^「♟」 — H_{olidays were opportunistic when it came to the recounting of facts. Origin stories, travesties related – marks on the calendar also provided conversational stimulus to those consistently uninterested.} 

_{Valentine’s Day, on the other hand, shouldered a certain weight in the mezzanine of Spencer’s mind.}

_{Valentine’s Day often meant solitude – as it had since his youth. The day of Saint Valentinus, later tailored to fit a sugar coated societal view. Annually, the profiler persevered, and compensated for the raw tug at his heart and bones with varying statistics and facts.}

                          _{Wandering eyes strayed to the perfectly arranged schedule}

                          _{stationed on his wall. Twelve days.}

_{Twelve days until he would otherwise have been able to take her to dinner.}

_{Or take her dancing – poorly, he might add.}

_{Remind her that her smile healed what she did not know to be ailed.} 

_{Or that she was everything in the sky, and behind his eyes.}

_{Twelve days, yes, that he would spend sealed away, illuminating a framed portrait of her with candles and hatred for a holiday altered completely.} 

     _{「you can hear my body language?」}

                _{❝i’m a very good 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓.❞}