When Laurel thought he was asleep, she leaned over and lightly kissed his forehead. Her lip quivered a little as she got up and went over to the couch.

James sighed, "Just put on a swimsuit..." he paused, "Unless you wanna go skinny-dipping?" he offered, lacking his usual heart in it.

Nic slept for a few hours.

Yue didn't say anything for a long time. But just when it looked like nothing could convince her to get in the pool she slowly turned and walked off to find a swimsuit.

When Nic woke, Laurel was still on the couch but the sunglasses were off. It was clear now that her irises had a definite blue tint to them. She looked over at him, "Ready to change?" she asked quietly.

So James went to get changed as well before doing a few laps in the pool.

Unlike his usual self, Nic laid around quietly for a little while like there was a chore that he was supposed to do but he didn't feel like doing it. But eventually he sat up and started to stand on his own.

Yue took longer than her usual long amount of time to change. But eventually she showed herself in one of her usual swimsuits and she made her way over to the hot tub.

Laurel watched from the couch, "You don't have to stand," she noted.

James noticed and pulled himself out of the pool before going over to join her.

Nic stood anyway. It looked like if his clothes needed to be changed, he was going to do it himself. He walked slowly over to his drawers. It took him awhile to find a full set since nothing was where it usually was. He took the clothes back over to the bed as sat on the edge with his back to Laurel. Since that is what she really wanted to see.

Laurel sighed to herself as she stood and went over to him. She stopped in front of him and gripped his chin in her hand, lifting his face up towards hers, "Not everything is about your back, you know," she told him before grabbing the bottom hem of his shirt in preparation to help him out of it.

Nic didn't say anything as he put his hand on hers and moved her hand away.

Laurel let her hand fall to her side, "You might get stuck halfway," she cautioned him.

Regardless, it didn't seem like he was going to let her help him.

Laurel gave in and took a step backwards, giving him space to change.

Nic waited a little while longer before slowly taking off his shirts. It hadn't looked like it, but he had been wearing three layers. Each one took a little longer than the last, but he finally got them all off on his own. Besides being in desperate need of a tan, the front didn't look much different than expected. He had various scars here and there that were very old. They didn't take too much away from his nearly perfect abs. He looked great, and he'd probably look even better if he hadn't been in the infirmary for the past few days. But you could tell from some large scars coming around his side and over his shoulder that there was something very wrong with his back.

Laurel waited patiently and took the dirty shirts away, dumping them by the couch to be washed later. "Do you mind if I rub ointment on your scars?" she asked, seemingly unperturbed by the hints she saw from his front, "The nurse said it would reduce the hardening and discomfort you're feeling from laying on your back for so long."

Nic didn't say anything. He stared at the ground in a bit of a daze. Like he was waiting for her to finish looking at his back.

Laurel took his lack of response as a yes and went around behind him, sitting down on the bed and pulling out the bottle of ointment as she looked over his back.

Nic's back was rather gruesome. He probably wouldn't even be able to move if his scars hadn't been rubberized. They were of various degrees of severity and age. But worse than the scars themselves was their cryptic nature.

Laurel could recognize his most recent scar he had received. But most of them weren't from fighting. They had been inflicted with a very specific purpose in mind. And that purpose was made clear in the words sprawled out across his back. Some were in English, others Chinese - all were derogatory. None were in the same hand writing, so it looked like at some point a lot of people had made a sport out of it over the years. Some older ones were unrecognizable because they had been covered by newer ones. One in particular stood out - and it looked like it was the oldest. In the largest letters, a 't' and an 'r' were clear on his shoulder. The next letter looked like maybe an 'a' or an 'o'. The rest had been disfigured by other words. Words carved into his skin so he would never forget them.

Still Nic said nothing, still staring at the ground.

Laurel said nothing as she began to rub the ointment all over his back. Once she was done she sat back, "Give it a minute to dry and then you can put a clean shirt on," she told him quietly before slowly standing back up and looking down at him.

Nic hadn't moved or said anything. And still nothing.

Laurel paused for a long moment before slowly squatting down in front of him, resting an arm on his knee and peering up at his face. "I understand now," she told him quietly, eyes showing some of light they had in the past, "Thank you for letting me in."

Nic's eyes were still blank. But it didn't look like he believed her. Like she still had absolutely no clue. Like she had just finished the first page of a very long book.

Yet... there was an odd weariness in face. Like the kind you get after taking off something that had been burdening you. He was clearly not accustomed to being anywhere near this vulnerable. And as his back suggested - for a very good reason.

Laurel sighed, wrapping her arm around his leg and hugging it a little as she continued to stare up at him. She was silent for awhile. "Do you believe they're true?" she finally asked softly.

Still nothing.

"Do you?" Laurel persisted when he didn't respond.

He didn't want to answer the question. He didn't want to talk about it. Or have it mentioned ever again.

Laurel watched him for a moment, "Sorry..." she murmured before suddenly shifting forwards onto her knees and tilting her head up until she was kissing him, "... sorry."

Nic was stiff at first, not wanting Laurel to take his guard down. But that didn't last too long.

Laurel continued to kiss Nic slowly, her hands hesitantly coming up until they rested on his abs. After a moment she rose up a little more and tried to push him back onto the bed.

Nic let her.

Yue didn't look at James as she tried to relax in the hot tub.

James sank into the other side. He was silent for awhile before letting out a sigh, "Did I hurt you this time?" he asked quietly.

Yue was silent for a moment. "... My foot fell asleep," she replied, a bit confused. She was thinking about when James carried her to the pool.

James looked confused for a moment, "Oh... no, I meant," he paused, "when I was away."

Yue didn't say anything. So yes.

James sighed, "I warned you..." he muttered, looking upset, "But I didn't think I'd stay under for so long."

"... Being gone and being there but mentally absent are two completely different types of leaving," she explained.

James blinked, "I'm gone, my heart is gone. My identity is gone. It's the same to me."

"Not to everyone else," Yue elaborated.

James blinked, "What's the difference?" he asked.

It didn't look like Yue felt like explaining the difference.

James tilted his head a little and tried a different approach, "Why are you so hung up on it?"

"You started it," Yue retorted.