-Shanghai, Day 12-

Stretching, Whip woke up slowly. The curtains in the hotel room were still shut, with only a bit of light peeking through. Sleepily checking the digital clock on the nightstand-no matter how expensive the hotel, or what part of the world you were in, these seemed standard everywhere you went-it read eight in the morning. Having turned in before midnight the night before and getting back to sleep quickly after Adel had come back into the room, she actually felt like she had gotten a solid night's sleep to make up for the shorter one the night before.

Sliding out of bed-not bothering with her clothes yet-she peeked outside, noticing it was mostly cloudy. She wasn't sure if there'd be rain, but it wouldn't really matter, as they were mostly just going to relax around today and then go to the fancy restaurant tonight for their sort of 'going away' dinner. Coming back into bed, she stroked Adel's hair before laying back, debating grabbing her laptop to surf when her lover yawned and turned over, his shaggy, sleep-tousled hair half in his face. He pushed it back and smiled, leaning his head near her thigh.

"Morning," he said, sliding an arm over her.

"Hey, you," she said, nuzzling him. "Feeling good, there?"

"Of course," he grinned. "I gotta say, those purchases we made…"

She shivered, grinning. "Yeah. I liked it. I can tell you liked it, too."

"Oh yeah," he said, kissing her stomach as she giggled; his fuzz tickled her. She slid back down in the bed, curling up next to him.

"Dinner at six tonight, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Probably should try to get there a little bit early. We can usually get seated a little bit early at these places."

"What's on the menu for this, anyway? I know you took me to a few expensive places before."

"Probably just an umpteen course dinner. We're lucky, we picked one that's slightly under the top, like I said...they tend to serve bigger portions, and feel less stuffy."

"You mentioned that I remember." She leaned her head close to him.

"Yeah, after going to a place that was over a thousand euros a head on a business trip, it felt more like I was at a funeral or something."

She laughed at that. "Yeah, this sounds better. I'm pretty sure Shen would explode at the other place."

"Hmm...wish I could just call for coffee."

"Well, we can, you know ."

"Yeah, you're right." He reached over and dialed room service, also ordering up some random things they liked.

Resting her head on his chest when he was done ordering, she absently checked her watch. "We're really gone in a couple days, aren't we?"

"Yeah, two nights," he said. "Gwan's going to jump on us as soon as we get in, you know."

"Oh, I know. That's why you're walking in first."

"Thanks," he grinned, rubbing her back a moment as he sat up, stretching his muscular form out. His nipple rings were about healed at this point; he healed rather quickly. Whip tweaked one gently with her finger, causing him to chuckle and smooth back her hair.

She then reached a hand over, stroking some of the scars on his shoulders and chest. Despite having been standing by his side through some of his most violent physical battles, she was still sometimes surprised at just how many scars they collected together. Due to her agility and her penchant for reachier, or even long-range combat, she tended to get hit less, but she still collected her own. To this day, she would sometimes wince seeing the hand where he caught the sword in his palm, and the massive scar across it, much like he would gently stroke the one near her neck.

The blonde looked softly at her as he lay back, sliding a hand behind his head as he would, before he yawned.

"Still tired?"

"A little. I sort of miss the gym. We've been walking a lot and I of course exercise here, but I miss the gym, and I miss sparring. I'll get soft."

"We've been gone barely two weeks. I'm sure you'll be fine." She kissed his forehead. "I think you could not fight for an entire month and still take most of us on."

He smirked. "I'll need to be in form when we have our rematch. Duo Lon is...not easy to beat," he admitted.

"I have faith in you. And if you lose, you'll come back."

"Of course I will. It'll just make me go harder next time. But I'll still try to win."

Reaching over to grab her laptop finally, she set one pillow against the headboard as she leaned against it, setting it across the sheet on her bare legs to offer some protection from the heat. He leaned against her to half-snooze waiting for the food as she checked the weather and the like; today there would be no rain, simply being partly cloudy, though still in the eighties.

"We might sweat a bit in the fancy clothing."

"It'll be nice in the restaurant." He hadn't opened his eyes.

"Looks like it'll be clear on Monday."

"Oh, that's good. No need to worry about delays or anything." He turned back over just as he heard the knock at the door.

"That our food?" Whip asked.

"I think so." He rolled out of bed, still naked; he rummaged around for a pair of shorts and threw them on as Whip quickly threw a tank top and shorts on herself.

He opened the door, nodding at the man and taking the cart in himself. Glancing next door, he didn't see a cart or any disturbances next door yet; he figured the other pair were still asleep.

"Coffee. Now," she grinned.

"Yes, m'am," he answered, grinning as he poured a cup.

Leona was sifting through her things as Duo Lon showered. She had first debated getting in there with him, but she knew he had a lot to do with his hair before tonight, and his hair was a three-hour ordeal. She would sometimes help him with it, cutting that time down some. The pair had actually gone downstairs for breakfast at the hotel restaurant, since they hadn't tried the breakfast there yet. They had found it rather substantial and tasty, all told.

After finding what she needed, she set aside her dress clothes. The soldier was not one for dressing fancy; she had her semi-formal military wear which consisted of her skirt, stockings, flats and nice jacket which she would wear around the base when necessary for more formal meetings, but this was usually not needed, perhaps only a couple times a month. Mostly she wore her favored tank top, cargo trousers, and boots.

But she had managed to find a rather nice looking dress that she both liked and felt comfortable in. It wasn't too long-coming right about to her knees-but it was actually on the more fitted side. It was black and had some slight sleeves, but left the shoulders bare; it showed a little cleavage, too, which she was comfortable enough with, given her usual tank tops and halters. She had a choker to wear with it, as well. The outfit would be topped with usual stockings and some very low heels-not quite flats, but barely elevated. She planned on letting her hair be in a looser, lower tail.

She had seen Whip's dress, which likewise looked very nice. She had opted for thinner straps for the top and showed just a bit more cleavage, but it was still on the rather tame side. Also more fitted, hers was also just a touch shorter, though not much. Neither young woman wore much in the way of makeup; just a very light application of eyeliner.

Having seen the suits the guys would be wearing, she thought they chose well. Adel's was a more classic, even old-fashioned fit, which suited the young man's aesthetic and regal air very nicely, while Duo Lon's was slightly more elaborate, and almost a mix of Eastern and Western styles, leaning a little more toward the former. She had never seen him in this; she had only ever seen him in his casual wear, an occasional qipao, and of course his elaborate, long coat that he would wear at the tournaments.

Noticing the shower turn off, she heard Duo Lon moving about to likely begin wrapping a towel around his hair to start squeezing the water out. After this, he would begin applying another soft-smelling conditioner to it.

From that, he would brush it all out while wet and then let it hang-dry before beginning to entwine it into his braid slowly. When he would just put it in the double-tail, his hair did not take him nearly as long; most of the time was just spent washing and conditioning it at that point. But the braid could take quite a long time to get right, especially when he would work the decorations into it, which he was probably going to do tonight.

The assassin stepped out some time later, having done the first part already. His hair was draped over his shoulder as he stood there nude. The soldier smiled at this, biting her lip.

He smiled back, though they both behaved themselves, as they knew that after dinner they would have the entire night for that.

"I'm doing it a little differently tonight," he stated.

"Oh?"

"I've done it like this before for a couple of formal events. Still a braid, but a smaller one...and another on the side. I'll show you when it's time." He moved around to slide his briefs on, before leaning by the window to look outside.

She came up behind him, sliding her arms around his waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. One of his hands slid over hers, stroking it gently.

His eyes closed, enjoying this newfound feeling of closeness. Their bond had grown considerably more during this vacation, in a way that neither were really used to yet-though they wholly accepted.

"Got everything pressed?" Whip called in as Adel stood by the mirror, finally shaving the several days of scruff that had formed off of his face. Opting for an electric shaver this time as he didn't want to risk cutting himself before the restaurant, he stopped for a moment to answer.

"It's all done," he said. "I didn't have too much." He clicked the shaver back on to finish off the bits of fuzz; rinsing his face after, he threw on a bit of his mild aftershave that Whip liked. He didn't wear it terribly often, choosing a more natural scent, but he did wear it on more dressy events.

They had both showered already. Adel's hair was combed back and drying, where his bangs would inevitably fall into his face after, but it always still looked nice. He had taken to wearing the front more past his chin as of late, and he allowed the back to grow slightly thicker, as well, though he still had kept it trimmed off his neck.

Whip's hair was past her chin as well, and she had taken to liking it like this. They both wandered around in their underwear as they got ready, having made a pot of coffee to sip as they did so.

"What time is it, anyway?"

"Four-thirty. We don't have to leave for about another hour."

"Ahh, nice," she said, sitting in a chair with her laptop and coffee, planning to send out a couple of emails while finally checking the menu of the place, since they had been curious in the morning about it. "Hmm. So this place serves abalone? And sea cucumber? I can't say I've eaten those before."

"I've had abalone, but I have actually never had sea cucumber, either. And I've eaten some very strange things at some of these places," he said, looking over her shoulder. She nuzzled his freshly-shaven face, his pale skin smooth. "Hmm. They also seem to be serving river eel."

"Is it all seafood?" she asked.

"Doesn't look like it. They have Wagyu on the menu, too."

"I know you've taken me to nice places around Europe before, but this looks like something else."

"Hope it's worth it," he chuckled. "Once in a blue moon you'll find one of these places is not worth the price of admission. It's never.. .bad, but sometimes the creations they have are so weird you'll wonder what's going on in the kitchen. Not to mention the portion sizes."

Whip laughed at this, imagining him being served some sort of one-ounce piece of fish and knowing exactly what his expression would be. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Adel moved to sit back on the bed and watched as she stood to sort her dress out; he had never seen her in the one she had chosen, but he could tell it would fit her toned, yet curvy body very nicely. They both still just wore their underwear at the moment.

"Have you had fun?" he asked.

She looked over at him. "Of course I have. I've gotten to go on a proper vacation that, so far, we have not had to plow our way through a dozen enemies on."

He chuckled; the two did have a fairly decent sense of gallows humor. "I know I'm not the most...exciting person on vacations. I think I had started to just want to do...nothing on them after having to constantly be on edge most of my life."

Walking over to him, the soldier smoothed his hair back as she stood next to the bed. She then pressed her forehead to his for a few moments.

"You realize that's one of the things I like, right?" she smiled. "I get enough adventure in my life. I like being bored during downtime."

He snuck a kiss; and then another. "Alright then. Just so long as I'm not boring you to death."

"You could never bore me," she said, kissing him again. "How many people would do what you did to me on the airplane?"

Grinning, he pulled her to the bed as she squealed in delight; he felt they had enough time before they had to get dressed to perhaps indulge in a little fun.

"It's...been a very long time since I've been somewhere formal," Leona said. She was walking around in her underwear, brushing her hair. She planned on wearing it in a tail, though slightly lower than she usually did.

"Don't have too many formal events with the company?"

"No, they're more into the types of parties we were at," she replied, smiling softly at this. "We dress up a little for certain meetings, but that's about it."

"I don't wear these too often myself," he said, waving toward the suit; he was just sitting there in his underwear for now. His beloved coat was quite fancy, but underneath he often just wore a qipao and trousers; clothing that allowed him to move freely in combat. He grabbed one of his large dress boots off of the floor to polish it.

Leona watched him; the boots were black and came roughly to his ankle. He didn't polish them to a blinding sheen, but more a subtle finish. It had been awhile since he had to wear these for anything, so they were in slight need of a clean up. They were fine, though also heavy and easy to move in for combat; knowing that he would sometimes have to dress formally and then fight, it made sense.

When he was finished, he placed them down and went to stand to at least get his trousers on. His hair was done in its slightly modified style; the front half on his left side was worn down, somewhat over the side of his face, while the other had a smaller braid in it. The back was also in a long braid, though just thinner than his usual one since he didn't put his full head of hair in it this time.

Leona went to touch it; she always loved touching it fresh after the shower, when it was dry.

"You look really good with that," she said softly. She often wasn't one to actually vocally compliment. Not because she didn't think he looked good; on the contrary, she found his sleek, muscular, tattooed form gorgeous.

He smiled at her, pushing back some of her hair and tilting her head up. "As do you."

The two finished getting dressed, Leona being quite stunned when she got to see him fully decked out in the suit. The feeling was mutual when he saw her with her hair pulled back a little lower than usual and in her dress, her toned arms showing nicely through the open shoulders.

Ending with putting on her choker, she had a little trouble fastening it from behind when the assassin noticed. He came into the bathroom to help her fasten it before gently touching her. She smiled up at him; he could tell she was slightly out of her comfort zone, but nothing too bad. Looking back at herself in the mirror, she touched a scar on the same shoulder that he touched.

"It's strange. I wear a small shirt out and about. But when I'm dressed up I feel...like...something's off?"

The assassin smiled gently before leaning down to kiss the mark she had just touched. "I understand. We can just change as soon as you get back," he smiled.

She turned, looking up at him and touching his mouth gently.

"I don't mind wearing it at all."

"You are lovely in it. Just so you know." He felt he was sort of...bad at this kind of thing, but he would try.

"Thank you," she said, pushing back the braid on the side of his head before meeting him in a deep kiss.

They embraced for a time before separating, going next door to meet their friends.

"Another limo?" Shen said, the man settling into the back seat.

"Of course," Adel grinned, shaking his hand firmly.

The crew had met Shen in the hotel lobby as they had all piled downstairs; he had been relaxing on one of the huge, plush chairs as other affluent people had moved about the giant lobby. The limo had arrived only a few moments later.

Shen actually looked very presentable; his usually shaggy hair was combed back nicely and he had shaved the nearly constant scruff from his chin. His suit was black, as was his slightly crooked tie; his shirt was a similar color of pink to his favorite, and the two went very nicely together. His black dress shoes were likewise clean, and he smelled of a pleasant, mild cologne.

"The rough brawler cleans up rather nicely, I see," Whip said to Duo Lon, a smirk on her face.

"I'll have to help him with his tie again, but he does on the occasion that the mood strikes him."

Snorting and flipping his friend off again, he nonetheless settled back in good spirits as Duo Lon adjusted the man's tie. To give Shen credit, it was mostly straight.

The drive to the restaurant was not long; perhaps fifteen minutes through the city, closer to twenty due to the traffic, but it was very pleasant in the air-conditioned limousine. Having to walk the distance to the restaurant would have gotten the nicely-dressed bunch rather sweaty by that point; had it been a nice fall evening, where jackets would have been needed, it would have been another story.

"By the way," Shen added. "Are we still up for the crabs tomorrow night?"

"Of course," Adel grinned. "We can even go out again. Might as well."

"Alright, it's settled," the brawler said, shifting and examining one of the decorations on the door. "We'll pick a time tomorrow after we wake up."

A few more minutes passed and the limo pulled up to the restaurant; they were let out by a suited man and greeted with a bow. They were taken in through the door and let down the hall, the five cutting both an intimidating, but incredibly regal air. Reaching the small podium where the host stood, he smiled and nodded.

"Party?"

"Bernstein," Adel said.

"Thank you," the man replied, checking his name off. "This way."

He led the five through the small, yet very fancy looking place; it was done up in black, purple, and gold mostly, with soft lighting. Another group-about ten people-were situated in another room, and another smaller party of four were off in another area. He led their group to their own room, making sure to help seat everyone around the large, fancy table. Shen, Duo Lon, and Leona sat on one side while Adelheid and Whip the other; there was plenty of room to keep the dishes in the middle of the table, but it was easy for the five to talk. Ice water was presented at the table, served in strange, almost chalice-like glasses colored dark purple, and this was followed by the extensive wine list.

"We're getting the chef's special menu," Adel said as the waiter walked off to allow them to look over the wines. "So it's already set. That's how these places usually go."

"Fine with me," Leona replied, a small smile on her face as she sipped the water.

"I'm sure we'll find enough we like on it," Whip added.

The waiter came back swiftly, and Adel ordered up bottles of their finest red and white wines, so the group could choose depending on what they were being served.

"Are you ready for the appetizers?" he asked.

"Yes," he replied.

Nodding, he turned and left to first present the wines to everyone, filling their glasses with whichever they wanted. The group started first with red, and would have some of the white with dinner.

Lifting their glasses, they smiled. It was a silent toast, but they didn't have to say much.

"Hey, thanks again," Shen said after his first sip. "I don't think I've ever had wine this good before. Maybe close?"

"Possibly at that wedding," Duo Lon chuckled.

The brawler grinned, scratching his head.

His friend smiled back silently and sipped his wine as three waiters came out to put some small plates around the table. A cart was brought out with the initial appetizer platters. Bringing the food around and setting them at each place, the head waiter stood back to present the food as he pointed to each item.

"Deep-fried oysters. Over here we have fine barbecued pork. And finally, river eel, roasted, with a sweet soy sauce." He bowed his head. "Take your time and enjoy," he added as he and the other two left the group to their devices.

Duo Lon sniffed the plate, nodding in approval. "I have had everything here at some point, though I have not had eel cooked exactly this way, and I'm sure everything here is far better than I have had it."

"Same. I've eaten eel, but not like this," Whip replied.

The five dug in; Shen with decent enough table manners that it actually surprised the others just a little. The group was all competent with the chopsticks given to them, though forks, knives, and spoons were also offered.

"Mm," Leona said after she tried the eel. "This is excellent. It melts in your mouth."

Adel tried, smiling. "Oh, yes."

"Wow. I've never eaten seafood this good ever, I don't think," Shen quietly marveled. "Save for the crabs."

The group set upon their appetizers rather quickly. They were quite hungry, having only eaten breakfast in the morning and a midday snack, choosing to save their appetites for the big, multi-course meal.

Plucking up a fried oyster and chewing it, Whip grinned. "These are usually so rubbery in my experience," she said. "Not here. I don't think I ever had an oyster so tender. Especially deep fried. Deep fried clams and oysters can get so dry."

The five continued to make their way through their plates, Shen uttering a small burp when he finished, but managing to actually keep it fairly discreet.

"I sort of want to start getting roasted eel at the Sky Noah, too, now."

"Those chefs are gonna be in for it," Whip chuckled.

Duo Lon smiled at him as he sipped some of his wine; he had poured himself a second glass with some white with the appetizer, as he liked it with seafood. "It is enjoyable. I have eaten eel many times, but not as good as this."

Leona finished her last oyster. "I don't think I've ever eaten seafood this good before."

The waiters eventually came back. He did not rush them, but when he saw they were finished, their spots were cleared at a fairly quick rate so their next courses could be brought out.

This bunch of food had a decidedly different look; most of the tourists had no idea what to make of it. Neither did Shen, for that matter.

"Double-boiled sea cucumber with matsutake," he started. "And a chicken-based soup with bamboo pith to lighten things." He bowed again, the waiters once again stepping out.

Adel cocked his head to the side. Everyone did, to be sure, except for Duo Lon.

"What's...bamboo pith? Is it like the inside of bamboo?"

"Contrary to its name, it is not," he said. "It is actually a type of mushroom that grows on bamboo. I have not eaten it before myself, but I have known clanmates who have, so this is new for me, too."

Shen poked the sea cucumber with his chopsticks. "I definitely haven't had this."

Whip smiled, checking it out. "Yeah, I can definitely say sea cucumber is something I never considered. I remember seeing it on the menu, but didn't know what it looked like cooked."

"I've had it once or twice," the assassin mentioned. "Interesting texture. It may not be to everyone's taste, but we'll see."

As the group began to eat, Leona nodded at the soup. "This is nice. I like the mushrooms."

"Yeah," Adel agreed. This is good."

Shen, on the other hand, tried the sea cucumber and sorta grimaced. "Okay...this is uhh...a little slimy for me?" he chuckled.

Whip tried some herself. "I...hmm. Flavor is good, but the texture is…"

"Left wanting," Adel said.

Duo Lon chuckled. "It's definitely a more acquired taste. Or texture, perhaps."

"I like the soup, though," Shen added. "This is damn good."

They once again polished off what they wanted; the waiter smiled a bit at some of the sea cucumber left-he knew quite well that it was a bit of a hit-or-miss with people, no matter how fine it was made.

"Can we wait a bit?" Adel asked. "If you guys want."

"I was just going to say I wouldn't mind having a pipe."

The waiter bowed. "There is a smoking room in the back."

"I'm fine," Leona smiled.

The group agreed to take a break as Duo Lon packed his pipe and excused himself; Shen raised from his seat and removed a cigarette from his pocket.

"I'll be back, too," he said, leaving the three at the table to chat.

No one else was back there; Duo Lon sat in one of the plush black seats and lit his pipe, blowing out a thin stream of the smoke. He had selected his fine, more expensive blend for the night. The smoking room was done in the same mostly black-and-gold decor; he liked the purple trim, as it matched his preferred aesthetic when he was at a tournament.

Shen settled in the chair near him to light his cigarette. He smiled at the assassin; it was now near the end of the trip, so he finally decided to breach a particular subject with him.

"Alright, I've held it in long enough," the brawler started.

His friend stayed silent, though smiled back, knowing where this was going.

"Yes?" he asked.

"What is going on with you two?"

The assassin smiled softly, watching the smoke of his pipe absently. "We care very much about each other," he said, trying to figure a way to word it.

"I could tell the first time you were at the house. I remember her at the tournament. She was so...quiet. Serious. Occasionally, at best, flashed a smile to her teammates maybe...once. But...otherwise, all business. At the house, I felt something different. She was laughing."

Duo Lon nodded, taking a puff. "Remember that weekend where I went to their company barbecue to see Adel and Seirah?"

"Yeah, you mentioned you had a good time there."

"We grew extremely close that weekend," he said.

Shen blinked, not exactly sure what his friend meant by that. "Was that the first time you met?"

"No, we had met a few times in passing when I had done a few favors for Commander Heidern. We made some small polite conversation from time to time. That morning, I had ended up at the manor their group had rented very early, so spent much of the morning speaking with her over coffee, waiting for everyone else to arrive. And…" he trailed off, looking down...almost looking a little flushed, which was rare for the usually completely calm man.

The brawler actually laughed at this, taking a long drag of his cigarette, trying to parse what he was telling him. To see the assassin actually looking somewhat flushed told him a lot more than he was saying. "I...never would have…"

"We promised to keep in touch...and we simply spend time together when we can."

"So are you…"

Duo Lon shrugged. "We don't call ourselves anything. We care very, very much about each other." He took another drag of his pipe. He still wasn't sure if he could mention his true feelings to anyone but her.

"Wait, at the party, did you guys…"

His friend simply looked at him with his eyebrow raised; he would let Shen's instinct decide that.

"Yeah, I know I ain't getting that out of you either way," he chuckled. "Hey, whatever works. I just...I had a feeling. Just how you were acting at the house."

"You've always had a good instinct.."

"Always needed it. Not as good as you, though. I can't see through people like you can."

"And I have always needed that."

"I liked seeing you more laid back than usual. You're so damn stuffy half the time."

He shrugged, though nodded once. "Your tie is crooked again," he said, reaching forward to fix it.

About halfway done his smoke-he was taking his time-he crossed a leg over the other. "I...feel like I should thank you again. For...making you get your hands dirty. On your goddamn vacation, no less." While they were in private, he still stayed vague, just in case.

"You made me do nothing. You asked me for a favor and I chose to do it because I did not want to see things get worse. By the way, how are things on that end?"

"Much better. The scum cleared out after. Hadn't heard so much as a peep from them for now. The one fellow is out of the hospital, though getting around slowly, so I still help them out."

Duo Lon smiled at this; he knew Shen, deep down, was a decent man, once you chipped and scrubbed away most of the rough exterior.

"Stay out of trouble. I'm going to be traveling a lot again."

"I know. But I also know I can call you back."

"So long as I'm not working for the clan."

"Of course. And I'll try not to take you away from your lady," he grinned.

The taller man simply looked at his pipe, smiling softly. He took another puff; he was almost finished.

"I wouldn't call us as owning the other."

"Oh, you know what I mean." Shen laughed and took another drag of his smoke, almost getting to the end.

"I'm sure Adel would be happy to have you at the fall cookout we plan on doing, though."

"Just let me know. I'll see if I can make it."

"Of course."

"Sorry I couldn't be around as much. Had business. You know."

"We were at my house for several days, anyway. I know how much you like the countryside."

Shen finished his cigarette and laughed at that, standing. "I'd have put up with it."

Duo Lon finished his pipe as well, tapping it out. "Let's get back."

"Yeah, I'm still hungry. I'd like to see what's next."

Stepping back into the place, they saw Adel wave.

"You guys ready?"

"Yes." The two took their seats again as Leona stroked Duo Lon's hand under the table at his return, smiling at him.

He returned it, taking a sip of his wine with his free hand as Adel waved the head waiter back out again to begin their next courses.

They were ready to go fairly quickly; piping hot and fresh, this was the beginnings of the more proper courses, and so were more substantial. The smell of them set Adel's mouth to watering. While the appetizers were rather good-the weird texture of the sea cucumber aside-now they were serving up a large seafood assortment that was placed around the table.

"Braised Lobster in chicken broth," the man started. "Stir-fried lobster with shallot. Here is steamed egg white topped with lobster and some of our finest ham." He bowed, leaving the crew to begin sampling this; the entire crew seemed to be grinning at this one.

"This is more my thing, I think," Whip said, forking some of the perfectly steamed egg into her mouth; salted to perfection, the ham melted in her mouth.

Adel started to almost inhale the lobster until he looked around, coughing. Deciding to try to slow down some, he looked over at Shen.

"You got a place we can go tomorrow, you said?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you guys outside the hotel."

"You're going to come to the manor thing we have this fall, right?"

"I hope so. I should be alright to come."

They dug into their food some more, Leona very much liking the lobster and shallot, devouring that fairly quickly. Seirah liked the lobster in chicken broth. Unlike the last dish, the entire crew finished every bite of this one.

Washing it down with some ice water, Adel grinned at his empty plate.

"Now let's see what's next."

"Already?" Whip said, a sly smile on her face.

He just shrugged, adjusting his tie.

The waiter noticed how quickly they had finished and began to bring in the next dishes. At this point, they were less concerned about what they were eating, and more just enjoying the company.

They were poured more rather pricey wine-Adel not even caring about this-and the next dishes were presented.

"Braised abalone, with coral leopard grouper." Bowing, he left.

Shen took one look at the abalone, and began snickering. Duo Lon looked over at him, rolling his eyes; Whip looked at Adel, looked at Shen, and began laughing herself.

"Really, Shen?" Duo Lon said, beginning to work on his plate. He was clearly trying not to smirk at his friend's antics.

"I mean...look at this…" the brawler said, forcing himself to drink some wine.

"It's seafood, Shen," Whip giggled as she dug in.

"Anyway," Adel said before Shen could spit wine out of his nose, "We got one day left after this. Crabs tomorrow night. What else are we doing?"

Duo Lon thought as he made his way through his fish. "I was considering getting a little more ink added to my arm. There's a parlor that I like to frequent here. Nothing too long-maybe a two or three hour addition."

Leona smiled at him. "I'd like to watch."

"If I go-I'm not sure yet-please do, but it's boring."

"I don't mind."

"I think I'm going to go hit the mall one more time," Adel said. "Just to go poke around."

Shen quickly ate the shellfish so he could stop snorting laughter like a twelve year old. "Just call me when you're all done," he said, washing it down with his wine.

Once again, they deeply enjoyed the dish; they were all fans of seafood, and this stuff was all at a texture that was to their liking. The grouper was tasty and flaky.

"Part of me wants to keep going," Adel said. "Part of me wants to sit for five minutes."

"I think sitting might be a good idea, hon," Whip said, patting him on the hand and giving it a squeeze. She sipped her wine, trying to pace herself, as they did have two bottles there.

Allowing the waiters to once again clear everything, Duo Lon thought a moment, his finger on his chin.

"You know, I really don't mind cooking our last night here. If we get the crabs like we did last time, and make sure Shen's spices do not predate the-"

"I told you I got new ones, you ass." Shen grumped.

Eying his friend, he coughed. "Anyway, if you don't mind us coming over one last time. Instead of the restaurant."

"Of course not. I'd rather you guys be there, anyway." His rather fake irritation turned into a grin.

Adel nodded. "While I'd gladly take us out, I think there's something...nice about being in a home for the last day."

The group quickly agreed on their change of plans as the perpetually-hungry blonde waved the waiter over to start preparing for the next course.

"We'll get in touch with you after we're done packing and doing what we need to tomorrow," Duo Lon said to his friend. "We'll get the crabs after and bring them to your apartment."

"I'll get the beer," Shen grinned.

The waiters walked in again, presenting the crew with some incredibly finely prepped cuts of meat.

"Pan-fried Wagyu beef stuffed with black truffles and mushrooms."

The crew all looked at each other and grinned, Shen having to stop himself from shoving his napkin into his collar.

Another hour and two more courses later, and the crew found themselves staring at their dessert; mango sago cream with bird's nest and a side of almond jelly. Ordering some cherry liquor to go along with this, Duo Lon grinned as he pointed at the jelly.

"Now this, my friends, is what I meant by good almond jelly." He spooned up some.

Leona followed suit, smiling at it. "This is so good."

"It beats the packaged fare I fed you all by eons."

Whip, practically panting at this point, looked at Adel with amusement, who had started to practically inhale the dessert; she knew he could probably eat a burger after this outside.

"I've been with you a year, and I still don't know where it goes."

He shrugged, smirking.

Shen, halfway through devouring his dessert, smiled over at Adel.

"Thank you again for bringing me. I didn't expect this."

"It's no problem. Was glad to meet you."

"I still wanna chance to spar whenever I get to Europe."

"Oh, I'll be waiting," Adel said, cracking his knuckles. Duo Lon looked between the two posturing and snorted laughter.

"I want to hear how your next match goes with him, too," the brawler stated.

"We'll see," Duo Lon replied, finishing off his dessert before sipping some more of the cherry liquor. Thinking for a moment, he grabbed his pipe again, nodding to the rest. "After dinner smoke," he said, getting up.

This time, Leona stood to go with him to the back room to spend some time. Shen looked over, and decided to let them be alone back there; he could have his smoke at any time. Looking back over at the other pair-Whip leaning back in her chair looking like she would burst if she ate any more-he folded his arms.

"What's it like living in a...big airship?"

"It's like an estate in and of itself. Our grounds are wherever we are docking...this gets taken care of through my staff. Inside, it has three floors and a lower area, mostly for maintenance. We set up a couple of temporary structures outside. We've been docked in Köln, being from Germany."

"Do you guys have like...other estates?"

"We do. A couple of manors. Apparently someone had uncovered a small castle in Austria that may have been linked to one of our great-great grandparents, and if that does come out to be true...I suppose we will own that, as well."

"...When were you going to tell me about the castle? " Whip asked pointedly, squeezing his hand.

"I...can't believe I forgot to tell you," he laughed.

"He forgot he might own a castle," she said to Shen, giggling.

Adel looked between them and scratched the back of his head.

"It's okay. I get absent-minded myself."

Whip took Adel's hand and squeezed it, rubbing it with her thumb affectionately. "You two seem so close," she said to Shen.

"Yeah, somehow, we became closer friends after that tournament, and it just stuck. Even before that, we ended up meeting during a chance smaller tournament. I watched him fight. He took the entire thing, including beating me," he said. "I couldn't believe it."

"He...entered a tournament?"

"It wasn't for fun," Shen said. "He was after someone. It was part of the ruse."

"Smart."

"He had to win it to get close to who he had to. I could see nothing was stopping him. I ran into him again afterward and we shared a drink; I was a little mad he beat me...but after seeing what he could do, he comes from a different world. I grew up fighting, but I mostly fought street punks most of my life. He...you know. He just made me want to get better."

"I hear you're one of the only people besides us that he likes to spar with for fun," Whip mentioned.

"I guess so," he grinned.

At that, the pair that had gone to the smoking room arrived again, Duo Lon pocketing his pipe and sitting back down after he pulled out Leona's chair. She touched him briefly on the arm as they arrived.

"I was just telling them when we met."

The assassin nodded. "I still remember."

The waiter arrived again, bowing. The bill was already long taken care of; this place was paid in advance, in full, so they were able to do whatever they wished.

"Can I get you more?"

Adel thought, looking around the table. "Everyone here okay?"

"I wouldn't mind having a walk soon, now that I think about it," Whip said. "I think if I start moving I'll digest faster. And not feel like I want to go to sleep where I'm sitting."

"You know, we're about a half hour walk from the waterfront," Duo Lon mentioned. "It ought to be nice there at night."

"What time is it?"

"Around eight-thirty."

"I'm up for it," Leona said. "It was nice there yesterday."

"Well then." Adel finished all of his drinks; he had a small buzz, but nothing bad. The crew had drank so much the past three days that their tolerance was likely higher than normal.

The group stood, bowing to and thanking the waiters, who returned the thanks and escorted them to the front, where everyone stopped by the restrooms to get ready for their walk. Stepping out front, there was a nice breeze for once; it was still quite stuffy, but it offered some relief.

Duo Lon pointed them toward the waterfront and the four followed their friend toward their next destination.

"Shen, what do you do around here, anyway?" Whip asked, curious as she leaned against the concrete side, looking out over the water toward the sparse ships out and about. The waterfront still had people this time of night, and was well lit, but it was a little more desolate than during the day, as Duo Lon had showed them to a slightly more secluded area. The wind whipped the hair about all of their heads, but they enjoyed both it and the smell of the water. After they had walked the half hour here, they had been somewhat sweaty, but they were swiftly cooled off. Most of them felt slightly buzzed or tipsy from the alcohol at dinner, though could also feel that the amount of food they had eaten was probably absorbing most of it.

"I make sure things stay good in some local neighborhoods," he said after a few moments. "Best way I can put it."

She smiled at that, imagining she knew what he was talking about. "I realized I never did ask you the day we were all hanging out."

"I also do a lot of underground fights. And gambling. And fighting over gambling," he chuckled. "I get hired to guard people too. Or things. Whatever they want."

Duo Lon smiled at that. His suit was still on normally; Shen and Adel had both opened their suits somewhat at the collar after they had gotten to their location; Shen had also rolled up his sleeves.

The five were at this point all lined up at the concrete wall and leaning on it; Shen was in the middle with the other two pairs on either side of him as the cool air hit their faces.

"I guess you're gonna enter whenever the next one hits?" Adel asked.

"Of course."

Duo Lon peered at him. "I know you might want to stick with the old team," he said. "But I'll have to investigate some things on my own."

"I get you. I don't blame you. Just to tell you, though...if you kick our asses, you better go on to win the damn thing," he said.

"I plan on it," the assassin said. He understood Shen wanted to check things out his own way. Taking out his pipe, he began to pack it with his after dinner blend as some of his loose hair whipped about his head. Leona smiled over at him; she pushed back a little of it so it went behind his ear so he could smoke more freely. Lighting his pipe, he smiled back.

Shen took a cigarette out himself, lighting it on his steel Zippo lighter after snapping it open with two fingers. "Gonna go visit the younger fellows tomorrow," he said. "But I'll be ready later on."

"Just call us."

"Younger fellows?" Adel asked him curiously.

"Long story short, I watch over a couple of neighborhoods," he said.

"I gotcha. That's pretty cool."

"I dunno what's up with that area that seems to attract trouble, but it does."

"I think every city and town has it. Köln certainly has a few seedy areas. So does Frankfurt."

"And then there's South Town," Whip chuckled.

"Ahh, yes," Adel smirked, "One big, seedy area."

Shen laughed. "I don't think a day went by where I didn't fight there."

"Even I have gotten into more than one brawl there," Duo Lon agreed with a wry chuckle. "And it wasn't even your fault."

The group went back to a comfortable silence as the two men smoked and the others simply watched the odd ship go by out in the distance. Stretching and checking his watch, Adel stood back some.

"I'm about ready to head back to the hotel. Unless you want to stay," he said, looking at Whip.

"Oh, I'm fine to go back. I had my fun."

Shen finished his smoke before tossing it. "Look, I wanted to thank you again. I don't think anyone's spent that much on me in one go before. For dinner. This guy bought me a plane ticket once or twice."

Duo Lon coughed, eyeing him. "Once or twice…"

The blonde-whose hair had now become more windblown again-scratched his head, pretending to look out over the water. "Anyway, thanks again."

Adel patted the man's broad shoulder, nodding. "Anytime. Tomorrow night, then?"

"Yeah. See ya then." He and Duo Lon exchanged a firm handshake.

Leona smiled and waved; one hand was holding Duo Lon's arm lightly. The assassin almost didn't notice...though to be sure, she was barely aware she was doing it herself at this point.

Whip waved, and the four separated to go back to the hotel as Shen moved the other way; he was looking to hit up his apartment quickly, change out of his suit and then go hit the bar for a little raucous fun.

"Wanna walk or take a car?" Adel said.

"I don't mind walking. We're pretty close," Whip answered, taking his hand and interlocking fingers with him as they continued back to the hotel for their second to final night away.

A/N: Whew! Well this was a pick-up from the last couple chapters at least, even though it was still a lot of chatting, wining and dining, it was at least a bit more substantial than the past couple of chapters.

While the restaurant was a 'KOF World' one(AKA: One I made up for the fic, even, to fit into the world), the menu was based on a real life one from a place called T'ang Court.

It looked about what I wanted for it, so I did a little bit of poking around for the food porn purposes. I *did* snip some of things. While doing an entire billion-course dinner is fun, I did want to get to the more friendly, talky parts, so I thought that skipping a couple of courses was done with the best of intentions.

The outfits were mostly made up; however, Duo Lon's was specifically based on his Assassin Night comic, written by Falcoon, that appeared in the Flame of Nova guide. He wore a suit much like this and also had his hair like this, as well.

I just BS my way around Shen and Duo Lon's antics. Utilizing what I know of the pair from team stories, and official artwork, I sort of imagine the assassin having to pull him out of trouble half the time. Also, if you've ever seen an abalone, you'll know why Shen was snickering like someone who just heard a dirty joke.

In their 2003 team story, it implies that Shen and Duo Lon had known for awhile; their Hero Team meeting was not their first time, so I just created some things for that. The chat the two of them had about entering while at the waterfront-Duo Lon had decided to step away to investigate things on another team between 03 and XI(since he thought Ash betrayed them), Shen, on the other hand, was going to stick to see what was up. His line about "You better go on to win that thing…"-indeed, Duo Lon's team went on to win XI(and possibly XIII by the look; SNK had never told us the winner of XIII, but his team fought and defeated the actual end bosses.)

I know some people headcanon Leona as a vegetarian(due to her favorite food being vegetables); I never did this, I simply imagine her liking vegetables a lot, but she'll eat anything.