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((Takes place shortly after Trouble on the Doorstep))

As if Tag didn't have enough stresses to deal with, now he had the king a*****e of teenagers, Dustin Harlow, staying in his apartment once again. His spa bath he had set up was rudely interrupted by his arrival, undoing whatever stress relief the bath had managed to provide. He was in his bedroom in just a towel, still wet from the tub, examining the scar on his chest in the mirror when he heard his front door slam shut.

"Aw, ******** no," Tag groaned as he charged out into the living room to find the newest houseguest gone. God ******** damn it. On one hand, it was a blessing the teenager was out of his hair. On the other hand, he just lost the newest member of the Negaverse. The blonde hurried into his apartment hallway but Dustin must have already made it downstairs as he wasn't anywhere in sight - and he wasn't about to chase down a teen in nothing but a towel.

Grumbling with frustration he stormed back to his bathroom and took his entire tray of spa bath products and dumped them all into the tub like a maniac until the room was nauseating with aromatherapeutic candles and scents and the tub was overflowing with bubbles.

He dropped his towel and hopped into the tub, submerging himself under the water and tested just how long he could stay under for. It wasn't very long, and he wasn't about to cripple society by removing his wonderful presence.

“Is it?” Zinkenite blinked thoughtfully. “I suppose I’ve gotten used to it.” He mused. “TAG!” He called.
“TAG…I know you’re here!”… he paused and frowned slightly, sniffing. “Do you smell perfume?” He asked glancing to Ever.

“…. You don’t think he’s…entertaining do you?”

At least these two high-ranking officers weren't touchy about that sort of thing, weren't strict -- and Ilmenite, at least, barely deserved his title, especially after six months out of commission. Even now, he stook awkwardly, favoring his left leg, still not at a hundred percent.

His eyes, however, worked fine: raking over Tag, taking him in, and inwardly putting the man just a bit higher in his ranking. The suits had never quite done it for him, but this....

"Are we over dressed?" It came out slow, dry, his head cocked to the side.

"First of all, b***h, I'm a ******** ten," Tag corrected without hesitation. That was just basic science. He caught Ilmenite checking him out. "See? He knows it."

"Secondly, I was just trying to relax but..." He groaned some more, just accepting the fate of dealing with whatever problems were dropped off at his feet. "I'm not too busy. What do you need help with?"

Zac waved a hand towards Ilmenite. “What he said.” He said with a small shrug. “You…had some ideas for better jobs for me, I thought perhaps that you would be a good choice to find him a new job if nothing else.” He glanced at ever and then looked away for a moment, away from all of them.

A wash of amusement passed over Ilmenite's face at the thought of staying here -- because, really why would he pass up an excuse to stay at Zac's? A year ago, maybe, he would have wanted the space, his own private location, and maybe the bed was a bit small, but. Better than a stranger. Even a fairly hot stranger.

"I'm pretty much useless." It was offered cheerfully, at least, with a flash of a shrug. "Except I speak about four languages, and, uh. I was teaching, a bit. Before that, at the library."

"I'll look into what I can find for you," he said, not able to think of anything on the spot at the moment. He had some other things on his mind. "I was taking a much-needed relaxing bath, which I'd really like to return to but..."

"I need to talk to you in private," Tag sighed to Zac. "If you wouldn't mind leaving us, General Ilmenite. There's some private matters I need to discuss with the General-King."

He paused a moment, glancing at Tag’s face to assess the seriousness of the request, then nodded. “Put some clothes on and we can speak.” He glanced at Ever and tilted his head to one side.
“I won’t be long I don’t think.” He paused and arched an eyebrow. “Or I can come back once your bath is finished. No offence but I don’t think I’ll be adding ‘watching you take one’ to my to-do-list.”