The discussion withers out after that. There really isn't more to say. The events at the slaughterhouse have already been reported to headquarters.
Even if they had later found out the communication between Aster and Dog had been cut during the whole time they were separated, probably due to another barrier that had been set around the place, Baz had already recounted the events while Kit was out, and the report had been sent to headquarters. Later, once Kit had woken up, he had corroborated Baz's version of the story, and an updated version had been sent too. Both reports had already been read over, and an answer had arrived a few hours ago, reason why they had met in the common area to discuss it.
"This is all a waste of time," Baz complains. "There really is nothing for us to do except wait for the moment when this demon decides he's had enough fun and kills everyone in this town."
There's a muffled yelp outside of the door, followed immediately by someone shushing another person.
The four of them fall silent.
Baz gets up and opens the door, and Mousie and Gnocchi tumble in. As if already expecting this, Baz had taken a step backward to avoid getting knocked over.
They both start speaking at the same time.
"It was Gnocchi's idea!"
"It was Mousie's idea!"
They point an accusatory finger at each other.
Kit pinches the bridge of his nose. "You two…" he sighs, exasperated. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Nothing!"
"Nothing, of course!"
"We were just… um…"
"We were…ah…"
They scramble to look for an excuse.
"Looking for…"
"Yes! Yes! We were looking for um…"
"An object…"
"Riiiiight… An object. Which. Um…"
"It was…"
"Uh…"
It is so pathetic, Kit is starting to feel second hand embarrassment from watching them. He puts up a hand to stop them. "Just keep quiet," he sighs.
"Okay." Mousie's face goes red.
"Sorry," Gnocchi adds in a small voice.
It isn't until now that Kit notices a third person missing. He looks to the short hallway behind them, but it's empty. He starts to feel, not panicked, but a bit worried. "You two… Where did you leave Dee?" If Dee has been left alone to run around… He doesn't want to think about the possibilities.
"Um. With Jessica?" Mousie doesn't sound too sure, and this does nothing to ease Kit's worry. "At least we left them with her."
"Weren't you supposed to be taking care of them? You're the oldest! You were supposed to be in charge!"
"...But Jessica's an adult," Gnocchi says. "Wouldn't it be better if they were with her?"
Kit opens his mouth, then closes it. He… He can't really argue against that. "You shouldn't be listening in private conversations either way. You two are such a handful," he mutters mostly to himself. "Just… Go do whatever it is you should be doing." He waves his hand in a shooing motion.
"R-right." Mousie stands up, pulling Gnocchi with her. She hurriedly turns and walks away, Gnocchi trailing behind.
Kat looks surprised at the interaction. Baz and Aster are already used to it, so they show no reaction, but Kat doesn't even have a week from her arrival, and has no idea about the dynamics in the office.
"Is this… Is that normal?" she asks.
The three of them give varying vague answers.
"Eh…" Aster makes a so-so gesture with xeir hand.
"More or less." Kit shrugs.
"You'll get used to it." Baz closes the door, taking a seat once again.
Kat only seems more confused by this. "And you… You just let it happen?"
"Wel, what do you want us to do? Break their legs?" Aster says in a hostile tone.
"N-no, of course not, but…"
"But?"
"But they can't really be listening to confidential information."
"It's okay," Kit reassures her, "they're smart enough to know not to tell anyone."
"Besides, the real story of what happened can only be kept under covers for so long. It is bound to get leaked to the general public sooner or later," Baz says.
So far, the news has been kept mostly limited to the people directly related to the deceased. But rumours travelled fast in a town like this one, and people were bound to talk. That is why, even if they have been notified about their relatives' passing, they haven't been given the real details, instead saying it was the work of a particularly powerful vengeful ghost, and that it had already been taken care of. This was, of course, a lie, but it was told in order to avoid widespread panic. Currently, Fluorite was meeting with the affected families and anyone else that needed to be notified of the incident. Being the Director, the obligation had fallen to her, and she had been busy with the task since yesterday, when the instructions from headquarters had arrived. The report had been given priority due to the gravity of the situation, and it had taken less than two hours after Kat had sent the initial report for the answer to arrive.
(When Fluorite had received the orders, she had grit her teeth and grumbled something about bureaucracy and the higher-ups and how they were exploiting her. Thing is, Fluorite had never been good at the diplomacy part of the job, and it was the one thing she always tried to relegate. But this time, she hadn't been able to do it.
Baz had laughed at her bad luck, to which he had received a facefull of water.)
"But–" Kat tries to argue, but is interrupted by Aster.
"What trouble… You worry too much. Now, if we're done here…" Aster stands up.
"W-where are you going?" Kat stammers.
"What else is there to say? Baz already said it, all we can do is wait and see the demon's next move. Until then, we're as good as sitting ducks."
Kat waves her hands around, not finding any words, just making incomprehensible noises. She turns to Kit for support. "Y-you agree with them?!"
Kit grimaces. "I mean…" He would be a fool not to agree. The only reason why they had been able to leave that place alive was because the demon was probably playing around with them.
"Why are you all being so pessimistic?"
"Only an idiot would remain optimistic in this situation," Aster shoots back.
~~~
Baz is sitting on the spare chair in Kit's in his cubicle. Dee has found herself forced to sit on the floor, and they have retreated to the corner to sulk, occasionally looking back and sticking out her tongue at both of them.
She had been sitting on the chair, but Baz had come in and picked her up by the scruff of the neck and plopped her down onto the floor. It had been so sudden, and Dee had been so focused on her practice, she had not noticed his approach until it was too late and she had no time to react until she was already sitting on the ground, Baz having taken her spot.
Immediately, she had started loudly complaining and calling Kit's name. "Kit! Kit! The idiot's here! He's trying to kill me! Hey, Kit, won't you do something?! Will you really let the idiot bully me?! This can't be fair, right?! Aren't I supposed to be practising my magical energy control? What is he doing here? Well, whatever it is, it can't be more important than my learning, no? Hey. Hey, Kit! Say something! Are you really just going to ignore me?!" She stopped, taking in a deep breath. She had been talking so fast she had forgotten to breathe between sentences.
Kit gave a long suffering sigh. "Are you done?"
"No!" Dee stomped her foot. "I won't shut up until you kick him out!" She pointed at Baz, snarling.
He turned to look at Baz, a tired expression on his face.
Baz just gave him a sweet smile. "I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes."
"Go talk somewhere else!" Dee shouted before Kit could answer. "Nobody wants you spreading your germs here!"
Aster poked xeir head over the cubicle wall to look at what was going on. "Oh." Is all xe said when xe took in the scene. "Sorry. I thought something else was going on." Xe ducked back down. "Forget I butted in."
"Just go away!" Dee shouted again.
Kit placed a hand on her shoulder to calm them down. "Dee," he tried to put on his best soothing voice, "why don't you go practice by yourself in the corner for a little while? Just while we speak. I promise it won't take long." He side-eyed Baz, signalling to make whatever he came to do as fast as possible.
Dee gaped at him. "YOU'RE TAKING HIS SIDE?!" Her outburst left his ears ringing.
"Dee…" he pleads, "Just for a few minutes? Please?" He tried to give her a convincing smile.
Dee bared her teeth.
"I'll make it up to you," he offered quickly. "I'll show you a cool trick later."
Dee stopped to consider the offer.
"But only if you do as you're told."
"...I want it to include an explosion."
"Sure," he agreed quickly. He will have to ask for Mousie's help later. (He doesn't trust Gnocchi enough to create a controlled explosion to go to him.)
Dee stuck her tongue out before snatching the stapler off the desk and dragging her feet to the corner.
Now, Kit turns to Baz, who has been sitting uncharacteristically patiently for him to finish dealing with the situation.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Kit prompts him.
"You're going back?" Baz gets straight to the point. He doesn't need to specify where. They both know he's asking if he's going back to his own house.
"I was thinking of it, yes."
"You know you don't have to, right?"
"Yeah, but I felt kinda guilty about continuing to impose when I am perfectly fine again." After a whole month of spending it with Baz, Kit finds it is high time for him to go back. He can walk normally for the most part, only using a cane for support. (He had been clarified on this the last time he had gone to the hospital. He could lay weight on the previously injured leg, but he should use some sort of support if he felt any sort of pain or discomfort.)
"You're really not a bother."
"I know, but I want to get back into the routine I had before. I kinda miss it," he lies. He doesn't want to say he hopes that by regaining some sense of normalcy from before the whole affair with the demon started he might be able to stop himself from losing his mind. If he were to go back to that old house with its winding hallways and empty room he can't trust himself not to do anything crazy.
"Hm." Baz props his chin on his hand, his elbow resting on the desk surface.
"What?"
"Nothing." His words come out half muffled from the way his palm is pressing against the side of his face, giving the effect of someone squishing his right cheek.
"...Okay." Kit turns back to drawing the seal he had been working on before Baz came in. He can tell Baz is bothered by something, but he doesn't want to press. If he doesn't want to talk about it, he needs to be left alone to pout and sulk as long as he needs, or he will clam up and the time it would normally take for him to become attention starved and spill will be doubled.
This time, it only takes a few minutes for Baz to give in. (A record, if you ask Kit.)
Suddenly, Kit feels someone tapping him on top of the head. He looks up from his work to find Baz leaning half of his body across the desk. Their faces are so close Kit sucks in a breath involuntarily. This close, it is hard to miss the slight downturn of Baz's lips into a barely noticeable pout.
"Hey, Kit." He's talking in a very low voice, making the moment feel a lot more intimate than it already was. Does he not want anyone to hear what he's about to say?
Baz is so close, his breath hits his face when he speaks, making Kit's face feel warm. (Or he might be blushing, he can't tell.) Baz leans in even more to whisper directly into Kit's ear. "Kit, are you mad at me?" This time, his breath tickles Kit's ear, and now not just his face feels warm, but also his neck.
Kit's gears are turning so fast his brain must be emitting smoke. He opens his mouth, but no answer comes out.
"Ah, so you are…" Baz hasn't moved from his position.
Kit swallows past the lump in his throat. "Why… Why do you say that?"
Baz moves back to staring at each other face to face. Kit finds he would much rather go back to their previous position. This… This is too awkward.
Neither of them speak, simply staring at each other. Kit finds himself holding in his breath.
Finally, he can't take it anymore, and he cracks. "Baz…"
Baz finally backs down completely, sitting back properly into his seat, his chin propped into both hands this time. He grins, but it looks a bit strained. "Wow, you lasted a lot longer than I thought you would."
Kit sighs. "I'm not mad, okay?" he says, going back to their original topic.
Baz hums. "I know."
"Then why did you ask?"
"I had to make sure."
"That… That doesn't make sense. Why did you think I was mad with you in the first place?"
Baz takes a few moments to answer, tapping his fingers against his cheeks. Finally, when he does, a serious expression has fallen over his face. "Have you been avoiding me?"
~~~
His conversation with Baz had ended shortly after that. Kit hadn't had time to answer Baz's question before he was leaving.
"Just forget it." Baz got up from the chair. "Forget I mentioned anything. You don't have to answer the question."
Kit had been too shocked to say anything.
"Hey, Dee," Baz addressed the kid sulking in the corner. Dee turned to eye them warily.
"What is it?" they mumbled.
"Nothing. Thanks for lending me your seat. You can have it back now." Baz gave her a small wave before starting to walk back to his own cubicle. He seemed to remember something last minute, and he turned back just before exiting. "And Kit…" He hesitated briefly. "If you… If you ever need to talk, you can come to me, okay?"
Kit didn't know where that had come from, but he thanked Baz anyway. "Okay."
After that, he hadn't talked to Baz for the rest of the day. But the scene kept playing over and over again in his mind.
Had he been avoiding Baz? he wondered. Perhaps. Not consciously. At least. But now that he thinks about it, he has been keeping a certain distance from everyone. Not just from Baz. Is it… No. He doesn't think it is because of what happened.
But what other option is there?
He finds he doesn't want to talk about anything that happened at the slaughterhouse. His recount of the events when he'd had to recall them for the report had been dull, emotionless. He had detached himself completely from them. And maybe, by trying to detach himself from his memories, he had also detached himself from reality. Just a bit. But enough for Baz to notice and worry.
He doesn't believe Baz genuinely thought he was mad at him. It just isn't like him to assume things like that. Maybe it was just his way of surreptitiously asking Kit if he was alright.
Thinking about this, now he feels guilty about making Baz worry. He needs to pull it together. He needs to act normal, he tells himself as he makes his way back to his apartment.
Coming out of his deep thinking stupor, Kit notices Dee is walking a few steps behind, her legs too short to keep pace with Kit. So engrossed was he in his musings, he hadn't noticed how fast he was walking and that he had left Dee behind.
He slows his pace, and Dee catches up to him, puffing and panting, dragging a small suitcase behind her.
"What the hell?!" they bend over, trying to regain her breath. "What are you going so fast for? Is there a curfew or something?"
"I'm sorry."
"I hope they've locked you out already."
"There's not a curfew."
"Ah?" Dee scratches behind her ear. "There should be. One just for assholes like you." She sticks out her tongue.
"I'm sorry," he repeats.
"Yeah, yeah." Dee waves away his apology, walking ahead. "Let's just get home already."
Now that Kit is going back to his apartment, Dee is coming to stay with him once again. He can't expect Jessica's mom to be looking after them all the time. He is supposed to be their guardian after all. The suitcase holds Dee's belongings, which had apparently arrived from the capital late (a week after Dee's arrival), and added to it were some other clothes Jessica's mom had decided to buy for them in the meantime.
The apartment was located on the east side of town, but it wasn't in the zones farthest from the commercial district, which meant it was a walking distance away from the office. In a short time, they have made it to the street where the building is located, and even sooner, the building itself is looming in front of them.
Going back, after being away for so long, is a lot more nerve-wracking than it should be. He doesn't know why, but he finds himself fidgeting on the walk up to the small apartment building.
He doesn't have to worry about having gotten kicked out for not having paid a month's rent, technically his job takes care of that since he's stationed here. (The rent is actually deducted from his salary, but the Bureau likes to claim it comes from them.)
Maybe because the universe has decided to take pity on him, the landlady isn't out, waiting to ambush him. In fact, nobody seems to be out, all of them appear to have gone to bed already, and he is able to get to his apartment without any incident or delay.
When he unlocks the door, the first thing he does upon entering is to glance at the clock on the wall by the entrance. 11:30?! Is it that late already? No wonder everyone had already turned in for the night. He had come to find the "myth" about old people always going to bed early to be true. None of his neighbours could be found awake past 8:45 PM.
The apartment is exactly as he had left it one month ago except for the layer of dust that now covered every surface. But other than that, even his dirty clothes were in the exact same spot where he had discarded them.
Meaning, he has absolutely no food in the fridge or cabinets.
Next to him, he can hear Dee's stomach grumble.
"Do you want to watch TV?" he asks them as a strategy to distract them.
Dee's eyes open wide. "Really?! I can?!"
"Sure."
Dee runs off to turn it on, and after a few moments of sounds of struggling to figure out how it works coming from the living room, she manages to turn it on.
Ah, what to do… he thinks. If it were just him, he would simply go to bed and tomorrow, when the shops are open, he would purchase double the breakfast. But he can hardly force Dee to do the same. It's unfair and, he reasons, a kid needs to have a proper dinner.
Which is when he's faced with the other dilemma: he does not know how to cook. Well, truthfully speaking, his knowledge isn't zero, but it could very well be, judging from his previous attempts at it. So even if he had a full pantry, he doubts he could provide Dee with a satisfactory meal. Normally, he makes do with the pre-made meals he can get at the corner store, stocking up on them and just reheating them when needed. But now that a child is going to be living here… He feels like he needs to get his life together, at least in this regard. He can barely have them eating the same food for a month straight. It would be irresponsible of him as their caretaker.
But it's already so late, and even if the grocery store were open, he does not feel like trying to prepare a full meal. He supposes one time won't hurt, and tomorrow, definitely, for sure, he's going to go grocery shopping and stock up on healthy (or at least healthier) food.
"Hey Dee," he calls from the kitchen. He has to make his voice carry to be heard over the sound from the TV, which Dee has blasting at full volume.
"What?" she hollers back.
He cringes at the sheer volume of her voice, and he hopes the neighbours aren't bothered by it. To avoid further shouting, he walks to the living room, turning off the television's volume. Dee gives a shout of protest at that, but he ignores her. "Do you want to go out to buy some food?" he asks.
At the mention of food, Dee's frown vanishes. "Okay!"