Rowan is in the kitchen cooking.

As soon as Dew got back to Rowan's house, he went directly to his room, and fell flat on the bed. He's been staring at the ceiling for the past few hours, his thoughts racing as he comes to a conclusion.

Rowan has to be the Origin. Or he at least knows who it is. There is no other explanation for his behavior. Dew may have dropped out of high school, but he's not stupid. Something isn't quite right about Rowan, and being or knowing the Origin would explain fucking everything.

Finally, Dew gets up, and makes his way out of his bedroom. He walks to the kitchen, and finds Rowan cooking. He's shirtless again, wearing only sweatpants. It's a bit distracting, and Dew isn't going to look into why the fuck he finds it distracting.

He sits at the little counter area, and just watches Rowan until the man notices him.

"Why were you meeting with King Marley?" Is what he asks.

Dew responds, "we were talking about boys."

That's not a lie. Rowan is a boy. Plus, Marley's gay. It makes sense. Still, Dew says it jokingly, and Rowan sighs.

"How was work?"

"Fine."

He puts a plate in front of Dew, and it appears to just be spaghetti. "Thank you."

Rowan nods.

C'mon Dew! Ask him if he's the Origin!

Dew just digs into his fucking spaghetti, and obviously it tastes phenomenal since Rowan is just perfect at everything. Rowan eventually finishes, and notifies Dew;

"I'm going out." Then he walks to his room. He comes back out wearing a shirt, grabs his keys, and exits the condo. Dew just raises his eyebrows. Is Rowan going to pick up a girl again? Who knew Rowan was such a player? He hasn't done so the past few days, but here we go again.

Dew sighs, and doesn't even finish his spaghetti. He throws the rest away and does the dishes, then walks back to his room. Spikes is in there, asleep on his bed. This is not the best living situation for her, since she's stuck in a room all day, and Dew decides he should look into getting another job.

Dew stays up painting a landscape, and around 1 a.m. he hears the door open and a male voice. The voice isn't Rowan's.

Dew frowns, pausing in his painting as he listens to the two talking. He hears some fumbling, and then a door opening. A door that sounds just the right distance away for it to be Rowan's bedroom.

Hang on. Is Rowan about to fuck a guy?

Dew's eyes widen.

Then, he hears some thumping.

Yup! Count Dew out!

Dew stands up and grabs his wallet, before making his way out of his bedroom. The sounds are clearer once he exits, and he cringes as he leaves the condo. He goes down the stairs and eventually finds himself in the Crest View parking lot. He makes his way onto the sidewalk, and walks in the direction of the nearest convenience store, which is a few blocks away.

When Dew reaches it, he purchases some ear plugs and a few snacks, then goes back to the condo. Upon entering, he still hears the thumping that signals that the two are going at it.

Dew wastes no time putting in his ear plugs upon entering his room. Immediately he is met with peaceful silence, and he goes back to his painting.

Dew falls asleep at the desk, and is awoken once again, by the sound of arguing.

This time it is about six o'clock in the morning, and when Dew gets out of his bed, he finds Spikes asleep on the drawing he finished last night. Slowly, Dew makes his way to the door. Sorry! He's curious. He's aware that he will probably get infected with the emotions, but he's nosy!

Dew opens the door and is met with a similar situation to the one a few days ago. Rowan and some man are standing at the front door. The guy has some makeup on, and a t-shirt with his pants in his hands, which he is currently putting on. He's also yelling at Rowan at the same time.

Dew is hit by a truck of emotions. They are all pure rage.

"Are you fucking serious Rowan—I can't believe this," his voice is somewhat feminine, Dew notes. "I thought I meant something to you."

Rowan, who is in nothing but boxers once again, raises a brow. "What gave you that idea?"

Holy shit. How could he say that? Does he not have a heart? Anger curls itself in Dew's gut, and he is honestly doing everything possible not to go fucking crazy right now.

"I don't know!" The man responds, finally getting his pants on, "maybe because you told me I was different?"

"You should probably leave, Andrew."

"It's Anthony!"

What the fuck?! How could Rowan do this? To Anthony? This is just fucking typical. So that's what he does, he just goes around and plays with people's feelings like a heartless jackass. Clearly all that matters to this man is getting his fucking rocks off.

Anthony just scoffs, then turns around and storms out the door, flipping Rowan the bird over his shoulder. Dew is absolutely shaking with rage, as he steps out of the room. He closes the door behind himself, and Rowan hears it, as he looks up at the sound. He raises his eyebrows at Dew's sudden appearance.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! How could you do that to him?!" Dew shouts, making his hasty way to Rowan, who just sighs.

"Are you going to do this every time?"

"Fuck you! Yes I am, how dare you? You just go around and treat people like their feelings don't mean anything!"

"The people I hook up with know what they're signing up for, Dew."

"Clearly fucking not, you asshole!" Dew shouts, glaring up at Rowan. "You have lost your goddamned mind if you think this is okay!"

"Really?"

"Yes!" Dew stares up at Rowan's sunglasses-covered eyes. "You're just like every other fucking guy Anthony has been with. No fucking good! You know what?!"

"What?"

"You're lucky he ever even gave you a second glance in the first place!"

"Am I?"

"Yes! And..." Dew pauses, the anger beginning to leave his body. He slowly backs away from Rowan as the emotion leaves him, and is met with an amused smirk on Rowan's face. Oh god, Dew did it again. He needs to learn how to mind his business.

"Oh my god, I'm gonna jump off a cliff." Dew states, turning around and walking back to his room.

"We have origin work in two hours." Rowan reminds him.

"Whatever." He enters his bedroom, feeling unbelievably humiliated. What the fuck—Dew has clearly lost his mind. Why does he always poke his nose in other people's business?

Dew falls on his bed.

When the hell are you going to talk to him about being the Origin?

Dew sighs. He doesn't know. Maybe here in two hours when they start work?

Yes. That's when. Dew will confront him about it when they start their Origin investigating.

Dew actually falls back asleep, until he hears a knock at his door. "Dew, come on." Then there are footsteps retreating. Dew groans, rolling out of bed and falling flat on the floor. Ow.

He sighs, standing up, saying goodbye to Spikes, and walking out the door. Upon entering the kitchen Rowan asks, "where is Spikes?"

Dew blinks. "In my room."

Rowan raises an eyebrow. "You know she can walk around if she wants."

Words cannot express how happy this makes Dew, as his eyes widen and a smile takes over his face. "Really?!"

Rowan nods, pursing his lips as the corners of his mouth quirk up. Dew turns around and jogs back to his room, then opens the door. He leaves it ajar for Spikes to leave whenever she feels up to it. Then, he goes back to the table.

"Okay," Rowan says, spreading out the files. "So, we are gonna go to Avia."

Right. This conversation. Dew frowns, staring at Rowan with his eyebrows pinched together. "No we're not. We already know that the Origin is in the Westhem," and I'm pretty sure it's you, "so why are we going other places?"

Dew knows why. He's pretty sure that he's figured it out. Rowan is trying to take up their time doing random things to distract from the fact that he knows who the Origin is. See, Dew is becoming increasingly sure that Rowan knows their identity, it's just a question of whether or not it's Rowan. All signs point to him, but maybe Dew should be more positive about it before confronting the man?

"I think that they could help."

"How?" Dew asks, folding his arms on the black wooden table and leaning forward. This kitchen is actually really nice, with granite countertops and an island in the middle. It's almost sad that Dew and Rowan argue in it so much.

"Maybe they know something."

"Why would they know something?" Dew laughs humorlessly.

Rowan just raises an eyebrow, and his posture appears tense. Dew notices that he took off his sunglasses, and his irises are a normal size right now. "You never know. It's worth a shot."

Dew can feel his blood boil, generally pissed off that Rowan won't listen to him. He is absolutely compromising the mission on purpose. Rowan is clearly quite smart, if he wants to manipulate a situation, he very well has the resources to do so.

"Do you know what Marley said?" Dew asks, resting his head on his arms as he looks up at this man that could absolutely kick his ass.

Rowan raises his eyebrows.

"You never told him that we were going to the Easthem. In fact, it was never recorded where the Origin first appeared. So, I'd like to ask how the hell you knew that, Rowan Lux—if that is your real name!"

Rowan stares at Dew for a long moment. "Is that so?" He responds.

"Yes!"

"So what are you trying to say?"

Now's your chance, Dew! Ask him if he's the Origin! At least ask him if he knows who they are! Come on!

Dew huffs. "I don't know."

What?!

Rowan tilts his head. "Why don't you want to go to Avia?"

Dew sits up, squinting at Rowan. "Well for one, why in the world would they know anything about the Origin, and two, we just got back from the Easthem. Or are you not going to tell Marley about this trip, either?"

Rowan looks very unimpressed, and he remarks, "is there a reason you are so sassy all the time?"

Dew blinks, staring at Rowan, who just called him sassy. He said it seriously, too! Dew just shakes his head, running a hand through his hair. Suddenly, he can't help but to have second thoughts. He's so conflicted! He doesn't know what to do! "I don't know. Maybe I'm just tense."

Or maybe you're hiding something from me and it's getting under my skin.

Rowan gets this... almost mischievous look to his eye. "You should probably find a way to let off some steam."

Hang on. Hold the phone. Wait a second. That... that look in Rowan's eye. He's hinting at something! He is unsurreptitiously alluding to sex! Holy shit!

It's not that Dew is against sex or whatever, it's just that he had a fucking lot of it in high school. No strings attached, obviously. He's not particularly horrible looking, and he's always been good with ladies since he feels all of their emotions. Also, sex is twice as good when you're an empath, it's about the only decent thing that comes from it.

Rowan means sex!

"Uh, sorry, but I'm not gonna go pick up a random person in the middle of the night like somebody." Dew just isn't particularly looking for that right now. He's always had a sort of irrational fear of emotional attachments. Feelings? Gross!

"Oh?" Rowan hums.

"Yeah, maybe I want to not be yelled at every morning."

"Okay."

Dew rolls his eyes, focusing back on the task at hand. "Anyway, we are looking for a phoenix."

Rowan tenses. Dew decides that maybe he should be careful about this. "If I was a phoenix and I caused abnormalities, what would I do?"

"Dew, it's a human."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not!

"Yes it is!" Rowan nearly shouts back, catching Dew off guard. Dew raises his voice all the time, but the Captain? Maybe that one time when they got blown out of the cave?

"Hm! What would I do if I was a phoenix and I caused abnormalities?! What would I do if I was the Origin?!"

"Will you shut up?!"

"Maybe!" Dew stands up. Rowan stands as well, on the other side of the table, towering over Dew and glaring at him. "Maybe I'd join the military!"

Rowan takes a step back, eyebrows furrowed. He stares at Dew for a moment before turning around and begining to walk to his bedroom. Dew immediately follows him. Rowan almost shuts the door on him, but Dew slips in. Rowan seems to have enough of his shit, as he turns around and faces Dew.

Feeling a bit frightened at the look in the man's gaze, Dew starts to back up until he hits the wall. He notices that this room is mostly black, and it generally looks very nice. The black bedspread is all made, unlike Dew's, and the floors have been recently vacuumed.

Rowan takes a few steps forward, towering over Dew as he glares down at the empath.

"Maybe I'd name myself Rowan Lux—Lux, which means 'light' in Latin—and maybe I'd get promoted to fucking captain. Maybe I'd piss an empath named Dew off daily!"

Rowan just stares down at Dew, eyebrows furrowed. He seems very conflicted. Troubled. It's the look of someone who's been found out. Dew can see that now.

"Newsflash: you suck at hiding things."

Rowan purses his lips, before pulling away from Dew. "I knew I shouldn't have signed up for this."

"Yeah, because you're horrible at lying!"

"To you!" He hollers back. "I'm horrible at lying to you! I've kept this stupid goddamn secret for 200 years and then you come along and suddenly I don't know what I'm doing anymore!"

Oh. Shit.

Dew raises his eyebrows, staring at Rowan, who genuinely looks both annoyed and unbelievably conflicted. He runs a hand through his hair before glaring at Dew.

"You're not telling anyone."

Dew snorts. "I'm not? Fuck you, I'm calling Marley right now."

"No, you don't get it," Rowan growls, and suddenly he's advancing on Dew. He leans forward, placing both his hands on either side of Dew, keeping him from going anywhere. Keeping him from calling Marley.

"I can't restore peace. I can't do anything you want me to. Move on."

Dew shakes his head. "You hired me to find the Origin. I just did. Marley gets to know."

Honestly, it's a trip, knowing that Dew was right about everything. He was so scared that he was going crazy, but here he is! He figured it out! Rowan is the Origin. Dew was right! He's not just a dumb drop out, he knows what the fuck is going on.

"Don't tell anyone. I'm serious, more harm will come of it than good. It's not just you and Marley that want me. There are bad people out there, and they're hunting for me, and if word gets out that I'm the Origin, they will do anything it takes to get me."

Dew takes pause at that. Rowan is being threatened? There are people that want him? Well, that would make sense. There are people in the other nations that know that there is an Origin, and since abnormalities almost caused Earth's destruction, it would make sense for them to have some sort of vendetta.

Okay. Maybe Dew should keep it under wraps for now. Key word: for now.

"Fine." Dew decides.

"Now tell me what I was right about."