Now You See Me (self-insert #7)

Chapter 2

I finished repinning my powder pink hijab, straightened my forest green utility jacket, then slipped out of my room and knocked on the door across the hall. "Can I open the door?"

No response.

I exhaled. "I will slip lakewater in your tea if you don't answer me. Both of you."

"Come in." Came Naru's short reply.

I poked my head in the room. Naru was typing away on his Mac while Lin read one of his boss' books. I entered and plopped down on the floor next to him. "You don't have a signal, do you?"

"Many word processors can be used without Internet." Naru said, his fingers flying across the keyboard. Through the door I hadn't noticed it before, but his voice carried a lilt—he'd switched to English without me noticing, I realized with mild surprise. I'd reverted instinctively, replying with the dulled t's and drawn out a's characteristic of a Chicagoan accent. "Close the door."

"The air's a little musty."

"It'll improve if you leave."

"Nice try."

He cast me a droll look before focusing on his work. From what I could see, it seemed less about the paranormal and more about... "Philosophy of religion, right?"

"It'll be published next spring, if I'm lucky."

That was awful confident of him, but he also happened to be one of those rare people who had the right to be confident. "Sounds cool." I remarked, genuinely meaning it. "Include a section about Islam, will ya? For me."

He paused. "I supposed I could do that." He said slowly. "Not for you. For the sake of improving the IQs of all the pumpkins out there."

I grinned. "You're a clown."

The air was filled with rapid-fire clicks once more. This time I kept silent and watched words come to life on the screen. He made far less typos than I did—most of my clicking was me hitting BACKSPACE—and the lines of words marched across so smoothly that I found myself watching the movement rather than actually reading. Though what he'd written seemed pretty good so far. Sounded smart.

Vaguely, I heard someone knocking on the door. "We've got a visitor." I said drowsily.

"Go answer it, then."

I struggled to my feet, grumbling about his slave driver tendencies. "Mai! What's up?"

She peeked behind me. "What's Naru doing?"

"Work. Why?"

"Uh, Ayako wants to know if you guys want to eat anything in particular. Bou-san, John, and I are going grocery shopping."

I pursed my lips. "I can ask them, but if they don't want anything specific, I'll give you a list."

I hurried back to the room for a pen and paper, pausing only to ask their opinion—as expected, they waved me away—before returning to where Mai waited. "They said they'll eat anything, which means I get to pick. These are all the things that I'm gonna need, and on the back there's some random stuff that's just as important. Don't leave anything out, if possible."

She glanced it over. "You know how to cook?"

"Very basic things. Omelettes. Fried eggs. Noodles." I shrugged. "I can also try my hand at stir frying some veggies. It can't be too hard, right?"

Mai's lips quirked into a smile. "It can be hard." She assured me.

I hesitated. "I really hope Lin knows how to cook."

Once she left, I double-checked with Lin. He did know how to cook, which was pretty impressive seeing how he came from a fancy-shmancy rich family.

"My family lives in London. I live in Cambridge." He reminded me. "What did you ask for?" I rattled off the list, and by the time I was done I could tell exactly what he assumed of my cooking skills. Which, of course, were stellar. "We'll have to make do."

"If only you'd responded..." I intoned. Bored, I left to grab my laptop from my room and opened up a blank document.

Naru looked up. "Working?"

"Writing random stuff until something of substance comes out."

He shook his head and went back to his manuscript.

Our groceries arrived a few hours later via Mai, and when they did Lin got to work putting together a meal of rice and veggies stir fried in soy sauce. I offered to help, but he effectively fended me off by reminding me that I had yet to finish my report on the Yoshimi family case. Since I'm petty, I brought my laptop into the kitchenette and sat down on the floor. "I only had a little left." I muttered, struggling to put words together in a coherent sentence. "Besides, there's no Internet. It'll be a while before Sir Dorey gets this."

"That's all right. I'd rather you have it ready to be sent."

I wrinkled my nose, typing away as he busied himself in front of the stove. He finished faster than I would've managed, and once he'd delivered Naru his meal, he surprised me by joining me on the kitchenette floor. "How's the report progressing?"

"Almost done." I said past a mouthful of rice. "I'm at the part where Naru blasts the Okobu-sama to pieces. It's lit."

Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Not really, I guess." I amended. "Getting yelled at by you was terrifying."

"I'll keep that in mind."

I mentally kicked myself. Never give up your weakness. Ever.

The next day, breakfast also would've been wonderfully tasty if Naru hadn't sent Lin on an errand, leaving me to put together omelettes and veggies alongside the leftover rice. I had just finished dishing out the rice when I realized Naru was at the door, talking to someone. "I don't have any free time."

"So you'll go along with everyone's agreement?"

"I don't think I'm in agreement."

Ooh, Bou-san and Naru showdown. I left the rice and crept up behind Naru.

"Now, look here..." Bou-san's sentence drifted off, and as I peeked over Naru's shoulder, I saw Mai watching them with unhidden curiousity.

"Um, is there a confusion?"

"No. What is it?"

Bou-san sighed, then noticed me and made a face. I smiled.

"Breakfast. Ayako said to come over if you feel like eating."

"Can't you bring it here?" His Majesty inquired.

Mai glared at him, them stomped off. "I see! That's all, sorry for intruding!" She snapped as she strode away, Bou-san chasing after.

"You're really annoying sometimes." I observed. "Couldn't you have told her that we had food? She probably still thinks I'm cooking."

Naru shrugged. At first I wondered why he was just standing in the doorway, but then I saw Lin striding across the grass. I waved, but of course the tall man couldn't let his impassive shell down in front of Mai and Bou-san. Or he just didn't feel like waving, like always. He crossed the grass in record time, wasting no time in reporting. "Naru, it seems like it'll take the other party 2-3 days to depart." He said briskly as he shut the door. "I contacted the trader and told him we needed the divers urgently, so they should arrive this evening."

"Good."

Naru went out around three, refusing all offers of lunch. I huffed, moodily devouring my bowl of fruit before tugging Naru's bowl toward me. "The least he could do is take care of himself after being hospitalized." I muttered.

"It is Gene's corpse." Lin reminded me gently, patronizingly taking a bite.

"Yeah? He won't be able to attend the funeral if he keeps this up. Worse—he might just attend in a coffin."

Lin nodded, mostly to get me to shut my mouth and eat.