I wasn't going to tell you before... [Alastor, Murasaki]

Ugh. It was way too early to be up, the sun was barely out but he had to assume it was at least early morning. Still didn't change the fact that he was beat, add a hard day of work and a girlfriend into the mix and he really found his energy getting depleted a lot. Not that it was her fault or anything, such was just life.

He took a peek over at her sleeping figure, pulling her a bit closer because it was honestly pretty cold and he wasn't looking for her to feel it. Alastor's body temperature was pretty high naturally, just call him an nice little heater. Plus, it was kind of nice to just run his hand down her back.

Shishiyuki was really still on his mind, it was a little annoying she'd been on his mind all evening. Definitely because thinking of your girlfriend's aunt while banging wasn't something you really wanted to admit to, but it wasn't like that. He was just stuck thinking whether or not to tell her, did he let Shishiyuki tackle it her own way? What if she didn't end up reaching out at all and he had gotten Murasaki all worked up over nothing?

Shit. He hated when shit got complicated, it's like Elyss. Except this felt way more complicated.

Murasaki was a lot of things, and perhaps thankfully for Alastor, a morning person was very much one of them. Being pulled closer to her very handsome space heater was enough to rouse her from her sleep, not that she actually minded in the slightest. She'd slept pretty hard after last night, after all.

"Well, good morning..."

Resting her head nice and comfortably against Alastor's chest, Murasaki thought about everything that had been going on lately. For once, it seemed like the division was running fairly smoothly, and even with everything that was going on down on Earth, their actual work was...well, it was going well. Other than that situation with Miss Kuchiki in Seattle, anyway...

"Surprised to see you awake so early, mister. Didn't even have time to slip on my apron and make you a nice breakfast."

If that was a joke, she sure didn't say it like it had been one, and she simply giggled as she gave him a gentle kiss on the chest. She liked this. She liked...well, she liked him.

"Huh? Did I wake you up?"

He peeked down at Mursaki while his hand ran up from her back to gently handle her hair and massage her scalp. Might as well try and keep her nice and relaxed, it was nice to just listen to her breathing and the way she moved on top of him. He did go back down to pull her up a little more, she was probably with her feet hanging out if she was on his chest given she was the taller of them.

It was also nicer just having her face closer while he stole a kiss from her. Murasaki in an apron and cooking did sound pretty hot, though for the moment he was happy to roll and lay on top of her to reverse their positions.

"Can't let you think I'm a lazy bum that just sleeps a lot now, can I?"

Now, how did he put this?

Oh, he really was just too cute.

"Oh, I know all too well that you're a real hard worker. Don't think you've gotta worry about that one any time soon."

Her sly grin made it more or less unfeasible that anyone could take what she'd said in an innocent manner, and she gladly wrapped her arms around him as he moved himself atop her, perfectly glad to let him lay however he wanted.

"Ya know, I don't think I've got too much on the docket for today... So I guess I can put off wearing that apron for a little longer huh?"

Her teasing was both appreciated and not appreciated, the last thing he needed was getting distracted while she was acting all cute like this, so he just smiled and kept her close. That was primarily so she wasn't so incentivised to leave when he said what was on his mind. Man, he hated putting shit on people's shoulders. Her's most of all.

"Right, I think you should take the day to just rest and have some downtime. There's also something I wanna tell you."

Shit. He really didn't know what kind of reaction to expect, why'd he have to get pulled into this shit? On one hand, he'd happily have helped her with it but he didn't want to be the one to dump it on her.

"It's about your aunt. Uh, Shishiyuki. She came to the barracks yesterday and mentioned wanting to reach out to you. I guess my point is, I just wanted to let you know in case she showed up and caught you off guard."

Did he emphasise he wasn't on Shishiyuki's side here? He hoped that went without saying that he'd take her stance no matter what, that it was her business. Frankly, he was just seeing how she reacted to the general bit of it. Not the specifics, he didn't want to drop any specifics if she reacted so poorly to just the basics of it.

"Hmmm?"

Murasaki listened in with a smile as Alastor spoke, though as he explained things more, it did fall a bit. Not like...out of annoyance with him or anything, or even really because she minded the situation. Honestly, she was just confused more than anything else.

"My aunt? I...huh. That's weird. I've never actually talked to her or anything before. Mom mentioned the whole family sometimes, but I don't think she really thought much about 'em. Guess I just never thought about 'em either."

Shrugging at that, Murasaki ran a hand gently through Alastor's hair. It seemed like he was a little worried about the situation.

"Well thanks for lettin' me know. I'm kinda surprised, more than anything else. Kinda just figured we'd both go on without really interacting. Can't really imagine what she'd have to say to me, and I haven't thought much about what I'd say to her. She just like...what, came to you and said she was gonna give me a call or somethin'?"

Huh, well at least she wasn't angry or upset. Confusion was probably the best possible outcome. Maybe dealing with Elyss' issues really did make him work himself up over nothing, there was a pretty big difference between the two of them and how they reacted to things. It kind of just left him feeling like a bit of an idiot.

"Huh, I guess I just didn't want it to open up wounds for you or anything. Didn't really know how you might feel about them, you know?"

He looked down at her, she really was something huh. The redhead grinned while remembering why the lady came in the first place. It was pretty funny.

"Something like that, but nah. She came to me because she was doing her little making sure her niece is being looked after. I think she left pretty content at your ability to pick a guy, though if I had to guess. I think she does care about you, even if she doesn't know you much."

"Nah, I getcha. I guess if it'd been a few years ago I might've been a little more angry, but like... I think I'm in a good spot right now. I'm sure I'll have some pretty harsh stuff to say whenever we do talk, but I'm not just gonna blow her off if she's sincere."

What a handsome grin. Sure, they were having a serious conversation, and it was very much at the forefront of Murasaki's mind, but that didn't change that she had that thought really briefly.

"Well, I'd say anyone who thinks I don't know how to pick a guy is totally off their rocker, personally. But, if you think she means it, that's good. You're usually pretty good at that sort of stuff, ya know?"

That was it, definitely the thing that really just made her so attractive. He liked that attitude she had about things. The way she didn't get so heated and quick to emotion but more than how she had cut them away in the past. It was nice when she was like this, he wanted her to stay like this. Anyone that wanted to mess with her happiness could catch fire for all he cared. Hell, he'd be the one to do it to them.

"You know compliments don't work with me. She seemed alright though, you know. Not the worst aunt out there I don't think."

He teased and put a bit more of his weight down onto her, wrapping her into a hug while settling into kissing her. The important part was that she reacted alright to the information. He gave her another kiss and figured he'd kept her up long enough. He didn't want to have her tired because he had her up all morning just chatting about stuff like this.

"Anyway, you're not getting up yet. It's far to early and cold to see you getting things done. There's a couple more hours before the sun anyway."

"Well, that's good to hear. I'll keep that in mind whenever we finally talk, since, ya know, it is a little weird to actually go into a conversation like that."

Oho, but now he was really getting her just the right way, wasn't he? It almost wasn't fair, how good he was at all this, but hey, maybe that was just because she let him get away with it. 'Course, Murasaki wouldn't really have it any other way.

"Oh yeah? And here I thought you'd have been all excited at the thought of me bent over the stove with nothin' on but an apron... You're gonna have to figure out some way to keep me here in bed, ya know~"