Blair shifted on his stolen patch of bed, a smirk on his lips. Charlie and Azalea were less enthused to be sharing the already small space with another person, but Veronica had seriously been creeping him out lately. She was totally silent now, and Blair often caught her just staring into space, at the wall, at the floor, unmoving. And weirdest of all? She had stopped threatening to hurt him.

Azalea let out a dramatic sigh and flopped down, draping her arms over Blair's back. "Is there anything to do in this stupid place?"

Charlie groaned in agreement. "At this rate, I would be totally ok if they tossed us back into that stupid simulation, as long as it's anywhere but here." He draped his arm over his eyes and let his head thunk against the wall. "We've had to have been here for at least a month now. If I go one more day without something to do, I will go insane."

Azalea snickered, her nose scrunching. "Are you sure that hasn't already happened?"

Charlie swatted blindly at her, but Azalea easily dodged it and rolled onto her back, making Blair groan as more weight transfered onto him. "Hey," he wheezed. "I need to breathe!"

Charlie laughed at his breathy voice, swatting at Blair next. Trapped by Azalea on his back, he was unable to escape, and Charlie's fingers swiped across his skin. Azalea stifled her breathing, a laugh shaking through her body, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as Charlie settled back against the wall.

Blair pushed himself up to rest on his arms, scooting Azalea off of his back. She made a small sound of protest before nestling back down. "If we've really been gone that long, do you think our parents have stopped looking."

Charlie shook his head, his smile dropping into a scowl. "Don't say that, Blair." His voice was coarse, matching the look in his eyes. "Of course our parents care. They would never give up on us."

Azalea sighed and leaned forward. "He might be right," she said. "Missing persons cases are less likely to be solved the longer they go on. And I really doubt any police would be able to tie the ten of us together, except maybe Maylea and Corben. Oh, and Veronica and Avery, though I feel like that one would be unlikely."

Charlie folded his arms. "Speak for your own families. I'm sure mine will never stop until they find me."

Azalea froze. "But... what if they did?" When the boys looked at her quizzically, she pressed her lips together and tried to explain. "What if they found us already? At least, they thought they found us? If this guy has tech to make us run around in a virtual world, enough money to have a secret bunker, and ways to kidnap and bring us all here, don't you think he'd want to keep our being here a secret?

"Ok, so they made excuses for us at first, that makes sense. And if our parents or families get suspicious, then they can set up a false crime scene or whatever. Leave evidence of us."

Blair sat up, considering. "I don't know, Azalea. That seems a little out there."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "It might be crazy, but doesn't it also make sense? Look, when they put us in those machines, they could have done anything to us while we were under. They could take samples, or whatever DNA they need to forge a crime scene, and we wouldn't even know!"

Charlie leaned forward, the scowl still pressed on his face. "No. No, Azalea, you stopped talking sense and started spouting science fiction like... five sentences ago." He sighed. "Besides, if you use that logic, couldn't they have also implanted us with stuff? To keep us tame or whatever? What next? Are the pumping out calming pheromones or whatever."

Blair punched at Charlie's knee, all soft motions. "Hey, be nice. At least we're trying to figure out what's going on." He tilted his head. "Besides, your idea kinda makes sense."

Charlie's eyebrows shot up. "What? What on earth ma- NO. No, it does not, and cannot make sense." He quieted. A beat. "Why does it make sense?"

Blair settled back onto the bed. "Ok, so maybe not the machine and pheromones thing, but the keeping tame thing? Maybe? I mean, have you guys seen Veronica and Corben after they came back from the crazy room? It's been three weeks since, and they still aren't acting right."

Azalea frowned at him. "Hey! I went in that room too, and I'm not crazy!"

Charlie smirked. "Are you sure about that?"

Azalea chucked a pillow at him, hitting him square in the face.

|{}{}{}|{}{}{}|{}{}{}|

"Avery, just come out!" Kai sighed and thunked her head on the door.

"I don't wanna."

Their voice was muffled and dulled by the wall between them, but the note of petulance in their voice was not dissuaded.

Kai sighed and knocked on it once more. "Avery, quit hiding and come out! You're going to be fine!"

"I look like a marshmallow."

These words were slightly clearer, before Avery opened the door and appeared out of the crack, all swaddled and padded in blankets and pillows.

A laugh bubbled out of Kai, and she slapped her hand over her lips to quiet it.

Avery was less amused, their lips pressed together in a thin, humorless line. "Really?" They asked, hands on hips.

Kai shrugged. "At least you're a cute marshmallow?"

Avery ripped a pillow off their arm and chucked it at Kai. "I'm only doing this cause I like you," the reminded Kai, as she picked it up off the floor. "I wouldn't do this for anyone else."

Kai stepped forward and worked to get the pillow back in position. "To be fair, I don't think anyone else would you to do something like this."

Avery shrugged. "Charlie might. He's getting pretty restless this point, and I'm kinda worried that one day we'll wake up and find find whole place trashed because he found something to do."

Kai chuckled, then patted Avery on their pillow padded chest. "Well, your little marshmallow butt will make a good sparring partner so I don't go stir crazy in here."

Avery rolled their eyes. "Oh joy."

Kai dragged them the rest of the way out of the bathroom, then clicked the hall panel open. "If you're lucky, Veronica might take me up on that offer I gave her."

"Oh no." Avery dug their heels into the ground to slow Kai's pull. "I am not getting beat up by Veronica. She's probably got enough rage to murder a volcano stored inside her at this point."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "A... volca-"

"Besides!" Avery cut her off. "She hates me. Like, straight up hates me. I'm not picking fights with the six foot Amazonian warrior lady."

Kai sighed and tugged on their arm again. "If it makes you feel any better, the offer was to spar me, not you. We've been here for over a month, so I think can read relationships well enough to leave well alone."

"Fine." Avery admitted logic defeat and let themself be led away by Kai, the small smile capturing her lips not unnoticed by their worn eyes. "But only cause I like ya," they reminded her.

Kai nodded. "Only cause you like me, got it."

|{}{}{}|{}{}{}|{}{}{}|

A knock knocking on the door. Maylea looked up from where she was nestled with a book, her eyebrows pressing together. "Yeah?"

"Maylea, let me in, my hands are full!"

Maylea jumped up off the bed and padded over to the door and pressed it open. It revealed one Juno, a large platter of cookies balanced along with a stack of cups and a carton of milk.

Maylea chuckled incredulously and stepped back to take in the rest of him. "You're wearing an apron."

He shifted his weight from side to side. "Yep."

"You have cookies."

"Very astute. Hey, can you get out of the way so I can put these guys down? It's a long trek from the kitchen to here and my arms are tired."

Maylea let him through then trailed after him, rising to her tip-toes to peer over his shoulder as he settled the platter and other various things on the bed. "We really need a table or something in here," he groaned, turning around.

Maylea froze, inches from his face. They stared at each other, sudden, uneven breaths slowly repeating in tandem. Maylea let out nervous laugh and stepped back, rubbing her neck. "You uh... you have flour on your face."

Juno still looked just as stunned. "I do? I do?" He felt around on his cheeks, ears tinted red as he scrubbed at his skin.

"Here." Maylea reached up and rubbed just above his brow, her thumb following the curve of white powder. "Oh no!" Her hand shot her her mouth. "I made it worse!" She laughed, muffled.

Juno leaned back, swatting away her other hand that was still trying to get to the smudge on his face. "Ok, that's enough now. I'll get it." He ducked, then slid out from under her arm to escape to the bathroom.

Maylea cast a look behind her as he fled, then turned her attention to the platter of cookies. They were still hot when she picked them up, and she yelped, dropping it on the bed.

Juno's concerned voice came out from the other room. "Everything alright out there?"

Maylea blew on her reddened fingers. "I'm fine!" She called back, shaking out her hand. "No problems here, everything is a-ok!"

Quiet. Maylea turned back to the bed and scooped the cookie off of the covers, then dropped it again. "Drat," she whispered. She picked up the milk and the cups, cold condensation soothing her skin as she poured out a two drinks.

"Y'know these cookies took absolute ages because I had to completely learn thus kitchen and then I had to find a cookbook because I'd forgotten the recipe I used to use and-" Juno stepped out of the bathroom and froze, staring at Maylea.

She stared back, a cookie drooping from her mouth and another two soaking in milk. A second glass of milk was held in her other hand, and she outstretched her arm. "Wer soh mih?"

Juno wheezed out a chuckle and took away the cup, freeing up her hand so she could remove the cookie from her mouth. "It's really hot," she half whispered.

Juno nodded slowly, a laugh fighting to get past his tight lipped smile. "Sure." He bent past her and snagged up a cookie then dropped it back down, a tight look on his face. "Ow."

Maylea giggled and pivoted away, freeing up an opportunity for him to escape. "I told you! If you can drop it in the milk that should help."

Juno fluttered her away and scooped a cookie up before dumping it unceremoniously into his cup. "Oh- just go tease someone else already."

Maylea stuck her tongue out. "Maybe I will!" She grabbed the plate of cookies and held them aloft. "And I'm taking these with me."

Maylea turned and sashayed away, humming to herself, a teasing lilt to her voice.

She didn't see Juno's sudden change in expression, or the frantic way he typed into his band.

She did not see the dark look in his eyes.

|{}{}{}|{}{}{}|{}{}{}|

Carmen looked up as the door to the commons room opened again. Juno had been in there long before she ever had, then swept back out some time later, but not before offering her, of all things, a fresh baked cookie. It was still still cooling on the end table at her right.

The panel slid back into place, and Corben froze, hovering just inside the room. "I'm sorry," he said, slowly, calmly. "I didn't realize anyone was in here."

Carmen dipped her head as her face swelled into something akin to red, not quite angry nor bashful sides of it, but the light bush of it across her cheeks, the burn of it at her ears, the twist that fell to her lips. She had claimed this place. They had both silently acknowledged their need for space, and so, in such a way that only two people who refuse to talk can communicate, Corben had received the room, and she, the commons.

He had been ever so careful to make himself scarce when she returned at night, like clockwork, and managed to always be up and away when she awoke in the mornings. Their movements had been so carefully orchestrated that they only need meet for meals, and often time Corben would slide away again, taking the plate with him.

In a way, she missed his whispered debates with Juno, the small portions he snuck onto her plate, the small comfort of his steady gaze. But he could never be a comfort to her now, not since their argument.

No. Not their argument. There had always been tensions, anxious beats between tight gazes. Everything had gone wrong when he had seen Maylea, so logically, didn't that mean it had never been right?

The bookshelf doorway clicked, whirred again. Carmen's gaze shot back up as Azalea and Maylea appeared. And then, Kai, leading in Veronica, a haunted look on her face.

Maylea shoved a cookie at Corben, who was still hovering near the bookshelf, and pointed away. "Out. We need girl time."

Carmen couldn't ignore the way his eyes lingered on her, the parting of his lips as if he wanted to say something. The subtle shift to his demeanor as he ducked his head in a nod, leaving.

Maylea swung to face Carmen, and thrust a plate toward her, though too far away for Carmen to reach. "Have a cookie. We need to chat."

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Ayyyyyy another chapterrrr

Slowly building ideas in my head so now I just gotta piece it all together and make something good out of it all

Also this book has hit over 53,000 words and 25 chapters, so that's snazzy :)