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Merci walked back and did her best to help her friend up. She was not super strong though and probably did very little. "Seriously I don't think you'd believe me unless you saw it." Her tail was flicking back and forth in her amusement.

Dio didn't pet Red for long, when he seemed to pretty much ignore it he went back to just snugging him. Both arms wrapped around his chest. 'You know now that we're older I bet we could see more of each other. I don't have to wait for Merci to leave the house. You should make me a map on how to get to your house so I can come see you sometimes.' Dio's tail didn't unwrap from around Red, but the tip of it seemed to wag a little bit in his contentment.

Merci walked back over to the door and peeked out. She sighed, her voice low enough she hoped neither of them heard her. "He's stopped petting him. A second ago Dio was petting Red's braids. It was hilarious."

Merci turned her eyes on Zero and grinned widely, "Seriously like two seconds ago Dio was petting the top of Red's head. It was so freakin adorable." She looked back out and stifled another giggle. Okay so she wasn't exactly the mature adult she tried to paint herself to be. Who could blame her though? Dio practically had Red in a strangle hold! "Damnit, I would kill for a camera right now."

Dio inched a little higher so he could see better over Red's shoulder and he watched him draw the map. 'Oh I see. You're not terribly far away. I could probably get there and we could hang out for an hour or so before I'd have to leave to get back.' The smaller fiend was quite excited, the dangley piercing was swinging in time with his tail as it ticked back and forth. 'I'll try and contain myself and not come over all the time.' Dio was pretty sure that Red would get sick of seeing him if he went over every day. Maybe every other day or something.

Merci snorted and managed to get a hand up over her mouth before she started laughing. It took her a moment to catch her breath, "Seriously you have to email that to me, cause I want to frame it." Dio would probably not be amused by it, but she sure as hell would be. Not to mention she could use it as the front to her Christmas cards this year.

The shadow turned his head to look toward the back room and he furrowed his brows. 'They are probably just happy. I mean they are friends too right? I'm happy you're here.' Dio tried to make the excuse sound reasonable, but there was to much mischief mixed with her mirth at the moment. 'Or they are doing something bad and need to be spanked. Not entirely sure.' The smaller fiend was loathe to let Red go, and he was sure the other shadow could easily move with him exactly where he was.

Merci looked back out at the room and she couldn't help but feel a warm fuzzy inside. "I feel kinda bad for keeping them apart for as long as I did. I knew Dio missed him but I had no idea he missed him that much." She grinned a little bit, "So do you think that would make good Christmas cards? Could send it out to just about everyone." She couldn't help the cat-got-the-cream smile when she said it out loud. "Not sure Dio would be happy with me, but do you think Red would murder me for it?"

Dio squeezed Red once, 'Just leave them be, even if they are up to something who cares. Just be happy that they are enjoying themselves. Might mean that you leave the house more.' The smaller shadow moved his left hand and pointed at the page, 'Are you done drawing that for me? I'm going to put it in my book. I have a really expensive, really rare book I'm going to keep it in. So I don't lose it and nothing happens to it.' Really that drawing was going to be up there with his Telescope and the Scrolls as far as treasured possessions. He stopped pointing and reached up to tug on his braid lightly, he'd been surprised Red hadn't said something about it.

Merci sighed a little bit and looked back out at them. She folded her arms and watched them for a moment. "You know, if they were normal teenagers I would be worried. When Fiona started acting like that around someone it usually meant she had a crush on them. As far as I can see though they don't... have.. relationships like we do." Her brows furrowed and she frowned a little bit in thought. Maybe they didn't have to have to have....
She'd talk to Athan, but the thought of trying to talk to Athan about fiends and the birds and the bees freaked her out.

Merci had a full body shiver and glanced back at Zero, "You wanna sit back down and give the boys a bit longer? Or are you pretty worn out?"

Dio blinked his eye and he slowly released Red from the hug. He felt his braid and the little star that was now in it. 'I can keep it?' This was so much better then a drawing, though he would treasure both. Red wasn't free for long because Dio squeezed around in front of him and latched back on, giving him a huge hug. He was so overwhelmingly happy at the moment. 'Thank you, Thank you so much.'

Merci looked at her for a few moments. "If that's what you want I'm sure no one would mind. It's just me here right now and all I have to do is watch the storefront and make sure to assist customers if they come in. Don't feel like you have to stay right now because of them. Pretty sure that they aren't going to let themselves be apart too horribly long anymore. Plus you're going to come down to the bar and help out right?" She was determined that Zero wasn't going to hole up in her house for months on end. It wasn't healthy, for her or Red. Or really her because Dio drove her crazy asking if she'd talked to them.

If Dio'd had a mouth, or a tongue he'd have stuck it out at Red right about now. 'I didn't scream like a girl! Anyway you scared the daylights out of me. Creeping up on a guy like that, you should be ashamed of yourself.' He leaned back enough to look up at Red, 'You know what, this is bloody unfair. I don't mind being small but I thought I would grow up more then I did. You on the other hand became a giant. I can't even look at you properly when I'm trying to give you a hug.' Oh yeah, Dio was pouting. Just a little bit.

Merci took one final look out at the boys before she turned and walked over with Zero. She made sure she was settled before she fished out the blanket that was there to cover her with. Some people were more sensitive to cold then others, but she didn't think anyone didn't like sleeping with a cover. "Get some rest, I'm going to go tease the boys for a few and do my job. I have a couple hours left on my shift, but I'll take you guys home when I get off."

Merci straightened up and walked back out to the store front, her tail swishing behind her as she went. She paused, fully in the doorway and wolf whistled at the fiends. "Doesn't look like your watching the store to me."

Dio turned his head and blinked slowly at his guardian. 'I am so watching the store, no one came in! If someone had come in I would have come and gotten you.' He gave her a look like he had no idea what she was talking about.

He looked up at Red, and not even Merci being there could make him let go. 'Is Athan the one who decides how big we get? If so I need to have some words with him. He either made you too tall or me too short.'

Merci wandered over and procured the stool that was behind the counter. She lifted herself onto it and crossed her legs. It seemed they weren't all that embarrassed about getting caught snuggling, though she pretty much guessed Dio wouldn't be. "Zero's stretched out on the couch. I gave her a blanket and she's going to nap till we get relieved. After that I'm going to give the two of you a lift home so she doesn't have to pay a cab. Oh I'm going to talk to Cinder about maybe seeing if she could help your guardian with her parts. You've never met her, but she's got mechanical parts too."

Dio blinked and looked up at Red again. 'Hey that's right! You've never met Cinderfae. She's the one who had the space ship that we umm...' He turned his eye on Merci and chose his words carefully, 'Commandeered. She's okay once you get to know her. She's Rhy's mom.'' Dio furrowed his brows a little bit and continued talking, 'Have you met Rhys? Or Peeps? I don't think you've met Peeps for sure but he's good with the metal things and making them work right. Strange looking, but then who am I to talk about things being strange looking.'

Dio slowly unwound himself from Red and stowed the paper inside the purple sash on his outfit. He didn't really come equipped with pockets, but his sash was really wide and he stuffed things in there he wanted to carry all the time. When his hands were free he reached up and played with the star charm that now adorned the top of his braid.