The house that the Cozbi's lived in was much less of a house. "Here we are," Lilin Cozbi said as they halted their walk. Piper let go of her mother's hand. The building that they stood in front of as the sun set was three stories high. Each story was someone's house or maybe it was two different apartments, Sylis could not tell from just the outside appearance.

The apartment building was made out of graying, dirt-tinted bricks and rusty iron details. The windows didn't even match; some of them were white while others were black or some other dark color. Some air conditioners popped out of the mismatched windows making the building look overall a mess and not well put together.

"We live in apartment 49B," Lilian said as they walked to the entrance. There was a small awning over the single door. It had a hole showing the inner frame keeping it upright.

They walked up the concrete stairs in silence. The echoes from the empty stairwell and their breathing were the only things that could be heard.

Sylis Youngblood had only what was in his briefcase. Lilin Cozbi had insisted that they went straight to her house and that they would go to his house tomorrow to collect some clothes and other personal items. She also said that they would talk about arrangements tomorrow as well.

As they passed the quarter space landing they were halfway to the Cozbi apartment. Sylis caught a glance at Piper as she seemed to trip on the tread nosing of a step. The little girl caught herself, but she instinctively said something: "Oof." The two adults turned to look at the child.

"So the child does speak after all," Sylis noted mentally. He wasn't sure if the girl was mute and if mute people did accidentally talk, but this interested him. He would keep an eye on the girl to add to his personal study. It might come in handy later.

They made eye contact and like an elementary boy who got caught staring at his crush, he broke it as soon as those pair of brown eyes latched into his one aqua eyes. He took a step forward and continued to climb the staircase which sent the two girls into motion once again.

They all stood in front of a door that had 49B hanging at eye height. Lilin pulled out a key from her small jacket pocket. It was so small that Sylis didn't realize she had one, or at least he thought it was fake. Women's clothing was severely lacking in the pocket department. She unlocked the door with a click and pushed it open.

The apartment wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Lilin Cozbi flipped the lights on and placed her key in a small tray next to the door. There was a kitchen, a dining room, a lounge, a bathroom, and two bedrooms.

"Good night, Piper," Lilin Cozbi said to her daughter as she bent down to kiss her on the forehead. The little girl smiled and looked into her mother's eyes. "Not tonight, maybe tomorrow." Piper nodded—her lips as thin as a line—then she walked into her room.

The woman stood up and faced Sylis. "Well, let's go to sleep." She led him to the other bedroom.

"Wait," he said; his voice was not hushed. The lady turned around, a smile was on her face. "You are not seriously going to make me sleep in the same bed with you."

The smile did not fall from her face. She was truly a peculiar woman. "Why not? You'll be wearing a suit—oh, and if you don't mind, please put your shoes at the door."

Sylis inspected the woman. She didn't look like she had any indication that she was joking. All she did was smile. She didn't even try to look away as Mr. Youngblood stared at her.

"Plus you have to be with me everywhere—per the contract."

Sylis looked around. He did not desire to sleep with a stranger that he barely knew. He liked how his life was, even if it wasn't your normal, everyday civilian life, and he didn't want it to change because of some stupid contract. That asterisk was not that. Sylis seldom made a mistake and today wasn't going to be another day. He spotted a couch. "Why can I not sleep there?" He pointed to the lounge.

The lady's brown eyes zoned into small slits. Sylis waited and though he wasn't sweating the room began to feel different. Miss Cozbi took a step forward so she was closer to Mr. Youngblood. "Sure, I think that's fine. Just let me get ready."

Mr. Youngblood took a deep breath and exhaled through his mouth. Then he walked to the lounge. It was small to fit the space. Just a simple gray, pull-out couch with a few big cushions. A tall lamp stood beside it and a wooden coffee table was in front of it, miscellaneous items spread across the table.

Sylis lifted his foot and slowly removed his shoes. He walked back to the door where a small collection of shoes were somewhat neatly arranged. After he bent down and placed them with the others he used the doorknob as a crux to lift himself back up. The door had many locks installed on it. It decorated the side of the door with reflective metal and reminded him of a mirror installment that would be used as a form of decoration, but this wasn't for decoration. Was Miss Lilin Cozbi really so scared of her ex that she was willing to forgo all of the fortifications of her front door?

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Sylis was weaponless. "There you are," the woman said in a soft tone. Sylis turned around to look at her. She had a folded-up comforter in her other arm and a pillow between said arm and her body. "I wondered where you went. Come on, let's set up the bed then we can go to sleep."

Sylis followed her back to the couch and set up the bed. Once he was done Lilin Cozbi set up the comforter and fluffed up the pillows. Sylis checked on his briefcase, everything was where it was supposed to be. He returned to see Miss Cozbi laying in the pull-out bed. "Are you ready for bed?" she asked.

"Are you not going to sleep in your own bed?" Sylis asked.

The woman smiled. "But you wanted to sleep here, so I shall lay here with you. Remember, you must protect us."

Sylis watched the woman. She didn't seem to back down from her stance so Sylis picked up a corner of the blanket and slid inside. The two of them enjoyed the silence of the night. They watched the moonlight shine through the window, casting shadows on the walls. Lilin never did anything that night but slept sound asleep beside him. As far as Sylis could tell, she didn't even look at him after he lay beside her.

"Good night."