Back for the Night

Feliks swore loudly, forgetting himself as he looked around the place. A whimper from his arm made him groan and then shush in what he told was supposed to be soothingly.

"Sorry, Buddy." He bounced the child on his arm slightly as he looked around the darkened apartment. All the objects familiar, and dust covered. He probably should have had someone come clean, but what did he care, he hadn't thought he'd be back.

He set his bag on the ground, and started to roll his shoulders. Only to stop when he remembered he had a tiny and tired head resting on them. Although with some this might sooth their irritation, it only seemed to increase Feliks's. It wasn't the child's fault of course, and that was never - by some miracle - where the emotion ended up being directed, but it was another reminder of how ill equipped he was to handle this.

Even after near to a year, he still forgot things.

The flat, equipped as it was to deal with his own needs, had absolutely nothing for the boy's. He let out a breath through his nose, and glared around for a moment. Grumbling, he kicked is bag of clothes before curling onto a couch, turning to look at his son again.

"What do you say Adrian? Cribs are overrated anyway, aren't they?"

"You forgot a crib? Seriously?" The incredulous note in her voice was believable for the split second before she stepped fully into the room, rolling her eyes. Behind her, levitating due to a few well placed levicorpuses and a wingardum leviosas, was enough baby baggage to suit a small nursery in the middle of a warzone, or maybe a city orphanage, if it were the only orphanage and she was the one funding it.

Pausing in the doorway she huffed, eyes running over the dusty interior in a way that screamed disapproval. Honestly, if she didn't know Feliks as well as she did, she'd think the baby was doomed.

Dropping the supplies into a orderly pile, she sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She was wearing jeans today, a black off the shoulder top and her boots once more. Holding her arms out, she sighed again, smiling slightly when the small child gave a coo of recognition at her voice. "Give me baby Beda, and you get to start dusting."

Adrian turned to look at the sound of the voice, wide childish eyes looking up with curiosity at the new noise in the new place, and then gurgling happily at the familiar voice, " 'arma-ma-ma." Adrian giggled a little his flailing hand hitting his fathers hand which earned him a 'Hey watch it', "'Ma!"

"Didn't knock? Seriously?" Feliks rolled his eyes too, a smirk growing on his tired face, but he didn't turn to look, not quite yet. The thumps on the ground brought his curiosity though. He titled his head back against the couch to look at the front entrance, "What did you do, Tyurma? Buy the whole store?"

Sitting up slowly, keeping Adrian still in his grasp, he swung around and raised his eyebrow at the girl.

"Dusting, really Tyurma?" He looked at the room and then at Adrian, "What do you think Bud, do you want to go see Karma?"

Sticking his tiny hand into his grinning both, he sucked on them for a moment before hitting Feliks in the face fondly with the hand, ""arma!"

"How do you like that for love?" Snorting, he passed the child off with no more ceremony, he then took out his wand, pretended only for a moment to consider to do it by hand, before muttering a spell and watching the dust vanish. Happy with himself he stuck his wand back in his pocket and flopped back on the couch. "Done, darling."

Accepting the child and sticking out her tongue at Liks, she rested young Adrian on her hip, a move perfected and known by almost ever woman on the planet. The child's fists curled into the fabric of her shirt, but after that he seemed pretty content to just sit there. It would seem that his 'tough love' only extended to his father. "Ma!" He said again, insisting upon her attention and drawing her eyes away from his father's shoddy dusting job. "Ma! Ma ma ma!"

"Yeeeeees little Boda? What is it? Did Daddy tweet you okay while mummy was gone?" Ticking his stomach, she soon had the room filled with peals of laughter. Lifting Adrian up above her head, she spun slightly, making him laugh more. Rubbing her nose against his, she eventually rested him back on her hip, glancing back up Feliks.

"You know, Liksie, if we're going to be raising a child together, you could at least do some house work, seeing as I obviously wear the pants."

Shaking his head, he just looked at the two, his hand lounging casually underneath his head, the muscles under his tight shirt rippling. "What are you talking about," he paused in his talk, making a face at Adrian causing a giggle, before he continued as if nothing had happened at all, "I have been doing all the house work, while you were off doing god knows what. Honestly, Tyurma, we really need to talk about this."

The laugh at his own sarcasm ended in a yawn that he couldn't hold back. Although they had reached the "Sleep through the night" mark about a month ago - something both Feliks and Adrian were thankful for - it was still inconsistent, and meant he had to get up far earlier than he planned to
anyway.

Almost as if he was mirroring his father, or maybe he was just finally calm enough to answer Karma's question, he stuck his fist back in his mouth with a contented grin, "Dada! Da! Da sleep. Da sleep!"

"Besides, Tyruma - We both know I look better without my pants on anyway."

"We can have a heart to heart about your emancipation later." She agreed, her voice teasing, even as she began to examine just what she'd bought from the Baby's R Us knock off that had been in the mall a town over. She was almost wishing she had bought the store, rather than get a ditzy gift card filled up as high as it could go. Then again, no need to draw attention to the fact that she was endorsing a baby. She doubted that was something her lawyers would be able to cover up completely.

Then again, she did have the upper hand on that.

Giving the child a look that clearly stated her opinion of his idea, she huffed. "Daddy sleeps all day, he can afford to help me build some of this stuff." Her voice softened slightly, and she glanced at Liks out of the corner of her eye. "I suppose he could take a nap or something, if he really wanted, but really, it's not like he needs it."

Reaching out with her unoccupied hand, she snagged a play pen and pulled it from the pile, placing it in the center of the room, well away from any art supplies still laying about and directly under the mural they'd painted together. Placing the boy inside, she ran a fond hand through his hair before stepping away to grab the makings for a crib. She couldn't make hide or hair of it, but she supposed everything would come together eventually. She also suspected a repario wouldn't exactly work.

Nightmare, in kitten form, had perched on the edge of the playpen, watching Adrian with wide amber eyes. Karma was unconcerned about the kitten, but her gaze tracked Adrian's movements toward the creature, a small smile playing on her lips.

"You do look pretty good as a French Maid, I'll give you that." She teased idly, glancing over her shoulder at him. "You have a bed don't you? Don't waste this amazing opportunity to do something you never have before."

Feliks snorted, sitting up, but still not getting off of the couch he had claimed upon arrival. "Daddy," the word still sounded slightly foreign on his tongue, "wished all he did was sleep all day."

Rolling his shoulders, glad that he could do it without unsettling anyone this time, he pulled himself up, and stretched. His eyes trailed back to the playpen, hovering on Nightmare for a moment, his expression concerned though out loud he'd never say it. She seemed patient enough, but Adrian over excited by anything fluffy and alive, was getting rather close to pulling on her tail with his flailing hands.

"Kitty! Kitty! Kitty!" He gurgled happily, keeping his balance on the soft ground.

Shaking his head, Feliks stretched and turned back to Karma, and the crib that she was trying to make sense of. Rolling his eyes at her comment, he took one of the pieces from her, raising an eyebrow.

"And what Amazing opportunity would that be?" He balanced the piece in his hand, glancing at it appraisingly before he picked up a second, giving it the same treatment. "And don't you think, it would be smarter to put this together, in the bedroom?"

As Nightmare deftly evaded Adrian's obsession with her tail, Karma poked Feliks in the stomach, rolling her eyes at him. "Obviously the chance to get some rest with the sun still up." Her eyes swept him, even as she fitted two pieces together. "No offense, tough guy, but you obviously aren't getting your beauty rest."

She scoffed, gesturing to the room around them. "There's more room in here, and it's easier to work and watch Beda. I can do both." What she wasn't saying, of course, was that if he were to sleep in his room, the presence of her and Adrian would probably keep him awake, and plus, there was barely enough room in there for the bed, the crib, and the play pen. Not that she was doing any of this out of concern for him. As if.

"Get a move on, loser. You're breathing my air." She shouldered him, softer than she could have, but not exactly the vision of gentle. "Besides, as the pants wearer, it's my job to build things. You only have to cook and clean." She made a face at the thought of one of his concoctions. Kept to a normal menu, Liks could cook a decent meal. It was only on the rare times he decided to be artistic and inventive that what ended up on the plate ended up being... less than edible.

Nightmare, having deigned to leap down into the playpen, continued avoiding Adrian, until it appeared she got bored of that game and instead turned into a panther. She was only one for a moment before she was laying down with the child between her front paws, licking the child's forehead and purring a loud rumble. Rolling her eyes at this, but at least glad that Adrian seemed preoccupied enough with playing with the panther's fur, she shrugged.

"I can always put it in the room later."

"Are you saying you don't find me beautiful, Tyurma," he placed a hand over his heart, the gasp heavily sarcastic, "I'm wounded. I just don't know if I'll recover."

He looked over to the door to his own room, rolling his shoulder. It was a tempting offer. He had yet to recover from the months of not sleeping through the night. It was actually getting very easy to accept that he was not going to catch up on sleep again. His decision was cut off for a moment as Nightmare decided being a kitten was less to her tastes at the moment. As a tough young man, Feliks continued to behave as if he didn't care at all.

But what parent didn't react to a panther being in the play pen with their child? At least on a principle?

Shaking his head he bumped her shoulder back, "It was my air first, love."

Rolling his eyes he took a step towards the door, prematurely pulling the dark t-shirt off as he went. Stopping at the playpen for a moment, he stuck his hand in, lightly tweaking the child's nose before meet the panthers gaze for a moment, "I'll be back soon, imp. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

It was almost Adrian's own nap time. Feliks was quite confidant that the boy should fall asleep on his own at some point soon, Nightmare working as well as any cuddle toy. As he straightened to leave he found his finger caught in a small hand. He looked back with a frown, to meet the wide blue gaze, something like worry seemed to be swelling there. "Da? Da? Dada Go?"

Hesitating for a moment, looking around the room before leaning into the playpen and pressing his lips to his head, "I'll be back soon." His voice dropped even lower, though part of him knew there was almost no volume the other girl's hyper hearing would miss. "Love you."

Pulling up again, he ruffled his son's hair and pulling away, "Don't break anything while I'm sleeping Tyurma."

Flashing her a grin over his shoulder, he balled up the removed shirt in his hand, and disappeared behind the door that was his long forgotten bedroom. Tossing the clothing article into the corner, he took one look around before falling gratefully onto the bed. He would just rest his eyes a bit to get her to leave him alone about it and then he'd-

The thought was never finished before he was already asleep.

She had the decency to duck her head and pretend to focus on her crib-building as a small smile grew on her lips. She said nothing as he walked past her, only raising her eyes when he addressed her. Snorting, she tossed her hair. "Oh please, Liks. You know I only break people."

As the general structure of the crib came into its true form, Adrian fell into a light slumber. Karma continued to glance at him every once in a while, but she was fairly convinced that Nightmare had the whole thing under of control. Didn't animals have a natural nurturing instinct or whatever? They certainly didn't have to play it by ear like she and Liksie had.

A few peaceful hours had passed before Nightmare made a soft sound, not enough to wake the child she was serving as a bed, but enough to catch Karma's attention. Putting the finishing touches on the crib, she smiled, a soft laugh fluttering from her lips.

"MTV'll be calling you up soon, Beda, because you've got yourself one nice crib."

Turning to her familiar, she was close enough to pick up the child the moment he started to cry out. His face was distorted with a distress the proved that he had been unhappy for a while now. He hadn't shown any signs the last time she'd checked, but Nightmare was now on her feet gazing at them both, and she was beginning to get worried. His distressed voice was growing louder, and Karma was almost at a loss. Cuddling Adrian to her chest, she hushed him, trying to find a way to soothe him without waking him up.

"Shh... shh it's okay Beda, it's okay mummy's here..." Her voice was shaky, unsure, but as she began to look down at him, she began to feel something growing in her throat. She was almost the most surprised when she began to sing.


She faltered, but she only had eyes for the child that was slowly calming at the sound of her voice, cries transformed into whimpers, and whimpers soon dispersed into a soft cooing. Biting her lower lip, she continued to sway, holding Adrian close.

The crying awoke him. There was no level of sleep that could shield Feliks from hearing it; his ears and brain were so finally attune to the sound of tears, that he was out of bed, and groggily going towards the door before he had even fully comprehended why he was moving at all.

He hesitated at the door of his room, staring at the rest of the flat with a blank expression as the crying settled down into soft cooing, and he could hear another sound in the room. A smile tugged at his lips for a moment, softened amusing, before he suppressed it again. Silently he took a few steps, grabbing the nearest instrument - an acoustic guitar - and took a brief moment to tune it. It didn't take his practised ear long to pick up the tune. He strummed along softly.



He continued to strum softly, as he grinned at Karma and the crib.

"Not bad, Tyurma. I would have done it faster of course," his teasing was softer than usual. "But pretty good."

She tensed ever so slightly, surprised that she'd left her guard down enough for him to sneak up on her. Usually she would have sensed his presence the moment he got up out of bed, heard the change in his heart rate from sleeping to waking. Her focus had been so set on Adrian that she hadn't spared a thought to his father, even when the soft strumming that hinted at a tuning reached her ears.

She had actually been about to sing that verse, her mouth opening before he stole her words. Her breath caught in her throat, and she glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow. She had almost forgotten that in all of this, Feliks was still a musician. His voice overpowered hers, and she let it. She closed her eyes and turned back to her- his son, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.

She was content to let his voice wash over her ear drums and sooth her, though she swore it was just so she could focus on keeping Adrian comfortable.

"Yeah, well..." She huffed. "Next time, you can make it." Keeping her Beda close, she moved back over to the crib, eyeing it. It seemed that she was going to-

"Put it in the room, would you?"

He smirked at her as he kept signing, fingers, which had never stopped strumming sticking to the rhythm he had set up for hit. It was slightly modified, as he skipped time and went back again, but it still sounded like the song that was known.

"You know," he stated, walking closer to her and the made crib, though he had yet to make move to take the crib. His fingers were still strumming along, adding in new beats, drifting off to accompanying songs before drifting back to the tune he started with, "I did offer to help. Someone told me I was just here for cooking and cleaning."

Letting his guitar swing to his back, the strap having already been pulled over his shoulder, he grabbed the crib.


He eyed the door way for a moment, a smirk playing on his face, "You know, if this doesn't fit, we might just have to take apart all your hard work and do it again." He was being unnecessarily obnoxious. They could easily shrink it, then put it back to size again, but that suggestion was less fun to say allowed. As it was the crib fit - barely. "Ooh, cutting it close, Tyurma."

Setting it in the corner, away from anything too dangerous, but still in view from his own bed, Feliks dusted off his hands, grinning cockily to himself.

"The little prince my lay his head now." He smirked waving his hands for Karma to put him down. He paused halfway through remembering something. "But first."

Leaving the room, assuming that Karma would put him down in her own time, and walking quickly back to the bags he had dropped. Rummaging through them, he swore softly and had a brief moment of panic in which he could not find the toy, before his head landed on something soft.

Coming back into the room he waved the dragon in the air, "We'd both have been royal screwed if he noticed this badboy was gone for too long."

Rolling her eyes and muttering about that was all he was good for, she simply watched him moving, raising an eyebrow at him and singing a bit in harmony before she caught himself. Following a bit behind him, she rolled her eyes again. "You are utterly useless, you know that right?"

She waited for him to be close enough to hip check him, rolling her eyes. "You seem to forget we're magical." She teased. "Which is surprising, seeing as we've been in school for the same amount of time."

She placed Adrian down gently, pulling a small baby blanket in the design of flames over his body. She had changed him into a pajamas before his nap, and she surely thought he looked... adorable. Her heart swelled, and she stood on her tip toes to lean over and kiss him on the forehead. "Sleep well, Bedalito." She said softly, standing fully after a short bit of hesitation. "Ma loves you." She ran her fingers through his hair, then blinked, realizing that Feliks had re-entered the room. He really needed to stop sneaking up on her.

"What do you know, Liksie actually remembered something." She teased, walking by him to go into the main room. She was sure he would shut the door and leave Adrian to peace, since it really wasn't as easy this to get him to sleep most days.

A little smirk grew on his face. He had startled her, again. It was the second time in less than fifteen minutes that he had done so. He had known her for over two years, and never done it once. Now he'd done it quicker than one could bat an eye. And there was only one factor that was different.

She was good with Adrian. Better than he was in many ways. There were things that a baby needed, a child needed that Feliks just did not know how to try. Lord, and only Lord, knew that he was trying, but there was just too much to change. When he looked at Adrian though, he could feel the image of his mother looking down at him. She would have been so delighted with another child - even if she would have frown upon the age of his father. Feliks didn't want to disappoint her.

But he wasn't parent material. He was a school yard bully, useless - held back twice and finally dropped out. There was nothing to be proud of - and he didn't know how to change it. He didn't even know what he'd teach his child. There were moments when he wondered if he should just let Karma raise him alone, but although he'd tell no one, he was already too attached to the little imp.

He was too lost in his thoughts to even notice that she had left. Smiling down at the stuffed animal in his hand - wondering what kind of image he'd make to the kids he use to torment now - he walked over to the crib, setting it down beside the boy and brushing his fingers softly through his hair. He felt well enough alone, even if Karma was just a room over. He let out a sigh, eyes slightly down cast.

"I'm not going to fail you; I gave up a lot of things, Buddy. But I'm not going to give up you." Leaning over, just as Karma had done, he brush his lips against the sleeping head. He stayed for a few moments longer, just brushing the soft hair gently and watching his even breathing, before he finally left the room, walking back out to find Karma on the couch.

He spun the guitar back around and continued to strum, distracting himself from the thoughts of a moment before.

"So," he asked quietly, nodding his head towards the pile of stuff that was still where she left it, "Where is the other stuff going, 'oh great one'?"

There was something wrong with her.

It was present in the warmth the thought of- Adrian brought to her. The smile that tried to spread across her lips at the very mention of his name disguised how dastardly it was, disguised how- how-

Karma Black had gone soft. She wouldn't be surprised if she could be stabbed with the fluffy end of a pillow at this point. If anything, her return had been... well... less than advertised, but once she got back out again she wouldn't be able to do all this... soft stuff. She could rock a bye baby all she wanted, but out in the real world that didn't get anything done, and she had been trained for the real world. Hell, both her a Liks had.

And by the gods he'd snuck up on her again!

Refusing to let herself acknowledge the small jolt that went through her body as he spoke, she glanced up at him, curling her legs further beneath her - not to make room for him on the couch, but simply because they were cold - and shrugging. "Figured you could spare one of your corners for his things... or we could section off half the middle." She gestured to the indent underneath the mural they had spread over the entire surface of the ceiling, walls, and was starting to make its way across some of the floorboards. Liks had disappeared before he could get that far, however. Her expression darkened slightly at that thought, before she forced herself to get over it. It wasn't like it was her business that he'd decided to up and leave. And the pointless coming here looking for him had been just that - pointless.

"Whichever." She glanced at him sideways, raising an eyebrow before smirking. "Is that going to become a permanent title? Because I can get used to the sound of that."

"I should have finished that," he nodded his head to the wall that he had left untouched. His eyes glanced to canvases that had been thrown aside in frustration too. If he looked hard enough there was probably some half written songs - something he rarely even attempted to do, but had striven to try in desperation to write something creative, anything- thrown aside too. In those last few weeks before he had up and disappeared, nothing had seemed to work. He supposed leaving had been his way fixing it - it sort of did.

But it still felt like giving up.

His gaze went over to her, eyes unreadable even as he tried not to grin. He had startled her again.

Allowing his strumming to stop he dropped the instrument again and started to move towards the pile of stuff, dragging it over to where she had mentioned slowly and methodically. He snorted, "You wish, Tyurma. That one only gets saved for special occasions. I can't let your head get too big on me."

"I'm sure you'll have time later." She observed, eye following him across the room. She was content just to sit and watch him try to make sense of the many things there, before she decided that maybe the 'man of the house' needed some help.

"What's the special occasion then?" She teased.

Sighing, she stood, by his side with a lazy burst of Vampire speed. Frowning down at the pile, she reached in and tugged out a small dresser, easily lifting it and carrying it over to the corner. She supposed this would do well enough. She frowned down at it for a moment, before shaking her head. "We're going to have to get him his own room eventually, you know." She ran her fingers through her hair and tsked. "You should definitely warn me if I need to search for baby accessible bachelor pads next time."

"It's not time I need," he said slowly, running a hand over his buzzed cut hair, gaze going back up to the wall. He could see the lines of paint, jagged and forgotten where he'd finally given up. He had stuck such heavy globs on in frustration that it had begun to drip down the wall, leaving thin spidery lines. He supposed it wasn't the end of the world, the affect left something that he could work with but still. "It's inspiration, muse - creativity."

Its something he had gone searching to find. And had come back with a child instead.

"We got him to sleep in less than an hour. Don't you think that counts as a special occasion?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her before turning back to the things. He held the high chair out experimentally, before wandering over to the kitchen.

"He can stay in there until he's out grown the crib at least. I shared a room with my brother's until I left - and I'm way cooler than my brothers." He rolled his shoulders setting the chair down. His snort at her teasing was a little darker than normal.

"Cause it was my plan to be a second rate, screw up parent. When I aim to repeat it - I'll let you know, 'kay, Tyurma?"

She paused in her movements to look at him, eyes sweeping the paint covered walls. She could see where his frustration had met the canvas, where he'd hit his wall. Soft brown eyes traced the artistic curve down the wall, before she shook her head. "You're just feeling artist's block. Writers get it all the time." She observed. "It'll come back to you, you just need the right push, is all." She shrugged a shoulder before making her way back toward the pile.

Carefully picking out large brightly colored puzzle peices of some springy, soft material, she began to attach them to cover half the floor of the indent, carefully mapping out Adrian's section of the floor. "I suppose it counts." She murmured, focusing on her fittings. "And that means I'm stuck with the couch. Lovely."

She paused, a frown stealing across her lips before she stood, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him. "You." She snarled. "Are not a screw up." She sniffed, remembering herself and turning back to her work, fitting more pieces together. "Nor are you second rate. Not in my opinion, anyway, and since mine's the only one that matters, I don't see the point in you believing that any longer." She bit her lip and pressed downward on a puzzle piece that didn't seem to want to stay down with the others. Why wouldn't it just cooperate like the other ones? She snorted, keeping her voice light. "But as the woman of the house, I suppose I do deserve some sort of warning before we have another little bundle of joy running about."

There was a tiny niggle in the back of his head, a familiar itch in his fingers that was stating that he might just have found the right push, though it wasn't strong enough quite yet to get him all the way there. The idea wasn't formed enough, taking a brush at this moment would be too soon, pushing it too hard.

Wandering to the fridge, he opened it and stared at the almost empty stalk. He'd have to fill that in the morning too. There were a lot of things to running off - and returning - that he had not thought about.

"Its a lovely couch. If you're going to be such a diva about it, I bet there is even a transfiguration spell that might give you a bed instead of a couch. If you look hard enough." Sighing, he closed the door, and settled for a glass of water instead.

Taking a sip, he blinked at her in surprise, not expecting the growled response that he got. "You have an interesting opinion of my Tyruma." He drained his glass and set it on the counter, walking back over to her and slowly rummaging through what looked like toys for the little imp. He raised an eyebrow and managed to smirk, "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting, Black?"

She pouted, giving the couch in question a brief glance. While not as bad as it could be, she was sure that it would leave bruises after a few uncomfortable nights. Luckily those would heal eventually, and would only be a nuisance in the morning. All things considered, while she'd enjoy a transfigured bed, it would be simpler just to sleep on the couch, and she probably would never hear the end of it if she talked Liks into taking the couch instead. No, sleeping there wouldn't be that big a deal. Maybe she'd just buy a similar looking futon and make it look exactly the same. There was nothing unachievable with the amount of money she had.

"I hope it's interesting enough, because it's the only opinion you get to hear." She stuck out her tongue at him before moving back over to see to the childproof gates she'd gotten. They'd only come to her knees, but to Adrian they would be a well fortressed wall. It was plastic and also multicolored, but the pattern of the wood - much reminding Karma of that ancient show Rugrats that her and Ty had watched the movies for - would allow him to see them, and them him. Careful to line along the step with the stuff, she frowned down at it. She didn't remember anyone ever spending this much time on her- not as a child, not ever. The time had long passed when she could summon her mother's face at will, and now her presence was nothing but a happiness in her memory, large but indistinct.

Biting her bottom lip she continued around, finishing the gate with little to no problems. Returning to the pile beside him, she raised an eyebrow and smirked right back, mirroring his expression almost exactly. "Depends what you're thinking there, comrade." Snagging a few toys, she dumped them into the play area, stopping to arrange them to be sitting up or laying down as appropriate to their animal. While Adrian probably wouldn't hitch a fit if he found a stuffed animal upside down, she didn't want to deal with if he did.

Feliks although not oblivious to her pout was rather indifferent. He did not wish her to be hurt, by any means, but he however did not ask her to stay either. He liked her there, he liked someone who actually had parental instinct to be around Adrian with a certain regularity, but he also hadn't asked her to stay. He wasn't obligated to give her more than he offered. It wouldn't be his fault her pride made her turn down his offer for her comfort. It had been sincere and legitimate. Probably would have been better than his own bed. Well maybe not, but the thought was still well meaning.

"I'm sure it will keep me amused for long enough. If it gets a little dull, I'll let you know you need to change it up."

Watching her move the animals he snagged one instead, holding it up to his face with a frown as he looked at the bear. He held it at an angle, turned it upside down and then right side up again, still frowning as he did so.

"Obviously, politically charged terms aside, I'm thinking Adrian is more than we can handle. DO we really want to try and steal another one?"