.

Epilogue

(In which photographs are worth a thousand words, but the words are nice too.)

Iris approached Kazuma after dinner, when Sholmes had wandered off muttering to himself about some case involving, if his deductions were to be believed, a train robbery, two trained circus bears, and the German ambassador.

"Before you go, I wanted to give you these," Iris said. She handed a small stack of prints to Kazuma, who regarded them with interest. "Last week, when Mr. Barry finally came back again for dinner, Hurley messed up the camera while he was playing around with it, you remember?"

"Yes…"

"Well, it was taking multiple pictures every time it went off. I've finally gotten it fixed, but I have a lot of duplicate photographs. I thought you might like to have some of the spares."

Kazuma flipped through the pictures, smiling a little. Iris had been a menace with the camera that night, taking pictures of everything in her excitement, and Sholmes had taken a turn with it as well. The pictures were nothing special, maybe, but they had captured candid shots of the little gathering as they talked and ate dinner and politely marveled over Iris's newest inventions and Sholmes's latest schemes and the cases van Zieks and Kazuma were taking on.

At the end of the stack was the one posed picture, all four of them plus Wagahai smiling fixedly into the camera, waiting for the timer to go off. Iris's smile looked natural and sunny, Sholmes looked as silly as ever, Wagahai was actually on her best behavior and quite photogenic in Iris's arms, and van Zieks looked just as stiff and unsmiling as expected. Much to Kazuma's chagrin, his smile did indeed look a little off, cheeks slightly puffed out and eyes narrowing towards a squint. His first impression might not have been 'swallowed a frog', but it pained him greatly to know that van Zieks had had a point.

He flipped the photo over and paused at the last picture in the pile. This had obviously been taken in the immediate aftermath of the previous shot, when the camera's timer had gone off again before Sholmes could fix it.

Sholmes was lunging forward, limbs blurred as he reached for the camera, his expression comically panicked. Wagahai's mouth yawned wide in a yowl of protest, while Iris tilted her head back to smile up at van Zieks. Kazuma was scowling at van Zieks in indignation, the corners of his mouth just barely turned upwards, eyes glittering and mouth half open in the midst of his protestations. Van Zieks himself had turned his head halfway away, hand raised and fingers fanning out in front of his face as if to hide from the camera, but in the gaps between his fingers, his mouth was curved upwards and open in silent laughter. Kazuma assumed Iris was looking up at the sound of van Zieks's laughter until he noticed the white-gloved fingers resting lightly on her shoulder. He glanced back at the previous picture, confirming that van Zieks's other hand had not been there before.

"It's my most favorite picture ever," Iris said with a small laugh. "It really brings out everyone's personality, doesn't it? Everyone looks so happy… Except for Hurley, I suppose, but that's only because he was worried about how angry I'd be if he'd broken the camera."

"And Wagahai. I think she'd just about run out of patience with us."

"Still. It's nice to have such a happy photograph of us all together."

"Yes… It's quite a lucky shot. We caught just the right moment." Kazuma smiled, gloved fingers hovering over the small faces printed on the page. It was a nice picture, catching a candid moment of camaraderie that would have been missed if not for Sholmes's misstep with the camera. "I think I'll send both of these to Ryunosuke and Susato. This one's a nice photograph, and I'll send the other one for them to compare it to. And then I'm going to rub it in Lord van Zieks's face that I sent it. He'll be livid that people halfway across the world know he possesses the ability to act like a regular human being on occasion. I bet Ryunosuke and Susato will get a kick out of it."

Iris laughed. "I'm not sure you should be antagonizing him on purpose, although the both of you do seem to enjoy doing it a lot. But I think you should send the pictures! I'm sure Runo and Susie would love to see us all having a good time together. Here, I have another set of spares you can keep. I had to buy more film after Hurley wasted it all on these duplicates."

"Thank you," Kazuma said when she handed him a pair of nearly identical prints. "And thanks for giving me these. They're really nice, and I don't have a lot of photographs."

"Of course." Iris hesitated, her smile fading to something more uncertain. "I also thought…"

"What is it?"

"Well, I thought I might give some photographs to Uncle Barry too."

Kazuma stiffened up straight. "Pardon? Uncle…? How long have you known?"

She shrugged and looked down at the floor. "For a while. I guessed it, and I finally talked to Hurley and got some more details. I haven't said anything to Uncle Barry yet, but… Now that he's coming around again and maybe isn't quite as stressed out, I thought maybe now was the time."

"Ah…" Kazuma's surprise faded as he considered the implications. "I wondered if you suspected. I thought you might figure it out sooner or later."

"I thought I would give him the pictures and tell him then," Iris said very quickly, her words coming out in a rush. "I thought maybe I could bring tea to the office again? I don't want to bother him while he's working, but… He's still a little awkward here sometimes, you know, and really in any personal setting, and I thought maybe it would be better to talk to him in the office where he feels more comfortable?"

Kazuma wasn't sure whether that was a good idea or not. The office was probably not the proper place for such personal, surprise revelations. On the other hand, Iris had a very good point. The office was where van Zieks felt the most in control, and maybe he'd find it easier to have a proper conversation there, in a place he was more comfortable and less out of his depth.

"You know what," he decided, "you should do it. I'll clear out of the office around tea time tomorrow and make sure he stays there with some paperwork or something. I'll run some errands for an hour or two, and you can talk to him."

"Do you…think he'll take it well?" Iris asked anxiously, looking up at Kazuma from beneath her eyelashes.

"Well, I can't speak for his initial response," he said dryly. "He might be stiff or flustered. But once he has time to adjust, I'm sure he'll open up a little more. I meant it: he adores you already. I'm sure it will make him very happy once he gets over the shock of it."

Iris smiled shyly. "I hope so. Thank you for helping me."

"Of course," Kazuma said. "Good luck."

When he returned to his apartment, he slipped the photographs into an envelope along with the letters he'd been working on intermittently for the past weeks, resolving to post them in the morning before van Zieks got wind of the scheme. It showed, perhaps better than anything, how far they had come. Ryunosuke and Susato were clever. He thought they would be able to read in those photographs what he had been unable or unwilling to commit to paper himself.

Kazuma glanced at the nearest clock and decided it had been long enough. He had made up some errand to run at the Yard and rejected van Zieks's company, leaving his mentor to sort through evidence catalogs in the office. That had been nearly two hours ago, and he thought that must surely be enough time for Iris to have shown up for her surprise tea and made her announcement.

If Kazuma wasn't so bored, having long since exhausted his errands, he might have avoided the office for longer, both to be sure he didn't accidentally walk in on anything and because he truthfully had no idea what van Zieks's mood was going to be.

He took his time walking back down the hall and approached the office with caution. The door was closed, and he turned the handle quietly and peered inside.

Van Zieks was not at his desk but, for some inexplicable reason, sitting on the floor behind it with his back pressed to the wall, legs drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped tightly around them, face buried in his knees. Iris had gone, but the photographs she'd left behind were spread around van Zieks in a loose semicircle, some half a dozen of them. Kazuma had no idea what would possess van Zieks to curl up on the floor with these treasures, as he expected the meeting with Iris had not been conducted there.

"Are you alright?" Kazuma asked as he closed the door and crossed the room. "How did it go with Iris?"

"…So you knew too, then," van Zieks mumbled without lifting his head, voice muffled and rasping.

"She told me yesterday, but she wanted to tell you herself." Kazuma lowered himself to the floor beside his mentor, pushing aside a photograph so as not to sit on it. "These are very sweet pictures."

The photographs Iris had handpicked for her uncle were the ones taken of the two of them together, undoubtedly by Sholmes when he'd gotten his hands on the camera again and gone around snapping pictures in people's faces until they had confiscated it. There was Iris pouring van Zieks tea, Iris smiling at van Zieks as he offered a suggestion on the invention she'd been explaining, Iris outlining her newest story with glee while van Zieks looked on with rapt attention. There was such a softness to their eyes and gestures, and they looked at each other with a reverence like they were the only people in the world. Kazuma was surprised the feeling had bled into the pictures so palpably even when van Zieks wasn't smiling and Iris was focused on some project of hers.

Van Zieks lifted his head slightly to peer at the photographs overtop his knees. His eyes were glossy and red-rimmed.

"Oh dear," Kazuma said. "I hope you weren't doing that in front of Iris."

"Of course not," van Zieks snapped, swiping a hand across his eyes. "Although I probably made a mess of it anyway. Pray forgive the discourtesy of… I'm still used to having the office to myself."

Kazuma frowned. "I certainly hope you weren't just crying in your office all the time."

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course not. But I didn't have to worry as much about nosy apprentices barging in at all hours either."

Kazuma thought he understood. Van Zieks hadn't needed to guard his emotions so closely when there was no one around to see them.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently. "You didn't upset Iris, did you?"

"I don't know," van Zieks said hopelessly. "She seemed alright. She was very nervous, though, and I… Oh, you know how I am. I froze up. It got better, we talked and… I thought it went well, but I probably botched it. I'm always saying the wrong thing, I know I am. I try, you know, but it's just so hard. I'm not used to really talking to people anymore, not really, and family… I haven't had any family in a long time. My parents are dead, my brother is dead, whatever cousins are left stopped talking to me years ago to distance themselves from the Reaper's reputation… There was nothing left, and I accepted that, and now… I don't know what to do with her, really. I don't–" He broke off and took a deep, ragged breath. "I don't want to hurt her."

Kazuma stared at him, wide-eyed. He'd never heard van Zieks ramble like that before, especially not about something so personal. The man must truly be shaken. He looked so small and forlorn folded up on himself like that. It was disconcerting.

Kazuma picked up one of the photographs and held it out to van Zieks: Iris beaming as she poured him tea, watching him from beneath her lashes while he looked back with quiet devotion.

"She adores you already," he said. "And you're so soft for her that it's almost sickening. It might take some getting used to, but you'll figure it out. It will be good for you, and for her too. She's always wanted to find her family, and you should hold on to what you have left. I think you could be very happy."

"I just hope…it doesn't turn out badly," van Zieks said bleakly.

"Why fuss about that? It's been going well enough. You'll start spending more time with her, of course. Going to dinner and tea, maybe inviting her over to the manor on occasion. Get to know her. You'll do fine. If it makes you feel any better, I'll nudge you if you do anything especially terrible during dinner so that you can correct it."

Van Zieks huffed out a harsh, grating breath. "Yes… If nothing else, at least you can make sure I'm acting human."

At least he could find a little bit of humor in it again, even if it was dry and a little self-deprecating.

"You can do well enough on your own when you put your mind to it. Look at all these photographs. You can make a thousand more memories like that if–"

Kazuma paused. He had been gesturing at the photos, gaze skimming over them, but his eye caught on one in particular. He had to lean halfway across van Zieks to pluck the picture from his other side.

This one did not have Iris in it at all, but Kazuma. He stood in front of a night-dark window in the Baker Street flat, looking up at van Zieks and gesturing widely with one hand, mouth open in mid-sentence. Van Zieks looked back down at him with a faintly supercilious air, arms folded across his chest, but there was no real disdain in his expression. Neither of them was quite smiling, but their eyes glittered with grudging amusement, maybe, or fond exasperation, and they leaned slightly towards each other as if unconsciously, deep in the midst of some discussion or banter. Kazuma couldn't remember what they'd been talking about. He didn't even remember the picture being taken, although Iris and Sholmes had been prowling around the flat taking so many pictures that it was difficult to remember any one in particular.

"Ah," van Zieks said, picking up another identical print. "She brought two copies and said I should give one to you."

"I wonder why… She gave me a bunch of photographs herself yesterday."

Van Zieks sighed, examining the picture as if it might hold some kind of answer. "I'm sure I don't know."

It was a nice picture, somehow highlighting both their mutual exasperation and respect. Actually, it looked a great deal like the photographs of van Zieks and Iris. It had the same feel to it: of two people sharing a soft, friendly moment, caught on film when they weren't looking.

Kazuma thought, suddenly, that perhaps Iris was prodding them with this photograph the same way she had been trying to reach out to van Zieks with the other photos. She had found the pictures to show van Zieks that they could be family, and the one to show him and Kazuma that they could—had—built a personal relationship too.

"Oh," Kazuma said. "I don't suppose you've had any friends in a long time either."

"No, and I still don't, seeing as you are my student."

"I don't suppose you've had any students in a long time either."

"No… You are the first, and you will undoubtedly be the last as well, with how much trouble you've given me. I'm not sure I'll ever have the mental fortitude to take on another."

Kazuma scowled. "You're terrible. Couldn't you just–?"

"It's been hard," van Zieks said in a distant sort of way, blank-eyed gaze fixed on the photograph in his hand. "Surely the most difficult responsibility I have ever been tasked with. I am frankly not cut out to be a teacher, and it would have been difficult enough even without all the shared history between us. I was not feigning modesty when I said Lord Norrington would be a more capable mentor. He knows what he's doing, and I never did. I don't have the patience or nature for it, and all I really know how to do is drag you along with me and hope you can keep up. I've blundered through somehow, but I know I've been doing it all wrong, that I am perhaps too harsh or unsupportive or lacking patience. It has been a challenge every step of the way, yet… You have proven resilient and risen to the challenge every time. It is an admirable quality."

Kazuma stared at him, flabbergasted. Van Zieks had always seemed so confident and in control of anything relating to their work, even if he stumbled within more personal social situations. He had always seemed to have more or less known what he was doing. It was strange to think that he might be just as lost as Kazuma sometimes, muddling his way through. Maybe it should make him seem less impressive, less larger than life, but it was incredible that he could still do such an amazing job and project such confidence even when struggling.

But surely he must have seen by now that he was doing things right? After everything… Couldn't he see that his apprentice had flourished in his care? Kazuma could hardly believe it.

"How could you even think–? You might be harsh and strict, but you've been very supportive too and guided me every time I lost my way. And honestly, it always pushes me to be better. I'm not sure if another student might feel the same way, but for me…"

"You have grown strangely forgiving of my faults over time."

"Perhaps it's only that I see how heavily your virtues outweigh them now. I've learned a lot from you, and it doesn't matter if it was in an unconventional way. Lord Norrington's tutelage was much easier, but I always enjoyed the challenge of yours. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You've done well with me, and you'll do well with Iris too. There's just a bit of a learning curve sometimes, that's all."

"In the end, I probably learned more from you than you did from me. And if I'm able to sort myself out and build a proper relationship with my niece, that will probably be thanks to you as well."

Kazuma frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Van Zieks sighed. "Haven't you been teaching me how to act like a proper human being?"

"That's not–" Kazuma winced, an uncomfortable feeling squirming in the pit of his stomach. That had been a joke. A joke largely based on van Zieks's lack of social acumen, yes, but a joke nonetheless. Not something for the man to take seriously. "I didn't mean–"

"It's not entirely wrong," van Zieks said, wrapping his arms back around his knees and staring at the floor. "When I took on the persona of the Reaper, I gave up…a lot. I agreed to bear London's hatred and fear and suspicion, and so I became someone worthy of that. It's armor as much as anything… It's easier when you don't have to care and when no one cares about you. I did not trust anyone or make friends or indulge in kindnesses, and it was not a happy existence, but it was a bleakly comfortable one."

"That sounds awful, honestly."

"I suppose it is… It's amazing what a person can grow used to. And then you kept barging into my life, and frankly, I was terrified of you."

"Of me?" Kazuma asked, baffled. "Why…?" His heart sank. "Because you didn't trust me."

"No… Because I did." A tired, melancholy smile passed fleetingly over van Zieks's face like a shadow. "You started tearing pieces away, dismantling me bit by bit, and I have never reacted well to having my vulnerabilities exposed. That made everything so much harder, but…

"Truly, Mr. Asogi, it has been a painful, excruciatingly difficult process, but in accompanying you on your journey, I have had to grow beside you. You have taught me how to trust again, how to drop my guard, how to expose a weakness without fearing it will immediately be pounced upon. I had forgotten what it was like to have a companion to rely on and enjoy time with and care about. It's dangerous, it's a risk, and I have always been a coward when it comes to those things. But you are so brave in matters of the heart, so tenacious and resilient, and it reminded me…

"Well. Whatever the difficulties of this arrangement, I am a better person for it. You are reminding me how to be a little more human, reminding me of what I've lost and inspiring me to find the courage to reach out and try again. That is the most terrifying thing of all. But if, perhaps, one day the Reaper truly dies in the hearts and imaginations of the city, if one day I decide to bury that old shadow too, then I hope you have taught me enough that I might put those demons to rest and become someone new. Right now, I don't know how to be anything else. But every day, I am learning just a little bit more. I hope that it will be enough to help me become someone who can build a relationship with Miss Iris, and someone worthy of it.

"You have made me into a better man by believing I could become one and refusing to walk away, and even if all the changes are small right now, I hope that if I continue to nurture them, they will grow. I am so unbearably proud of the person you are becoming, and it has inspired me to one day—not now, maybe not for a long time, but someday, when I'm ready—become that kind of person too. You drive me utterly mad, but your friendship is very dear to me. You will go home to Japan one day and change the world, but you will leave a lasting impression on me when you go."

Kazuma opened his mouth, closed it again. His throat felt very tight, and his eyes stung. He had not known van Zieks possessed the words to express his deepest feelings that way. And honestly… Kazuma wasn't blind. He could see that he'd been some kind of positive influence on van Zieks, if only because the man had needed to push himself out of his comfort zone and learn how to reach out to people again in order to connect with his apprentice. Kazuma wouldn't have considered that influence particularly life-changing, though. In the grand scheme of things, it had never seemed like much in comparison to all of the professional guidance and increasingly kind personal support van Zieks had given him.

He might have dismissed it out of hand if he hadn't seen the changes himself. Van Zieks had been slowly softening these past months, a little at a time. He smiled more and laughed on occasion. He made sly jokes and found more humor than offense in other people's commentary and sometimes released his death grip on professionalism long enough to reach out on a more personal level when Kazuma needed him. Even when he was, as usual, cold and brusque and grumpy, much of the sharp edge had been filed off. Van Zieks was, in some ways, exactly the same as he had always been, but in other very real, tangible ways, he was growing into someone else entirely. Or, perhaps, it was only that pieces of the Reaper's mask were beginning to flake away, revealing glimpses of the man he'd always been underneath.

Kazuma thought van Zieks had probably been capable of these things all along, even if he was too stubborn to indulge them and too wary to let anyone close enough to see behind the façade. But if he needed someone to prod him a little and be the impetus for that change, then Kazuma would be honored to be trusted with the role.

Perhaps of secondary importance but of far more immediate satisfaction, Kazuma was pleased to hear van Zieks finally admit that their relationship was underpinned by a kind of friendship after all. Kazuma was not the only one who needed this and placed such value on the relationship.

"I think you're a good person on your own," he said. "I think if anything, being stuck with me just gave you more opportunities to learn how to show it to someone else. I know…that must be hard for someone who's been surviving by hiding anything that could be considered a weakness or soft spot. I was awful to you in the beginning, and you were compassionate instead of pushing me away. You've made me a better person too, by putting up with my nonsense and accepting every ugly part of me until I was able to let go of my bitterness and get back to living my life. Maybe you stopped me from drowning when I was wallowing in my resentment. You've done so much for me, and I… I am so grateful for it. I don't know how I would have made it this far without you. If I'm teaching you how to be a good person, it's only because you taught me first.

"That said, you could really stand to keep improving on your crankiness and bossiness and downright rudeness. It will definitely make it easier to make friends and play family with Iris."

Van Zieks huffed out a quick, sharp breath, halfway to amusement. "I can make no promises. I am old and set in my ways, and everyone vexes me beyond the limits of my patience—you worst of all."

He gathered up the photographs, looking over each one once more before adding it to the neat stack in his hand. Then he rose slowly, free hand pressed back against the wall for support.

Kazuma stood as well, tucking his copy of the picture into his pocket, and studied his mentor. Van Zieks looked careworn, eyes still rimmed faintly with red and shoulders slumping. Kazuma wasn't entirely sure what to do with him or what kind of state he was really in. This was uncharted territory.

"Are you…alright?" he asked cautiously. "Really?"

"Oh, yes," van Zieks said wearily, passing a hand over his face. "I just needed a moment. It was…a lot to take in. She set a proper ambush and caught me off guard. Pray forgive my unprofessionalism."

Kazuma rolled his eyes. "You could honestly stand to lose some of that uptight professionalism. Anyway… You shouldn't apologize for having feelings. Most people actually consider that quite normal."

"Ah, well. I suppose I am not most people."

As van Zieks stepped over to his desk, Kazuma noticed a picture still lying forgotten on the floor, a little ways from where the others had been. He bent to pick it up and then laughed. It was another copy of the group photograph the camera had snapped by accident, everyone off their guard and in motion. Sholmes must have owed Iris a lot of fresh film if his tinkering with the camera had created this many duplicate prints.

"You forgot one."

Van Zieks turned back and grimaced as he took the picture from Kazuma's hand. "Lovely," he said shortly.

Kazuma raised his eyebrows, trying to fight back a smile. "You don't like it?"

"No."

"Are you really sulking because we managed to catch you laughing on film?"

"It was an ill-timed picture," van Zieks said stiffly.

Kazuma had to laugh. "You know, many people do smile for the camera. Iris says it's her favorite picture ever, so you'd better be nicer about it."

Van Zieks sighed heavily. "It's too candid for my taste."

"It's too bad you don't like it, as I sent it off to Ryunosuke and Susato. I thought they'd find it amusing."

A look of horror passed across van Zieks's face. "You wouldn't. Do not send that to them."

"Too late," Kazuma said with a wide, satisfied smile. "I already posted the letter this morning."

"You're terrible. Why would you do such a thing? I can't believe you. I hope this is a jest in poor taste."

"No, I really did."

Van Zieks groaned and pressed a hand to his face, muttering, "I will never be able to show my face again if you start showing that around."

Kazuma laughed softly. "Don't be so dramatic. It's not the end of the world if people realize you aren't actually heartless. Besides… It's a really nice picture. You look happy. We all do. I think that's nice." He considered his words before adding, "Would you like to take off the rest of the day and go visit Iris and Mr. Sholmes?"

"Why on earth would I–?"

"Because Iris is your family, and Mr. Sholmes is hers. Now that you've had a chance to calm down a little and catch your breath… Don't you want to spend time with her?"

"We have a case."

"It will keep for half a day. Our work is important, but not so important that you have to put your life on hold every single time. I know you'll be putting far more hours than necessary into it either way, and you can make up the time later if you really insist. But… If you're that worried you might have messed up with Iris, why don't you pay her a visit? It would make her very happy that you took time out of your day to see her, and if she's anxious or upset about how this meeting went, it will reassure her. Or, more likely, you'll realize that everything went fine and you're worrying about nothing. I'll come with you, if you want, to keep Mr. Sholmes occupied and help out if you need me."

Van Zieks hesitated, looking down at the stack of photographs still clutched between his fingers. "I…"

"Do you remember how you arranged for me to convalesce with them after I got hurt so that I'd spend more time with them and come to consider their home a place of safety and refuge?" Kazuma asked gently. "And how you stayed away after to make sure it stayed that way? They can be your family too, if you let them. That can be your home, your place of safety. Doesn't that sound nice? I think all of us would be very happy if you stopped running away and just gave in and joined the family—and I think you would too."

Van Zieks pressed his lips into a tight line that didn't quite hide their trembling. "Alright," he said, very quietly. "I… As long as you come along too and stop me from making a mess of things."

Kazuma smiled and nudged van Zieks with his elbow, prodding him towards the door. "You'll do fine. Trust me, this is going to change your life."

Van Zieks's face was pinched with anxiety, but a faint smile shadowed the corners of his mouth. "It already has."

"That's the spirit." Kazuma paused as van Zieks stopped walking abruptly. "What is it?"

"Mr. Asogi…"

"What?" he asked, alarmed.

A strange look had settled over van Zieks's face, something uncertain and conflicted and lost. He opened his mouth but then hesitated and closed it again.

Then he reached out towards Kazuma haltingly. His hand hovered in the air, half drawing back before trying again. Carefully, awkwardly, he wrapped one arm around Kazuma, halfway a hug if not quite there.

Kazuma stiffened in surprise, his words dying in his throat. He could not have been more astonished if he had walked outside to see that the sky was green.

The discomfort on van Zieks's face grew exponentially, and he started to draw back. Recovering himself, Kazuma stepped forward and flung his arms around his mentor. Van Zieks felt as stiff as a board himself, one hand still lightly pressed against Kazuma's back, but then, slowly, he wrapped his other arm around his apprentice in a proper hug.

And it felt…nice. Warm. Safe. Kazuma had not expected van Zieks to reach out in such a way and did not know when such a thing might ever happen again, so he held on tight while he could.

Then, by some unspoken mutual agreement, they each let go and stepped back. Van Zieks busied himself with readjusting his gloves, color splashed high across his cheeks.

Kazuma cleared his throat twice. "I wasn't aware that you knew how to hug," he said, forcing a lighter tone.

"I don't, really," van Zieks muttered. "But since I botched the last one, it seemed only fair to try."

"In your defense, I suppose I did ambush you."

"Well, that's the only reason you managed that much. If I'd seen you coming, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere near enough to try."

Kazuma barked out a quick laugh. "I hear it gets easier with practice. It will make Iris happy, at any rate."

Van Zieks's gloves seemed to require a good deal of fussing. He fiddled with them some more, avoiding Kazuma's eyes.

"Nothing lasts forever," he said. "So you should hold on to the things you care about while you can. It's only that I haven't had anything to care about in a long time, so I am woefully out of practice."

Kazuma had to scrub a hand across his mouth to hide his smile. It meant a great deal that van Zieks was trying, even with how uncomfortable it made him.

"That sounds like our cue to head for Baker Street," Kazuma said. "You had better practice a lot more on Iris."

The prospect seemed daunting, if van Zieks's expression was anything to go by. "At least she's very forgiving when I–"

"Don't," Kazuma interrupted. "You'll do fine. You're already doing fine."

Van Zieks drew in a breath as if to say something else and then hesitated. In the end, he looked away and said, quietly, "Thank you."

Kazuma smiled and dragged him home.