Nathan Darrow was lounging on his couch. He had his feet up on the arm of the chair, and a playstation controller in his hand. Lazily playing some game, he was waiting for the night to settle so he could get out and power up. It was rare for him to find a night when he actually wanted to go out on patrol, but tonight was it. Of course, he was stretching it by saying he wanted to go out because he wanted to patrol.

Patrolling had nothing to do with it.

Anthony Darrow, however, had only just got home. The key turned in the lock and the door was pushed open. Scrambling paws and excited yipping greeted the man as he stepped into the house. Tony bent to pick Dogby up, giving her the cuddles she always required whenever he left her at home when he went to work. She preferred it when he took her with him. Smiling, Tony was scratching her behind the ears as he walked into the living room, looking tired.

“Nathan, this place is a wreck. What have you been doing?”

“Making a mess, mostly,” Nate grunted in reply.

Tony sighed. It was always the same with his son, a fight just to get him to help out a little bit. At this point, he was giving up on even that. If Nate did not want to help out, he could at least just not make it worse. Shaking his head, Tony moved to put Dogby down in the kitchen, filling her food and water bowls as she bounced up and down excitedly on her tiny front legs for her dinner. He pat her again, smiling fondly, then went into the living room and take stock of the mess.

Nate had been eating chips and some kind of food he had microwaved up for himself, and the remnants were all over the place. There was no sign there was anything left for Tony to eat, but Nate never really though about anyone but himself. If he made too much food, then, he just threw it out instead of sharing it with his father or even his dog.

“Can you please at least pretend we have a garbage can?” Tony asked pointlessly, moving around the room to collect the largest chunks of garbage. Nate let out a sigh each time the man moved in front of his line of sight to the TV. Tony was mostly doing it on purpose now. “Nathan, I’m talking to you. And can you not steal my cane? I have a hard time walking without it, you know that. Why would you take it?”

“I didn’t,” Nate grunted again.

“Right, it just walked away on its own. And look, now it’s home. I wonder where it goes during the day when it takes these spontaneous vacations?”

Nathan grinned at his father’s sarcasm, which did nothing to improve Tony’s mood. Then he was up, hopping over the back of the sofa, leaving the pillows in disarray and the game on. Tony tried to protest, but was too late and it would have done nothing to change the outcome, anyway. A cup of soda was spilled as a casualty.

“I’m going out. You’re on dog watch now, and don’t touch my game.”

So that would leave Tony unable to watch TV, as the man did not know he could switch back to the television setting without upsetting the game on the screen. It was an unfair advantage Nate had over Tony, one of many unfair advantages: technology. Tony was not a complete idiot when it came to electronics, but he certainly did not go out of his way to learn about them. He hadn’t had to. Until now.

Nate left before Tony could get him to come back and help clean up his mess, or turn the TV over, or anything like that. The librarian was left to deal with it all, after his hard day at work, and he had to walk dogby. Not to mention go out on his own patrol. Nate would assume the man was asleep in his room by the time the senshi of danger would get back in, but he was wrong. Still, both of them living double lives under one roof with neither noticing had, so far, been working out rather well.

Though they didn’t realize it.

A block or two from his house, Nathan Darrow powered up into Eternal Sailor Chaonis.

His mind turned to his goal. The community center. It would be closed now, which was just the way he liked it. No matter what they did to the place, they could not keep him from breaking in. But at this point he felt they did not care. He was by no means the only person who was breaking into the building, after all. One could almost walk in at this point, and it would make no difference. Just leave the doors open. They still believed in those feeble little locks, though. Chaonis got in without much incident, though, moving through the familiar layout to the music rooms.

It wasn’t a surprise to him to see music sitting there, it was a music room, but he knew it was for him. She had said she would leave a surprise for him, and here it was.

He had hoped it would be her again, but he felt no chaotic energy in the area. No auras of any kind. She wasn’t around. What did he care? He didn’t actually like her. That whole thing had been a fluke. Playing that music. Being nice. That electric attraction, that magnetism that pulled every fiber of his body toward hers. That kiss, that had melted his brain and filled his veins with fire.

Flukes.

Picking up the envelope that had been left for him, he looked at the ribbon, wondering about it. He didn’t open it, not yet, but he could guess at the contents. Already had. He’d have to leave something for her in return, but if he did it would be after a little bit of a wait. If he even left something mocking for her now he would feel like that sad guy who sits by the phone just begging for it to ring. And he was not that guy. This was not that kind of a thing.

He ran his hands over the keys of the piano that had started it all, playing a few off key notes before he made his exit.