So Snow vanished from Blazes side and went off to scare Kale.

--

Rosen walked inside, "Quite a bit different from James' right?" he drawled.

"Uh... yeah," Missy replied, glancing over for a moment before getting back to work.

"Do you have allergies?" he asked as he leaned against a creaky cabinet.

"A little," Missy replied.

"Hmm, that's gonna suck here," he decided. "You should come help me set up the game center."

Missy rolled her eyes a little. Of course that would be his first priority. "I'm going to get my room clean before I do anything else," she explained.

Rosen sighed, "'kay..." he replied, "How much longer?"

"I don't know," Missy replied.

Rosen sighed again, apparently he was going to wait right there, leaning on her dresser.

--

Laurel sniffed a little, pulling away from Nic enough to take a deep breath, "Alright... enough selfishness..." she murmured to herself, "Nic, you need to get into a real bed."

Missy did her best to ignore him. It became difficult after a long time though.

--

Nic blinked, looking like he felt perfectly comfortable where he was.

Rosen yawned again, "Almost done?" he asked after a while.

--

Laurel paused, "You're still recovering though... and I focused you through so much effort," she explained, "A quiet bed would be better, right?"

"No," Missy snapped a little, not liking the attention. "Why don't you go start without me?"

--

"It doesn't matter," Nic replied.

"Hmm... you're really not used to being around people, are you?" Rosen mused, not moving.

--

Laurel looked skeptical, "You're sure," she pressed.

"So what if I'm not?" Missy asked.

--

Nic nodded.

Rosen shrugged but didn't leave.

--

Laurel hesitated a moment longer before tightening her hold on Nic once more. "Did... Raven see your back?" she asked quietly.

Missy cleaned a little faster.

--

Nic shook his head.

Rosen seemed to start enjoying this though he remained passive like usual.

--

Laurel let out a sigh of relief and slowly looked into Nic's eyes. "Can I ask you... a really personal question?" she hesitantly asked. She had managed to push most of her nightmare back but glimpses of it remained in her gaze.

Nic didn't say yes. But he didn't say no.

"... How did your brother die?" Laurel whispered, eyes still locked onto his.

Nic didn't flinch or look away. He was just quiet for a short moment before replying, "He couldn't get the medical treatment he needed in time."

Laurel's eyes widened. She seemed to freeze for a long moment. Her worst nightmare, that had kept her up night after night, was Nic's reality. Surprisingly though, Laurel did not look sad and she didn't cry. She continued to stare at Nic, understanding that they shared a common pain. She didn't appear to be as naive as she had been a week ago. She seemed to have already accepted the realities of life she had been ignorant to.

"Is that... why you joined the Yin Long?" she asked after a long pause.

As always, Nic was hard to read, trying not to associate the emotions with the facts. He nodded slowly in response to her question.

"Then... I can never judge you, Nic." she whispered, "No matter what you did within the Yin Long, I cannot judge you. Just as I hope you aren't judging me by my illegal actions for money." She pulled one arm from around him and reached up, stroking his cheek. "I'm stronger now, Nic. I'm not afraid of the darkness, I won't hide from it anymore." There seemed to be a double meaning in her words as her eyes distanced a little.

Nic glanced away, almost as if he wished he hadn't heard that.

Laurel rubbed Nic's neck a little, "... I couldn't keep my head in the sand forever, Nic. I can't keep standing behind you," she explained, "There's things I have to face by myself as well. When you return to your gang, I'll return to mine for awhile," she explained in a calm voice, as if she'd already come to terms with the future.

Nic still didn't look at Laurel. He didn't like this plan.

Laurel was silent awhile, just looking at Nic. "... I'm not giving up on us," she stated quietly after a moment, "I'll never stop fighting to get back to you either. We'll... work through everything life throw at us, I'm sure of it." She smiled weakly and kissed his neck, "Regardless, you said it won't happen for a long while yet so... who knows what might happen between then and now."

Nic closed his eyes, trying not to think about Laurel's words too much. He absentmindedly traced her side with his hand. He'd think about the future some other time.

Nic could feel a small shiver go up Laurel's spine as he touched her. She leaned up and was a hairsbreadth away from kissing him when, "Laurel?" the Juttle door opened to allow James inside.

Laurel instantly pulled away from Nic, "James?" she called back in a concerned voice, "Are you alright now?"

--

"Now are you done?" Rosen demanded.

Nic's expression didn't change, but Laurel could tell he was annoyed. He kept his hand on Laurel's hip, wondering if James would take the hint and leave.

--

"It would go faster if you'd stop hounding me," Missy spat at him.

Unfortunately, Laurel wasn't paying attention to Nic's mood at the moment. She brushed his hand off her hip herself and moved to sit up as James walked inside.

"Yeah... I'm fine now," he smiled.

"You're sure?" Laurel asked, still very concerned, "You weren't acting like yourself at all."

"I wasn't myself," James said quietly before pausing, "But I didn't come here to talk about that! Let's do something fun!"

"Huh?" Laurel asked, confused now.

--

"But you're so slow at this," Rosen retorted.

"There has been enough excitement today," Nic said blandly.

--

"I'm fast. You're impatient," Missy corrected.

Laurel and James both looked at Nic. James blinked.

"I... don't think I'm up for anything too... exciting," she agreed as she looked back at James, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, the animals arrived so I was going to suggest we pick which garden to use as the zoo. But if it's too much we can do it anoth-" he explained and boy, he had said the magic words. Laurel immediately lit up.

"Oh!" she interrupted, "They must be so stressed from the flight." She looked back at Nic and then at James, "I'll put him to bed and meet you outside," she agreed. James nodded and turned to leave.

--

"I'm patient and you're slow," Rosen disagreed.

Nic didn't say anything. Yet.

--

"You just want to go to the game room and watch me set up all the equipment while you sit back and watch," Missy countered.

Once James had closed the door, Laurel turned back to Nic, "You need a nap," she prescribed as she grabbed his arm to help him up.

--

Rosen chuckled, "I'll bet you wouldn't know how to set up most of my systems," he challenged.

Nic didn't say anything as he stood.

--

"That trick isn't going to work," Missy replied smoothly.

Laurel continued to help support Nic as she lead him towards his room.

--

Rosen actually laughed, "I wouldn't let you touch my hand-made systems anyway," he mused.

Nic relied mostly on his own strength, but let Laurel help him. When they got to his filthy room, Nic didn't seem to notice how dirty it was. Or maybe he really didn't actually care.

--

"Not that I'd want to," Missy retorted.

Laurel, however, did care. A lot. She gasped as she looked around. "Sit on the bed but don't lay down!" she ordered, "This is ridiculous! You'll smother to death in here!" she immediately opened the one window, ignoring the loud creak before she started stripping the bedding right off the bed, creating a cloud of dust which threw her into a coughing fit. Apparently she had some dust allergies.

--

Rosen shrugged again, still watching her. "You have a nice ass," he suddenly stated.

Nic waved his hand around to clear some of the dust. "... Just leave it," he told her.

--

Missy dropped the sponge in her hand, but caught it before it hit the ground. Then she started scrubbing even harder.