“Damn,” Al muttered, “I need to trim my beard.” He had just gotten out of the shower and was observing his reflection in the mirror of Anabelle’s bathroom. He stroked the coarse hairs on his chin. They were getting longer than he liked. He had been in such a hurry when he left his desert home that he hadn’t brought anything with him except his black trench coat and scarf. He hadn’t known that he wouldn’t be back immediately.

“C’mon, Al,” Yui whined like a puppy. “I gotta pee! Ana only has one bathroom, y’know!” He was doing a little jig outside the bathroom door, much like he did when he was standing outside Al’s front door in the desert, two days prior.

“Ana?” Al questioned, “Calling your patients by nicknames now?” He turned away from the sink and turned the handle of the bathroom door. He opened it and was greeted with Yui’s face, which was surprisingly perky for someone who had just woken up. Al was a little taken aback, because Yui’s face was a bit closer than he expected.

“I’m allowed,” Yui pouted, “she said she doesn’t mind.” 

“Whatever,” Al replied, with an eye roll.

Yui put his hands on his hips and smiled haughtily, as though he had just won some sort of battle. Then his shoulders relaxed and he looked at Al’s beard. “Need a razor?” He asked, observantly.

“Yeah,” Al played with his beard, self-consciously.

“You can use mine, if you want.” Yui offered, with a smile.

Al looked over Yui. His face hadn’t a trace of stubble. He was wearing a sleeveless black zip-up shirt that he usually wore under his red leather jacket, and his bare arms looked perfectly hairless. “You shave?” Al asked. “I had a feeling you were naturally hairless.”

“Oh, mostly,” Yui made a short little shrugging motion. “I only need to shave some areas.”

Al squinted at Yui, as he often does. This time, it was as if he was trying to use x-ray vision to analyze what areas of Yui’s body might need to be shaved. He shuddered when he realized it. “Yeah, no thanks,” Al concluded, disgustedly, “I’ll buy my own pruning supplies today.” He hadn’t brushed his teeth since he got there either, but he decided he wasn’t desperate enough to use Yui’s toothbrush, after all the places Yui’s mouth had probably been.

Yui shrugged more noticeably. “Suit yourself!” He smiled as he took Al’s place in the bathroom. Al closed the door behind Yui and then noticed that he smelled something delicious. He made his way downstairs. He held onto the white railing as he carefully descended the narrow wooden staircase. 

The front door of Anabelle’s place led to a small, narrow lobby, with a light wood floor and ornate Victorian walls. On the left side of the entrance hall were the stairs leading up to Anabelle’s bedroom, Timmy’s old bedroom, and the bathroom. On the right side of the entrance hall was the living room, which Al and Yui had sat in on their first night there. The second doorway off of the hall went into the dining room. The kitchen was accessible though either the dining room or living room.

Al decided to walk through the familiar living room again. He noticed how the chintzy sofa clashed with the ornate Victorian wallpaper, as he skirted around the delicate-looking tables and decorative porcelain lamps. He noticed the small, circular end-table to the right of the sofa. It still held the tissue box that Yui had grabbed and handed to Anabelle on their first night here. What he hadn’t really acknowledged before was that, beside the tissue box, and under a stained glass lamp, was a five by seven inch framed photograph of Timmy. Al froze, and his heart panged with the same feeling he had when he couldn’t fall asleep on the first night that he had stayed in Timmy’s room. He had heard of the boy, felt his mother’s pain, and slept in a room surrounded by his belongings, but this was the first time he was seeing him. Before he knew it, Al’s eyes started tearing up. He wiped them away with his black sleeve.

He walked into the little kitchen, which was adorned with white and pale yellow tiles. He discovered that the smell was a mixture of pancakes and sausage.

“Good morning, Anabelle,” Al said, softly. He worried about startling her by coming in when her back was turned.

She turned away from the stove and looked at Al with a smile. “Good morning, Alistair,” she said, sweetly. “I’m making breakfast for you boys.”

Al’s eyes darted to the side, hesitantly. He had been wanting to say something, but he didn’t know where to start.

“Oh dear,” Anabelle pondered something. She held her dainty fingers up to her mouth, nervously. “You aren’t a vegetarian, are you?” She gasped. “You aren’t gluten intolerant, are you?” She looked worried, but Al still sensed nothing but pure bliss from her.

“N-no,” Al stuttered slightly in his nervousness. He was usually surprisingly good at speaking, despite being so bad with being around people. He didn’t have a problem with talking. He simply had a problem with inadvertently inhaling everyone’s emotions at once. This case was different, however. His shyness was due to not wanting to bring up a bad topic. He took a deep breath. “Anabelle,” he exhaled, “are you sure we should be sleeping in that room?”

“I don’t follow,” she smiled naively.

“Don’t you…” Al had a habit where, instead of stuttering or repeating words, he would patiently pause and think for a moment, to make sure that he was choosing the correct word before proceeding. He was very cautious and careful in general, and when it came to people, he didn’t want to risk upsetting them. Especially since that would upset him just as much. He continued, “want that room as a memoir? Shouldn’t it be left untouched?”

Anabelle blinked a couple times. “No, I don’t see why,” she tilted her head slightly. “There’s no point in a room, if it isn’t used, is there?”

“No, I….” Al paused again. “Guess not.”

Anabelle turned around and flipped the pancakes and sausage.

“Don’t you… want to do something with the belongings?”

“Oh, that’s a good point,” she considered, as she touched a hand to her cheek. Her big round blue eyes looked up and to the side. “We don’t have any use for those old toys. I’ll get a box for them later.”

Al nodded and tried saying “‘kay,” but his voice didn’t really come out. He felt very strange. Something was off, but since he never knew this girl prior to a few days ago, he couldn’t exactly tell what it was.

“Guess what!” Yui’s voice yelled from the stairway, at a volume that was much too loud for nine o’clock in the morning. A second later, he was behind Al, in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.

“What,” Al said in an irritated tone. It sounded more like a command than a question.

“I got another appointment tonight!” Yui grinned and interlaced his fingers behind his head, as he often did.

“Oh, that wonderful,” Anabelle exclaimed, before Al could say anything.

“Yup,” Yui rubbed under his nose with his index finger as he smiled. “It’s for eleven PM, just a few streets down from here.”

“That’s good,” Al said, but he couldn’t bring himself to smile. He still felt conflicted about whether or not he should be here. He was happy that Yui was helping people, and he was intrigued by Yui’s power, but… was that enough reason for him to stay? Al was completely out of his comfort zone. So much so, that the emotional distress caused Al to inflict harm on himself for the first time in a few years. Al needed to protect himself. To stay away from triggers that could make him self harm again. He needed to stay away from people in general, and here he was, in one of the most populated cities on Earth, following around a boy who specifically caters to the most distraught, depressed people he can find. This isn’t healthy for Al to be around him.

“You okay?” Yui had circled in front of Al. Al hadn’t realized he was covering his face with his hand, until he noticed that his sight of Yui was partially obstructed by his own fingers. Yui was leaning to the side and his hands were now interlaced behind his butt. The blonde tilted his head to the side in concern, and the longer bits of his hair in front of his ears dangled and swayed with the motion.

“Uh,” Al had to force himself back into his surroundings. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s ready,” Anabelle said in such a happy tone that she sounded like a bird singing. “Take a seat in the dining room, and I’ll bring it right out.”

The men walked through the doorway into the dining room. It had the same elaborate Victorian wallpaper as the living room and entrance. In the center was a dark wood dining table with matching chairs with chintz cushions. Paintings and photos adorned the walls, including some more pictures of Timmy. A small chandelier hung over the center of the table. Al and Yui took seats across from each other. They could see Anabelle dishing out their meals onto floral-rimmed plates through the doorway. She picked up the two plates, each adorned with pancakes and sausages, and carried them the short distance to the dining table. She went back and grabbed the syrup, butter, and utensils and put them on the table.

“It looks delicious,” Yui exclaimed energetically, as he immediately started cutting up his pancakes and pouring syrup all over them.

Al scoffed when he saw how much syrup Yui put on his pancakes. Then he turned to Anabelle and said “You didn’t have to do this for us. This is your house. I don’t want you to work like a maid.”

“Nonsense,” she said with a smile. “I was making some for myself, anyway.” She grabbed her own plate from the kitchen and sat down with them.

Yui was happily eating his sausage, when his phone made a small ding. He looked at it and saw that he got a message from one of his previous patients back home. He texted them back. “Awesome,” he said aloud.

“What is it?” Al asked, with his fork up to his mouth.

“Got another appointment today,” Yui beamed.

“You… think you can handle two in one day?” Al asked, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Oh, it’s just a follow-up,” Yui explained. He waved his fork slightly. “They’re just checking in with me to let me know how they’re doing.”

“Oh, so you’re not…” he let his voice fade away. He let out a sigh of relief, before taking another bite. It was weird enough being around someone who had sex with strangers for a living, but the idea of him having sex with multiple people in one day was a bit much for Al.

“I’ll just talk to her to see how she’s feeling, since it’s been a couple months since treatment,” Yui elaborated. “This is a patient from back home, in the village where I grew up. We’re going to have a video chat around one o’clock. You’re welcome to join us.”

“No thanks,” Al said, quickly. “I’ve never been good at that video chatting stuff. It feels strange to be able to see someone when they aren’t in the room. Especially when it…” he didn’t know the word.

“Lags?”

“Yeah, that,” he pointed at Yui. “I don’t like when it gets all choppy.”

“I’ve never had a problem with the reception here,” Anabelle added, pleasantly.

“Great,” Yui exclaimed. “See, Al? No worries.”

“I don’t think I’ll talk to her,” Al answered, “but I may want to stay nearby to… well, to get an idea of how she’s feeling.”

“Okay!” Yui grinned brightly.

“Come to think of it, I should call Meredith,” Al thought out loud. “I told her I’d update her on what’s happening when I got to the city.”

“Meredith?”

“My sister,” Al informed him.

“Ooh,” Yui was intrigued. He seemed to enter flirting mode, because he laid his chin on the back of his hand and narrowed his eyelids. “Younger or older?”

“Younger,” he said. “Though she seems older than me. She’s way more responsible. Don’t you dare try to hook her.” The last line was accompanied by a dagger-like glare.

“Only if she needs it,” Yui smirked.

Anabelle giggled.

Al grumbled as he grabbed his plate and carried it into the kitchen, where he washed it in the sink. Then he opened his flip-phone and dialed Meredith’s number.

“Hello?” A female voice answered, after a couple rings.

“Hey, it’s me,” Al said, casually, as he leaned his free hand on the kitchen counter.

“Hey, Al,” Meredith said, “how did it go with that guy? Where was he headed?”

“Oh, right, I didn’t tell you yet,” Al looked over at Yui and Anabelle chatting peacefully. “I took your advice and went with him to Shining City.”

“Shining City?” She repeated in an astonished tone. “The Shining City?”

Al hummed in affirmation.

“I’m impressed that you gathered the courage to go with him!” Meredith expressed. “So, did you find out what this mysterious guy’s job is?”

“Yeah, that’s the thing,” Al took a moment to decide what to say. “I wasn’t wrong. He is selling his body.”

“Oh?”

“But there’s more than that. He’s…” Al paused.

“You there, bro?”

“Yeah, sorry. You know how I said he claimed to be a therapist?”

“Uh-huh…?” Her voice sounded expectant.

“Well, he has this strange… power. After he… does his business, his client’s mood and emotions completely change.”

“What do you mean?”

Al sighed, as though talking tired him out. “He takes clients who are depressed, and… Afterwards, their negative emotions completely vanish.”

“Wait, you mean you can’t feel anything from them?” Meredith asked. “Like with him?”

“No, not quite,” he pushed his hair out of his face. “It’s a little different. It’s like there’s nothing there but pure bliss.”

“Ooh,” Meredith replied, in a similarly flirty tone to what Yui had when Al had told him that he had a sister. “That sounds lovely!”

“It feels strange, though,” Al replied, worriedly. “Like it’s fake.”

“Fake how?” Meredith asked. “To me, it sounds like some good sex.”

“No, it’s-” he was getting a little flustered now. He lowered his voice. “It’s not natural. This girl, Anabelle, her son died… She was devastated. I could feel it. You know I could. And then suddenly… It was like she didn’t care about her son anymore at all.”

After a moment, Meredith spoke. “Not to be a bitch, Al, but I think you could learn from her.”

Al gave the phone a sidelong glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked defensively.

“Whatever this new friend of yours did,” she spoke with her teacher voice, which often made Al feel like he was being treated like a child, “whether it’s just sex or some kind of magic, like you seem to think it is, it helped that woman overcome trauma. Moving past trauma doesn’t mean that she doesn’t care about the person involved in that trauma anymore. It means that she’s ready to be happy, instead of dwelling in the past. You need to learn to let yourself be happy, William.”

“Don’t call me that!” Al roared. Anyone else would have thought it was a threat. Yui and Anabelle glanced over to him.

“Is all okay?” Yui called from across the room.

“Yeah,” breathed Al. He walked further from the others, into the living room. He sat down on the couch.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Meredith sighed. “You’re so damaged by your past that you can’t even hear your own name anymore. It’s time to move on.”

“I can’t just… forget the most important person in the world to me.”