“...Esi?” Nircoel asked groggily.

“Ha…Yes, Nir?” I gently set him down on his bed.

I didn’t expect to be caught in the act of carrying him.

“You’re really strong.” He yawned and closed his eyes, falling back asleep.

“I try,” I whispered as I left his room.

~.~

Detective Willis laid on his bed, relieved to be away from the Sin Deckate.

“Amaryllis is such a tiring character to play,” he reflected, arm laying across his head.

After his brother had composed himself, he had begged Amaryllis to stay with him. He did love his brother, but could not stand the thought of being in the Sin Deckate for another moment.

“I’d better text those kids,” he mumbled, rolling onto his side. His phone was too far away for him to reach without getting up, so he decided to do it tomorrow.

~.~

Nircoel was cooking breakfast when I went downstairs the next morning.

“Oh, morning, Esi!”

“Morning, Nir.”

I had hoped he wouldn’t remember me carrying him…all signs seemed to say he didn’t.

When he set our simple breakfast of eggs and waffles on the table, he chose to sit next to me instead of across from me.

As we ate, I stared at Nircoel who did not notice, for he was staring at my arm. He broke the silence first.

“Can you put your arm on the table for me?”

“Bad table manners, but sure…” I did as he asked.

Before I knew it, Nircoel had started touching my arm, getting around to feeling my muscles.

Safe to say I didn’t know what to do in this situation.

He didn’t seem to mean anything by it. In fact, his eyes simply displayed curiosity. I let him continue, trying not to focus on it until his hand stopped on my bicep.

“Your muscles really are great…” he mumbled in amazement.

Then he looked at me, at my arm, then back at me, finally seeming to realize the entirety of what he did and scrambling backward.

“Ah…Ah…I’m sorry! That must have been so weird -- I’m sorry!”

Laughing at his reaction, I told him it was fine, but he scolded me for taking it too lightly and continued to apologize.

Leaving me with no choice but to take the only course of action available, though I wouldn’t call it logical.

I got up from my chair and stood in front of him, leaning in to trap him between the table and myself.

“Wh-What are you doing?” he asked, a slight blush coming to his cheeks.

“Nothing,” I told him. “But you seemed pretty interested in my arms just now. I told you it was fine, and I don’t mind, so you can do whatever.”

He stared up at me in unbelief, but upon seeing that I was serious, he took my offer and began to touch my arms, zoning out as he did. While he had his fun, I played a game on my phone, trying to push down the strange feelings I was getting from this. I didn’t know what it was, and I didn’t want to. 

Soon, I ran into a predicament.

Nircoel’s hand was on one arm while his focus was on the other. But Detective Willis had sent me a text in the middle of me attempting to beat a really hard level. I had unwisely ignored it, and I didn’t even finish the level. I bent in some more so I could see the text properly, accidentally startling Nircoel with the sudden move.

But he leaned into me, just staying there. I wrapped my arm around him, not entirely sure of what was happening. However, I sensed that he needed me in some way.

I heard him say, “I’m glad you’re here.”

I told him, “I’m glad you’re here too.”

After staying like that for a while, the urge to open that text really bugged me. I subconsciously picked Nircoel up again, causing him to squeal.

“What was that for?!”

“Um…You didn’t look like you were going to let go anytime soon.” 

His fingers were still wrapped around my shirt, further proving my point. I carried him to the couch and sat down, him remaining on my lap. He raised no argument, and I finally got to check my phone, which now had three new messages from Khlo.

I checked hers first before I became all giddy about the case. Focusing on the case would inevitably destroy my moments of peace.

“Hey darling stop by when you have a moment.”

“Ezyn?”

“What, are you two on a date or something?”

I replied:

Don’t be ridiculous of course we’re not.

Sure, this weekend alright?

She quickly responded positively.

“What’s up?” Nircoel asked, shamelessly reading my texts. When he finished, he laughed. “Maybe we should go on a date sometime,” he joked.

I rolled my eyes, then looked at what Detective Willis had sent me.

“He agreed. The date’s set for a month from now.”

I sighed. I had hoped that we could meet with him sooner and get this case finally solved, but I knew deep inside that it wasn’t that easy and I should be grateful to have even gotten to this point after four whole years.

And what worried me even more was --

If I didn’t have a case to obsess over, what would I do with these growing feelings toward Nircoel?

His arm curled around my neck as he raised himself up slightly. 

I rationalized it by thinking to myself that it was only a little more than a week since we had met, nothing could be happening.

But did things ever get this far in a week?

“What should we do while we wait?” he asked me, eyes full of curiosity.

“Prep ourselves to close the case,” I said, not able to look him in the eyes.

And if he didn't reciprocate any of those feelings, what was wrong with me?