I wrote this chap in one go late at night in an attempt to kill my writers block. I wasn't gonna post it but I thought you deserved the extra content LOL. It's basically filler but that's okay because I think it's cool ;)

The cover art is something of a preview for the rewrite, LOL

-----

I awoke with a start, disoriented. It took me a panicked moment to remember where I was. The Grace Field room was still dark, as the sun had yet to rise. I couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour or two.

I made my way quietly out of the room to avoid disturbing the still-sleeping others, and wandered down the stairs. I washed my face at the sinks, pleasantly surprised to find that the water was still working at the long-since abandoned farm. Then, feeling a little chilly, I rifled through one of the storage rooms until I found an old sweater that would fit. It smelled like dust, but it'd do the trick.

It appeared to have gotten colder overnight, as frost clung to many of the windows. I glanced outside to check for snow, and saw that there was none. I noticed my breath fogged up the glass, so I drew a goofy little smily face in it.

"What are you doing?"

Startled, I spun, my hand moving to my hip. I realized a moment later that there was no knife there, and sighed. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" I exclaimed. "You're lucky I'm not armed– I could have stabbed you!"

Ray's eyebrows rose. "I'm pretty sure that's a you problem and not a me problem."

"You're right about that," I acknowledged readily. "Except, I'm pretty sure a knife in your gut would actually pose a bigger problem to you, and you know, your life." I crossed my arms and leaned back against the wall. "What are you doing up?"

Ray shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."

"Really? No offence, but I'm pretty sure you could use it." I pointed at his face. "Your eyebags are beyond gucci at this point, they're like, chanel."

"I'm not even going to pretend that I know what that means," he mumbled in response. "Plus, you don't look so..." –he gestured widely with his hands– "...healthy yourself."

"That's a pretty roundabout way of saying that I look like I've just risen from the grave," I hummed. "Believe me, I saw myself in the mirror a few minutes ago, and thought I was looking at a haunted portrait." Ray huffed a half-chuckle as I continued, "I'm pretty sure I'd lose to Norman in an arm wrestle right now! How sad is that?"

"Tragic," Ray sighed melodramatically, "that you would lose in an arm-wrestle against someone twice your size."

"Norman is different," I retorted. "And twice my size is too much!"

"One and three-quarters?"

"I'll give you one and a half, tops."

"One and two-thirds, then?"

"One and a half!" I repeated, and Ray laughed quietly now. "So?" I eventually asked. "What were you doing down here?"

"Oh," Ray gestured over his shoulder, "I was in the library when I heard you walking around."

"The library? Why?"

"I wanted to see if there were any books we didn't have in plant 3," he explained.

"Oh. Did you find any?"

"Yeah, actually," he admitted. "I found a couple."

"Really? I thought the libraries were identical." We started walking back to the library as I asked, "What were they called?"

"I didn't pay attention to that. They're over here," he showed me two books on the table, and I picked them up and scanned the covers.

"Oh, I remember these!" I said as I picked up the first one. "This one's a collection of fables from around the human world," I held up the second, "and this one's a book on the evolution of light technology; all the way from torches to LEDs." Ray took the second book from my hands, and then turned on the lantern that rested on the table.

"The fact that you picked the long-winded boring one is totally unsurprising yet equally disappointing," I mumbled while Ray moved the lantern to the floor. He took a seat against one of the bookshelves, and within seconds became completely immersed in his bland book.

"You can go back to bed," he said eventually as he flipped a page.

"The sun's gonna be rising soon anyway," I sighed. "I'm gonna steal your light" —I took a seat by the lantern— "so I can read my compelling collection of fables."

"Children's fairy tales?"

"Shut it."

We read in silence for a while, before I could no longer ignore the way Ray was squinting at his book. "You should really consider sleeping," I piped up, and Ray shot me a look. "Okay, I know I'm not the best person to be preaching self-care—"

"'Not the best?'" Ray griped. "That's quite an understatement..."

"Okay, fair, but even I can see you're exhausted! You'll do serious harm to your singular braincell!"

"Go on, I guess, it's not like you just woke up from a practically self-administered coma or anything," he grumbled in response.

"Don't you get smart with me now!" I retorted. "This is coming from someone who self-destructs like, bimonthly."

"Somehow, I think 'destruct' is the wrong word," he sassed. "'Implode', maybe?"

"Fine, implode!" I seethed. "This is coming from a professional self-imploder, and I swear you're gonna end up imploding soon! Last time I was getting as little sleep as you appear to be, I thought I saw the face of god! Turned out it was Benny! They were riding that compliment for weeks! The equivalent in your situation is like, mistaking Don for, I don't know, Phil!"

"Phil is god in this metaphor?"

"See? You're even messing up metaphors with analogies!"

"They're virtually the same thing, anyways."

"—Um, no?? Are you alright in the head?" I jabbed a finger into his forehead. "You're supposed to be the nerd here, not me!" Ray merely shrugged in response before turning back to his book. I let out a long-winded groan. "You're just being stubborn now. I refuse to believe you find that book so captivating."

Ray hummed, his eyes never leaving his book. "Did you know that one of the oldest documented lamps was a carved handle lamp, which was used approximately 17,500 years ago? It was used by paleolithic humans, and made from eroded sandstone. The bowl shape, scoured into the sandstone, would hold a fatty candle and wick, and the long handle would ensure the end of the lamp was cool enough for handling." He looked to me now. "There were supposedly engravings on these lamps, but most of the information regarding them have been removed. You have to wonder if it's because they contained engravings of demons at the time– which wouldn't be surprising, considering they were the primary predator of humans up until some thousand years ago."

"Yes, of course, you have to wonder that," I said flatly. "I also have to wonder why this information is something you need in your life more than sleep?"

"You never know when you're going to end up stuck in a dark cave somewhere in need of a hand-held lamp," he remarked with a reasonable tone that greatly contrasted the bizarreness of his statement. I could hardly tell whether he was fucking with me or not.

"Absolutely," I agreed without a hint of sarcasm in my tone, "because, stuck in a dark cave as we are, we would have access to tallow or hell, maybe there's even a bee hive somewhere nearby! Though, unfortunately, I doubt we can find it, considering that we're, you know, stuck in a dark cave. Of course, we also have time to slowly scratch at a slab of sandstone until we can get a bowl before we start thinking Jeff over there looks real tasty– 'cause we're stuck in a dark cave that's so dark making a lamp is our first priority, which means we probably can't see any food in the darkness. On second thought, I don't think we can see Jeff anyway, 'cause, you know, it's so dark in this cave."

After giving me an aggrieved look, Ray sighed in response. "I was joking."

I shrugged. "I'm aware. You're a guy who reads books about electrical engineering in your spare time, so why not one about the history of light technology?"

"The electrical engineering information turned out to be incredibly useful on many occasions."

"I never said it wasn't useful," I clarified, "I just said it's something you do... for fun. Like, personal enjoyment. If someone came to you looking for a way to kill some time, you'd respond by handing them a book detailing the different types of electrical wiring, how they're made, and how to repair them– and considering I'm speaking from personal experience, this is in no way hypothetical."

"I like to think it's a better way to pass time than arson and pillaging."

"There are a number of things wrong with that statement, but ignoring that– in my defense, my options at the time were severely limited," I huffed, and then spoke in the sincerest tone I could muster. "It was either that or duel with Cozbi, and she tends to kick my ass."

"So you kicked other peoples asses instead?" Ray articulated carefully.

I leaned back on the bookshelf and crossed my arms. "Precisely," I said as grimly as possible, but I couldn't help a small smile breaking through my features.

Ray shook his head and then rose to his feet. "I'm going back to bed," he sighed.

"Ah, yes, my top-secret mission of annoying you until you left has succeeded," I grinned.

"Hardly," Ray responded flatly as he made his way to the door. "I'm just too tired to keep up with you right now."

"I don't know if I'd consider that a counter-argument," I hummed. "In fact, I'm pretty sure you're just proving my success."

He let out a long-winded sigh. "Good night," he said, and then added as an afterthought, "try not to get too caught up in your children's book." The smirk on his face died quickly as he ducked behind the doorframe to avoid the flying projectile I'd turned The Complete History of Documented Light Technology into.

"It's a refined piece of literature you asshole," I called after him.

When Ray came into view once more, he was wearing a self-satisfied sort of smile. "Whatever you say," he said, and then quickly vanished down the hallway before I could turn any more books into deadly ammunition. I listened to his footsteps ascend up the stairs before letting out a sigh.

"Why am I like this?" I thought aloud with an internal groan. At the time, I had no way of knowing that Ray was echoing his own similar thought from a few floors above me.

-----

My search history rn is bizarre.