Nick stood on the balcony of the V.I.P. and watched as Taren and his musical hyungs take the dance floor by the droves, laughing and jiggling to the music. He allowed a small smile to creep onto his face as he heard steps behind him. “She’s definitely something else,” the quiet, but solid baritone of TOP appeared in the shadows and the rest of his body followed from the wall. Nick turned to face him, benign in all his manners. “I’m glad you like her-my connection with her grows deeper by the day, especially over on the Astral Plane.” TOP’s body was right at home in the dark-his eyes swirled with the ethereal blue of the ocean deep as the little Dragon, Taec, and Jay appeared next.

“I like her a lot-her blood is rich, vibrant, full of life and vitality-reminds me of my favorite Black Queen,” Yong’s eyes flashed crimson as he his lips and purred, pulling out a deck of cards and flipping it so that the Queen of Spades was on top, kissing it and letting the entire deck swirl in the air before returning into a random pocket. Taec snorted and tapped his shorter hyung on the shoulder, flashing a fang in good humor. “Hey, watch it, Jaegermeister- you’ll die a million deaths before even thinking of messing with our Taren.” The Dragon laughed. “ Don’t you trust me?” TOP chuckled, “Of course we do- it’s our little Dhampir we’re worried about, remember?” All eyes were on the tattooed leader of 2PM, who was now looking at the dancers with a wistful expression on his face. TOP phased his hand completely, crossing the secluded balcony and passing his hand through Jae’s back, and withdrawing it. “Your bloodline spiked on our radars highly; so high that my Shadow runners responded quite readily to it… Normally, I would lecture you on causing disrupt in the balance, but Nichkhun informed me of the situation.” Jay tore his eyes from the moving figures and turned to his brethren.

 “…..I’ve been thinking about taking a couple of days off, just to sort things out a little. Do some training, get acquainted with my demons…or eradicate them completely.” He waved a hand to the floor, where Tae and Taren, dancing as a couple, were attracting the cheers and clapping of many around them. “They…you….she-she makes me want to be a better man, for everyone…”  Nick put a hand on Jae’s shoulder. “Hey, do what you feel is right, my friend-we’ll be behind you all the way.”Taec nodded, his ears twitching every once in a while to the beat of the music. “I understand what you want, or need to do-but how will you tell the others?” He gave a pointed look at Junho, who shimmied in between the streetwalker and Taren and was now dancing a cross between a tango and hip hop to a Jennifer Lopez song. Jay smirked, “ I can deal with him-it’s Taren I’m doing this for, mostly.”

Yong sighed, and leapt up on the railing, watching everyone below him laugh, dance, drink, and party for life. “I know what you want to do, but it still doesn’t give me any clarity for order.” The leader of Big Bang pulled out his wand, twirling it, and whipping it into a rose, watching as a blue flame consumed it from the bottom. “I can’t live without the chaos, the destruction, the certainty in the uncertain.”

 TOP continued as they alternated between watching their friends and watching the flower burn. “….We’ve had our own run in with two stragglers of M’s cause two nights ago.” Jay’s fangs slid out as he asked, “How did you take it?” “The woman fell to my nightmares and Seung-Ri’s charismatic gravitational pull, while the man, well,” the Shadowwalker paused as his eyes flickered in the music, “ the man needed quite a bit of oxygen removed from his respiratory system, courtesy of Tae of course.” The rapper waved his hands dismissively at the ceiling. “Dae’s knives in his balls may have had a helping hand in the interrogation afterwards.” Nick looked at his fellow rapper with rapid interest as TOP continued, making shadow figurines appear in his hand as he spoke. “He told us that M is planning on destroying our Valentine’s Day performance, and that he’s considering tearing apart the Korean White Day ceremonies as well.” Jae folded his arms with a thoughtful expression. “Interesting-and that’s all they know, I’m sure of it-our guy’s walls were so well barricaded that even Junsu’s Charm couldn’t get far.” The Jaegermeister grinned, and patted Jaebeom’s arm consolingly. “You guys don’t embrace your personas as we do-sure, you might have come close to the True Calling every once in a while, but please-take a walk with me one day, on the Wild Side-you won’t regret it, at all.”

Nick sighed, and rubbed his forehead as he gave a knowing look to Taecyeon, “So, I take it that Ji-yong, you took care of the bodies afterwards?” The leader of Big Bang did a little skip twirl before bowing deeply in front of the congenial sorcerer. “But of course, Moon Priest- my soul wouldn’t have it any other way, and the skulls were quite pleased as well.”

Taec raised an eyebrow as Yong shrugged, grinning all the while, even as the flower burned to a crisp in his ever waiting palm. “What can we say-you asked and we replied.” Little Dragon patted his fellow leader’s shoulder and winked at him, the fire causing the happy-go-lucky rapper to look like a serial killer. “It was the bloodlust, calling me, to where I truly belong-even when I’m with you guys, I can’t figure out why I still let it consume me…”

Nick’s hand glowed as he put it over the charring flower, turning it into a handful of skittles and sweets, which he began to eat. “So why do you hang out with people like us?  Are we just your conscience then?” the Moon Maestro lightly teased as the others surrounded them for the snacks, watching the others below. Yong smiled disarmingly. “That’s for me to know ,and you to find out…”

TOP looked at Taec questioningly. “So, I take it that Taren-noona has no idea of what you are?” The rapper smirked. “Of course not-the timing isn’t right.” Jay nodded firmly. “And we plan on keeping it that way-maybe on another day, in a better time we could tell her, but for now-she is innocent of our Nature.” Yong sighed dreamily, watching as said counselor was now matching Woo and Can toe-to-toe on their own song “Hot”. “Well, for her sake and ours, let’s shut this motherer down once and for all, together, agreed?” The others nodded solemnly, and shook hands with each other, causing magic to jump between, over, and around them in a quick shower of light before fading out. “Agreed.”