With Trixie''s snack provided, Don was now focused on quickly assembling an outfit before Samantha finished dressing.


    ''It''s always the post-nut rity…'' Don sighed as he selected a pair of briefs, some socks, a in dark blue long-sleeved T-shirt, and a set of ck jeans.


    Trixie, who was lying casually on the bed, turned over and looked at Don with a smirk. "Aww~ no cuddles for moi? I''m hurt," she yfully pouted as she rested her head on her left hand while using the right to trace her finger through the air.


    "You''ll live," Don replied casually, not wanting to fall for her teasing. Trixie seemed to realize this and just pouted before letting out a sigh andying back on the bed. "So mean, after I let you use my mouth like that too, hmph!"


    Don nced at her from the corner of his eye as he dressed but didn''t respond, shaking his head. ''I don''t even want to try guessing whether she''s still pretending or is genuinely being fussy.''


    As these thoughts crossed Don''s mind, Samantha called out from outside the door. "Donnie? Are you still getting dressed?"


    Don quickly turned his head toward the door and replied, "Uh, yeah, just texting a friend. I''ll be out soon."


    "Oh… alright then, don''t be too long; you don''t want your food getting cold," Samantha said, sounding like she was just making conversation.


    "Alright, no problem."


    After getting this reply from Don, Samantha, who was currently outside his door in tight green house pants and a in brown jersey, seemed unsure of whether to linger and even leaned in a bit to try to hear through the door. But almost immediately, she pulled her head back and shook her head, ''No, I shouldn''t be snooping.''


    Samantha gave the door a final nce and walked away. Luckily for Don, he remained quiet until he heard Samantha''s footsteps moving away from the door. With his focus on that, his enhanced senses enabled him to hear her even as she reached the stairs and began to make her way down.


    Don furrowed his brows for a moment. ''I don''t like having no direct control over this.'' Rather than being happy about the ability, Don found it very strange. As useful as it was, it felt like his body was reacting to a drug he couldn''t control.


    ''The quicker I start working on my powers, the better.'' Don let out a sigh and felt a renewed sense of motivation to educate himself more about the world and train his abilities, or at least understand them better.


    "I''m heading down to get my food; should I bring enough for you or are you fine?" Don asked as he finished dressing and prepared to leave.


    Trixie remained lying down, raised one hand, and gave a thumbs up, saying, "I''m all good. But… if you really want to make my day, give me another big serving of—" *click~* *bam*


    Before Trixie could finish, she heard the door quickly open and then m shut. Her figure immediately vanished from the bed, thinking someone had entered. However, a secondter, she reappeared on the bed, still half-naked with her arms crossed, staring at the door with a narrowed gaze. "Talk about rude."


    After exiting his room, Don quickly made his way downstairs and found both Aunt Amanda and Samantha in the kitchen, starting to te the food.


    Aunt Amanda was leaning against the ind at the center while listening to Samantha, who stood opposite her. "I need to go see Fabio as well; his boyfriend texted and said he still hasn''t woken up and—"


    Samantha stopped once she saw Don appear in the entryway. He also paused for a moment before asking with a raised brow, "Uh, did Ie at a bad time?"


    In reality, Don could hear their conversation from the time he was on the stairs and had juste in hoping to use the topic as an excuse to avoid sticking around. It would be at least understandable if a person who had a near-death experience wanted nothing to do with the topic so soon.


    Samantha quickly shook her head and smiled. "Oh, not at all, Donnie, I was just worried about Fabio and all. Apparently, some of my work colleagues were also there, it''s really… *sigh*"


    Don nodded lightly and feigned a contemtive look. "Yeah… it''s something," he muttered in a distant tone, looking down and shaking his head.


    He raised his head the next moment and asked, "Do you mind if I just eat in my room? I just want to rx and de-stress as I eat, then maybe sleep after."


    Don wasn''t nning on doing either, but it seemed like a usible enough excuse for the current circumstance, and indeed it was, as Samantha didn''t argue, though she did seem disappointed. "Oh, that''s no problem. I think me and Amanda will just do the same here."


    Amanda looked like she wanted to say something to convince Don but stopped herself, thinking, ''It must''ve really hit him hard as well. I should try talking to himter if he wakes up.''


    Don didn''t see a need to say much more, so he simply smiled and replied, "Thanks," as he reached for a nearby te with food. He then quickly turned around and left before anything else could be said.


    Once he got back to his room, Don couldn''t help but notice that Trixie was gone. He quickly nced in various directions but found she was nowhere in sight, and the bed they had initially messed up was now all sorted.


    ''I guess I can just look at this as having no distractions,'' Don thought, not dwelling on it, and walked over to the lone study desk in the room. He ced the food on the left-hand side and then walked over to one of his dressers to get his aviators from a drawer.


    Upon retrieving them, he wore and activated them, causing an augmented reality with tabs to appear in front of him. He gestured some out of his field of view and then took a seat at the desk, positioning the te in front of himself before leaning back.


    "Gary Assist, can you create a profile on what I need to know about the following individuals: Nightshade, Director Graham, Commissioner Bateman, and Redstar."