Soul Traveler: Venator.

"Filthy as always." She snorted as she set a container on the table next to the food that Jess, the little girl from last night, had brought him. There was a bout of silence as she looked around for a bit, before looking back at Rex.

"How did they discharge you when you're still in such bad shape?"

Rex simply closed the door and disappeared into the bedroom, before re-emerging with his phone in hand, plugged it into the wall socket in the kitchen before typing and passing it to the old lady.

"Ma, I discharged myself. The hospital fees were insane."

"Yeah, but you could have at least waited long enough to heal some more."

"I'm already in enough debt. Anyway, why are you here?"

"To check on you, obviously. Looking at the condition of your throat, I wonder if you'll be able to drink the cold soup I brought you."

"Probably not, but I appreciate it nonetheless."

There was some more silence, between the pair after the old lady passed Rex his phone back after reading the last note. She stared at him intently for some time, before speaking again.

"Do you need help bathing? Or getting dressed?"

"With my arm being in a cast, and my body being as tender as it is, I probably do. I'm ignoring the pain, but certain movements make it flare up."

"Alright." The woman said with a nod, before walking towards and entering the bathroom.

The sound of water filling the tub echoed through out the apartment, and the woman walked out and immediately took all the food and put it in the fridge. Her eyes lingered on the all the beer, before shaking her head and closing the fridge.

"These clothes obviously aren't yours, so I'm assuming you won't mind us cutting the shirt off? It's been stretched to oblivion anyway."

Rex simply nodded before reaching up to the collar with his right hand and simply ripping it to shreds with a single pull. The woman looked at him with quite a bit of shock, and shook her head again.

"I guess you aren't a Venator for nothing."

Horatio just shrugged before removing his pants without a lick of hesitation or modesty and walked into the bathroom.

"Did they not give you any boxers before you left?!" The woman asked as she tried to avert her eyes, but Rex simply shrugged and shook his head.

The woman followed in after him, grabbed a towel and tied it around his waist. Used and discarded drug containers and the like absolutely littered the floor of the bathroom, and there a bunch in the toilet as well. The woman acted as though she couldn't see anything, just wiped Horatio down.

"If you had any gauze in this place, I would have considered redoing it, but these are still clean, so we'll have to change them in a day or two."

Rex nodded silently, and a little while later, the bath was done. Soon afterwards, they were in the bedroom looking over his clothes. A pair of boxers was located and once some black, tactical trousers were also found, the woman gave Rex space to get dressed. He walked out once he had them on, only to find that Jess had found her way into the apartment, having brought her grandmother her box of sewing supplies. The woman had split the sleeve of a long-sleeved turtle neck top. Once Jess spotted Horatio, she stepped behind her grandma and gave a small, cautious wave.

"Good morning Mr. Rex."

Rex crouched down from where he was standing and smiled just as he did before, nodding his greeting; something that was noticed and noted. He then looked up at the woman whilst still crouched down, a curious expression on his face.

"I'm altering the sleeve so you don't have to force that injured arm through a tight opening, especially considering how you left the hospital with no painkillers, and how you're without your usual painkillers."

They hadn't said anything about the state of the apartment, the fridge, or the depleted drug injectors, but it was obvious that she was referring to them.

"You might be a Venator, but F-Ranks like you don't have access to the better items that are made with high quality materials. Stretchy clothes and armour are beyond your reach, so we have to alter your things manually." She said, changing the subject.

Horatio went to go fetch his phone off the kitchen table when the woman spoke again.

"…so, I see you're able to smile at my grandchild, all of a sudden." She said without looking up.

"I was able to smile at my own child yesterday." He replied.

The woman's eyes grew in size after she read what was written on the phone, before looking up at Rex in shock.

"You mean to tell me you actually went and saw her?"

"Yeah. We were in the same hospital, after all."

"You've been hospitalised with her so many times in the past, and you acted like she didn't exist. I wouldn't even know you had a daughter if her mother didn't come here looking for you after she was most recently admitted and she couldn't get ahold of you because you were strung out… I mean, killing pain."

'Maybe I should have done more to Horatio's soul before absorbing it.' Kumkani grumbled internally, all the while maintaining his poker face.

The woman began sewing on a zip line on the split sleeve, working in silence once again. She clearly had something on her mind, and looked to be fighting the urge to speak. This was the case until she was done, and as she helped Rex slide his top on, and his arm through the modified sleeve, she suddenly stopped while adjusting the turtle neck.

"I'm only going to say this to you one last time… stop this shit. I'll be honest with you, you are little more than a shameless fill in for my dead son, and I admit that means I cross the line as far as you are concerned, but stop this! Stop with the drug and alcohol abuse! Stop with taking commissions and joining Expeditions while barely lucid! Stop being so selfish and reckless! Those kids downstairs fund their entire lavish lifestyle with the money you bleed for, while your child wastes away in a hospital bed that you don't even contribute towards! Just STOP!"

By the end, the woman was pounding on Horatio's chest with both fists, all the while he looked down at her, his face the picture of stoicism.

"Understood." He managed to rumble with a slight nod.

The woman, whose face had been warped and wrinkled in desperation and past trauma suddenly went blank as she looked up that this man who had been dismissing her and her attempts at easing her own pain by using him as a stand in for her son actually accept something she had said for the first time. This froze her in place, which allowed him to fetch his phone and hand it to her once again.

"Do you have cleaning supplies I could borrow? I need to clean this place when I'm able."

The woman quickly composed herself and nodded, before turning around and walking over to her confused granddaughter.

"We'll leave you to rest now. Don't even think of doing anything other than rest, alright?" She grumbled awkwardly, before shepherding the child out of the apartment and closing the door.