Azi gave Crowley a Look, but didn't do any more than that.

Cal was the one who opened the door.

"Already?" he asked. "What is it now?"

"Harry's hotel got burned down," Christine said, crossing her arms over her chest. "He's staying with us for now. We figured you guys should know in case someone comes after you, too."

"What the hell is the matter with your city that this shit happens here?" Cal asked after a moment. "It's not like this place is a hub or anything."

"Hey, don't glower at me," Christine said with a shrug. "My city was nice and quiet and normal up until a few weeks ago."

Cal just made a vague disbelieving noise and glanced at Niko.

"What do you think, Nik?" he asked.

"About the attack on the hotel or about the city?" Nik didn't even look up from the book in his lap.

"You probably have an opinion about both," Cal pointed out. He would be surprised if Niko didn't have some sort of opinion at this point.

"I think there are far too people around for us to be able to hide efficiently," Niko said. "As for the city, it's a perfect sampling ground. Large enough to be a city, but not so large as New York or Los Angeles. The demon is likely the source of most of the abnormalities."

"So what's your plan?" Cal asked. "I know you've got one already." And it saved Cal the trouble of thinking of a plan himself. Win-win.

"A single house is more defensible than two," Nik pointed out, looking at Cal and Christine.

Christine sighed. "Really?" When Nik's lips just twitched in amusement, she sighed again. "Fine, but you two are getting inflatable mattresses, the guest room is already claimed."

Cal sighed but went to get his (few) things. Looks like they were moving again. At least this time it was for work.

Niko gathered up his things as well, rather surprised when Christine picked up a bag so they only had to make one trip.

"You cause trouble, either of you, and I'm kicking you both out. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Cal said. "We'll behave." Well. Nik never didn't behave. But Cal would behave as well as he could, for now.

Christine nodded and led the way back to the house, putting their stuff back in one of the other rooms on the first floor before going to get the air mattresses.

"Tamara, Niko and Cal are going to be staying with us for a bit," she called.

"Alright," a voice called back from the living room. Kali's, rather than Tamara's, which meant Kali was most likely playing with the dog again.

Christine snorted at that but didn't say anything else, inflating the beds for the brothers and giving them sheets and blankets.

"Anything else you need?" she asked, looking between the two. "There's some leftovers from dinner if you want, and cookies in the kitchen."

Cal perked up a bit.

"Cookies?" he asked. And then, "What kind of leftovers?"

"Chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies," Christine replied with a little smile. "The leftovers are beef roast from tonight, chicken soup from two nights ago, and I think we still have some kitchen sink fried rice."

Cal blinked.

"When did you have time to make a beef roast?" he asked, baffled. "Don't those take time?"

"Yeah, usually. I started it marinating last night, shoved it in the oven as soon as we got home." Christine grinned, clearly pleased with herself. "You're welcome to the leftovers, there should be enough for you two to share."

"I'll pass," Niko said with a faint smile. "I'm not the one with an insatiable appetite."

"I'll take some, though," Cal said. Hey, he wasn't going to pass up free food.

"Sure. It's in the fridge. Help yourself to whatever you want." Christine looked at him for a moment before she looked off to the side. "And the cookies are on top of the fridge."

Cal paused.

"What?" he asked. "What was that look for?"

"You're being decent," Christine said, sounding only faintly surprised.

"So?" Cal asked. "I can, when I want to. Not a big deal."