If there was one thing Juniper admired about their stubborn leader, it was his dedication.  Through and through he pushed for change, even when it was clear that some circumstances were just outside of their hold. The distribution of pods were one of those things, merely because they were being manufactured not just by the more intelligent of Break Beasts, but by humans who - for one reason or another - had grown attached to the pod's emotion altering abilities.<br/><br/>Crime was on the rise, not just because of the beasts, but because of the recent toll they could inflict on human emotions. They'd had a seminar about it two weeks ago, about the influx of negative emotions stirred by Break Beast manipulation and just general proximity to a heightening population of monsters. There was literally something in the air, and it grew more potent when one was in a powerful monster's presence. They needed to put a stop to this, Klause was right, but they'd also just returned from an 8 hour long scouting shift and everyone was tired. In fact, Sera, had already gone home.<br/><br/>So when Kuram playfully lifted her into the air and provided a momentary escape from the stress of Scything, Juniper was thankful.<br/><br/>In the past month, the two of them had become what the rest had referred to as an 'item.' They weren't officially dating, it was difficult to be normal when they were out killing monsters most days of the week, but they'd grown close and sweet on each other. Flirting came more easily, it was less embarrassing to hold hands and be sweet in front of the other scythes, and their secret kisses had grown more frequent too. There was a certain energy between them, a certain tension that was almost magnetic.<br/><br/>She seemed to bloom beautifully when Kuram's hand slid down to the small of her back.<br/><br/>"Let me win?" She mock scoffed. "If I remember right, I was the one who won last time, and I won fair and square too, Kuram." She was smiling again. "This sounds like just what we need. Klause? You wanna join in? It'll be fun." She felt like he needed to relax too, and maybe spending some time with Kuram would get Klause to like him more. There was an odd heaviness in the room whenever both young men interacted, Klause tried to hide it, but Juniper knew him well enough to know when he was faking friendliness.<br/><br/>"No," Klause tone was cold. "I'm going back to HQ to report our findings."<br/><br/>"Come on, Klause." Juniper pouted. "An hour at the arcade won't hurt."<br/><br/>"I have to go." He shot Kuram one subtle frown then left the two standing where they were. "I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow, Juniper." A pause. "You too, Kuram." And with that the serious boy left, disappearing out of sight before the two could so much as say anything else.<br/><br/>"He's nice," Juniper said. "Trust me, he's been a little high-strung lately, but Klause is a good egg. He just wants to help as many people as he can. Anyway, we can bring him a banana smoothie or something to cheer him up  tomorrow, for now," she reached for his hand and their fingers intertwined. "I'm going to kick your butt!" She tugged at Kuram's hand they walked down the street to the arcade together, their fingers intertwined as if they were young lovers.<br/><br/>----<br/><br/>The arcade was packed with all the energy of a Friday night, a jump up and down let's beat-the-crap-out-of-these-games and win all the prizes kind of energy. It was bustling in a way it wasn't on weekdays, and Juniper enjoyed the spirited air, the normality of people just having a good time.<br/><br/>Juniper was already inserting two tokens into the Monster Slayer arcade machine, her hands reaching for the toy gun stuck to the control panel.<br/><br/>"Kuram! Quit being a slowpoke, we've got waaaay more games to play."<br/><br/>Somewhere else in the arcade, one of the more intelligent break beasts (a shapeshifter) eyed them from afar. He'd been following them since they started their morning rounds, and now that there were only two of them left, he decided to take the opportunity. Thin lips parted to reveal a fanged smile.<br/><br/>Soon, very soon.