THRICE

8 -- Appearances

Nyhus's eyes bounced between Cara's white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and her eyes, which were pointedly focused on the road. "You know what'd be great right now?" he said, playfully leaning against the car's dashboard to try to catch her gaze.

She jerked her head away and rolled her eyes. "What?" she asked, sounding far from curious.

"Some burgers from that place we stopped at last time. They were good, right?" When she didn't reply, Nyhus cocked his head towards her, letting his long, light brown hair hang down, and said, "Don't you look at people when they're talking to you?"

Cara batted him away. "Not while I'm driving, you dingus."

Without missing a beat, he quipped, "You're practically a car yourself, it can't be that hard."

"Oh, yeah, very clever," Cara huffed. "I've never heard that one before."

"See? Your memory isn't good enough to remember how good those burgers were."

She abruptly grabbed his ear and pulled him back into his seat. "You think you're such a smooth-talker," she said with a dangerous smile.

"That is kind of my job," Nyhus grinned, crossing his arms and looking out the window at the small storefronts at the edge of Owhi. He watched the burger shop come and go with a sigh.

"Yeah, but you're supposed to do it to other people, not me."

He smirked and adjusted his shirt cuffs. "Who says?"

"Squall says. Come on, stay focused."

"You're no fun," Nyhus frowned. "Like, maybe anti-fun. If you have fun, you'll combine with it and explode."

They pulled into the parking lot outside the police station, and Nyhus put on his sunglasses. They were slim, dark and iridescent, with the slightest bit of a loop over his ears, just the way he liked them. "Do you see Duana?" Cara asked, getting out and leaning against the trunk of the sleek black car as she scanned the area.

"Nope," he said, popping the P. "They should be here somewhere, though." He stood with her and gave her a once-over. "You look good," he said with a quick nod. "Real slick."

She begrudgingly looked back at him and smiled wryly. "You too."

He slid the sunglasses down his nose to look her in the eyes. "We're going to get burgers later," he intoned, giving her an intense gaze.

Cara tore her eyes away from him before he finished talking. "Find someone else to have lunch with," she sniffed, finally spotting a familiar motorcycle and walking briskly over to Duana and Squall. The car honked sharply as it locked, and Nyhus jumped up to follow her.

Squall noticed them approach first and nodded to them. "Long time no see," he said flatly, pausing to rifle through his pockets. His thick hood was already up, putting his face in deep shadow despite the sunny morning.

Nyhus snorted, and Cara rolled her eyes for the second time that day. "You two are both insufferable," she groaned.

"Yeah, but we're insufferable together," Nyhus said, hugging Squall stiffly around the shoulders, "and that's what counts." As an obvious afterthought, he dropped his arm as well as his usual witty tone and added, "Good to see you, sir."

Unfazed, Squall handed him a square black wallet in reply. "Let's get this over with quick," he said evenly, leading them across the parking lot to the sidewalk with a few high clicks. "Don't draw attention."

Nyhus flipped it open and admired the silver badge inside. "You've outdone yourself, Duana," he said, a smile growing on his face.

She eyed it with him and hovered her hand over the badge, adjusting a few details in the intricate metal. "You can also thank Squall's excellent memory," she beamed, clearly opting to take most of the credit anyway.