"But Dal's family, so we put up with his antics." Tess' voice rang out, clearly joking, though

"That's the only reason y'all haven't kicked me out?" I said.

I made my tone light, but on the inside, I was dying. If that's really the only reason why they tolerate me, I wouldn't be able to stay here anymore. Everything would be a lie.

"You're acting more like Two every day," said Tess.

"Am not."

I couldn't lose my tuff rep. If I can stay tuff, it won't hurt as much when I lose any of them. It'll happen at some point. I always get the worst luck when it comes to things like this. That's why I got tuff. So it wouldn't hurt as much to lose people. But some managed to get into my heart.

"Are too."

"Star Wars?" Dex asked, confused.

"What the hell is Star Wars?" I asked.

There. That's better for my rep.

"You don't know?" Dex's jaw dropped.

Linh whispered into Dex's ear. If he was into her, I'll kill him. Friend or not.

"Oops," Dex said.

"What's Star Wars?" Tess asked.

"It's a series of movies," Dex said. "With lightsabers, and-"

"Sounds boring," I interrupted. "Ugh. Movies."

They're too long, and how are people supposed to sit still? Honestly, I've gotta be moving. Fighting. Maybe kissing Linh.

"Not as bad as those teen beach ones," Tess said. "And I'm the one that loves movies."

"Of course," I said. "But still way too boring."

"They aren't boring!" Dex protested. "They're cool!"

"Yeah, right," I scoffed. "What the hell are lightsabers?"

"They light up when you press a button-"

"See? Boring, man."

"And once they're on, you can slice through pretty much anything. Wood, flesh, bone, metal," Dex said.

"Whoa," Tess whispered.

"Oh, jeez," I muttered.

Maybe these movies aren't so boring after all.

"Yeah," Dex said. "Better than those switches of your's."

"Why can they slice through metal?" Tess asked.

"The light is very hot. It also cauterizes the wound," Dex said. "So if your hand was cut off, it wouldn't bleed."

"That's crazy," Tess muttered.

"Man, that's awesome," I whispered, in awe of the lightsabers.

"Ya mean crazy," Tess said.

"Nope," I said.

"Would ya really want one of those?" Tess asked. "If it fell into the hands of a Soc, they wouldn't hesitate to use it on us. Including Johnnycakes."

My heart sunk, imagining Johnny, hurt, missing a limb, dead. Because I wanted a lightsaber, and somehow the Socs got to it. But switches and heaters kill too. Ain't my fault, though.

"No. You're right," I said. "They ain't as cool as they sound."

"Savvy," Tess said.

"Ya know, I kinda miss Tim," I said. "Slashing his tires, jumping Socs, it was nice."

"You're really going soft," Tess said.

"If ya weren't Johnny's girl, I would've walloped ya by now," I grumbled.

"But then Johnny would be my best friend. And my brothers would wallop ya," Tess said, a sweet smile on her face. "Ya still wouldn't hurt me. Besides, ya love me."

"Uh, huh." I rolled my eyes. "And I suppose we can talk to dwarves."

"We can," Linh said. "King Enki is a supporter of the Black Swan."

"Some dwarves have died because of their affiliation with the Black Swan," Dex whispered.

"Which is why we have to make their dreams come true. Otherwise their sacrifices would've been for nothing," Sophie said. "Dallas, you really need to stop acting like it's Tulsa. Things are possible here, that you'd never have thought of in Tulsa."

"Okay," I said. "But I still wanna keep my switch. It's better than those fancy mind tricks."

"Of course you can keep it. As long as you don't use it on our friends," Sophie said.

"Our friends?" I asked.

"Anybody Linh says is a friend," Sophie said, trying to conceal her eye roll.

"I can see you rolling your eyes," I said.

"You don't have to lock your heart up like that. Tam did that, Linh did that. Look at them now," said Sophie.

"An angsty teenager and my beautiful girlfriend?" I suggested.

"Two independent teens who learned how to open up. And they're stronger than you are alone," Dex said.

"Yeah, right," I scoffed.

I saw the water above my head, just before it splashed onto me.

"You're stronger?" Linh asked.

"No, you are," I said. "Mentally. But I think I've got more muscles."

"Of course you do," said Linh. "But I'm the one who broke your nose."

"Don't remind me," I muttered.

I still can't believe I let her get the best of me. But she did have that device to make her arm stronger. But still, she's a girl. At least everyone's forgotten about that. For the most part. But Linh's too sweet to tease me about that mercilessly.

"But we've gotten over it," Linh said. "Right?" Her face was tense, but hopeful.

Could she really think that I could have a grudge on her?

"Yeah," I said. "I'm over it, as long as ya don't bring it up anymore."

"Okay." Linh shrugged. "It was a little funny when it happened, though."

"Hilarious," I said, crossing my arms.

"Dallas..." Linh wrapped her arms around me. "That was back when I thought you were a jerk. But now that I've gotten to know you, I've learned about your heart. You need to let yourself show your emotions, instead of bottling them up. It'll be better for you."

"It's cool. Forget about it," I muttered. "And maybe I'm trying to be a jerk." I smirked.

She hit my chest playfully. "And I thought you were a good person," she said indignantly.

"Who knows?" I shrugged.

"I kinda doubt it," Tess said. "Your fuzz record is a mile long."

"And I'm set on making it longer," I said smugly.

"Don't. You don't want to face a Tribunal," said Sophie. "You could end up banished."

"In Exillium. With no contact with us. With me," Linh whispered. "Dallas, please. Stay out of trouble. I don't want to lose you."

"I'll try." I shrugged. "Trouble draws itself to me."

"Of course it does." Linh shook her head, sighing. "Just do your best."