Steph glanced over at Benjamin for a moment, making sure not to catch his eye before she turned back again. She felt her hands tense as her thoughts twisted.
You're just trouble. You'll end up harming Benjamin, or pulling him into harms way... You're a monster, why would he settle for you? She felt her horns flush red before fading slowly to a sad blue colour.
She felt the feeling of depression flooding over her before she let out a small silent sigh. She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on whatever positive she could think of; she glanced to Harriet and Duncan, who seemed to be chatting in a different language as they were driven along.

"No, the reason we're here is that bitch!"
"Yes, I know this! But I'm the one who got us here!"
The bickering continued, Gaia watched quietly before she leaped over to another tree, taking into the air silently before flying back to the Mansion. She glanced back towards the meadow and saw the figure watching her, causing her to spin before diving down into the trees.

Even with the chatter at the front of the car, Benjamin felt this car was too silent. There was a distance between Steph and himself that he didn't like, he wasn't even sure how that had happened, but he didn't want to talk about something personal with the other two listening. It was impossible to have a private conversation in a car, unless you could what they were doing, talk in another language.
"When we are back," Benjamin said, his voice calm and a friendly smile was on his face as he turned to look at Steph. "Shall we go for a walk?"

Steph pulled her attention away from the car window to face Benjamin. She listened to his words before glancing away again. She wanted to say no, something told her to say no, but she nodded in reply.
"Yeah." She started, "That sounds like a good idea. Only if you want to though. Don't just go out of your way for a demon like me." Her tone sounded defeated, she didn't look Benjamin in the eyes at this point.

Duncan's tone changed slightly as he continued what seemed like a one sided conversation for the moment, he seemed frustrated or annoyed.
Harriet moved her hand up against Duncan's with a small smile, mumbling something softly to him and watched as his frown turned into a bit of a smirk.
"Don't." Duncan said finally in English, "Don't do that."
Harriet giggled softly before she glanced back to Benjamin with a small smile. "You doin' okay?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

"Steph..." Benjamin began and he let out a small sigh, but showed a smile too. "I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't want to."
Why was she so negative all of the sudden? Benjamin tried to understand what had happened, but he decided that it was best to just ask when they were alone instead of starting to assume things that probably weren't correct.

He turned his attention to Harriet when she asked him if things were okay. "Yeah, no problems here," he assured her. "Although I have to say I'll be glad when we're back so I can move my legs freely again. Cars are great for getting somewhere fast, but sitting still is not my thing. It doesn't help I'm tall and I usually need a bit more legroom to really be comfortable than what most cars are designed for."

Steph listened to Benjamin's words, she felt bad about her words now before she closed her eyes tightly as she kept her face away from Benjamin. She listened to Benjamin talk to Harriet.
She was mentally kicking herself as she mulled over his words, she felt her Depression slowly slinking over her mind again...

Harriet nodded gently, "We're almost back." She started with a glance to Duncan. Duncan said something in the other language for a moment before he blinked and Harriet gave a laugh.
Duncan's face flooded red for a moment before he cleared his throat, "We have like, five minutes until I pull up to the gates." He said with a small laugh, Harriet muttering something to him before he looked at her with a gentle slap at her chest. "You leave me alone."

"I can deal with five more minutes," Benjamin said cheerfully and he looked to Steph. "Right?"
While he did his best not to show it, or let it be heard in his voice, he was worried about Steph and the five minutes felt like five minutes too long. He wanted to talk with her, in private, rather sooner than later. The way she sat and avoided eye-contact, it wasn't good. He glanced to Harriet, either she hadn't noticed it, or she had and didn't commented on it, either way it was probably for the best.

He looked outside, watching the familiar fence that enclosed the land of the organisation. He wasn't sure how he would do it, but he wanted to make Steph smile again.

Steph gave a small shrug when Benjamin mentioned about waiting five minutes, "Yeah." She said flatly, "I'm sure you guys have missions to do without me."
Steph glanced back out the window again, she caught a glance from Harriet from out the wing mirror before she looked away again.
Harriet glanced towards Duncan, who was watching her. They seemed to know something was wrong but they didn't speak of it.

After five minutes, Duncan slowed down and put the car in park as he pulled up to the organisation.
"Here we go." He said before he hopped out of the car. Each door to the car moved and opened by themselves.
Harriet stepped out of the car with a small stretch, she glanced to her arms and blinked at the black coiled markings down her arms.

Steph flinched and fell forward as the door opened on its own, falling onto the ground with a grunt.
"Fuck." She started before she moved to stand up, She winced as she looked towards her shoulder, a good-sized graise slowly dribbling with blood.

The flat voice wasn't lost on Benjamin and he looked at Steph as she looked out the window. Not that he needed more proof, but she definitely didn't sound happy.

When the car stopped and the doors opened, Benjamin stepped out of the car. He glanced to Duncan, being a cyborg had its perks, at least he assumed it had been Duncan doing this. The car hadn't opened all doors before.
When he stood beside the car he heard the "fuck" and looked over the car, where he saw Steph moments later. Had she fallen? He walked around the car and stopped close to her, looking at her shoulder. "Steph, do you want to take care of that first?" he asked her. It didn't seem to be a deep cut and probably wouldn't even need cleaning, but he couldn't decide that for her. And if she did want to go inside now, he still could walk with her and talk to her.

Duncan stepped around to stand by Harriet and noticed Steph, he flinched slightly. "Shit I didn't know you were leaning against the door!" He said, moving to kneel down to her before she moved to stand up on her own.
"It's fine." She said flatly, she held back her next words before she glanced to Benjamin, "I'm fine. You don't need to waste energy on me."

Harriet watched quietly, narrowing her eyes towards the succubus before she sighed and looked sideways. She glanced into the air to see Gaia flying around, she watched her land on the roof quietly.
Steph crossed her arms at everyone standing around her, "Can we just get inside?" She started with a sigh.

"Of course," Benjamin said to Steph before he turned to Duncan. "Thanks for the ride, we'll be in touch." He turned to Steph again, showing a bit of a smile. Of course he didn't know her that long yet, just a couple of days, but he hadn't seen her behave like this before. "Harriet, will you report to the boss?" he asked without looking at the alien girl. Right now he'd rather stay with Steph, for as long as she would let him. It didn't feel right to leave her. Plus, he'd rather speak to Steph alone.

Duncan bowed his head before he kissed Harriet's forehead. "I'll flick you guys a text when I get back to the station, I'll ask if I can send information when I can." He moved to the drivers side again, sending Harriet a kiss before he slipped back into the car to reverse out and drive away.
He flicked his Wrist as he drove, pulling up a screen on his dashboard.
"Send to; Office." He said, "Office, selected." A robotic voice replied. "Hey guys, I'm on my way home. Daz is back, I need all of our information on him compiled so I can send it to P.A.I.N industries." He said with a small smile.
"Message Sent Sir."

Harriet nodded to Benjamin's words, moving to look at Steph before she headed off inside quickly. She bounced up the stairs easily before she paused at the bosses room.
She breathed in and knocked on the door quietly, waiting to be let in.

Steph watched everyone else leave before she glanced at Benjamin, "Surely you have some reports and stuff to do, anything more important than keeping a demon company." She said stalely, her eyes looked to Gaia on the roof and her body heaved a sigh.

"Enter!" mr. Johnson said, turning to the door. He didn't have any planned meetings, but with a position as his it wasn't uncommon to have agent knocking on the door for questions or mission reports.

"Actually, I don't," Benjamin said. "I mean, sure I have other stuff I can do, but none of it is more important than you." He stepped in her direction. "Please don't assume things, I like being with you, Steph. And I don't see a demon when I look at you, I see you." He gestured to the building. "Would you like to go on that walk with me? Just around the mansion."

Harriet slipped into Mr. Johnsons Office with a small smile.
"Good afternoon Sir." She started gently, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "Steph, Benjamin and I have returned from checking on the house again." She smiled, breathing in to try to calm herself.
"Are you available for the details?"

Steph froze up as Benjamin spoke, her eyes started to water slightly. She clenched her fists, trying to stop herself from crying before she shook herself.
"I'd.. Love to." She finally managed to push out, "I'm... Sorry."

Mr. Jonhnson nodded once and gestured to the seat as a silent invitation to sit down and begin her report. He took place on his own comfortable desk-chair. Of course he would double-check with Benjamin later, and he had hoped it would have been the human to come report, but this would have to do.

Benjamin was glad Steph showed some other emotion than the self-loathing she had expressed earlier. "You know," he said as he began to walk. "I don't just like being with you. I like you. And while I kinda knew that before, it really dawned on me during lunch. Because when I saw that name of the cocktail, the Succubus kiss..." he stopped so he could look at Steph. "All I could think was: I would like that." The corners of his lips curled up in a small smile. "And I'm not talking about the cocktail."

Harriet smiled and walked over to the chair that Mr. Johnson motioned to and sat down.
"Right." She started, clearing her throat, "The house that we revisited. It wasn't a gas leak, my first worry was correct." She hesitated for a moment, "There was a Gem used there. A human used a Gem."

Steph walked with Benjamin, she didn't speak while he spoke. She listened to his words quietly, instinctively she frowned before she blinked at his last words.
"I..." She started, her face deepening in red, "Uh.. W...What do you... mean?" She asked.
She knew what he meant, she just wasn't sure that it was the truth.

Mr Johnson nodded as he listed to Harriet. A gem used. This could be interesting after all. "The full story please, I want to know all the details. What happened? Do you know where this person found the gem?" He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms, and keeping his attention on his alien agent. The presence of ghosts in that building had become irrelevant. And to be honest, his agency had better things to do than hunting down possible ghosts, but unfortunately it was one of the tasks.

Benjamin rubbed the back of his neck, had she honestly not understood that? Although, she was blushing, maybe she had understood. He took one step forward. "I mean," he said calmly, with a happy spark in his eyes, "that if you won't mind, I would like to kiss you. If you'd rather have we are just friends I can do that, but if you're willing..." he stepped closer to her once more, he could grab her and pull her in right now, but he wanted to give her the chance to say if she wanted or didn't want it.

Harriet breathed in, readying herself to explain what happened, how was she going to explain everything.
"Right." She started, "My Partner and I have had to deal with someone for a while," She continued, thinking of the right words, "He's mental. He doesn't believe he's Human and believes humans have wronged Unknowns. We don't know where Daz got the gems but he tricked humans into using them." She finished for a moment, thinking a bit more as she waited for his response.

Steph blinked, for once she didn't flinch at someone stepping towards her. Her body instinctively stepped forward; grabbing Benjamin and pulling him in for a kiss. She was expecting the Succubus side to take control but she was in control.
Her horns glistened a dull pink and her wings fanned out with a bit of a tremble; her body felt warm, a warmth she hadn't felt before, or at least, not when she was in control.

Mr. Johnson narrowed his eyes at the explanation of Daz. If this Daz guy was for those monsters and aliens and against humans, he was an enemy. But it seemed he was an adversary for Harriet too, which meant they could work together to get rid of this potential thread. But not before he could talk with Daz about these gems, which meant he had to put a 'capture alive' notice on the mission.
"Okay. It seems like we either have to find Daz so he can't use people anymore." Or waste any of those gems, but it was best not to say that out loud. "Or we try to find the gems before he does. Tell me, what do you think will be the easiest path?"

It surprised Benjamin Steph grabbed him, but the moment their lips touched he returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her to pull her in.
After a moment he pulled back just a little so he could look at her, showing a smile. "That... was better than I expected," he said, cupping a hand around her cheek and moving in for a second kiss.
He had thought about what it would be like to kiss with Steph and it had exceeded his expectation. That was great and he didn't want to let her go and end this.

"Finding Daz is the better option." Harriet said, "The Gems would take more time, finding Daz will stop a lot of things." She paused, she hesitated about the idea of telling Mr. Johnson about Daz suppose to being dead. She breathed in slowly, "My Partner is sending all the information we have on him to us soon; he drove us back and he's heading to his office to get everything he has."

Stephs face was deep red when she pulled away, her eyes flexed in colour for a moment before she looked at Benjamin's chest.
"I like that." She mumbled quietly, "I really like that." She moved to gently press her head against his chest.
"I love you." She mumbled happily, her tail swaying quietly.

"Then I will await the information regarding Daz," mr. Johnson decided. "Anything else?"
He made a mental note of Harriet having a partner, that was something to look into, but he had a perfect plan for that: he'd just ask Benjamin about that. If he judged him right, and he thought he did, then Benjamin wouldn't mind talking about new friends he had met.

Benjamin wrapped his arms around Steph when she pressed her head against his chest and put his chin on her head. "And I love you," he said. He held her for a moment longer and then released her and stepped back. "I could be mistaking," he said with a playful smile. "But you look happier than you did before."
That was an understatement, but he was glad he had been able to make her smile again.