(a/n: Okay!  Trying something a little new.  This oneshot is set in a post story alternate setting so the humans have pretty much returned to their normal lives outside of the base.  In Luna's case, getting back into the swing of things is a bit more complicated than she had hoped.)

                Yesung was lounging on the couch, already in his loose fitting pajamas and flipping through channels on the TV when Luna arrived back home from work.  With one arm resting over his forehead, he watched her behind partially closed eyes and then frowned as she shut the door harder than usual.  “What’s wrong with you?” he grumbled, not bothering to move from his vantage in the slightest.

                “Nothing,” Luna sighed heavily, finally pulling her ponytail down and kicking her shoes off at the front door.

                “Right,” Yesung responded skeptically, returning his focus to the TV.

                “Oh shut up,” Luna groaned, trudging to her room on quiet feet, clutching her purse close and avoiding looking at her roommate.  She locked her door behind her and tossed her purse onto the work desk nearby before she splayed out on her bed, limbs in every direction with her dirty blonde hair fanned out behind her.

                It was strange how everything had really sort of just fallen back into place once Atamos had been dealt with.  Almost as if none of it had happened at all…  Only, they never had managed to find a way to send the MCs home.  Of course the scientists were still working on it but it was a slow and usually uneventful process, leaving the rest of the creatures to try and fit themselves into the normal course of things.  They stayed close too, for the most part.  It was nice that the others at least still felt comfortable around them, even if having to live among humans wasn’t entirely their idea of an ideal situation, but regardless of the ties they’d made while living together, most of them had split apart in favor of figuring out how to live like normal humans again.

                Taking a deep breath, she forced herself into a slumped over sitting position, wavy hair obscuring part of her vision while she glared at her purse.  She needed to check her phone but she didn’t want to…  “Fine,” she grumbled to herself, removing her blazer and tossing it on the floor before she got up and retrieved the blinking device from the depths of her handbag.  Yep.  Another missed call.

                Luna loved her parents.  She really did, but sometimes they were absolutely maddening and in this case, quite worrisome.  She rubbed her tired eyes with slender fingers and took another deep breath.  It wasn’t like she was able to tell them exactly what had happened or why she’d disappeared but they were certainly under the impression it hadn’t been for something sensical… no matter how many times she told them otherwise.  And then there was this…  Resignedly, she hit the call button for her parents.

                Yesung tilted his head to the side when he heard the music come on in Luna’s room.  “Bleh…” he groaned.  If it was loud enough for him to hear, then she was trying to hide something.  He listened for a moment more and rolled his eyes when he realized she was talking on the phone.  A glance at the wall clock showed it was well after the time she would normally have been home and he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

                Both of them were still only part time but she’d been working some serious overtime…  Something was up and she wasn’t saying a damn thing about it either.  She wasn’t half as fun to pick on anymore and that was when she was even around.  He sat up on the couch and turned the volume up, trying to drown out the sound of the music and her voice rising above it as she started arguing.  Personally, he thought he’d done remarkably well in dealing with her so far but this was getting ridiculous.

                It was about time to call in the cavalry.  And he knew just who to get in contact with.  Smiling smugly, he threaded his fingers together behind his head and leaned back, laughing at the antics of the characters on the TV screen.

                Submerged in the bath water up to her chin with her hair piled on top of her head in a loose knot, Luna flicked her finger through the surface and sent a spray of droplets towards the faucet, watching the individual drops speckle the top and send ripples in every which direction.  Her water was starting to grow cold and that was a definite signal she needed to get out but she didn’t want to; even if her hands were all pruny already.  She raised her palms out of the water so she could get a good look at them and pouted, leaning her head back to stare at the ceiling.

                “Yah!” she yelped, splashing in a brief panic when Yesung pounded on the door.  “Yesung!” she complained, clinging to the edge of the tub as she tried to remember if she’d locked it or not.  “What?” she asked in a more civil tone when he didn’t actually say anything.

                “You’re taking tomorrow off,” he told her through the door, his voice easy to understand despite the barrier.

                “No I’m not,” she frowned at his comment, slumping back into the water up to her chin again.  “I’m working another double tomorrow.”  Yesung snorted derisively and opened the door without so much as a warning, making her shriek again as she sent water splashing all over the floor in a frantic attempt to cling to the side, hiding behind the protective barrier.  “What the hell?” she snapped with a rare glare leveled at him over the edge.

                “Don’t get your in a twist,” Yesung rolled his eyes keeping his gaze averted as he simply spoke to her through the slight opening.  “But you are calling out sick tomorrow.”

                “I’ve already told you-” she started to say.

                “Luna.  You’re still part time,” Yesung reminded her flatly.  “You’ve been working more hours than you and I combined and that’s been all week.”

                “I spoke to my supervisor and she’s fine with it,” Luna muttered darkly, still glaring at him.

                “Well I’m not,” he told her simply, finally allowing himself to just look at her.  He wasn’t even trying for a sneak peek or anything, because that was just weird, but he met her eyes evenly and reiterated, “You’re not working tomorrow.”

                “Yes.  I am.”

                Yesung just laughed at her response and gave her a crooked grin.  “Ah huh.”  With that rather cryptic comment, he pulled his head out and closed the door behind him, leaving Luna to her frantic thoughts.

                Not the least of which being what the hell that exchange had been about in the first place.  The other being had he actually seen anything.  She took a look down at her person and considering her positioning, that should have been an impossibility.  Why had she forgotten to lock the door…?  Whining softly, she glared at her wrinkled hands and sighed.  “I’m still going to work tomorrow,” she told herself firmly as she clambered out of the tub, taking care not to slip in the puddle on the linoleum floor, and toweled off, getting ready to retreat to her room again.

                The next morning, as she was getting ready for work, stifling a yawn every other minute, Luna could have sworn she heard the front door open and close.  That was odd.  They never had visitors this early in the morning.  Rubbing sleep from her eyes with her palms tiredly, she reluctantly opened the bathroom door and froze.

                “Yixing?” she asked, blinking forcefully just to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

                “Morning, Luna,” he smiled and waved at her, glancing at Yesung by his side to make sure it was alright.  Her roommate was just smiling smugly with his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at her.

                “What’s going on?” she continued warily, edging towards her room where her purse was.

                “I told you.  You’re taking today off,” Yesung grinned, watching as she continued to her room with an uncharacteristically mischievous expression.

                “Um…” she hummed to herself, ducking into the safety of her haven as she searched for her purse.  She stopped and scoured the room with her eyes but the object in question was missing.  “Yesung,” she stated, taking a breath and returning to her doorway where poor Yixing just looked confused and her roommate appeared smugger as ever.

                “Yes Luna?” he grinned unrepentantly, a dead giveaway he knew exactly what she was asking about.

                “Where’s my purse?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest.

                “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he chuckled, reaching into his pajama pants to retrieve a phone that looked suspiciously like hers.  “Though I did find this so you can call out.  As we agreed,” he reminded her, holding the phone out with his hand though he made no effort to close the distance between them.

                “I’m confused,” Yixing admitted with a nervous smile, scratching his mid-length dark brown hair with his eyes closed.

                “Me too,” Luna admitted, still glaring at Yesung.  “What is Yixing doing here?”

                “You’re taking him around town today,” Yesung chuckled with a wink at Yixing.

                “I thought you said it was an emergency,” the unicorn laughed uncertainly as he leaned closer to the equally tall male.

                “Trust me.  It is,” he nodded with a jerk if his head towards Luna.

                “You’re terrible,” Luna muttered with a perturbed frown at her roommate.

                “And?” he gestured with his free hand, not in the least bit concerned.

                “I can just come back again another time,” Yixing suggested uncertainly, clearly caught between the interests of both parties.

                Luna unbent enough to wave her hand at the suggestion with a shake of her head.  “No Yixing.  You’re fine,” she assured him, forcing her face to relax into a semblance of a smile.  It wasn’t his fault her roommate was an interfering right now.  Stalking over to Yesung with as much pomp as her diminutive frame could muster, she snatched the phone from his hand.  “Give me that,” she grumbled, stalking back to her room where she promptly closed the door.

                “Yes!” Yesung congratulated himself, turning to clap Yixing on the shoulder.  “Good job, Xing,” he chuckled, stretching his arms over his head as he wandered towards his room.

                “Eh?  Where are you going?” the unicorn asked in confusion.

                “Back to bed.  I still have to go to work later,” he groaned with a shake of his head.  Briefly, he disappeared into his room, shutting the door in the process, only to reappear a moment later with a wallet in his hands.  “Oh yeah.  Here,” he offered, handing over the woman’s wallet to Yixing.  “You can give this back to her once you guys have left the apartment but make sure she changes her clothes to something more comfortable before you guys head out.  Neh?”

                Dumbly, Yixing nodded in agreement as he accepted the item and stared at it and then his person, confused about where to hide it.

                “Don’t you have any pockets?” Yesung asked, picking up the hem of Yixing’s shirt to check for himself.  Yixing giggled and brushed the other’s hands away, dancing back a step.  “Skittish much?”

                “I have pockets,” Yixing told him, quickly adjusting the ones on his pants so they’d be large enough to accommodate the odd-shaped item.

                “Cheater,” Yesung laughed as he waved at the unicorn and then removed himself again.  “Have fun,” he gestured half-heartedly with his hand, stifling a yawn with the other one before he disappeared into his room again, cutting the light off and locking it behind him.

                Yixing exhaled slowly and then glanced at Luna’s still closed door as he heard her shuffling around.  She’d stopped talking a little bit ago but since she hadn’t emerged yet, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.  Or even why he was here.  Yesung had said it was an emergency he come by this morning to check on Luna and while there didn’t seem to be anything overtly wrong with her, she wasn’t exactly like he remembered her when they’d all been confined underground.

                Maybe it was an illness he hadn’t come across yet.  That was possible.  Tapping his bottom lip thoughtfully, he tried to puzzle it out while he waited for her.

                Unaccountably hesitant, Luna finally opened her door and peeked out the room to find that Yixing was sitting on the couch, his expression intently pensive, while Yesung was nowhere to be seen.  She rubbed her palm on her shorts, the hems extending to her mid-thigh, and nodded to herself, satisfied with her dressed down appearance, complete with a white tank-top under an off the shoulder light blue top.  She’d made the call, as much as she hadn’t wanted to so there was really no point in shooing Yixing away and wasting the rest of the day.

                She hadn’t been expecting him but she was glad to see him.  Since they’d parted ways, none of them had much chance to stay in contact by anything more than texts, emails and phone calls.  Personal visits were somewhat few and far between as the MCs were being incorporated into the human world and in all honesty… she missed him.  “Hey,” she called softly, feeling her eyes soften when he jumped at the sound.

                “Luna!” Yixing smiled, jumping to his feet as he focused on her, bumping the table in front of him with his knees in the process.  “Ow!” he hissed, flushing in embarrassment.

                “Careful,” she urged, coming out of the safety of her room to approach him and make sure he was alright.

                “I’m good,” he promised, rubbing his knees with his hands quickly before standing up again, pretending they didn’t still hurt.  “So…” he trailed off, clearly not sure what he should suggest at this point.

                “Well,” Luna began, giving an annoyed glance at Yesung’s closed door.  “He said you had the day off too?”

                “Neh,” Yixing nodded, gesturing towards the same door.  “Yesung said I was needed so I came.”

                Luna opened to say something and then closed it, chewing her lip thoughtfully.

                “Luna?” the unicorn asked, bending over slightly to have a better look at her face.

                “He over exaggerated,” she explained with another perturbed glance at Yesung’s door.  “But… I’m glad you came, Xing,” she assured the unicorn with a half-smile.  The grin he gave her in return was more than enough to help lift her spirits, if only for a moment.

                “Come,” he urged, extending his hand to her politely.

                Laughing lightly at the gesture, Luna stepped forward and slipped her hand into his warm one, enjoying the way his fingers felt as they curled around hers.  “Where are we going?” she asked, letting herself be pulled towards the door.

                “I don’t know,” Yixing admitted with a puzzled expression as he continued for the entrance.  “But I figured we’d think of something before too long.”

                Shaking her head at his reasoning, Luna snagged her keys from the hook near the door and let herself be pulled into the hallway outside their room.  She made sure to lock up behind them since she was positive Yesung wouldn’t be conscious for another couple hours, and then threaded her fingers through Yixing’s again as they took the elevator down.

                “Oh crap…” she groaned when they’d made the ground floor, patting the top of her head in annoyance.

                “What?” Yixing asked, looking down at her in confusion.

                “I forgot my wallet,” she grimaced.  It wasn’t like she had the money to be spending on much of anything anyway but she felt rather knowing she didn’t have it.  Her expression turned quizzical when she noticed Yixing trying to pull something from his pocket.

                “You mean this?” he asked, nearly losing his grip on it when the corner caught the edge of his pocket and nearly slipped from his hand.

                “How did you…?  Never mind,” she groaned with a shake of her head.  “Yesung, right?”  At Yixing’s nod, she rolled her eyes and accepted the item in question.  “Come on then.  Where should we go first?” she asked, looking up and down the street.  While she didn’t live in a huge city, it was still more than large enough to lose oneself in and by Yixing’s curious expression, she didn’t think he knew his way around here at all.

                “What would you suggest?” he asked instead, focusing his warm brown eyes on her.

                “Hey.  This was your idea,” she reminded him as she pointed with her free hand.

                He shrugged helplessly and shook his head.  “I don’t know.”

                “Ugh…” she groaned, slumping forward so all he could see was the top of head and wavy dirty blonde ponytail.  “Okay.  Fine,” she sighed, tugging Yixing after her as she approached her car parked on the curb.  “Why don’t we start with breakfast?  Neh?”

                “Breakfast is good,” Yixing beamed at her, easing himself into her pink bug carefully, the interior a little shorter than he was used to.

                Luna took them by IHOP as a place that served next to everything at all times of the day.  It was better than trying to figure out what either of them was in the mood for and it served coffee.  That was exactly what she wanted.  Distracted, she looked over the menu, keeping the sigh to herself when nothing looked particularly appetizing, though Yixing seemed enamored enough.  She kept checking her phone though which didn’t make her feel any better either way she looked at it.

                When their waitress took their order, she listed the first thing that came to mind, pancakes no less, and listened as Yixing vacillated on three separate items, finger switching between the pages as he debated.  With the help of their waitress, he was able to make his selection and he sat with his fingers laced together in front of him while he watched Luna.  It didn’t take him long to figure out what she kept staring at and before she knew it, he snatched her phone off the table and peered at it critically.

                “Hey,” she told him, reaching for it immediately.

                “Is this what’s bothering you?” he asked, frowning at the cell phone.  He didn’t have one yet, for which he was beginning to think was a good thing, but it certainly seemed to be making Luna unhappy.

                “No,” she groaned with a roll of her eyes.  “Now give it back.”  She held her hand out with an expectant expression.

                Yixing held the phone on his open palm and looked at her with a thoughtful expression.  No.  It wasn’t any illness he could determine so it was something else then and this thing wasn’t helping.  “Nope,” he told her with a shake of his head as he stuffed it in his pocket where she couldn’t get it.

                “Hey!” she blinked in surprise.  That was certainly not the answer she’d expected from Yixing…

                “Smile, Luna,” he told her earnestly, hunching lower to be level with her.  “You’ll feel better,” he promised with a knowing look in his eye.

                “Not you too,” she groaned, sitting back in her seat and focusing on picking her napkin apart with her fingers.

                “What?” he asked, bewildered by her statement.

                “You wouldn’t understand,” she told him simply as she continued to pick apart her target with single-minded intent.

                “How do you know?” he asked with a tilt of his head to the side.

                “Trust me,” she laughed once and looked at her companion.  Mutely, Yixing reached out one finger and planted it on the paper napkin before he slid it away from her, much to her disgruntlement.  “Xing…  Would you stop taking away my stuff?” she grumbled, folding her hands determinedly in her lap.

                “Will you tell me what’s wrong?” he responded easily, setting the abused napkin aside.

                “No,” she maintained.

                “Then no,” he laughed, taking a sip of water as she made a face and grabbed her coffee in both hands, sipping at the contents with care.

                She was saved from having to make any sort of further response when their food came and was only grateful that he was too busy eating to really talk to her.  Luna picked at her food but after the first couple bites, she wasn’t particularly hungry, nor did she want to take the rest of it home.  “Want mine?” she asked when he was finished with his food and thoroughly cleaning the bowl.

                “You sure?” he asked, noticing how much there still was left.  She nodded in agreement and pushed it to him.  Without another question, he promptly finished her food off as well while she worked on taking care of the rest of her coffee.

                As she fished for her card to pay for breakfast, she muttered under her breath, “I wonder how work’s going.”

                “Where do you work again?” Yixing asked having overheard her question.

                Luna picked her head up and had to actually think for a moment.  “Belk’s,” she explained with a shake of her head.

                “People try on clothes there, don’t they?” he continued with an interested look on his face.

                “Neh.”

                “Can we go?” he inquired with a tilt of his head.

                “Really?” she asked incredulously.  “I’m supposed to be sick remember?  It doesn’t look that good when you show up at your job after you call out for the day.”

                Appropriately chastised, Yixing sat back with his hands folded together on the table, looking rather put out.  “I didn’t mean…”

                Realizing how poorly that had come out, Luna cringed and shook her head.  “Sorry, Xing.  There are other department stores in town, but we just can’t go to that one.”  He nodded hesitantly and she placed her card on the table while she waited for the waitress to take it off for processing.  “Have you ever been clothes shopping?”

                Yixing shook his head and pulled at the fabric of his shirt by way of explanation.  “I don’t need to, but I thought it might be fun to try.”

                About the last thing Luna wanted to do was go into any department store today, but Yixing looked so put down, by her no less, and she knew she was being waspish.  “Okay.  We’ll go check one out after this, neh?” she offered, reaching across the table to place her hand on top of his.

                “Neh,” he agreed with a half-smile.

                Despite her reservations, after having paid for their tab and they returned to her car, Luna found them standing in front of JCPenny’s.  Her boss would probably kill her if she was spotted in front of a competitor’s store like so but one look at Yixing was enough to banish whatever fear that thought conjured up.  Like a kid in a candy store, he looked around with wide eyes, entranced by the hustle and bustle of everything inside.

                “Well.  Did you want to try something on?” she asked, pointing towards the men’s section.

                “Oh!” he gasped and promptly fell in line beside her while she guided them.

                It became obvious very early on that in his excitement at trying the experience, Yixing wasn’t exactly paying attention to styles or things that even remotely matched.  Nor was he actually trying things on so much as changing the pattern of his own clothes using the ones he took into the changing room as his template.

                Even in an uncharitable mood as she was, Luna covered to keep from laughing too hard when Yixing emerged clad in what had to be one of the ugliest pairs of plaid golf pants she’d ever seen, a blue and yellow pinstripe shirt and some sort of bowler’s cap.  “No,” she laughed, shaking her head emphatically as she turned him around and pushed him back towards the changing rooms immediately.  “That does not work,” she giggled.

                “But you laughed,” he grinned looking over his shoulder at her.

                “Shut up,” she retorted, unable to stop the smile pulling at .

                The next outfit was completely formal in the black and white tuxedo apparel and Luna actually tilted her head in appreciation of ensemble.  “Well?” he asked, gesturing at his person.

                “A little much but… very nice,” she smiled feeling herself melt just a bit in the knees with the look he gave her in return.  Aish.  He did have a nice smile.  “Now go on.  You can’t wear that around today.”

                “Why not?” he asked, looking over his person again.

                “Xing.  You turn heads enough as is.  The last thing you need is something that screams ‘Look at me’,” she giggled, hiding behind her hand.

                “Oh,” he murmured, nodding as if he wasn’t entirely sure what she’d meant, but he shrugged and turned around to find something else.

                Luna helped him with a couple outfits and they both settled on a change from the one’s he’d arrived in but when he started to leave ‘wearing’ said clothes, she grabbed his arm and turned him back towards the dressing room.  “Wait a minute.  You can’t walk out looking like that,” she explained firmly.

                “Why not?  I’m not wearing their clothes,” he told her with a mystified expression.

                “No, but you look like you are,” she stated, still pushing him from behind.

                “And?”

                “And it’ll look like you’re stealing,” she whispered to him quietly, keeping her voice down.

                “Ah,” he nodded in understanding.  “But once we’re back outside, I can wear them, correct?”

                “Neh,” she agreed, sending him off.

                Changed and smiling, Yixing returned from the dressing rooms and snagged her hand, pulling her after him while they left the store.  In the relative safety of her car, Yixing altered his human disguise and held his hands out, “Tada!”

                Luna smacked herself in the face with her palm but had to laugh.  “Very nice, Xing.  It’s a good change,” she assured him with more seriousness as she offered a half-smile.  Dressing room endeavor aside, while it had been an enjoyable diversion, it still didn’t exactly fix things for her.  At least they hadn’t spent any money at any rate.  “So what now?” she asked, resting her hands on the steering wheel while she waited for an answer.

                “Oh!  Oh!” Yixing grinned, pointing at a store not that far from them in another part of the shopping center.  “Can we go there?”

                “The ice cream shop?” she asked in confusion.

                “Neh,” he ducked his head and grinned, bouncing in his seat.

                “Sure,” she shrugged, thinking a sundae was just what she needed anyway.

                Seated inside the parlor with a rather large hot fudge banana split in front of her and a thick moose tracks milkshake in front of Yixing, Luna made a face when she heard her phone going off in his pocket.  Politely, he removed it so she could see and make sure it wasn’t important, though he didn’t miss that it was from her mother.

                Luna glared at the screen for a moment and finally just silenced it and set it down on her side of the table, ignoring the device as a voicemail was left while she attacked her dessert with her spoon.  Mutely, Yixing tried in vain to up the milkshake through his straw and was forced to admit defeat a few seconds later when the tube actually crumpled before anything came up it.  Resolutely, he turned to his spoon and grinned in delight when he took his first huge mouthful.  At least until the brain freeze hit him.

                “Xing?” Luna asked when she noticed her companion making strange faces and whining quietly.  “Oh boy,” she laughed when she finally realized what had happened.

                “Whoa!” he shook his head with both hands on either side of his cheeks while he stared at the dessert in front of him.  “Ow.”

                “Slow down,” she pointed at him, taking a considerably smaller bite of her own.

                Yixing removed his hands and rested them on the table on either side of his cup, tapping his fingers lightly as he eyed the phone with curiosity.

                After another bite, Luna noticed what he was looking at and stabbed her spoon into her dessert again, making it stick straight up.  “It’s my umma,” she grumbled.  Yixing just nodded along in agreement with her but didn’t try to pry.  He simply waited for her to continue while he took another bite, much smaller this time.  “They don’t believe me, you know,” she grumbled, yanking her spoon free and using it to point at Yixing.

                “About what?” he asked around another mouthful, closing his mouth hastily and using his hand to hover under his chin, lest some of the melted cream fall into his lap.

                Luna snorted once and looked away, taking a moment to recover her composure.  “I couldn’t very well tell them that we helped save you guys from Atamos so I told them I was part of a voluntary study group for science that required I remain in isolation with the other volunteers which was why I couldn’t contact them.  They asked about the results and where they could read up on them and I told them they were confidential and still being processed and not open to the public.”

                “Did you come up with that?” Yixing asked, still working on his dessert.

                “Actually it was Mimi’s idea,” she responded, stabbing at her ice cream, mutilating it as opposed to eating it.  “But they won’t believe me,” she stated firmly, eating a bite with a quiet grumble.  “And then…” she added, holding the spoon up with one hand and covering with the other so she wasn’t being completely rude with food in .  “My appa loses his job and then umma wants me to come back and move in with them with my husband to help take care of them.”  More stabbing of her ice cream followed with another bite that promptly disappeared into .

                “But you’re not married,” Yixing pointed out in confusion.

                “No!  I’m not,” she agreed emphatically, using her spoon to wave for extra emphasis.  “But that’s why they don’t believe me.  They think I eloped when I was gone and had this wonderful getaway and a honeymoon and all this crap,” she muttered, stabbing at her dessert again while Yixing blinked in response, a bit taken aback.

                “So who do they think your husband is?” he asked, very much baffled.

                “Yesung,” Luna snorted, growling more under her breath.  “My roommate!  Really?!” she demanded of her companion as she stared at him in disbelief over the remains of her dessert.  She was startled when Yixing actually snorted in response, coughing on an Oreo as he desperately tried to clear his throat.

                “Excuse me…  Yesung?” he asked for clarification, coughing once more as he beat his chest with his fist.

                “Exactly!” she cried in exasperation, throwing her arms into the air as she slumped backwards in her booth.

                Yixing swallowed several more times as he pushed his cup to the side and then leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table top.  “So your parents think you eloped with Yesung while you were with us and that since your appa has lost his job, they want you to move back with your nonexistent husband to help them get by.”

                “Yep,” Luna nodded once, sitting up to take another bite of her sundae.  “The only reason I’ve gotten around it so far is because my boss has been letting me work the overtime so I can send the extra money to my parents.  And I’m tired…” she whined, pushing her sundae forward so she could rest her chin on the table, hiding behind the large dish.

                Yixing reached across the table and gently slid the dessert to the side so he could see her face, peering at her bright brown eyes under the soft fall of her bangs.  “It’s no wonder,” he murmured in agreement, bending over the table to rest his chin on his folded hands, his eyes almost level with hers.

                “I don’t know what to do, Xing,” she pouted, folding her arms on the table and hiding her face in the crook of her arm.

                “Have you tried talking to Yesung?” he asked quietly.

                “Gods no!” Luna gasped, sitting upright in a hurry.  “Do you know how embarrassing that would be?” she cringed, shaking her head emphatically.  “Not only that but he’d never let me live it down,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes before she latched onto her dessert again and took another bite.

                “Hmm…” Yixing hummed to himself, sitting upright as he drummed his fingers on the table.  “I have an idea,” he offered hesitantly, one hand gesturing towards her in entreaty.

                “At this point, I’m open to all suggestions,” she groaned.

                “We could… go and talk to your parents together,” he shrugged, chewing his bottom lip.

                “Eh?” Luna blinked, head quirked to the side in confusion.

                “I mean, we did meet during the time you were gone,” he explained tentatively, feeling his cheeks flush.  “And we had… sort of discussed… erm… dating is it?”

                Luna sat straight up and waved her hands in front of her frantically.  “Wait wait wait!” she blurted.  “You want for us,” and she pointed between them rapidly, “to go to my parents,” she pointed at herself, “as a couple who met during the scientific study to show that I did not, in fact, get married to Yesung in the meantime.”

                Yixing looked uncertain for a moment, glancing at the items on the table before he met Luna’s gaze once more and shrugged.  “Yes?”

                “Yixing,” she stated, looking at him seriously as she leaned forward with both hands on the table.  “You…” she pointed at him and he held his breath, cringing while he waited for the response.  “Are a genius!” she squealed, jumping up and running around to his side to kiss him soundly in her excitement, oblivious to the attention she drew.

                Stunned, Yixing grinned like a fool and caught her gently about the waist with his hands.  “Okay then,” he laughed, not having expected such a reaction.

                “You have no idea how much that helps, Xing.  Really,” she told him sincerely, leaving her hands resting lightly on his shoulders, feeling considerably lighter after his suggestion.

                “I’m beginning to understand,” he assured her, not quite willing to let go just yet.

                “Well then,” she whispered almost breathlessly, not sure if she wanted to step away or not.

                “Um.  Luna?  Will you… go out with me?” he asked in a rush of words, though he somehow managed to not look away.

                “But we already ag-  Oh.  Oh!” she blushed and giggled, biting her bottom lip as she blinked at him with bright eyes.  “Yes?” she finally answered abashedly, ducking her head cutely, her flush deepening when Yixing stood up, bringing them even closer together as he eased out of the booth.

                “Yes?” he asked softly while he picked her chin up with one hand so she would look at him, meeting his eyes again.

                “Yes,” she agreed, smiling brilliantly and closing her eyes as he leaned down to kiss her tenderly.

(a/n: And fin!  *flails*  This was way too fun to write.  haha  And a slightly different side to Luna.  Huzzah!)