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Hayes had sprawled out on the bed nearer the door by the time Faleen emerged, comfortably clean in his pajama pants and a t-shirt emblazoned with the crest of Hyrule as he tapped away at the display of his Rocket Dex. Binary was stretched out beside him, and both her fur and his hair had the soft, fluffy look of the newly-washed. They both looked up when the bathroom door opened.

"Hey." The blond's accompanying smile faltered a moment at the sight of her - then he blinked and cleared his throat and it returned. "Uh- no problem. So how d'you feel about pizza?" Sure, there was food packed, but it was camping food - unheated, dense in nutrients, and mostly dry. Fresh-baked dough dripping cheese and mouth-scalding tomato sauce was a much more attractive option.

"Heh." The other agent mirrored her grin. "'kay. Any preference?"

He fished out his phone - team-issued and signal encrypted - glanced around for the folder of local attractions and eateries that was a staple of motel rooms everywhere, and located it on the end table separating the two beds. Rather than get up, the blond half-twisted to reach it.

"Bre-?" Binary, who had been leaning into his leg, found herself tipping into the space Hayes had been and worked to right herself as he rolled back to where he'd been. The little Umbreon wriggled until she found her comfortable spot again and put her head on his knee; Hayes' free hand drifted to the space between her ears while he made the call, keeping the folder propped open with an elbow.

At some point he found his eyes drifting sideways.

'Sir?' a patiently harassed voice repeated.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, breadsticks. Thanks."

"Yeah, that should be everyth-" Hayes made a little 'mh?' noise and blinked, brows lifting; a corner of his mouth twitched upward at the offer, and he looked down at his hand resting on Binary's head. The little Umbreon was watching Faleen, but her eyes were half-lidded as she enjoyed the head massage. "Actually, can you split the receipt?" Pause. "Oh, okay. No, that's cool. Thanks."

He closed the phone and looked over at Faleen with a little shrug and a 'what can you do' sort of smile. "Maybe next time."

"Sure," the blond responded with a mild smile, settling back against his pillow before he blinked, then laughed himself. "Yeah?" he asked, tilting his head to look at her. The sound jolted Binary out of her pleasant lull; she raised her head under Hayes' hand and looked over. Faleen was still some distance away. Good.

The little Umbreon settled back down again - this time resting her chin on Hayes' knee to watch the other agent. She wouldn't be caught nodding off on her watch, no sir.

Presently, however, her eyes began to droop again.

As Faleen moved, it suddenly struck Hayes how long it had been since the last time he'd seen another person in his things. A girl in his things.

She wasn't quite swimming in his t-shirt, but she was definitely wading in the shallows, looking like she'd pulled on one of those oversized nightshirts and a pair of her boyfriend's jeans. Or boyfriend jeans. Whatever they called that style; she'd never mentioned nor seemed interested in having a boyfriend. The overall effect was slimming, making a guessing game of exactly where she was in the folds - and when she looked at him there was a funny jump in his chest, like he'd been caught looking too long at something he shouldn't.

"Heh." Hayes flashed a quick grin - not at her, but at the vine-patterned comforter spread over his bed as he pushed himself up, dislodging Binary in the process. "We c'n do plenty of rugged outdoorsy stuff tomorrow to make up for it." His hand closed on the remote lying by the TV; standing, he aimed it carefully at the screen, which sprang to life with a polished anchor giving sports commentary. "H'n." The blond kept his gaze trained on the screen as he flicked through channels, going past monster movies and Lifetime specials and an infomercial for what looked like a pump-action Cuisinart to-

"Oh hey."

Giant robots. Thank Arceus.

To be fair, Hayes hadn't been sure what he'd been looking for either - but now that he'd found it he was oddly grateful for a topic of conversation that didn't involve their current situation.

"Yeah," Hayes grinned, returning to his bed with the remote."This is Prime - they rebooted the series this year. This is last week's episode." He cocked his head and focused on the screen, clearly interested in it regardless. As Binary settled back over his lap, he settled safely into the realm of talking cars with energy rifles. Soon the worrying tremor he'd felt passed out of mind.

No longer reliant on hand-drawn animation cels, the artists had gone all out - bolts, tires, chrome plating and other details were present in abundance, providing any mechanics enthusiast with a treat for the eyes.

Oh, and the dialogue was good too.

"Hm? Oh, yeah-" Hayes looked over as the scene switched to two other characters, most likely villains to judge by their designs, jockeying for superiority as they searched an abandoned crash site. "He's pretty great. Does karate, plays a mean game of co-op. So far it's going pretty well." A stiffness in his shoulders prompted him to sit up slightly and stretch, linking his hands behind his head and extending his arms out with a close-eyed grimace as something clicked in his elbow. Binary mumbled something in protest as he shifted.

The blond settled back and looked Faleen's way again, returning the question. "How 'bout you? Still single?"