"Thought you two would never get up." Quinn teased as he retrieved warm plates from the oven.
She chuckled, "Sorry."
He laughed, setting them in front of the couple. "Enjoy."
"Thank you." She looked at Isao, "So what do we do now if we are on the run?"
"To be honest, I don't have a clue." Isao sighed. "Still tempted to send you home.." He winced as he saw her glare. "I know, I know."
She sighed, "I miss dad but I want to be here with you. And Ryu. The others too."
"You could get hurt. Or killed." Isao looked miserable.
"Technically that could happen anyway." She answered. "Like I said before, I'll go if you really want me to but I won't be happy about it."
Quinn remained silent as Isao sighed. "Promise me you'll go if it becomes too dangerous?"
"We might have different views on 'too dangerous.'"
"Smartass." Isao gave a small smile, then began to eat.
Mia ate quietly, glancing up at him occasionally.
When he was done, he raised his eyes to hers. "Please be careful."
"I'll try." She smiled, "You too."
He snorted. "Good luck."
"You lost your paycheck gambling again?" Ryusei teased as he entered.
She chuckled, "Glad to see you're feeling a bit better."
He gave her a fond smile. "Surprised I woke actually."
Isao scowled. "That only happened once and it was your fault."
"What happened?" Mia smiled.
"We were undercover at a casino. Genius here swore he could count cards." Isao rolled his eyes. "For the record, he can't."
She laughed in response.
"Everyone has an off day occasionally. To be fair, I'd been up for forty eight hours and had drunk my weight in energy drinks." Ryusei shrugged as he ate some toast.
She watched him quietly, eventually asking, "So what was your best mission?"
The two vampires exchanged glances, then said in unison "Yamae in drag."
She laughed, "Wish I could have seen that."
Ryusei pulled out his phone with a grin.
She raised an eyebrow, "Do you have pictures?"
"Video." Isao got out between chuckles. "Have to keep records, you know."
She laughed, "So what was this mission for?"
"Someone was ripping off drag contests. So we sent Yamae in." Ryusei found the file, pressing play and handing the phone to her.
She giggled as she watched it.
"He still flinches everytime we pass a dress shop." Ryusei laughed.
Mia chuckled and handed the phone back.
"I got him a blond Marilyn wig last Christmas. He screamed and threatened to hide my body." Ryon entered with a grin.
"Sounds like you guys have had a lot of fun times, even if they weren't all good."
Isao smiled softly. "We have. We've had some great times."
Ryusei looked thoughtful. "Remember the crazy dude with the paint?"
Ryon shuddered. "I thought I'd never get it off."
"You made a nice looking rainbow though." Isao teased as Ryon glared at him.
"Who is the dude with the paint?" Mia asked.
"Guys were being picked up in bars, then turning up painted. Ryon fit the victim profile, so we sent him in. We caught the guy, who was absolutely convinced he was painting masterpieces. Only we got there a little too late and Ryon was...quite colorful." Ryusei struggled to keep a straight face as Isao lost his composure.
Mia chuckled softly. "Sounds fun."
Ryusei turned his screen to show a multicolored Ryon in briefs.
She grinned, "That's great."
Ryon narrowed his eyes. "You're awful."
She chuckled again.
"I have to get to work." Quinn announced. "Stay out of trouble, okay?"
"Where do you work?"
"City Hall."
She nodded, "I'm surprised I haven't seen you around."
"I work in the records department. Anything you want me to tell your dad?"
She frowned, then scribbled out a small note and handed it to him.
"Relax. I'll be back at five." He waved as he left the house.
She sighed and began washing her plate.
Isao wrapped his arms around her. "It'll be alright." He kissed her head, then released her.
She nodded slowly, "Thanks."
"No problem." He turned to Ryon. "Think there's any chance of getting into the office?"
The redhead looked thoughtful. "Possible. Tyler in Janitorial owes me a favor. You want the go bags?"
Isao nodded. "Anything else we might need too. Especially the book."
"You got it. I'll take Yamae with me." He left the kitchen as Ryusei sat down.
"What book?" Mia asked.
"All our contacts. Both human and non. Our news source, if you will. If we're going to stay on the run, we're going to need to know what's happening. Places to hide."
She nodded and sat back down.
Isao sighed, staring out a window. "I'm going to make a call. Don't do anything I wouldn't."
"So hookers and drugs are still optional?" Ryusei snarked with a grin.
Mia chuckled, "Sounds like a party."
"Wanna hear how he got arrested?"
Isao facepalmed and hastily excused himself.
Mia raised an eyebrow, "Arrested?"
"We were undercover in a drug cartel. Isao is flashing tons of cash, doing drug deals in broad daylight because we were trying to lure out one of the big fish. Apparently, another set of detectives were investigating the same cartel and hadn't been told there was an undercover officer. So they busted Isao and another dealer. Arrested, processed and jumpsuited. All but sentenced before the Chief could get him out."
"Wow."
"Yeah. He was beyond pissed because it had taken a year to get in and then everything went up in smoke. Never did get the big fish."
"That sucks."
"Only thing that didn't was finding out everyone in general population thought Isao was cute and wanted to keep him."
She chuckled.
"Take the little victories, am I right?" Her brother smirked. "He always said he was unattractive to guys…"
She laughed.
He blinked at her. "Woah.."
"What?"
"I was sure you'd be offended at the thought."
"Why would I be?"
"I don't know.." He looked thoughtful. "Guess I can tell Sho not to be so nervous around you then."
She raised an eyebrow, "Nervous around me? There's no reason anyone should be."
"Let's just say Shouma's kind of an outcast."
She nodded, "Alright. Well I'm non threatening and easygoing, so I think it'll be fine."
"You don't care?" Shouma stood in the doorway, his face puzzled.
"Why would I?"
"My kind do. Most of your kind do too." The shifter headed for the fridge in bare feet, opening it and drinking milk from the carton.
"I'm not most people."
He wiped his mouth and chuckled. "No, you're not." He replaced the carton, kissed Ryusei and disappeared down the hall.
She gave Ryusei a small smile.
"Secret's out. Yes, we're a couple. Triangle, actually." He chuckled.
"Nice. I'm glad."
"Thanks. Now since we're stuck inside, what do you want to do to kill time?"
She looked thoughtful, "We could watch a movie? Or play cards?"
"Brain's too fried for cards right now. Movie sounds good."
She nodded, "What kinds of movies do you like?"
"You'll laugh."
"No I won't."
"Romantic comedies usually." He blushed deep red.
She smiled, "Sounds good. Do you have a favorite?"
"Not at the moment." He cocked his head. "Most women look at me as though I'm weird. They all expect shoot em up movies."
"I try not to expect things because who am I to guess what people would like?" She shrugged. "Well, why don't you pick one out and we'll watch it."
He gave her a smile, heading to the dvd cabinet and studying the selection. After a few minutes, he removed a case and loaded the disc into the player. "I wanted to apologize for being so antisocial in the beginning."
"It's alright."
"No, it's not. It would have been smoother if I hadn't been such an ass." He settled on the couch and looked at her. "You're quite forgiving, aren't you?"
"Is that bad?"
He chuckled, shaking his head. "It's refreshing. If you haven't noticed, Isao takes everything personally in addition to feeling too damn guilty for things."
She nodded in response.
He turned his attention to the movie, resting his head on her shoulder.
"I always wanted a sibling." She said quietly.
"Even a bossy older one?"
"Yeah," she chuckled softly.
He laughed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
She smiled and began watching the movie.
Halfway through, she heard a light snore in her ear.
She smiled again and finished watching the movie.
Isao entered quietly, then stopped with a grin.
She waved at him slightly.
His eyes twinkled as he waved back, then he disappeared into the kitchen.
When the movie was done, she glanced to look at Ryusei, smiling as she noticed he was still asleep. She closed her eyes and dozed.
Isao came out and paused, watching her silently. He memorized her features, feeling a pang of heartache that he resolutely pushed away. Finally he headed for the room they'd used and closed the door behind him.