"It's improving, at least."

"Just at least. Huh. So, the trick I picked up while learning that particular phrase didn't cause you to teach me that dirty new title?"

Sha grinned as she rinsed off her plate after he had gotten his. With his hands newly free, he put them to her thighs, barely covered by a large shirt. "I thought you'd like that one."

"It's almost as if these specific words I'm learning are leading to something." His hands trailed up her thighs to her tail, slipping his fingers beneath the smoother underscales, teasing where flesh became black armor.

"What's the fun in learning a new language if you can't use it in front of others?" She purred and leaned her head back, exposing her throat. She had let him know of that particular weak spot, and he had taken full advantage of the trick whenever he got the chance. "Mm, luckily you're a quick learner."

"You know I'm patient where it matters." He growled as her communicator began to ring from her purse by the door. "And that's not where it matters."

"Duty calls, I fear." She turned in his grip and bared her teeth in a grin. "Though it just means I can come home riled up again. If you're still interested in trying to tame this dragon."

He met her grin as she stepped away to answer the call. Once she was out of sight, however, that smirk faded as he began to realize where he was, what he was doing. He shook his head, hearing her take a case from Koenma.

"Yes, understood. Won't be an issue. How long do you think it will be?"

"About three days, most likely just to find the demon in question."

"And the status of retrieval?"

"Preferably alive."

"You always say that."

"And you hardly ever listen."

"You're the one that employed a dragon. We have no masters."

"But you have loyalty."

Hiei stood around the corner, watching a sneer emerge on her face. "Unfortunately."

"Or if you feel more comfortable back in your cell, that can be arranged. Now will you take this job or will it come to that?"

He could see her want to do so much. Instead she swallowed hard, but her words came out flat. "You'll have your suspect in three days, sir." She snapped the communicator closed and tossed it back into her purse. She didn't meet his eyes. "You can stay here if you like."

"I'll return to Salem's for the time being. Or the wilds. I thought you didn't mind what you did."

"I hate it, actually. The figurative chains, the burden. It's only the hunt that I enjoy. The fight. Once that's accomplished, the girls have to take over. I'm not exactly negotiable in the heat of battle." She set her gaze straight forward to the wall. "Hyouga tracks them through scent. Kitsu has sound."

"And the other?"

Sha scoffed and looked at him finally. "Mostly restraints. Since Kitsu has poisons covered, Sukuna is merely backup where we need her."

He arched a brow. "So you think of yourself as what?"

"The monster willing to do what they will not." She sighed and crossed her arms, turning towards him. "I'm meant to leave for human world tonight, I hate to say."

"How much more time is even on your probation sentence? Koenma isn't one to hold grudges this long."

"It's not him I really answer to. It's his father. As for my sentence, it's as long as I'm useful to them. For now, that means the field work and the conversion. Either that, or ten more years, at least."

He scoffed. "I've never seen him harbor such animosity in his voice, though."

"We don't get along. He pulls rank far too often. Rubbed me the wrong way. I voiced my opinion, and it went downhill from there. I typically let Hyouga handle the turn-ins." She shook her head. "Off that subject as I'd hate to ruin the last two hours with that anger."

He stepped up to her. "Use it. Get angry. Don't worry about retaining too much." He grinned and gestured to his scratched up chest. "Obviously I can handle you."

She met his smile and ran her hands up his chest, around his neck. "Baby, I don't think you know what you're signing up for. You want me to end up ripping out your throat?"

"I've got reflex on my side. No worries there." He held on to her hips. "Besides, I haven't complained yet with your bites to my throat."

She purred. "I'll have to keep it in mind maeste'mio wants me to bite harder next time."

He quirked a brow. "I thought you just said dragons didn't have those."

"We sometimes make exceptions if strength is present. Honor. Loyalty." She pressed a light kiss to his lips that he met and deepened. She pulled back, resting gently against his skin. "Someone we'd deem worthy to give our trust to." She shifted her weight. "Though we'll see if you're worthy of the title still when I return."

"And if I'm not?"

She grinned and leaned to his ear. "Then you'll be the one uttering the name."

He held her back and pulled her to his hips. He instantly stored the resulting moan into his memory. "Not going to happen, di'mio."

She leaned in his grip. "I'd have you prove it now if I had the time. That's not something I'd want to rush again."

He took the hint and let her down so she could dress in her bedroom. He took the opportunity to locate his own clothes. He hadn't been too sure where everything had fallen hours ago.

Again in her absence, his mind began to wander. He found himself lingering on a conversation he had with Salem earlier that day while they returned from the café, after Kurama had went his own way.

"See, that wasn't so painful, was it?"

"Never said it would be."

Salem crossed the street with him, not bothering with the signal as no one was there. "Hell, what the hell was she saying? Your eyes got super dark for a moment."

"Like I'd repeat that."

"Seriously though, I'm happy for you."

"For what? Fucking someone?"

Salem scoffed. "No, for coming back to do so. That shows something pulled you back."

"Yes, an agreement from your place." Hiei paused, debating on finishing his thought. "Initially."

"Initially. So, there's other purposes now?" When his friend didn't answer, he addressed it differently. "It doesn't make you less you. Like I said, it can be a strength, not a weakness."

He remained silent for a moment more, mulling it over in his mind. "It's a sort of attachment. Almost addicting in a way."

"That's normal." He frowned. "Didn't you feel that way with-"

"No. Not like this."

Salem smiled. "Then just keep riding this addiction. It's one I fully endorse."

Hiei scoffed. "Wouldn't that make me domesticated?"

"Not at all. It's something you get to define. Sure, she's getting a house, but it's in the middle of nowhere. She's settling into a domicile, but she is defining what it is to her. A sanctuary that is hers and hers alone. That she is not borrowing, that she can finally call her own. A step closer to her freedom."

"A noble thought."

They stopped for a car. "It's what we all want, in a way. A place to call our own. The way that we want it to be called."

He looked up as she emerged from her room, slipping her sword into her belt and securing it. "Three days, correct?"

"Possibly less."

"I'll return then." He gathered up his own sword. "There are a few things I need to do as well."

She turned off the lights and joined him in the hallway as they gathered their boots. "Do what you need to." She stepped up to him once they straightened. "Just don't keep me waiting."

He grinned as they stepped out into the hallway. "Not in my plans."

"Well, until then." She pressed her lips to his briefly, backing up with her own smile, her wings materializing behind her from her tattoos.

He himself simply nodded and vanished as she took off for her meeting spot.

Both would never admit to the hammering of their hearts from fear of the future.