Desmond strode into the small kitchen of the hideout. Almost hitting both walls as he stretched, he plopped down into one of the mismatched plastic chairs surrounding the small table, letting out a yawn.

"Good mornin'" he slurred, pouring himself some coffee. Shaun glanced at him over the rims of his glasses, his semi-permanent scowl in place.

"Yes. 'Good morning' indeed. Abstergo may be slaughtering other teams as we speak or banging down our doors with semi-automatics, but it is most certainly a good morning."

"Who spat in your crumpets?" Rebecca teased, striding into the kitchen, followed shortly by Lucy and Niharika (SHAMELESS SELF-INSERTION. BAAAAAW.). Desmond had no clue how Rebecca could stand having lived alone with Shaun for seven years, and still be a morning person after the fact, with a sense of humour to boot. Shaun gave a withering look in the direction of her purple ducky pyjamas.

"Hey Des, mind passing the coffee?" Lucy asked, snuggling into her fluffy night robe in the proverbial line of fire between Desmond and Shaun while Desmond poured her some of the hot beverage, glaring at Shaun all the while.

Stupid limey asshole.

Bloody yank.

From the counter, Rebecca and Niharika exchanged glances as they busied themselves with chai and bagels. The tension in the room was so thick you'd need a cleaver to get through it, and the girls could feel it. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Shaun stood up, announcing he had some 'real work' to do, aiming the verbal barb in Desmond's direction before sauntering out of the room. Desmond gave the doorway a black look, before returning to his attention to his breakfast.

"Asshole" he muttered. Lucy patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"Sorry about him. He gets stressed really easily, you know? He feels burdened by the thoughts of other assassins dying around him while we're safe in here."

"Don't see why he always takes it out on me."

"Sexual Tension?" Rebecca offered, sliding into Shaun's abandoned seat. Desmond spat his coffee back into his mug, almost falling out of his chair.

"W-what?" he sputtered. Lucy gave Rebecca a warning glance, thumping Desmond's back as he doubled over, choking. "What?" Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"Don't give me that look, Luce. It's not like Des couldn't tell that Shaun isn't as gay and the day is long. Niharika, back me up here." Niharika gave a sheepish glance from the counter.

"Well…could you?" She inquired, shuffling over to where Rebecca sat, trying to avoid Lucy's frown.

"I guess…" Desmond mumbled over his toast. "But I didn't really think…"

"Think about it." Rebecca said. "I was alone with this guy for seven years and nothing happened. We weren't even fuck buddies."

Desmond had unwittingly taken another sip of drink, and had another coughing fit, his ears turning red. He doubled over, trying to hide his ever reddening cheeks, hoping the girls wouldn't noticed.

Shaun, a fuck buddy?

Desmond felt his face burning at the thought of the grumpy historian lying naked, glasses fogged and hair dishevelled. He righted himself, hoping his eating companions would think his positively crimson face was a side effect of choking. A disgruntled Shaun poked his head in the door frame.

"Sorry, I feel positively guilty interrupting this tea party, but if you could spare perhaps a minute of your precious time, we kind of, you know, have a world to save."

Instead of fixing Shaun with his usually glare, Desmond looked surprised, if not a little embarrassed, as he followed the bespectacled grouch to the animus room. Rebecca raised an eyebrow.

"Well, well. Look what we have here. What do you think, Luce? Niharika?"

Lucy sighed, defeated. "Alright, no denying i saw that."

Niharika gave a bemused look in the direction of the door. "Yeah, but there's no way in hell either of them would act on it unless they got a little…push."

Rebecca gave a wicked grin, and placed her hand on the middle of the table. "Think we could give them that push?" Niharika slapped her hand on top.

"Deal."

Lucy raised her hands in defeat, before putting one down on top of the pile. "If you can't beat 'em…" She muttered.