Prey

Chapter 70

Doe's POV:

I definitely didn't miss those stairs we had to take while returning from the dining hall either.

Those things were torture devices in of themselves.

To me at least, Xander on the other hand wasn't fighting for his breath quite like I was.

Stupid vampires.

Much to my appreciation though, the hallway of our floor was vacant, so no one else could hear my struggle.

Xander still looked disrupted in a different sense with every step we took towards Nico's room, probably running over what he was going to say as he always did for important conversations as not to mess up.

And then get completely thrown off when the other person doesn't perfectly match the script he made in his head.

One day he'll learn... I hope.

"Try to at least look like you're not nervous," I suggested.

He let out a little groan, most likely at the fact that his nerves were that obvious.

To me at least.

"What would you suggest then?"

With the step I kept behind him, I didn't have to maneuver much to lift my hand and flick his spine right between his shoulder blades.

He gave me the reaction I was going for, immediately bringing his shoulders back to straighten his posture.

So he didn't look like he was about to fold in on himself.

"That, for starters."

He blinked in the realization that he was slouching in the first place, as we turned into the short dead-end hall that Nico's door sat in the middle of.

I momentarily thought about just heading down to the next one to our door and let him do this alone, but very quickly decided against it.

We both stopped once we reached the door, Xander letting out a quick but soft preparatory sigh.

"Do you plan on going in?" I asked.

He rubbed the folded paper through his pocket.

"Not really. I just kinda planned on it being a quick conversation."

Good enough for now I suppose.

I inclined my head while setting my back against the wall right beside the door, waving for him to get on with it.

And surprisingly, with no further hesitation he did, raising his hand to do the same rhythmic knock I'm sure everyone knew at this point.

He again straightened himself as I made him do before in the time it took Nico to answer the door.

"What do you want." The words sounded right after the sound of the door opened, that familiar annoyance already in his voice.

Actually no... this one sounded just noticeably different.

"Ah, yes. A warm hello to you too brother who I love so much." He cooed, adding those quick innocent blinks to it and everything.

My hand nearly met my face at the sound of it.

Really?

Nico, per usual, must have matched my reaction to all of this, the silence from him giving me enough input.

Xanders excited stance deflated after a while, his next words coming out flat.

"Really dude? Not even a 'Hi'?"