"Let's just say that pimps wish they had prostitutes as effective as Z," Lexi said with a slight giggle from behind her computer screen. "If he were to charge for the things he does, he'd be a rich, rich man."

"But prostitution is illegal, so his services are free," Magnus said, crossing his arms again and watching Zaitsu from the corners of his eyes.

"Nope. I'm free because I don't feel like charging for something that comes naturally. If you're going to get paid, it should be for putting forth effort."

"Though I realize you didn't mean to make yourself seem arrogant, you failed miserably and sounded arrogant anyways. I'd be careful of your wording. If we didn't care about you we might take you out to an alley and beat you," Jix warned.

"I say we beat him anyways. He's going to disease us all," Gavin said, shooting a glare at Zaitsu.

"Chill Gavin, he didn't break outside of the pack. Quit being such an asshole to him and just accept him already. It's been nearly a year. Get off your freaking high horse and walk like everyone else," Lexi shot, giving Gavin a cold stare over the top of her computer screen.

Zaitsu turned his head to look at Magnus. "Can I go now?"

"No. You're going to eat breakfast and go downtown," Magnus replied firmly.

"Can't that wait until tomorrow?" Zaitsu asked with a sigh.

Turquoise eyes now aided an expression that was less like a playful feline and more like a deer in the headlights. The floral feline was blushing brightly and staring at the group with wide eyes, her coffee cup still between her hands. It went without saying, she was a bit stunned, and had absolutely no response to what she was hearing. Were these people serious? What sort of place was this city?!

"Quit letting them scare you. We're nothing to fear. And no, the entire city isn't like us," Magnus said, his eyes watching the cat woman from across the table.

She blinked several times, then folded her ears back, still blushing bright, "Er... Uh... sorry..." She reached up and smoothed her hair, before adding a lump of sugar to her coffee. She was mostly fidgeting, uncertain of what to say in response to what she was hearing. They seemed like nice enough people, but she was genuinely startled.

A waitress came outside to the table, placing a couple plates and two glasses in front of Zaitsu. "Thanks, I really needed that," she said softly in his ear with a slight blush on her cheeks. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and scurried back inside.

Zaitsu snickered lightly and began eating, hungry from not eating for the last several days.

"That was Rex..." Jix said, almost sadly, before sighing and shaking his head a little.

She perked her ears a bit, still stirring her coffee, even though the sugar cube had long since dissolved, "Who?..."

"A friend of ours," Seline said, taking a drink of her tea.

"Oh shit!" Lexi cried, standing up suddenly with wide eyes. She snapped her computer shut and stuffed it in her bag, before scurrying away. Jix pulled out his cellphone to check the time and nearly choked, quickly getting up as well.

Throwing his back over his shoulder, he held out his hand to the purple-haired feline. "Sorry, we're late somewhere. My name's Jix, it was nice meeting you, Miss...?"

"Oh! Er... Marzipan..." She smiled a bit, knowing full well how odd her name sounded. She reached out and took his hand briefly, still a little unsure of herself with these people, "It's nice to meet you Jix."

"Cute name," he said, smiling sweetly at her. "It suits you." He gave a quick wave to everyone at the table, then turned and hurried off after his sister.

Marzipan blinked after the two leaving, blushing a little bit, before chuckling, "They sure had to take off in a hurry."

"They have a habit of rushing off," Athena said with a slight nod. She got up from her seat and walked to Lexi's empty seat next to Magnus and sat down.

"We've been here since seven in the morning when they first opened. We don't see any reason in rushing off," Gavin said with a shrug.

"We also don't really do anything important, they do," Seline said.

"I need to go before long," Magnus said, looking at his cellphone for the time.

"Ah, the mysterious Magnus vanishes again! Care to disclose your future whereabouts?" Gavin asked playfully, seemingly perking up a little.

"Confidential," Magnus replied, covering his mouth with his left hand as he yawned softly.

Elsewhere, in their house in the city, Amani lay in bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling of his room. He still looked to be a young man, only twenty years at the most, but in fact, he'd finally reached the age of seventy-three - the age his father had been at the time of his death. This had brought back memories of his dead father, causing him to withdraw from his grandmother and uncle, and to spend most of his time hiding away in his room.

Would he meet the same fate as his father and die on the night of his birthday? If so, that meant this was his last day alive, and he was too distraught to even want to leave his room.

Marzipan perked her ears at the others, then glanced up at Magnus. As awkward as this all had become for her, she found herself still curious about these people, and wanting to understand them better. So she stayed where she was, and took a sip of her coffee.

Tobias was sitting on the sofa in the living room, curled up and working on some cross-stitching. She had been unable to continue living at the inn after Eirose and Zaitsu were both gone. She knew perhaps she'd go back one day, but it was too empty without them there. Over the course of the years, she had made tremendous progress from the broken woman who had just lost her husband and older son. She had come to accept that Zaitsu was gone, and she'd done the best she could to give him a happy life.

Waiting for Eirose though, was a different matter. She knew he'd been alive for a number of years already, and she could only guess that something was slowing him coming back to her. Without her husband, she had learned to get by, but she never felt complete. She loved her grandson and son dearly, and Rufus was never far away, but without Eirose, Tobias wasn't quite herself.

Lexis came into the living room, with his hands in his pockets. He looked over at his mother, knowing what must be on her mind if she was so still and quiet. He sighed, then went to tap on Amani's door, "You ok in there?"

"Go away," Amani called, rolling over onto his side. The knot in his stomach seemed to tighten at the idea of having to talk to someone about how he felt.

Lexis sighed, "Amani, c'mon... You can't stay locked in your room all day... What's going on?"

"Go ask your mother!" he called back, a lump forming in his throat to match the one in his stomach. It was all he could do not to cry, and he really didn't want to talk about this with anyone...

Lexis drew back sharply, knitting his eyebrows together. He sighed, then went to the living room, shaking his head as he sat down beside his mother.

Tobias perked her ears, then set her project aside, reaching over to hug her son and kissing his head. No matter how old, she was affectionate toward her children.

Lexis sighed, leaning his head back against the sofa back, "This is because he's the same age as when Zaitsu died... isn't it? Do you really think it's going to happen the same way?"

Tobias shook her head, letting Lexis go and picking up her project again, "No... I don't, but I understand why it might worry him. But Zaitsu's situation was a bit different."

The group had continued their 'meeting'' with normal topics of conversation, people coming and going as they pleased, until only Gavin and Seline remained. They remained until the cafe closed, then went their own ways as well.

Amani spent all day and night tossing and turning in bed, finally managing to fall into an uneasy sleep somewhere around two in the morning.

The next morning, Lexis got up a bit early. His mother didn't wake as early as she used to, but it still took deliberate effort to get up before her. He crept to Amani's door and tapped on it twice before peering in. He crept to the side of his nephew's bed and reached out to touch him, pausing when he realized he was fairly cool. Lexis swallowed hard, noting also that Amani wasn't breathing. He blinked a moment, then turned to start to his mother's room.

Tobias was still fast asleep when she felt her son touching her arm. She opened her eyes and murmured, raising her head, "What is it sweetie?" She blinked, rubbing her eyes.

Lexis swallowed hard, "Mom I think Amani's... gone..."

Tobias was instantly wide awake, her eyes wide, "Amani!?" She clambered out of bed and rushed to her grandson's room, "Amani!"

He flinched, an almost startled groan escaping his tired body, his eyes scrunching up before opening wide enough to squint. He sat up slightly, his blanket falling away from his bare shoulders. "What's going on...?" he asked tiredly, his voice more like a second groan.

Tobias sighed with relief gong to Amani's bed and hugging him, shaking her head, "Lexis thought you'd left us."

"You were cold, and not breathing..." Lexis mumured, looking Amani over, relieved but startled at the same time.

"Mm-mn..." He sighed and clumsily hugged his grandmother back. "I was having this dream... Everywhere I went, there were red eyes staring back at me... And I was a little boy and people kept forcing me to do things that no child should have to experience..."

Tobias stroked Amani's hair gently, a troubled look on her face, "It's ok Amani, it was a dream. You're alright." she was still rattles, but Amani's mention of red eyes made her think of Zaitsu, "Come on, let's get up and have some breakfast ok? Everyone's ok..." She nodded a bit, mostly to reassure herself of that fact.

"I don't really feel like eating... My stomach hurts," he said with a sigh, leaning against Tobias. "Everything felt so real... They kept calling me Zacheus... And hurting me for being a raven."

Tobias froze, her breath catching in her throat, "Zacheus... a raven..." She hugged Amani and stroked his hair, tears welling in her eyes, "I... I don't know... It reminds me..." She tapered off, unwilling to say what was on her tongue.

"Of Zaitsu," Amani said, finishing her thought. "But... I was never treated badly for being a raven... Is that because I'm half Zonchii...?" he asked, wondering aloud to himself.