"I believe they're going to have themselves a rather good time out in the open, and you know how I feel about good times..." Shadow unwillingly allowed Hebs to nudge him forward and back towards the house. "I think we should start figuring out when we're going to leave for home. We only have three days left, I believe...and on the third day, we have to leave."

Hebs laughed again. "I do, actually," he replied before a look of realization touched his features. He hadn't thought about the day they were going to leave. Apparently, they seemed to be comfortable where they were. "Then, we'll just have to enjoy the rest of the days, won't we?"

"We should...let's spend these next few days just...totally relaxing..." Shadow replied, looking positively cheerful. "No fighting, no drama, no nothing...just relaxing on the beach, and on our last night we should all order something nice for dinner..."

Alfie sighed softly--halfway in relief, though he didn't realize it. "...All right. All right, we can wait. Maybe until we get home..." He snuggled up against Gian.

((SKIP TO LAST DAY.))

Shadow was the first one up on their very last day. Everyone had packed last night, after some goading from both himself and Hebs. He was busy bustling about the house, packing up what he had forgotten to pack last night.

Hebs was outside, waiting for the others as they packed up. They had already put the merman's tank in and Kratos personally took the job of looking after him. At least, that was one problem down. Plus, Kratos didn't bring much things so he wasn't looking around or grabbing whatever he had forgotten to pack like all the others.

Gian nudged Alfie a little bit with his duffel bag over his shoulder. "Need help?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows a little.

"...I think I have everything...uwaahh..." Alfie wasn't even fully awake yet. He had protested when someone first tried to wake him up, and then Shadow had to sneak in and yank him out of bed by his tail, which he was still feeling bitter about. "So tired..." He was clinging to the last bit of his luggage...a big bag stuffed full of video games.

Léan was relaxing near the bottom of his tank, half-paying attention to Kratos, and half-paying attention, amusedly, to everyone running around like crazy trying to pack up the last of their belongings.

Shadow was the second one to completely finish packing, out of all of them, with Kratos being the first of course. So, he was about ready to get going. He had popped sunglasses on his face so he wouldn't distract everyone else while driving.

"Let's pack everything up and get ready. I'm eager to get home."

Hebs crossed his arms and chuckled at Shadow's words. He was eager to get home, too. But, this was one vacation all right. He had to say that this was perhaps one of those memorable vacations. Everyone paired up and things happened, which made them closer. It, at least, made Hebs smile. "I'll take the wheel today," he started, "You don't mind taking the map, Shadow?"

Gian waited for Alfie until he was done and he went on ahead to lead the way out. "We're done, too," he announced as he took all the baggages outside to put them all in the van. Motioning for Alfie to hurry so they could catch some shut-eye, he gave a wide yawn and made a face. He hated early mornings like these really.

Oh, no. Shadow had never had good luck with maps, though he could read them perfectly fine. He made a face eerily similar to the face Gian was making, out of annoyance associated with the morning. But, it appeared that Hebs seemed insistent on taking the wheel. He wasn't going to argue with them, but he had a feeling they were going to end up getting off course, and thus...lost.

"Very well..." Shadow held his hand out for the map, which he had earlier handed off to Hebs.

Alfie clung to Gian's arm and yawned loudly, mirroring Gian's yawn almost perfectly. "Nap-time...mm..." He wanted absolutely nothing to do with navigating or reading maps at this hour. No, it was far too early for any sane person to want to be up and about, he thought...

Hebs handed the map to Shadow and smiled before he'd moved to get behind the wheel. Gian, on the other hand, took care of locking up the back of the van before moving to hav Alfie settle at the corner. He snuggled up against the naga and stretched out his legs before he'd crossed his arms over his chest and let himself succumb, yet again, to sleep.

Kratos leaned back against the tank, his arms crossed as well and the side of his head tilted just a little against the surface. His eyes were slightly dazed from sleep and he'd occasionally look towards Léan. Of course, he'd chosen the spot near the merman. They may not touch each other but he liked having to see the merman up-close.

Starting up the engine, Hebs shifted the gear and started to move the vehicle out onto the road. He listened well to Shadow's every direction and made sure to ask twice and slow down before he'd turn.

Shadow had trouble with the map, at first. He tended to mix the thoughts of other drivers, traveling on their own paths, with the map itself and their own little way. Without realizing it, about an hour into their driving, he made a mistake. And he didn't realize it, either. Hebs would most likely realize it, though, if it didn't hit Shadow in the next few minutes.

Léan, while he was underwater in his tank, looked perhaps more appealing than he did out of water. His golden hair billowed out around him like a soft cloud, and those ice blue eyes of his reflected the water around him. His scales, too, seemed to glisten with the reflection of the water. He rested most of the time, though he jolted awake whenever the van hit a bump and startled him.

Alfie fell asleep leaning heavily on Gian's shoulder, almost at once. He murmured a few unintelligible things as they drove along in his sleep, he was so deeply out.

Hebs did realize it a few seconds he'd turned the next intersection. It led them to a narrow road that definitely didn't look the same as the road they had passed by a week ago. Hebs may not remember the name of the street but he remembered how it looked like at least. He was a visual person and he remembered things more when he saw them. Slowly parking the van at the corner, he leaned back in his seat and turned to look at Shadow. "I'm not sure if you're doing it on purpose but," he trailed off as he'd chuckled, "You haven't been reading the minds of the other drivers now, have you?"

Kratos noticed the way the van had slowed down to a stop and he blinked awake. He hadn't realized he had fallen asleep. Now that he got a good look on Léan, he couldn't help but feel his cheeks color. Léan really was beautiful no matter how or what angle he looked at him. Shifting a little to have his legs stretch out before him with his arm leaning on the glass, he silently watched the other with a half-lidded, sleepy gaze.

Looking past him, he saw the two who seemed caught up witch each other, too, comfortable in their own skins. If only it were easier for me to breathe underwater. He'd definitely spend more time inside with Léan.

Shadow, unbeknownst to Kratos, had already been thinking about his and Léan's drastic difference in species. And he believed he had something that could help. That something, however, was in his villa in Austria.

Shadow frowned, looking up from the map with a foreboding look on his face. "You should know I'm no good at helping with directions off of a map," he piped up, pointedly. "I can't help reading the minds of others sometimes, and I get confused..." He peered at the map uncertainly and then handed it up to Hebs, whom he was sure could read it, at the moment, better than he could.

While he did that, he noticed something strange at the end of this small, narrow road. There were cars passing by nearly a mile a minute, but...he could see that there was a small, sopping wet figure at the end of the road. It had started to rain about ten minutes ago, just lightly. But they had just come into the area, so it was likely that it had been raining for a while now. The poor thing looked like a young adult. His clothing was sopping wet--the only dry thing about him was the waterproof little duffel bag he was toting along with him. There were bags under his strikingly blue eyes, and he was shivering. It looked like he was trying to hitchhike--his thumb was up in the air. But no one would stop for him.

Shadow frowned slightly, and then he squinted, peering in the young man's direction while he handed over the map.

Léan cracked open an eye, almost feeling that he was being watched, and he didn't seem to mind having the other stare at him like such. The same thoughts were running through his mind...he hated that he couldn't spend a lot of time out on land.

Hebs took the map and he blinked at Shadow looking somewhere far off in the distance. Being a snake had its advantages. He could, luckily, see something small even from far away. At least, his senses made it so. "Should we pick him up?" he asked Shadow as he turned to look at him. He moved his gaze back down at the map and tried to read it. He tried to remember which ways they had taken and raised his eyebrows a bit.

It looked like they could get back to the main road. They just need a U-turn slot.

Folding the map and putting it aside, he shifted the gear again and put on the sign before he'd joined the flow. Unlike the other cars, though, he had stopped near the said sopping figure and put his hand in between Shadow's legs, on the seat to roll the window down. "Hey," he said with a smile, "Need a hitch?"

"We should. I have a feeling we might have another potential family member on our hands."

Shadow said nothing more on the matter as Hebs stopped the car. He did, however, shift a little bit when Hebs placed his hand in-between his legs and flashed him a pointed stare, with a small smile.

The boy seemed startled by the sudden sound of Hebs' voice, and he must have jumped nearly a foot in the air. He was shaking terribly, and had most likely been out in the rain for a long while. He was young, as Shadow had suspected, with hints of youthful roundness still in his face. His eyes were a striking shade of blue, and his hair was just as odd--it was a thriving shade of violet, and it stood out. He was wearing thick old clothing, probably having anticipated the rain when he up and left home. He had the look of a runaway who had been on the run for less than a week.

"...That...would be nice..." he warbled, softly. His voice was a little high-pitched, and quavering. He needed to be dried off at once.

Hebs didn't think of it much - his hand in between Shadow's legs. Well, they did share some intimate moments together the past few days; it shouldn't be a problem now. At least, not anymore. Worry immediately touched Hebs' features and he shifted to put his hand on Shadow's thigh. "Get in the back," he said as he tilted his head, "And hurry change into dry clothes."

As if that wasn't enough, he had knocked on the small window that divided the back of the van and the driver's and passenger's seat. "Gian?" Gian stirred awake at him being called and groaned. "What is it?" he asked, a slur in his voice as he yawned widely. He was still tired, apparently.

"Help out the boy that'll be joining you guys there at the back. Make sure he gets into dry clothes. We wouldn't want him catching anything." Turning to look back at the boy, Hebs smiled again. "If you don't have a place to go, you can come with us until you decide where to go." That was much like Hebs. Making decisions even without Shadow's consent.

Shadow didn't seem to mind, at all, that Hebs had made a decision without consulting him. He was more interested in that hand on his thigh, and he reached out to take that hand in his own and squeeze it, looking amused. "...You shouldn't tempt me when you know how frisky I can be," he muttered, pointedly.

The boy, immediately looking all kinds of grateful, gently tugged open the back door of the van. He was helped in by a half-awake Alfie, who muttered absently to Gian to fetch a few towels from the luggage in the back before letting the boy sit down. He nabbed a single towel, which was close by his seat, and laid it out on the seat so the strange boy could sit down, at the very least.

The boy seemed overjoyed to get out of the rain, and he sighed softly, still shaking like a leaf. He would need to be dried off, at once, and...well...stripped of all of his clothing and put into dry clothes, after drying himself off.

Hebs blinked at Shadow and used his free hand to lightly pat Shadow's head once. "Not in the car, Shadow," he told him before he'd smiled, "At least hold off until we get home." He gave the others' hand a squeeze too before he'd retrieved his hand to go back to driving. He had freaks to bring back to their home.

Gian went to fetch a few towels from the luggage and he, without shame, came to kneel by the boy's side. He started to dry him up quickly and even went to stripping him without as much of a hesitation and a permission before he'd resumed to drying him. He made sure he got every bit of drop off from his skin and he hurried off to get warm clothes and a thick quilt. Of course, he gave him and helped him into his clean clothes. They were a little big for him but that shouldn't be a problem.

The teen went off to dry the boy's bag, too, and he set it by his side before he'd grinned. "Hi," he finally greeted him after a few minutes. He could be seen wiping his hands. "I'm Gian. What's your name? And, are you warm enough now?"

"I thought you were good at multitasking? Surely you can multi-task while driving..." Shadow crooned, jokingly, before he leaned back in his seat. "I should probably take that map back. I'll mutter out my thoughts from here on out...if I start blurting out strange directions, just give me a good smack on the back of my head."

The boy was about to protest when Gian started tugging off his clothes, but all that came out when he opened his mouth was a hacking cough, and he sniffed, deciding it was better to just let the stranger do what needed to do. He was pleasantly surprised when he returned, after helping him dry off, with clean, warm clothes and a big quilt. He hurried to slip the clothing on, with the help of the stranger, and then cuddled underneath the quilt. It was probably a good thing that he had been in too much pain and too cold to realize that Hebs had scaly-looking skin...Alfie had a small blanket covering his tail, which had been covering both him and Gian beforehand. He was soundly asleep again.

The boy clung to the quilt tightly as he settled down to get some much-needed rest. "I'm fine, now. I'm Blake."

Hebs can but he didn't want to risk his passengers or any of them getting into an accident. He'd be the one held responsible after all. Though it was a joke, he partly took it seriously. "All right," he said with a chuckle, "I'll take you up on that offer."

"That's good to hear," he said as he patted the boy's back. Slowly getting back up on his feet, he put his hand on the wall of the van to keep himself from falling when the car had crossed a hump. Luckily for them, Hebs was careful. "And, if you need anything, you quickly come to me, okay?" Grinning at the boy, he moved back to where Alfie was to get under the blankets with him and snuggle up against him again. It wasn't long for him to fall asleep again.


[[ You can fastforward to them arriving to their home. =D ]]

Shadow managed not to get them lost the entire way back home. He looked all kinds of relieved when they pulled up to their semi-tented home. "Aaah...everything looks like it's still in place..."

Alfie didn't stir at all during the entire trip again. Instead, he stayed cuddled close to Gian, unconsciously happy to share the blankets with him. He did, however, jerk forward all of a sudden when the van came to a stop. He shook his head a few times, to try and shake off the sleep. "Gian...think we're home..." he muttered, under his breath.

Blake had fallen asleep on the trip, as well. He'd regained a bit of color in his features, but he looked a little flushed. He most likely had caught a cold. He didn't wake up when the van stopped.

Léan was fast asleep, like Blake, when the van suddenly stopped. He was curled up into a tight ball beneath the water, and there was a half-peaceful, half-focused look on his face. He was dreaming.

Hebs chuckled at Shadow's words. "Yeah," he agreed with a nod before he'd opened the door to the driver's seat, "And, home sweet home." He did miss home but the real home he'd be missing if he were far away from the members were them themselves. He did like Shadow, Alfie, Gian, Kratos and Léan. Hell, he was sure he'd be liking their new two additions: Blake and Johnny.

Getting off the van, he knocked lightly on the walls of the van and started to open it up. "Everyone, rise and shine! We got to get Léan back in the pool. Gian and Alfie, round up all the bags and keep the boy company." Hebs tied up his hair to keep his bangs off of his face. "Kratos and Shadow, come on. Help me get Léan's place cleaned up before we put him in."

Gian groaned when the van had jerked to a stop. He didn't wake up until he heard Alfie's voice and that knock on the walls of the van. "We are?" he asked, mind still half hazy and asleep as he yawned widely. Only when Hebs had opened the van did he realize they were home indeed. Looking over at Blake, he got out from under the sheets to put the back of his fingers on the boy's cheek. He wasn't hot. That was good. But, he looked a little flushed.

"We should get you something hot to drink," he said before he'd turned to look at Alfie. "Let's go get these bags in and get something hot to drink. Tonight seems cold." He shivered slightly at the cold air that made its way into the van.

Kratos was greatly hating the fact that he was woken up abruptly. He looked rather annoyed when he'd gotten up to his feet and he shot Hebs a slight glare before he'd rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. Both he and Hebs moved to work on getting Léan's tank out of the van.

Shadow slid out of the van at once, looking like he could sleep for three entire days. He hated reading maps. It took a lot out of him, considering his thoughts mingled with the thoughts of other drivers and ended up confusing him to the greatest degree. He began to head out towards the aquarium, where he was unhappy to see, once he reached it, a great deal of algae build-up that needed to be cleaned.

Alfie cuddled closely against Gian, whining when the cold air hit him. His tail spilled out onto the floor momentarily, but he quickly scooped it up again. He had suddenly realized that Blake wasn't aware that they were...a bunch of freaks, yet. He hadn't seen their merman, or the naga's tail. And he hadn't gotten a good look at Hebs' skin.

Blake didn't catch Alfie's tail, thankfully. He instead woke up very slowly, startled by the feel of a hand on his cheek. "...Yeah...it's cold..." he murmured, sounding a little far-off and shivering. The cold rain was having adverse effects on him...most likely, he had a cold, now.

Léan only woke once his tank was jerked around--he awoke suddenly, bristling and looking territorial. When he realized where he was and what was happening, though, he seemed to calm down some. He floated around the middle of the small tank, following Kratos' movements lazily.

Hebs, together with Kratos, moved Léan's tank towards the tent with the merman's aquarium. Once that was done, he had gone to stand beside Shadow and pursed his lips a little at the sight of it. Kratos seemed to have the same reaction, too, when he'd stood a step behind Hebs. "That's going to take some time to clean," he started before he'd brought up his hand to rub the side of his neck. "I'll have us some hand."

Turning to look at Shadow, Kratos crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "I can revive at least five of the corpses, can't I?"

Gian helped Blake up to his feet and had him close as he turned to look at Alfie. "I'll just set him to his room and give him something hot to drink, probably medicine too. You want something hot to drink, too, Alfie?" he asked. His arm was securely wrapped around Blake's waist to keep him up while his other hand held those blankets around him together. Raising his eyebrows a little, he waited for his love interest's answer before he went off to the spare room he'll have to clean up.

"I believe, before we do anything...we should tell Blake about what and who we really are," Shadow informed Kratos, simply. "He didn't take notice of Hebs' skin, or Alfie's tail. And he hasn't seen Léan yet. Who wants to do the honors, hmm?" He personally wanted everyone who didn't have obvious mutations to explain, as to not freak the boy out.

"Yeah..." Alfie didn't move from where he was, too lazy and too concerned about revealing his tail to an oblivious Blake to move. He only did stir once Gian and Blake were out of sight.

Blake was thankful for the support, because he was fading fast and just wanted to lay down and rest. Having a cold wasn't going to end up doing him any good...and neither was remaining oblivious to the freaks, though, and who they really were. He was going to freak out if he realized he was staying with a bunch of freaks and he didn't want to...

...or would he?

Léan didn't seem to mind that the aquarium was dirty. He just stretched himself out at the bottom of his tank, like a cat, and curled up to rest again. He was exhausted after that long ride. After all, he hated traveling.

Kratos didn't like what Shadow had said at all. He only grunted as he tightened his arms, which were crossed about his chest. "I'm not going it." He watched Léan who had stretched himself out at the bottom of his tank and he pursed his lips a little. He disliked the fact that Léan was sleeping in a dirty aquarium. Honestly, it bothered him even if he weren't exactly one for cleanliness.

Hebs brought up his index finger under his chin. His thumb was lightly stroking his own jaw. "It'd be a bad idea if I do it," he started before he'd turned to look at Shadow and then turned to look at Kratos who only gave him a look that said to try him. "How about we have Gian do it? Speaking of, he's with Blake now, isn't he?" At least, that was what Hebs assumed was the boy's name. He did trust Shadow when it came to names. He knew better.

Indeed, Gian was with Blake. He had set him on the bed, which he'd quickly changed and put a bed cover on before he'd went to try arranging the place in the tent. He and Hebs shared a room. He couldn't really have Blake see their dirty place. Hebs had skinned a few days before they left for the trip and he hadn't really had time to clean that yet. "Stay here," he instructed the boy, "I'll go get you something good to drink."

Shadow arched an eyebrow at Kratos and made a small 'mm' sort of sound in the back of his throat. "Then, you can go and tell Gian what he has to do before you start work on this aquarium. We'll wait for you before starting." He yawned softly and leaned against Hebs for support. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep, obviously.

Léan didn't seem to notice that the aquarium was dirty, considering he was still in his small tank. He knew that they would clean it if it was--they didn't want him to get sick. He was irritable and nasty, even more so than usual, when he was ill. As such, it was always good to try and prevent illness in him in every way possible. Of course, it wasn't always possible...when one freak got sick, usually all of them ended up catching whatever it was.

Alfie, once Gian and Blake were out of sight, quickly made his way to his room, ready to lay back down and get some shut-eye. He, after all, didn't want to frighten Blake with his looks.

Blake thankfully laid down in the bed, curling up to rest. "All right...don't feel like moving, anyway..." He sniffed and then burst into a small fit of hacking coughs.