".........." Ash was silent, before picking up the blade and inspecting it.

There was red on the blade as well, and he had a pretty good guess as to what it was. But it still didn't answer his question as to what had happened.

Had she been trying to use the knife for something, and accidentally hurt herself? Was she trying something else entirely, and the knife just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, alongside her hand?

Was this the end of something potentially more... concerning?

He then shook his head, and sighed, as he watched Desiree rinsing her hand off. He knew she would see him eventually, and he didn't want to startle her at this moment.

Ash just sighed when she noticed him, and spoke. In the time she'd been with him, they'd heard her talk, but she had a very noticeable stutter. Not that that was an issue or anything, their main method of communication was still the texting, even though she was getting better at ASL as well.

He then made his way closer towards her, until they were essentially face-to-face.

"Hey." he responded, mouthing it out so she knew what he said. He then set the blade down, so both his hands were free.

What happened here? he signed to her.

Ash looked at the block of cheese on the counter, and sighed.

All right. he signed.

Just hold still and I'll bandage that for you. he told her.

He then grabbed the first aid kit, made his way back to Desiree, and started to disinfect her wound, clean it, and then bandage it up with what was there.

"...luckily it's shallow." he said.

"Guess OLA's not needed."

Ash just smiled at her.

"It's okay." he responded.

"We all make mistakes." he told her.

"I'll cut up some of that cheese for you, though." he then said, taking the knife and running it under the water, dabbing some detergent on it to clean it.

"How much do you want?" he asked, taking the knife and slicing through the hard cheese, the light from the window reflecting off of the blade, making it seem to shine brilliantly to Desiree.

Ash looked at the crackers, and then cut an appropriate amount of cheese... plus a little extra... for her.

"There you go." he told her, handing her the plate.

"And remember, be careful with the knives here." he reminded her. "They're made of an Everlasting Quick-silver alloy, and will slice through you in an instant." he said.

"You're lucky you only managed such a shallow cut." he added.

Ash read the text, and nodded.

Indeed. That's true. he responded, before grabbing a juice from the fridge.

Have something to drink with the cheese and crackers. I'll clean up here. he then said.

He waited until she had read the text, before handing it towards her.

'That was a close call.' he thought, looking at the blade again.

Ash watched her leave, and looked at the blade again, before he started to wash it clean once more.

"...she's not normally this clumsy..." he mumbled, as he pondered the situation he'd walked into. it was definitely plausible, but was it... likely?

-Some more time later-

"Huh." Ash muttered, as he looked around the manor.

"Where IS she?" he asked the air, referring to Desiree. He wanted to find her and ask what she wanted for lunch, but she seemed to have disappeared.

Desiree, where are you? he sent to her via text, as he stepped outside to the backyard, thinking she might be there.

To say he was surprised would be a massive understatement.

He let out a loud exclamation as the girl landed on top of him, causing him to fall forward and land on his front.

He wasn't hurt, not by any means... he'd suffered a HELL of a lot worse in his chosen profession... and he probably ended up cushioning Desiree's fall.

He then looked back, at the girl that was atop of him.

"...hello." he greeted her.

"What the hell...?" Ash muttered to himself.

This was completely unlike Desiree. Normally she wouldn't ignore him like this, nor would she curse like that. At least, not for no reason, anyway.

"....." he was then silent, before getting to his feet.

He wanted to see where she was going. So he decided to follow her.

"............." again, Ash was silent as he witnessed this.

"Desiree....?" he muttered.

A thought entered his mind at that point. Had she jumped? Had her fall been purposeful? Or had she merely slipped or tripped? He had no way to know right now.

And right now, he dared not approach her, for fear of startling her and causing her to potentially fall again.

But her expression said a lot to him. She looked like she had some heavy stuff on her mind... meaning she had probably tuned out the world around her.