The bar was calm and quiet with Tianna’s amusement lingering in the air. She resided beside the man who still laid upon the bar who looked ready to be turned into a lewd painting despite being fully dressed. Noone looked twice or questioned him as Carrigan resumed her seat on the stool in front of him.

    “There she is!” Tianna chimed, opening her arms to Eleanor in welcome.

    “I heard you ran into a bit of trouble at the park,” the man’s stern tone clashed with his carefree pose.

    “Hush Hale,” Tianna waved him off, and Eleanor sat on the stool to Tianna’s side while Carter opted to lean against the bar. “She does the best she can.”

    “Uh-huh,” Hale was not interested in Tianna’s excuses.

    “There are a lot of… emotions in the city,” Eleanor claimed, and his golden eyes flickered back to her.

    “There are,” he agreed in a warning tone, but after a moment of Eleanor’s hitched silence a friendly smile broke over his lips, “It’s good to have you back though! So what happened?”

    “I got the intel from the three sites you wanted,” Eleanor began while offering him the drive, along with the two others from her pocket, but when the pebble fell out everyone paused in a questioning silence except for Carrigan.

    “Did Carter give you that?” she pointed at the pebble.

    “I-...” Eleanor and Carter exchanged glances with embarrassment rising in his cheeks, and Eleanor’s mind raced in his anxiety until Carrigan pulled out a handful of pebbles, placing them on the table.

    “I was wondering if it was unique to me, or just a nervous habit,” Carrigan stated.

    “Moving on from the possibility of Carter being sweet on my Carri,” Hale huffed in amusement, taking the drives while Carter stood beet-red, “How did your runs go?” he questioned, but Eleanor looked a bit like how Carter was feeling, and Hale snapped his fingers in front of her, making her jump, “Refocus El. I know you're tired, but it’s best we get this out of the way now. How were your runs?”

    “Right,” Eleanor shook her head clear, “The first one there was no issue, it was exactly what you expected it to be. I had no contact during it. The second one was… lax though.”

    “Oh?” Hale raised an eyebrow.

    “I’m not completely sure, but there were a lot of thoughts about the Kappa group,” Eleanor rubbed her forehead, “There was…” she tried to remember the countless thoughts, gritting her teeth as her head began to throb.

    “Don’t strain yourself too much,” Hale spoke softly, and Eleanor relented, “Don’t dig too deep, I’m sure Lumi will be able to figure it out from the intel you pulled, just stick to the surface.”

    “Okay…” Eleanor breathed, “So… the Theta building was what you expected in their security, and Iota was lax, but Kappa was… extra, like Iota’s missing were there, but I got through fine… for the most part.”

“So you ran into someone?” Hale drummed his fingers against the bar in thought, “And… it was isolated?”

“Yeah,” Eleanor nodded, “I drugged him, and swayed his memories.”

“I still find that an odd ability,” Carrigan interjected as she focused on Eleanor, “Empathic mages are not typically capable of memory manipulations.”

“It’s just… swaying them,” Eleanor gave a crooked smile, “People don’t like having gaps in their memory… I just filled it with a suggestion.”

“Liquor bar in the office?” Tianna guessed.

“No no,” Hale shook his head, “Those labs don’t allow that kind of thing,” he huffed in amusement, “Hidden bottle in the desk.”

“Tripped and smacked his head!” Carter chimed in.

“I-... no,” Eleanor rubbed the back of her neck, “Whiteout.”

“Whiteout?” the three questioned in unison while Carrigan blankly stared. 

“It was the first liquid I found in his desk,” Eleanor avoided looking at them with a nervous smile on her lips before they burst out laughing. “Wha-What?”

    “You whited out your mistake!” Hale cackled, nearly falling off the bar.

    “Hmm,” Carrigan hummed in what no one would ever know was amusement.

    “C-Come on… it’s not that funny,” Eleanor gave a nervous laugh, and the three slowly calmed down, “Anyways… uh… they change codes fairly regularly.”

    “Right, right…” Hale sighed, “That was a good one though.”

    “It was,” Carter agreed with another laugh escaping him.

    “Okay… so,” Hale gathered himself, “You K.O the guy, and get out without further issue, right?”

    “Yeah,” Eleanor nodded.

    “So then, where did it go wrong?” Hale questioned, and Carter looked to her.

    “At the park,” Eleanor shook her head, “I don’t know… but that’s where we were confronted. It could have been… along the way. Having so many thoughts… it's tiring and-”

    “And exhaustion makes for mistakes,” Hale nodded, “Besides that though, you’re fine?”

    “Yes sir,” Eleanor nodded again.

    “Sir…” Hale’s focus drifted to Carrigan in thought, “You should call me that.”

    “Yes sir,” Carrigan hummed, and his cheeks warmed with a smirk.

    “Maybe mas-... er,” Hale quickly remembered himself, “Alright, go get some rest then El,” he added before handing off the drives to Carter, “And you take those to Lumi.”

    “Thanks Hale,” Eleanor let out a soft sigh before she headed her way to the stairs behind the bar with Tianna watching.

    “Hey Tianna,” Carter nudged her, and her crimson eyes flickered to him.

    “What’s up?”

    “Is Eleanor all good?” he pressed, and she huffed in amusement.

    “Of course she is,” Tianna waved him off while hopping down, “She just needs a bit of time to unwind,” she winked before starting her way to the stairs herself.

    “She needs sleep,” Hale sighed.

    “And she’ll sleep so much better once I’m done with her!” Tianna sang as she trotted her way up to the rooms above.

    “Hmm…” Carter frowned, and Hale laid flat on his back before Carrigan poked his side, making him flinch.

    “Honey no…” Hale frowned, taking her hand, and she laid her head on his stomach before he looked to Carter, “Something wrong?”

    “I don’t know…” Carter sighed, “I just worry about El.”

    “She’s an adult,” Hale waved him off before he began gently petting Carrigan’s head, “You either have to trust her, or…”

    “Or what?” Carter pressed while looking at Hale eagerly.

    “Or be prepared to start a bunch of bullshit,” he shrugged.

    “You… You are a great leader,” Carter sighed, and Hale reached behind the bar, “So wise.”

    “Wiser than your mouth,” Hale huffed, throwing a handful of peanuts at Carter.

    “I- Hey!” Carter frowned as he began brushing the nuts out of his hair, “Not nice.”

    “Yeah, well your- Ow! Hey!” Hale snapped as Carrigan bit his stomach with a scowl on his face until her scarlet gaze met his, “Hey,” he repeated with much more intrigue, and a smirk played on his lips.

    “Okay, I’m leaving now,” Carter held his hands up in surrender, but nearly fell at the sound of Eleanor chirping Tianna’s name.

    “CLOSE THE DOOR!” Hale shouted towards the stairs, making Carter jump with his cheeks burning before he quickly escaped the building.

*Bang*

    “You hadn’t closed the door?!” Eleanor blurted at Tianna while clutching her shirt over her now-bare chest.

    “Can you blame me?” Tianna gave an innocent smile while stepping back over to the bed where Eleanor sat, “You’re just entirely too cute,” she breathed, gently pushing Eleanor on her back, climbing over her, “And such a good girl too…” she nearly purred before placing a soft kiss on her jawline, “You always have my back, don’t you?”

    “Ye-Yes…” Eleanor gulped, “Wha-What are friends f-for?” she stuttered with a crooked smile, but she gasped as Tianna’s lips fell to her neck.

    “So many things hun,” Tianna cooed, and her hand gently caressed Eleanor’s, teasing the shirt from her grip, “And you dear… are going to benefit greatly tonight,” she promised, making Eleanor practically whimper with crimson cheeks, and Tianna gently took her chin, “That is... after your punishment for being rude.”

    “Wait- What?” Eleanor gulped, and Tianna smirked.

    “As long as you're up for it, sweetie,” Tianna trailed her fingers up Eleanor’s stomach, slowing to a stop as she waited for her answer.

    “Ye-Yeah,” Eleanor gave an eager nod, quickly falling to the lust that saturated Tianna’s mind.