroundings, they truly were in the middle of nowhere. After Duo Lon's house was left behind them, there was nothing here except for nature. There were various chirps of birds and animals, though they were fairly quiet this morning; they suspected they sensed the storm coming soon, as animals could sense those things before people.

The wind picked up, though they really enjoyed the feel of it against their skin. The morning air was quite warm with the storm brewing, but the strong breeze counteracted it. All they could hear was the wind, the rustling of trees, and their own footfalls on the forest floor.

"It's so nice out here," Whip said, checking her surroundings.

"If you guys want to come here, just see where we go. I made sure that a path was basically cut and marked to this place." He smiled. "It's not like you guys don't know your way around the woods, anyway. I'm sure I wouldn't have even had to mark it for you."

Adel coughed. "Yeah, it's big a help for me," he said. "I will totally admit, getting around in nature is not my forte."

"I can get us here and back. Don't worry," she said, tapping his butt.

He grinned, rubbing the back of her neck as they continued.

It didn't take them much longer to reach the spring; they heard the gentle trickle of water hitting the pool as they got there, and could see the steam rising off of it.

"Here we go," he said. "It's just a small one."

The hot spring seemed to be set into the foothills. Nearby, the mountain range seemed to almost loom, even though it was a fair distance away still. It was a peaceful place, though the clouds were certainly rolling in quicker than they'd like.

"I really like it out here," Leona said quietly, feeling the nice, warm water with her hand.

Pulling his trousers off-Duo Lon had barely worn anything more to the place, since he knew he'd be jumping right in-he set his towel aside as he walked over to it, checking the water. It was nice and warm; quite warm, to be sure. He slid in, sitting on a rock at the side as some of the water splashed into it.

Adel grinned, and the other three began to slide off their clothes, too. Duo Lon checked the clouds, thinking for a moment.

"I hate to make this a more rushed one...but we'll probably want to be in and out in about twenty minutes or so. Before we go back, I'll try to take us all out here with some drinks for a much more extended time, perhaps in the evening," he smiled.

Entering the spring himself and letting the hot water hit him, he sighed, leaning against the side. "It's fine," he said. "This is just nice to relax in."

"I would suggest showering when we get back," he said. "It's clean, but it is a natural spring. I just like to come here to relax in the morning from time to time."

Eventually all four entered; Leona having worn a bikini bottom under her shorts, though she did slide off her shirt. She kept close to the assassin, however, and he gently stroked her back reassuringly.

This time, they didn't speak much. Mostly, they just wanted to enjoy the cool breeze-which was getting quite intense-the warm water, and the natural surroundings. The leaves rustled and bit by bit, the birds seemed to quiet down some more. As eerie as it felt, it was very relaxing.

Adel looked at the sky. "It's rolling in fast," he said. "I have to ask...your house doesn't flood or anything, does it?"

He smiled. "It hasn't before," he said. "I realize being in the basement might alarm you. But it's got good drainage, and it's sat through long-lasting hard rain with no issues. Your things will be fine."

"Does it snow around here?"

"Oh, yes. In winter I tend to visit fewer times, but spend some extra time here when I do. Usually I'll drop in once for two or three weeks in the early winter, and another couple of weeks later. I usually need to get some sort of larger vehicle to make it through the woods."

The image of Duo Lon behind the wheel of some sort of four-wheel-drive SUV was about too much for Adel, though he couldn't blame the guy for needing one.

"That has to look nice," Leona said softly, having slid down into the water considerably. Only her head and shoulders were sticking out.

"It does," he said. "Very nice."

Finishing their soak, they let themselves out of the soothing water; feeling the breeze pick up, the cool air hit their bodies and caused their skin to tingle. Standing for a moment with the towel around him, Adel smiled.

"Yeah, this is definitely peaceful," he said. "We'll have to come back for a better soak."

"We will, so long as it doesn't storm the entire time here. Which it shouldn't."

"I hope," Whip chuckled. "Though I don't mind either way."

Drying off and dressing-Leona quickly changing into her dry trousers while the other two weren't looking-they spent a few more moments lounging around the springs before they decided to start back. Within a few minutes of walking, they heard the first small rumbles of thunder.

"Ooh, good timing," Adel said, the wind whipping his hair about as the four picked up their pace, though at the same time enjoying the view of the mountains against the stark, gray sky.

The four had all showered and were now in various places around Duo Lon's home; it was still fairly early, despite them already having eaten breakfast, taken a long walk, and soaked in a hot spring. They had arrived at the springs around eight-thirty, and were back at the house before ten. The storm had hit soon after, and it was a fairly hefty one that was still going on. Looking at the weather map, the front appeared to be rather huge, though it wasn't flood-level rains or anything.

Leona was taking her time going through some of Duo Lon's music collection, poring over the shelves as the storm remained over them, the occasional rumble of thunder punctuating the sound of the wind and rain on the windows. She felt incredibly cozy here, though; there was something just plain relaxing being here during all of this.

As she reached another album she wanted to check out, she heard the basement door open, and some laughing from downstairs. Adel came through the door and closed it, glancing into the room and waving.

"Hey," he said, smiling. "Was just coming up for coffee."

"Hi," the soldier replied. "I got caught up looking at these."

"Want a cup?" he asked.

"Sure, thanks."

The blonde went to fix two cups, bringing one back to their host's room and handing it to her; he had said he had no issues with anyone hanging out there. Peering at the skull on the shelf and shaking his head, wondering what that thing was about again, he sat on the floor to lean against the beanbag chair as the rain continued to pound against the window.

"You don't mind, right?"

"Of course not," she said. "What are they up to, anyway?"

"They're playing mahjong down there," he chuckled. "They played it some at the Sky Noah, too."

Leona smiled at that. "He had started to show me how to play. Seirah is decent at it."

"He's kind of kicking her butt at it right now, but she manages a game once in awhile."

"Practice helps," she replied, checking the album.

He nodded at the vinyl she was holding. "Thinking about getting a record player, still?"

"Yes," she smiled. "He's definitely gotten me into the sound."

Adel seemed happy that she had discovered a hobby to keep her busy. "It is cool, even though it took some getting used to." He sipped his coffee, looking up at the window. "It's actually pretty awesome out here."

"It is," she replied. "Quiet."

"As much as I like the city, it's nice to get away." Thunder rolled outside as he sipped more coffee. "This storm is almost eerie. It's different in the city."

"We're the only people for about seventy miles, I'm pretty sure," she said. "When we were driving here, we drove away from the village. That seemed to it in terms of people."

He leaned back, enjoying the comfortable, somewhat oversized beanbag chair for a time. "How are you liking it so far on the whole vacation, anyway?"

"More fun than I've had in a long time. I mean...the party was so nice," she said. "I felt like after that I wanted more contact. Kind of...reminded me how much I missed everyone."

"Guess you just get lost in your work?"

"Yeah."

"I know what that was like," the blonde said, running a hand through his still-damp hair. "I figured out how to balance things now."

"Doing okay with the whole...investigation?"

"We probably know the same amount."

"That is true." She put one record back and took another out, sipping her coffee. The bed was still unmade from the night before; Duo Lon was a neat person, but he didn't really care about things like making his bed or leaving a few things scattered about.

Adel rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. "I should totally hold a fall barbeque or something."

Leona laughed. "That's random."

"I mean, it wouldn't be nearly as big as the company one. Just something for us and the guys if they wanted to come. But I find that they can be just as fun in cooler weather. Even more so. I remember going to one as a teenager. I was allowed to basically run about one night after I...won a particularly big fight," he said. "So I took advantage. I barely knew the people, but I went anyway, to take my mind off everything. And it was nice."

She smiled at that; she knew that he wasn't allowed too much growing up either. He had any money or material items that he might have wanted, but his life was that of training and whatever family business was forced on him.

"Count me in," she said. "I admit I'm not into hot weather, either, so I'd like to come."

"We can go anywhere, I guess, but I'll figure that out when the time comes."

She nodded, placing the album back on the desk before looking back over to his shelf. The skull caught her eye; Adel noticed her looking at it.

"So...where do you think that came from?"

"I'm sure he'll tell you if you ask." She had not asked yet, oddly enough.

He blinked, nodding. "My curiosity might get the best of me," he chuckled. Sipping his coffee, he continued. "You know, I'm not sure I remember actually chatting so much before."

"Yeah...I...after the party, I felt a little more...open, I guess?" she said, taking another vinyl to look it over, seemingly absently.

"It happens," Adel said, not pushing anything. "Could be anything. I...wasn't too open, either, for a lot of my life."

"Seirah was quiet, too," she said. Pausing for a moment...she wasn't sure if she wanted to say this, but she was desperately trying to figure out how to open up some more-just a little-around others who were not her direct teammates. "You know...it was...seeing you two at the party, that made me…" she trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"Hmm? Like...just being there?"

"When...we were smoking. In the attic. I...you guys just looked so...peaceful."

He sat up, setting his coffee between his legs as he continued to sit on the beanbag chair. Leona sort of examined the album she had in front of her, coughing once.

"Did that...I guess...I mean I don't want to pry, but…" He thought by mentioning it, she may have wanted to breach the subject. "Did it make you want to open up more?" he asked.

"I...maybe. I just wanted to know what it was like."

He smiled gently at that. "The first night we went out. Our first date. She fell asleep against me."

"You know...I remember her being very tired the next day," she replied.

He nodded, still smiling as he remembered. "But...yeah. I guess something...hit me then?" Shifting, he thought some more. "The next day, she came back. And that's when we kissed. I guess something just clicked inside of you that night, similar."

"Yes...I think something happened. Clicked is the right word. It was different. It was so...fast with us. But it didn't feel wrong. None of it felt wrong." She finally turned, able to face him, though still sort of stared over at one of the posters on the wall. "But we never really went past...whatever we have," she said. She never said everything they did, but she imagined Adel was fairly bright.

"I don't think you need to be...called anything," he said. "Whatever feels right. Seirah's my partner...who I do love. But you guys might be different."

Leona ran a hand through her hair, thinking about his words and thinking about how she had just decided to kind of start discussing this with someone. She wasn't even sure she understood all of this. In fact, she was pretty sure she did not.

"I know I trust him," she started. "And I know he's dear to me." She felt the odd butterflies in her stomach again; similar to the first time. Smiling softly, she looked at him. "But I'm almost worried to let myself think more. We like to make sure we don't crowd the other."

"I doubt you'd have to change anything," Adel said. "It's all up to you guys." Scratching his head, he chuckled. "I can't say I'm the person you want to dispense this advice...this was all new to me too."

She chuckled a little at that. "I guess we all are new to it. Maybe you guys just had...more."

"But...I guess the best thing I can say is...if you feel like bringing it up, do it. If not, then I don't think you have to. Whatever makes you guys happy."

"When we were...on top of the roof. Something just sort of hit me. I felt slightly differently than I had before. But not in a bad way at all."

"I noticed when you guys came to get us...something. I don't know what." He smiled. "It was nice, whatever it was."

She knew they were holding hands when they got to them; something they hadn't done in public before. "It just sort of...happened," she said.

"I...yeah, I'd say that feels familiar," he said, finishing what coffee was left and debating getting more.

She took another sip of her own, letting her thoughts swim around in her head. The thing that felt the strangest to her was the fact that they had done some insanely intimate and sexual things. Even that night at the party, they had opened up to each other far more quickly than they ever would have thought, but they just ran with it. And it felt like their intimate experimentation knew no bounds.

Leona just couldn't figure out why these other feelings were so strange.

"Why do I get this weird feeling in my stomach? We've done...everything," she said. She sort of looked down when she said it, even though she knew perfectly well that they knew.

"Maybe it's something else," he said.

"We're friends, though. Can you…" she folded her arms, looking down at the carpet. "I don't want to strain anything or force anything on him. I also like the freedom."

Adel smiled warmly at the blue-haired soldier sitting there, looking like she was truly discovering things. "I think that's up to you two. I don't think you have to be called anything. It's just...dressing. You can if you want. But I don't think you have to. I think you'll know what you are."

She thought a few more moments in silence, as she finished her own coffee. Trying to figure out how to word her next thoughts correctly, she eventually looked back at her teammate's lover, whom she did decide she liked as a friend.

"Can you love your friend?" she asked. "As in...more than that. But…" she trailed off, suddenly feeling like she botched her words.

"I consider Seirah my best friend on top of anything, if that helps," he said.

She looked down at her empty cup again, though had a soft smile on her face as she allowed her mind to sort through itself. Looking back up at him, her smile widened.

"More coffee?" she asked.

"Damn," Whip said, chuckling at what felt like her umpteenth loss.

Duo Lon smirked, sipping his own cup of coffee, which he had actually spiked with a little bit of almond-flavored liquor. It was still relatively early, but he figured it was a special occasion and it wasn't like alcohol hit him too badly. "You did alright that time," he said.

"I managed a game again so far!"

"You did, and you came closer other times. Have you been practicing?"

"A little, with a version on the internet."

"That's as good a practice as any."

"Yeah, Adel is more of a card guy. He tries it a bit, though."

"Much like Shen," the assassin chuckled. "He is okay at it, believe it or not."

Laughing at that, she sipped her own coffee, having passed on the liquor for now, not being much of a morning cordial person.

"By the way...thanks for inviting us. I know you like your privacy."

He smiled softly. "It was a spur of the moment thing. We were checking out the city from the hotel's outlook and…" he trailed off, not going into everything. "I decided I wanted to let you guys at least come see my home."

"Outlook?" she said, curious.

"Well, the secret one. I guess we went wandering. Technically people weren't supposed to be up there after hours."

"Leona...went somewhere she wasn't supposed to?" she blinked, nonplussed.

He nodded; he smiled softly, being more of a private type, he did not want to seem like he was sharing too much.

Whip didn't push; she just smiled back.

"Want another game?" he asked.

"Sure!" she said happily. "I could use a little more practice."

Setting up the tiles, he thought for a moment. He trusted Seirah, and while he was an incredibly closed book, he thought that maybe, perhaps, it would be alright to bring something up. She had always seemed incredibly curious about things.

"I...admit, I was highly amused that morning at the party when I saw your expression."

She laughed at this. "Was I that obvious?"

He nodded, chuckling. "It's okay, though. I...can't blame you given the circumstances." He pushed his bangs back, smirking as he examined his tiles.

She laughed softly. "It wasn't for a bad reason at all. I was happy to see it, to be honest. You helped out Adel so much. I've worked and trained with Leona for awhile. She's a partner, too." Shifting her own tiles, she looked at him. "I guess I was happy to see some sort of...opening up."

Duo Lon placed another tile on the table as he thought for a few moments; Whip followed, while he followed up again, beginning to set himself up for what he could see as another ideal situation. "I didn't expect it, but I was pleased with the outcome," he said, a soft smile on his face as he looked at the tiles.

She sat back, sipping her coffee and grabbing one of the small red bean buns they had brought downstairs to munch on. "It's weird isn't it? Like...you got there way early and had a few extra hours before we got there. I ended up on a mission with Heidern. We ended up in the right place at the right time, maybe." She took a bite, chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. "I'm still grateful for your help those two weeks in spring. Adel...needed it. He's strong, he was getting there, but...let's say it's not like him to reach out like that, and he did."

"Despite being more acquaintances with him, I liked his company the bit we had known before that," he said. "And...well, knowing a thing or two, I just got one of those...instinctual feelings, I suppose. I get those easily. Even from far away. I could hear it on the phone, and when I read the initial email, I could tell there was something bothering him, that he would reach out to an acquaintance about."

She nodded. It was an incredibly hard time for both of them. "I...admit. I was out of advice for him. I had never been out of advice. We were always able to like-give each other some sort of comfort, some sort of advice, on how to move past something." They had shared a lot; sometimes late at night, sometimes over wine or even stronger drinks, or just taking a walk. Sometimes he would drive to the hotel late, in the early days before they started sleeping together more often. "Anytime I would...doubt myself, he would have an answer. And I was able to help him often, too. But...I don't know what it was. I was lost on how to help him. He was lost on how to help himself." She smiled at him. "Whatever you did, it helped."

He smiled gently at her. "I...didn't do much. I just told him some things. I think he just needed to hear it from someone who had...gone through it, at least somewhat. He did the rest himself. I think the fact that he reached out to someone else-or recognized that he needed to reach out, was a big step."

"Even then," she said, smiling again at him. "Thank you. Wish there was something we could do in return."

"I...mean, it allowed me to get in more contact with you guys. While I prefer solitude, as you can see...I occasionally grew lonely. It allowed me to force myself to open up just a little more. It's been better." He looked over at his stereo for a moment, his eyes somewhat distant. "The party, that was nice too." A soft smile appeared on his face.

Whip had to smile broadly at that. "I'm glad for that. I admit when we first met...I didn't expect the tattoos. Or the extreme metal."

"No one does," he chuckled.

"Where do you get those?" she asked. She decided not to ask about the other obvious thing they had seen the times they had been in the hot tub, because she figured he had his reasons.

"Many places. I have gotten some done in Shanghai, in fact. I was considering adding more, but I would have to see how much time we have. Quite a few I had done through my clan, as well."

She didn't press those, figuring they may have had other meanings. Looking down, she realized she was losing again, before chuckling. "I wasn't paying attention that time, it seemed."

He smiled, sipping more of his drink. "I never did ask," he said. "How did you recover after your first time smoking?"

Whip laughed at that. "I felt so strange the next day," she said. "I think it was more the mix of the alcohol and the stuff, though."

"It can happen. I don't do it very often, myself. Substances had stopped affecting me very much after a time. Mostly it acts as a mellowing agent for me...I don't get the same feel of it anymore."

Having no idea what they went through for training, and knowing a lot of it was secret, she just nodded. "I think I was more surprised to see Leona smoking."

His expression grew softer at that. "She was curious, having tried it once."

"I sort of remember that. We've had our share of barbeques...company parties and the like. When she was just starting to open up, I think one of the guys suggested maybe she give it a try. I don't recall much after that," she said.

"It was nice...and sharing the music was nice too." He left the rest unspoken.

Whip tilted her head to the side, a gentle look on her face. The assassin looked off to the side, clearing his throat.

He actually looked somewhat shy at this moment.

"Hey," she said, leaning forward. "Whatever you guys have, I think it's wonderful. While she is as quiet as ever around the meeting rooms, she seems a lot more...content, in ways. She's always had us, and will always have us, but I think, somehow, opening up to someone outside of her circle has helped her a lot. I'm not here to pry, as...nosy as I looked that morning," she chuckled.

Duo Lon looked back at her, closing his eyes a moment, and nodding. A smile spread on his face.

"I…" he trailed off.

Whip pat the man's large hand, pushing the tiles back. "Thank you for the practice," she chuckled. "But I think I'm ready for a little break."

Coming back upstairs, Duo Lon peeked into his room, waving, a smirk on the corner of his lips. Adel stood, walking by to pat him on the shoulder before going with Whip to poke around the kitchen both to make more coffee and to heat up some sort of snack from the collection of food that they had.

Stepping inside, he shut the door behind him. Leona smiled at him from the table, placing another record back on the shelf.

"Have fun down there?" she asked.

"I did," he said, walking over to her to caress the side of her face as she leaned into it. The rain began to beat harder on the windows, with the storm seemingly not passing by for awhile more.

Kissing his hand, she stood to wrap her arms around his neck as he lifted her up, her legs finding their way around his waist as they continued to kiss, eventually making their way to the bed.

They both had words to say to one another, but they figured there would be time for that later.

A/N: This one was one of those pure character-chapters; no smut, no sparring, just the other halves of each...other half chatting with each other, since I realize that I hadn't really had them chat with each other much like this before, and thought it would be nice to do.

I think, much like the end, little else needs to be said.