Landis noticed how tense Conri became after his confession. Tight shoulders. Mouth parted: whether in surprise or awe, Landis couldn’t tell. He watched Conri bring his hand to his left ear, reaching for one of the many silver pieces adorning it, but then moving to adjust his glasses. The dagger resting on his lap. Whatever the response was or whenever it would happen, Landis commanded his smile to not falter. This was a safe space and he hoped Conri would too feel safe here after today.

As if a switch was turning on, Conri seemed to regain composure. Slowly, Conri removed his other hand from Landis’. The stone was placed next to the dagger with care.

“I’m sorry Landis,” was the first thing he said. His green eyes like leaves drifting off tree branches in autumn. “I don’t know if I can reciprocate your feelings right now."

Landis could feel a pinch in his chest like a needle striking a vein. He now fought to keep his smile.

“You’re alright, really.” He tried keeping the same comforting tone as before. “I wasn’t thinking and my phrasing came off as inappropriate. There are bigger things to focus on at the moment.” He finally looked away and silently cursed his pale skin for being so visibly contrasting against the now red splotches he could feel forming on his face.

He stood up. 

“Here let me see if I saved any old references for you to practice with.” The goal was to salvage his pride and usefulness to their endeavor. “If not, I can always draw some common ones for starters. Just until you’re comfortable creating anchors from scratch.”

Leaving Conri alone in the living room as he made his way back down the hall towards his bedroom. He lingered quietly behind the door, exhaling and accepting the outcome. Rejection wasn’t uncommon. Neither was disappointment. Yet this time, the disappointment had dug rough and deep, almost like the time he came out to his father. Composing himself like nothing happened, he started digging through old boxes he kept in his closet. Several layers of memories stared up at him as pictures, journals and trinkets. No immediate luck. 

After returning the boxes to his closet, he made his way back out to his guest. 

“Apologies, I’ll have to make you a new copy from memory. Just a sec.” 

He could see Conri nod in response, noting how his hand was back up to his ear like before, looking momentarily lost in thought. A nervous tick perhaps? 

Landis dove into a drawer for pen and paper then leaned onto the kitchen table writing and sketching out some of the basics. His past studies came naturally to each rune he drew a handful or two with matching titles and brief descriptions.

“Here are some to get you started, nothing too advanced. Most are utilitarian, but they’ll be helpful to practice binding to an anchor before possibly adjusting the attribute with your intention. Just choose your words carefully, I’d hate for something to happen to you or Mrs. Kast’s building.” Landis mustered up a chuckle for good measure as he handed it over.

He watched Conri click back to reality, removing his hand from his ear, then reached for the paper. 

“And as for the whole confession,” now he felt his words began to trip over themselves. “I wasn’t trying to put you on the spot or anything. The moment felt right and-” 

Landis’ phone sang to life mid-sentence. 

He declined the call. 

“And I stand by everything I said, my feelings are real, but I-”

Again his phone. 

He let out a tinge of frustration in the form of a huff. 

“I respect your answer!” Blurting out over the ringer and finally reaching for the phone. “Its just not my night.” 

Ringing phone in hand, he excused himself from the living room to the kitchen.

“Oh, Finally! I was worried you weren’t going to answer.”

The voice belonged to Rose, she sounded quite relieved when he answered. 

“Is everything ok? My next shift isn’t tomorrow last I checked.”

“No, Its not.” Her voice now sounding rushed and hushed, like she was still in the office trying to not be overheard. “I wanted to be the one to tell you this, but the security department just came back with something big. And I mean BIG. Its a mad house here, I’ve never seen so many broken golems and officers all together. Chief Sunleaf is beyond furious.”

“Rose, whats going on?” His voice coming out as anxious irritation.

“Maria Florence was attacked this afternoon during a press conference, the suspect was on the run and completely unhinged. Her security unit followed them to like some sort of hideout and they found bodies. Several and I overheard someone on the report say that some of the bodies was wearing civilian uniforms…I think they found Ruchi among them.”

__

Conri didn't want to focus on the note right away. He thanked Landis as he placed it and the other items back into their box. He tested closing the lid. Whatever locking mechanism it has must've been only operational to giants, so he could open it by himself thankfully. He was on his feet now, the box in his bag and his phone up requesting another ride share. 

"Let's call it a night, ok? Seriously though, thank you for everything."

He called out as he exited the front door with his things. He was too rushed to notice if Landis' replied. The tips of his ears still felt warm and his heart was pounded like the aftermath from a hearty jog. A rude exit for sure. The beating only amplified as he descended in the empty elevator. He kept his arms across his torso as he exited the building and entered the car. The day was finally having a toll on his body, replaying the events in his mind grew more distorted as he over analyzed each detail. It took him the whole ride home to calm down. 

Now outside his familiar apartment, he lingered outside the doors, as the previous fear of being exposed was no longer biting at his skin. Taking a spot hidden around behind the park cars out front, he leaned against the building and stared upwards. The once softly tinted orange afternoon light was replaced with artificial white street lights below the deep night sky. He debated turning in right away, but if he was going to enact the next part of his, stupid, plan, he'd need someone who could understand. At least to some extent. He dialed and put the phone to his ear. A ring then another before,

"Daddy's phone, this is Anna."

The squeaky, upbeat voice, got a smile out of him. 

"Hi Annabelle, why do you have dad's phone?" he replied teasingly.

"He's stuck." He could tell she was grinning as she spoke. "We made a fort in the kitchen and his tummy got stuck under a chair."

The faint hurried sound of grunting and shuffling from, what Conri assumed was, furniture followed almost immediately. A very brief back and forth between the two on the other end was heard in bits, but ended with a childlike laugh before Thompson's voice was fully present.

"Does Elena know you're remodeling the apartment?"

"We're not remodeling, we're fighting off a raid of vampire pirates and their werewolf robot captain. You're welcome by the way for saving the world."

"I'm afraid the world isn't saved yet Captain."

"Obviously, did you see the news today?"

"Not exactly," Conri's gaze drifted to the ground below his feet. "Practically lived it to some degree." He recapped his day with mild hesitation, glossing over a few details specifically seeing Rovin. 

"Wow," A traditional Thompson beat of silence. "and I thought fighting the robot captain was challenging."

"The point is I think if I can locate not only whats left of Dalton, I might be able to also find out if this is connected to Rovin. I owe Elliot that much." He owed it to Landis even more now. "There is an old friend I want to see, but I'd like you to come with me."

"As your friend, I care about you, but I don't like where you're going with this idea."

"Isha would know something. She hears everything since she's practically running that part of the city. I'll talk to her and it'll be quick."

Conri could picture the pointed stare Thompson would be giving him if they were face to face. Isha and Thompson were on friendly terms, loose ones, but friendly. It put Thompson in an uncomfortable position because he was the only other person who was with Conri for that part of his life. A part that unfortunately was right at the peak when Rovin's true colors showed. 

"You wouldn't have to talk to her, I'd just need you to watch my back while I meet with her." Conri's free hand was balled into a fist, knuckles turning white, unable to sit comfortably through Thompson's pregnant pause. 

"If I do this, you have to swear, that I have the final say in when we're leaving. No arguing, got it?"

Conri let out a silent exhale of relief. 

"Agreed."

"And," another traditional Thompson comedic pause. "You're going to babysit Annabelle when Elena and I celebrate our anniversary. You're overdue on quality time with the world's best step-daughter."

Thompson must have arcane talents because Conri couldn't help but smile.