Nikolas's Story

His own world was much more fun than this one. When Ryu's mind wanders, Nikolas would always say he's 'in his own world', and Ryu always believed that his own world must be a lot more fun than the one he's on at the very moment. He was giggling stupidly to himself as he imagined Kiku prancing around in a clown costume, but the person in question's voice made his imagination dissolve as he turned to look at her. “Even if you said I don’t have to thank you, I do.” Ryu shrugged, sighing. She was smiling, but he wasn't phased. She smiled a lot more as a child.

“I’ll eat in a second, I promise. But first. . . .” Kiku smiled honestly and Ryu had to look away, since he felt his face burning up, if only slightly. But there was sudden movement, and Ryu looked down to see the small girl wrapped around his stomach. His face went so red he wasn't even able to open his mouth and stutter for once. Instead, he just put his arms around the small girl, but he had to stare at the wall stubbornly so as not to see her face. That would probably make him go a brighter colour than he ever had.

“I’m sorry about acting so terribly yesterday night. . . . Considering the fact that you knew who I was, I should have known who you were, even with the fact you have hair such a bright color that it would make a flower envious now.” She said, and Ryu made a sarcastic gasp, taking one hand of the girl and twirling said hair in his fingers happily. Sure, he'd done it drunk, but he'd gotten rather used to the violet colour, and even slightly attached. If his hair went back to it's usual black, he'd have to dye it another crazy colour just to feel normal. Should he get blue hair. . .?

He was twirling his hair around his finger when the girl spoke again. “I kind of think it might suit you now though, even if it is still a little weird. . . .” The girl was holding him tighter and her had was on his side.

Ryu scoffed. "It's not just flowers that are envious of my hair, Kiku," he said proudly. "It's butterflies too." The boy looked overly serious at the fact he'd just stated. Maybe what he was saying was true; butterflies were probably jealous of the vibrant purple, but there wasn't really much to do (or say) about that. Ryu looked from the small girl to the soup, which the steam was reducing. Ryu poked Kiku on the head, a small smile on his face. "You better eat up soon; the soup's cooling down." The boy tightened the hug for a quick moment, before letting her go and putting the soup on her lap.

She has to eat. Ryu told himself. After that, I should go. . . Ah, Evande's still in the apartment, right? So I guess I'll go find some park. The boy nodded to himself, a lazy grin spreading across his face. He chuckled quietly. Nikolas would like a park. He likes screaming in them when he's annoyed, right? Ryu was now giggling quietly, with the imagination of Nikolas punching at a tree in anger. But he looked back at Kiku, a bit of surprise in his eyes. He'd forgotten she was even here, which was ridiculous when he thought about it; this was her apartment.

"I think. . ." Ryu stopped himself, going back to the subject from before. "I think my hair would look pretty weird in blue." he sighed. He did want to try blue, it was getting overly tempting, but no. Pink would be hilarious; it would annoy Kiku so badly that he got the same colour hair as Evande. Maybe he should get pink and something? Like Flick. . . Or Evande. Ryu was getting lost in his own world again, staring off into space with a goofy smile on his face. He used to do that a lot more when Kiku and he were both children, but she probably couldn't even remember. Oh well. A smile spread across his face as he slowly came back to earth, whistling Yankee Doodle. The truth was, the thing Ryu was actually going to talk about how when they were kids, some of the other kids around the area could see him, their wild minds and imaginations somehow allowed them to, so that's probably why she thought he was real. He'd worked out a while after that all the kids who could see him had alters too, but as soon as he disappeared, they forgot about him completely.

What can you do, eh? Ryu looked outside. Wait, is it. . . dark? Already?

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“As it is from the pot is perfectly fine.” Nikolas shrugged as Evande took her tea and started drinking it. The boy himself started pouring milk, adding a few sugars. “Thank you for being concerned.” She looked down at her steaming cup of tea and Nikolas looked at her, sipping his tea carefully. “I guess I got really overwhelmed from seeing what I did in Kassia’s memories, but I think I’m fine now, everything from that . . . lifetime is fitting into where it belongs in my brain.” Nikolas smiled apologetically. He sort of felt it was his fail that Evande was remembering all these memories.

“I-I’m sorry I woke you up with my crying and all.” The boy stayed silent as he set his tea down. The kotatsu was nice and warm under, but Nikolas' toes were already scorching. So his hands were there instead.

Eyes wandering around the room, they fell back on Evande as she began to talk again. “All of this, everything that’s happened in the last two days . . . it’s bizarre,” Evande looked serious, so Nikolas stopped smiling abruptly. Maybe it would seem rude if he were smiling and seemingly laughing at what she was saying, even though he wasn't. “The efforts of the last six years of my life, not getting attached to others or making friends to try to keep the weird from my life, so everything would be peaceful; it sort of seems like it was all for naught.” She paused, and the boy's eyes filled with fear of losing her, before icing over quickly. “But, even if it seems like I should be angry or upset about that, I’m not, I'm really not." Nikolas sighed in relief, a warm look returning.

"Actually Nikolas, I think I’m both relieved and happy that all of this happened, sure, I don’t know anything about why things are suddenly different in regard to what you told me, yet I don’t really find myself caring right now.” Nikolas stared at her, before tilting his head in the opposite direction from before. He was confused as hell for the billionth time in the last five minutes, but it was as if he suddenly turned into a ninja when Evande started falling back; he grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it under her head before it even hit base. Nikolas stood up, ran his hand through his hair and found a black box lodged carefully at the very top cupboard. Ryu had obviously tried to hide it, to no avail. I don't want to do this, but. . . The boy felt his old thief traits coming back. Oh, fun can't harm you. He laughed quietly, tiptoeing his way across the hall with his box. Had the girl actually called the locksmith in the whole time she was there?

Nikolas carefully looked at the lock. He hadn't lock picked since. . . well, since the time him and Ryu were together-together. Ryu had convinced him that practically kidnapping him and letting him do whatever he wanted was justified since Nikolas was caught in the act of robbing the purple haired boy's house, whose hair at the time was a chestnut brown. He inserted the torsion-wrench and the half-diamond shaped pick, before fiddling for a couple of seconds, and a click came suddenly. Man, that skill's gotten rusty. The blonde opened the door, before going back to pick up Evande. He left his blanket on her, before placing her down on the couch in her own apartment. He went and grabbed the blanket in her room too, spotting her cat. Fighting the urge to fawn over it as it circled his legs, maybe for food, Nikolas made his was back over to Evande.

He sighed, kissing her on the forehead, before leaving, closing the door behind him. Nikolas took his lock-picking set back to his own apartment, shutting the door. He lay down in exasperation, hitting himself. Nikolas turned over, Panda crawling onto him as he finished his tea, finally. "Hello my little Panda." Nikolas laughed as the cat nuzzled him. "Mommy's a bad boy. He shouldn't get close to the nice lady, but he can't help it because he is very bad." Panda looked over attentively, before head butting him. "What? Is this your way of punishing me? Don't do that again; you might hurt your head." Nikolas looked at the little cat, before standing up.

He threw on his jacket and his sneakers, walking down the stairs slowly, before running back and leaving a note.

Stupid bastard,
Gone out. Call me later if you want to tag along.
Niko

Nikolas looked at it, before adding a 'las' on the end. He went all the way down the stairs this time; leaving the door unlocked was fine if Ryu was in the building, right? When he got to the door, he looked out. "When the hell did it get dark?" he thought, glancing around at the snow covered streets. The floor appeared crystallised almost, and only a few people were walking the streets. What? The boy glanced around, before seeing something following him. Nikolas picked up the black and white cat, putting Panda around his shoulders and she shivered quietly. He sighed. If there was one thing he was going to do tonight, it was getting drunk, if even slightly. And for that, he needed a companion. So he texted Ryu quickly, telling him to meet him soon; and they may buy some hair dye again.

“D-Did you want to say something else Ryu. . . ?” she said kind of quietly. “It almost seemed like you were going to say something else before your comment on dying your hair blue . . . but opted out of saying it. . . .” Ryu shrugged, a nonchalant look on his face.

"Is that a no to the blue?" he grinned maliciously. His phone made some weird 'Ding!' noise, and Ryu guessed he must have gotten a text from someone. Well, the two people that had his number were Nikolas and the landlady, and it was hopefully Nikolas. To be honest, the landlady could complain about the incessant knocking down of furniture or shouting when Ryu and Nikolas would fight, but she hadn't even said a word. In all actuality, she hadn't even been seen once the whole time they were there. It could even be a landlord for all they were concerned. Well, a man called Karen. That was probably just Ryu's mind running off somewhere again. Right?

The small girl looked tired as hell when he looked at her. It seemed she'd finished her soup, quite quickly too. “G’night.” It was quiet, but Ryu just about managed to hear the soft voice as she fell asleep. He grabbed the bowl as it started to slip out of her hands and towards the floor, and he patted her head gently. She was too cute when she was sleeping, and he sat at the end of her bed, smiling, cupping her face in his hands as she slept. So small. . . He rethought everything that had happened over the last two days.

Ryu took the bowl to the kitchen area and sighed. Their meeting was so weird, and now that he thought about it, Kiku had apologised. Kiku. Ryu pondered over that; was it just because he was her childhood friend? At the time, they were both young and innocent, but when he'd told her he was moving to somewhere far away, the tears in her eyes were too much. So he'd made a promise to her, one that was intended to never be broken. But Kiku took it a lot more seriously than he thought she would. When she committed to him and didn't go out with any other man, Ryu felt a bit strange. He sort of felt respect, but he sort of wanted to tell her to continue on with her life, like he'd expected her to. Maybe he was being childish, but that was how he felt. He quickly dialled the number he wanted as he left the tsundere's apartment without even one sound.

"Yeah?" The voice from the end sounded annoyed, but not with the person on the other end. More at the world. Yep. It's Nikolas alright. Ryu felt a smile spread across his fact at the aggravated voice on the other end of the

"You texted me? I'm coming down the stairs now." Ryu lied, going back in their apartment to grab his coat. He shut the door when he heard Nikolas shouting.

"No! Don't shut the door! I don't have my keys. . ." The blonde sounded desperate. He'd always had a thing with keeping his keys on him at almost all times, but for him to forget over something so simple as going out was strange. And the door was already open when Ryu tried to unlock it earlier, so had Nikolas left it open or something? He heard the voice on the other side sigh deeply and groan, before hanging up.

Ryu peered out the door when he finally spotted Nikolas, his face very red. Is forgetting your keys that embarrassing? Nikolas took something from around his neck and placed it on the floor. Panda? The tsundere was telling her to stay put this time since 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' are going out to have fun. Panda trotted up the stairs reluctantly, and began trying to get into Evande's letter box; somehow. Obviously, that wasn't happening.

A big grin spread across the boy's face as he and Nikolas walked down the streets, in search for some sort of bar.

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You would think that after centuries and centuries, this guy would get used to drinking. Nikolas sighed, almost tipping over as the purple haired boy swayed while leaning on his shoulder. He was feeling lighter than before, probably the effect of the drinks, but Ryu was all over the place after beating someone at a 'Yard of Ale' competition. Twice.

So Nikolas had to become the guardian for this man with a bag of hair dye as they made their way back, neither of them remembering that they didn't even have their keys. Ryu just kept messing around and talking constantly without even stopping once. That was sort of annoying, considering how many subjects Ryu had to speak about; infinite. Nikolas was starting to get annoyed when they were outside the apartment, where he remembered. Shit! Our keys! The blonde began to growl, but Ryu just fiddled with the handle, where it clicked and the door opened. Nikolas looked at him in surprise, but he just shrugged, a delighted look on his face. The blonde sighed and sat down when Ryu made his way to the shower, probably to use one of the million hair dyes they ended up buying in the end.

As he sat down, he felt this sting through his chest, just like that time in the doctor's, when Evande had asked him who he really was. It wasn't bad, it was just an ache, a dull feeling. His heart sank to his stomach when he thought that she may be remembering something from either hers or his lifetime, but he concluded it was impossible. He just sat and turned on the TV, sitting like an upturned turtle on the couch, before shivering suddenly. Man, it's really cold in here. . . Nikolas thought as he crawled under the kotatsu, glancing around for Ryu's blanket. He didn't find it; had Panda dragged it somewhere? Well, Nikolas was going to need it if he was going to sleep. He sat through the whole of the program on, about another half-an-hour. He stood up, swaying a bit, before walking across the hallway.

She's probably asleep he thought after knocking the door once. Nikolas sighed and walked straight into Ryu's room, stealing the blanket. Ryu himself emerged from the bathroom, delighted, and Nikolas didn't realise why until he saw his hair. The right side was bleached a pale white, and the left was a bright pink. And at the back, underneath the pink and white, it was his natural black, somehow. The blonde shook his head. With the intention of dyeing his hair one colour, he ended up with three.

Nikolas turned off the kotatsu, since he didn't want their electricity bill to be monstrous when they saw it. He crawled under the covers, and for some reason, Ryu climbed in too. Maybe it was the drunkenness, but Nikolas just shrugged and shared the only blanket in the freezing cold, but he slapped Ryu and told him to go fetch a towel, since his hair was still dripping wet. Ryu shrugged and got one, before crawling back into the warmth. They were both so busy trying to sleep that they didn't even realise Nikolas had left the front door wide open. Panda crawled onto Ryu's head while he snored away, and Nikolas lay there for a while, on his side, just like Ryu.

Why did things have to be so difficult? Nikolas remembered arguing as much as possible with the Gods when they explained their plans of Ryu and Nikolas going to live at the same time as their alters. He was absolutely furious, and he was punished for it too. But this was one thing he'd never stop arguing about. He'd found it weird when both girls were born with their original names, instead of some one made up by their parents. Nikolas' original name was, naturally, Nikolas, so he uses that name whenever he's not living. But when they'd told him he'd be meeting his alter, and living alongside her, he just flipped.

Those bastards. Nikolas sighed as Ryu mumbled to himself. Well, might as well sleep. he thought, his eyes dropping closed after a couple of minutes, not even noticing the open front door.

Nikolas' sleeping was fine throughout the whole night, but he heard footsteps. Now, this was bad for someone who's overly paranoid in the mornings when he first wakes up, but he felt like he couldn't open his eyes. He felt prodding, but it felt as if he weren't in his body, and the poking was just a distant feeling. He gasped loudly as he heard someone speaking extremely close to his face, and he was suddenly very awake. “Nikolas~ It’s time for you to wake up sleepyhead.” His arms flailed about for a second, aiming for the person as his croaky voice said the name 'Blaze' quietly and angrily, but he failed to even land one hit. His eyes were blurry as he relaxed and tried to break free, so he rubbed them quickly. Black. . . hair? . . . Ryu? Were all the past days a sream, a lie?

He was dazed as he stared. Brown eyes? And that face shape? Is that. . . Evande? His blue eyes stared at her lazily. "Am I the only one who 'asn't dyed their hair?" he asked, his accent going back to something from lifetimes ago. He sounded kinda rough, but he blinked a few times. "Oh, sorry. I can't make you tea." His normal voice was back as he pulled up the yellow sheet to show that Ryu had a very tight hold around Nikolas' stomach area. Ryu stirred from the cold, and when Nikolas looked around, some throbbing headache came in. Ryu pulled even tighter around his waist and Nikolas gasped. "Ah. . . Ryu, stop, I can't breathe. . ." he moaned, his voice sounding raspy. The pink haired boy just pulled even tighter and Nikolas started kicking frantically. "Ryu, let go; you'll suffocate me. . . Agh, b-bastard. . ." Nikolas groaned as Ryu released his hold slowly.

Oh god. I don't need tea; I need coffee. he thought resentfully as Ryu rolled over, somehow pulling Nikolas along so the blonde was now squashed. "Get off me, you creepy. . . thing." He growled. The boy took in air quickly, before flipping up, knocking the pink and white haired moron off him and onto the floor, but Ryu was so hungover he barely woke up. Nikolas sighed at the man half-asleep on the floor, before picking up the blanket and throwing it on him randomly. "I know we live together again, but this time is different. I don't have to take care of you." Nikolas practically seethed in resentment, and Ryu groaned, sitting up.

"Niko, make me coffee." Ryu said, standing up shakily and making his way to the bathroom. Nikolas stared at him in disbelief.

He glared. "Hell no! Make it yourself! G-go die in a hole or something! B-b-burn!" The blonde shouted at him, at a shortage of words and insults, and Ryu chuckled, before walking into the door. "Ha!" Nikolas turned his attention back to Evande. "Hey. . . How did you get in here? Wow, can you lock pick too?" He laughed quickly. "I-I mean, it's not something to talk about, but it's not like I use it for stealing anymore." He poured the instant coffee into two cups and grinned at her, before remembering. "Oh, you probably got in through the open front door." Nikolas shook his head at himself.

Why was she inside anyways? Nikolas looked at the sketchbook in her arms, before walking over and kneeling next to her. He looked at it. Was that. . . him? The boy looked closer at the picture, and saw that it was definitely him, but that was from ages ago, that scene. His eyes widened as he leaned over and stared at the picture, not even taking his eyes off it once. How. . . did she. . .

The umbrella, if it were in the picture, would have been blown away in the wind in the background. Nikolas' name at the time was Dane, and he was a university student before he quit since he had to take care of his little sister. That day, if he remembered correctly, was the day she'd gotten run over, his little sister. Nikolas felt something creeping up his throat; maybe it was the drinking, or maybe it was just in memory of that day that made him feel so sick. The blonde's face turned a deathly white, slightly tinged green as he remembered the strange entangled shape of his sister. His coffee dropped on the floor and his trousers, one cup staying upright while the other toppled over.

Ana had come with a lunchbox outside his work office, and Dane had told her to just leave it at reception; he could get it later. But, as he'd guessed, the girl was still outside even after half an hour of waiting in the pouring rain, and Dane was not planning on satisfying. When he looked out the window, he saw her walking out across the street, without his lunch, so he'd sighed happily and gone downstairs. While opening the door to the reception, he heard a loud scream, along with the screeching wheels of a car. Dane immediately ran outside, seeing his sister's pink umbrella flying off into the distance, and the boy had felt so incredibly sick he just threw up and fainted. Nikolas glanced at the picture, before looking away quickly, smiling. His sister Ana had made it, but Dane was sent in a state of shock for a couple of months; he had to quit his job, so his sister took over. That was two lifetimes ago. He thought, smiling when he remembered how nice his sister was. He missed having siblings. . . Ryu does not count!

Nikolas remembered something. Hey, every time me and Ryu are close, Evande goes a strange colour. . .? Did she. . . have a nosebleed from her strange imaginations (which I've, unfortunately, had the fortunate chance to see them. He'd always known it she blushing, but he couldn't work out why so he sat there pondering it for a second. She had made him blush before for getting close, or saying something out of the ordinary; it was time for payback. No one makes Nikolas blush. Ryu came out of the bathroom and sat next Nikolas. "Hey, what did you do?" Ryu sighed, holding his head in one of his hands. He was looking at the coffee spill on his legs.

"Ryu!" Nikolas shouted. "Don't look there!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. I've seen you naked millions of times." Ryu teased, a mocking look in his eyes though he kept a straight face. Nikolas looked away abruptly. Oh, Evande. This is what you get for thinking dirty thoughts about me and Ryu. . . he thought, and he decided to go all the way. Nikolas was meant to be Evande's other personality, but he had a few traits of his own, all from different lifetimes. And he tended to flick to them slightly every once in a while, like now. This time, it was a trait he acquired in the time him and Ryu were... Ugh, lovers.

Nikolas yawned, as Ryu crossed his legs. It seemed Ryu got what he was trying to do. So he's trying to get back at Evande? The pink haired boy picked Nikolas up lazily and sat him on his lap, bridal style, and he almost burst out laughing at the look Nikolas was giving him. It was almost sweet. Ryu had his legs crossed and Nikolas was sitting sideways in between his legs. But Ryu was at his limit as he literally fell asleep on Nikolas' shoulder, and the blonde looked back to Evande. He went a slight pink. "Ah. . . s-sorry. He's just really, really tired from last night. He's a bit hungover too." The boy shrugged. "Anyways, do you want that coffee?" The male-tsundere pointed at the drink that had landed upright on the floor, giving her the innocent smile of an angel, though he didn't like it, he was definitely making himself out as the uke, since he'd never pass for seme. Wait, why do i know those terms?

Ryu stared at the girl, and was a bit shocked when she spoke. “Why am I so stupid. . . ?” The multi-colour haired boy looked at her, and he saw her eyes slide over, before noticing he was actually awake. No one ever noticed me. he thought jokingly, a small smile appearing on his face. He was about to retort, but she spoke before he could even start. “Don’t answer that Ryu . . . I know I just acted like an ass, I don’t need someone’s reaffirmation regarding it.” He blinked, before laying back down, face towards the floor. He groaned slightly; he didn't particularly like Nikolas when he was acting all weird, and to be honest, he usually became an annoying burden, getting angry at every little thing. Well, he was usually like that anyways, but it just got. . . worse.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Evande said, leaving. Ryu mumbled into the pillow, and at hearing her leave, Nikolas tiptoed out of the bathroom and lay back down on the couch, breathing heavily. He told Ryu quietly that Evande knew about that lifetime where they were together, but that didn't seem to be what was bothering him. Ryu sighed; Evande was right with what she'd said, but she had to understand that Nikolas was just like his little brother, despite said person denying this to the end of the world. The blonde breathed in deeply.

Ryu rolled over so he could actually look up. "I'm such a moron." Nikolas breathed, and Ryu laughed a bit, earning himself a glare. But there was a smile on the blond's face as he covered the top half with his arm, so Ryu dropped the subject and decided not to tease him. He seemed to be having slight trouble with breathing, but he was probably calming down now. The smaller boy sighed, but they both sat bolt upright when they heard something smash in on of the other rooms. Ryu got up and walked to Kiku's apartment door, knocking.

"Kiku~?" He said in a sing-song voice, wondering what had happened. Sure, she had a cold, but that was expected after walking around barefoot until every bone in her body was freezing cold. He sighed, a little smile on his face; he still didn't really know what had gotten her so worked up that she'd completely blanked out. But he didn't really need to know that. "Kiku, it's Ryu! Hey, hey, check it out, my hair's changed colour again! Come to our apartment when you're ready, or awake, or something!" Ryu called, but he ended up drifting to Ryu-world all over again, as if he couldn't stay even one second in silence without finding something to think about. He turned around as her heard mewling, and Evande talking to herself. But when he looked to her feet, he saw a black and white cat. That's. . . not Panda. he thought, creeping back into the apartment when he heard her saying something about somewhere important to her.

It seemed Nikolas' face was now covered with a blanket, and when Ryu peered under it, he saw Nikolas looking cross-eyed at Panda, who was sitting on his nose, looking annoyed with himself. Panda was mewling to the little mumbles he was telling her, and Ryu thought of how weird it would be if Panda randomly replied; how scared Nikolas would be. Ryu found himself silently laughing as he sat down, narrowly missing Nikolas' feet. He somehow got a little glare from the two, and they returned to their 'conversation'. Ryu looked up to see Evande coming in the door, her cat following. Panda jumped down from Nikolas' face, and he turned over, his mouth and nose covered by the arm of the couch. His eyes followed the little cat, not even noticing the two that had just entered until he saw Panda mewling at another cat. Ryu looked at the three, sighing and took out his phone, searching the internet.

The blonde looked up, seeing a pair of legs and glanced up, seeing Evande with about a million things in her arms. His eyes followed her round the room, not being able to see what was in her arms, but it seemed that she didn't notice they were there. It was proven when she threw some half-folded blankets on Ryu. “Those are spare blankets of mine, I’m going to let you borrow them since you don’t seem to have any heat yet.” Nikolas tilted his head sideways at her statement. More blankets? He looked up at her as she walked into the kitchen-area-thing to get utensils, and a frying pan, from the cupboards. Looking at the utensils questioningly, he stood up as she set them down. Nikolas climbed up onto the counter, but she just carried on cooking as if she'd never noticed him; it was warm next to the cooker.

The boy stared at her cooking. How hasn't it turned black? She's got it on one of the highest settings. He sighed. Then again, I guess it's just me who can burn everything apart from instant noodles. He was grateful that Evande was cooking; there was nothing instant in the house so he'd have to wait until Ryu got up. Which could take a few hours. He then looked up to her face, tilting his head to the left. "Evande, well. . ." he started, his voice trailing off into a simple whisper. "S-sorry." His voice was hardly heard, but nonetheless, Ryu turned his head slowly, evidently shocked beyond belief, before hunching over in laughter. Nikolas was soon behind the couch, and he punched him before crying out in pain. He looked at his hand, seeing the splint and remembering that he'd broken his wrist.

"Goddamn it Ryu!" His eyes darted over to Ryu, whose bad acting skills were in action. He was now trying to look sympathetic without laughing, but he had to leave the room and enter his own, despite his efforts. "Get back in here! . . . Ryu!" Sighing, Nikolas sat down on the couch in a huff, crossing his arms angrily. Panda was busy playing with Evande's cat, Kiseki. He looked at Evande. "I would help cooking, but we'd end up having to evacuate the building." He laughed, his eyes somehow sparkling as he went to get a drink, like the weird thing Ryu'd brought home. What was it called? Mountain Dew or something?