Riki noticed that Niko seemed distracted as he kept on clicking his tongue and crossing out what he was writing over and over again.
"Are you okay?" Riki asked as she watched Niko furiously cross out what he was writing. She was working on the opposite side of the table, across from Niko. Niko didn't hear her as he had his earphones on. Riki watched him for a few seconds more before going back to her own work.
Niko's behavior was something 'new' to Riki. In the months that they had lived together, this was the first time she had seen Niko this way. Physically, he was red faced. He was frowning while concentrating on his work and he was red-eared as well. When his face 'cleared' from his scowled expression, he kept on clicking his tongue and exhaling. He was annoyed at something and all Riki could do was observe. Deep inside, she was scared that he would explode and she wouldn't know what to do.
---
After a few minutes, Riki was starting get a little annoyed and nervous with Niko's 'noises' (tongue-clicking and huffing/sighing). She was working on her own laptop so she quickly and discreetly messaged Ina.
"Girl, anong ginagawa mo kapag biglang tumatahimik o mainit ang ulo ni Jake?"
Fortunately, Ina was online. "Depende. LQ ba kayo ni Bin?"
"Hindi naman. Bigla lang parang may S sya today..."
"Hmm...baka mali lang ang gising or pagod..."
"Baka. So, anong ginagawa mo? Nyo?"
"Gaano mo na ba kakilala si Bin?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think you know everything about him already? What makes his tick?"
"Uhmm..,he likes masabaw na sinigang and he collects IronMan figures and memorabilia.."
"Ano yan, slam book?"
"Anong slam book?"
"I meant ugali and quirks, hindi yung mga favorites at hobbies nya...what makes him different from other people you know? Like, I didn't know that Jake liked to sleep with his feet sticking out of his blanket and he doesn't sleep without a blanket even if it's hot like ngayon na summer time. And I'm sure hindi mo rin alam na kailangan tig-6x ang pahid ko ng deodorant sa bawat armpit ko every day"
"Six?!"
"See. Yun, yung mga habits nya na sya lang or kayo lang ang may alam. It's from those where you base how you'll 'deal' with many other situations...baka kasi sya yung type ng tao na ayaw nya pala ng kausap pag mainit ang ulo nya or ayaw nyang hawakan mo sya...gets?"
"Ahh..."
"I'm sure nag-uusap naman kayo about things na kayo lang ang nagkakaintindihan so siguro better kung mag-usap kayo. Tanungin mo sya. Malay mo, he just wants to hear your voice..."
