Aly entered as well, following him to the kitchen, and nodding when he took the pill.

"Yes, it should be." she said.

"Keep taking those pills, and you'll continue to have better days." she assured him further.

"I have some other medications to make up for you, but they'll become more necessary as time goes on." she then said.

"For now, concentrate on today." she continued.

"The past is over with, the future is uncertain, but today is a gift." she told him. "That's why they call it the 'present'." she added with a light smile.

"You need to take your tiredness seriously." Aly told him.

"Any tiredness that cannot be explained due to lack or sleep, or irregular sleep patterns could mean something far more serious." she warned.

"It'll mean a new medication will need to be introduced into your routine." she said.

"But we'll worry about THAT when it's more certain." she added, her tone less serious now.

"And that line may be cheesy, but it's a source of comfort to me." she told him.

"My nan used to say it all the time."

Aly just sighed, but returned the kiss.

"Please do." she said.

She then paused, sniffing the aroma that had made its way to the both of them.

"Oooh." she mumbled.

"What IS that?" she asked. "It smells heavenly."

Aly raised an eyebrow when she heard that.

"Brownie waffles?" she asked.

"Never heard of that before." she admitted.

"I'd love to try them." she said as Eke started to lead her towards where Ryker was.

"No." Ryker replied.

"Waiting on a piece of equipment to get in." he sighed.

"So not a lot to do until it DOES come in." he told him.

Aly just chuckled.

"I'll let it slide because it's waffles." she said to Eke.

"And bring anything back? Oh, some plastic measuring cups, please." she told him.

"I'm good." Ryker chimed in.

"A minute more." Ryker replied, as Aly wrote something down on a piece of paper, and handed it to Eke.

"Here." she said.

"This brand, specifically." she told him.

"They make very good measuring cups, and plastic is less likely to break than glass.' she reasoned.

"I need them for making up your medications in the future."

Aly blushed again.

"Oh, you." she said.

"Yo!" Ryker suddenly chimed in, snapping his fingers.

"They're done." he said, setting a stack of them down, as well as some maple bacon.

"Technically breakfast." he told them.

He then paused for a moment, before throwing together a fruit cocktail and setting it down as well.

"So it at least has SOME healthy components."

"..........." Ryker was silent as his phone rang.

"I'm being paranoid." he told himself.

"I'm being paranoid, I'm being paranoid..." he repeated, as he answered the phone.

"Yo." he said.

"You got Ryker."

"......GOD DAMN IT ALL!" Ryker yelled, as he dropped his phone onto the counter and bolted out the door.

"Ryker!" Aly called out, before looking at the phone.

"....Eke..." she whispered.

Meanwhile, Ryker started running faster... and faster... as the demonic strength within him seemed to instinctively fuel his legs, making him run almost inhumanly fast.

And he knew where he was headed.

"Son of a..." Ryker growled, witnessing the scene.

He then shook his head and started to run down the bank of the stream.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" he cursed.

"EKE!" he called out.

"Eke, where are ya!?" he exclaimed.

"Come on, bro, answer me if you can!" he yelled further, trying to see if he could see where Eke was.