When the woke up, the morning was inevitably a bit hectic, they made breakfast for everyone and then Carl de-furred the bed as the women bathed.

When he was satisfied, he got into the bath himself and sent out a message.

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL : MORNING GUYS, JUST WONDERING, YOU GUYS WANT TO COME OVER AND DISCUSS THE TRIP? ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM GILLIAN : YOU KNOW I'M IN MATE. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM BLANC : YOU MEAN THE WHOLE "BLANC GET YOUR TEAM'S TASK LIST SORTED IMMEDIATELY AND PREPARE FOR FUN TIMES!" TRIP? THE ONE GILLIAN TOLD ME ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT? YEAH. FUNNILY ENOUGH, I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM SOPHIE : DID YOU GUYS MEAN TO INCLUDE ME IN THIS GROUP? WHAT TRIP? I'M CONFUSED... ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL : GIL, YOU SUCK, YES SOPHIE YOU ARE MEANT TO BE INCLUDED. ALL THREE OF YOU CAN COME TO THE HOUSE WHEN YOU'RE READY. GONNA BE MAKING BLACKOUT WHILE WE CHAT. ]

"Gillian really is an idiot." Klaire's said when he had finished and joined them upstairs.

"Was that ever up for debate?" Carl answered as he sat down.

"Nevermind that, I want to know what you're putting into the new baby in case we adopt it." Kyubi said with no small amount of enthusiasm.

"Actually I was wondering if you knew any guardian angels."

"A couple, but they tend to be a bit overzealous. They aren't fond of us foxes at all either."

"That won't be an issue, I'll give it a personality more like yours."

"Okay, I'll go ask the question." Kyubi kissed Carl and Klaire goodbye, then headed of to a celestial realm.

Not long after her departure the three expected guests turned up with Sis in tow.

"Where the hell have you been Sis? You have two days of dinner waiting for you."

Sis froze, then looked away. "Sorry, I thought I'd give you three some space and get to know our Mums a bit more... Would you mind if I moved out?"

Carl and Klaire looked at her, feeling a little guilty. "No, I don't mind, but I don't want you to feel unwelcome or like you're in the way. You're family Sis, come by whenever you want. Can you access my skills?"

"No, I can allocate based on your specifications but can't access them personally, a fail-safe Ishtar enacted to prevent me doing harm if I became corrupted."

Carl walked over and hugged his sister with a spin as she screamed asking what was happening.

"You are an angel Sis, would you be annoyed if I made you my HR face?" Carl made the offer with an insistence that wasn't his usual style.

The unusual demeanor and the sudden prospect of employment left her a bit dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"

"Definitely your sister, she's forgotten she's in your head and knows what you mean."

"What? Oh yeah, course, sorry I'm glitching. Do you really want me managing people?"

"Sis, you're great, you know exactly where to draw the line to stop comfort becoming complacency. You can use my established, budgets to issue people with resources and you are great at analysing what will make people flourish."

"Really? Did you forget I let you break up with Klaire?" Carl winced, realising instantly this would be the first time Klaire heard about it.

"Bitch... Okay we're even." The outburst was like being struck by lightning, sudden, loud and over before you even knew it happened.

"Are you sure?" The question was asked by everyone as they looked at her with squinted eyes.

"Yes, I got revenge for it, I'm satisfied for now."

Carl cocked his head slightly raising one eyebrow as his eyes skipped between the others. "Okay... Well, you learned your lesson, didn't you?"

"Of course, I-"

"Well, all good then."

"Bu-"

"All good."

"Ca-"

"All good."

"Le-"

"All good."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Do you not want to?"

"I never said that I don't."

"Not what I asked Sis. Do you want the job or not? I don't want you acting like a phantom, you're as much a part of this faction as anyone, in fact..."

Carl produced a contract and held it out for her.

"Carl, I'm not a person, I'm a system created by Ishtar to help you grow and quantify your abilities in a way that you could grow and learn to use them on your own."

"Well, you sucked at that job Miss. Eight-years-of-silent-treatment. Consider it a fresh start, please talk this time though."

"Wow you're welcome, maybe I should reinstate the "Mewling Virgin" title Kyubi gave you that time... Now she's your lover, she can grant you any title she wants."

"Okay, overstepped, I'm sorry."

"You better be..." She sheepishly extended a hand and placed it onto the contract. "...I accept the terms here-in."

[ SIS NOTICE : I HAVE JOINED THE FACTION ]

"Well that was awfully redundant. Sis, did you automate some function messages?"

"Yeah, I've been trying to limit my conscious connection with you, it feels intrusive now that I have my own body."

"Oh, thanks. Anyway, enjoy the task, of managing personnel with Mum Leanna. First job, have her make you your own place anywhere you like. Second, we've all been discussing this for a while, but Gillian, Blanc and Alysse are stepping down as chiefs.

We need experience lighting the way, they'll be in charge of admin, logistics and liaising with you to organise time off, requisition requests etc."

"Sounds good, Carl, thank you."

"Shut up Sis, we're family, stop acting like I'm a kind stranger and go make yourself a home." He gave her a hug and she skipped off out of the house, then took a vehicle that Alysse had apparently given her and rode off.

"Well, as happy as I am that you two are getting along... Trip!" Gillian grinned in a way that seemed to urge them all to hit him for it.

"First of all Kyubi's gone on a trip to get some angel feathers, I don't want to use the ones I mixed into Tiamutael with another."

"Aww look at you making them all unique... So how much gluttonous shifter's going into it?" Gillian teased.

"None. This one is going to be a bit of Kyubi, a bit of Klaire, the paradox blackout and a guardian angel's feathers if Kyubi can get some and that's all I'm saying because she asked first."

"Fair enough. I guess the meeting is on hold."

"Not quite, dinner tonight. I think you and Scylla should come over for dinner, unfortunately the sitter is busy getting ready for a prank war with Tiamat."

"Sure, no probs, don't expect you to ditch the kids for it."

"Just tell her that if she wants to challenge us we'll get that out the way first."

"So we're getting it out the way first then. I'll tell her to start stretching."

Klaire ducked down behind the kitchen island that also serves as storage and a table, just like the one in Leanna's SATS suite, then stood up and slid a first aid kit along the top. "Here you go, combat-type he's not, but Carl will still destroy her."

"Yeah, I know, I tried telling her but it was pointless."

"Yeah, she was a bit unhappy he was following someone stupid enough to put him in charge of something."

Klaire and Carl laughed at the joke, but then completely lost it when Sophie added to the conversation. "Yeah, I believe it was something like, "what kind of idiot makes a guy who can't even arrange a double date handle diplomacy?" Then she kind ranted for a solid thirty minutes."

"Well, I can't say she's wrong, we all had concerns. Especially when he ran into the world that was poisonous to lycans."

Just then Kyubi appeared, accompanied by a being of pure solid light. "Sorry loves, they refused to give me anything without meeting you first."

"No worries Kyubi, welcome home. Hello to you to, I'm Carl, this is my wife and Kyubi's girlfriend Klaire and some friends of ours..." Carl extended a hand and the celestial took it.

"Hello Carl, Klaire, some friends of ours. I am Archangel Lasael, chief of the guardian seraphs. I have mostly come to confirm that Kyubi's unbelievable tale is true, but I also wanted to meet the source of celestial energy I felt watching."

"What? No, sorry, their names are Gillian, Blanc and Sophie. Anyway, you can meet Tiamutael, but I'll tell you now it'd be stupid to try anything."

"I know, it was a joke, I understand that mortals find them relaxing and I would expect nothing less."

"Well he's right behind you and probably only peeked because his sister asked him to."

The angel turned around, then back again. "I sense a great many independent signatures blended seamlessly, including the Tiamat and Bahamut's."

"Spot on, the little guy is the most complex of my children."

"I see, Kyubi's evaluation of your abilities as a creator was conservative if anything. How did you come to have access to Raguel's essence?"

"We didn't actually know which lineage it belonged to, but our half-gnome friend asked a half-angel guy we know for some feathers and then she gave them to me with his permission."

"I see. Fine, my lineage will be inferior, but less likely to become overzealous. Raguel is the archangel of justice, you should get some idea of his moral code as soon as possible."

Everyone craned their necks to see around Lasael, growing sceptical as they watched him stare unblinking at the kid-vid he was watching.

"Don't take his last cookie, got it."

Lasael turned back himself. "I suppose he's too young to have felt the calling of his origins, monitor it closely, or you risk disaster..."

The others craned their necks again, Lasael turned and together they all watched him bite a cookie too hard and then look around guiltily as the crumbs dropped all over the floor.

"...Much too young." Lasael finished.

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