The Silence Of Metawin.

The Take Over, The Break's Over

How lucky he was to have such a beautiful daughter.

And that's exactly what Love was to him, no matter what any irrelevant 'legal documents' might say. She was his daughter in every way that counted.

And she had done such a good job.

The information she had for him, as well as the souvenirs she had taken from Gun's bedroom were more than enough, and he definitely had enough art supplies to create a brilliant picture.

A picture so brilliant it would expose the truth so violently it would send Win running, no doubt.

Running right into his arms.

Not knowing how to break into someone's car was nothing a little YouTube tutorial couldn't fix.

Breaking into a high security garage attached to an even higher security house, however, was another story.

Third's car was the canvas Bright needed to bring his creation to life, but he couldn't run the risk of being caught in the process. And so, a Plan B was in order.

Bright and Love showed up at Third's house, Bright calling beforehand to alert Win of him dropping by. He hated lying to Win, even if it was for his own good, but he explained how his car was broken down as he had been rescuing Love from a pill experimentation episode. Her and Terrance, apparently, had gotten into some wild crap and Love had called him, a family friend, to come pick her up. His car had run into some trouble about 5 minutes away and low and behold, there they were. Love in dire need of one of her infamous bathroom breaks and Bright in need of some company to fill the Win shaped hole in his chest.

It had been a while since they'd had one of their phone calls, as Bright had been too busy helping Love with the assignment he'd given her. Tracking down someone who dedicated their life to blending in had proven harder than anticipated.

Win opened the door for them, bearing a bunny smile brighter than the light from the sun. He felt himself smile, but it was a disconnected feeling, the rest of his senses were too focused on the beacon of light coming from his mouth.

They were welcomed inside and Bright noticed that Third had not come down, presumably still getting his beauty sleep.

"Hi! Love, I'm glad to finally meet you! Third has told me so much about-"

"Where's your bathroom?" She was doing the jittery bathroom dance, indicating an emergency.

Win smiled in understanding. He grew up with enough female cousins to understand that women didn't play around when it came to bathroom usage, always going in groups and bringing their purses. It was like they had full blown camping trips in there.

"Go through the kitchen, into the hallway, and take a right."

She nodded her head, whispered a 'thanks' and all but ran in that direction. What Win didn't see was that she actually took a left instead.

"Long time no see, Win." Their sessions being cancelled hadn't stopped them from making plans on Thursdays to 'grab coffee,' but that didn't mean he hadn't missed him with a vengeance. By the way Win was looking at him, he could tell he felt the same way.

"How have you been, Bright?" They sat side by side on the couch, knees touching and both pointedly ignoring it.

"Been feeling a bit empty actually, but I feel better now." He hoped his words didn't make Win too uncomfortable, since they were nothing but true.

"I know how you feel," Win said, maintaining eye contact.

Bright chuckled. "Because you're an empath."

"No," Win said, without missing a beat.

The silence that followed was comfortable.

Love returned about ten minutes later, not coming from the direction of the bathroom. Fortunately, Win's back was turned and he failed to notice this.

"Well, it looks like we'll need to get going. Thank you for allowing us to stop by at such a late hour."

"But what about your car? How will you get home? I could drive you-"

"No," Bright interrupted, a tad too quickly. "I already called someone to come tow it, and I'd rather watch and make sure they don't get a scratch on it."

Win looked more perplexed than suspicious, thankfully, and nodded his head in understanding. "Alright, but promise to call me when you get home, so I can know you're safe."

Bright could feel his cheeks heat up, unaccustomed to others bearing witness to the concern Win would sometimes show for him. Even his own daughter wasn't yet deemed worthy to experience such a precious gift Win had given him: the gift of compassion.

"I promise."

And with that they left to begin the long journey back to Bright's house, Love either boasting about how well of a job she had done or giving him knowing smiles all the while.

To be continued.