Kratos felt his eyebrow twitch a bit. A date sounded good but he didn't think he'd want the merman out of water for too long. He wouldn't want him sick, after all. "What are you getting in all this?" He could only guess it'd be either the amusement or the happiness of the merman.

Gian smiled slightly at that. "If anyone's gone through a rocky past, that'd definitely be him. It's not surprising he's much more sensitive than any of us." Nudging Alfie a little with his elbow, he raised his eyebrows a bit. "So, are you done touching me or do I have to continue sitting? My ass is starting to hurt."


[[ Whoa. Short. xD Sorry. :rofl: ]]

"Ever since I first found Léan, I have wanted to make him happy," Shadow replied, honestly. "It makes me sad to still see him so closed off and irritated with the rest of the world. It's not healthy for him to be so frightened and angry all the time. If he were to find a mate of some sort, it would make him much happier. Besides, it would also make you happier..."

"Wow. I didn't know I could make someone's ass hurt without even touching it--that's an accomplishment for me," Alfie teased before scooting backwards and giving Gian some room. "There you go."

((It's fine! I've got to leave now, though. Going to try school today. I haven't been able to make it a full day for more than a week, now. D: Going to try today.))

[[ Have fun at school and good luck with the catching up! :3 ]]


"Killing two birds with one stone, huh," Kratos said under his breath before he'd looked back at him. He did agree wtih Shadow on the part about Léan being closed off from the world. Being frightened and angry all the time... "And don't put me in the category of 'some sort'," he grumbled as he straightened up and uncrossed his arms.

"Get me a wheelchair and a fisherman's hat for tomorrow. I'll tour Léan around close here." It shouldn't take long since he wasn't going to go far off.

Blinking for a second, he found himself laughing at Alfie's teasing remark and got up to his feet. "I doubt my ass would hurt with a full body massage," he teased back as he turned on the shower and made sure it wasn't scalding hot or too cold for his taste. "Thanks for the massage, Alfie." Once the male had washed off, he got out of the tub to dry himself and patted the wound on his arm. There was still blood but it, at least, closed off a little.

Once Gian had dressed up again, he lifted the sleeve of his shirt and turned to look at Alfie. "And... an advanced thank you, too, for bandaging up my wound. You're a real great help tonight." As if that wasn't enough, he teased him again, "You'd definitely make a good house husband."

((Didn't end up going for a full day, still. Those stairs are killer. D: I freakin' hate mono... ))

"I will wake up early and fetch you what you need." Shadow had his ways of getting what he wanted. He could be very convincing, given how he looked. So, he wasn't worried about not being able to find what Kratos had requested. He reached out and patted his shoulder gently with a smile.

"If you have any questions about his likes and dislikes...well, I can answer them. After all, I know him better than anyone here." Léan kept to himself about most of what he cared for and didn't care for. The only thing that his family knew for sure that he liked was tuna.

"Pff...I wouldn't make a good house husband, no siree," Alfie replied, indignantly. "I can't cook to save my life. I can't do heavy lifting or even do laundry, either. ...If you want to hear a funny story..." he began as he moved over to Gian and started to go through the slow, precise process of wrapping up his wound, "...Shadow tried to teach me how to cook once. As he himself said, he's not the most patient of cooking instructors. Heh...well, now he won't even let me near an oven..."

[[ Whoa. Crap. -blinks- Your mono must be really bad. -.- ]]

Kratos would've had left if it weren't for Shadow telling him that. He actually froze from reaching out for the knob. "Then, tell me," he started as he turned to look back at the ringleader, "What are his likes and dislikes?" Well, he had to know before he went out with Léan, right?

"Well, at least the massage and the patching up makes up for it," he said as he chuckled and watched him wrap his wound, "You patch up rather neat, too." It had Gian smiling.

((It is. I'm terrified of needles--like, terrified in the sense that if I feel one's even nearby, I am OUTTA there--so I can't get a blood test to 100% prove I have it. Without that, I can't get meds for it. So I'm feeling the full effect of it nearly every day. :())

"...I suppose I can give you a few."

Shadow turned and ambled off towards his bed, sitting down with a contented sigh. "Léan will eat human food, if you want to take him out to eat. But he won't eat highly-sugared things, because they make him sick sometimes. He is quite terrified of boats. Cars, not so much, I don't think. Crowds are something he does not like unless he's very close, cuddling almost, to someone he trusts. He is not used to what is outside of his tank, so try not to startle him with too many new things at once. He likes human music more than he would ever admit. I would keep him away from sharp things unless you're fishing and need hooks. That should be enough for now...you might learn more when you have him out."

Shadow knew so much about Léan. It was a little scary, actually, how much he knew.

"I've had to learn how to, remember? Freakin' Léan and his uncontrollable sharp teeth," Alfie huffed as he finished wrapping the wound. He studied it closely and then moved Gian's arm a little bit. "That should do it."

[[ What if that isn't mono? o.o! You should get yourself knocked out while they take your blood. :rofl: ]]

Kratos took note of those in his head and tilted his head a little. It was pretty hard to imagine Léan liking human music but that, at least, brought a small smile to his lips. Now he knew what he should be doing. No crowded places, not much cars and definitely no boats so that would mean that cliff that overlooks the ocean. Léan might like that sight. He'd seen one while he was staring out of his window before he napped not very long ago.

"Thanks," he said with a nod, "And... good night." With that, the male was out of Shadow's room and back to the hallway to get Léan's tank to transfer it to his room.

Once Alfie was finished with it, he traced it lightly with his fingers and smiled again. "Thanks," he told Alfie as he looked up at him and stood up to slide and wrap his arms around the mutated naga's shoulders for a tight hug. "For the back massage and this one. I've really had no one do that for me since."

((My doctor asked the hospital if they would knock me out to take blood and they refused. He also suggested drugging me up, but they said they wouldn't agree to that, either. So if they're going to be difficult about it, screw 'em.))

"You are welcome...sleep well." Shadow searched around his room for one of his notebooks and a pen. He scribbled down a reminder to located a wheelchair and a hat for their date tomorrow. He would have to wake up early, but he didn't mind--he usually did anyway unless he wasn't feeling well.

Léan was resting comfortably in Kratos' bed, still. He had dozed off, but wasn't in a very deep sleep...so, it wouldn't be a pain waking him up to move him to the tank. The scales on his tail were starting to look a tad bit dry. That was a sign that he really had been out of the water for far too long. He could stand a whole night out of the water, perhaps, as long as he was sleeping the whole time. But when he woke up, he would immediately need to head back in...

"No problem..." Alfie accepted and returned the hug without any kind of issue. His skin was a little cool and clammy--he was, after all, most likely cold-blooded.

[[ Well... drugging you up could produce issues... o.o ]]

Kratos had managed to put Léan's tank in his room and he walked back to the side of his bed. Putting his hand on the bed, he brushed off a couple of strands of hair away from Léan's face and smiled. Maybe he'd just have to cave into his feelings. Though slowly. "Léan," he called out softly, "We have to put you back in your tank." Kratos really didn't want to make Léan sick.

The cool and clammy skin of Alfie made Gian tilt his head a bit. "Your wings at your back..." He reached out to trace them lightly, "Do they hurt if anyone tugs them?" Even until now, the freaks still fascinate him. Hebs, well, he'd touched his scales a few times and even seen him scaling one day. It was rather odd but cool.

((True. But at least I wouldn't be trying to murder the medical officials, then--six of them couldn't hold me down the last time I needed a needle for something...XD))

"...Hm?" Léan lifted his head, appearing to be half-asleep. "...Oh. All right, then. I feel a little dried-out--it's probably for the best." He stretched himself out, his three sets of fins--behind his ears, halfway down his tail, and at the split end of his tail--fanned out to their fullest extent as he did so. He then shifted and wiggled around until he was in a better position to be picked up.

"Actually, it kinda tickles whenever anyone touches them in any way at all. I don't even know what they are, honestly...they're not feathery or anything. Feel more like leather, and the tips of 'em are hard." Alfie snickered, bowing his head slightly and letting his mass of ginger-colored hair fall over his face. "I'm just a real mutant."

[[ You're wild. :rofl: ]]

Kratos watched the merman for a few minutes before he'd scooped him up from the bed once he was in a position to be picked up. Pulling him close, he moved to the tank, shifted him a bit and held him up by his waist to have him climb up the tank. He'll help with his tail, of course, until he got into the tank.

"You're fine the way you are," he assured Alfie as he ran his fingers over the leathery feel of his wings. The tips were hard, indeed, and it just amazes him. "You always sleep on the front, don't you?" he asked and pulled the other into a tighter hug as he threaded his fingers through Alfie's hair. Mutated or not, Alfie was still Alfie. At least, that was how Gian thought. It's the same with Hebs, Léan, Kratos and Shadow. Freaks as they were, it mattered not to Gian at all. They were his family now.

(( X3 ))

Léan was careful as he slid out of Kratos' grip and into the tank. He had to swish his tail around a little bit before he was fully in the tank. When he was in, finally, he relaxed at the bottom of the tank on the soft sand Shadow had put in there for him. The shells he'd collected out in the ocean today were scattered along the bottom. He'd found a small but perfectly intact conch and was studying it closely.

"Sometimes, but they fold over when I lay on my back, see." Alfie reached back and pushed on his wings. They spread out flat against his back and then sprang back into place when he released them. "It's kind of hard to wear a shirt, but it works when I use a wrap-around bandage of some sort. Whenever we have to go out in public, me and Léan have to use wheelchairs and cover up our tails. He has to wear a hat, too."

Kratos watched Léan for a few seconds before he'd tapped the tank lightly. "Get some sleep," he told the merman as he straightened up and moved back to the bed to lay on his back. Letting out a deep and quiet sigh, he let his eyes slide shut as he succumbed himself to sleep.

Gian was amused at Alfie's wings and he tried to do that again before he'd let out a thoughtful hum. "Well, unless you want to give Shadow trouble then, yeah," he reached up to brush a few strands of hair away from Alfie's face and grinned, "Anyway. You better get some sleep. Thanks again for the demonstration on your wings, the back massage and the bandaging." Sitting back down on the bed, he continued on,

"You really were a lot of help to me today. Thank you."

Léan jumped and fixed Kratos with a half-amused and half-annoyed stare. He hated it when people tapped on his tank like he was some kind of animal, but he found it rather amusing when Kratos and Shadow both did it. He set the shells down, deciding to take Kratos' advice, and curled up in a tight ball in the sand. He made a tiny little hole in the sand, almost like a nest, to sleep in.

"I'll see you later, hmm? I'm going to head to bed, then. Buh-bye for now." Alfie waved to him, and then he turned and headed out of the room towards his own. He was a pretty laid-back kind of guy. The way he was...it was probably because he had been lucky enough to be raised by a kind and doting mother."

[[ Fastforwarded. =D ]]

The next morning, Gian awoke real early. Why he did, he wasn't sure but he'd decided to take a morning stroll around the place. Surely, there was more to the beach than meets the eye, right? Dressed in nothing but a simple pair of pants, shoes, a black, long-sleeved shirt and a scarf about his neck, his hair was a mess as he played with a stick in between his teeth.

There was a small park near the beach, some sort of restaurant, a little city in a squared form and a cliff that overlooked the sea. He was currently in the latter, leaning against the tree with his good arm and his hands tucked into his pockets. He's never seen the sun rise so this was pretty much - he thought - the only chance he'd be able to see it. He's heard it was beautiful and he wanted to see it with his own eyes.

Shadow was up a few minutes after Gian was. He did not run into the boy in the morning, but he did leave just a little bit after him. He was up bright and early so he could find a proper hat and a wheelchair. He was sure he could cajole the local hospital--using some of his charm--to sell him one of their wheelchairs. They had one wheelchair back home, but he had forgotten to bring it. Now they would have two, and it would be easier for both Léan and Alfie to get around.

Alfie, of course, slept in. He didn't even stir all the way through the night--he snored, but it was only softly.

Léan woke up rather early, but it was about an hour after both Shadow and Gian had left. He stayed all curled up in his tank, delicately sorting through the shells he had found for himself in the ocean. He wouldn't mind going to find more.

Hebs had, of course, woken up about the same time Léan did to make breakfast for everyone. He had checked up on Gian's room a while ago and didn't see him anywhere so he'd thought the teen had gone to take a walk.

Kratos was dead all throughout the night. Like Alfie, he slept in and wasn't at all bothered by the soft sounds coming from the tank.

By the time the sun was too painful to watch, Gian had decided it was time to go back. He had come back about an hour after Hebs was in the kitchen and he stretched his arms up over his head, wincing only a little at the wound. He rubbed at it mindlessly and came into the kitchen to help Hebs with breakfast. Instead, though, he got kicked out of the kitchen to go and set up the table instead. Dandy.

Léan finished arranging the shells into what looked like an elaborate design on the bottom of his tank, around the little 'nest' he had made himself in the sand. He laid his head back down on his arms, a dreamily content look on his face. He listened closely to what was going on around him. He had excellent hearing when he relaxed and heavily concentrated.

Shadow returned when Gian was just about done setting the table. He was carrying with him a small bag that had a hat in it and a fold-up wheelchair was under one of his arms. He smiled at Gian as a greeting and headed back towards his room to store the wheelchair and hat until Kratos and Léan would need it.

Gian blinked at the sight of Shadow bringing what looked like a small bag and a fold-up wheelchair and nodded at the greeting of a smile. He wasn't exactly sure how to greet back when someone smiled as a greeting. Once he was done setting up the table, he pulled out a chair, sat on it and leaned back. The smell coming from the kitchen was delicious and he could feel his stomach rumble for food.

Not exactly sure on what to do, he tilted his head back and decided to just stare up at the ceiling.

Kratos had stirred awake at the loud shout from outside and he frowned a tad as he groggily shifted to lay on his side. Surfers. It seems. They were really loud when the waves were high. The male slowly got up to a sitting position and he pulled his knee up to have his elbow rest on it. Massaging the bridge of his nose and using his free hand to hold his weight up, he looked over at Léan's tank and blinked at the shells he saw around his 'nest'.

"Are those shells you picked out from yesterday?"

Once Shadow had stored the wheelchair and the hat away, he returned to the table. He had his sunglasses with him, but he was not wearing them. He had to get Gian somewhat used to the way he looked or he would be stuck wearing sunglasses the rest of his life. It was something he didn't want to do. He sat at the head of the table, sighing quietly and eagerly awaiting food.

"...Someone should wake Alfie up. There's no way he'll want to miss breakfast, and he takes forever to fully wake up..."

"Mm. They are." Léan had the conch right in front of him and was trying to arrange it just right, now. "...I don't exactly know how I was able to keep them all perfectly intact while fleeing from a shark at mach speed, but I did so. I didn't drop any, either..." He laid his head back down on his hands, closing his eyes. As he did so, his stomach made a few grumbling sounds of protest.

Gian wouldn't want Shadow to wear his sunglasses either but it was really distracting. The moment he'd set his eyes on Shadow, he felt his gaze well, stuck on him. "I could," he offered, "But your good looks is in the way." There was no hint of sarcasm or anything like it in his voice. He was actually being genuine and he knew very well that Shadow was used to such comments. He must have heard it every day should anyone see him without the glasses.

"At least, right now. Mesmerized would be the right word."

The whack to his head that followed that made him snap his gaze away from Shadow and he looked up in surprise at Hebs who had just put down the plate of eggs on the table. Ham and bacon were also part of the plate and he grinned at Gian. "Good morning," he said, "Now if you will, get off of that chair and wake up Alfie." Gian flushed in embarrassment as he rubbed his head and he made sure not to look again at Shadow as he whipped past him to head back to the hallway and wake Alfie up.

Gian knocked on Alfie's door and he reached for the knob. He knew better than it to be locked. He had, after all, gotten used to waking Alfie up back at home. "Alfie?" he called out as he shut the door behind him and walked towards the mutated naga's bed. The thing he did to wake Alfie up all the time would be to touch him (e.g. ruffle his hair, pull at his cheeks or tug at his ear).

Hebs knocked on Kratos' door with the crate of tuna in tow for Léan. "It's time to eat Kratos." Kratos moved to get up from the bed and stopped just a moment to stand in front of the tank. "Must be instinct," he told the merman with a small, amused smile and left to open the door and brush past Hebs who went to feed Léan his breakfast.

"...I think I will take your words as compliments, of some sort," Shadow murmured, looking a little sheepish, perhaps. Sometimes, and it was odd to say it, his good looks embarrassed him. They flustered people. He had to make sure he wasn't that visible while he was driving, even--he had once caused an accident because a fellow driver happened to glance over at him and did not make the turn ahead...he'd flipped over the guardrail...

Once the food had arrived, Shadow piled a decent amount of it on his plate, but he waited for everyone else to come out and get food before he ate.

Alfie was laying sprawled out in his bed. He had chosen the smallest, plainest room in the entire condo. He didn't need much space, after all. When Gian entered the room and began to try and rouse him, he groaned and tried to swat him away, halfheartedly. "Go away unless it's time to eat...I'm tired..." he complained.

Léan looked almost offended at what Kratos had said and looked after him as he left with what strangely enough resembled a moody pout. Out of habit, he backed off when Hebs came in to give him his tuna and curled up at the bottom of his tank. He did not attack Hebs anymore, unless he invaded his personal space. He didn't mind him as much as he minded Alfie and Gian.

"You can sleep again after eating," he told the mutated naga as he nursed his hands, which had been swat away not very long ago. "Come on. The food's ready." Gian always was amused whenever he'd wake Alfie up. He didn't know why but he really did feel comfortable around the guy. He also felt the same way with Hebs and Shadow but Shadow's good looks really do just makes him uncomfortable. Not that he was saying he didn't like it or anything-

Feeling his cheeks color a little at his own thoughts, he let out a quiet sigh and scratched at his head. Now, he was just thinking weird thoughts. About the ringleader no less.

Hebs tossed the tuna in the tank and he piled them up near Léan's nest. He was careful not to destroy those decorations of his though. "Call me when you want more, Léandre," he said with a small smile as he took the empty crate now to bring that to the kitchen.

Kratos took his usual seat and got himself some food on his plate. Hebs, on the other hand, started to distribute what was left between he and Gian. Alfie, of course, had his own food: a couple of big cubes of meat cooked just how he liked it.

"All right, all right...I'm comin'." Alfie sat up, brushing his long hair out of his face. His hair was full of static and messy, but he didn't feel like fixing it up right now. So, he simply slid out of bed and made his way towards the door. "Come on and eat with me. I'm starving...hope Hebs made what I like..."

Shadow, once he saw and heard that Alfie and Gian were approaching, began to eat. He of course did not eat quickly even though he was quite hungry--he ate slowly, politely. He noticed that Kratos didn't bring the merman with him--Léan probably needed rest after being out of his tank for so long.

Léan waited until Hebs had dropped all of the tuna into his tank. Only then did he reach out and take one to eat. He ate in a somewhat animal-like manner, but that was because he was eating plain old fish. The scaly skin was tough and he had to really chomp on it to be able to eat it.

Gian chuckled at that. "I will," he told him as he went after him and walked with the mutated naga to the dining table. He could see Shadow already starting and with his eyes not focused on anyone else or at least, in sight, he was fine. Gian couldn't help but see just how handsome the man really was, though. Ethereal and mysterious, too.

"Starving," he repeated what Alfie had said as he sat beside Hebs and started eating his food. Hebs was already eating, too, now that Shadow had started and he grinned at Gian. Kratos, on the other hand, was also eating - slowly, too, since he was in no hurry. He wasn't very hungry, either, which made him stranger. "By the way... it wasn't a compliment, Shadow." The male spoke and continued to chew on the bacon strip. He made sure not to look at him. "I meant every word of it."

Hebs snickered and he nudged Gian's side teasingly. Gian only made a face and whacked the back of his head in revenge for doing that to him a while ago. "Your food's plain as usual, too," the teen added. It made Hebs shove three pieces of his bacon strips into Gian's mouth, which Gian took without complaint.