"For someone who couldn't do more than a doggie paddle, you catch on pretty quick," Lavi said.

I kicked my legs clumsily, trying not to get them tangled in my shift. I hadn't wanted to go swimming in just my suit – I was pretty paranoid as it was today. My last jaunt swimming had been less than enjoyable, and I wasn't about to have a repeat performance.

"Thanks. It helps that you don't try and drown me when I get things wrong," I panted as I put my feet on solid rock, thinking about a certain someone who would do just that if he could actually swim.

On the bank, the couples we hadn't been able to meet yesterday were chatting it up. So far, Lavi and I were the only ones who'd ventured for a swim. It seemed that the river picnic appealed more to the social aspect than the water.

The river was set on the very western edge of the resort underneath a canopy of trees. It ran underground eventually, but we were on the upstream leg. Seeing as we had quite a bit of time to kill, I'd asked Lavi to teach me how to swim, and he'd obliged. It was more taxing than I'd anticipated, but it wasn't overly difficult. So far, I'd learned how to do a backstroke and a breaststroke. I was still working on swimming underwater. Besides, the current was strong enough to drag quite a ways, and he didn't want to risk having to swim after me if I ended up too far downriver.

"Margaret! Louis! Why don't you come up for some lunch? You guys must be starving!" Maria shouted from the shore.

Mr. and Mrs. Reyes had planned the entire river party, and they'd asked the two old ladies who ran the resort for some food for lunch. In true elderly form, they had overdelivered. I got up stiffly and looked to Lavi with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, let's take a break. While we're at it, we might as well ask some questions, too," Lavi said, helping me up the steep bank.

I could already feel how sore I was going to be in the morning. Still, my soreness had nothing on how Lavi had to be feeling. I'd made him sleep in a chair all night. After my little episode the night before, I wasn't keen on sharing a bed with anybody.

He didn't look the worse for wear, though. He was bright and cheery as ever. He'd been up hours before me, and he'd already been dressed and drinking coffee by the time I was dragging myself out of bed. In comparison, I looked like I'd spent all night counting grains of sand while he'd slept the sleep of champions. Even with his hair mussed and wet, he looked like something out of a novel with that roguish eye patch and mischievous smile.

"Hey, Louie, we were planning on having a badminton game. Want to join?" one of the husbands asked, and Lavi's smile split his face.

He nodded and ruffled my hair before leaving, and I rolled my eyes as I rearranged my hair. The ladies giggled amongst themselves, and I tried to be gracious as I sat down on the little blanket they'd put down.

In all, there were five. Maria Reyes, the one who'd invited us, looked as splendid as ever. Macy, the quiet one, was toying with her blonde hair while Josie, a social gal, chattered to Nora. Claire was the standoffish one, keeping mostly to herself. I couldn't really follow what was going on. This was completely out of my depth. I groaned inwardly as I realized just how removed I was from regular, female society. The most 'girl time' I'd had was talking to my sister about the various stupid things the twins had done that day while doing laundry or washing dishes.

"So, what brings you so far, Margaret? Baton Rouge isn't exactly a hop and a skip away," Maria said, brushing back a strand of black hair.

The sun was bright through the massive array of trees, and I drew my knees to my chest, aware of just how dirty and wet I was compared to the rest of the ladies who'd come in their best summer wear.

"Well, uh… I'm, um, a writer. Or I want to be, at least. My… husband is inheriting a fleet of merchant ships soon, and I'd thought we'd head up north. I was hoping for some inspiration on a novel, so I suggested we go somewhere to just relax," I said, hesitating on the word 'husband' and coming up with a cover story on the fly.

I hadn't really thought about our back story in detail, but all Lavi had come up with was a brief skeleton. My hope was that his story didn't deviate much from mine. The ladies looked at me with the knowing expression of scandal, and I felt left out of the loop in my own lie.

"What is it? Did I say something?" I asked.

Josie tittered behind a gloved hand while Claire asked, "So you're that persuasive?"

"Persuasive?"

Nora drawled, "I had to kick and fuss to get James to even consider going anywhere other than New York. And then after that, I had to work on him for a while before he started making preparations."

Josie, Claire, and Maria made noises of sympathy. Macy had yet to say anything, merely looking down at her lap while glancing up at us every now and again. From behind, I could hear the boys shouting as they played their game of badminton.

"I ended up resorting to womanly wiles first thing, let's just put it that way," Claire said, putting up her hands, and I blushed as the other girls laughed at the straightforward answer. So that's what they'd meant by 'persuasive'.

Oh. Oh, God.

"Yeah. It took a bit of work for me to get Santi to think about coming, too, but he's a sweetheart and he thought about it right off," Maria sighed.

I could feel my optimism start to wane as I realized just how inadequate my knowledge of actual married life was.

"What did you have to do to get him over here? Make some special promises? Get an edict? Buy a pair of handcuffs?" Claire asked, and Nora shoved her.

I scratched the back of my head and admitted sheepishly, "Uh, we haven't even gotten that far yet."

Surely the truth would save me.

Five simultaneous and flabbergasted voices asked, "What?"

Alas, it had not.

Hoping to change the subject, I asked, "So, what sorts of things do you guys do out here? I mean, like I said, I'm looking for inspiration, and I was wondering if you guys had any idea about the local legends and things."

The women looked to each other, and Macy piped up in a fragile voice, "You'd have to go into town for that sort of thing. We're all as new to this place as you are. This is my first time."

"Same here. I've never been here before, and neither has Claire or Maria," Nora said.

I heard cheering and groaning all at once, and I looked back at the boys who'd put up a couple of branches as a make shift net.

Maria sighed and stated, "Men. Can't live with them… no, that's about it."

All the women laughed, and I asked, "Is it really that bad?"

"Honey, how long have you been married?" Nora asked, kindly leaning towards me.

I bit my lip, trying to remember the date we'd set for our supposed 'marriage'.

"Four months…?" I said, my stomach abruptly trying to eat itself.

We really needed to get our cover story straightened out. Apparently what we had going wasn't exactly realistic. There wasn't nearly enough drama.

"Ah, see, that's the problem. Usually all those nasty little things show up around six months in. You know, leaving underwear on the floor, never flushing, the drinking and gambling, the women. That sort of thing," Claire said nonchalantly as she picked at her food.

Feeling slightly sick to my stomach, I put down the sandwich I'd picked up. At this rate, I was never getting married. It didn't sound all that appealing. Not only that, but I had a feeling that if the old ladies got a whiff of this, they might start getting suspicious.

"Hey! Margaret, I was thinking about going into town with the boys. Wanna come with?" Lavi suddenly asked, and I could already feel the women staring at me.

"What sort of promises did you make?" Claire whispered to me, and I groaned.

"Nothing you'd want to hear," I sighed as I stood up and brushed myself off.

The girls laughed as I walked over to Lavi, whispering among themselves… save for Macy. She struck me as slightly strange. She'd hardly said a word, besides the tidbit about going into town, and she wasn't standoffish in the same sense Claire was. She almost seemed like an empty shell. I glanced back, watching her stare at me the entire way.

"What's up?" Lavi asked as the river picnic disbanded for their respective cabins.

I sighed and muttered in French, "My God, this is difficult."

"Tell me about it," Lavi answered back, also in French, chuckling. "Some of the things they talk about…"

"Like?" I asked, again in French.

"Mistresses. Debts. Business. None of which I know about," Lavi laughed, scratching the back of his head.

The path back to our cabin was the longest, giving us time to talk. The other couples were grouping up again, from the sound of it.

"Even Santi?" I asked.

Lavi scratched his head. He shrugged, and he said, "I don't think so. He definitely has a smoking problem, though. Practically went through an entire pack while we were there. Other than that, he seems like a good guy."

"And the others? Anything seem off about them?" I asked, thinking of Macy.

There was a good chance she may be Akuma. She'd been awfully withdrawn. Lavi thought about it, his eye going glassy. I noticed the transition more often than not nowadays, that distant expression as he pawed through his impressive store of memories. He'd explained all of it to me during training one day, and I had to say that it sounded like an amazing, if incredibly hasslesome, ability. I'd have so much mental clutter, I wouldn't know what to do with it all.

"Zachary seemed a little too overly friendly for my tastes. Just phony, you know? He was definitely competitive, and he's got a very strong arm," Lavi recounted, his French diction practically perfect.

Goodness gracious, what else could this man do? He could memorize an entire text after one run-through, beat the tar out of Akuma, and now he spoke perfect French?

"Macy seems kind of odd, too. Very subdued, a little too quiet. I don't like it," I said, looking over my shoulder.

There wasn't anyone following us, from what I could tell. The forest gave way to tall grasses, and our cottage loomed fifty meters from the cliffs. It practically gave me vertigo just sitting next to the window. The cliffs weren't little stair steps, after all. The drop was well over a hundred feet.

Once in our cabin, we got dressed in our respective attires, and I stated in English, "I probably shouldn't go with you. If anything, I'll stay here and scout out the rest of the resort, see if I can find anything out of the ordinary. Our behavior as a married couple is apparently not typical."

I straightened a sunhat on my flounce of brown frizz, and Lavi ruffled his red hair behind me as we used the single bathroom mirror.

"Yeah, I noticed that, too, when the guys just about dropped dead after I told them that I'd never heard you complain about anything," Lavi said, straightening his collar.

I rolled my eyes. He was such a liar. He'd heard me complain plenty. I walked out of the bathroom and straightened the bow at my back.

"The girls almost dislocated their jaws after hearing I hadn't had to do any persuading to get us here," I grumbled.

Lavi stuck his head out of the bathroom.

"Persuading?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

For such a lecherous little git, he definitely didn't understand the innuendo.

I hastily said, "Never mind."

Lavi left it at that, and we went our separate ways, me to the forests and him to town. I rubbed the metal bands around my wrists, feeling distinctly unsettled without having Lavi practically attached to my hip.


Suzanne peered into the cottage.

"I can't believe you forgot to put a bug in there the first night," Suzanna grumbled.

Agatha scoffed, muttering, "You're the one who accepted the last minute check-in. It's not my fault they got here earlier than planned."

Suzanna scratched her head, hardly moving the wire-tight bun strapped to her head.

"Well, looks like they're gone. The wife must've left with the husband into town. They're an odd couple, aren't they?" Suzanna noted as she shoved her master key into the stubborn lock. They really should get these oiled and fixed as soon as the new crop of gold came in. Of course, that was days away, but these ladies could definitely wait.

"Yes, I did notice that. They seem so congenial. So sad that we can't have more couples like them. They are so polite," Agatha said.

Suzanna resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her sister could be so naïve. You'd think after four hundred years of living, she'd have wisened up a little, but no, of course not. Their politeness wasn't the sort that came from living together as two very unfamiliar people. Nor was their politeness from a mutual understanding. It was odd. It was like they were… friends.

Odd indeed.

More than that, they seemed awkward around each other, but then again they had said that they'd only been married for about four months. If they were actually on good terms before they'd been married, they had every right to be awkward. Nevertheless, Suzanna leaned more towards the cynical. There was just something off about the two.

"Oh! They stuffed all my dolls in the closet," Agatha lamented as Suzanna toddled into the cottage.

Their bags were set side-by-side next to the floor length mirror, and the bed was rumpled on only one side. Now that was truly strange. The maids hadn't been through yet, just as Suzanna had instructed. Agatha continued to whine about the state of the cottage, but Suzanna was more worried about the actual evidence. She knew what to look for in a married couple's room, having cleaned out a good couple tens of hundreds by now, and these two definitely didn't act like the typical newlyweds.

"Agatha, pull up a chair here. We'll put the bug on the ceiling. Do you have the pen?" Suzanna asked as she inspected the sink.

Agatha, who'd been busy putting things in their original order, looked up guiltily. Her sister hated it when she went around fixing up the rooms. She wasn't sure why, only that it bothered Suzanna.

She quickly did as her sister said, and she grunted, "Yes, I do."

Agatha had more magical capabilities than her sister Suzanna, but Suzanna was the brains of the project, no doubt about it. There wasn't anything that Suzanna didn't know, especially about the married, the deceased, and the unhappy. Agatha placed the chair where they'd have the widest range of sight from the bug. She removed an ornate, carved pen from one of her many, many pockets, and Suzanna said, "Remember – don't drip on the carpet. It took me months to scrub out the last squirt you'd put in the floor."

Agatha smiled at the remembered outburst of magic. This sort of ink was hard to control. It did what it wanted unless directed with a firm hand. That last incident had been years ago. Agatha was much better at what she did now.

Suzanna went around tidying the room while Agatha drew a miniscule, intricate design on the ceiling. When properly done, the entire thing would last for a good two weeks. Once finished, it would disappear, unseen to the naked eye.

Unfortunately, 'properly done' was hardly ever the case with Agatha, as Suzanna knew all too well. Not to mention it always seemed that Fate was working against them on the best of days.

As Suzanna did the last of the cleaning, she noticed someone coming down the path. She sucked in a breath as she cursed, and she hissed to Agatha, "Hurry it up! She's coming back!"

Agatha's brow furrowed as she said, "But I'm nowhere near done yet! It'll only last for a few hours before it wears off."

"A few hours is fine. We can finish it later. Just get off that blasted chair, woman! You look like a fool."

Agatha hastily got off the chair, and the ladies packed up. Suzanna realized they couldn't go out the front door – if they did, the wife would know. They had to leave discreetly.

But Agatha had no such qualms as discretion. She simply waltzed out the front door before Suzanna had a chance to stop her.

"Mon Deux!" the wife gasped, as Agatha turned around from closing the door. Agatha grinned, showing pearly white teeth.

"I beg your pardon? I apologize, I don't speak French," Agatha said innocently.

It hadn't occurred to her that the pair spending the night near the cliffs spoke anything else other than English, but they were from Louisiana. And after all Mr. and Mrs. Reyes slipped into Spanish now and again…

The wife took off her sunhat. She was a wiry little thing, hardly taller than Agatha and Suzanna herself. And that Godawful brown hair… How did she manage to keep it contained? That had to be an act of divine intervention all on its own. Meanwhile, the second twin walked out of the house, trying to hide the steam that was coming out of her ears. Agatha was such a dolt. Did she not understand that they had to keep this a secret?

"Sorry, you just caught me by surprise. I wasn't aware that you were coming by or else I would've tidied up," the wife, Margaret, stated with a wan smile.

She'd obviously been on a walk. Her cheap, leather shoes were scuffed and dirty, and her dress was likewise around the knees. Her thin, heart-shaped face was flushed with exertion, and those dirty-orange eyes seemed too shrewd for their own good.

"Well, that was what we were here for. The maids have the day off today, so we're going around cleaning," Agatha said without a hitch.

Margaret nodded in understanding.

"I should be getting cleaned up, then. I went on a bit of a jaunt, and… well, it ended a little messily," she sighed, looking down at her dirtied dress.

The twins made sympathetic noises as they parted to let the girl back into her cottage. They waved to her as she smiled at them from the door, and the two began tottering down the road.

"Peculiar," Suzanna stated.

"Peculiar indeed," Agatha echoed.


The minute I walked into the cottage, I knew there was something wrong. First of all, the dolls that I'd shoved into the closet before I'd gone to bed were now in their previous arrangements. That was probably the doing of one of the old ladies. It also amounted for the strange feeling that I was being watched. I sighed as I quickly took them down and stuffed them back into their rightful place. No one should have to suffer through china dolls.

On top of that, they'd put on a new, even more hideous coverlet on the bed. I sighed and stripped it off, sticking it in a corner where it would be out of sight and, therefore, out of mind. I could live with sleeping on nothing but sheets, given the humidity. Other than that, the room was mostly normal, save for the smell of cleaner and the odd, disconcerting feeling that I had eyes on me. I shivered, rubbing my arms. The little hairs on my arms were standing at attention, and my stomach, as always, was voicing its discontent.

It was probably just my paranoia. I'd just come out of the forests after all. I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I thought about my trip through the property. I'd cased out most of the property, and it was just trees, trees, and more trees up until the cliffs. It was fairly ordinary, no altars to foreign gods or piles of dead bodies. I'd managed to fall down a steep gully, though, after being frightened by a raccoon, and my dress looked like I'd had a nice dirt bath. I did see Macy looking out towards the sea, though, something I counted as odd enough to warrant some thought. She'd been the only one out by the cliffs on the southwest side of the property that ran south of my own cabin.

I settled into a chair and grabbed a book out of my bag. Translating the Swedish text was a lot easier for me now that I'd had plenty of practice doing translation work for the Order. After learning about my knack for translation, they'd immediately swamped me with work the minute I was finished with training. The Finder's Department and Kanda were always in a fierce tug-of-war for my time, dragging me from the office to the training room and back. Even Kanda's typical intimidation tactics did little to deter them.

However, the weird feeling that I wasn't alone refused to leave, and I decided that I needed to get up and do something before it drove me completely mad.

Unfortunately, the ladies had done an excellent job of cleaning. The dishes were neatly stacked, and the sink was empty in the kitchenette. The bed was freshly made and pressed, and besides the layer of dust most everything was clean as a whistle. That just left Lavi's clothes and my own bag. I'd been so exhausted the night before that I didn't even bother with pajamas. After my little misadventure in the woods, I needed a good bath. Maybe that would clear my mind.

I dug around in my bag, sighing to myself as I wormed to the bottom. I pulled out what I thought was a nightgown – and came up with the flimsiest piece of lingerie I'd ever touched in my life. I yelped and threw it back into my bag as if it had grown teeth and tried to bite me. I stared at it, wondering where in the Sam Hill that came from, because I was certain it wasn't mine. I flicked it away with two fingers and dug deeper into my bag.

Another piece of lingerie. Another piece of lingerie. Another, even skimpier piece of lingerie. Another piece that was so skimpy it made bloomers look like a parachute. Where were my pajamas?!

Suddenly, I thought back to the day I'd spent with the twins and Violet before the mission. The twins had left to go and do something. I'd presumed it was some errand for their next mission. They must've replaced all of my good nightclothes with this lacy, frilly, nasty… stuff! Growling out of frustration, I threw it all over my shoulder. I would have to settle for one of my more comfortable sundresses, though I'd practically suffocate sleeping in one of those.

And then, out of nowhere, my curiosity got the better of me. In my… previous line of work, I'd never resorted to anything fancy, if just for money's sake. I started to scoop up a few pieces to put back into my bag. I could tell that these were high end pieces of 'finery'. The Twins had spent a lot of money on their little prank. Of course, they had probably thought I'd pull these out in front of my partner, causing an entire slew of stories when we got back. And, knowing Lavi, he would've capitalized on it to the best of his ability. To them, that was more than worth the money they'd shelled out.

I picked one up off of the floor. Several were crumpled up on the bed, and quite a few were strewn on the floor where I'd thrown them. The one I'd picked up was what I would call 'classier' than the rest, though 'classy' was an incredibly generous term. More than anything, it was just a sheer, black shift with lace and shoulder straps, very simple. Now, if I were sleeping by myself, I definitely wouldn't have minded it, though considering my figure, or lack thereof…

I stepped in front of the mirror, holding it up over my off-white sundress and the black swimsuit underneath. At least the Twins hadn't decided to add extra offense by buying me overlarge lingerie.

The snick of the door opening reached my ears, and I spun around, clutching the offending article of clothing to me instinctively. My brain promptly shut off all functions, hardly even registering Lavi standing in the doorway looking very, very surprised.

"Sacre bleu," was all he said.

That seemed to snap me out of it. I quickly snatched the few pieces still on the bed and chuck them into my suitcase with varying degrees of success. Lavi had already stepped into the cottage by the time I'd gotten rid of the evidence, besides the one dress in my hand.

I coughed into my fist and stated, "Uh, they're not, um, not mine. I'm not entirely sure how they ended up in my bag."

My face was beginning to emulate an indoor furnace. The top of my head was about to come off. Mortification did not cover my feelings.

By now he was steps away from me, and the apprehension I'd felt before seemed to intensify. I wasn't surprised. People of the male persuasion tended to do that to me. Of course, this felt different from my usual flavor of paranoia. For one, my gut hadn't given its input yet, and it was usually the first to throw in its two cents. For two, the feeling of being watched had only intensified.

Lavi suddenly plucked the black little thing from my fingers, and while examining it he stated, "Are you sure these aren't yours? That's an awful pity. You'd look ravishing in this one."

My face could have outdone a boiler. This was some sick joke of his. Maybe he and the twins had been in on it together.

"Haha, very funny," I muttered as I snatched it back.

For some reason, I felt embarrassed at a deeper level than just being teased. It was like someone was making lewd jokes in front of my grandma or something. It wasn't exactly enjoyable. I turned around to throw it back into my bag, and I felt arms drape around my waist as a face was gently pressed into my neck. I stiffened, feeling the hair on the nape of my neck stand at attention.

What in the blue blazes…?

"L-la-?" I barely had time to choke that out before lips touched the curve of my ear, and everything in my throat escaped as a squeak.

"We're being watched," he muttered in French against my ear, tickling the shell.

My skin felt like someone had stuck me inside of an oven. My face was frying underneath the skin. If anymore blood tried to reach my face, my head was going to explode. This was not what I'd signed up for!

Wait… being watched…?

"By who?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

I knew the old ladies didn't understand French. I wasn't sure about everybody else on the resort, but I was pretty sure they weren't multilingual either. The most I'd heard was Santi and Maria chattering in Spanish to each other.

"Don't know yet, but there's a bug on the ceiling that's awfully telling. It's not finished, though. It won't last for too long, couple hours maybe," he stated, managing to somehow make every word sound husky despite the subject matter at hand.

I tried my hardest not to collapse and wait to die.

"You're too good of an actor, you know that?" I asked with a slightly nervous chuckle.

His own laughter thrummed at the back of my neck, transferring from his chest into my back. Goosebumps multiplied along my arms. It'd been a very… very long time since anyone had touched me without my say so. And it definitely hadn't been like this.

"So I've been told. Just trying to play the part. I'd disable the bug, but that would draw attention. For now we just have to act like we like each other. A lot," he stated, probably a little too gleefully for my tastes. He swayed from side to side, taking me with him, and I rolled my eyes.

He wanted to play hardball, huh?

"Well, if we're acting the part, then you can go and pick up all the clothes you've left on the floor. I'm tired after my walk, and I need a soak," I said breezily, brushing him off.

That certainly threw him for a loop.

Lavi deflated and asked, "Wha- Ah, come on! Margie…"

"I'll make you some dinner when I get out, how's that for incentive. What do you want?" I asked, picking up a towel and grabbing a dress from my belongings.

There was no way I was going to wear that black monstrosity to bed. Watched or not, I wanted to keep most of my pride intact, if I could help it. Lavi flopped on the bed, looking at me upside down as I walked over to the bathroom.

"A bun in the oven," he said, smiling lasciviously and waving that lacy, black… thing in my direction.

I resisted the urge to chuck my shoe at him. I didn't think more blood could pack into my face, but I was apparently wrong. I slipped into the bathroom, hoping that whoever was watching didn't have eyes in there as well as the bedroom, because they were about to see more than they bargained for.

I finished my bath after a good thirty-minute soak. It had taken a while to get all the grime off my legs, and I'd left the water a dull gray-brown. Still, I felt extraordinarily better as I toweled off. I picked up the dress I'd picked, and I made a face. I was going to die in this heat. Even the travel dress I'd worn yesterday was more comfortable to sleep in than some of the stuff in my suitcase.

I cracked open the door and asked, "Hey, could you grab me something a little less… suffocating? I think I'll die of heatstroke in the middle of the night wearing this."

I threw the dress through the crack, not really caring where it landed. A hand suddenly reappeared through the crack, and I stared in dismay at the black, lacy thing in his hand.

"Not that. Dear Lord, you'll be the death of me," I groaned, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

At this rate, I'd have two red, finger-shaped holes through my face.

Lavi snickered, and he said, "You know, you could always sleep naked."

He was testing what little patience I had left. If we weren't being monitored this very minute, I would strangle him.

"Never mind. Hand me the sundress," I lamented, shoving the hand with its offensive article of clothing out.

An hour later, I was dressed while Lavi took a short shower, and by the time he came out, the feeling that we were being watched had gone away.

"So? What did you find out?" I asked, thumbing another page of my novel.

I didn't even bother to look up at him. I wasn't going to be the angry one. After all, we were all decent people. It would just be best if I remained civil. It would be rude of me to tackle him to the floor, choke him with the curtain cord, and then flog him with my parasol. It would be equally uncivilized to beat him over the head with the tea kettle and drop him off into the sea. Didn't mean it wasn't nice to think about, though.

"Eh, nothing much. The boys are all a rowdy bunch, I'll say that much. The talk of the town is this festival they're holding for some fishing tribute. A lot of seadogs are talking about the Spanish galleon that was supposed to have crashed around here. Other than that, nothing new. It's awfully quiet, I'll admit that," Lavi sighed as he collapsed on the opposite end of the couch from me, unaware of my ire.

Well, maybe that was a good thing.

"Well, I don't have much to report either. Tramped through an ocean of leaves, had the daylight scared out of me by a raccoon, and managed to take a tumble into a dirt pile. Nothing out of the ordinary," I stated a little bit too casually.

Lavi raised an eyebrow at me, and he asked with a slight smile, "Are you… mad at me for something?"

I gave him an arch look over my novel.

He rolled his one eye and he said, "Don't worry, the bug wore off about thirty minutes ago. What's the matter? Aw, come on, I was kidding!"

I scoffed and buried my nose in my book. Long fingers pushed down the top of the novel so that Lavi and I were literally eye to eye. I gave him a no-nonsense look.

"Do you mind?" I asked, feeling very miffed.

It wasn't often I got into a tiff, but this definitely counted. If there was anything that irked me more than dirty clothes on the floor, dishes in the sink, and mold in the bathroom, it was being touched without permission. Our prior "performance" had felt a little too real for my tastes.

It didn't help that there was a traitorous little buzz in the pit of my stomach every time I thought about it.

Lavi pouted at me, practically sitting in my lap, and I shoved him away in disgust.

"At least warn me or something!" I groaned, deflating as I walked over to the bed.

I flopped down and immediately regretted the action as soon as I remembered just how hard these beds happened to be. Lavi snickered, and I looked up to glare at him.

I pointed a finger, and I ordered, "Don't even say anything to me. You're not funny."

He walked over to me, and I was suddenly very aware of just how comfortable we were with each other, most of the time.

We'd grown fairly close since the Himalayan incident. He was the antithesis to Kanda's harsh, rough-and-tumble teaching style, choosing to go a much friendlier route. He could read me like a book, and I had a fair understanding of when I'd pushed things too far with my questions. There was no end to how much he enjoyed teasing me. More often than not, we'd waste training time by chattering on about something. I'd found he was a fount of gossip – the man knew everything that went on in the Order. If it happened, he'd know, and he'd know first. I didn't know anybody else who could make a story about someone stealing Jerry's secret ice cream recipe more scandalous.

And, seeing as he was the first actual friend I'd made since my mother had left us, I was becoming acutely aware of the change in dynamic that always existed between two people of the opposite gender who are very good friends, especially those sharing a room. I didn't like it.

Lavi sat at the foot of the bed while I sat up against the headboard, and I sighed.

"Sorry, I'm just –" I started.

"No, I know. It was my fault. I should've said something first. In hindsight, that was probably jarring," Lavi said, facing me and sitting cross-legged.

I rubbed my arms, looking off. It had bothered me more than I'd like to admit. He'd always been incredibly respectful of my space in training. He almost never touched me unless it was necessary or he'd made it very clear of his intentions beforehand. He, more than anyone, understood my predicament, or the gist of it.

"Yeah, a little bit. I'm… not used to it," I stated hesitantly.

"Well… I'm sorry, if that helps. I won't do it again, not without warning," he said, and the look in his eye seemed genuine enough to me.

"Are you sure you didn't find anything in town?" I asked, and Lavi shook his head.

"Too much was going on. I was too busy trying to keep up with the guys to really ask too many questions. Besides, there weren't many people out today. For whatever reason, weekdays turn the place into a ghost town. I could swear I saw a tumbleweed," Lavi said, scratching the back of his head.

I smiled at the thought, and I drew my knees towards me. Things finally felt like they were going back to normal.

"So what's our plan tomorrow?" I asked, sighing.

Lavi's face suddenly split into another megawatt smile.

"I'm glad you asked."