Hebs smiled slightly in amusement at Shadow burying his face like a little kid. He was unable to keep himself from having his fingers run through his hair as he let his eyes slide shut. He wasn't going to sleep, of course - just rest his eyes. "Will Gretha be able to make the tickets in such short notice?" he asked, not really wanting Shadow to be uncomfortable as he let the tips of his fingers lightly stroke Shadow's scalp.

Kratos grunted. He hated how the boy shrinked back even when he was trying to help him out. "Wait for me in my room," he told the corpses who seemed to have understood his orders, "And, bring those books to his room, not mine." Glancing at the boy, he quickly looked away and headed off straight to the merman's tent.

Shadow nodded into Hebs' neck, his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. Idly, he began planting little kisses all along the other man's neck--gentle, feather-light kisses. "We have spares, if the tickets can't be made quickly enough," he admitted quietly, his voice muffled by the flesh in his way. "...When we get to the villa..." he suddenly brought up, not appearing to be uncomfortable but perhaps...a little solemn, "...I think I'll have gifts to give every single member of our family. Kratos and Léan's gifts are perhaps the ones that might have the greatest effects on their lives, but...I will have gifts for everyone. My vault at the villa is where I keep very precious things, after all--there are many things there that you can't find anywhere else in the world."

Blake grumbled at Kratos under his breath as he made his way back to his own room, wanting to lay down and rest after exhausting himself. He needed to learn how to be comfortable around demonic creatures as well as keep them under control...

Léan could be heard before he could be seen. He was singing, ever so softly, as he swam around his aquarium. It was a good thing, in this case, that his tent was farther away from everyone else's--probably a deliberate move on Shadow's part. The singing of sirens could stir very romantic and sexual feelings in humans, particularly males, and even daze and confuse them to the point that their motor skills disappeared...

Hebs let out a little, "Mm," at the feeling of those soft lips all over his neck. His fingers didn't stop running over his scalp, neither did he stop playing with his hair. "I forgot about the spares." The snake man gave a little chuckle before he'd slowly opened his eyes and pull his head back a bit to look down at the other. That solemn voice he'd heard from Shadow made him bring up his free hand to have it rest on his cheek while he listened to him speak. His smile, of course, had turned to one much gentle than his usual. "I'm sure whatever you give will have a great effect on everyone's life."

Hebs lifted Shadow's head so he could kiss him lightly on the lips. His thumb caressed his smooth cheek. "We'll be there with you in the villa. I'll be with you every step of the way." Whatever decision Shadow was going to make, Hebs was going to accept. It was what he'd promised himself when he'd taken roof under Shadow's wing.

Whether or not it'd hurt him.

Kratos' eyes widened a little at the singing he was hearing even before he got to Léan's tent. He frowned, though, when he'd felt that said stir within him but he continued to venture on. It was only when he'd stepped into the mermaid's tent when he'd felt his legs turn to jelly. Talk about embarrassing. Kratos stumbled and fell face-first into the water. He tried, of course, to swim but to no avail. It looked like he'll just have to wait for Léan to stop singing and for himself to die.

Stupid legs. He was part human but it looked like with Léan's singing, he turned, well, fully human.

Shadow seemed to just love all the attention he was getting from Hebs, both physical and emotional. Even when the other grew so serious--he wasn't going to lie, it dampened his mood a little...he didn't want to think about his pending talk with Damon at all--Shadow seemed content. His hands dipped down to Hebs' sides, stroking them slowly, lightly. "Well...it depends on what I have, really," he admitted, sheepishly. "Some of my possessions are more interesting and useful than others..."

He really didn't want to talk about the main event that would be happening at the villa. He appeared to be grateful for Hebs' reassuring comment, though, because he smiled and brought him close for another, more lingering kiss. "...On another note...I honestly hope Kratos has enough sense to leave the rest of the graves alone," he muttered, frowning. "Alfie and Gian are insanely curious about the other freaks...I hope Kratos doesn't fall victim to that curiosity and agree to revive some of them for a chat. Especially Erudito. It doesn't sound nice, but he's better off dead with the power he has..."

The fallen angel shuddered, frowning.

Léan was violently startled out of his singing, which he'd been so very focused on, when suddenly a loud splash and some powerful ripples came his way. He blinked, peering up at the slowly sinking figure above him. When he saw that it was Kratos, he moved toward him, using his body to lift him up so that his head and shoulders were above the water. This also meant, though, that the siren was unintentionally holding the human very close to his body to keep him afloat.

"...It was my singing, wasn't it?" were the first words out of his mouth. "I do apologize. I shouldn't really sing when I know others are around."

"You don't look like the type to collect what's not interesting and useful." Hebs blinked a little before he'd smiled again at that lingering kiss. Shadow's kisses - whether he meant them or not - felt really good. "Erudito?" he asked as he raises his eyebrows a little, "And, I doubt he'll be interested in anyone's grave unless there's someone who looks a lot like Léan."

That thought in itself was disturbing.

Kratos heaved in a big breath when he was brought to the surface and coughed a little. It hadn't registered in his head, yet, how close he was to Léan. In fact, he was busy trying to get the water off of his face and push his hair back. At least, he got his hands back. His feet, though, weren't cooperating with him. "It's fine." He leaned back and relaxed against Léan before he'd coughed again.

"I like your singing. I was... moving." It was true. If he weren't moving and were only listening, things might've been a little more, well, different. He may feel funny but that would be about it.

"...That might be a problem then..."

Shadow didn't elaborate on what he meant by that. Was it possible that there WAS a freak buried at his villa that resembled Léan? It couldn't be to a T, but...maybe it was possible. Shadow slung his arms up and around Hebs' neck, shifting a little to make himself more comfortable. "...By the by, to amuse you...Kratos walked in on Léan singing. He fell into the aquarium..." He paused, a wide grin suddenly spreading across his face. "I wonder if anything will come from this...?"

...Always the type to make things dirty...

Léan looked like he felt very guilty, especially since Kratos was in his clothes and now they were all wet. "Maybe you should have stopped moving," he pointed out, arching an eyebrow. He then sighed, looking up to check the other for injuries--maybe he'd hurt his head falling in? "Are you hurt at all?"

Hebs blinked again. What exactly did Shadow mean by that? Had there been a freak then that looked a lot like Léan? He slid his hands down to wrap his arms around Shadow's waist and stroked his back lightly with his thumb. "Oh?" he asked before he'd chuckled, "Leave the kids be, Shadow." Nipping lightly at the other's upper lip, he rested his forehead against Shadow's own and smiled in amusement. "It'd be nice if something were to happen, though. It's only them left, isn't it?"

Kratos honestly didn't mind now that he had finally realized his situation and where it had him ended up in. "No," the life man replied as he grunted. "And, as if I'd let some singing stop me from getting to where you are." Moving his hand a little to have it rest on Léan's own, he stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. There was no way he was going to have some singing stop him from being this close to Léan.

"They are not children." Shadow wrinkled his nose slightly. "...Well, compared to my years, they are. But still. ...If anything does happen, though...Kratos will need to be very careful." The fallen angel promptly fell silent, discarding the subject and settling for cuddling close to Hebs and yawning softly. He knew how sensitive Léan was...and though he wasn't really as weak as he made himself out to be sometimes, he was emotionally delicate and had to be treated with kid gloves sometimes.

Léan closed his eyes, seeming to like having his hand stroked like that. His tail was flicking back and forth beneath the water--it was like the tail of a cat, sometimes. "I see." That was all the merman said. It left a lot out in the open--how exactly did he interpret Kratos' words? He seemed to like what the other man had said--there was a happy look on his face.

"Be careful about what?" Hebs asked, looking quite curious as he grinned at the sight of the other yawning like that. He was unable to keep himself from kissing him lightly on the lips before he'd let his own eyes slide shut. Holding the fallen angel close and tight, he let out a deep sigh and rested his lips on the other's forehead.

Kratos turned his head a little to look at Léan and the happy look he saw there made him smile a little himself. Tilting his head back and turning just a bit, he took the merman's lips for a chaste and quick kiss before he'd rested against him. The water was cold but at the same time, it was warm with the way Léan was still keeping him up on the surface.

"Well...you know he was put through a lot of abuse throughout the years, yes? Certain things can trigger memories of the abuse. Certain actions...certain words...anything, really." Shadow looked concerned as he spoke. He knew a few of the things, but...other things the merman kept hidden away so deeply in his mind that it was hard for even Shadow to get at...

Léan's tail flicked back and forth even more. He seemed to like the kiss, mostly because it was affectionate and not forceful at all. When he noticed that there were goosebumps slowly starting to rise on Kratos' skin, the merman frowned. He started moving toward the edge of the tank. "It's probably cold in here...there should be towels somewhere in here. Hidden away. I don't use them much unless I want to bask outside of the tank and want to be dry. That isn't often."

Hebs looked worried. "I suppose we can only hope." The snake man gave a little sigh as he shook his head. "It's still quite sad how Léan's story had ended." Stroking the other's back as he yawned, he excused himself and patted Shadow's hip. Hebs only let go of Shadow to get out of the bed and head to the bathroom so he could answer the call of nature. By the time he was finished, he had returned back to where he was positioned in not so long ago and cuddled close to the fallen angel.

Kratos didn't like the way they were moving. At least, he didn't like where he was being brought to. He may have goosebumps forming in his skin but it isn't like he wasn't enjoying his time with the other in water. "The water's fine. I don't mind... being in here with you." Cliche as that line may be, Kratos finally was able to get his feet to work, enough to turn around and wrap his arms loosely around Léan's waist. He also buried half of his face in the crook of the other's neck. Léan had spent time with him on land. It should be his turn to return the favor.

Shadow patiently waited for Hebs to return. While he was away in the bathroom, he'd curled up underneath the blankets and fluffed out all the pillows to get comfortable. He curled his arms tightly around Hebs once he was back, and he declared in a teasing voice, "I missed you. You were gone for three minutes." He then settled down to rest again. "Hm...do you just want to watch some television and doze off?" Shadow didn't watch a lot of TV. He mostly watched a lot of nature and animal-related shows when he did, though...or stupid, funny shows.

Léan was surprised when Kratos suddenly turned around and wrapped his arms around him. He closed his eyes, resting his head against the human's neck, and wound his arms up to wrap around his shoulders, also loosely. "Very well...if you say so." He sounded very relaxed...very calm. If Shadow was right, though, anything could set him off. It was always going to be risky to initiate something with him. Until he grew more confident, there was no way that he was going to openly start wanting things....

Hebs rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you could take care of yourself." The snake man smiled at the other's suggestion and kissed him lightly again on the lips. He seemed to do the latter often. "Dozing off sounds good." Stroking Shadow's hip, he gave another yawn and sighed. He was feeling too relaxed and comfortable around the fallen angel and with Blake and Kratos now back in the compound, there really was nothing holding them back from taking a shut eye.

"I may do just that." It didn't take long for Hebs to fall asleep and when he did, he was looking rather peaceful.

Kratos looked happy at the other's words and he relaxed again as he let his eyes slide shut. The water moving around them was calming and so was hearing Léan's heart beat. "My hands... might get rough." He was still human whether he liked it or not.

Shadow wasn't yet ready to fall asleep, so he nabbed the remote up off of the nightstand. He had a nice flatscreen television, but he rarely used it...when he turned it on, he had to fumble with the remote for a while to get it to work. He decided on watching a nice program about big cats in the African savanna as he settled down beside Hebs for a nice, relaxing nap. He wanted to just doze off and take a break from worrying about his fellow family members for a while. Surely they could take care of themselves for a bit while he relaxed?

Léan nodded wordlessly, his eyes also closed. It was really not much of an effort at all to keep himself and Kratos up and above water, and it was even easier with the human helping him do so. He did seem to like all the cuddling, sure, especially since they were both in the water. But...were Shadow's concerns genuine? Would he be able to take more contact? It wasn't clear.

It didn't matter to Kratos whether Léan wanted only nothing but the cuddling and the kissing. More than that can wait. After all, Kratos knew what Léan had gone through and he was sure that it wasn't easy to be where Léan was now. Hell, he was already just lucky to get Léan this close to him after years of just watching him from afar. He didn't think things could go this well or smoothly.

Léan wasn't even sure what he wanted. It was possible that he needed to be pushed a little bit in one direction to see what he really wanted...and, maybe even more importantly, what triggered bad memories. The easiest way to tell whether the siren was feeling good or bad was to assess the movements of his tail. He had developed an uncannily blank poker face over the years...but his tail reacted at once to different emotions. It was his one emotional weakness, really.

He seemed content enough just cuddling for now.

Kratos shuddered and turned his head away as he sneezed. All right. So maybe the water was getting too cold. Sniffing a little, the life man slowly let go of Léan and sneezed again. Into the water, this time. "S-Sorry." Kratos swam towards the edge and put his arms over the ground as he shivered again. Lifting himself up, he was just about to get out of the water when he'd sneezed again. The latter caused him to fall back into the water. "Ugh." He groaned and made a face as he put a hand on the ground. He hated colds.

Add up the fact, too, that he couldn't kiss Léan while he had them.

Léan jumped when Kratos so suddenly sneezed, breaching the silence, and then he looked embarrassed for having done so. He was typically so reserved--really, he needed to learn how to let go and live a little. "It's okay. Do you need help getting up...?" he asked, but his question was soon answered as Kratos gave a particularly vicious sneeze before falling back into the water.

He dipped down below the water and used his strength to push Kratos up and out of the aquarium, back onto land. "Go dry off...maybe you'll stop sneezing." He seemed quite amused.

Kratos was rather glad for the help because by the time he'd gotten out of the aquarium, he sneezed viciously again. Groaning, the man sniffled and nodded at the other's suggestion. It took him a while to find the towel as he shivered every second he spent his time outside the water. Somehow, it was a lot better in the water. "I don' think thib' wil' g'way." He was rubbing at his hair with the towel and had seated by the aquarium while he made a face when he'd sneezed for the umpteenth time that day.

Putting the towel around his shoulders, he started undoing his shirt while he sniffled again. "I hade colds."

Léan looked apologetic--it was, after all, his fault that Kratos had accidentally fallen into his aquarium. "...We can go back to your room, perhaps?" he suggested, curiously. "You would be much warmer there. And I wouldn't mind settling down for a nap." And if they didn't want to sleep, there were certainly other things they could do...everything from trying to strengthen the siren's resolve about relationships to just...talking.

Kratos knew it wasn't Léan's fault. He had been told by the siren to get out from the aquarium not too long ago but he had insisted on staying. When he'd heard him suggest that, though, the life man looked surprised. His cheeks had even colored a little out of embarrassment. "That'd be nice." He wouldn't mind at all having Léan close to him.

It was something he'd come to really like. And, here people thought the life man wouldn't be able to feel anything but anger and frustration towards the world. The man didn't bother taking off his wet clothes as it continued to cling to his skin like second skin. Neither was he bothered by the fact that he was, perhaps, showing off the upper part of his body.

The life man held out a hand to Léan as he sniffled again. "I have colds. Is that okay?" He honestly didn't want to have the siren catch his colds. That is, if the siren could catch viruses, air-borne or from fluids.

Léan seemed to get a kick out of seeing Kratos blush--every time it happened, the corners of his mouth twitched a little, as if they wanted to curl up into a sly little smirk. Maybe it helped to boost his confidence every time he saw it...it would be a confidence booster for anyone, really...

When Kratos extended his hand, the merman reached out and took it without hesitation. "I don't think I can catch your human viruses," he informed the other, simply. "At least...not a cold. We spend our lives in cool water, after all." He couldn't help, as he was drawn closer, closely studying the way his clothes clung to his body. He manged to keep a blank expression on his face...but the fact that he was staring said it all.

He tilted his head slightly before resting it on Kratos' chest. "All right. Let's go back."

Kratos would've had noticed Léan's smirk if he had looked his way. Apparently, the man was trying to bring his embarrassment down while he held his hand out to him. Once he'd felt Léan take his hand, though, he had turned his gaze back to him and helped him up and out of the aquarium. "That's good," he started before he'd leaned in to give him a chaste kiss. It was good because it meant that he was able to kiss him and hold him close even if he had his colds.

The moment the siren had rested his head on his chest and had spoken those words, he gave a little nod. "All right." The trek back to his room didn't take long and as he set the merman down onto his bed, he finally got himself rid of his shirt. "Give me a second." The life man moved to his closet to change. It didn't seem that he was bothered at all with his companion. Whether the other watched him change or not, that was fine.

It isn't like Kratos didn't have anything to show. Dressed up in a pair of boxers and some old shirt, he got back to bed and pulled Léan close. His arms were wrapped around his waist and he was half leaning on the wall while his body accommodated the other. "Do sirens ever get sick?"

Léan, despite what Kratos thought, cared very much if the other male changed in front of him. Looking embarrassed--especially as the other's hands drifted down toward his pants to remove them--the merman brought one of his arms up to shield his eyes from the view. It was his turn to be exceptionally embarrassed, it seemed--when Kratos returned to bed and wrapped his arms around him, Léan's face was a rosy shade of red.

"We get cancer," he mumbled, trying to think. "Our diseases are different from human diseases for the most part, though. Some of our viruses are different...certain bacteria don't affect us...it's hard to explain. I didn't exactly spend the better part of my life among my own kind."

He closed his eyes, seeming relaxed. He didn't seem tired at all, for some reason. While Kratos and Blake had been out training, it was possible that the siren had treated himself to a nap...so it was understandable that he wasn't tired.

Kratos wondered why Léan's face was red when he'd returned by the siren's side. Of course, he didn't ask about it. He only listened to him speak and pulled him even closer so he could rest his chin on his shoulder. His bare hands, too, were touching the merman's sides. "Napped a while ago?" he asked as he played a little with the other's damp hair. The back of his fingers would often run along Léan's cheek too while he tilted his head a bit to watch him.