It was the shocked silence that got to him, in the end. He'd gotten used to hearing more than just quiet in his silences after meeting Shateiel; every silence had its own identity and emotions. The current one was decidedly shocked and more than a little alarmed. He looked up from the paper to meet the confused stare of his brother.

"What is your problem, Tyler? You look like I've started killing squirrells again." He took a sip of his tea; it was some strange new herbal blend of Len's; he'd have to ask her for some if he was ever allowed to leave.

"You're smiling. You never smile- or at least, you don't anymore and even when you used to smile, you definitely never smiled in the morning. Hell, I don't think you even saw ten o'clock back then on a good day! What happened?"

Dei rolled his eyes but could keep his somewhat restrained smile from breaking into a halfway silly grin. "Met a girl last night." He offered no further information than that, and casually turned the page.

"You what?" The silence had fled to more hospitable climes and Tyler wasn't letting him off the hook for anything, now. "You? A girl? What?"

"Oi. Just because some people aren't as comfortable with their sexuality as the rest of us doesn't mean you can still make stupid assumptions. I can still kick your ass on a bad day without caffeine and you know it." It really was excellent tea. Len had probably imported it from Hell.

Tyler made a noise that was halfway between a growl and a sneeze. "I'm quite comfortable with my sexuality, thank you very much- although frankly, it's more than a little irrelevant in my case for obvious reasons. And you didn't answer my question, Dei."

"There was a question there? I thought you were merely expressing disbelief over the existence of my social life."

"Damnit, stop that! And tell me what happened or I'll- I'll hide all the tea and tell everyone you're cut off for the rest of the month!" Tyler's fist crashed down on the table, rattling cups and spoons.

Dei wrapped his hand around his mug protectively and narrowed his eyes at his brother. "You wouldn't dare."

"Don't try me."

Another silence filled in the space between them, tense and challenging and slightly absurd.

Tyler broke first, as he always did; he'd been a poster child for ADD all his life. "I'll find out eventually, you know. You can't hide anything from anyone here." For a moment he looked mournful. "Believe me, I've tried."

Dei shrugged. "Suit yourself. Pass the teapot?"

Tyler wordlessly handed it over, and they both went back to their breakfasts.
----------------------

Um. Silliness. I've come to accept the fact that this story is going to be told over tea no matter what I do. The characters realize it too, and they think it's rather ridiculous. They're threatening to move to England and speak with cheesy accents.

Don't know what Dei is doing having breakfast with Tyler; they're all probably nearing seventy or eighty by this point, and Dei has gotten most of the angst out of his system. Being immortal is still more of a novelty than a burden, but I'm sure that'll change and Dei will return to his regularly scheduled angsting.

I can let him be silly and happy occasionally, though. Poor Tyler; I don't like him half as much as I should, especially after all the crap I've piled on him. He just doesn't get a break, ever.

Hum. I ought to go to sleep...On a side note, Saiyuki? Wow. That's some sheer silliness, right there.

A monk, a pig, a monkey, and a water demon walk into a bar...and are immediately accosted by hordes of angry demons, forcing them to open up a can o' whoopass and spread the love. I can't decide who I like more; Sanzo is exceedingly badass and disgustingly pretty (that thing he wears under his robes? Mmm, leather.) and hilarious in his grouchy anti-Buddha-ness; Goku is just plain amusing; Gojyo is not only badass, tragic, and far too pretty, but he's a kappa as well, and that's just nifty; Hakkai...um...yeah. Hakkai would be the dictionary definition of "kickass! cool". No, really.

Yeah, I guess Hakkai would be my favorite...but he's got a dragon that turns into a Jeep! And he's badass, but he's a polite badass- and I'm not even going to touch that tragic past. He also wears a monocle as a result of that tragic past and not because the character designs are on acid. *coughcoughgluhencoughcough*

Yay, Saiyuki. It's not Mirage of Blaze, but it'll do for the time being. I also still need to watch Hellsing, because the music is fun and Alucard? Whoa. Vampires on crack. Who knew?