-Hayley Atwell

John returned home a bit later than he'd been hoping for, with the sun setting against the trunk of his car as he finally pulled into the Brighton safe house once again. In a manner that was eerily similar to his mother, Seras had already opened the door before John was fully upon the front steps, a wide smile breaking out across her face.

"Master, you're back! An' you've got… what is that, exactly? Looks like you brought 'ome a new musical 'abit?"

"Eh, this is the reason it took so long honestly," John explained, hefting the metal case up as he gestured to the doorway Seras was still occupying. "Just let me set it down and I'll explain."

"Oh, right. A'course you can."

Seras stood aside and accompanied John into the kitchen where, for once, he was grateful for the house's barren nature. There was nothing blocking him from simply setting down the massive case on the kitchen table and certainly nothing obstructing Seras' view as he began to undo the clasps on it.

"I've managed to enchant most of my gear, and I hope to expand my own abilities in the near future… but I'd be beyond negligent to assume that you won't get dragged into confrontations with me. You're too loving and too loyal for that. So, in the future, I don't want you to be entering battle unarmed."

John finally revealed the contents of the case with his final words and heard, rather than saw, Seras' appreciation for their contents. Inside of the thick metallic case was a Remington 700 XCR, neatly aligned and fully assembled. In a corner of the case were several boxes of ammunition, but those were only second fiddle to the firearm itself. The glistening barrel and well-oiled stock drew the eye. The glistening scope atop the barrel, which had cost John nearly as much as the rifle itself, drew the imagination.

"That's… wow," Seras breathed, hands reaching toward the gun. Before she made contact she glanced toward John for approval. All John had to do was give the slightest nod and suddenly Seras had her fingers wrapped around both ends, freeing the gun from its custom-cut foam insert and already lining up the iron sights toward the house's entrance.

"Does it meet your standards? I asked for something close to police issue. They didn't ask too many questions, not sure if they just misled me or if they get that a lot."

"I mean, I'd 'ave to test the accuracy to really know 'ow the quality is," Seras admitted, swinging the barrel back and forth slightly, adjusting it against her shoulder as she moved, "but the balance is right. Pretty identical to the one I used when we got ambushed by those blighters at the mall; if it shoots half as accurate as that one, I'd be pretty 'appy with it."

"Well, I bought everything they had in stock - at three stores. Turns out there isn't a lot of .308 circulating around, but between all this you should have more than enough to get sighted in and still have some left over for any idiots we run into. Maybe the Order has some in their garrisons? They don't seem to use guns, which is a bit weird, but I guess if they've confiscated anything from people they fought, then we could see if they're willing to hand it over."

"I don' have my old contacts, but if we can, I'd… prefer not to rely on the Order. Moira doesn' really seem like she'd enjoy the thought of 'elpin' me out with my target practice anyway."

"You aren't wrong. You're usually so quiet when she's around I never get to ask, but do you have a better read on any of the people we're dealing with than I do?"

"Nothin' you don' already know. I was never really… good with people. **** virgin, remember? But I 'ave a few demons of my own, an'... takes an awful lot to get someone past somethin' like that."

"Like… dying?"

"Yeah, 'bout that serious," Seras agree, sighing.

"Well, I don't plan on killing her. Any feedback on the others? Maera and Mithra seem easy enough to handle, but I still have no idea what's up with Lunaya. She gets turned on when I'm loving, she gets turned on when I dominate her, she hates fighting but she wants to be strong and gets angry when everyone else is fighting and surpassing her..."

"Dunno, half the time she seems like she just wants to be left alone… not sure why," Seras murmured. "What about the 'arpy?"

"What about her?" John mirrored, giving a quick shrug. "She seems pretty similar to you, honestly. Loyal, not too distraught by her new circumstances, powerful, and fiercely competitive… which is probably why you're staring at me that way."

"You gonna stick it in 'er too, then?"

"I mean- n-no? She doesn't really seem the type, plus she calls me Father which would just make it awkward- that's not the answer you were looking for. And you're angry."

"Almost impressed, honestly," Seras murmured, shaking her head at John. "Some'ow, you're randier than I was back in uni, but you're gettin' laid on a regular basis. 'Ate to think what you'd be like if you weren't."

"Well, what can I say… Libido isn't gonna stop growing any time soon. Yours too, so maybe you'll bag Sophia first?"

Seras made a face, disturbed in a way that could only mean that she somehow found the idea all too real. John smirked but made no comment as he pulled out his phone, readying a quick message.

"Anyway, I was thinking that we should head back to the other side tonight. I don't really like being away for too long, and I want to see how Lunaya is dealing with the ultimatum I gave her." As he spoke, John send a text to Moira explaining the same.

"Well, alrigh'. Probably shouldn't go poppin' rounds off in 'ere anyway," Seras pointed out, glancing around.

"Excellent point," John murmured, "and we-"

John cut himself off as his phone signaled a text message, far faster than John had been expecting a reply. As soon as he opened it, John saw a message that assuaged so many of his fears… and brought so many new ones.

"Excellent. Stay there until tomorrow morning - we are in a planning phase. No need to expose you to unnecessary harm. When you return, be ready."

"Fuck," John swore, earning a quick double-take from Seras.

"Wh-wha'? Wha's wrong?"

"Nothing, just… sounds like there might be another fight in our future, "John sighed. "At least it sounds like this one is going to be on our terms."

"I'll stand by you, whatever 'appens," Seras swore, clutching her free hand to her chest while the other clutched her new rifle protectively.

"You don't need to swear your fealty," John laughed, shaking his head at the eager vampiress. "Shit, at this point you could stop fighting for the Order and I wouldn't even question why, much less be mad at you. Just… hoping that things keep going our way. Not really sure how long luck will be on our side. If Gaia's really out there listening, I hope she's watching over us."

"Never really 'ad much luck praying," Seras mumbled, looking away from John for the first time in a while. "I always ended up doin' it on my own, what little I got in life."

John wasn't sure what to say to that. Seras looked up with a sad smile, but the young Abyssal mage could formulate no response. Instead he tore them through the barrier between worlds soundlessly, bringing them both into John's private world in only a few moments.

John was so prepared for Maera's eager attack that, as she clutched onto his waist, for once he managed to hold his ground. Rather than losing his balance John only laughed and scratched behind the young Neko's ears, glancing around at the campsite. It was mostly as he left it - the house was still in one piece, the Abyssal Chest stood untouched to the side, and Mithra lay off to the side, scarcely moving. But a few things were out of place - two that caught John's eye almost immediately. One was the lack of Lunaya, the campsite's ever-watchful guardian. The second was the campfire itself, which had burned to a low set of embers despite the plentiful pile of kindling nearby.

"Maera… where is Lunaya? Why did you let the fire go out?" John asked, glancing toward the pile.

"Um, Lunaya went up north, Myaster. Told us not to follow," Maera shrugged as she explained, continuing to grind her shoulders into John's waist as she snaked around his legs. "Maera tried lighting fire but just burned herself."

"Here, let me see," John responded absently, lifting Maera's hand to reveal a burned patch of skin and what looked like a scrape from one of the branches, as if she'd tried forcing one of the numerous logs deep into the coals. Casting Lesser Heal while glancing around, John wondered what would have drawn Lunaya away so far.

"Seras, can you get the fire going again? I'm gonna go see where Sophia and Lunaya are."

"Roger! One big ol' blaze comin' up, Master!" Seras was quick to make good on her vow, but before he could leave John had to extricate himself from the welcoming Neko. Maera's eyes had shifted in tone as John reached for her hands, looking almost worried as she felt the dirt under her again.

"Myaster… please no hurt Lunaya? Please help her," Maera requested, eyes widening as she knelt before John.

"…Hurt her? Why would I hurt her?"

"Miss Lunaya… she protected Mithra. Maera just wanted to play, but Lunaya looked so angry, told Maera to go play alone. Made Mithra go relax by the fire… Mithra just napped. Maera was lonely, but she doesn't want you to hurt her! Lunaya always protects Maera."

"I… I will find out what's going on," John noted, narrowing his eyes at the strange behavior. Giving one last look to Seras and Mithra, John disentangled himself from the ivory-haired Neko's last **** grasp. "And I won’t hurt her… especially since I'm still not a hundred percent on if she'd enjoy that or not."

After he strode a reasonable distance from camp, John broke into a jog, hoping to find Lunaya as quickly as possible. Honestly, he couldn’t care less that she'd left the campsite unattended - fires could be rekindled, after all, and John never intended to leave the Nekos alone for so long that they would starve even if they weren't intelligent enough now to open the chest and find more food. It was the fact that she had prevented the Nekos from playing, something they did almost eternally, and then vanished into the woods that had him growing rather irate.

John was still a good minute or so away from reaching the boundaries of the forest when Sophia burst from the treetops, soaring free of the timber. She seemed focused on the campsite, but as soon as her head swiveled toward John, she instead ventured his way, landing just a few yards ahead of him and immediately sinking into a low, kneeling bow.

"Father! I am elated that you have returned; I have done as you asked and mapped out the locations of all edible food sources I was able to find. Lunaya granted me some of her materials to map them out, but I fear my skills as a cartographer are likely unsatisfactory."

John eyed the sheet that was presented to him with mild interest, noting a crude map forged with the location of the campsite, the general shape of the forest, and highlighted areas across the greenery. Despite her proclaimed lack of skill and the fact John had only brought ordinary pencils, the map was fairly detailed. Most of the clusters of shaded areas were marked with labels, although it was apparent in several areas where the newborn harpy had drawn too darkly and attempted to erase to no avail. Some were nearly illegible, but there would be plenty of time - and plenty of paper - for Sophia to correct her errors in time.

"Well, that's a phenomenal start, but I need to take care of something before we start any foraging," John explained, urging Sophia up from her kneel. "Have you seen Lunaya while you were mapping this place out?"

"Of course - she came to the forest around an hour ago," Sophia explained, turning back and pointing off to the west. "I asked what she was doing, but she could not respond, and the only gesture I received was a rather crude one. I did catch sight of her some time later, but she merely appeared to be clambering about between the trees. Father, I know not what our hierarchy is, but surely she is not so disrespectful to you? I understand as a newer daughter I may be beneath her, but if you see it beneath you, I could teach her respect and her proper position-"

"That won't be necessary," John interrupted, turning in the direction she had pointed. "I will deal with her myself. You did excellent work, Sophia - I hope you did not work through the night, though?"

"Never, Father," Sophia replied with a start. "You did not order me to complete my task with any great haste, so I was certain to rest and receive adequate nutrition. I would never be caught weak or weary when you might have need of me."

"You're a wonderful daughter, Sophia," John noted, the word feeling beyond bizarre to him but the overall sentiment surprisingly truthful. "Go back to camp and rest up. Once I deal with this situation, we will discuss collecting the fruits of your labor."

"…Why must all Fathers make such jokes, I cannot- my apologies, Father. Forgive my insolence." With a sigh, Sophia took off. John stared for a moment in confusion.

"Such jokes? I don't- Oh. Fruits of your labor. I didn't- Sophia! I'm sorry! No more dad jokes, I swear!"