Nic's expression didn't change, and he didn't say anything.

"That's good, right?" Laurel pressed, trying to get a reaction, "You have more time."

"... Yes..." he half-agreed.

Laurel sighed a little as she nodded before she gently lifting up his head and slipping out from under him. Once he was settled she tucked the blankets around him tighter and leaned in, kissing his cheek and then lightly on the lips, "Try to get some good rest then." she told him quietly, "I'll let you know of something else happens." she promised before sitting in the chair he had been sitting in before.

Nic was quiet for a long moment. When he reached the conclusion she was going to keep sitting there starting at him, he did his best to not let it prevent him from falling asleep.

After that long moment, Laurel seemed to understand that even looking at him was keeping him awake. With a sigh she turned in the seat and started at a painting on the wall. After a little bit she started to hum which eventually turned into quiet singing. The singing was in some African tongue and was quite beautiful though simple. It seemed like a child's song.

After a long time, it seemed like he just wasn't going to fall asleep. But then suddenly he was sleeping, like he had flipped a switch.

Laurel chuckled silently as she watched him sleep for awhile. Then she silently got up and left. She returned about two hours later with what looked like two cups of coffee.

Nic was still asleep and didn't wake when she entered.

So Laurel walked over, setting the two cups down before turning back to Nic. "Nic," she called, gently shaking your shoulder, "You'll never sleep tonight if you sleep too much now." she sighed.

Nic mumbled something incoherent before turning around, not wanting to wake up.

Laurel huffed a little before giving in and sitting down on the chair, what was the harm in a few more minutes? Instead she leaned over and poked around on Nic's computer so gently it was if she thought it might explode if she touched it.

The computer didn't explode, thankfully. It was near impossible to make sense of what it was doing. At least for Laurel.

Laurel let Nic sleep for another 20 minutes or so, all the while the delicious smell of coffee filled the room. After she'd gotten bored with Nic's computer, she walked over to Nic began to massage his neck, "Time to get up." she informed him kindly.

Nic complained again. Even the smell of coffee didn't help. Perhaps it was a good dream.

Laurel stopped again, she didn't want to pull Nic out of someplace happy and drag him back in their mess of a reality. She sighed as she sat down on the floor, back to the couch. Slowly she rubbed her head with her hands, appearing lost in thought.

Nic stayed like he was for awhile, but then he started to mutter again.

Laurel was too deep in thought to notice at first but then she blinked and half turned to watch Nic. She wondered if listening to him in his sleep was the same as eavesdropping... Regardless, she listened anyway.

Like usual, Nic wasn't very coherent in his sleepy mumblings. Though he seemed pretty calm and comfortable to whoever he was talking to as he rolled around again. Then suddenly his eyes flashed open and he sat up abruptly. "Ba ba?!" A deep terror came out in his voice mixed with some of the pain Laurel had heard before. He blinked, confused as his mind slowly came back. He didn't notice a lonely tear that escaped down his cheek.

Laurel jumped as Nic started up. She blinked up at him with wide, confused eyes. She felt terrible for overhearing such a private moment... "S.. Sorry..." she began but as she spotted the tear she forget everything else, instantly pulling herself up until she was sitting beside him before hugging him tightly.

It took Nic a good while to get his bearings back. "... I... should get back to work," he decided quietly.

Laurel nodded, hugging him tighter for a brief moment then letting go. She said nothing about his dream just smiled a little, "I brought coffee." she explained, "It should still be warm." On closer inspection of the two cups, one was indeed coffee and the other was... some sort of cake.

So Nic slowly got up and went over to his desk. He seemed rather confused about the fake coffee, looking at it suspiciously for a moment before taking the real coffee.

Laurel would have laughed if she had been in a better mood. But as it was she just stated, "It's like a carrot cake... nothing too sweet since I know you dislike that. It's a good breakfast so make sure you at least nibble on it." she paused a moment, "I got bored." she added in explanation of the elaborate disguise.

Nic nodded after taking a sip of his coffee and sitting down at his desk.

Laurel nodded and though Nic wasn't looking at her face and couldn't see, in her eyes there were some dark thoughts plaguing her. She was silent for a long moment before standing, turning to back quickly to Nic, "I'll... see you later then." she said in a voice with a bit of the same sharp edge Nic had heard her use with Missy. She headed to the door without waiting for his reply.

Nic glanced over at her, but didn't say anything as she left.

The days pasted slowly until a bit after lunch on the third day when Frei made an appearance in Raven's 'room.' She stared at him as blankly as always, not seeming to realize she was three days late.

Laurel had been acting a little strangely, she had apologized to Missy for her harsh greeting but some of the tension was clearly still there. People who she hadn't been close with before her ordeal with her father got a bit of a cold shoulder from her. At times, even those who she was close to were pushed away. Laurel went through stages of practically babying Nic to being passive aggressive with him. It was almost as if she didn't know quite how to act around him. Something about him continued to clearly bother her though as the dark thoughts would occasionally flash behind her eyes.

She was to be found mostly in the kitchen, cooking up a variety of different things and getting creative with sweets. If she was acting colder to others, she was making it up with creative, cutely designed sweets. She seemed to be the happiest when she cooked. If she was in a slightly more aggressive mood, she was in the gun range. If she needed to be alone she was with either on the race track or with her animals. This being said, it was pretty easy to track Laurel's moods.

--

The doctor came into Kale's room quietly, going over to Blaze and putting a hand lightly on her shoulder, "We're going to ease off the drugs and let him partially wake up." he explained, "He'll be in pain but we need to check his vitals while he's awake."

Raven rolled his eyes, but didn't bother Frei about it. Instead he took her to find a bathing suit.

Nic seemed mostly consumed with his work. Every now and then he'd pull himself out of it for awhile, but the longer he wasn't working the more guilty he seemed to feel. He didn't discuss anything about it with Laurel - maybe because he didn't want to or maybe because she didn't ask. But he let Laurel try to figure out how to be comfortable around him on her own. He was extremely patient with the babying and the passive aggression. After a few days he started giving her small suggestions and/or compliments every now and then to help her along. Such as feeling free to ask questions, saying what snacks of hers he had liked best, and thanking her for checking on him every now and then.

---

Blaze had barely left Kale's side the entire time. She had gotten a lot of reading done.

She nodded to the doctor.

Frei ended up getting into a... bright shining pink and green metallic one piece. It looked rather strange with her bored, too-mature expression. But maybe this was a glimpse at the girl trapped behind her walls.

Even with his reassurance, Laurel never asked a single personal question about Nic or what he was doing. The thing bothering her remained and seemed to be growing stronger but still, she remained silent about it. She seemed genuinely happy when he spoke to her and joyfully began doing all the chores for him that needed to be done as he worked.

She was currently in his room, stitching up a hole in one of his shirts and trying not to be a nuisance as he worked.

--

So after a little while, Kale started moving. He made no noise but his head started to shift a little and his hand twitched.

Raven managed not to laugh. He picked out a few neon green floaties for her and slipped them on before her first lesson. Sitting at the edge of the pool and putting her feet in the water for awhile.


Nic was working quietly like usual. He had noticed something wasn't right with Laurel, but he considered whatever the work he was doing to be more important.

--

Blaze didn't want to get in the doctor's way, but she reached out and held Kale's hand gently.

Frei's eyes were looking out at the large expanse of the pool, she didn't look too happy. But she slowly stuck her feet in.

Laurel didn't want to get in Nic's way or distract him for whatever important thing he was doing... but finally she just couldn't take it any longer. She stopped sewing and stared at Nic's back for a long moment. "For someone who claims to love me, you sure do a poor job of showing it." she suddenly spat, the venom of doubt seeping into her voice.

--

After a moment she felt a very light squeeze in return. It looked like he was gaining consciousness, or perhaps it was simply reflexive.

Raven took it very slow with Frei. When she got bored of sitting around, he had her kick her feet in the water a little. Then when she was bored of that, he took her over to a step in the shallow water which covered her ankles. Then after that, a little further in so her knees were under the water.


"... W-... What?" Nic asked, trying to pull his mind away from the computer.

--

Regardless, Blaze kept holding Kale's hand.

Frei looked at Raven for a long moment, "Can I jump in already?" she suddenly asked, clearly bored. "The flotation devices will keep my head up."

Laurel snorted a little coldly, "I understand you've got work to do. That it's important work. That you feel like you're wasting your time if you're not working on it. I get that. But... you don't seem to understand that... loving someone is a really big deal for me. It's terrifying and... I've never loved someone the way I love you which... makes it even more frightening. I never know how you feel and... I hate it." she stated quietly, still glaring slightly at his back, "I really hate being this vulnerable."

--

Eventually a small moan escaped from Kale and the doctors began taking notes on different things.

"... If you feel like you're ready," Raven told her, crossing his arms.


Nic took another moment to pull himself away from the computer. "I told you, I'm not good with feelings," he explained to Laurel as calmly as he could, but the work was starting to stress him out a little. "This is... a big deal for me to. But I need to keep you safe and to do that I need to find something before the group returns."

So Frei jumped off the step and disappeared under the water. After a moment the floaties did bring her to the surface but she was coughing horribly, it appeared that she'd inhaled some water.

Laurel stared at Nic for a long moment, her expression harder than normal, "When did you first start loving me?" she suddenly demanded.

Raven quickly went over to Frei and picked her up, making sure she was okay.


Nic's face contorted a little like it usually did when he thought really hard. He processed his thoughts for several minutes before concluding, "Your birthday."

And then Frei did a very surprising thing. She clung to Raven's neck and started to laugh. Her laugh was light and slightly musical, like a little bird.

"... So fast?" Laurel asked, some of the edge finally leaving her voice.

Raven was clearly surprised for a moment before laughing with her.

Nic took a long moment to process Laurel's question before nodding slowly.

Frei continued to giggle, her small, thin frame hardly any weight in Raven's arms. Quickly she pointed at the slide, a child's desire adventure in her eyes.

"Because... I was like your brother?" she clarified further.