Suspicions and Unease

As the three went on with their moment of mirth, Allen and Lance only watched them in silence.

"Angelica was probably talking about his height," the red head mumbled, an amused smile gracing his features.

Lance then looked at him with a tinge of disbelief. He wasn't surprised that their jibber-jabbers were centered around their leader's lack of centimeters, though. What he felt a bit rubbed off about was the fact that Allen could tell just by watching from the sideline. That entertained look on his face gave him the impression that he's already that close to the three, an expression that slightly differed from when he's talking about his masters. Being able to come up with that comparison was saying a lot since that could only mean that Allen had probably fostered a new, deeper kind of affection.

"But of all people, it's her? You gotta be kidding..." Lance silently thought, turning to peer at Eli who's still in the middle of bantering with Hal.

A month hadn't even passed yet, but they're already falling for whatever trickery their enemy's human vessel has up in her sleeves. He doesn't mind the Chairman's son joining the team since it's a given, but recruiting a summoned creature, their archenemy to boot, was simply ludicrous no matter how he looked at it. She's definitely more than who she appears to be, but for some reason, the others had underestimated that fact too much and turned to befriend her instead. That said, it's not impossible that she'd lie about earlier. In fact, everyone was missing out on something, and judging by Hal's present interaction with her, he didn't seem to have figured it out either.

"Allen, shouldn't we start now? We still have to report to the Chairman later," Lance muttered, voice low and raspy, before standing up and walking towards Noah.

"Right, we have to," Allen answered, a bit taken aback by how abrupt it was.

"Tell Hal while I take Noah to the infirmary."

"Then, shall I get Angelica to look after him for now? Zeke might have to join us this time."

At this, Lance halted on his tracks all of the sudden, seemingly deep in thought. Without facing him, he then told Allen to ask Hal instead of him before proceeding to carry Noah on his back. The red head only blinked at this in puzzlement, unsure of why he suddenly began rushing things. He also appeared to be contemplating about something for a second. Then, as he continued mulling over these thoughts, Eli and the others noticed Lance giving Noah a piggyback ride out of nowhere. Seeing their baffled expressions, Allen then finally stood and sauntered to Hal, asking to have the meeting started and let Eli come with the blonde to the clinic.

"Eli will watch over Noah? You sure Allen?" Hal blurted out incredulously, much to her annoyance.

"What are you trying to imply now?" Eli retorted, squinting her eyes at him in miff.

"I'm being considerate, you know. You probably haven't taken care of a sick person before, and might still need to read a manual about it."

"Stop spouting nonsense, Hal. I was the one who gave him meds earlier and the nurse is also there-"

Then, she paused.

A cool, minty scent wafted to her nostrils all of the sudden, making her swerve her head to the side. She then found herself locking eyes with Lance for a second, dove grey pupils meeting sea green ones. They glanced at each other at the exact moment as he passed through them with Noah on his back. Though it's a fleeting contact, Eli couldn't help but be surprised since it's her first time seeing his stunning frame that up close. Now that she thought about it, it's also probably their first time breathing the same air since their tea party in the library way back then.

"You may now go with them, Eli. Take care of Noah... Again," Hal chimed in with a knowing look to which she simply nodded in reply.

Then, with that, Eli tagged along with Lance, feeling a bit jittery for some reason. The two strode through the halls, awkward silence sprawling in their midst. It could just be that he didn't like talking too much, or there's really nothing to talk about in the first place. The most probable reason that she could see here, however, was quite ancient - something about being the human vessel of their former rival, perhaps. His approach about the whole thing was a little refreshing, though. Unlike the others who'd shoot their mouths at her the instant that they met, Lance knew better and decided to just zip his.

Not a single word was uttered even after they finally reached the infirmary. Lance already laid Noah down on a bed when they realized that the nurse was still out and no one else was around. Eli somewhat expected this since she knew that students would only flock over the clinic when classes were ongoing, most probably to escape boring discussions or the teacher's monotonous tone that often managed to lull them into sleep. Even the law-abiding honor student had been there before, though it only took three minutes of nap before her guilty conscience kicked in.

"Don't just daze around there. You're here to look after Noah," Lance voiced out all of the sudden, much to her surprise.

"It's his first sentence, but he really had to act all grumpy, huh?" Eli just internally grimaced in return.

She then paced towards Noah's bed and sat over the stool next to it. As she did so, she could feel Lance burning holes on her with his intense stare, making her shrink a little. She tried to busy herself by watching Noah breathe away and counting his number of oxygen intakes, but even then, he hasn't left yet. He just continued standing behind her in silence, and if it wasn't for keen senses, she'd really think that he's pointing a gun to her head at that moment.

"You said that you found the antidote with the letter, but I doubt you're foolish enough to fall for something like that," Lance started out of nowhere, voice low and steely, much to her flummox.

"Or perhaps, I just gave you too much credits."

At this, Eli remained speechless and unmoving. What he said was true, though. It's quite a big hole in the plot she fabricated on a whim. She didn't see that coming since Hal himself didn't point it out earlier. Now, she had no choice but to accept that she's an idiot in order to keep her lie intact.

"Well... I may just have a good judgeme-"

Once again, she paused.

Silence and an empty space greeted her as soon as she swivelled around. Lance was no longer behind her. Without her noticing, he already went back and even left a death note. That's when she realized that he probably did it to taunt her or something. Just when she thought he's a sensible guy whom she had a shot coming to terms with, he turned out to be a ticking time bomb in the end.

"Then again, a man of few words are often the most frightening..."