Renard was no big help when he came by that evening, looking around the house, nodding in appreciation.

"Good work."

"Free work!" Nick snapped. "Something I didn't want!"

"As I understand," the other man said, turning back to his mate, "they did it as a favor, not because you threatened them or they feel obligated."

Nick glared at him. "You might be used to this, but I'm not!"

Sean smiled slightly. "I'm not used to any of this either. I actually get the same reactions you do."

Of course he did. Bud had nearly passed out when Renard had dropped some of his shields and let the eisbiber feel who he was facing.

"So, when do you move?"

Nick blinked, drawn out of his thoughts. Renard was watching him calmly.

"Victoria, the estate agents Frank referred to me, is coming over tomorrow. She says she'll list the house the moment I'm out. To avoid possible… encounters."

Renard closed the distance between them and hooked his fingers into the waist band of Nick's jeans, pulling him close. He kissed the smaller man, a soft, loving contact.

"I hope you aren't planning to live in that trailer of yours," he murmured.

"No. Of course not." Brows lowered.

Sean smiled wordlessly. Of course he knew about the trailer. Of course Nick had known that he knew. And it had never been talked about or had come up before.

Just like it was a topic dropped immediately.

"I have an option on a house," Nick told him, enjoying the close contact.

There had been too little of it lately. Case work. Grimm cases. The house. Renard had been doing the political dance and while Nick knew more about it, some still went right over his head.

"Show me?" Renard prodded.

The Grimm tilted his head a little, then a slow smile crossed his lips. "Alright."

x x x x

The house was at the end of a side road, away from the direct neighbors, surrounded by trees and bushes that, while giving the yard and garden privacy, didn't obstruct too much of the view. Looking at it with from a strategic angle, it was the best there was in this neighborhood. At this time of the year the trees were bare of leaves, just showing a hint of possible spring feelings as the branches looked greener than before, and the bushes had yet to even start into spring. A few early dandelions poked out of the ground.

It was a cool day, the sun out but not really warming anything, and the sky was bright blue with clouds. There were hints of another hail or strong rain shower coming from the ocean.

The house was well-kept. It looked like someone had painted it withint he last twelve months, the roof had no missing shindles and the gutters were clean. It was smaller than Nick's current living space, but it fulfilled all his needs. A garage was attached to the left and a porch wrapped around the small gem.

Renard regarded it silently, sharp eyes taking in everything. His gaze flicked to the neighboring houses. It was quiet, almost sedate. His nostrils flared a little, as if he was taking in someone's scent. With the park across the road, a setting not unlike Monroe's own small house, it was perfect for a Grimm.

Green eyes met gray. Nick smiled.

"Only an option," he answered the unspoken question. "The original owner moved out a week ago. She's on her way to Maine. The agent is still hacking out the details. But I think I can get it for a reasonable price. And Bud has already declared dibs on checking out the repair status."

He shrugged, clearly unwell again with the eisbiber's willingness to help like that.

"Who are the neighbors?" Sean asked.

"An old lady who I talked to for about two hours, about her growing up in this neighborhood, her cats, her dogs, her husband, her kids, and whatever else came to her mind. Very nice woman. Not a wesen."

Renard nodded.

"And on the other side is an elderly couple who reassured me it's a quiet place and having a police officer around would make it even saver." Nick grimaced. "No wesen either. I think there is a family of hares and a maushertz couple in one of the other houses. I hope me moving in here won't drive them out."

"It won't," was the quiet, firm answer.

Nick didn't question it, just cast his mate a neutral look. Renard was still looking at the house, a hard to read expression in his eyes.

"Objections?" the Grimm asked.

"No," came the soft answer. "The house is fine. The neighborhood looks good."

"But?"

The green eyes gazed at him, shuttered, the bond quiet. Shields, Nick realized.

He frowned.

"I can't," he finally said, taking a shot in the dark.

Apparently he had come close to a bull's eye because there was a brief surge of emotions over the connection. Standing close together, still enough apart to appear like nothing but friends viewing the house, the Grimm let his own shields drop, opening up, and the next surge told him.

They had never openly talked about it, but moving in with Renard was out of the question. Not just because of the fact that Renard was his superior officer, that the whole relationship was one big secret both men had been very good at hiding from their colleagues. It was also the fact that Nick was the Grimm. Yes, he served Renard in a way; a very twisted, not very clear to others way. The Guardian had risked a lot to keep him safe. Maybe it wouldn't be that out of the ordinary for the mate to move in with his mate, but Nick didn't want to risk their safety.

He also didn't want to bring work – police of Grimm – home. And if they were ever to have a home together it wouldn't be the penthouse. That was Renard's place, his choice, his personal space. He had decorated it, made it his home, and Nick, while calling it home once in a while, had never said it with the emotions attached to a true home.

It would have to be a place new for both of them. Right now, their own places were their personal refuges.

The green eyes, filled with the same longing Nick felt, warmed a little. Renard nodded, clearly aware and understanding the unspoken words.

"Lunch?" Nick asked.

It was Sunday. He was free all day. No Grimm stuff, no police work, and while he had promised Monroe to go out to the trailer later today to sort through another trunk full of Grimm stuff – something that fascinated the blutbad to no end – he had nothing planned before that.

Nothing but be with Sean, quiet, private moments that hadn't come up often enough lately.

"Lunch," the other man agreed, twitching a smile.

Lunch and maybe more, that smile promised. Nick smiled back. That sounded just fine.

x x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x x

The house was his by the end of the month. At a very reasonable price after Frank Rabe's estate agent friend had stepped in, had had a word with the other agent, and they had come to some kind of agreement. Bud was all over the place and drawing up a new list, something Nick was trying to grab out of his hands and make him finally attached a price tag.

No such luck.

"Buy the materials, dude," Monroe told him. "They won't accept your money, get them to work with the stuff you buy. Easy."

The blutbad looked around the empty house, Nick's future home, and nodded to himself.

"Nice digs. Good basement, too. You don't find them like that very often."

And still close to Monroe's and not at all much further to Sean's place. It had been the perfect compromise.

"When are you moving?"

Nick, hands stuffed in his pockets, shrugged. "The sale is agreed. I made a down payment. I can move in my stuff whenever I want."

"Give me a call."

Nick smiled. "Will do."

They checked out the basement, which was a perfect place to not just store stuff but also probably hide Grimm things from the trailer. Nick would have to think about it.

Monroe was already in love with it, but he looked positively delighted at the large garden. It would have to be weeded and taken care of, probably some bushes cut back, the grass needed to be mowed, but it was really a good-sized piece of land.

Yes, the house had been a good choice, Nick told himself silently. A really good choice.

x x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x x

Another two months later Nick was throwing a homewarming party in the backyard of his new house. The sale of his own place had been lightning fast. The house hadn't even been listed for a week when Victoria had told him she had a buyer and when could they move in?

The buyers were human.

The party was actually two parties. One involved his friends from work, those who knew nothing about what a Grimm or a wesen was. It was a small thing, all of them having fondue, looking around the smaller place, having a good time. Hank proudly announced how he had whacked the yard in shape, which eh truly had. Nick had been amazed by his partner's gardening skills. The man had taken down the old shed with Wu's help and they had mowed the lawn, pruned the bushes, checked the fence, and whatnot.

"Third wife was a landscape artist," had been Hank's explanation with a shrug. "Some of it rubbed off."

That had been food for teasing. But the yard did look amazing. Wu had insisted on a barbecue shed instead of the rickety old thing, and now Nick was the owner of a very professional barbecue station that would probably feed an army. He knew what that meant for summers to come.

The bigger event was the second housewarming. The yard was filled with wesen of all kinds, some of them knowing the other, some warily watching a possible predator. Monroe moved easily between the two groups, helping to ease the tension. The eisbiber handymen milled with a jagerbar and a lausenschlange, and some were shooting Renard careful looks since they were aware of who and what he was, though Nick's mate was shielding himself quite well. The Grimm had invited the hare family and the maushertz couple, though he hadn't really believed in their appearances.

They had come.

Timid and shy and very close to bolting just because he greeted them, but they had been there. Bud had tried his best to reassure them that Nick was a good guy, but three predators and a regnant were a lot. Bewilderment reigned.

"Thank you for coming, for giving me a chance," Nick told the hares, Linda and Bruce Stoltz, who were clutching their sodas.

They stared at him with big eyes. "You're a Grimm!" Linda blurted.

"I am. But that has nothing to do with the invitation. I don't want to be the neighborhood bogeyman."

She exchanged quick looks with her husband, then glanced at where Zoe, the maushertz girl who lived with her boyfriend/soon-to-be-husband Gary, was having a rather animated chat with an eisbiber.

"Bud told us you aren't like the stories say. He told us to come."

"Told you?"

"He came by. Said he and his friends are working on your house. He said you helped them against hässlichen." She played with the soda. "And that you always help. You don't kill for… fun…"

He had been a Grimm long enough not to let those old preconceptions get to him, but it still touched something inside him. Nick had never been that person, nor would he ever be. There were still too many wesen out there, in Portland, who didn't understand that he wasn't a nightmarish tale come alive to hunt them down.

"And you're a Guardian's mate," Bruce said, voice a mixture of fear and awe.

"None of that had anything to do with me inviting you. You're my neighbors and you know exactly who I am," he clarified. "What I want is a friendly, neighborly relationship."

They nodded, then both suddenly shrank back and Nick was about to roll his eyes. He didn't need to ask. He felt his mate's presence, felt his closeness.

"Your highness," Linda stammered.

Good god! Nick shot the taller man a glare. At least Sean's shields were up and there wasn't a hint of regnant to be seen or felt. This was just an automatic reaction.

And then the hares were off, fleeing to where Zoe was laughing at something Bud had said. Phoebe was also there, Nick noticed. She was a nice woman and truly loved her husband.

"Not helping," he muttered to Renard.

Brows rose in a 'what?' expression that was far too amused for Nick's liking. He elbowed his mate and that drew a smile.

"You can't change their behavior, Nick. Not towards you, not towards me. Having the mate of the protectorate's Guardian living in their neighborhood, knowing he's a Grimm… it unsettles them."

"Which is why I wanted them here, see that we're not different."

"But we… you… are." Renard looked serious for a moment.

Nick's lips became a thin line, aware that his shields had come up automatically once more, but all Sean did was empty his bottle and walk off in search for another.

tbc...