They all had their secrets. Chalk it up to the newly deceased, but there was more on the man’s mine than mourning the loss of a friend. After he had made his comments, his attention quickly turned to the Chinese food he had snagged for himself. Although he had already shoveled a couple of mouthfuls into his mouth, it all tasted like cardboard; bland, hard to chew, and sticking to the roof of his mouth. Despite the lack of taste in what should have been a feast fit for a fat man’s palette, his attention remained riveted on it instead of her, and through all the years that Gen had known him, Oliver had never been the silent, brooding, or stoic type. The cold shoulder was intentional; there was something on his mind that he didn’t want to talk to her about and regardless of the barrier that the food provided, it was obvious.<br/><br/>In between mouthfuls of rice that he crammed into his mouth, he continued to shoot sidelong glances in her direction to make sure that she was eating her own share as well. Though it was only a matter of time that his hunch-shouldered frame wound back around as he swiveled on his stool to face her. Half his carton was left untouched, but he pushed it away with the elbow he used to prop the rest of him up. His free hand swept forward, stabbing through dark hair and swiping over his features as if to wipe away the burden of the news he carried a little too heavily. He even cleared his throat as he focused on her face, his features clenched and reluctant. He waited until she had said her piece before he blurted his next words out.<br/><br/>“Gen—there’s a few things that I need to tell you about Nathan’s death. The cops that came by and told you, they couldn’t say very much. Not even the detectives that are on the case now. I—there’s just some things that we need to talk about, OK? Some things that you might not want to hear. I’ve been kind of.. avoiding dropping by until I had managed to get my own shit together before I drop another stinking bomb in your lap to deal with.”<br/><br/>He reached for his own beer then, gripped its sweating sides, and tilted his head as his throat did the rest of the work in chugging the bitter brew. He couldn’t taste that, either. He looked like he was going to say more, but her next words stopped them before he could drag in another breath of air. Curiosity and suspicion stepped up to the plate to boot remorse and guilt out of the way for the time being. The gears turned visibly behind his sepia tinted gaze.<i>Pictures. </i><br/><br/>“So you found them, then?” The lie came easily to him and he even had the body language to match. His body slumped forward visibly as his muscles released their tension. Underneath the taut tee, she could see the bunched movement unwinding as she searched his face for the answers that she sought. All she would be able to see now was a distinct expression of relief and his eyes flicking in his sockets as he grasped the complete picture. “I was worried of what you would think. They’re mine, from the sounds of it. Want to show me?”<br/><br/>They weren’t, but he knew what they were. Now all he needed to do was confirm that they were harmless and then do a rummage of the place to make sure Nathan had covered his tracks. There was no use getting Gen caught up in a dead man’s past.