When he awoke the next morning, the remains of his high were still within him. How something as small as that lump of rock could leave him high and powerful the morning after, he had no idea, but it was fascinating. It felt like he had just smoked a pipe of vireen, even though he hadn’t touched his stash since yesterday. 

Spencer was nowhere to be seen. His window was shut and the blankets had been pulled up to his chest, meaning Spencer had climbed in after he’d passed out, but he hadn’t stayed. An embarrassed blush rose up to his ears as he pushed the blankets away and stood from the bed, still in his uniform from the night before. At least the bedding was the only thing Spencer had touched. 

A knock at the door startled him and with a tired yawn, he pulled it open. Henricks stood on the other side, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else, but plastered a smile on his face nonetheless. Vincent had seen him a few times since he’d arrived, mostly when he was given his post for the day. 

“Good morning, Mister Mortimer,” Henricks said, giving him a quick once over. Vincent’s clothing was rumpled from sleeping in it and his mop of hair was all over the place; he doubted he looked anything like he was supposed to. “Governor Thompson has requested your presence again today. Be ready in ten minutes, she will be having breakfast in the dining room.”

Before Vincent could ask where the dining room was, Henricks left, walking down the thin hallway towards the kitchen. Vincent closed the door behind him and took a few minutes to fix his appearance. He couldn’t go over to the manor looking like he had slept in his uniform, that would raise far too many questions. He sighed, he was far too paranoid.

His thoughts were a jumbled mess, trying to keep up with the fact that the vireen he had touched the night before was still affecting him. It shouldn’t have been possible, but he couldn't deny it. His senses were still heightened, he still felt stronger, like he could run a mile and not feel tired. It was what he was used to now that it had calmed down, but the overwhelming sensations of the night before were completely new. At least he was finally able to focus the magic instead of letting it run wild. 

Once he was satisfied with his appearance and his hair was brushed into something semi-neat, he left his room and grabbed a piece of bread from the kitchen. A single woman stood in the middle of the room, the same one from the night before. If he remembered correctly, her name was Mira. 

“Oh, it’s you,” she said when she saw him, a kind smile on her face. “It was nice meeting you yesterday. Sorry about my rambling.”

He gave a small grunt in response. “It’s no bother,” he muttered, already hoping for the end of the conversation. People were not his forte.

But he wasn’t that lucky. “Where are you off to today?” Mira asked, smiling like they were good friends. 

“Watching the Governor, so I should probably-”

“Oh, looks like we’ll be working together then!” Mira interrupted, clapping her hands together cheerfully. “They’ve finally given me another assignment. Just means that I’m running on two hours sleep.” 

He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that, but she didn’t give him a chance to figure it out. She was already heading for the door, a bright smile on her face and an expectant look in her eyes. Vincent sighed and followed her, munching on the uncooked piece of bread. 

 At least he wouldn’t be working with Spencer, but he couldn’t be certain that it would mean peace and quiet. It also meant that they wouldn’t be able to discuss what had happened the night before, which was far more important than any of Vincent’s qualms with the other man. However, as he headed out to the road that led to the manor, he caught sight of a familiar figure leaning against the dormitory wall with a pipe in hand 

His eyebrows raised in relief when he caught sight of Vincent and he pulled the pipe from his mouth. “I was wondering if you would wake up on time,” Spencer said, pink-tinged smoke rising into the air. “Did you have a nice beauty sleep?”

“Shut up,” Vincent grumbled, face flushed with embarrassment once again. Mira was ahead of him, hopefully out of hearing range. He whispered nonetheless, it was safer that way. “You didn’t touch it. You don’t know how overwhelming that was.”

“We should have taken it with us so we can figure out what it really is,” Spencer said, humming thoughtfully. 

Vincent shook his head, glancing briefly at the quiet manor. “We are the first people they would suspect if something went missing,” he replied. “I know you’re curious about it. I am too, but we have to be smart about this.”

“Are you saying I’m not smart?”

“You’re putting words in my mouth but I’m not going to disagree.”

Spencer gave him a drawl look and took another puff of his pipe. “Ah, Vincent, my dear, I’m not the one who grabbed a mysterious rock without knowing what it was,” he said with a cheeky grin. 

Even he could say he regretted grabbing it, but at the same time, it gave him so many questions. “Look, we can talk about this later, I’m supposed to be watching over the Governor,” he said, despite how much he wanted to talk about what had happened. There would be time later in the day. 

The way Spencer’s face lit up made him cringe. “Guess I’m stuck with you all day,” he said before pursing his lips. “Don’t look too excited about it, you were with me all night last night too.”

“And look where that got me, passed out in my bed, high off my face,” he said, glaring at him. 

“How quickly you change your tune about me,” he muttered with a shake of his head. “What, Vince? Are you worried that someone will think you actually enjoy my company?”

“Yes, because you enjoy mine. Last night was my curiosity getting the better of me. You just happened to be there,” he replied, far too tired to be dealing with the conversation. He wasn’t going to admit that the only reason his curiosity was piqued in the first place was because of Spencer. 

Someone cleared their throat behind him. Mira stood there, a small smile on their face. “I hope you know that I’m supposed to be watching over you today. I don’t really want to be late,” she said. While friendly, there was still an air of professionalism about her.

Spencer’s eyes lit up when he found someone new to talk to. Despite him working alone, he always was better at talking to people than Vincent was. “Hello there,” he said, a bright grin on his face. “I don’t think we’ve met before.”

“Mira,” she said, holding out a hand for him to shake. She might be concerned about them being late but apparently it didn’t matter too much if she was the one in the conversation.

“Everyone just calls me Mister Bowers,” Spencer replied, giving her a quick once over. Vincent bit back the scoff and ignored the third blush of the morning. She was a pretty woman, small, wavy blonde hair, kind brown eyes. He could understand why Spencer stared at her the way he did, even if women weren’t exactly what Vincent was interested in. 

She raised an eyebrow at him. “No first name?” she asked, pursing her lips when Spencer shook his head. At least Vincent was still the only one who knew his first name, even if everyone knew his face now. “Not exactly a common name. You know, I used to work for a man named Bowers before I came here. Ignatius Bowers. Heard of him?”

There was a second of silence where Vincent frowned, his eyebrows furrowing as he watched Spencer. “No,” the other man said, but it sounded choked.

“Hmm, oh well. You don’t look much like him anyway,” Mira replied, oblivious to Spencer’s obvious discomfort. “Come on, we should get going.”

Spencer said nothing, just sighed and finished smoking his pipe. Mira walked up the road with a quick glance over her shoulder, but Vincent’s gaze was fixated on Spencer. There wasn’t time to ask, but as soon as they had a free moment, Vincent wanted to know who Ignatius Bowers was. It wasn’t often that he learned something about the other man’s past.