Henry Creel is…an odd man. Quiet, eccentric, some might call him creepy. People have said for years that bad stuff happens to those who spend too much time with him. He curses them, the rumors say. Digs into their minds and tortures them. He can do the unspeakable, the unimaginable, with a flick of his wrist. Even his sister has corroborated the rumors.

Now, though, you struggle to understand how those rumors could surface about this man. This man, who shyly holds your pinky with him, holding your cup of tea in his free hand so it wouldn’t hurt your skin, and leading you through the otherwise-empty entomology exhibit at the Natural History Museum. He seems excited, pointing at colorful preserved spiders and murmuring little facts to you as he shows you his favorites.

It’s adorable, the way he’s so eager to talk about the little creatures to you, and he seems delighted that you aren’t pulling away in the slightest. You aren’t pulling away. You’re the only one who hasn’t. It’s only your second date, and Henry thinks he might have found the one.