"You might feel a slight pinch." – Literally every doctor ever.

"Ok. Tell me again what you want to do?" Jay said while looking at the rather impressive drawing Kurt had just made during the meeting. It was a diagram of the standard Order armor with a few additions added on.

It was Friday, two days after Kurt had made his enchanted armor and telepathic communication devices. That was the soonest that Jay was able to meet with them and Kurt didn't want to push his meeting until next week. The early hour was also the reason for the coffee cups and various breakfast foods scattered around the table.

When Kurt had asked to meet about the implant, Jay had also asked to meet about something and suggested coffee and breakfast in town rather than at Kurt's house or in the Order. So it was that Kurt's team, Jay and Penny were sitting in a small meeting room drinking nice coffee while eating fresh pastries.

"I want to put a battery on the armor." Kurt didn't think this was a novel idea and wasn't sure why it was causing so much confusion.

Jay nodded while looking at the sketch and taking a sip of his latte. "Yes, and what is the purpose of the battery?"

"Tooooo power spells…" Kurt said again, this time a little more slowly. He looked at Val but she just shrugged, not understanding why Jay was having issues.

"Yes, but the enchantments on the armor don't require a lot of power so why…"

"Because the battery isn't for the armor, it's for us." Kurt said, finally understanding what the hang up was. "I want to make a reserve of magical energy that we can have access to for our 'spells' not the enchantment."

"Ohhhhhh. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense." Jay finally understood what Kurt was saying now that they cleared up the little miscommunication. "I don't care, go ahead and give it a shot in your next rift or whatever. I thought you were trying to power the enchantments on the armor and thought it was a bit of overkill."

Kurt sighed, pulling the drawing back and stored it in his ring. He then took a sip of his own coffee, thankful they were next door to The Captain for this meeting, in the basement of 'Stability Inc. Security & Surveillance'.

Jay waited for Kurt to finish his sip before speaking. "So, what was the other thing you wanted to ask about?" He looked relaxed but Kurt knew that he was anxious about something despite his demeanor, he could almost smell something was up.

Kurt summoned a trio of items then slid one of the small sterile petri dishes over to show the Lozenge shaped bit of titanium and gold. "This is what I wanted to ask about, or rather, implanting it."

Both Penny and Jay leaned forward to peer at the little device. "What does it do?" Penny asked. It was to be noted that neither of them reached forward to touch the container, likely thinking it was in there for a reason.

"When these are in contact with the user, it allows for instant telepathic communication." Kristi supplied. "We tested them last night and found the range to be a few miles and only moderately limited by terrain or other obstacles."

"Really?" Jay dropped down, putting his cheek against the table to look at the device through the side of the container, slowly turning it. "How does it work? How long did it take to make one? What is with the little feet things?" The questions came in a rapid-fire order.

Kurt pulled out a notebook that he had recorded his findings in for reference. "It is based on the same enchantment for speaking stones, if you have ever seen those." Jay nodded, still looking intently at the implant. "These ones have some alterations to do what I wanted, but it wasn't too hard."

"Someone was last night…" Val muttered under her breath and earned a swat on the arm from Kristi.

Ignoring Val, He continued. "The user can control the device mentally. So, they can like…" Kurt referenced his list. "Leave the channel open, leave it closed, send mass messages and a few other little things. Pretty much if it's talking, you can do it silently and instantly through this."

"And the time to make one?" Jay asked, reminding Kurt of his second question.

"Couple hours. It is some rather fine engraving. I can do the plating and activation in batches but the carving and then finishing takes time."

"Power source?"

"The user. The power draw is minimal, less than what you regenerate or absorb naturally." Kurt shrugged. He didn't really consider how this would work with a non-magical being like a baseline human or dwarf. That was likely something he could figure out if he tried.

"And the reason for the little spike things?" This time it was Penny asking.

"Because I want this to sit against the skull, those will help anchor it." Kurt tapped the side of his head, right where he wanted the device to go.

Jay looked up then, his face showing some recognition. "And you were hoping that I could use my abilities to implant them."

Nodding, Kurt was about to speak but Val got there first. "With how quick Kurt and Kristi regenerate, a normal, surgical implantation would be very difficult."

"Of course, that makes sense." Jay slid the container back to him but Kurt left it on the table with the others. "I can do it but…"

"But you want some for yourself?" Kurt guessed and was rewarded with a very Jay-like smirk.

"Got it in one." The demon finished off his coffee before continuing. "I would like four of them. One for me and each of my handlers. Probably more as our division expands."

"Expands?" Kristi asked.

"Tell you later but first on to my topic." Jay dismissed her question with a wave of his hand. "How do you feel about housing a few soldiers from our support teams?" He then went on to share the details of his meeting with the werewolves who were currently in his support squads.

His meeting had consisted of the wolves, led by Jade, presenting him with not only their request, but also a plan. They wanted to be permanently assigned to Kurt and deploy exclusively with him. Kurt wondered what they were talking about since he had deployed with them on both actions. It turned out that Jay used support squads for many things besides hitting larger targets.

The werewolves had petitioned Jay for the new assignment with a few major duties and objectives. The first was to act as a fighting force to support him in rifts and other action. The second thing was to secure him at his home, citing that his actions against the guild made him a prime target for retribution.

"What was the third thing?" Kurt asked, surprised at the boldness the wolves had displayed.

Jay twirled his empty cup between his finger and the table, spinning it like a top as he thought how to reply. "It was actually the thing that made me accept the proposal. They cited it as a 'instinct' accommodation."

Val, who had been leaning in with her elbows on the table, suddenly snorted with a smirk on her lips. "And you are just going to let that happen? Give one field office their own support squad?."

Raising one of his eyebrows, Jay spared her a glance. "Firstly, it is a small accommodation that I can use to test how it will work for other offices. Secondly, respect is a currency both spent and traded with no cost to the wielder, especially in this case." Val shrank back at his hard tone and the demon's eyes flicked to Kurt for a moment. "Of anyone, those of us in this room should understand accommodation a little better than the average person."

Kristi then leaned forward from her previously reclined position and tapped the table with the tip of her index finger which made a sound like it was hit by a metal bar. "Regardless of your approval, it remains up to Kurt to accept them."

"And what do you think he will do?" Jay wondered aloud, sounding amused.

All eyes then turned to the man in question. Kurt sat silently for several minutes while he debated how to answer. He didn't need the time, he already knew what he would say but wanted to consider the ramifications. He didn't think there was any large drawback besides having a half dozen werewolves lurking around.

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"Well, what the hell do you expect me to say?" He snapped after Penny cleared her throat. "Of course, I will accept but we need to make arrangements for them."

"Arrangements?" Penny asked after having the decency to blush at Kurt's rebuke.

Looking at both the girls, Kurt gestured between them. "I don't have a lot of room to house a bunch of people. I could do four if they agreed to share a bed and a couch but then we would be tripping over each other."

Suddenly perking up, Val looked to him. "Weren't you just talking to your neighbor about selling that parcel next door?"

Kurt nodded. "Yes, I actually missed a call from him." He held up his phone so she could see the missed call and pending voicemail.

"Well, see what he wants." She said while shaking his arm.

"Ok, ok. Calm down." Kurt said and tapped the button to dial his voicemail. He then tapped the speaker button and set the phone on the table.

"Hi, uhh, Kurt." Came the familiar voice of his neighbor. "This is Bob. Listen, Betty and I talked about your suggestion yesterday and want to talk to you about it. We are, uhh interested but want to talk specifics. Anyway, give me a call back when you can. This is Bob… your neighbor."

The message ended and Kurt hung up before the automated voice could ask if he wanted to repeat that message or delete it. He looked up to see everyone looking at him with varying degrees of interest.

"Bob and Betty?" Jay asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Robert and Elizabeth are their names." Kurt said, trying to cut off the demon's amusement. "I will give them a call when we are done here."

"Great." Jay said, clapping his hands together. "Let's get these things implanted then you can go talk to the neighbors while Penny goes and flirts with her boyfriend on company time."

"WHAT?" Penny spluttered. "I DOnnn…" she stopped protesting almost immediately when everyone looked at her.

"You are not as sneaky as you think while you are texting." Val said, mimicking her texting under the table. She was laughing slightly as she mouthed words along with twiddling her thumbs.

Laughing at the stunned look on her face, Kristi piled on now that they were all talking about Penny "And you should probably turn off the clicker on your keyboard."

Kurt grinned. "Besides it's not like we didn't notice the YEOOWWWWCH!" He suddenly shouted as he felt a pinching sensation in the back of his head. His shout of pain was chorused by Kristi and Val who had traded giggling for pained expressions and some very choice words.

While Kurt and the girls had been having fun at Penny's expense, Jay had been doing other things. Namely, he had been setting up Penny as a distraction while he worked his magic from under the table. It was incredibly easy for him to transfer the three devices through a dimensional tunnel and into the desired location, even without touching them or looking at his hands.

He had long ago mastered the art of casting his particular brand of magic without looking or needing to vocalize his intents. It was one of the ways that he was able to get the edge over so many of his former, now dead, rivals. Where many were more powerful than he was, they had all relied on large, complex workings to break through magical defenses. Jay preferred to go around the defenses and leave nobody the wiser.

"Sorry, but I needed to do it that way so you wouldn't tense and cause more damage when I put them in." Jay said after the rather creative cursing on the other side of the table stopped.

"Liar." Kurt grumbled, no longer rubbing the back of his head.

The demon scratched at his temple a moment, thinking about something before speaking. "Well, we could have done it with a local anes…"

"That's not what I meant." Kurt grumbled. "I meant you aren't sorry about doing that."

Jay considered for a moment begore agreeing. "No, I am not. But besides the slight pinch, is everything working like it should?"

"Kristi?" Kurt thought and saw his girlfriend jump slightly in her seat.

"Yes, I can hear you." Came the reply in her mental voice.

"Same here." Val said a moment later then turned to their boss and spoke aloud. "Besides the BIG pinch, they are working fine." Her eyes still welled with tears from the stinging pain that lingered just behind her fox ears.

Their mental communication had taken a fraction of a second, the thoughts traveling at…well, the speed of thought. They would still do some additional testing but that could wait for later.

"Great." Jay clapped his hands. "You three have a good day and enjoy the weekend. Come on Penny, let's go see your little boy toy."

"Jamie is not my boy toy!" She half shouted, only barely restraining herself from going full volume but failing to hide a blush.

Nodding and standing to gesture at the door, Jay tried to mollify her. "Fine, not a boy toy. How about 'masculine machine'? That one has a certain ring to it."

"Absolutely not!" Penny hissed, slightly stretching the 's' in a very snakelike way.

"Fine, fine. Let's just go get another coffee to go." Jay held up his hands after sensing he was about to get bit. He then ushered her though the door before pausing and looking at Kurt. "Take the rest of the day to 'recover'. See you next week." With that, he vanished, following Penny out of the room.

*****

Later that afternoon, Val was lying with her head resting on an ice pack which was resting on Kristi's lap who was resting on the couch in the living room. They had been dropped off while Kurt went to meet with his neighbors to talk about buying the property just to the north of them.

She had been lounging and reading while using the cool compress to soothe the ache in the back of her head. The sensation of Kristi running her fingers through her hair and scratching her ears was also a nice touch. It was something she could definitely appreciating while she read her tablet.

The sound of the garage door opening followed by the door to the breezeway had her look away from her book to see Kurt walking in holding a manilla folder. "How did it go?" She asked.

She didn't need to ask since they had been keeping in touch via the implants, practicing and getting used to the sensation of always being connected. It was a surreal experience when combined with the emotion sensing necklaces they wore. Really it was only missing an out of body experience to really tie in the whole package.

"Unexpected, but you already know that." Kurt said while tossing the packet to the counter.

"Well, yes but you only said the deal was different and we would have to talk about it." Kristi said and put down the book on computer building she was reading.

"Soooo, they don't want to sell just the lot next to us, which is like ten acres if I remember right." Kurt said. "They want to sell us the whole property."

Val sat up as Kristi stirred. "Why the whole thing?" She made grabby hands at Kurt, and he smiled as he sat down next to her, sandwiching himself between both of them.

He gave them both a quick kiss before explaining what Bob had told him. "Apparently, they had been thinking of selling for a while. Neither of them is getting any younger and all their friends moved out years ago. Their kids don't have an interest in being part time beef farmers and don't want to manage the property."

"That's sad." Kristi said. "Having made something and none of your heirs want to take it over. Something about it makes me feel sad. Like it's the end of a legacy."

"Oh, it's not all bad." Kurt had a smile on his face. "Apparently their daughter lives out west and runs an orchard which she uses to make hard cider and other apple products. She has been begging them to come live with her and the grand kids for some time now."

Her earlier concern had apparently been put to rest as she now smiled softly while Kurt continued. "So anyway, they want to sell me their entire property. House, land, barns, tractor, everything except their personal cars and home goods."

"How big is the house?" Val asked.

"Big enough to solve our issue of housing a bunch of werewolves." Kurt said with a wry chuckle. "The original house burned down years ago and they built a new one in the nineties. They made it to house their family and a few extra since they had the room and the money at the time."

Kurt pointed to the packet. "It's all in there if you want specifics but it's something like seven bedrooms and four baths not counting the basement which could be finished with more."

"How many acres?" Val followed up with the more important part of the deal.

"Oh, something just over five hundred. Most of it is fields that they use for grazing the cows. Pretty much we would own the entire 'block'. Everything on this street and the one running east-west until we but up against the river which is the start of state land."

"Soo… that would give you like…" Val was trying to recall how much land Kurt said he had already.

"A lot of room and the free access to state land if we want to deal with that."

"Are you going to buy it?" Kristi asked.

Kurt looked down at her as she leaned against him. "Already did. It is pretty much going to wipe out everything I have in my account." He sighed. "They were asking for fifteen hundred an acre but I know it's worth more, so we decided to call it at two grand an acre. I don't want them to be looking to get an easy out then feel cheated when I accepted."

"So how much?"

Wincing a little, Kurt came clean. "One million for the land and another eight hundred thousand for the house and all the equipment. So, 1.8 mil, or there abouts. There are going to be some fees but I am covering it. I want it resurveyed and a couple other minor things too when springtime hits."

"Oh, is that all?" Val snorted.

"Is that all? Val, that's a lot of money." Kurt said incredulously at her response. "That's lifechanging, generational money in the right hands."

Kristi, ever the font of wisdom in certain situations, tapped him on the cheek. "You have nearly two million in cash after our latest ventures and another ten in an investment account. This isn't a lot in comparison."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Well, I kinda forgot about the investment account." Kurt said while blushing slightly.

"Hmm, just as planned." Val said and kissed him on the cheek. "Now, let's figure out our plans for the weekend. I say we see what Anna and Penny are up to. Maybe we can arrange some shopping?"

"I was actually thinking something different." Kurt said. "Well, maybe not too different, I guess it depends on what you want to do."

Seeing both of them now paying extra close attention, Kurt continued. "How about dates?"

"The little dried fruits?" Kristi asked.

"Haha, no. I mean like we each go on a date or we go all together. Like dinner and a movie, going out and spending time together doing an activity. Something outside our normal routine." Kurt explained, realizing that Kristi probably didn't go on many.

Seeming unsure, Kristi voiced her concern. "But won't one of us be left out? How is this going to work?"

"Just one date." Val declared then waved a finger around them.

"Wont that be awkward?" Kristi asked, sounding a little worried.

Kurt grabbed her hand. "No, it will be fine. If we can all get along together at home, then I see no reason we can't do it in public."

Val grabbed her other hand. "It's true. Besides, who cares if we are all in a relationship, it's not their business and worst-case scenario they think Kurt is filthy rich and we are just in it for the money."

"But he is rich…"

"Ok, ok. Bad example but it's not exactly uncommon to see three young…"

"And beautiful." Kurt interjected.

"…And beautiful…" Val agreed with a smile. "…people all out having fun together. Nobody will notice and if they do, nobody will do anything about it."

"Not like I would let them." Kurt grumbled. He didn't like the thought of people trying to force their opinions and beliefs on other people, especially him.

Kristi looked between them. She seemed to accept their explanations and smiled. "Alright, a date it is."

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