Ozzy smiled and said, "Sounds good, love. I'll keep an eye out from here, just in case. You never know when stuff's gonna happen."

  She kissed his chest again, and said "That's why I figured we could do it two-pronged, love."  She let the wind catch her wings, and then glided in a spiral down to the yard, and said politely "Mister Martinez?  May I speak with you for a few minutes?"

The middle-aged man looked up and seeing the strange sight before him...a cat-girl....he was taken aback for a moment.

"Um....Hello. How...how can I help you?" he asked.

  Clarissa smiled, and said "Ah, your son and my husband are friends, and he asked us to sort of keep an eye on you while he's taking a little time to grieve for one of his very good friends who just died, and her funeral today."

The man seemed to blink for a moment.

"Well Senorita...I have two sons...one is a detective in Weston PD and the other teaches martial arts at a local dojo. So I can guess that you're probably referring to Lucas. He..."

He looked down for a moment.

"He always had a hard time with loss. Even when he was younger. Is he...is he all right? I mean, we mended fences after a family rift, but...I'm his father. I still worry about him."

  Clarissa nodded, and said "We are making certain he is.  He needs to take a break, so a couple more of our friends are keeping track of him and making him rest some while we keep an eye on you and his students.  My husband was one of his students, although he has since had some changes, and can't continue to study with Lucas IN the dojo.  It's not built for people who are twelve feet tall to train in."

"That's one thing I always wished for him....that he'd find a group of good friends that would help him through his stubborness," the older gentleman said. "'Course he gets part of that stubborn streak from me......um, what do I call you?"

  Clarissa stuck her furry hand out, and said "I'm Clarissa Gysbourne.  My husband, Ozzy, is overhead, if you'd like to meet him too?  He's a little too tall to come inside, so you might want to ask your family to step outside.  We're helping Lucas to get through his time of grief without worrying more about you guys and his students.  Because everyone needs a break sometime."  Her fur, if he shook her hand, was like silk.

Gerardo nodded, extending his hand to her and shaking it, then turned back to the house.

"Ines.....company!"

A few seconds later, a middle-aged Hispanic woman emerged. She had long, flowing straight dark brown hair, and looked very elegant, and she was briefly taken aback by the sight of her husband shaking hands with a.......it must have been a Para of some sort.

"Gerardo....who are these people?" she asked.

"Friends of Lucas....don't worry, he's fine. According to what they're saying, he's being well taken care of."

  Clarissa smiled, and said "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Martinez.  Yes, we're friends of Lucas.  We're keeping an eye on him while he's grieving.  I'm Clarissa Gysbourne, Ozzy's overhead."  She looked up, and thought {{Come on down, Ozzy, meet the Martinezes.}}

Ozzy nodded at the mental message, giving the area one last sweep before he spiraled down, landing softly behind his wife, putting his massive hands on her shoulders with a smile.

"Hi. I'm Ozzy Gysbourne. I studied under your son for a while. He's afraid something may happen while he's resting and grieving, so he asked me to keep an eye out for any trouble that might come your way." he said while trying to look as friendly as he possibly could. Being as big as he was, and damn near looking like a demon, he knew he had to be somewhat intimidating.

  Clarissa giggled, and leaned right against him as she said "There you are, you big green cuddlybear.". She grinned happily, and told Mr. Martinez "I told you Ozzy was around here somewhere!  We're newlyweds."

"Well...I guess any friend of Lucas'..." Mr. Martinez said, unsure of what to make of the big hulking thing and the little cat-girl.

Mrs. Martinez gave him a firm punch to his arm. "Regardless of what they look like, we should be thankful that they are willing to look after our son."

She then turned to Ozzy and Clarissa. "Lucas is a good young man...we still worry about him, even though he's grown up and moved on with his life. He...um...he never handled loss very well. Though I'm surprised to hear that he sent you and not our other son, Stevie. Stevie's in the Weston PD....though lately he has been a bit...off..."

  Clarissa smiled, and said "We're keeping an eye on him too."

Ozzy nodded and said, "Yeah. There's some things... well, he sounded like he was worried about Stevie, too, so I guess that's why Lucas didn't ask him."

Gerardo and Ines looked at each other, then back at Clarissa and Ozzy.

"You make it sound like there's some sort of an enemy that has it in for our son," Mr. Martinez said to them.

  Clarissa nodded, and said "Your son is a hero, of course there's bad guys who want to take him out.  It's why we're watching out for him and for you."

Ozzy nodded and said, "Exactly. While we can't really be near you twenty-four-seven, I can send paint constructs after you to watch over you while I'm not here, and let us know if anything happens."

Mr. Martinez looked at his wife, then back at Ozzy and Clarissa.

"While it's true that my son teaches martial arts, the only things that we can think of would be the occassional street hood that would try to mess with the school. Unless....there's something we need to know.."

  Clarissa looked at Ozzy, and asked him silently {{Should we tell them?}}  Aloud, she said softly "Sometimes people take a dislike to people for reasons nobody else can easily discern . . . "

Ozzy nodded mentally, {{I don't see why not. He said his brother knows. I had figured he meant that they knew as well. I guess not.}}

He then said quietly, "Sorry, we thought he'd told you. Erm... there IS something you need to know, but we may want to step inside before we tell you. Secret identities and all that. I think he's still keeping his, anyway."

Mr. Martinez looked at Ozzy curiously, then waved them over to the garage, which actually was big enough to house Ozzy's taller frame. Mrs. Martinez couldn't help but share a curious look as well, but kept silent for the moment.

  Clarissa nodded, and came along, folding her wings very neatly behind her, and that long, silky plume of a tail waving at roughly ankle height.

Ozzy looked around suspiciously, then drew a quick ward against nosy neighbors listening in before he said, "Your son, Lucas, is Dragon Fist of the Legacy. The person who he's grieving is Mirage. I'm sure you heard what happened to her. They were quite close, as I'm sure you can imagine."

  Clarissa nodded, giving his ward a little extra OOMPH with her link to him, pulsing the mana to him in a short, little burst.