Just after Mai had turned to Naru and stated their need to talk, obviously referring specifically to the subject of Olivia, Luella exited the conference room with her other son and Atsuko followeed close behind. "I just told these two that they would be joining me for supper, and I am extending that invitation to you two as well. I will head back to the apartment for now but I expect you all to be ready to go at six tonight."

While Noll wanted to argue with his mother he knew there wasn't a point. Perhaps it was better to hash this all out now rather than later during the case anyway. So, if he couldn't keep Luella and Mai apart maybe there was something else he could alter. "I only have one request in that regard mother."

She turned and arched a sculpted eyebrow at him. It was like her expression was saying, 'I expected that but I will wait and hear you out anyway.'

"I would rather you cook for us than all of us go to a restaurant. You will probably have to pry Lin away from Madoka to take you to get the ingredients you will need." He fought the urge to grimace after mentioning his mentor who had slacked on his duties this morning and not even shown up for the meeting.

Lin was rudely awoken by a giant sneeze. He groaned at the aching pain richoteting in his nasal cavity, putting pressure on his sinuses, and attempted to turn on his side to get more comfortable. Unfortunately, that proved impossible because his body was literally wrapped up and sandwiched between heavy blankets and the limbs of the alluring naked woman on top of him. Subconsciously, he began caressing his fingertips up and down the arm she had slung over his chest.

He turns his head to glance at the clock sitting on the nightstand. The corner of his lip turns up as he realizes they slept in. They slept in and missed the initial case meeting. For once, he wasn't sure if he was even remotely worried about poor work ethics; at least not after the events that occurred the night before. In only moments he was replaying the scene in his mind.

"I'm not sure if we can keep going on like this." Madoka sniffled, and his heart lurched at the pain echoing in her voice. Their reunion should be joyous and while that was normally her personality, when she was upset the opposite was true to a parallel extreme. "I'm of course happy being here, with you. The problem is I hate when we are separated from each other. The distance and time apart feels like a gaping, aching void. A void that can't simply be filled with moments like this that seem way too brief when we are actually together."

She didn't really register that her head had slowly descended downward as she was voicing her apprehension about the current state of their relationship. It was only when his fingers were touching her chin and grazing it gently to coax her to look back up at him, that she realized she had lowered her head with the weight of the emotions she was feeling. "I've been worrying over the same thing. Which is why I have a plan."

Her eyebrows arch quizzically up at him. Before she can question what he might mean he walks away. She tracks his retreat as he enters the bedroom at the end of the hall. Her confusion slowly morphs into annoyance and colored with a smattering dose of anger. "Koujo Lin don't you dare walk away from me now! This is important!" As she bellows her displeasure about his actions she stomps toward the bedroom herself. She begins roaring at him once more as she corners around the threshold to the room. "I swear this is not--"

Her words trail off as she surveys the scene before her. He hadn't been dropping the subject on an important conversation. He hadn't been ignoring or undermining her determination. He had been fetching something that he had tucked away for safekeeping. Something he would only retrieve when the time was right. Perhaps, it wasn't the romantic setting he had envisioned. Then again their relationship wasn't really like that. They never needed the outside frills to make their romance blossom. They only needed each other. Hence, why this was right. Him simply on one knee holding out the open ring box to her while she gaped astonishingly. "Like I said. I don't like being separated either. This is the plan I mentioned. I hope you consider relocating permanently because I love you and can't bear to be apart from you again. Will you marry me?"

Madoka didn't want to face the difficult rearrangements it would take right now. Those adult decisions she would worry about and tarry over later. No, instead she would give him her heartfelt answer. "Of course I will!"

That response led to a celebratory night of passionate lovemaking, several times over. The corner of the fitted sheet near his left shoulder had popped off during their most recent session, and regardless of how meticulous he tended to be, Lin couldn't care less about the sheet being imperfect when the result was this overly blissed out feeling he was experiencing.

Madoka's mind and body must have been acutely attuned to his own because the next moment she was stirring against him. He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he watched a jaw popping yawn morph her face into something quite comical. 'Oh, how I love this woman!' He pulled her body higher so he could easily access her lips.

She was still groggy but the moment his lips grazed against her own she found herself automatically reciprocating. If this was the way she would be woken up for the rest of her mornings she knew she would have a happy life. Not far from now they would have to make some important adult decisions. In this moment, however, she was choosing to linger in bed with her fiance and continue celebrating.

Their kisses grew more intense. Almost feline purrs coming from Madoka while male groans of satisfaction echoed from Lin were the auditory soundtrack to their needs as their fingers began to seek erogenous zones that would further excite the cravings their bodies were only beginning to experience. Unfortunately, the sound of the doorbell going off from the front of the apartment had them both groaning in frustration. "I guess it's time for us to adult now." Madoka muttered.

Lin didn't verbalize his hesitant agreement merely coaxed his body from hers and rolled out of bed. He smirked at her as he felt her gaze tracing over his nudity with spellbound appreciation. Then he laughed when she frowned as he tugged on a pair of pajama pants.

His mirth only mildly decreased as he shuffled toward the door. He wasn't terribly surprised to find Luella Davis on the other side. Nor was he terribly surprised of her plans for the evening. But when Madoka came in clad only in the flat sheet looking like a goddess his jaw dropped and his concentration faltered. "Lin, I'll head back next door and give you an hour to get ready." He barely registered the door clicking shut behind her, or the slight humor coloring her words. His eyes kept his mind focused on his beautiful fiancee and nothing else mattered in that moment.

"An hour? Think we have enough time?" Madoka asked as her hand unclenched, and she released the sheet from the grasp that was keeping it in place. His eyes tracked the movement the cloth made as it pooled around her feet.

"We'll make time." He was at her side in only a few short strides before he swept her in his arms and escorted her back to the bed they only exited a few short moments ago. The clock was ticking after all.

To say Noll was nervous about this conversation was putting it mildly. He was beyond nervous, and not just because he had to tell Mai something difficult about his past. Part of his past that involved his not-so-romantic relationship with someone they would have to be dealing with on a day-to-day basis that they couldn't be sure of how long. The thing was that wasn't the only reason he was nervous though. He was also nervous because part of the story wasn't really his to share. It was his brother's. He was worried about giving her the whole story even if it were Mai. Mai who cared about both of them.

"You can tell her brother. Share her all of the ugliness that is Olivia Wyckes. I want her to know. Not just for you. Not just for her. I want her to know for me too. I know you have never cared to get in a romantic entanglement before, but if I were to ever pick the perfect person for you it would be Mai."

Noll didn't respond to his brother's telepathic communication. Nevertheless, something settled over him that he didn't anticipate. A sense of calming peace and resolve that hadn't been there before. In the past few weeks he had been certain of a few things. The way he cared about Mai and how he wanted her in his life for one. He hadn't realized until this moment that he didn't want to lose her. He didn't want to lose her in any capacity. The impact of the possibility of losing her doting affection made something in his chest ache horribly. The possibility of losing her completely shook him to the core.

Mai looked up at him expectedly. A single eyebrow arched as if to say, 'Explain yourself.' Her arms folded across her body as if they were some kind of defense mechanism to keep him from hurting her, an armament or shield to assist her in this verbal battle. Not that it would be a battle per se only that she was preparing herself for the emotions that would be warring with each other in this scenario.

"First of all let me start off by saying that Olivia is nothing to me, and she never was. I know you saw her in that reflective moment where the numbers of women I have slept with passed through my thoughts." He paused to take a breath and verbalize his confession (of sorts). "I did sleep with her. I never wanted to though. I never planned furthering Gene's emotional damage that way."

"What do you mean? How... How did you hurt Gene by being with Olivia?"

He took a deep breath. "Before Gene left for Japan Olivia had been his girlfriend for a couple of years. They broke up just before he left for Japan, and it crushed him. He thought he was in love with her. He thought when he got back that the time they had apart would mend whatever was broken between them. He thought that maybe when she heard that he went missing that she would grow worried about him, and the feelings would flood back. He was only half right. She did seem worried when I relayed to her how he was missing. When I brought him back however. I brought him back broken, scarred. He was flawed, and while that shouldn't matter to someone that loved him, it mattered to her. We both realized in that single moment that there was no way she could have ever loved him. If she had loved him his physical appearance wouldn't matter as much as who he was inside."

Tears flow down her face as she tries to see the situation from Gene's perspective. She quickly dries her cheeks with her fingertips. "But that doesn't explain how you had some romantic entanglement with her."

"No, no it doesn't." He grits his teeth as he remembers the bits and pieces of that accursed night. "The long and the short of it was there was a huge gala event. A party of sorts where there were copious amounts of alcohol. I definitely didn't lack for female attention, which of course made me uncomfortable. I had been back in England for about a year and a half at that point. Your declaration had turned a corner in my mind, but I was still hesitant to start any romantic entanglement with anyone. I found myself indulging in glass after glass of, hell I don't remember what anymore. The point is I was heavily inebriated when Olivia approached me. Well, not so inebriated that I didn't know what was going on, but enough to dull the senses." He pauses before continuing on. "The event was being held at a hotel, and she emphatically was attempting to convince me that I needed to sober up. She claimed to have rented a room because she was sure that she would be the one in the state I was in. When she began to remove her clothing and started in on mine I was blind to the erotic sensations. It didn't really matter who she was in that moment only that I was out of my element but completely aroused. I should have never followed her up to that hotel room. But, I can't change the fact it happened. I have atoned for it with Gene. He has been more than understanding about how the events occured."

Mai frowns. Naru indulging in alcohol at all seemed exceptionally farfetched, but he was probably clamoring with a lot of confusing emotions at that time in his life. Her admitting her feelings. How Gene was dealing with his accident and emotional upheaval. "Is there anything more?"

"Olivia told Gene before I could come up with the courage to admit it myself. She tried to press for more than one night. I believe she thought that I would be a prime catch. I should have held my ground but instead I just remained quiet and walked away any time she came around. I'm not even sure when she got a job with BSPR, but I am pretty convinced she did it in a hope to win my affections."

Mai drops her arms from how they are folded across her and walks across the room. The distance closed between them makes Noll take a deep breath he didn't realize he even needed. "I can't fault you for your past. I can't say I am happy to learn how the events happened, but I can deal with them happening. I'm just hoping she doesn't make a move on you while she's here."

"I'm more worried about her making a negative remark toward Gene, or doing something to antagonize your wrath. Not in the teasing manner I would. No, something more lethally dangerous that I am not even sure I want to be present for." He folds his arms around her to pull her even closer.

"Naru? Are you trying to say I have a hostile side?" She frowns up at him. Her eyes however have a light in them they didn't have during the entire conversation until now.

"I'm only alluding to my own scientific deductions."

She rolls her eyes and tries to fight his strong hold against her. Her escape proves fruitless, and she is quite content to admitting defeat to the way he is holding her in his arms.