"Man, I'm bored..." Reed complains as he lazes on the couch. Playing on a radio in the background is a news report of another crime committed by the Invictus gang.

"Why didn't you go with Mabel and Gabriel?" Lydia questions while doing the same. "It would've been something at least."

"I, uh, didn't want to go."

"Then why don't you do your homework, since you're not doing anything?"

"Right back at ya."

Lydia groans. "Who the hell wants to do homework?"

"I don't know about want, but I doubt Niel would complain. He does whatever he's told to without complaining."

"You probably shouldn't talk about people behind their back."

"You definitely aren't the person to say that. I'm just kinda jealous."

"You're jealous of how naïve he is?"

"Like I said, you definitely aren't the person to say that." Reed sits up as the conversation turns to a more serious tone. "You know what they say: 'ignorance is bliss', or however that cliché goes."

"I think it's more 'he'll do and say what he has to, and nothing more.'"

"Maybe for now, but I bet he'll come around to us soon."

"I think it'll take longer than that for him to open up."

"You'd be surprised by what he'll do for you without you even knowing. If you open up to him, I'm sure he'll warm up to you more."

"Like hell I'm just going to tell him my secrets. I doubt he would care, anyway."

"Like I said, you'd be surprised."

* * *

His mission was to find something he would want to buy, but Niel returns to his guardians empty-handed and despondent.

"Couldn't find anything?" Gabriel asks.

Niel shakes his head.

"Don't worry, I have an idea."

With their basket containing everything they needed, the trio weaves their way to the front of the store. Rather than going through self-checkout to pay like last time, they instead go through a nearly empty checkout line. Along the way, Gabriel grabs a candy bar.

"You haven't tried chocolate yet, have you Niel?" he asks.

"No."

"Even better! I'll show you how to buy this chocolate bar."

Niel watches with unwavering attention as the cashier packs their groceries into a cloth bag, all while they and Mabel make small talk. Niel hears Mabel mention the word debit, to which she brings out her debit card and taps it against a device, causing the machine to beep. Afterwards, she puts her card away and takes the bag of groceries.

"Your turn now. First, give the lady behind the counter the bar," Gabriel instructs while handing the chocolate bar to Niel.

A little hesitant, Niel passes the bar off to the cashier. She slides it over a clear surface shining with a sharp red light, a and beep is heard.

"Is this his first time buying something on his own?" the cashier asks politely.

"Yep! He just got a debit card recently, so we're showing him how to use it," Mabel answers in Gabriel's place.

"Ah, wonderful! It felt liberating when I was first able to buy my own stuff. We all have to start somewhere," the cashier says with an understanding smile. "Debit machine's ready for you, dear."

With Gabriel guiding him through the process, Niel inserts his card into the machine and punches in his PIN of 1049—which he's informed is very important and should never be forgotten, nor told to anyone. The transaction is cleared and Niel pockets his card.

"And this is for you!" the cashier lady says as she holds out the chocolate bar. Niel takes it from her hand.

"Thank you," he says.

The trio returns to the car now that their shopping is done, and Niel crudely tears the wrapper off of his bar as they pull away from the parking lot. With no expectations nor ideas of what chocolate tastes like, he bites down on the corner of the bar, and a creamy sweetness washes over his taste buds.

"Is it good?" Mabel asks, seeing how his expression lightened after taking the bite.

"Yes," Niel states.

Mabel's learned by now that while his tone is almost always flat and his face stoic, he's at least truthful with his words, and hearing his answer makes her smile.

"Here's some advice for you, Niel," Gabriel says. "There's going to be a few times in your life where you're going to consider buying something expensive. As a general rule, you should consider that if you can't buy it twice, you can't afford it."

"Why is that?" Niel questions.

"Because then you won't have enough money left over for important things."

"It's okay to buy the things you want, just be careful not to spend all of your money at once," Mabel says.

"Okay, I'll be careful," Niel says.

Not much more is said on the drive back, but there ends up being plenty to comment on once they get home. Reed and Lydia are bickering again in the living room, Illia is standing between them trying to de-escalate as effectively as a mute person can, and Poppy is patiently cooking in the kitchen. The house smells delicious, at least.

"Hey!" Gabriel shouts at the arguing pair, though not too loudly as to avoid stirring Niel's emotions.

"Poppy? We got everything!" Mabel calls to lower the tension in the room. The red-haired cook comes running for the new ingredients.

"Thank you!" she says as she takes the bag from Mabel. "Illia?"

Illia shifts her attention back to the kitchen as Gabriel takes over handling the quarrel.

"Why don't you go help them?" Mabel suggests to Niel.

"Okay," Niel says blandly.

Supper ends up being another success.

>>>>>>

'Suspension's just a two-week vacation', he thought. 'Just some extra time to earn money and relax.' Nope. Classes suck even more now because there's no teacher to waste time talking, no gym to blow off steam, and no conversations to listen in on. Just him stuck in his room, then work right after, then bed. It's too much time to think. All because that fucking kid Reed wouldn't leave him alone.

Reed's bully checks his phone for the time. School's over in just a few minutes; close enough. He haphazardly throws his uniform in a bag and leaves, ignoring his father's shouts in the process.

He's been thinking about that kid recently. Not Reed—the other one. The one that beat the shit out of him. What the hell is his deal? The only friend Reed has is that girl he lives with, so who is this new kid? He hasn't seen nor heard of him in school.

"Hey Mavrick," his coworker greets in the locker room.

"Hey," he responds.

"Looks like your bruises are starting to fade."

"Yeah. They don't hurt now."

Mavrick doesn't really like talking to his coworkers. The younger ones always try to lend a hand so they can brag about whatever party they've recently been to, while the older ones try to teach through helping, even though he knows what he's doing. This coworker now is one of the former—a real good-looking ladies' man type of high school jock. Annoying.

With how much time there is to think, Mavrick's mind keeps going back to that kid that was with Reed. He wasn't expecting to see him yesterday, and now he's been watching to see if he shows up again. His own curiosity is starting to annoy him.

He isn't really expecting to see the kid again—at least, not in the store and not so soon—but while stocking shelves an hour into his shift, he spots the boy walking past his peripheral. He looks and confirms: it's him. Short brown hair, walking with his hands in his pockets, and some kind of chain running underneath his shirt. He's alone as well. Curiosity gets the better of him and he leaves his cart to follow at a distance.

The boy seems to be walking aimlessly through the store, never stopping for long but always looking around him. One could say he even looks clueless. He never spots Mavrick, despite the near-obvious tailing. Perhaps he really is clueless. The boy turns into an aisle for car-related products by the outer wall of the building, and Mavrick boldly closes the gap between them. But when he also turns the corner, the boy is nowhere to be seen. He walks further into the vacant aisle assuming the boy may have run off, when...

"Why are you following me?"

The hell? The boy's behind him now! Mavrick hastily spins on his heels to face him, and he's met with a cold glare from brown eyes.

"The hell are you doing?" Mavrick questions.

"You tell that to every customer in the store?" the boy retorts. "And I could ask you the same thing."

As if he didn't find this kid annoying enough already. "What's your deal with Reed?"

"Again, I could ask you the same thing."

Annoying.

"You should already know my deal with Reed."

"You don't like him because of his Mute."

Mavrick scoffs. "I couldn't give two shits about his Mute. If you think that's the only reason, then you need to go ask Reed why he's bullshitting you."

"Like I'd believe that."

So. Fucking. Annoying.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, new kid."

"New kid?"

"I know you're new. You don't go to our school, and I've never seen Reed with anyone else other than that black chick before. Probably from another diseased home if you're living at that place—"

Mavrick feels a sudden blow to his gut that saps his breath and nearly knocks him off his feet. He places one hand on where he felt the impact and the other on his knee for support. The boy never moved an inch, and there's nothing left behind on Mavrick's torso. How the hell did this happen? Mavrick looks up to see a fury on the boy's face. But instead of aggressing further, he turns around and walks away as two customers draw near. Mavrick straightens himself out before he's spotted.

"Who the hell are you?" Mavrick questions to himself before returning to work.

* * *

Niel leaves the crowded store, doing everything in his power not to let his anger show on his skin. The Warden's Key flashes underneath his shirt. Him saying that about the home... he's only been here for a week, and already hearing something like that pisses him off. He caught his name from the name tag: Mavrick. Niel wants to blow off steam by breaking something. For now, he should talk to Reed about what Mavrick said.

Niel returns home, hoping to ask Reed about Mavrick, but all he can find is Lydia in her room with the door shut. He knocks on her room door, and she soon opens it just enough to peek her head around.

"Oh. What?" she says.

"Where's Reed?" Niel asks.

"Still at school—something came up. Why do you need him?"

Perhaps she can help.

"I wanted to ask him about Mavrick."

"Mavrick? How do you know his name? Wait, did you see him at work?"

"Yes," Niel answers with crude honesty, causing Lydia to sigh.

"You shouldn't stick your nose in other people's business."

"He told me that him bullying Reed isn't because of his Mute. I wanted to ask Reed about it."

Lydia sighs again, then opens the door wider for Niel. "Okay, fine. Come in. I'll tell you what I know."

As Niel steps in, he realizes that this is his first time seeing the inside of her room. The walls are painted a light blue and covered with posters of various men and women. Off to the side is a desk with a large mirror topped with colourful make-up bottles and a single small standing mirror. Her room is very clean and organized; a part of Niel expected there to be more in it. They both sit on her checkered pink bed to talk.

"So, what did Mavrick say again? That he isn't picking at Reed because of his Mute?" Lydia asks.

"Something like that, yeah."

"That's bullshit. He specifically brings up Reed's Mute to put him down."

"Why would he say that Reed's lying, then?"

"I don't know, just to be an asshole? Don't listen to assholes." Lydia looks away from Niel as if to put more words together in her head. "Neither of them have any friends, at least as far as I know with Mavrick. People are dicks and don't want to give Reed the time of day just because of his Mute, and I've only ever seen Mavrick alone. That's probably why Reed tried talking to him, so they could both have a friend. But instead of being nice—or at the very least brushing him off—Mavrick just started picking at him."

"It wasn't always like this?"

"No, it only ramped up like this a month ago. They were both told to leave each other alone, but that ended pretty quickly."

"Huh..."

Lydia stands up and walks towards the door. Niel assumes her intentions and gets up before she can say anything.

"That's all I know," she says as she opens the door for him. "He should be back soon. He can answer whatever else you need."

"Thanks."

A few minutes after their talk, Reed returns home, though he doesn't look like his usual upbeat self. Niel, who had been waiting for him in the living room, approaches him anyways.

"Can we talk about Mavrick?" Niel asks, completely skipping over any welcomes in his haste.

"Mavrick?" Reed responds with a sigh. "I don't want to. I'm too tired right now, dude. Maybe tomorrow?"

Niel laments having to wait until tomorrow, but he shouldn't force Reed to talk—otherwise, he could get spotty information. He'll just have to wait for now.

An awkward atmosphere hangs around supper, with Reed having to bring up the scolding he received from the school's faculty as a consequence of his fight with Mavrick. He looks as exhausted as his tone. Lydia also brings something to the table, and it catches Niel's ear.

"Remember that stabbing that happened last week?" Lydia says.

"Where someone got stabbed in the hand?" Gabriel questions.

"Yeah. Apparently, it was a mugging-gone-wrong, and the guy who did the stabbing is a known thief with an Electric Mute."

"Oh, I think I've heard of him before."

Electric Mute? Niel's had more than his fair share of electricity before... As for this thief, he isn't worried about a direct confrontation in the slightest—his Dust is basically shock-proof. Nonetheless, he should still keep his eyes on his six when he walks through the alleyways, just so he doesn't get snuck up on.

After supper is his turn to have a shower, and it's something he never looks forward to. Every time he steps underneath the shower head, it feels like liquid anxiety is being poured over him. Most of the time, he has to force himself to put his head under, and even then, he can't do it for long.

Niel tenses up as he steps underneath the falling water. He hates this feeling. He scrubs his body quickly, but as the soap washes away, so does the sharpness of his vision.

Water.

Electricity.

Anger.

Uncomfortable thoughts are building. Each droplet is starting to burn. Every drip turns into a shock. He's had more than his fair share of electricity before. He can't breathe. The walls look like cracked concrete. He swears he can hear the lab again.

Niel slams the water off, completely out of breath. He dries off as fast as he can, and the world around him slowly comes back into focus as he does. His hair is hardly damp—let alone washed—but he's not going back in. He just sits there on the floor with his knees to his chest, towel wrapped around him. He's not going back in.

>>>>>>

Illia looks at her digital clock and finds that it's three in the morning. She was just woken up by what she thought was a thump. She turns over to go back to sleep, and just when she crosses the threshold of consciousness, she's jostled awake again. She can't just be hearing things, can she? She keeps her eyes open as she listens for an odd sound again. Eventually, what sounds like a thump against a wall can be heard. What is that? It kind of sounded like it came from this floor. Illia takes her phone and leaves to investigate, though she is a little nervous.

She creeps along the dim hallway using her phone's flashlight. Another thump startles her, but she catches the direction it came from: to her left in Niel's room. She hasn't been in there since the day he arrived, but she knows that he keeps his door shut at night, likely for the added security when he sleeps. She doesn't really blame him for not trusting them all that much—she was like that too for the first few weeks she was here, and she's only kept doing it out of habit. Though, with that feeling he gives her, she's been compelled not to change.

She considers if she should go inside. How will he react if he sees her in there? That bumping is a bit annoying, though... that is if he's the cause. For the sake of her sleep tonight, she summons whatever courage she has and opens the door, but very slowly and quietly. She also turns off her flashlight and switches to a dimly lit screen so she can look around without the harsh light.

Inside, she finds Niel tucked in bed and facing the wall, but he's shifting around quite a bit in his sleep. He's still wearing the Warden's Key, and it flashes on and off like a firefly. Illia can't tell if he's asleep or awake; the most she can do is assume that he's asleep since he hasn't reacted to her presence yet. He shifts and bangs his leg into the wall. Well, there's the source of the noise. She writes a quick message in her phone's notes app before reaching out to touch Niel on the shoulder to wake him. Just before she does, though, his mumbling in his sleep causes her to retract her arm hastily in fright.

"Yal...de..."

She isn't sure what he said, but she composes herself and reaches out again. The moment she touches his shoulder, Niel rockets up to a sitting position in sheer surprise; his Dust takes the form of a pointed chain erecting from his forearm, poised to strike like a viper. Her phone screen and the Warden's Key illuminates a haze around him.

"Illia?" he questions with a quick breath. He then dismisses the chain and haze since there's no danger. The light from the Warden's Key extinguishes.

Illia raises her phone for him to read. 'I heard you knocking against the wall,' the message reads.

"Oh. I assume I woke you, then?"

Illia nods.

"Sorry."

Illia shakes her head, then writes another message. 'It's okay. You looked like you were having a nightmare, so I'm glad I was able to wake you up.'

"Nightmare? I... don't remember what I was dreaming about."

A look of concern grows on Illia's face—not for him not remembering, but that her assumption was incorrect.

"Uh, I don't think it was a pleasant dream either if I was hitting the wall in my sleep," he reassures. "Thank you."

Illia nods with relief. 'Are you okay? It looked like there was something on your mind tonight.' He usually looks either stoic or bothered, but earlier tonight he looked extra down.

"I'm fine. We should go back to sleep."

Illia is feeling sleepy, so with the mystery solved, she nods, waves from the doorway, and returns to her room. Niel tucks in facing away from the wall.

"My own body's telling on me..." Niel whispers to himself.

>>>>>>

Niel's sleep has been spotty at best since he was woken up, and he's been awake for a flat two hours now, so at half past six he decides to just get out of bed and go downstairs.

"Oh, Niel. Good morning," Gabriel greets, still in his pyjamas.

"Why are you awake so early?" Mabel questions.

"I didn't sleep well."

"Aww... How come? Is there something bothering you?"

"There's a lot on my mind."

"The lab?"

Niel gives a shallow nod. It may not be the whole truth, but he's not lying, at least. In response, Mabel hugs him.

"Do you want your breakfast now? Poppy isn't here yet, but we can make something for you."

"Sure."

"What would you like?"

Niel stares plainly around the kitchen, sapped of ideas and options. Eventually, his gaze drifts over to Gabriel and his breakfast sandwich.

"Want one of these?" Gabriel asks. "It's bacon, a fried egg, and a slice of cheese."

"I think we've been eating a little too much bacon recently..." Mabel says.

"Nah, go on," Gabriel dismisses only semi-seriously.

"Sure," Niel says in response to Gabriel's suggestion.

After Gabriel puts his sandwich down and washes his hands, he reacquires the necessary components—not just to make a sandwich, but to teach Niel how to make one as well.

Gabriel spreads a sheet of baking paper over a small grated tray, then gets Niel to help him place four slices of bacon across it. Mabel disagrees with the amount, and Gabriel disagrees with her disagreement, leaving Niel confused. Gabriel places the tray in a small countertop oven and sets it to bake for 6 minutes, mentioning specifically how he placed it on the middle rack and how they'll be flipping the bacon once the timer is up.

Next, Gabriel heats the frying pan and teaches Niel how to crack an egg. The latter cracks it with a butter knife, sending white, yolk, and shell splattering into the pan. Gabriel digs the shell out before the egg can solidify, peppers the egg generously, and reduces the heat. He then places two slices of bread in the toaster and sets that going as well. Niel questions if he would be able to keep up on his own.

After enough time, both the bacon and the egg are flipped and cooked again, with the bacon being placed on a paper towel to dry and the egg being taken off of the heat. Niel then (clumsily) butters the toast as Gabriel unwraps a slice of cheese. The cheese is laid on the toast, the egg on the cheese, the bacon on the egg, and then the second slice of toast to cover it all up. Having a hand in making something from scratch has made Niel realize just how involved cooking can truly be; he feels newfound respect for Poppy. And speaking of which...

"Good morning!" Poppy whisper-calls from the front door.

"Morning!" Mabel greets in return. Once Poppy rounds the corner to the kitchen, she finds Niel munching away on breakfast.

"Oh, good morning Niel," Poppy greets. Niel nods since his mouth is full.

"We just made breakfast together!" Gabriel explains.

"Ahh, I see." Poppy then leans in close to Niel with a devilish smirk on her face. "So, my cooking isn't good enough, then?"

Niel stares blankly at her, completely unsure of what to say while on the spot. Poppy alleviates the tension by chuckling and patting his shoulder.

"I'm just teasing you, don't worry!"

Cooking truly is an involved process.

An hour later, the other three kids work their way downstairs, now mostly unfazed by the fact that Niel is done eating before they've even woken up. Instead of going immediately over to the kitchen, though, Reed walks up to him in the living room.

"Hey. When I get home after school, I'll talk to you about Mavrick. Promise," Reed says.

"Okay. I'll hold you to it."

Throughout the day, Reed and Mavrick's situation takes up a sizeable chunk of Niel's head, to the point where he finds himself taking longer than usual to answer Louise's questions. Reed promised that they would talk, so Niel hopes he'll follow through. Each hour drags on, but Reed finally returns home at the end of the school day.

"Hey," Reed greets as soon as he finds Niel on the couch, twirling a pencil as always. He motions to the stairs with a flick of his head—a sign Niel recognizes—and the pair make their way up to Reed's room. After he washes his hands, Reed sits down with Niel on his bed.

"So, what about Mavrick did you want to talk about?" Reed questions.

"I saw him at the store yesterday. He said that him bullying you about your Mute was bullshit," Niel explains bluntly.

"Well... He's not right, but he's not wrong, either."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we first met, you threatened to kill me?"

Niel tenses internally as those moments in the hospital and forest reenter his mind. Though, it's strange how he now regrets those actions. At the time, it seemed only logical. The Warden's Key blinks dimly.

"Those were... only threats. I wasn't really going to—"

"Exactly. They were just threats made to scare me away."

Niel is starting to understand where Reed is going with this. "So he's bullying you to scare you away?"

"Exactly!"

"But, why is he trying to scare you away?"

"That's because..."