When Ren returned home, Fang was still busy with Rhea and the other children. The younger man didn't seem to have noticed that Ren had slipped away.
Ren gave a thumbs-up to Sylvia and Rudy and joined his not-so-small-anymore family.
"Do we have everything we need?" Ren asked softly, looping an arm around Fang's shoulders.
Fang smiled happily. "We do," he replied. Then he wrinkled his nose. "Ren, what's that smell?" he asked, looking up at Ren with a frown.
Ren quickly sniffed himself, but didn't find anything unusual. But Fang had clearly smelled something unpleasant on him, and thinking it may be the dark magic he had encountered, Ren backed away and said, "I'll take a shower right away." He ran off before Fang could stop him.
Fang's frown deepened. Ren's behaviour was suspicious, to say the least!