Nerium oleander

Cabin

Alfred took a deep breath, his heart beating franfically as the smell of wet soil enveloped his senses. His foot slipped slightly on the damp leaves, making him stumble. A blurry shadow surpassed him, four heavy pawns resounding in the forest.

Slowing down his pace and looking around, Alfred squinted his eyes, he could make out the tree's outlines, the yellow tones and the main path covered in damp leaves. This morning's stroll around the town was more pleasant than he thought.

He needed to burn his energy on something, the bars were boring without a partner to tag along and locking himself in the apartment was wearing him off. A good routine could be made from this, besides, he could keep on seeing Yao with the excuse of walking his dog. Yes, that would be a great plan.

The soil behind him protested with a crunching lament and he turned back sharply, finding no one in sight. Alfred tensed, he could feel a pair of eyes observing him, yet he had no idea from where, and without his glasses, he would not make out the details from afar.

He walked towards the highway slowly, the sunlight behind him formed shadows on the ground, at least that he'd be able to see. Remus came back, wagging its tail and jumping enthusiastically, eager to keep playing. The poor dog deserved a small diversion after being thoroughly searched in the lab.

A click and he turned back sharply, stepping on a branch and stumbling as it rolled under his foot. Alfred cursed as he fell, sitting on the ground.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" A soft voice asked, along the approaching steps.

Alfred focused on the figure, slender, dark locks of hair and he sighed. "I'm fine. Why are you looming over there like a creep?"

"I'm used to doing that, besides it was you who wanted to tag along. You have to be quiet, else those little creatures fly away,"

"I know, but bird sighting is not what I thought you'd do, and I grew bored, why do it so early? It's not like you can't see a pigeon at 11 am" Alfred chuckled, getting on his feet, his uneasiness didn't vanish. "We should probably get some rest."

"Perhaps it is boring, but it's better than doing nothing," Yao hummed, showing him the picture of a small blue bird. "It pays off sometimes, this is a cerulean warbler. Are you tired?"

"There's no way you took that, I haven't seen one of those around here." Alfred frowned, how was he able to take pictures anyway? He was lucky if he didn't fall backwards. He chuckled, glancing at Remus, the dog was running back and forth, nudging him with his head before running away, Alfred followed him. "Let me guess, that one only appears early in the morning."

"Yes, sometimes at 3 am, they usually nest in the tallest trees" He said, giving him a smile. "This one is very clumsy, not so hard to record."

Alfred peered into the camera, only to find a picture of himself playing with the dog. "Very funny. How do you even go out with Remus? Energetic is an understatement for this dog." he said, glancing at the battered cabin where the animal stood.

"That's because you are treating him like a puppy," Yao whistled and Remus changed his posture, his tail stopped wagging as the dog approached swiftly, sitting beside him. "He behaves well, most of the time,"

Alfred nodded, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. "You know, I think the dog smelled the corpse yesterday and that's why he escaped. I mean, you were pretty close to finding it yourself, if only you had followed Remus, good for you I guess... I hope that unlike us, Ivan just passed out in his bed or something."

"I hope he doesn't pass out. That's never a good thing in his case."

Alfred paused, glancing back at the cabin. There were a lot of questions swarming his mind since last night. What was he doing wandering in the forest at night? Why had he called Yao from all people? Why did Ludwig arrive with a coat? He had shut his mouth, not wanting to explain how he got there but mostly not wanting to bother Ivan more, he had heard him muttering to Yao, the name Katya was thrown around a few times, Alfred shivered, could he recognize the corpse?