After a more restful night, the stairs pounded softly with footsteps. Abel walked down them, being neither quiet nor loud. He had already tried to wake up Mari and that had been a lost cause from the beginning. Nissa had woken as soon as he had stepped from the room and into the hallway but she had simply closed her eyes to doze more. That was fine with him seeing that he needed to cook the food anyways. He went downstairs and made his way to the kitchen.

"I see you are up," a deep voice sounded behind him.

Abel let out a surprised yelp, having forgotten about anyone that hadn't been in his sight immediately. He needed some coffee.

He let a goofy grin spread on his lips, "Hey dude. How do pancakes sound?"

Gideon blinked a few times and Abel realized that perhaps the planeswalker wouldn't know what those were. He could just be giving him too many ignorant points because weren't pancakes a normal thing anywhere?

"Pancakes," a female voice sounded and he looked to see that Nissa had decided to join them downstairs.

"Well this doesn't seem fair. Two of our house guests are up and I'm the only host awake." He had ignored her question because he knew it would be easier to just make them to show her.

He walked into the living room and leaned over the sleeping Payton. He almost didn't want to wake the peaceful looking slumber she was having. Almost.

"Hey. You're already an hour late for class. And pancakes!"

He was louder as he said 'pancakes' trying to elate some form of reaction from the girl but he only received a grunt and she turned over. He pouted a bit but knew he would have all his fun dragging Mari out of bed.

"I want blueberries in mine," she said with a soft yawn.

He gave a salute and a goofy grin, "Ma'am yes ma'am! As long as you make the coffee!" She chuckled and sat up a little as she rubbed her eyes.

He turned with glee and walked back to the kitchen. He stopped dead. From last night, no one had gone to check the damage on the kitchen. It looked like a tree had fallen in and landed in the middle when it was just a bunch of thick vines and some fire damage.

"My...kitchen..." he said in a frightened state before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he blacked out on the floor.

Gideon and Nissa were about to jump in to help when a short brunette walked by and to their surprise she looked neither concerned nor surprised.

"Abel get your gay ass up. Blacking out is my job."

She stepped over him and to the coffee pot where she brushed the leaves off of it and started making the coffee. The kitchen might be damaged in some places but it was still mainly usable. Abel sat up and glared at her, rubbing at his head and grumbling about the gay joke. He stood and went upstairs, yelling about pancakes earning a whine from Mari. A giant thud was heard and an angry Mari was soon stalking down the stairs looking like a disheveled cat as she sat down with a childish huff.

A crash was heard and more yelling as Abel tried to get Tibalt downstairs. Tibalt was still under the effects of the poison darts from last night and was rather irritable.

"Fine. You don't get pancakes then. And stop breaking things!" he slammed the door and went downstairs where the coffee had been made. He got a cup and started whipping up the pancakes. They were soon stacked high on the table where everyone, even the grumpy Tibalt, had gathered around. Mari helped Abel dish everything out and they dug in.

When the meal looked to be over, Payton cleared her throat. "I have to go by the school and then to the studio for a few shoots. I should be home around 5 if not earlier."

Mari nodded, "I have to close tonight so I won't be home until 10. This is going to be a long day but i'm getting paid overtime."

Abel grumbled into his coffee, "I have the fucking double shift because Becky just had to go get her nails done. I won't be home until 11."

"Why are you telling us this," Nissa questioned, giving the three a curious look.

Payton offered a smile. "So you know that around that time, if someone comes up it will most likely be one of us."

"You're leaving us here," Gideon asked, glancing over at the demon who hadn't stopped staring at the brunette. He was a bit worried about whether or not they could keep him contained if they left. The demon looked too curious to want to be cooped up all day.

"Why not," Mari shrugged and Abel looked ready to smack her. He wasn't really ok with leaving the three here alone today. He had hoped Payton had a plan but she looked calm as ever as she refilled her orange juice.

"What do you do for a living," Tibalt asked, his voice no longer slurring.

Mari started, "I work at a bookstore across town as the assistant manager."

"I am the manager at a coffee shop downtown and a part-time mechanic on the weekends," Abel stated with a shrug.

Payton rubbed at the back of her head, "I'm a college student during the week. But I work for my mom in her accounting business as an office assistant and I own my own photography studio as well."

The three planeswalkers didn't really know what some of the trades were, but assumed it was better to just accept it. Tibat leaned forward with a slight smirk.

"I would like to go with you today," he stated. By the look on his face it seemed like he wasn't going to be changed on the matter.

"No," Abel said with a little more force than necessary. "If you want to go with anyone, you go with me."

He raised an eyebrow at him and simply chuckled. As if he could be stopped again with the same trick as last night. He hadn't expected him to be ballsy enough to shoot him like that. It won't happen again, as far as he was concerned.

"I would like to venture out as well...," Nissa spoke, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"You can go with me," Mari said, smiling at her. She nodded in return.

"I will stay here to make sure nothing happens and if anyone shows up," Gideon said simply.

Payton laughed a bit, "No you big lug. I'll take you with me. Then at least you can relax a little." Gideon blinked a few times before he let a smile fall onto his lips. Mari blushed lightly and Payton smirked a bit.

"Damn you're sexy."

Payton and Mari laughed hard, unable to breath as Abel, the one who had spoken, just smirked widely. Gideon gave the other male a blank stare before shaking his head, chuckling with the rest of the girls. Nissa looked slightly disgusted and Tibalt showed no reaction other than a snort.

"So…I may be an hour late to a class that would have been let out as soon as the papers were turned in…but you two are about to be late for jobs," Payton stated as she sipped the last of her orange juice down and decided to try and finish her second pancake.

A chorus of 'fuck' and 'dang it' and the two were dashing upstairs, calling for the bathroom privilege. The brunette tensed once she was left alone with the three planeswalkers, so she decided that finishing breakfast wasn't very important. Payton went upstairs as well.

After a bit of silence, Gideon stood and started clearing the table. He knew how to use a sink after all, the kitchen was a bit advanced from what he saw, but plumbing was all the same to him. He didn't wash the dishes, but he at least rinsed them. Nissa watched him from the table with Tibalt who was staring at her now.

Nissa caught the stare and met it with narrowed eyes. "You try anything, and you will be dead before you can realize your mistake," she threatened in a dangerous tone.

Tibalt smirked wildly at the elf. This amused him to no end. He was here with a human and an elf. Only one of those he had never experimented with.

"Watch your back elf…I can strike at any time."

He let the threat hang in the air before he stood and moved to the living room to look around. He had seen pictures and plaques in there. He wanted to know more about the hosts. Information was always good.

Gideon walked back into the dining room and gave her a soft look. "I won't let him hurt anyone," he started to say but was cut short when she stood up abruptly.

"I don't need help from you," she responded with great pride behind her voice.

He caught her arm, a dangerous thing he knew, but she only glared at him. "I understand what you are saying. However, if we are to be here and keep them and each other safe, we have to work together. Neither of us know what he can really do. Please, be on my side."

Nissa pulled her arm from him and gave a sigh, knowing he was right, but she wouldn't admit that out loud. "Fine. Just don't get in my way."

With that, he let her go before he checked his weapon at his side and sat back down, watching the demon pace the room across from him.

"FUCK I'M SO LATE!"

Abel dashed down the stairs, sporting his black slacks and company t-shirt, and was out the door with a loud slam. The sound of his jeep was heard and he was peeling out before he remembered that he was supposed to bring Tibalt with him. Mari followed down, looking flustered and still disheveled, wearing a big dress shirt and a long skirt. Nissa tried to stop her, but Mari didn't hear her. She was out of the driveway before too long.

They waited for the other girl to follow suit but only soft footsteps were heard upstairs. When she finally came down, she was dressed rather nice. Natural looking make-up and a dress that was nicer to look at. She was putting a bow in her hair before she stopped and looked around.

"Well then…I guess you are going with me then," she said before she went and grabbed her keys from the hook by the door.

"Don't you think we will grab attention," Gideon question, looking more at Tibalt than Nissa.

"Trust me. My friends and I have gone out looking twice as weird as Tibalt does on more than one occasion. People around town know not to be surprised anymore," she said with a soft shrug.

She decided to take Pegasus 2, her minivan. They probably had more cars than needed, but with Cain being a mechanic, it wasn't that hard to imagine how they did. She had them pile in, Gideon taking the front seat, Nissa the seat behind her, and Tibalt taking the middle seat in the back.

The drive was quiet, except for Payton's music playing from the radio. Each of them noted how quiet she got and how tense she was being alone with them. Tibalt let a smirk fall on his lips, finding this human a little more interesting. She caught his eyes in the rearview and looked forward again immediately. She took care of her paper before heading to the studio.

The planeswalkers got out of the car after her and she was already at the door unlocking it. The building was obviously still under renovation. The front still had new boards on it but her make-shift sign was hanging there. She would have to paint it on for real later.

"Cain and Mari help me with most of the building. I just buy the supplies and hire other workers. For now, though, I have everything I need," Payton said.

She received bored stares but they followed her in either way. The inside was bare except for the fold out tables with lock boxes on them. Payton noted them staring at them and she smiled softly, walking to one.

"I've always wanted to be a photographer. I collect cameras of every kind and learn everything I can about them. It's literally my passion," she spoke softly, touching the glass of one of the boxes with the tenderness of a mother with a newborn.

Gideon let a smile fall on his lips as Nissa did as well. Both seemed to appreciate seeing something like this from the girl. It was like seeing an entire new person seeing her walk around her domain, her store. Nissa looked over the strange objects and tried reading about them, Gideon looking on beside her.

Tibalt, on the other hand, didn't look very moved. Instead, his eyes sparked at this. He followed her around, asking her questions about her life and the other two hosts' lives as well. Every so often he would actually ask a question she would answer, normally about what she holding or doing and why. He took this information as her being guarded; she was smart in doing so.

After a long day, Payton piled them into the van and took them home. At a stop light, she leaned her head against the steering wheel growing deathly quiet. Nissa squirmed a little before she put a hand on her shoulder.

"I think green means go," Nissa said softly.

In reality, she had just caught on by watching what the girl did closely while driving the big mechanical beast. Gideon frowned a bit before speaking as well.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she started, "I just remembered that I have to cook for everyone and there's a branch through the oven."

Nissa curled her lip before looking pointedly out the window. Payton frowned deeply when she saw that and sighed in annoyance. She had forgotten how Nissa could be, just from reading the book. Payton remembered how hard it had been for Sorin to get a joke by her before Nissa played along. This was going to be such fun.

She pulled into a pizza place and got a few pizzas before she drove home. It would have to do and it could be heated up when the other two got home. She was getting out of the car when she heard a slam of the door. When she turned to get onto them for doing so, she only saw Nissa walking off down the street. Payton moved to go after her when Gideon beat her to the punch. He grabbed Tibalt, not going to leave him alone with the girl, and followed after the elf. Tibalt didn't put up much of a fight. Both men knew that they would probably be better off staying where they had arrived.

With a deep sigh, Payton went in carrying the boxes of pizza, depositing them on the table before she walked into the living room. The girl went to grab her laptop when a hand grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back painfully, another arm coming to grip her throat. It wasn't constricting her, but the threat was clear to her. Her heart dropped when she realized who it was before she even looked. This hand was metallic and glowed a blue color.

Tezzeret.