System, I'm Sick...Again!

Vin (11)

"You're still young, Vin. You have your whole life ahead of you. Whoever's making you feel like this is probably gonna die first, so don't die before they do."

Vin laughed a little before talking back.

"That's a nice motivation, Jeremiah. I'll keep that in mind next time."

Next time?!

"Uh yeah, I prefer you not having any 'next time'."

Vin laughed but didn't answer back, which made Jeremiah frown.

[The task is for you to convince him to live, not the other way around.]

{Just shut up and trust my plans. You're not the one doing the heavy lifting, are you?}

[You're not lifting anything.]

{It's a metaphor!}

"I have to get going. My Dad's gonna get upset if he doesn't see me at the house." Jeremiah frowned when mentioning his Dad.

Chaim noticed but didn't point it out. He held Jeremiah's arm when he was about to stand up and started fidgeting when Jeremiah's attention went back to him.

"Uh...uhm...can-can we meet again?"

Jeremiah smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Of course. See you here tomorrow? At the same time?" Jeremiah laughed when he saw Vin nodding eagerly with eyes shining with joy.

"Bye."

"See you tomorrow!" Vin kept waving goodbye until he couldn't see Jeremiah anymore.

Once the coast was clear, he slumped back down and exhaled a large breath.

"Right, I've settled continuous contact, and I have an idea what the problem might be. Should I just oof his Dad so the problem's solved?"

[While killing can help in some problems, it won't help in this one. Not in this world.]

{Aw, man. Better luck next time. Just when I'm having pretty good ideas.}

[Innocent and naïve, Chaim. Innocent and naïve.]

{Yeah, yeah.}

Chaim started to walk back home when he noticed the sun starting to set. Thankfully, his clothes are now dry because he didn't want to explain why more than half of his body is wet.

When he walked into the apartment, he saw Aldrich and Scott talking at the living room. They looked serious, but when they noticed him, they smiled and waved at him to sit with them.

Is this what I think it is?!

"Vin, I'm here to tell you something." Aldrich said seriously which made Vin nervous. Scott noticed so he placed his hand on Vin's shoulder.

"Remember the picture you showed me?" Vin nodded.

"Well, I might have a lead about it but I'm still not sure. It will take some time. Probably about a week or so."

Well that just burned my hopes down.

"It-it's alright, Mr. Aldrich. You don't even have to investigate anything, but thank you for still doing it." Vin smiled which made Aldrich and Scott smile back at him.

"Anyway, do you still remember our lunch at Sunday?"

What lunch?

"Of course! I have the perfect meal in mind to cook. And-and everything is planned already!" Vin was literally bouncing with excitement. Aldrich laughed and ruffled his hair.