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That displeased look on Tessa's face started to change, her lips twisting up into a cruel smile. "I think we should. I have a little gift in mind." Reaching to her purse Tessa unzipped it and searched around only shortly before she pulled out an envelope. "I have a little card for him, just for the occasion."

After making her selection Mitsu waited for them to put her order together. "You sure you don't want anything, Desmond?" She wouldn't say it but she wished she could share something with him...but he didn't really like the foods that she did...or food in general. Klyde was a bit more adventurous but only for sweets.

"Here you go, Miss." The woman held out a cone with two scoops of frozen custard. Taking her treat Mitsu's tail began to wag, eyes as bright and happy as a kid on Christmas...until she turned toward Desmond and saw the shadow of a figure just on the other side of the door. The door gave another jingle announcing the stores new occupants, Mitsu's face falling to something closer to fear.

"Desmond," Tessa coed as she entered the ice cream parlor, that cruel smile still on her face. "Happy Birthday."

Tessa chuckled lightly as if Desmond had just been playing around. "Oh, Desmond. Don't be that way. We're just here to wish you the best on your birthday. We heard you were in the hospital and I being a charitable person was going to take the time out of my day to visit....but now that you're here I don't need to do that I suppose." Holding up the card in her hand Tessa smiled sweetly. "I have a gift for you."

Still holding onto her ice cream cone Mitsu took a step closer to Desmond, her free hand reaching out to take hold of his shirt. She may have gotten the upper hand in a way during Halloween but Tessa and Nami still frightened her. At the moment she felt cornered with no where to go.

"You silly boy," Tessa mused opening up the envelope and pulling out what was indeed a card. "It's just a card, what do you think I've done to it? Mitsu, why don't you take it for him?"

Mitsu looked hesitant, in fact, she scooted a little closer to Desmond when Tessa turned her gaze on the wolf girl.

"Really? Do you think it's going to explode?" Tessa looked to the front of the card for a moment as if in thought. "And I actually spent the time to pick out a nice card. Oh well, I guess it can't be helped." With the casual flick of her wrist Tessa tossed the card to the floor at Desmond's feet. As it hit, the contents that had been inside scattered from its middle. It seemed they were pictures of Tessa and Desmond together...and most not in a 'decent for public' sort of way. "Oops, silly me."

Mitsu's eyes couldn't help but follow the card as Tessa tossed it to the ground so of course she saw the contents as they spread out across the floor. After a few seconds of taking in what was on the photos it appeared Mitsu was horror struck. Either she hadn't put two and two together that Desmond and Tessa had been intimate at one point...or it was just seeing the actual proof that they had that had her so distraught.

Taking in that look on the wolf girl's face Tessa's smile broadened. That was quite the reward for the day. It was better than just giving the photos to Mitsu and hoping it played out to something fun.

Mitsu found it hard to tear her eyes away from the pictures but she finally managed when Desmond bent down to pick them up. 'Oh these?' He said it in such a casual way as if it was no big deal. And he marked it as a memorable moment? That thought tore away at Mitsu's insides to the point she thought she might be sick, at least until he continued to explain why. In that moment Mitsu's eyes went wide again, her gaze shifting toward Tessa.

Tessa was doing her best not to lose control. It wasn't the first time she had been called a c**t. It was one among the meany colorful names she had heard, but never had she heard it out of Desmond's mouth. Eye twitching, which gave away how she felt about what Desmond said, Tessa forced the smirk to stay on her lips.

"Is that so, Desmond? I seemed to recall you screaming my name."

"Umm...e...excuse me," It was the lady on the other side of the ice cream counter. She had no idea what was going on but it didn't take a rocket scientist to know this was all heading down a dark path. "I'm going to have to ask you take this outside."

Mitsu wanted to move but her feet wouldn't allow it. Her heart was pounding so hard her chest was hurting. She had done so well up to this point but it seemed being up and about and being stressed wasn't conducive to pretending you were fine. The hand that held onto Desmond's shirt refused to let go so instead the hand holding her ice cream let it drop to the ground, that hand clutching at the fabric above her chest. Her face seemed a little pained though it wasn't entirely from hearing what Tessa had to say.

Tessa gave a bit of a huff toward the lady behind the counter, straightening up a bit. When she looked back over she was at least pleased to see she had gotten under Mitsu's skin. Or at least she thought. "Fine, let's go Nami. I don't want to waste anymore of my precious time on a leech and his b***h. Tootles." Tessa called out in a parting gesture as she turned on her heels and headed toward the door. This was only the beginning really. She would have her revenge for the injustice that had been done to her.

When Desmond turned around Mitsu didn't waste much time stepping closer and burying her face in his chest. She was doing her best to hide the tears that had gathered in her eyes and the pained expression on her face. "It..hurts...a little." But with the way she struggled to say it, the pain was apparently more than just a little.

The employee was a little shocked with how the situation came to a close, watching the two girls that had entered her shop leave. Looking back to Desmond as he asked for paper towels the woman looked over the counter to see the ice cream all over the floor. "O..oh I'll get that. Don't you worry about it." It seemed like the boy had his hands full anyway.

Grabbing some paper towels and moving around the counter the lady started to clean up the mess only turning to the couple once she was done. "Do you want another ice cream, Hun? To replace the one you dropped?"

Mitsu shook her head slightly, refusing to pull away from Desmond. "No, thank you.." Came her muffled voice. She was no longer in the mood to eat anything, even something sweet. "Can we go to my house now?" Mitsu mumbled softly. There hadn't been too much of an expectation for the day beyond getting out of the hospital, but she didn't want the day to get any worse. The longer they were out the more likely that would happen. If they were at her house they would be safe...right?

"I'm sorry its like this...on your birthday." Mitsu said softly her eyes suddenly tired. "I didn't want it to turn out this way."

As they waited for the cab to arrive Mitsu sat on a bench outside the ice cream shop leaning against Desmond in a tired fashion. It seemed like the small amount of activity had taken it out of her which meant a couple more days of rest probably would have done her good. Thankfully the cab didn't take long to arrive and when it did Mitsu gave the man the address they would be heading to.

The drive was pretty decent taking them to the farthest outskirts of town. The houses were within sight of each other but there was some distance between them giving the owners a sense of privacy. When they finally came to a stop it was outside a small one story ranch style home. It seemed to be in good shape though it obviously wasn't new. There was no fencing to line the property and it looked like the backyard opened up into the forest.

"This is it..." Mitsu seemed a little apprehensive but she finally moved to exit the cab fishing into her pocket for the key she always kept with her. Slowly she moved to the path that lead up to the front door, stopping to wait for Desmond to join her.

Mitsu nodded lightly when Desmond took her hand. Taking in a deep breath Mitsu let it out slowly before she made her way up the small cobblestone path to the front door. It seemed to take her a second of fumbling to actually get the key in the lock but finally the lock clicked open and she turned the handle.

"T..there's still a little bit of a mess." She warned. "I didn't get everything cleaned up when I was here last."

Opening the door slowly the wolf girl's eyes almost looked hopeful as she peered in, but that hope quickly left her face when she saw everything was exactly how she had seen in last. Her brother wasn't here. Though, he would have called if he was back, wouldn't he?

"Make yourself at home," Mitsu tried to smile as she walked in hanging her key by the door. The very first room looked like the living room. A nice wrap around couch sitting to one side a book shelf behind it. There were still things littered across the hardwood floor, some books, random papers, a few trinkets that no doubt lined the mostly empty shelves. It looked like the only things Mitsu had really picked up before were the pictures that now sat displayed alone. There weren't many of them but there were a few of her parents, a lovely older couple full of smiles. Her father looked like he was a rather tall broad man, a short cut beard covering his face and a head of dark gray hair. His wife was a bit younger by comparison, fair skin, bright blue eyes, with long light silver hair.

There were a couple pictures of her brother though they weren't recent. He looked to be in his early teens, a boy with white eyes and hair not quite as dark as their father's. Unlike Mitsu the boy had wolf ears that sat a top of head like their mother had. Mitsu apparently inherited the pointed ears from her father. A little further and there were pictures of Mitsu as well, all pictures from when she was little. Most of them she was in a picture with someone else either holding her or at least interacting. She seemed rather happy if not a little shy of the camera but it looked like they had managed to get her to smile when she had both of her two front teeth missing at one point. The one difference that was clearly visible in the pictures that was different from now was that Mitsu had bright blue eyes, much like her mother's.

Immediately Mitsu went to work picking the things off the floor and setting them carefully on the shelves where she remembered them being. She was tired but she didn't want to leave everything on the floor. It didn't look like she had done much but she had actually picked up the bookshelf that had been knocked over and all the books. They used to have a glass coffee table but it had been broken so sweeping up all the glass and getting that cleaned up had taken a while. At least this and the kitchen were the only two rooms that were a mess she supposed.

Mitsu hugged the things in her arms close as Desmond offered to clean for her. "N..no, that's alright. It won't take me long. The police wouldn't let me move a lot of stuff when I was here until after they were done investigating." She explained, but really she was worried about everything being in just the right spot.

"I'm okay. Really." The wolf girl tried to reassure as she looked up at Desmond. "Why don't you relax? It's your birthday after all...." And then she thought of something she hadn't really considered before. They would be staying here overnight but...she had nothing to feed Desmond, no bottled blood or anything like that...and when had he eaten last? "Are you hungry?" She asked curiously standing up to place a few things on the shelves around the room. At least the papers and few remaining books wouldn't take much to pick up. She would worry about the kitchen later, Desmond probably wouldn't go in there anyway.