THE APPLE OF SNAKES

viii. waining candles

When Nerluce returned to Room D, it was... much louder than he remembered it being.

He flinched at the sudden assault on his ears, such a sharp contrast from Aristide who spoke so softly it was little more than a whisper in Nerluce's ears. Two new futons were on the floor, meaning two new people had been placed into their room - both of which were boys and contributing to the loudness of the room. They seemed to be positioned on one side, while the girls were on the other, hackles raised.

Between the two groups, a chalk line had been drawn across the wooden floorboards. The boys stood on the side closest to the door while the girls were on the other. Standing with one foot on each side of the line was a girl - maybe? Her head was shaved so it made it a bit hard to tell but no, she was undoubtedly a girl as there were only three male newcomers and they had all been accounted for - looking mildly embarrassed.

For some reason, Nerluce had a prickling suspicion that this had all started because of her.

Upon his entrance, Lyana snapped her head in his direction. She threw up her hands and pointed at Nerluce. "You!" she said. "Which side of the room should Eko sleep on?"

Which... which side of the room...?

Nerluce's lips drew tight. There were eight people in the room therefore the girl standing over the line - who Nerluce figured was Eko - should sleep on the side with fewer futons. However, it did make things a bit troublesome since Eko was a girl and it seemed the boys' futons had all been dragged to one side of the room.

So Nerluce went with the safe option of shrugging. "Whichever side she wants to?"

"They," the girl - Eko - said.

Nerluce turned to look at her. The room had gone quiet. What... what had Nerluce said...?

"I use gender-neutral pronouns," Eko said, offering an explanation. "Because I'm, uh, nonbinary so-"

"Oh, sorry!" Nerluce said, eyes widening as he cut them - and the awkward tension in the room -off. "Alright then. Eko should sleep on whatever side of the room they want to." He offered Eko a small smile and they returned the gesture.

"I'm sleeping on the boy's side," Eko said. "There's more room."

"We could divide the room into thirds," one of the boys suggested. He had a head of hair so yellow it looked like corn. He probably came from wherever it was that they grew corn.

The other boy - taller than the first and Nerluce - elbowed the first. "Then Eko gets way too much space. Let's just make a small, Eko-place," he said. His voice was deep and husky. Attractive. The voice of a man.

"I cannot express how unnecessary that is," Eko said, rolling their eyes. "Besides, what will chalk do? It's not going to stop anyone from entering one side of the room or peaking or- whatever it is you're worried about." Eko shot a look at the group of girls.

The ringleader - and shortest girl - placed an offended hand to her chest. Nerluce couldn't tell if this was done in sarcastic mockery or if she was genuinely offended by the accusation. "It's the principle of it," she huffed. "I don't want to sleep beside a boy. Beyond being concerned about their motives, boys smell and they don't clean up after themselves. It's ridiculous!"

The rest of the girls rang out in a chorus of agreement at the same time the yellow-haired boy cried, "What?"

He turned to the taller boy and Nerluce, clearly seeking their support but Nerluce just rolled his eyes and sat down on his futon. He wasn't particularly tired, but he also didn't care how this worked out one way or another. As long as they weren't playing a game of shells in the middle of the night, he figured whatever happened would be alright by him.