"You're looking in better spirits today, Young."

Lionel looked up from dressing in his tactical gear ahead of another outing to see Sofia at the entrance to the equipment room. "Looks like those days off did you good."

Lionel smiled back at her, fastening his protective vest. "They sure did. It's like I got a...new sense of purpose."

"That fast?" She chuckled, approaching to help him with the straps in the back. "Thought you already had a sense of purpose when you joined, what with the whole finding all the disguised demons so they can't hurt anybody."

"Okay, a renewed sense of purpose. And duty. To protect," Lionel said, adjusting his vest one final time.

"You say protect like it's not already the heart and soul of what we're doing," Sofia hummed, firmly patting both of Lionel's shoulders. "So? Who's the lucky citizen to get some extra protection from our most hardworking officer?"

"I— Wha— it's nothing like that!" Lionel huffed, but the blush creeping to his face betrayed any of his attempts to come off as assertive. As Sofia remained between him and the door leading back to the station with a knowing smirk growing on her face, Lionel relented as a little smile cracked through his serious expression. "Okay, it's kinda like that," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "His name is Rodrick. We... I met him at the Rosso plaza."

"How romantic. And so you," she laughed, hitting his arm with a friendly jab. "So the whole protecting part has a face now, huh? Is he cute?"

"Sergeant, please, this is not work-appropriate banter," Lionel rubbed his arm, trying to give her a stern look before glancing away, mumbling, "...yes."

Sofia smiled and ruffled Lionel's hair before he got around to putting on his helmet. "Then we gotta make sure to keep you safe, too."

Lionel smiled back, fixing his hair before putting his helmet on.

"Thanks, Sergeant. Now let's go make this city a little bit safer."

Back in the demon district, Rædnael spent the day by his dinner table, with a mat of employment documents keeping him company, as he tried to sort them all out. He was putting numbers into his phone and making sure to keep track of who he's been sending requests to, who answered to ask for more details, and who claimed to not have any availability after all. It was a good use of his downtime and recovering his stamina after using the disguise spell twice in a row, but it was still more daunting than he could imagine - and he wasn't even sorting them by preferred type of work. He couldn't allow himself to be picky at this point.

He knew it was still early in the day and the employers are probably still just starting up - or were in the middle of it all, by the hour range of some of the offers - so surely they're not as available to look at applicants. But something was gnawing at his guts that made him more anxious with every minute that he didn't get a response, or with any refusal that he got. Having no delusions about how long these things usually take, even assisted, it wasn't about just being worried about not landing a job.

It was what the Moray said last night.

It was about not landing a job for too long.

It was about getting desperate again.

He already got desperate once, how long before he'd have no other choice?

That wasn't all, though...

He felt that they wouldn't let it slide that the other two Moray got caught and pin it on him, too. A little scapegoat halfling to let their frustrations out on for the gang being broken up. Will they hold it over his head like a debt? Would they go to physical threats? Could they sabotage his permits?

Rædnael shuddered at the thought.

No. It wasn't even his fault. He never even touched the damn thing.

Deciding to take a small break, having nothing else to do other than shuffling papers around and drowning in his anxiety of the possible looming threat. He got up with a stretch and left the table to go to the window, checking on his small garden. While tending to his flowers and pruning them, he heard a radio playing from one of the neighboring apartments. It wasn't blaring, but it was quiet enough outside for him to pick up on what was playing, even when the music turned into the hourly news report.

Recently, all they were about was reports of Tar raids that took place and were allowed to be talked about on the air. Despite no names being mentioned and all voices being distorted, Rædnael always felt concern stirring within him, thinking of Lionel in these raids, especially when the types of exiles involved were mentioned. He remembered his heart sinking, even before meeting Lionel, when he heard the reports of a Leviathan exile in charge of one of those micro-refineries, and just recently there have been talks of these units encountering a Behemoth exile, another type of first-class demon, a beastly monster that was essentially the land-equivalent of the Leviathan. Rædnael never got to meet one of them in person, but he couldn't imagine what power an exile like that would hold if their seal was broken.

Feeling like hearing the news like that wasn't doing much to calm him down, Rædnael finished tending to his garden and closed the window to drown out the reporter's words, walking back to his array of documents and picking up his human phone, opening his text messages with Lionel.

He knew that he wouldn't get an answer and that Lionel wasn't allowed to say much or he'd get in trouble too, but he had to reach out. Just for a little bit of reassurance, whenever it comes.

> Heard on the news there's been lots of raids lately. hope you're doing alright

Rædnael pursed his lips, staring at the phone for a long moment with a sliver of hope that maybe he'll get an answer sooner, but he knew that the chances were practically non-existent, but at the same time he had to remind himself that it didn't mean Lionel was in trouble.

Taking back his regular phone, he looked at the time and then at the papers, once again, knowing he's at a dead end until some potential employers would call him back. He didn't feel like treading the same footpath in the apartment, but also didn't feel like roaming outside just to roam, with nothing to do.

There was one place he knew he'd be welcomed in without a disguise where he could busy himself by helping.

"Better call Heks and make sure it's a good time..."

"Awh, he's worried— hey, no peeking!"

Lionel spun around as he felt Sofia looming over his shoulder, quick to put his phone back in his pocket, taking another moment as his head swam at the jerking movement, still feeling the after effect of Shrapnel, following yet another raid on a small refinery underground.

It was a good thing that he wasn't allowed to talk about it with civilians, otherwise he'd have Rodrick worried out of his mind if he even caught wind of just how often Lionel was involved in all sorts of raids in the city.

"Get used to it, he's probably going to get worried whenever you leave the house," Sofia sighed, patting Lionel's helmet, "maybe a few more after-work dates will leave him more reassured," she teased quietly, knowing she can't really go entirely casual while they were still on scene. "I can even get you off work a bit early, so you'll have some extra time."

"Aren't you...getting a little too invested in this?" Lionel asked, rubbing his arm.

Sofia shook her head, smile softening. "I just think this little thing you got going on will do you good. Remind you that there's more to life than just the police station."

"And it's...not a nice, soft way of hinting I'm on the way out, right?"

"No!" Sofia did her best to keep her voice down and not burst laughing, "I'm saying that for your own mental health. A few dates together could do you a world of good rather than just a week off alone."

Lionel murmured quietly, looking back to where his phone was safely tucked away. "It's...really noticeable at this point, huh?"

"You know...'get a life' might've gotten a bad rep as an insult...but it's not a bad thing," Sofia shrugged, "if you make your work into your whole life, at some point you'll be miserable when you're not working. Having someone to come back to after a shift or...just someone waiting to hear from you that you're okay, it changes things. For the better," she smiled and turned to leave and check on the rest of the unit as they were getting ready to head back. "Text him now, please."

Lionel followed Sofia as she left, a little smile dancing on his lips. He pulled his phone back out, going back to his text with Rodrick.

He'd hate meeting him today all tired and dirty, but—

"And what did you tell the fish men then, Rai?"

The curious halfling child peeked at Rædnael among about a dozen more more, all listening intently to stories told by the much older halfling that came for a surprise visit, once again apologizing to Heks for the short notice, but at least she could prepare enough even during the short time she had to include him into dinner, and now he was keeping the little ones company while she was cooking - the best form of help that she claimed he could give right now.

"I told them...that I don't need their shady deals," Rædnael wore a nice, casual smile as he answered, "and that I'll make it just fine on my own without their risky business."

"And they really let you go?"

"Well, I'm here, aren't— oh!" Rædnael jumped a bit as his human form rang, indicating he got a text message.

Taking his phone out and looking at the message, he found himself both relieved and surprised, that it even drew Heks' attention as she drew closer.

> don't worry, all good here. Are you free this weekend?