Gian laughed. Quietly. "You really are a pervert," he mumbled under his breath, his tone laced with nothing but amusement as he let his eyes slide shut. Though Alfie wasn't as warm as another human being, he was very nice to be with and his hair was soft. It was soothing him as he ran his fingers through his hair. Before he knew it, he had fallen into a quiet slumber, his hold on Alfie not loosening in the slightest.

Hebs hadn't expected that and he felt his cheeks tinge a slight pink at the touch. Despite the other being slightly cool skinned, he was still warmer than he was. Hebs, after all, was cold-blooded, much like Alfie. "Seriously?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows in curiosity and looked at Shadow. That, somehow, sounded cool. "Would that explain why you have that receedingly annoying beautiful face and catch everyone's attention?" Of course, Hebs was teasing. He seemed to usually be when he was thinking about growing silent.

"They're honest," was all Kratos had said as he reached out to put his hand on Léan's knee - at least what he'd thought was a knee. "Your words are honest." He slowly got up to his feet and he slid his hands into his pockets. "And if you were antisocial, you wouldn't be here with me."

"It took you this long to confirm that suspicion?" Alfie retorted, flashing those sharp teeth of his. He welcomed the silence from Gian and continued to cuddle close with him, enjoying it. It had been a long while since he'd had a warm body to curl up to in bed. The first week of being accepted into Shadow's family he had stayed in Shadow's room with him, as was usual custom for new freaks. Gian had not been offered this because he, to Shadow's knowledge, would not have done well with the offer.

He found himself drifting back to sleep as well...but it did not last longer than twenty minutes. Within that time-frame, he was awake again, his stomach driving the sleep out of him.

Shadow smiled at him. "It would," he confirmed, almost apologetically. "It's a pain sometimes. I prefer to go unnoticed in public most of the time..." He kept that arm around Hebs' shoulder, but would drop it down to his waist if he didn't mind the touch and didn't shrug his arm off after a few minutes.

Léan jumped when Kratos touched him--even through the blanket it was still a little awkward for him. But he didn't push his hand away, either. He stayed perfectly still save for his eyes, which drifted up to follow Kratos' face as he stood. "...I guess that's true," he admitted, unwillingly. He fell silent again after that, his eyes dropping to the ground. He didn't know what to say.

Gian had woken up around the same time Alfie had and he groaned a little at the pain in his back. He had unconsciously curled up about Alfie, it seemed. "Hungry?" was the first word he'd mumbled as he'd slowly shifted to lay on his back and bring up a hand to have it run halfway through his hair.

Hebs listened to Shadow speak and he let out a sigh as he nodded. "I know how you feel. Except... I think it'd be nicer if I were human." Unconsciously leaning against Shadow and not minding the touch at all, he turned to look down at a little girl looking up at him as she was walking with her mother. It made him smile in amusement and he tugged his mask down a little to show the little girl his face. She seemed entertained because she had giggled and tugged at her mother's hand to point towards his way. He, by this time, had quickly turned to look forward, his mask back in place.

Kratos took the handle to Léan's wheelchair again and he'd started to make his way down to resume the little walk. He made sure to avoid the crowded places, not really liking it himself either.

"When am I not?" Alfie hummed, grinning. He sat up in bed, his tail rapidly uncoiling from around them both. "You should get dressed if we're going to go and grab something to eat...I mean, I can slither around the house naked because nothing shows on me...but you can't."

Shadow tended not to like children, so he simply watched Hebs entertain the little girl with a gentle smile on his face. Children were some of the only humans who weren't affected by his charms. They instead tended to notice the odd things about him right away and weren't afraid to say what they felt.

Noting that Hebs seemed comfortable, Shadow dropped his arm down to wrap it around the younger male's waist, not holding onto him too tightly. He stopped walking, suddenly, when he noticed a promising-looking store on their right. "Shall we pop in here quickly?"

Léan shifted uncertainly as Kratos began to lead the way again. He still wasn't happy about the silence, for some odd reason. He glanced up at Kratos, chewing on his bottom lip and looking inexplicably nervous. There was something he just had to get off of his chest. "...Is this a simple friendly outing, or...is it something more?" he asked, point-blank. He needed to know...

Gian blinked for a moment at those words and he lifted his head to look down at himself. "Ah," was all he'd managed to let out as his cheeks tinted pink just a tad. Scratched his head and shifted to sit up the moment Alfie's tail had uncoiled from around them, he got up to his feet to search for his clothes. The teen was quick to dress back up but he left the shirt unbuttoned, not really wanting to deal with the buttons and the holes.

"Come on. Let's search for something for you to eat."

Hebs tucked his hand back into the confines of his hoodie's pocket as he stopped, too, just when he'd felt Shadow do so. With the other's arm around his waist, it wasn't hard not to feel his side against his own. "Sure," he said with a quirk of his brow, "What kind of store... is it?"

Kratos looked down at Léan and he noted how he was chewing his bottom lip. He smiled a little and shook his head. "Think what you want," he told him as he made his way back to the beach, bringing them where there weren't much humans or people. "I don't want to scare you away."

Alfie pointedly watched Gian get dressed, not even caring about the nudity. When he'd finished, the naga slid out of bed, tail pooling on the floor for a moment before he rose up to his normal height. "Let's. You should eat something, too, maybe. By the way...do you want to pop out to the beach for a while, if there's nothing else to do?"

Shadow held Hebs' waist snugly, being careful not to touch him in any place that was a little too close for comfort. The store he'd indicated was a mix of a souvenir shop and an arcade. Shadow had a thing for arcades...he liked old-time arcade games, especially Dance Dance Revolution. "It appears to be an arcade and a store in one..."

Léan was frustrated even more by Kratos' answer, but not in an angry way. In fact, he seemed...almost pleasantly frustrated. He wasn't having a temper tantrum, that was for sure. And that, for the merman, was odd. "That's just it...I...I...I don't know what I want to think!" he snapped back, shoulders up to his chin. He stared out profusely at the sea, getting the urge to want to take a swim even though it was risky for him to do so.

Gian nodded at that. "Though," he started as he made his way to the door only to stop and look back at Alfie, "Won't Hebs be angry if he finds the ingredients in the fridge lessened?" They were, after all, going to be staying here for six more days. Well, not that they couldn't go shopping. There was a shopping store nearby.

Hebs whistled when he'd seen the place and he smiled in amusement. "Haven't gone to this kind of place for a long time," he started, looking around and pointed at the Dance Dance Revolution he could see up ahead at the corner. "Want to?" he asked with a grin as his eyes brightened up at the sight of it.

Kratos quirked a brow and grunted. "Then," he started as he leaned by the rocky wall, "Why don't you tell me what you think of this?"

Alfie snorted. "He can live with it. If he wants us to, we can go shopping for him. I wouldn't mind...I'd need the wheelchair, though. I can't exactly go out in public. I'd also need to wear a shirt."

The very idea of wearing a shirt, to conceal his wings, was unpleasant for Alfie. He liked to be in the nude all the time unless he grew attached to a certain article of clothing. While he scowled, he opened the door and headed out into the hallway. "Come on, let's get some grub."

Shadow had been eyeing the Dance Dance Revolution, as well, so he grinned when Hebs suggested playing. "Certainly," he murmured, digging in his pocket for his wallet. He unearthed the money that was needed for two people to play and held it out to Hebs with a pleasant look on his face. He was decent at the game, and it was a lot of fun for him.

Léan suddenly looked even more uncomfortable, and he shrank away slightly. "...What do I think of what? This...this outing?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together uncertainly. "I don't like having to wear a hat, number one. I don't like being near humans, number two. But other than that...it's nice."

"Will your tail fit in a wheelchair?" he asked, blinking just a tad as he followed Alfie out the door. Walking down the hallways, he noted the empty house and raised an eyebrow. "Everyone seems to be out." He checked the fridge for anything to eat for both he and Alfie. He settled on the cookies while he prepared something simple for Alfie. He wanted his food a little bloody right?

He finished a few minutes later and he pulled it out of the oven. He'd stuffed some more types of meat, ground meat actually, inside a pack of meat and added some condiments to make it more tastier. "Here." He put it in front of Alfie and grinned, "It's a little hot. The sauce, I mean."

Kratos watched Léan and he smiled in amusement. "That's good," he thoughtfully said before he became quiet again. He watched a couple of the humans swimming and he glanced up at the sky. It was starting to get dark. Was it going to rain? "Do you want to swim?" He wouldn't mind swimming with Léan at all.

((Decided not to bother trying to get sleep. Our new puppy is barking up a storm in his pen anyway. D: ))

Alfie immediately dug into the food that Gian had prepared for him. He seemed to enjoy the taste of it--he did indeed like his food a little bit bloody. It was that reptilian side of him that drew him to nearly-raw meats, Shadow had always claimed whenever one of the other freaks or even someone attending their shows would ask about his eating habits.

Only when he had finished eating did the naga answer Gian's question. "Mm...see, my tail can curl around me. Léan's can't. I can curl my tail all the way around itself...it'll look even more like legs that way."

Léan perked up at the mention of swimming, looking rather happy. It was rare to see a happy, eager look on his face nowadays. "It is better than being stuck up on land," he declared, simply.

[[ Lol. XD ]]

Gian looked impressed and more fascinated. "Cool," he said with a grin before he'd moved to sit on the counter. He had only finished his third piece of brownie when Alfie had finished with his food. "Can you show me how you do it?" he asked, his brows raising just a bit out of curiosity.

Hebs took the money and he grinned again. The male went and bought coins for the machine, two, and added a few bucks to make it four. He didn't want to only play the Dance Dance Revolution after all. Coming back to where Shadow was, he took his hand into his own and literally dragged him over to the said corner where it was. There weren't much people, thankfully, so he could put his mask down and show Shadow his bright smile. "Are you good at this?" he asked as he inserted the coins and got on the step to where the arrows were. He leaned back with his hands on the back rail and he gave a little shrug. "Choose a song for us."

Kratos didn't know why but that actually made him smile. That was true. At least, if he were in Léan's shoes, he'd think the same. "We'll wait a few minutes until it clears off. That way, they won't bother us."

"Sure..." Alfie headed out to the adjacent dining room and pushed one of the chairs towards the doorway. He sat down on it, like he would a wheelchair, and then began to wrap his tail around itself. His tail was much more flexible than the merman's was, so it was easier for him to curl his long tail around in loose knots so that it would resemble legs under a blanket.

"I am good at this, yes..." Shadow allowed Hebs to pull him over to the machine, looking eager himself. "Now, what songs are there...?" He browsed through the available songs, purposely trying to choose a medium-level one that he had never done before. When he found one such song, he selected it and backed onto his arrows, waiting patiently for it to begin. He was cheered by Hebs' smile. He liked being able to make others smile.

Léan nodded glumly, staring bitterly at the humans closest to them. He seemed to be calming down from the semi-frantic state he'd been in before.

Gian was amazed. Definitely amazed. "Damn," he mumbled under his breath as he came over to where Alfie was to crouch down and poke a little at the other's tail. "This is really cool." Looking up at Alfie, he grinned. "Next time, let's go out. I want to show you around. There's a few stores but overall, the place is pretty nice."

By the time the game was finished, Hebs was panting with his hands on his knees. "That was... workout," he said, sweat dripping down the sides of his face as he laughed. "We should get one of these at our place," he added after a bit and held out a hand to Shadow for a high five as he grinned, "We did it, though. We cleared all levels."

Alfie grinned as well, offering his arms up to Gian for a hug. "You wanna go out for a swim or somethin'? Seeing as everyone else is gone. That...or we could misbehave." The snake-boy scratched the back of his head, absently. "I've always wanted to snoop and see what Shadow's hiding in his room. He must have a lot of awesome artifacts from the past, you know, since he's lived so long."

Shadow was exhausted, but he wasn't sweating. He hopped off of the machine before he returned Hebs' high-five, a little awkwardly. He could usually tell when one of his family members was thinking of getting into trouble, so he got a little tingling sensation in the back of his head the moment Alfie spoke about snooping around in his room. "We can purchase one for our home. We have plenty of money, after all."

Gian brought up his index finger to rest it on Alfie's lips. He motioned to his head with his other hand, his index finger pointing to his temple. It was a silent sign that Shadow could read their minds and he winked at him as he took Alfie's hand in his. "Uncurl your tail, come on." He gave a little tug and led the way to Shadow's room.

Hebs raised a brow. "We do?" he asked as he wiped his sweat with the sleeves of his hoodie and got down the machine. The snake teen frowned a bit. "I thought you said we were lacking in funds a couple of weeks back..." When the doors had opened, Hebs quickly put up the mask and ran his fingers through his hair.

"And, what do they have here?"

Alfie let his tail uncoil and spill out onto the floor. He was aware that it was probably fruitless trying to hide what they were doing from Shadow...but since he was out somewhere they had a head-start. Shadow's door was unlocked, thankfully. He trusted his family not to break or steal anything. Snooping, well...if they found something strange he would be obligated to enlighten them on a few things.

"Lacking in funds earned directly from our shows. You know I always have some money in my savings in case we need it for something," Shadow clarified, gently. He sniffed as they walked through the doors. "...Odd little souvenirs are probably what they sell here, so let's take a peek. ...I sense a disturbance, by the way," he added. "I think someone is snooping in my things back home. As long as they don't break or take anything, it's fine..."

Gian followed Alfie in and he whistled at his room. It was neat. "Too neat," he started before he'd pursed his lips a little and looked about, "Though... he doesn't have much stuff, does he?" As he asked this question, he found a trunk and he crouched down to tap it lightly on the top. What was inside?

Hebs let out a short, "Ah," as he blinked at the man's next words. He found himself frowning just a tad. "No fair. I want to see too." Holding the plastic bag now with his hand, he tucked his free hand into the pocket again of his hoodie and went to the shop side of the place to see what they were selling. Odd little souvenirs? Like what?

Alfie had his suspicions as to what was in that trunk and cleared his throat, looking amused. "I'm going to check the closet. It doesn't look like he's unpacked a lot of his stuff yet..." The naga made his way over to the closet and slowly opened the door, peeking around inside to try and find something of interest to them.

Shadow chuckled softly. "I may just let you. Once we get home, of course..." He browsed through the shelves of this store closely. The items being sold here were mostly toys, candy, and items for children. Shadow was childish at heart. He ended up, for kicks, buying a few 'sticky hand' toys. He adored them, even though they tended to cause trouble in the hands of people with childish senses of humor such as himself.

Gian, anyway, opened it to look inside. 'lo and behold, his eyes widened at the sight of them and he laughed as he surfed through the most of them. He was very careful, of course, to return it where he'd seen it. "I know about these stuffs but damn, these are a collection," he said, thoroughly amused as he looked over to where Alfie was. "Found anything there?"

Hebs made a face. "There's the possibility of you not showing me your room, still," he pointed out before he'd found himself smiling in amusement at Shadow buying the few 'sticky hand' toys. For what use, he wasn't sure. "I don't think I'd like to know what you'd be using that for." He grinned and looked through a few candies and bought some - the chocolate ones.

Alfie was combing through the luggage Shadow had brought with him that wasn't clothing. "His iTouch...a few notebooks--these are full of poetry and musical notes and stuff...oh?"

Out of the messy din of one of the suitcases, Alfie tugged out a very old-looking sketchbook. He made sure not to jostle it around too much, for fear that it might get damaged. "This looks pretty old...it's even got leather binding. Untreated leather, too. Should we take a peek through it?"

"I would be happy to let you explore. Of course, I won't tell you where anything is...you'll have to search on your own for items of interest," Shadow chuckled, grinning widely. "...Do you want one of these?" he added, holding out a light blue-colored sticky hand. "They're really quite fun. Someone could be writing something on a sheet of paper, and with proper aim you could snatch it directly out of their hands."

Gian shut the trunk just as he'd seen Alfie pick something out from the cabinet. He raised his eyebrows a little and came over to stand by Alfie's side. "Why don't we?" he asked, his eyes brimmed with curiosity as he tucked his thumbs into his back pocket. He tilted his head a little. "Be careful handling it, though... it looks fragile."

"Well, aren't you fun?" he asked with sarcasm before he'd blinked at the sticky hand. "Is that why it's called a sticky hand?" There was obvious child-like curiosity in his eyes as he looked at it and then up at Shadow.

Alfie laid the book on the ground flat, carefully. He flipped it open, just as slowly, to the first page. The book was filled to the brim with very detailed drawings...they looked like... "...Maybe...these are members of his 'freak' family from the past?" Alfie guessed, studying the many different people--all with strange mutations or abilities printed next to their names--drawn in the book.

"Yes, that's why it's called a sticky hand. Here, take it. I have a feeling everyone in the house will find these somewhat amusing..." Shadow hummed, setting the plastic-wrapped sticky hand in Hebs' hand. "Be careful with it. Anything and everything will stick to it."

Gian crouched down beside Alfie and his brows raised a little in surprise. "You mean, it's some sort of album?" he asked as he looked again at how thick the book was, "But it's so... thick. How long has Shadow been alive?" He frowned a little as he looked at the contents in amazement. They were very detailed. The drawings. It was amazing.

Hebs took the said toy and looked at it for a second or two. "Why am I accepting this again?" he asked to no one in particular as he sighed and smiled nonetheless. Shadow really was cute. Sometimes. "Hurry and pay up. We should go buy groceries, by the way, soon. I don't think our meat will be enough for the all of us, especially for Alfie." Twirling the sticky hand in his hand, he turned to idly look around the shop again. This time, he was waiting for Shadow to finish.

"Probably a long time. I don't know how long, but...long. Real long..." Alfie flipped through the pages slowly, idly commenting on how adorable some of the past freaks were. He found several snake-people as well as two other merpeople--a mermaid, first, and a merman. There was even a child recorded here who had the same ability that Kratos had had, nearly.

Alfie paused on one of the drawings, noting that something was different about it. While the other drawings were in black and white, this was the only one so far that was in color. "...This one's in color..." He flipped to the one after it. "The one after it isn't in color. I wonder why this is different..." The drawing was of a young man in his mid to early teens. The color depicted him as having emerald-colored hair and eyes of the same color. Much like Shadow, something about him was almost too beautiful to describe.



Shadow glanced around the store curiously for a long moment before deciding nothing else interested him. "...Seeing as Alfie insists on eating so much of our food, we should send him and Gian out to shop for groceries. Give Alfie a list and let him get what he needs to eat..." He paused. "Shall we go home?"

"Ah," he said when he'd realized Alfie had a point. It is in color and the man was oddly beautiful. If Hebs were to see this, he'd think of him as irritating to look at too. The thought mildly amused him. "What's his name?" he asked as he frowned and squinted a little. He couldn't read the letters. But, hell, this book was interesting, nonetheless. He idly wondered why Shadow had kept this as a secret from them.

Not that it's a secret to him yet. He's only been with the freak family for a couple of weeks now.

Hebs blinked again and chuckled at that. "I can already hear his reaction to that," he said with a grin, "Though, Gian. I think won't mind. He's really hardworking, the kid." Nodding once, the snake teen stepped back and walked back to the sidewalk. The clouds were dark above them. "You think it's going to rain?" he asked as he started to walk back home.