Getting into Trouble

[Demeter]

Dream nodded, mentally noteing what sort of poisons Kura normally leant to. Bella generally liked it when she had information about a referred client. "I'll let her now as soon as possible. So, what's for dinner anyways? If you're going to feed me, I except something good to eat." she was trying to lighten the mood. There were some things that Rhystic didn't need to know about. Ever.

Dream sat down at the kitchen table and tucked her feet up on the chair so that she was sitting cross-legged. She sat there and played with the freyed bits of her jeans. This situation was...uncomfortable at best. "I have to admit that I really don't know how to behave in a situation like this. I'm not used to be around other people. My job is a little off-putting."

***

Syn, without being invited, sat down on the kitchen counter and crossed her legs at the knee. She leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees. "The last surviving Himura is, in fact, female. And the family only followed the orders of this angel family because they held that last survivor hostage for a year."

Syn glanced through the pages of information. "In that year, the Himura family did many things on the orders of that family of angels because they held the girl. The killing of your family was the last thing ordered. I'm sorry, but I couldn't find a reason behind their deaths but I did find a name. Kuraku Himura."

[Shinigami]

Until then, Rhy hadn't even thought of what they were going to eat. It was around dinner time, but still a little too early for any of the staff to have started cooking anything. He usually ate either earlier or later than everyone else, so he made his own meals. He would do the same tonight if he had to. "Well... the staff won't be there, and I usually cook for myself, so dinner is up to us, really. What do you want?"

He turned to lean against the counter as Dream settled herself at the kitchen table. He was a bit shocked that she has admitted being uncomfortable. He was feeling a little uncomfortable as well, not sure how to act around her after having learned about her past. "To be honest... I really don't know how to behave either. While I may be more used to being around other people, being civil is another story." The corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile at that.

***

Caspian had to turn away from Syn, taking in several deep breaths in order to calm himself, but it didn't work. He picked up whatever was closest to him, which turned out to be a dirty glass filled with water, and threw it at the wall. Hissing with satisfaction as it shattered and sprayed water over the wall.

He whirled around to face Syn once more, furious, though not with her. "They... they were threatened into killing my family? They were using Kura to get my family slaughtered?" He had to turn away again, pacing a few steps before turning back. "That's no excuse! No excuse for what they did! They could have killed us quickly, in our sleep and just gotten it over with, but they didn't! They pulled us from bed, they killed my parents... they forced me to kill my own sister before they beat the bloody hell out of me!"

He fell to his knees, exhausting himself with his anger, but he needed to concentrate and focus. In his fury he had begun to shift into his Custos form, but he held it off, trying to calm himself before he hurt Syn or himself.

[Demeter]

Syn calmly brushed away the few drops of water that had managed to travel across the kitchen to hit her face and lowered herself to the ground. She could tell that this news had affected Cas in a way that held the potential to be dangerous. She stepped over to Cas and knelt down next to him. She was putting herself in danger but it was something she did on a regular basis. Sinner's reflexes managed to get her out of most of the messes she got into.

She gently touched her fingertips to his shoulder. "I haven't finished looking. A lot of this information was easy to find, most of it public record but someone would have to know what to look for in order to find it. I haven't stopped looking for the reason as to why your family was killed."

Syn, still courting danger, scooted around and lifted Cas's head up by placing her fingers under his chin. "I don't stop until I have a reason to stop and I haven't found that reason yet."

***

Dream giggled, actually giggled, at Rhystic's smirk about being civil around people. Civility was not something she automatically expected from him. "Pasta. I think I want Pasta." Dream unfolded herself from the chair and padded over to the pantry, where she started to root around for the perfect sort of pasta. "Pasta and melted cheese. Not Mac and Cheese just some Pasta, like this box of Rotini and some shredded Colby Jack Cheese."

It was an odd meal but filling. When she actually bothered to cook for herself; the meal of pasta and cheese was her first attempted at food. Occasionally she'd microwave a pre-cooked piece of chicken to go with that pasta but she didn't think Rhystic's kitchen leaned towards pre-packaged, pre-cooked foods.

Dream handed the box of pasta to him and walked over to the 'fridge, where she dug for any sort of shredded cheese. "So..." Dream let her voice trail off; unsure of what to talk about but the silence was starting to get to her. She wasn't sure which subjects were safe to talk about and what wasn't.

[Shinigami]

Caspian looked right into Syn's eyes as she lifted his face. A small voice in the back of his head felt strangely proud that the woman had managed to stay calm and even dared to touch him when he was so furious. The rest of him, however, was still reeling, trying to figure out what he was going to do now that he knew who has killed his family, even if he was still in the dark about why.

Syn's words had been enough to calm the worst of the storm, allowing him to keep control over himself now, but he was still angry. He pulled back a bit, sitting back on his heels. "I can't go there tomorrow. To Hell. I can't look at that woman... I'll want to hurt her."

He was a little angry at himself, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep control, and admitting it to a woman he didn't even know that well. But it was true. Even if Kuraku had been a victim, like him, she was with the Angels. If anyone knew what they had wanted and why, it would be her. Cas only feared that he'd hurt her to get her to talk, and that would be the end of him, because Rhystic would kill him. But he had to go... he had -never- been absent from his duties before.

***

Rhy was quite amused at the reaction his comment had gotten, and he found himself smiling wider as he listened to her giggle over it. He also found himself enjoying the pleasant sound, but he pushed that to the back of his mind, focusing on her answer to his question. He couldn't help but chuckle. Her answer had started off general enough, but she ended up being very specific about what she wanted. Rhy didn't mind, however, he had been up for anything. "Rotini and colby jack cheese it is."

It seemed like an odd combination, but he was sure he had eaten weirder things and was quite curious to see how it would taste. He was used to cooking for himself, and had found he enjoyed it a great deal, so he had learned to make a few things from scratch, though pasta wasn't a very difficult dish for most anyway. He took the box of pasta from Dream and went about setting up a pot of water to boil.

Since there really wasn't much to cooking the meal but waiting, he too found himself at a loss for words. He watched Dream, though trying to be a bit discreet about it, as she searched through the fridge for the cheese. Rhystic looked at her fully when she started to speak, but was unsure of what to say when she trailed off without saying anything. He racked his brain for a subject.

Suddenly he remembered that she had come into his library looking for books, and he had more or less brushed her off. "By the way, what kind of books were you looking for?" He knew it was a bit odd to bring it up after so long, but it was the only thing he could think of.

[Demeter]

Dream pulled a resealable package of cheese from the fridge and stared at it for a moment before tossing it onto the counter. "I'm oddly going through a fantasy/sci-fi stage right now. You're lucky, last week it was histocal romance novels." Dream grinned and leaned her back against the counter. she'd always liked kitchens, they normally encougaged friendly feelings to her. She knew that the kitchen at home was always a popular gathering place.

When the pasta finished cooking, Dream took over the prepreations. She bumped Rhystic out of the way with her hip when she lifted the pan from the stove and carried it over to the sink to drain the water. Once the pasta was back in the pot, she dumped the cheese in and used a plastic mixing spoon to blend it all together. "It's kinda plain but it's filling." she said over her shoulder while dishing the cheesy mixture out.

Picking up her own plate full of cheese covered noodles, Dream went and sat down at the table.

***

Syn sat down on the floor in front of Cas. "So don't go. Haven't you ever heard a Mental Health Day?" she asked while glancing around the small apartment. "Come on, lets get you off this floor and onto the couch." Syn stood and encouraged Cas to stand by hooking her hands under his elbows.

She led him over to the couch and plunked down on it herself. "This is more comfortable then the floor. You don't have to go down to hell tomorrow, Cas. Just say that something in your personal life has come up. Which is the truth."

[Shinigami]

Rhystic rolled his eyes when she mentioned that she had been into historical romance novels the week before. At least that wasn't the case this week, and he didn't have any in his collection anyway. He did, however, have quite a stash of sci-fi and fantasy books tucked away in his book shelves. "Well, you wouldn't have had any luck if you were looking for a historical romance novel. Romance in general isn't a subject I read about, anyway. Though, I have sci-fi and fantasy novels if you want to raid the shelves later."

When he was basically hip-checked away from the stove and Dream took over the cooking he blinked. He was so used to cooking for himself that he almost took offense and shooed her off. Rhy reined in his immediate reaction and sat back to watch her finish up. He had a bit of a smile on his face by the time it was ready. "You know, I'm used to cooking for myself, and I've made much more elaborate things than noodles covered in cheese." He simply wanted to get a little rise out of her with that, and he continued. "Any other woman I know would be elated to know she didn't have to cook for her future husband and let him have the kitchen."

He had been preparing his plate as he spoke, and once he was finished he took it and sat down at the table. He put a fork full of the cheesy pasta in his mouth and chewed before he looked up to gadge Dream's reaction to his teasing. Rhy had a hint of a smirk on his face.

***

Caspian tensed when Syn hooked her hands under his elbows. He had been lost in his own thoughts enough to only barely absorb what she had said to him and how close she had gotten, but he settled quickly and stood. He let her lead him over the the couch and he all but collapsed onto it. "I've never taken a day off from my duties... even on the anniversary of my families death I was always there. Rhystic would know something was wrong."

Cas rubbed his face with his hands. Even though he was a general, he could technically take the day off if he had needed to, though he never had. His soldiers would probably be happy they didn't have to follow orders from him, as his next in command would take over. But it would be suspicious, and he knew he was only making excuses. "Besides, I can't. I'm a general, one of two, and Rhystic puts a lot of responsibility on us. And right now Kuraku isn't too happy with her.. well, I guess I can't call him her father anymore, can I?"

[Demeter]

Dream laughed as she forked up several noodles. "Most women don't have erratic work schedules that make it nessasary that cause them to cook for themselves." Dream reached over and patted Rhystic's arm. "Don't worry, at some point in the future, I'll probably let you cook me a meal." She grinned at him before engrossing herself with her plate full of cheesy noodles.

When she was finished, Dream started to clean the dishes. She scrubbed at the cheese covered pot. "The badside of this meal is that clean-up is a hassel. The cheese sticks to the pot and refuses to let go."

***

Syn sighed. It seemed that Cas was really stuck. He didn't want to go to work but his sense of reponsibility would force him to work. "There is absolutely no way for you to get out of going to work in the morning? No reason that your boss would accept?"

She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "There is absolutly no way for you to get out of work? even for just one day?"

[Shinigami]

((jumping ahead a couple days))

Rhystic had finally gotten Kuraku to calm down enough to stay in the same room with him long enough for them to work a few things out. For one, it wasn't that Kura didn't particularly like Dream. She just didn't like the fact that she was marrying Rhy, and that he had been complaining about it less and less. However, she had chosen to shift her 'I'm not speaking to you anymore' game onto her grandfather, and the poor man was obviously going crazy over it, but Rhy thought it was well deserved.

He was in his office once again, trying to ward off the headache forming after reading complaint after complaint from various bickering Custos families. Most of them were trivial. Well, damn near all of them were trivial, but he had to read them anyway, if only to explain why he denied them help.

Rhy was just thinking that a distraction would be great when he heard the quick knock in his door. He looked up, grateful to almost anyone who would walk through that door.

[Demeter]

Dream peered around the edge of Rhystic's door and smiled at him. She edged around the door, a pretty, gift wrapped box in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. The box was for Rhystic but the coffee was all hers. She'd spent the last couple of days chasing fallen's around. There was some large, disasterous event up in heaven and the end result was seveal fallens. She needed the coffee to stay awake. She wanted to deliver this box before she crashed till the next day.

She sat down in the one squishy chairs Rhy had tucked into the corner of his office. She waved him over and when he sat down in the other chair, Dream passed him the box. "That's the poison that Bella created for Kura. She had fun with the wrapping when I told her that it was for a female. Bella, as she spends her time either in the basement, around Father, or around young children, thought that female meant girly-girl. I'm really sorry about the wrapping job. She included a list of things it can be applied to and safety measures and emergency medical procedures. Incase she poisons someone by accident."

Dream took a drink from the cup. "I'm going to go sleep. After a shower. I got to run around a wet, dripping patch of woods today." she said, cheerfully but through her teeth. Dream pulled herself up and out of the chair after setting the coffee cup on a small table. She leaned over to pick up the coffee cup. While she was picked up the coffee cup she just leaned a little to the right and picked a quick kiss on Rhy's cheek. She squeaked, amazed at herself. She blushed and hustled out of the room after saying goodnight.

[Shinigami]

Rhystic was actually quite glad to see it was Dream. Seeing as she wasn't at the house for work or training, that meant her visits were social, and he enjoyed their discussions and banter. He eyed the wrapped gift box and coffee cup, hoping the box was what he thought it was and praying he could con at least a sip of that coffee out of her. When she settled herself in one of the more comfortable chairs and waved him over he smiled, standing up and joining her. He proceeded to flopping into the open chair.

His smile brightened when she passed him the box, looking it over more closely. Rhy was a little shocked that poison would be packing in such a... dainty looking box. He chuckled at Dream's explaination. "Well, Kuraku would know I hadn't wrapped it anyway. I'm horrible at wrapping presents... I tried when she was little, and it was so bad, I started having someone do it for me ever since." Rhy was releaved to hear that Belladonna had included safety and emergency information. He didn't need the girl getting startled and nicking someone by accident without knowing how to reverse the effects.

His attention was returned to Dream, wincing as she talked about her next job. That couldn't be fun at all... Rhy had completely forgotten about the coffee cup and the precious caffeine within. He moved to stand when she did, but she was up and leaning down to get her coffee before he had done more than lean forward. When Dream leaned closer and placed a kiss, however quick, on his cheek he froze. Rhystic's eyes followed her as she rushed out of the room, not even able to bid her goodnight as well.

When he came back to his senses he realized he had his hand over his cheek, where she had kissed. He dropped his hand and shook his head to clear his confusion. Surely he hadn't imagined that, had he? Was she actually starting to like him? Rhy's face face felt warm. He was blushing! He hurried back to his desk to burry himself in his work and keep his mind from racing.

[Demeter]

Dream braced herself against the interior of her bedroom door, her mind racing to figure out why she had gone and kissed Rhystic. She shook her head and forced herself to move away from the door. So she had kissed Rhystic's cheek; no big deal. Right? A kiss on the cheek didn't mean anything, right? Dream slumped over on her bed and groaned. She couldn't be falling for that Custos, could she?

There were so many things wrong with her father forcing her to do this. There was the age difference for crying out loud. Her -older- sister was married to his -younger- brother and Dion and Tobin were the same age. Not to mention that he was all...evil and stuff. Okay, maybe not evil but diffentently not amoung the guys she'd normally wanted to be around. Even if she wanted to be around a guy.

Dream pressed her face into the duvet and screamed. Her life, due thanks to her father, was so complicated. She pushed herself up off the bed and left her bedroom. They obviously had to do something about this...matching-making of their father's collective minds. She knew that those two old men were still plotting...so maybe they should act proactively and beat the old goats at their own game.

Dream strode down the hallway and popped back into Rhystic's office without knocking on the door. She leaned against the closed doors and stared across at the older man. Really, he was attrative. And he obviously had a kind streak if Kura was anything to go by. "We both know what our fathers are up to. What do you say we beat them at their own game? I mean, We don't appear to hate each other and...if my eailer actions are anything to go by...we feel more then friendly towards each other."

Dream moved to the desk and leaned on it, stretching across the wide desktop. "What do you say, Rhystic, do you want to get married?"

[Shinigami]

Rhystic had hurried to sit by his desk and burry himself in the paperwork that he was oh so happy to escape from just moments before. His headache was coming back again, but this time it wasn't from the constant bickering of the neighboring Custoss on paper. This time, it was from his mind's attempt to sort out just what in Hell he thought Dream was thinking and how he felt about it. Rhy knew the woman had been growing on him, but had she gotten to him that much? So much that he'd resorted to blushing like a young boy? He was just about twice her age for christ's sake!

Denial wasn't going to get him anywhere, he knew that. He had been getting far too comfortable with Dream for it to just be considered tollerating her. And after what Dion had told him, he had felt a fierce protectiveness that he had only ever felt for Kuraku before. And the issue of age was nothing. She was an adult, which was all the really mattered to Angels or Custoss, and there had been larger documented age gaps. It still made him a bit uncomfortable to say his potential wife and his daughter were essentially the same age... Rhy grumbled and burried himself into the work scattered about his desk.

He was busy with his paperwork, or at least he was at least trying to -look- busy with his paperwork, when the door opened again. Rhystic was about ready to wave off whoever it was and tell them he was busy, but he managed to recognize the aura and looked up right before she began to speak. Rhy's head cocked to the side as he listened to per proposition. Well, it seemed she was attracted to him, as he was to her, and at least outwardly willing to go ahead with their marriage.

Rhystic needed to be sure, however, that she wasn't just doing this to get back at their fathers or because she -thought- it may be what she wanted just because of a little physical attraction. He may be a Custos, but he would be nothing but faithful to who he took as his wife, and we would never force her, so he needed to be certain.

Rhy stood after Dream had finished speaking and leaned forward himself, bringing them only scant inches apart over his cluttered desk. "Are you truely prepared to marry me? I'm not an idle man, Dream, nor am I unfaithfull. I'll admit I do see you in a.. more than friendly way, as you put it, but are you sure that you can be my wife? That I can be your husband?"

[Demeter]

Dream tilted her head to the side. "I can't see myself actually doing anything to find myself a husband, not matter what. You may have noticed this already but I'm not really used to being around other people. I find myself comfortable around you. Even for all the scary mumbo-jumbo you try to pull over on everyone. And I would expect you to be faithfull."

Dream eyed Rhystic. "I'm sure I could be your wife. I've been around my parents long enough to know what being the wife of a Custos lord, even one just working while his father is recovering, entails. The question remains, Rhystic, is can you stand to have hybrid, even one who doesn't have a dominate side, for a wife? Any child we'd produce is suspect to be an angel dominate."

Dream leaned back and waited for Rhystic to answer. She didn't know why Rhystic hated angels and angel-dominates so much but she knew that he did. And that was a large sticking point to this idea of their fathers' plotting.

[Shinigami]

Rhystic gave a bit of a sigh. While she didn't pull back from him, get nervous, or even slap him (all of which he had been prepared for in any case), he didn't think she quite understood what he had been propsitioning. There was a step between just being his wife and suddenly having children, after all. And he didn't doubt her ability to stand beside him and deal with the trivilites that were Custos politics while his father fully recovered. She was the daughter of another Custos Lord, after all.

Though he gave a soft chuckle, more like a short breath being forced out, when she talked about the 'scary mumbo-jumbo' he fooled everyone with, and her declaration that she expected him to be faithful, he was quiet until she finished. Rhy's eyes narrowed when she mentioned hybrids and Angels. The look wasn't meant for her, more at the memory of what his father had said to him when he first learned about the contract.

Rhy let out a heavy sigh, slipping his eyes closed for a moment while he pushed away from the desk and stood full upright. When he opened them again he noticed Dream had also leaned back. He would be honest with her, at least. He owed that to her if they were going to do this. "I do harbor a hatred towards Angels, I admit that. I hate them for what they did to my mother, my family, my daughter... but I do know that I don't hate -you-. For some ungodly reason, I feel no hatred towards you. And I would never hate a child, no matter what blood ran through their veins. They don't know any better.. it's the adults that see my rage. And even if Kuraku were part Angel I would defend her with my life, just as I would any -biological- child of mine, part Angel or not."

He had to pause at that. He couldn't, for the life of him, remember if he had ever mentioned Kuraku not being his, biologically. She would need to know, obviously, if they were getting married, but it was a hell of a time to throw that in. Mainly because Rhy dreaded explaining the cercumstances behind her coming to be his daughter.

[Demeter]

Dream knew that this marriage had the ability to go wrong. She'd never been intimate with a man and marriage meant being with Rhystic. She did find the man attractive; she found many men attractive but there would always be part of her that would remember those two beasts and that week.

Dream looked up at Rhystic. "We've both have to come over a lot of problems to make a marriage between the two of us work but we have to be realalistic, Rhystic. Our fathers are not going to forget about this idea of theirs. We could either do it our way or their way."

Dream sat down in a chair kept in front of the desk. "Think about it, Rhystic, if we go their way, we'd have this big, publisized affair that neither of us would be happy with. Or, we could do it our way. I'd vote for eloping as that would truely disappoint those two."

"We have to overcome things, yes, but doing this our way has to be better then letting them railroad us into something?" She knew that sooner or later she'd have to tell Rhystic about her past. It was not a time that she liked to revisit but the man who would be her husband would be entitled to know. She just wasn't ready to say anything to that man just yet.

[Shinigami]

Rhystic was worried, though he made sure his face didn't show it, at least he hoped he did. He knew this was going to be hard, but their fathers weren't going to give up and they deserved the chance to get back at the old geezers a bit. He sat down in his own chair and reguarded Dream for a moment, listening to her speak. He couldn't help but laugh softly as he thought of the reaction they'd get when the two Custos Lords realized they'd eloped.

He nodded as Dream finished "convincing" him. He already agreed with her, but he was adament about making sure it was something she was truely willing to do, and it seemed as though it was. "I most definitely agree with you. Doing this ourselves on our own terms is best. At least for us."

A frown crossed his face when he remembered Kuraku. She'd be upset with this, but she would be worse if they cut her out. He didn't think any act of apology would be accepted if they eloped without her knowing. "There is one thing that concerns me. Kuraku. She'll be upset about this either way, but she'd -never- forgive me if I eloped without at least telling her. Does that bother you?"

Of course, there was still the matter of after the elopement to consider, but they could cross that bridge when the got to it. His biggest concern in that matter was whether or not to tell Dream that Dion had already explained about her past, or when to tell her. Rhy didn't think right then would be a good time, but he didn't want to risk waiting too long and possibly upsetting Dream. This was going to take a lot out of him by the time it could be considered over.

[Demeter]

Dream shook her head. "No, I wouldn't bother me if Kuraku knew. She's probably not happy with your father just as much as the two of us." She pulled her feet up and rested them on the edge of the chair. She looked at Rhystic. "What do you say? Wanna elope and spend some time away from this place? Make then concerned and worried about us? Send them some nice little card stating that we're married and that they should stop planning our wedding for us."

Dream gave a nasty little chuckle at what she imagined her father's reaction to be and glanced around the office. "When we would do it, though? Right away or managed some planning? I'm pretty sure that Charon wouldn't mind if I took some time off. He seems to think that I overwork myself."

She rested her head against her knees and sighed. "Do you think that this could work between us?"

[Shinigami]

Rhystic nodded, glad that Dream didn't mind Kuraku knowing before hand. He would wait to tell her when they were leaving, so that when her mood turned foul and she huffed and puffed through the house they would be gone before his father figured out that something was up. Rhy smirked as he continued to listen, which melted into a full grin that turned into chuckled laughter as he imagined the look on his father's face when he got -that- card.

He quited down to listen to the rest, figuring it would be more of a shock if they left immediately, but he wasn't sure if Dream would need time to contact Charon. It seemed she would get the time off, as she did work quite a lot, but would she need to leave notice?

Rhy paused for a breath, after Dream had finished speaking, before he stood and walked around the desk. He situated himself infront of Dream and leaned back to sit on the edge of his desk. "Its going to be difficult. Probably most of the time until we settle. Though, we seem to get along just fine normally. And if we fight," He gave a little shrug, "The house is big enough to avoid one another until we cool off."

His hand stretched out towards Dream as he stood up-right again and he motioned for her to take it. "Come on. Let's do this." Rhy smiled a bit. "Before the both of us lose the nerve."

[Demeter]

Dream stared at Rhy's hand for a moment and then took it, amused at how his hand dwarfed hers. She allowed Rhy to pull her up out of her seat and they left the office together. Hallway down the hall, Dream started to giggle. She was acting rathing out of character and she didn't really know why. It just seemed to odd for her to be doing this. Swallowing her giggles, Dream gave Rhy's hand a squeeze. "I'm gonna go pack a few things."

She squeezed his hand again, as much to comfort him as herself before she peeled off towards her room. Once there, she quickly piled a few changes of clothing in a small suitcase. While dumping an armload of toiletries into the peice of luggage, she cast a glance at her closet. She had a dress in there, one that her sisters had all but forced her to buy. She'd never worn it and, while it wasn't an offical wedding dress, there was just somethings she refused to go with out.

Dream removed the dress from her closet. It was still in the garment bag the store had packaged it in after purchase. She carefully loaded it into the suitcase. She closed the suitcase and left her room. The staff, what little could be found wandering the halls, were used to seeing her walk around with some sort of luggage so they didn't ask questions.

She met up with Rhy at the front door. "Did you tell Kuraku or are we waiting for her." She cast him a sidelong look. "So, exactly where are we going?"

[Shinigami]

Rhystic's heart was racing. Was he seriously doing this? He thought he must have been out of his mind, but they were going to have to get married anyway, why not do it on their terms? He was just glad he remembered to snatch up the gift for Kura before they left the office. All of his attention was brought back to Dream when he felt the squeeze of his hand. He smiled a bit when she mentioned packing a few things, something he also had to do if they were going to be staying away for a few days. Rhy's smile widened in reassurance when Dream squeezed his hand a second time before taking off towards her rooms.

Pushing open the doors to his own rooms he made quick work of gathering things he would need - clothes, toiletries, and one of the dark suits he had often worn while working on Earth. He figured he'd need something other than the military styled clothing he wore on a daily basis for their wedding, as impromptu as it was. Rhystic finished his packing quickly and hoisted the duffle bag over his shoulder before setting out for Kuraku's rooms.

He knocked, hesitating a moment to make sure he wasn't interrupting anything before he pushed open the already cracked door. Kura was busy browsing through her books when she heard the knock, turning to face the door with a book in her hand when she saw her father. When the door was fully open she noted the duffle bag and frowned. "You're leaving? Where are you going to? Caspian hasn't come back yet, so if you leave that puts the entire army in my command. As much as I like the idea of it, they're pains in the asses if there isn't anything to do, battle-wise."

Rhystic has to chuckle a bit, knowing it was true. He pulled out the gift-wrapped box as he walked up to her, holding it out for her to take. She took on a look of suspicion before cautiously reaching out to take it. "What did you do? You wouldn't be giving me a present otherwise unless it was a special occasion, and last I checked it wasn't."

He snorted. "I can give my daughter a gift whenever I want, but it was originally intended as a peace offering for the past few days. And I hope it carries over for the next couple days as well." He sighed, preparing himself for when Kuraku got angry. "Dream and I are leaving today. We've decided that it we're going to be forced to get married anyway, we're doing it on our terms, so we're eloping. Unfortunately, I need you here, for the army and to run damage control."

At first, Kuraku was shocked silent, but it didn't last long. Anger swept through her as she shot a hand out to hit Rhy on the chest. He caught her wrist, but she still yelled. "I don't know what to be more pissed off about! The fact that you're actually allowing yourself to be forced into marrying and Angel, or that you're eloping and I can't even be there! And now I have to deal with grandfather when he goes insane trying to figure out where you are?! How could you?!"

"Would you rather I suffer through an impossibly insane and elaborate wedding, or do this the way I need to?" He hoped she would see some sense soon. "I hate that I've been set up to marry someone I barely know, even more so than you, but your grandfather is doing this for a few reasons. And those that I know of are actually starting to make sense to me." He placed the box in her hand. "Take the gift. And so you know, the gift itself was Dream's idea."

At that he turned to walk out, planning to wait for Dream at the main door. Kuraku growled, kicking the door shut as Rhystic left. She looked at the package, hesitating a moment before opening it, wondering what kind of gift Dream could have thought up to give her. The vile caught her eye, confused for a moment before she say the paper that accompanied it. It was poison. Poison to tip her daggers with. She sighed, arguing with herself a bit before reluctantly following her father.

***

Rhy had only been at the door for a few moments before Dream showed up, carrying her suitcase and ready to go. He picked up his own bag. "I have no idea where we're going... And I did talk to Kuraku, and she's angry, but.." He trailed off as he heard the familiar fall of boots coming down the hallway. Within a moment Kura was standing infront of them a scowl on her face, and cleared her throat. "Well, I was raised with manners" Her eyes flicked to Rhy before moving to Dream. "So.. thank you. Father told me the idea for the gift was your idea. But that doesn't mean I'll call you my step-mother or anything..." That was as close as she was going to get to acceptance for the moment.

((ooc- *dies* chatty things tonight.. took up my whole night..))