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Day 1
The tear rolled down his cheek, but Simon couldn’t stop it. Sahdmadhi watched him intently.
The faceless, hazmatted entity stepped away from Simon. They carefully placed the nose swab into a clear vial. The liquid inside it instantly morphed to a sickly green when the swab made contact. Discreetly, Simon tried to wipe away the traitorous tear. Having that oversized cotton swab shoved up his nasal passage hurt. The tear was a natural reaction. Obviously.
The Chief Prosecutor couldn’t seem to get his cravat to sit right within his own hazmat suit. “How long will the results take to develop?”
“At least five days, sir,” answered the tester. Beside Simon, on the bed, Nahyuta huffed out a breath.
Edgeworth sighed. “That’s certainly not ideal…Prosecutors, you’re sure no one else could have been exposed to Dr. Ruin’s virus? Was there anyone else with you?”
Nahyuta nodded. “Everyone has been accounted for, as I recall. Em - Detective Skye - is she all right?”
“A team is collecting her sample as we speak.”
“How will Dr. Ruin be tried timely for her crimes?”
“She built up an immunity to her own creations. I have spoken to Franziska and Prosecutor Gavin, who will be leading the prosecution against her. We are currently working on the logistics of bringing you in to testify during the trial.”
Simon snorted. “My untimely death due to her deadly virus should be testimony enough, I think.”
“That reminds me,” said the faceless hazmat creature, “the symptoms to watch out for are fever, dry cough, nausea, full body aches, chills, and…a rash.”
“A rash? Where?” asked Nahyuta.
“Anywhere.”
“I’m not checking you for a rash, Sad Monk.”
“I’d never allow your horrible hands on me in such a way.”
Edgeworth looked between the two of them. “I’m sorry for the…unpleasant circumstances.” He sighed, and his breath fogged up the little plastic face window of the suit. “We’re already renting out this entire floor of the Gatewater to keep exposure to a minimum. Some of the officers from the scene are sharing a room, like you two. And thank you, Nahyuta, for being willing to move to a larger room.”
Simon crossed his arms. He didn’t know this wasn’t the original room Nahyuta had been put up in at the Gatewater Hotel. “I couldn’t return home even if I wanted to. Athena would be infected immediately.”
“Did you inform your family back home, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi?”
“Yes. My visit here has been extended two weeks to avoid any contamination.”
“Haven’t you made us suffer enough here?”
Nahyuta sent Simon a nasty look. These five days could only end in utter disaster.
Edgeworth seemed to think so, as well. “Food and clothing will be delivered to you. Um…try not to get sick.”
“It is too late for that,” said the monk with that stupid serene smile on his face, “but thank you anyway.”
Edgeworth and the hazmat freak gathered together the samples, test kits, and other safety equipment. As quickly as possible, they slipped out of the hotel room to avoid any further contamination. Simon heard further noise on the other side of the door. Were they literally getting sealed in this room together? Only to exit dead via murder or coughing fit?
Still sitting next to each other on one of the beds, neither Simon nor Nahyuta spoke for at least five more minutes.
“What now, Sad Monk?”
“I’m…going to go pray.” Sahdmadhi stood. He slipped out of the gilded outer layers, laying them neatly over the gaudy couch in the center of the room. Simon watched him remove those tall boots and various glittering jewels. And pray he did, after settling down on an uglier couch cushion next to one of the hotel room’s wide windows. They couldn’t even open them for any fresh air.
They couldn’t leave. They were locked in.
If he had simply listened to Sahdmadhi, had waited for the forensic investigators to arrive to seal off the scene, had not charged into Dr. Ruin’s secret laboratory…then he would be at home with Taka and Athena. The problem was that Simon Blackquill had never listened to Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, and he was not going to start any time soon.
The hotel door was probably sealed and bolted from the outside. Edgeworth had instructed them to deadbolt it from the inside, as well. They weren’t even allowed room keys; they could not return even if they dared to defy orders.
A chill fused his entire spinal column. He couldn’t leave this room.
“Blackquill?”
“What!” Simon very nearly barked in response.
“Don’t take that tone with me. You are breathing heavily - are you not feeling well?”
“I’m feeling fine, Doctor Sad Monk. Leave me be.”
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“Perhaps now would be a good time to check me for that mysterious rash?”
“Never make such a foul suggestion again.” Nahyuta stood from his prayer pillow. Further fighting words seemed to get stuck on his lips.
“Spit it out, Sad Monk.”
“Must you antagonize me when I am the only creature you will have contact with for the better part of a week?”
“In fact, I must.”
“You are twisted.”
Wordlessly did he return to his prayers. That familiar charred hatred they shared fully blanketed them by now. Simon stood to shower. There was no way to feel clean until those test results returned, yet he could make small attempts to feel marginally better.
To put it simply, this was a nightmare scenario. A looming deadly disease that could be multiplying rapidly within their bodies coupled with the close quarters did not a pleasant Simon Blackquill make. It basically boggled the mind that Sahdmadhi was acting so calm. Was he not angry about their situation?
He finished showering, then realized he had no clean clothes to put on after or to sleep in. Some of his clothes felt somewhat reusable, at least. While he showered, Nahyuta had turned off all the lights and slipped into his own bed. They did not speak again.
Day 2
“Room service!” Athena shouted through the bolted door. Hearing that voice was the only possible thing that could lift Simon’s spirits.
“Do not exit the room,” added Edgeworth. Was he acting as their personal warden? Both Simon and Sahdmadhi waited for the door to unbolt. In bounded Athena. She carried a heavy bag which was hopefully full of his clothes and snacks. Underneath the many layers of masks and protective equipment she wore, he could tell she was smiling brightly.
“How are you feeling? Any coughing? Fever? Taka misses you a lot.” Simon didn’t move from his spot on the ugly couch, for he knew they shouldn’t get too close.
“And I miss him,” he answered, “and you.”
One of Sahdmadhi’s eyes cracked open at his words. He had been meditating in the same position on his own bed for the better part of the morning. They barely spoke all morning, too.
“Hi Prosecutor Sahdmadhi - how are you holding up?”
“Fine, thank you, Athena.”
“You’re both still feeling well?” Edgeworth asked. His glasses fogged up with every breath. He entered the room to deposit a laptop next to Simon’s personal things. “I’ve secured this device that will facilitate your appearance in Dr. Ruin’s trial later today. Franziska plans to call on you as witnesses at 11:30.”
“We will be ready by then, sir,” answered Nahyuta. Simon nodded in agreement.
“Hey, Nahyuta, do you need anything?” Athena asked suddenly.
Nahyuta straightened up just a little taller from his cross legged position. He was poised to answer, yet she continued, “Let me get you some things. What do you need? Actually, I’ll just get you everything I packed for Simon.”
“So…bird seed and a sword?”
“Good one, Sad Monk.” It simply hadn’t occurred to Simon that Sahdmadhi was all alone in this country. He couldn’t have everything he needed right here in this one room.
“Simon can share with you for now - right, Simon?”
Everyone stared at him.
“...Fine.”
“Thank you, Blackquill. And Athena. But it’s not necessary.”
“What do you mean it’s not necessary? Who knows how long you’ll be stuck in here with this dork?” She jabbed a thumb in the direction of Simon, who was not a dork. “I’ll be back after the trial lets out.”
“Is it safe to attend the trial?” asked Simon.
“We are taking all the necessary precautions to make sure Dr. Ruin doesn’t ruin anything else. Franziska and Klavier expect the trial to end quickly.”
“It’s hard to defend a client who literally has a secret lab with lots of evil, deadly viruses.” Athena cleared her throat. “Except…that’s not the lab you guys found or anything.”
“We should leave soon,” said Edgeworth, “as we’ve already stayed longer than was advised by the medical team.”
“I’ll be back - I promise!” She waved her goodbyes across the greatest distance possible and was out the door quickly with Edgeworth. Once more were they bolted inside.
“It must hurt to be separated from her in this way,” observed Sahdmadhi coolly.
“It’s only a few more days of separation.”
“If the results are negative, and you do not get sick.”
“Thank you very much for the reminder.” Simon stood to set up the laptop. It was like a digital brick. How would this allow them to call into the trial?
“Allow me?” The Sad Monk appeared next to him. “You seem very unsure of yourself in the face of technology.”
“I have never had a need to remotely call into a trial before. Have you?”
“I was given one of these devices during my last visit. With it, I can securely call into whichever trial is taking place in the first courtroom…It makes for some thrilling television.”
That actually earned a laugh from Simon. “How often do you make use of it? Most trials here would take place in the middle of the night in your homeland.”
“...Yes, you’re right about that. I stay awake if there is a particularly interesting trial taking place. Such as your recent battle with Wright over Sue Flay’s guilt.”
“How dare you bring up that case,” said Simon, though the typical fire in his voice wasn’t there this time. “I can’t forgive those idiot detectives for missing out on that vital clue.”
“You mean the rotten yogurt?”
“...Yes.”
A small laugh bubbled up from Sahdmadhi. “It happens to the best of us, Blackquill. Now pay attention - trial is about to begin.”
Through the laptop screen, the gallery began to fill. Soon the defense and prosecution took their places, followed by the judge. Von Karma delivered the opening remarks with perfect efficiency. The defense argued some dumb stupid points, and then it was their turn to testify.
“Please share your names and occupations for the court,” Gavin said, looking at them through another laptop in the courtroom. Simon answered, and then was immediately cut off by Franziska, who said, “You’re on mute, Prosecutor Blackquill.”
Nahyuta mashed the appropriate button on the device. He shared his information, Simon said his again like a dunce, and they delivered a flawless testimony. The cross-examination was truly pitiful. Shortly after, the prosecution dismissed them from the stand. A bailiff closed the courtroom laptop with great force. The screen went black.
“Job well done, Blackquill.”
“Same to you, Sahdmadhi.” They sat in silence. “What now, Sad Monk?”
“I…don’t know.” They might have stayed as statues for hours more, but the sound of unsealing and unbolting the door drew their attention. It was Athena, returned again. Her arms were full with bags of toiletries, extra clothes, and other goodies. A nurse outside forbade her from spending more than two minutes in the room with them.
Simon peeked into one of the bags. Playing cards, boxsets of television series he missed when locked up, board games, and other activities had been lovingly packed up for them. On the top of a pad of sticky notes, Athena had written, “Try to make the most of it! Take care of each other :)”
Day 3
Was the terrible ache in his joints due to watching Nahyuta crunch himself into various stretches or because his own body needed such movement, too?
“How may I help you, Blackquill?”
“Hm?”
“That was my polite way - though I don’t know why I bother - of forcing you to stop staring.”
“...Apologies. That just looks very uncomfortable.”
Nahyuta held his right wrist with his left hand; he stretched to the left. “Not so much. There is no point in exercising the body if you’re just going to injure it.” As he spoke, he tossed another ugly couch cushion to the ground, next to his own. Nahyuta remained in front of the windows for his stretches and meditation. The sunlight must have felt good.
Simon stared at the cushion. Then back at Nahyuta. Then his hip seemed to crack.
“Fine,” he huffed. Boredom and possibly a deadly virus was starting to eat away at his mind anyway.
“So you’ve finally come to your senses,” murmured Nahyuta as he sat down cross-legged, “but have no fear, I will start you out easy. Breathe deeply…”
“I don’t need to take direction from the likes of you on how to breathe.”
“Blackquill, must you also ruin my meditation?”
“...Sorry.”
Fair point. Slowly did their breath sync up. Their tandem inhales sounded like the ocean waves. The exhale was the wave’s crest. Time passed all at once for them in their easy positions. Eventually, Nahyuta stood. He rolled up through the spine until he stood straight. It looked so graceful.
“How did you get started with all of this?” asked Simon.
“The Khura’inese monks have a strict ritual.”
“And aren’t you one of them?”
“Yes and no. The monastery is not my main calling, though I’m happy to serve it when I am allowed.”
Simon stood and stretched simply by extending his arms above his head. “What do you mean by ‘allowed’?”
“Evil, power-hungry queens rarely let their pawns out of their sight, Blackquill. Even if my only desire is an escape to pray with like-minded individuals. You must be able to understand such a feeling.”
“Make no assumptions about me.”
Sahdmadhi rolled his eyes. The next pose he transitioned to had him pressing his right foot against his left thigh. Perfectly did he balance on one leg. Simon would not even attempt such a pose, for he would fall or snap in half or die.
But of course he understood that feeling - that desire to do something else with his life yet being utterly stuck. The time in prison was not wasted nor did he regret it. He regretted only that the Phantom could continue on their desolate path with no one to put an end to it. Even now did Simon continue to uncover long disguised Phantom plotted plots. How many others suffered like he, Athena, Metis, and Aura did?
Nahyuta finally finished with his stretching.
“What now, Sad Monk?”
“You keep asking me that.”
“Would you prefer I ask someone else in here? Oh no, it seems we’re still trapped in this hideous hotel.”
“Thank you for that reminder.” Nahyuta fidgeted with one of his earrings. He missed Athena. “What would you like to do?”
“What.”
“I am so bored in this room that I would willingly crossover into the Hell of Condemned Comedians for some semblance of entertainment.”
“Am I not entertaining enough for you? Would you like to look for the ra-”
“If you suggest I look for a rash on you again, it will not be the virus that ends your life.”
“I’ve had my life threatened too many times to count, Sad Monk.”
“As have I. It is not the brag that you think it is, Reverse Panda.”
“For someone with a planned death date, I think that it is.”
Nahyuta chewed and swallowed whatever retort waited to bite back.
“I win,” said Simon.
“Perhaps we should play a different game, if you thought that’s what that conversation was.”
“I spy with my little eye something purple.”
“My hair. That is not the game I meant. Athena brought over playing cards, didn’t she?” Nahyuta returned to his cushion with one of the bags she brought them yesterday. “And she provided an entire list of games to play requiring nothing else. Heads Up? What is that?”
Simon dove for the pad of sticky notes, scribbled down the name “Maximillion Galactica” and then slapped the note onto Nahyuta’s silly forehead.
Nahyuta reached up to pull the note off his face while spewing fiery insults, yet Simon stopped him from peeking. He explained the point of the game was to ask questions until they guessed correctly the individual on their forehead. Nahyuta took very great pleasure in slapping Simon right back with his own choice.
They only lasted one round. It ended in a battle to the death, as most of their conversations did. Nahyuta had never heard of the magician, and Simon had never heard of the famous Khura’inese writer, Aue’ther Ovbhuks.
“Pick a different game,” Nahyuta insisted.
“Slapjack, then. That involves hitting each other.”
“Perfect - why did we even waste our time with that other one? I think I know how to play - we have a similar game back home titled Snapdragon. Whoever slaps the jack first is the winner?”
Simon shuffled the pristine deck of cards as he said, “Yes, that’s it. Though…would you like to make it…‘slapqueen’ for our purposes?”
The suggestion registered as a sudden bubble of laughter. It was troublingly sweet. Simon shoved that thought away as he dealt out their cards between the two of them.
This game treated them much better. They played five rounds of it before migrating to Simon’s bed in order to play a rousing game of Go Fish. Simon looked over at Nahyuta, splayed out on his stomach at the foot of the bed. Triumphantly, did he complete a set of cards, which was laid out next to his other orderly piles. He smiled up at him. Simon smiled back.
Day 4
“Taka! Taka - come here! No, don’t go on the fridge!”
“Athena, I’m getting motion sick.”
She faced him again through her phone screen. It was a small window into the outside world, yet it was enough to lift his spirits.
“Sorry, I wanted him to come over and give you birdly kisses.”
On his bed, Nahyuta snorted quietly.
“I’ll get many birdly kisses when I am released from this gilded prison.”
She frowned. “Are you feeling all right?”
“No symptoms to speak of.”
“No, I mean…well, I don’t mean just physically.”
“I’m well.”
Nahyuta cleared his throat. The bed creaked, and soft footsteps padded across the fluffy carpet.
“Hi, Nahyuta! How are you feeling?”
Athena’s greeting startled him. “Also well - apologies, I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation. I came over to fetch my book.” Simon was very much directly in front of it, and Simon was very much not going to hand it to him. Nahyuta stepped further into the camera’s focus.
“You’re not interrupting anything. How are you doing? Are you missing anything back home?”
“My family can get along very well without me for a few extra days. I think Apollo is enjoying the break from me in the holy halls of our courtrooms.”
She rubbed over her bicep, as if the beaded bruises still marked her body. “I’m sure they miss you. But you’re not feeling sick either?”
“Perfectly healthy,” he confirmed.
“That’s awesome. And I’m really happy you haven’t beat each other up yet.”
“How can you tell?” asked Simon.
“Isn’t Simon just the worst roommate?”
“Funny, he said the same thing about you.”
“Hey!”
“I didn’t! The Sad Monk is a liar.”
“Would someone like me lie, Blackquill? A pious, holy, devoted servant?”
“Start praying for your life.”
Despite these words, Nahyuta smiled something easy. “It was nice to speak to you, Athena, and I hope to actually see you soon.”
“You too, Nahyuta!”
The monk retreated with his book back to the bed. It had been a maddeningly quiet day. Simon’s stomach gurgled. They utterly gorged themselves last night during their thirteenth round of Rummy. It was day four of the quarantine.
“What do you have planned tonight?” she asked her best friend. When he shrugged, she berated him: “I brought over so many games and shows for you! The entire series of Detective Hammer is at your fingertips!”
“I wish it were farther.” But fuck was he bored… “What’s the show about?”
“Detective Ace Hammer is tough as nails and tougher on crime! You two would have a great time figuring out whodunnit in each episode.”
Simon caught Nahyuta peering up from his book.
“Perhaps something to consider…if we get bored.”
“You mean if you get bored of being bored.” She paused, and then: “Oh no, I didn’t realize it was that late! Simon, I have to go, I’m sorry!”
“Sure, leave me to waste away in this ugly hotel room while you enjoy life outdoors with more than one hateful colleague.”
“Okay, I’m not sorry anymore. Call me when you get the results tomorrow, okay?” That pleasant and still childish smile remained frozen on his screen when they hung up.
“What now, Sad Monk?”
“...Detective Ace Hammer does sound entertaining.”
“I’m starving.”
“So am I. But we can’t-”
“We’ll order in,” interrupted Simon. He tossed his phone to Nahyuta after browsing through Snacc Attacc’s varied delivery menu. “Pick anything you want. Edgeworth will pay for it.”
Nahyuta scrutinized the menus and restaurants available for delivery on the app. Simon tried to hide his surprise that the monk had managed to make a purchase worth $60 at one restaurant.
“How many episodes of Detective Hammer are there?” Nahyuta asked.
“Probably too many.”
“Then let’s not waste another second.” Nahyuta actually had the nerve to pull him towards the couch. They inserted one of the show’s discs into the television’s built-in player. The theme was terrible, the acting was terrible, the mystery was terrible, but what was not terrible was experiencing it all with Nahyuta. Their food came halfway through the second episode. Nahyuta’s expensive tab made more sense when Simon noticed the case of fruity beer.
By the end of the fifth episode, Nahyuta was winning. The sixth would have been a tie-breaker, if Simon had not ultimately embarrassed himself by falling asleep during it. He awoke during a boring scene. Nahyuta, too, was asleep. His head rested on Simon’s shoulder. This position was…tolerable.
Simon woke again when the warm weight of Nahyuta could no longer be felt. Panic constricted his blood vessels at the unpleasant coughing noise coming from the bathroom.
“N-Nahyuta?” He knocked against the door.
“Leave me alone.”
“What’s happened?”
“I think even you can figure it out, dullard.” The toilet flushed.
“Let me in.” Nahyuta did not protest a single pathetic word. When he entered the bathroom, the poor thing huddled on the fluffy bath mat, gripping his knees. Nahyuta drew in ragged breaths.
He settled down next to him.
Simon pressed the back of his hand to his brown forehead. “What other symptoms do you have?” No fever. Yet.
“Just…this. How do you feel?”
“Fine.” After a deep breath, he sighed, “I’m sorry I ran in there without waiting, like you suggested.”
“Dr. Ruin might have escaped if we had waited. It is better that we suffer these consequences than anyone else.” He buried his face against his folded legs. A memory assaulted Simon: his grandmother rubbing soothing circles between his shoulder blades when he was a child, in this ungraceful position. Nahyuta did not move at the touch guided only by memory.
“Let’s get you to bed,” Simon whispered. Nahyuta must have been feeling better already, for he was no longer curled in on himself.
“Yes. Thank you, Simon.” He let himself be eased and then led over to his own bed.
“What do you need?”
“Water?”
Simon fetched him a glass.
“Thank you.”
“Will you be all right?”
“Yes. I pray you will be, too.”
Day 5
“I know you’re awake.”
Simon rolled over in bed. “So it would seem. How are you?”
“No symptoms to speak of, maybe because you make an excellent nurse. Thank you. How do you feel?”
“Well enough.” He sat up. It was the fifth day of their hotellish imprisonment. Today could be the day to determine life or death. Did the hazmat experts know how long it took for symptoms to develop? Surely within five days, if the results would be clear by then.
“Could I teach you a Khura’inese card game?”
“Deal me a hand, Sad Monk.”
Nahyuta migrated over to Simon’s bed. He brought one of the pillows and the fluffy Gatewater robe, which he wore like a cape, then stretched out on his stomach across the foot of the bed. It was a similar setting to their previous card game night.
As he shuffled and organized the deck, Nahyuta explained the rules: “Each card will be paired off with a similar card, based on number or suit. I’ve removed one queen from the deck, which-”
“Must be gotten rid of immediately, yes?”
“What? No. Have you played this before?”
“This game you’re describing is Old Maid, Nahyuta. Don’t end up with the Old Maid.”
“That sounds like a terrible game. What is so awful about ending up with an Old Maid? Anyway, don’t interrupt me: the objective is to keep the queen to yourself.”
“Now this makes sense,” he said with a wicked grin, “since I should have known all queens from Khura’in are revered.” Well, most of them.
“Are you ready?”
“I understand the rules, yes.” He kept a firm gaze on Nahyuta as he dealt the cards. They began picking cards from each other’s hands. The queen passed between the two of them multiple times; both kept their expressions neutral as she traveled hands.
“If you’re not infected with a deadly virus,” said Simon, “I will tell Wright-dono to invite you over for the next game night. Have you been practicing your poker face?”
“How good of you to notice, Simon.”
The realization shocked him: “That is only the second time you’ve called me by name during this whole quarantine.”
“You’ve kept track?”
“No…but I noticed it.”
“Would you prefer I use your name more often…Simon?”
It almost sounded unfamiliar when spoken in Nahyuta’s velvet accent. The answer to the question was on the tip of his tongue, yet the violent vibrating of his mobile phone on the nightstand interrupted him.
“Prosecutors, hello,” greeted Edgeworth once Simon answered it and put him on speaker. No one spoke for a stupid long time. “I have…news.”
“Out with it,” said Nahyuta, though Simon was thinking it, too. He gripped his prayer beads tightly in his fist.
“Your results were both negative.”
Nahyuta’s great big smile was only rivaled by Simon’s own. It was such relief to know that their bodies were not currently manufacturing a would-be plague.
“In fact,” Edgeworth continued, “the virus you came in contact with was…not the one we thought it was. Dr. Ruin developed different versions, and the one you came across was a long dead strain. So that’s very good. I’ve sent Gumshoe to pick up the actually deadly one from Dr. Ruin’s other laboratory.”
“Is that the best man for the job?” asked Nahyuta.
“I couldn’t send Ema, in case she took it home for further research. He’ll be…fine.” Then, he added, “Thank you both for enduring the better part of a week together.”
“We made it out alive,” answered Simon.
“You’re free to go.”
Those words still hit so hard inside of his chest.
Nahyuta said for the both of them, “Thank you, sir. We’ll pack up and be on our way soon. Well…Simon will be. I’ll stay here.” Edgeworth said his goodbyes and hung up. Simon forgot this ugly hotel served as Nahyuta’s home when on visits here.
“You should invest in an apartment for rent here, Nahyuta. It couldn’t be any uglier than this room, at least.”
“Thanks for the suggestion, Simon.” With that, Nahyuta peeled himself up from the bed. He dressed in the bathroom and then emerged to organize some of his belongings.
“What now, Sad Monk?”
“You leave. I stay. We forget this whole quarantine ever happened.” Nahyuta went over to the television to put away the Detective Hammer discs. Most of Simon’s belongings ended up scattered to the four corners of the room over these five days.
While Simon put away his own things, Nahyuta said, “I may have found the culprit of my…troubles last night.” Lightly, he kicked the case of beer.
“Are you serious? Are you that much of a lightweight?”
“I barely ate that day, since you demonstrated no self restraint during our card games and gorged yourself on all the snacks.”
“Pitiful excuses for a pitiful person.” Nahyuta handed him the boxset; how did episode six end? Next, Nahyuta moved to gather the playing cards.
“Perhaps we can finish our game later.”
But when would they ever have the opportunity again?
Simon coughed. And then again.
Nahyuta stared up at him.
“Sad Monk, you don’t look very well.”
“What?”
He faked a sneeze and then coughed very dramatically. “I don’t feel very well, either.”
“Simon Blackquill, are you…” Realization clicked into place, and Nahyuta said, “If you’re not well, we should stay one more day in quarantine, only out of an abundance of caution. Now that you mention it, I really feel quite ill.”
“Do you think Detective Hammer could cure you?”
“Only a man like him could even come close. How does episode six even end?”
Simon laughed as he texted Edgeworth to explain the sudden onset of symptoms. The boss tried to protest that such symptoms didn’t even make sense given the facts, but Simon ignored that.
Nahyuta had already gotten comfortable on the hideous sofa and queued up the dumb show. “What now, Simon?”
He grinned and joined him. The room did not feel like a prison anymore.