After a long day, her birthday, in fact, she's being brought back to her room.

Trying to keep up with the "it's only my birthday at four" didn't work, and Siren didn't mind once she saw the cake Jorge promised she and Brenda could eat all day if she just admitted that her birthday is the whole day.  

"You had a good day?" Amery asks, unlocking the door to her room. It has been about a week since he called her beautiful, and she has forgotten about it.

"Yeah!" She giggles. "Did you have a piece of the cake? It was the best thing Jorge ever backed, and he's terrible at it." 

Amery laughs. "That's great, kid. Did it have a great nine on it?"

"Yup," Siren confirms. "And when I turned the cake around, I was back at six years old!"

He lets her go inside first, then follows, and locks the door behind them. Siren is too busy talking about her birthday to notice, and sits down on her bed.

"How old are you?" 

"How old do you think? I won't get offended."

"I don't know." She shrugs. "Thirties? Forties? Maybe if you shave that beard off, I'll be able to tell."

He smiles, but never end up telling her his age.

"I got you a present, too, you know?"

Her face falls in surprise, but then lights up. "Really?"

"Really." Amery reaches down to his pocket. His hand comes back out, except now, a necklace with shiny diamonds is resting on the palm. "Look at that! All real."

Gasping, the girl moves closer. "Oh, wow! That's beautiful. Where did you get it?"

"Won a poker game and risked my money all for you." He cracks a smile. "Want me to put it on?"

She nods heavily, so he drums on his lap, where she sits down. The man moves her hair away and puts the necklace on, admiring it.

"It's heavy," she comments.

"You don't like it?"

"I do!" She says quickly. "I love it. Thank you!"

The girl touches the diamonds with her hand. They feel rough against her skin. Textured and heavy. Real diamonds in her hands, around her neck. A dream.

"You're welcome," he replies, his breaths tickling against her neck. Or that might just be the cold texture of the diamonds. "It looks beautiful on you."

"Thank you, Amery," she says again. His grip on her hips tighten, forcing her to keep sitting on his lap. Shifting around doesn't help him get the hint. "I should—"

"You know," Amery starts quietly, "a gift like this deserves something in return."

Her heart starts to race. "Like what?"

His hand moves from her hip to her shoulder, then gently trails down her spine, yet still causes shivers. "Just a little appreciation. You like the necklace, don't you?"

A nervous giggle escapes from her as she nods. "I love it."

He pulls her closer against him. "That's good. You're such a sweet girl, Siren."

"Wait—" her voice comes out rushed and fast the second she feels his hand at the hem of her shirt. "It's a birthday present. Why... why would I need to give something in return? You're supposed to get free presents on birthdays."

"Ah, of course!" A chuckle leaves his mouth. The hand disappears, and she feels like she can breathe again. "You're totally right, kid. Smart thinking."

She crawls off his lap and under the sheets of her bed as fast as she can, forcing a smile. "Thank you. Good night."

"Sleep well."

The girl stares at the ceiling for a while. Silence erupts, except for the animals outside. Outside, wow. She's barely ever outside. It's way too hot anyway. And Jorge says it's dangerous, even though by now, she has trained so much that she's skilled with everything.

She'd love to really go outside one day. To explore all the buildings Jorge says have fallen down. To see if there are Immunes. Jorge says they're all taken by WCKD, but then he adds that she can meet them once she has helped save them.

It's all for food purposes— not going outside. If a WCKD employee catches her walking inside the building they think is abandoned, then they're in deep shit.

No one ever enters because they see the Cranks and believe it's another one of those buildings that's completely taken over by the creatures. Not a lot of people get to figure out what's at the top two floors.

He says that one day, it'll be her and Brenda's task to greet any intruders to see if they're trustworthy. He has cameras there, too. Sometimes, he sends Barkley. Sometimes, he sends no one and lets the intruder leave or get lost in the crowd of Cranks.