It was evening by the time Alexis strolled up the steps to Ren and Mami’s house, having spent most of the afternoon with her flock. She hadn’t wanted to arrive back too soon and give the game away, not when it truly was a several hour walk. They wanted to make Urahara think, not hand him the answer on a silver platter, after all.

(Besides, there was plenty she needed to handle with the flock.)

(Soothing ruffled feathers was usually Erich’s role, but she wasn’t too bad at it either.)

(The flock had turned… insular lately.)

A whisper of familiar song caught her ear before she could enter the house and, curious, she turned to follow the porch around to the back.

(Erich didn’t often sing, though he was arguably the strongest of their flock.)

(Whatever had caused this, she wanted to know.)

Alexis rounded the corner and paused, taking in the sight in front of her. Uryuu was draped across Erich’s lap, sleeping peacefully with his limbs sprawled every-which-way in the casual indifference of youth. Kanae sat at Erich’s back, both of them leaning into the other, mending some clothing and humming a counterpoint to Erich’s quiet song.

It was the third figure that truly caught Alexis’ eye, though. Urahara was stretched out on the porch, deeply asleep with his head next to Erich’s thigh and a folded piece of cloth under him as a makeshift pillow. He looked… peaceful like that, but also… sad. Like there was something weighing on his mind that he refused to think about while awake.

Erich glanced up as she approached on quiet feet, the corners of his eyes crinkling with warmth-amusement-love though his song didn’t falter.

“Well, if having him around encourages you to sing more, consider me won over,” Alexis murmured as she circled around Urahara and settled next to Erich’s side, her knees almost touching the top of Urahara’s head. “Have fun today?”

She hadn’t missed the chess set boxed up and set aside, nor the empty tray and cups set near it. That Erich considered Urahara interesting enough to break out his hand-carved set was telling.

(She wondered what he’d learned from it.)

He nodded, barely a bob of his head, and reached out to take her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and giving her hand a gentle squeeze. His song changed subtly as he ended the looping verses he had been singing and wound the song down, adding an extra bit of power to make sure Uryuu and Urahara continued to sleep.

The silence that settled practically buzzed with lingering power, and Alexis huffed a laugh. “You’re going to sing yourself hoarse,” she said quietly even as Kanae nudged her side with an elbow. She twisted around and accepted the glass of water with a murmured thanks, then turned back and held it out to her mate.

Erich took it and drained half the glass in one long swallow. “Thanks,” he said, voice a bit rougher than usual. “Haven’t been singing that long, though. Just… chasing away his nightmares.” He looked down at Urahara for a moment, then back over at her, saying, “That’s the third time I’ve had to. I had to trick him into laying down, too, once his side started to bother him.”

“And then sang Uryuu to sleep and ‘accidentally’ hit him with it as well,” Alexis said with amusement, already knowing that was exactly what her mate had done; he’d pulled that trick on more than one sick and restless cygnet in their lifetime, doing it here was no surprise.

He shrugged and Kanae muffled a laugh, assuring her she was correct.

“Whatever works,” Erich said with a casual shrug, leaning into her side and resting his head on her shoulder. “I… don’t think he sleeps well,” he admitted softly, voice tinged with understanding. “Those nightmares seemed… deep-seated.”

“The place he lives was very… telling,” Alexis said slowly, piecing together an image she wasn’t sure she liked. A Shinigami gone native, plagued by nightmares and careless enough — out of practice enough? — to be wounded fighting Hollows.

(What had he been through?)

“Is he…?”

“A Shinigami? Probably,” Alexis agreed, feeling Kanae stiffen and hearing her breath hitch. “One gone native, I suspect.”

“And you’re going to court him?” Kanae asked incredulously, then winced and murmured, “S-sorry, Alexis-sama, Erich-sama, I shouldn’t—”

“You should,” Erich said firmly, cutting Kanae off before she could finish her apology. “Dangerous enough if he was just an empowered human, but a Shinigami…” he trailed off, staring down at Urahara, then freed his hand and reached out to brush his knuckles lightly over the man’s cheek. “Well. We all know our history.”

Kanae hummed a soft acknowledgment, clearly thinking things through, and Alexis settled in to wait her out. Swankin had an opportunistic view on outsiders, especially ones that interested them, but their people had never liked Reapers; too adversarial a people, too serious and caught in their dogmatic ways, in their holier-than-thou opinions on the use of powers…

No, Reapers and Swankin were oil and water, too different in world-view and too prideful to bend.

Usually.

(The Reapers had once tried to slaughter them for the sin of using spiritual powers, had destroyed entire colonies and most of their mixed-blood kin.)

(And yet not a one had managed to stumble their way through Concealment once it was sung.)

(It would be interesting to see if Urahara could do what hundreds before him could not.)

“Alright,” Kanae said with finality.

“Alright?” Erich repeated in surprised. “But if he’s—”

“You’re interested in him and he isn’t intolerable,” Kanae cut him off with a small huff, leaning back into both of them. “We’ll know what to watch for, moving forward.” Her body flexed and Erich flinched against Alexis’ side, likely from a sharp elbow being driven into his ribs. “He makes you sing, Erich-sama. You haven’t sung for anyone but Uryuu in years.”

“She’s right, you know,” Alexis said before Erich could stumble out a protest. “You sing with me in private, but even that’s been getting rarer, love.”

Erich snorted and muttered, “Busybodies,” before straightening up and shooting Alexis a dry look. “I’ve gone years without singing more than snatches before. It’s not the dramatic indication of my health that you’re making it out to be.”

“Yes, while you were in the military,” she countered with a frown, then added, “And a handful of years after, too.” Those years had been bad and she never again wanted to see her mate as bedraggled and mute as he had been back then. He’d rarely donned his cloak, even to take his humanoid form, and she’d been the one singing him asleep time and time again. He was better now, happier, more settled in his skin and his nature but…

Kanae was right.

He’d been starting to sing less and less as the years went on.

(It might not precisely be a sign of health, but it was a sign of how disinterested Erich had begun to grow.)

(Given too much longer and her mate might have begun to search for a way underhill at last.)

Erich looked away, reaching up to adjust his glasses as he did. He seemed to have little to say to that, which told her he could see it too.

“We have a few days to get to know him,” Alexis added softly, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek. “Stop stressing over it and lets see where life takes us, hmm?”

“He might not even come back,” Erich retorted.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Alexis glanced down at Urahara, taking in his lax, almost sad expression and comparing it against the spark of fascination that always arose when Urahara looked at her mate. “He seems quite taken with you, angel-san.”

Erich hissed at her, fury-embarrassment-exasperation, and carefully scooped Uryuu up into his arms as he rose. “I’m going to put him to bed,” Erich said archly, not looking at her. “Come inside when you feel like being civilized again.” He stepped carefully around Urahara’s body and stalked inside, affront in every line of his body.

Alexis snickered, both amused and pleased by Erich’s reaction; it was livelier than she’d seen him in years, and that was all the better in her mind. Urahara was an interesting diversion at the very least.

Now…

To make sure he was worth the effort…

(Oh, this would be fun.)