~.~

"Nircoel!"

"Yes?" he replied from up the stairs.

"Don't forget we're going to see Khlo and do groceries today."

"I'll be right there!"

Becoming "aware of his routine" also meant calling him an hour early, otherwise, we'd be late.

Sure enough, an hour later he appeared at the door, ready to go.

"You took your sweet time getting ready," I said, opening the door.

"I've gotta pick the perfect outfit!"

I noticed that he was wearing the same hoodie he wore when I first met him--a yellow hoodie with a bright pink flower in the middle. I wasn't paying the most attention to his clothing choices the first few days of knowing him, which is why I was surprised I remembered what he wore that day.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, worriedly looking up at me.

"Huh? Uh, no. Why?"

"...You were staring, that's all..." He hurriedly turned away. "But it's whatever. Khlo's waiting, right?"

I didn't understand why he wanted to move on so quickly if I'd made him uncomfortable, but I couldn't have him thinking bad about me. "Ah, sorry. I tend to zone out when I'm lost in thought."

"Oh, is that it? What were you thinking about?"

I stayed silent for a moment, trying to find a decent way to say "I was thinking about your clothes." "Nothing important," I finally said.

He smiled brightly at me. "We should get going."

"Yeah..."

~.~

On the way to the lab, Nircoel was his usual chatty self, assuring me that he was over this morning.

"Hiiiii, Nircoel baby! Hey, darling!" Khlo welcomed both of us with a hug. "Ezyn, if you'd come with me?"

"Um!"

Khlo and I both looked at Nircoel, startled by his sudden outburst.

"I-I would like to come too."

"Are you sure, Nircoel? I don't want a repeat of last week."

"Last week?" Khlo asked, though I pretended to not hear her.

"I'll be fine, I promise."

Tearing my eyes away from Nircoel's pleading gaze, I muttered, "I can't stop you..."

"Darling, what happened last week?"

I shrugged. Nircoel could tell her if he wanted to.

Khlo sighed. "Well, come on then. I'll gladly show you around the lab."

True to her word, she showed Nircoel everything. Nircoel was amazed by the equipment in the lab.

"He reminds me of you when you first saw this place, darling," Khlo whispered while Nircoel was halfway into a cabinet of tools.

"...Shouldn't he get out of there?" 

Not getting his head cut off by some piece of metal or a saw was a little more important than reminiscing.

"Nircoel baby! Let's check out the samples now."

Nircoel's upper half popped out of the cabinet. "Okay!"

Khlo beckoned us to a desk in another room. "The blood you found belonged to multiple different people, all of whom turned up dead directly across the city from where you found them." She laid out some photos on the table.

I glanced at Nircoel, wondering how he would take seeing dead bodies.

"Nircoel? Nircoel!"

He had gone terribly pale, even unto the point of becoming green. Covering his mouth with his hands, he turned away, unable to look at the pictures anymore.

"Take him home, Ezyn. I'll send you the photos and call you."

"Are you--"

"Go."

With no room left to argue, I took Nircoel by the hand and left.

~.~

"Hey..." I didn't know what to say after that.

He hadn't spoken once while we were in the car, and now sitting on the couch at home, he still hadn't said a word.

"...dead bodies." 

Only the last two words were audible.

"What?"

"I didn't expect to see dead bodies," he said louder.

"I'm sorry. If I'd known she'd show you those, I wouldn't have brought you," I apologized.

"You warned me. I'm the one who's at fault. I'm sorry." He poked at his food for a moment, then said, "We need to go do the groceries, right? Why don't we go now?" 

I sighed. "All right, if you're up to it."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

I sensed no sincerity behind his smile.

Just as we arrived at the store, Khlo called. I handed Nircoel the list and answered the phone.

"Hey, Khlo. Any new information?"

"Yes, darling. I've uncovered our six John Does' identities."

"Still all male?"

"Seems to be the case. I'm sending their information now."

Khlo stopped talking, but didn't hang up. And I knew better than to hang up on Khlo.

"Is something wrong?"

"How's Nircoel? He's doing better now, right, darling?"

"Um...yes, I think so. We're actually at the store now."

"Apologize to him for me, will you?"

"Sure..."

"Thank you, darling. Don't work too late!"

"No guarantees. Talk to you later, Khlo."

"Bye, now."

After she ended the call, I opened the email she sent me. I breathed a half-hearted sigh. Just as I expected, there was nothing tying the men together. They didn't even die the same way. One was completely drained of blood, leaving a sack of organs. One died with no external wounds. The other four bodies were barely recognizable because of the amount of wounds and the missing chunks of flesh. Sighing again, I mentally plotted the best route to each of their houses and workplaces. 

"Esi!" Nircoel attempted to peek at my screen -- which still had the dead bodies on screen -- but I turned it off and shoved it in my pocket.

"Back already?" I asked, hiding my shock behind a teasing tone. 

"Already? It's been half an hour!" he whined.

That was pretty quick to me. 

"Let's get these in the car," I said, smiling.

~.~

"I talked to Khlo while you were in the store."

"Oh...what'd she say?" Nircoel turned to look out the window.

"She asked how you were doing and said she's sorry."

"I should've known that I couldn't handle it. I thought some blood would be fine, but I guess I didn't know what I was getting myself into." He shook his head. "Tell her it's alright. Did she say anything about the case?"

"She sent the addresses of the victims' homes and workplaces. We'll check them out tomorrow."

"Then don't drive so slow, slowpoke." He was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing at his own joke. His joy was too infectious, and I laughed too.

"You're sort of..."

"Sort of what, Nir?" I asked when he didn't finish his sentence.

"Pretty when you smile or laugh. When you don't, you look cold and stiff."

"...Pretty, huh?" My fingers unconsciously curled tighter around the sterring wheel.

"Ack! I didn't mean it like that! I just--I meant--"

I chuckled at his awkwardness, forcing myself to relax my grip. "It's fine. I'm joking. I got called pretty a lot growing up. It's a little rarer to hear now, however."

"That's 'cause you're buff, right?"

"Partially, yes. I do look more muscular than I did as a teenager."

"What's your routine? I wanna gain some muscle too!"

I glanced at the stick figure sitting in the passenger seat. "I don't think you can handle my regimen right now. We'll start small."

"Yes, coach!" He saluted me.

~.~

"Keep your behind straight. Don't bend it. This isn't yoga."

I watched the stick figure on the floor struggle to correctly do a push-up.

"Come on, Nir. We have to leave in an hour."

"I'm...trying!" he squeezed out through gritted teeth.

"Try harder, faster."

He flopped onto the ground. "Let's pick this up tomorrow."

"No. You need to stretch or else you'll be sore. Do some cobras."

"Huh?"

"Cobras."

"COBRA? WHERE?"

Nircoel rushed to his feet and darted behind me.

"...Nevermind."