Seungcheol's eyes were burning as if someone had rubbed salt into them and the words in front of him blurred more and more the longer he stared. When he finally gave up and looked away, he could make out the deep purple shadows below his eyes in the reflection on the polished surface of his desk.

It wasn't unusual for the vampire to go sleepless for several days but it had been almost three weeks now. Concentrating alone was becoming a chore. With a low sigh, he leaned back into the cool leather of his chair, blinking a few times to force his eyes to refocus.

With each passing day, fatigue was weighing more heavily on his body - but there was no time to rest. Wonwoo and Mingyu had been scheduled to return from their latest assignment two days ago but they still hadn't been able to locate the spectre. Chan and Jihoon had been more successful with their assignment on Jeju island but a storm was stopping them from returning home, and Dokyeom had yet to fully recover from his recent head injury - Soonyoung and Seungkwan had refused to go on assignments without him. Therefore, new assignments were piling up in front of the leader.

Seungcheol pushed the files aside, tired of looking at them. Most of them had been specifically picked for the members of his unit; redistributing them to other units didn't make much sense. And even worse: it would affect their reputation in Aegis. Gossip was a force to reckon with after all.

A headache was beginning to form somewhere behind his furrowed forehead at the thought of handling these assignments himself on top of his regular workload.

Too many problems.

Not to speak of his very own, personal problem which came in the form of one stubborn Human.

The Being glanced at the wall-mounted clock. Jisoo's practice with Luhan was set to begin soon and Seungcheol needed to be there because, well. It was Luhan after all.

He ran a hand through his dishevelled hair in an attempt to recreate a semblance of normality and wiped a speck of dust off his jacket. Unfortunately, there was no way to hide the bags under his eyes.

The sound of footsteps became audible in the distance just when he had gotten up to leave and he paused, listening.

Three people. None of them Human. Neither of them in a hurry.

One pair of feet was harder to make out compared to the other two - that was clearly Hansol's light-footed gait. And where ever Hansol was, Jeonghan wasn't far. The third person was trailing behind the duo, their steps measured but careful - Jun.

It made sense for them to visit him. Jeonghan's and Hansol's suspension was ending on Monday and they had probably been told to talk it over with their leader. Jun usually came as a mediator.

But right now, their timing was everything but ideal. Seungcheol's eyes focused back on the clock. He probably wouldn't be able to handle the matter within ten minutes.

The long, grey corridor didn't look any more inviting than it had during Jisoo's first day at Aegis, almost two weeks prior. The sight of the gym door filled him with an undeniable feeling of dread - understandable, given the fact that he had almost died the last time he had stepped through it.

He hadn't thought much about his trial since he had been busy with processing all the new impressions, meeting new people and going on assignments - but now, the short but violent ordeal was coming back to haunt him.

Hesitating, he stood in front of the double doors. He was scared. But it would be alright. It was just simple training - he was used to that - and Luhan was human. A mutant, just like him. There weren't any Beings involved this time, no werewolves, no skinwalkers, no vampires.

It would be alright.

His hand wrapped around the handle before he pulled the door open without a sound.

The sight of the brightly lit gym greeted him, the neon ceiling lights reflecting in the dark green floor. Luhan's lone figure was seated on one of multiple stacks of wooden crates, his feet dangling at least one meter off the ground.

At Jisoo's arrival, his pretty face lit up and with the agility of a cat, he jumped down, his sneakers squeaking on the rubber floor. "I've read up on you," he said with a grin. "Time-manipulation, huh? That's pretty awesome!"

Unsure what to make of Luhan's overly enthusiastic demeanour, Jisoo nodded. "Uh, yeah, I guess." The chipper way in which the blond mutant was approaching him reminded him of Soonyoung and it immediately made the hair at the back of his neck rise.

Luhan didn't seem to care about his clipped answer. "You know, that ability could easily get you into level four, maybe even five if you're able to use it to its full potential!" he gushed while pulling Jisoo towards the other end of the gym, away from the crates. "But you're only level one, right? You don't have any control over your ability - why's that?"

Heat burned Jisoo's face. Nothing in Luhan's tone had been unpleasant but his words still stung - even though he was right. Right now, Jisoo was like any other average, powerless Human. "Uh, well, I never learned to control-"

Luhan cut him off at once, his doe eyes narrowing ever so slightly while his smile remained unchanged. "That's a ty excuse. You're a natural mutant so controlling your ability should come naturally as well. It's like an invisible limb. So? Why can't you control it?"

His voice had gotten noticeably colder and somehow, the combination of his frigid tone and his kind smile unnerved the monk. The urge to wrench his arm free grew.

"I-I don't know," he stammered after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence in which he had tried to come up with a reason. He had no idea what the mutant wanted to hear. Hell, until three weeks ago, he had had no clue that he even had an ability in the first place and now he was suddenly supposed to be an expert just because he was born with it? That didn't make any sense.

Another uncomfortable pause followed until Luhan chuckled. "Fine. We'll find out eventually."

Seungcheol was used to the acrid smell of carnivore that werewolves emanated but that didn't mean that he liked it - especially not in his office.

Based on his scrunched up nose, Hansol was having similar thoughts but he knew better than to voice them in front of the leader. Instead, he kept silent watch, a few feet between him and his master's chair.

The vampire felt Jeonghan's gaze on him and turned his eyes away from the werewolf, returning the stare. Pink began to take over Jeonghan's ivory cheeks, a pretty contrast to his white-blond hair.

He looked good. Healthy. Well-rested. Unlike Seungcheol.

The vampire was sure that the Being was thinking the same while his coal-black eyes drilled into Seungcheol's dark brown ones, the questions behind them all too clear. His familiar scent filled the vampire's nose, drowning out Hansol's stench.

"Let's begin." Jun's voice broke the silence and Seungcheol took the chance to end the eye-contact, focusing on the other blond Being instead.

As usual, Jun's eyes were unfocused and his expression was calm. Even after knowing him since he had joined Aegis almost five years ago, the vampire still couldn't tell what he was thinking.

The two blond deities got up, facing each other. They were only inches apart, Jeonghan's face tilted up slightly since Jun was taller. The latter reached up, his long fingers finding Jeonghan's temples with a precision that astonished Seungcheol every time he witnessed it; it was as if Jun's blindness got cured whenever he used his ability.

The vampire heard Hansol shift slightly but he spared him no glance. It had always been difficult for the werewolf to let anyone else touch his master, regardless of the situation.

Not that this had ever stopped Jeonghan from doing whatever he wanted.

"Okay," Seungcheol said after Jun had nodded.

The pale blue of his sightless eyes began to fade into silver-grey while Jeonghan kept his eyes closed, his face small between Jun's hands.

"Three weeks ago, you released Hansol despite knowing that it was full-moon and despite knowing that you were testing a Human. What was the reason?"

"I dislike the thought of you having a new partner," Jeonghan replied without a second of hesitation. The vampire hadn't missed that he had used the present tense.

Jun remained silent.

"And why is that?" Seungcheol asked, already fully aware of the 'why' and all its implications. This whole spiel was just a formality.

Once again, Jeonghan answered swiftly. "He's not a good fit."

A frown crossed Jun's face but he once again remained silent. Seungcheol knew that this was a half-truth, not a lie. Jisoo wasn't fit to be his partner in Jeonghan's eyes - but nobody else was either, apart from Jeonghan himself.

The vampire remained stone-faced. They had held that conversation one too many times.

After a few beats of silence had passed, he focused on the main reason why they were here. "Are you planning to injure your fellow unit member, Hong Jisoo, in the future?"

This time, Jeonghan took noticeably longer to answer and when he did, his words sounded like he was choosing them carefully. "I don't plan to inflict bodily harm on Hong Jisoo."

A smile curled Jun's lips before he caressed Jeonghan's face once and sat down.

Seungcheol couldn't suppress a twitch of his lips either. When it came to being crafty with words, Jeonghan was almost on par with Chen.

The vampire was well aware of the implications, of the unsaid words lingering in the air - but as long as Jeonghan wasn't planning to maim the Human, he wasn't too concerned with letting the deity and his watchdog return to the unit. Jisoo would only fully join them once he had mastered his ability anyway.