Blank Slates

Chapter 20

 Kairo pushed the food around on his tray absentmindedly, resting his head on his hand and staring off into space. The Blank girl was back in her cell, his punishment had been over for a while, and nothing of interest had happened in the past few weeks. His teammates' idle chatter melded together as background noise while he was slowly disassociating. Though he hated to admit it, he was bored and wanted something big to happen. Clovis was being tight lipped about most of the outside situations, so it was clear that something had happened that he didn't want them knowing about. But what was new at that point. Kairo always saw Clovis as a cowardly type who only acted tough to feign some sort of control. To him, the fact that Clovis was still sticking around was the only indication that the whole world hadn't fallen apart just yet. Kairo subconsciously gripped his fork tighter. What was he even doing here, wasting his life away? Twenty-one years spent living down in this basement, feeling like his life hadn't even begun yet. For all he knew, the base could be overrun like the one in the Northern sector and he could die right then and there, having done nothing for the cause he was supposedly fighting for.

"Should I say something to him?" Yves whispered to the others, eyeing Kairo with an amused look.

"Ah, well, I wouldn't wanna snap him out of whatever he's fantasizing," Akilah chuckled.

"By the look on his face, it looks like he's fantasizing about murder," Slade murmured.

"Now, the question is, who's on the chopping block?"

"Alright, place your bets everyone," Calix announced, laughing. "Who is he pissed at this time?

"Pryce or Tycho again?" Slade suggested.

Yves shook her head. "No, it's definitely Inara bugging him."

"What about Caris?" Akilah suggested.

Calix smirked. "I bet a million bucks it's Clovis."

"You don't have a million bucks."

"Yeah, but I know that I'm right."

"Alright smartass, we'll see," Akilah snorted. "Yo, Kairo!"

No answer.

"Yoo-hoo, Kai-Kai!"

No answer.

"Kairo-ro-row your boat!"

No answer.

Calix slapped the daydreaming boy on the back of the head, knowing that was a sure fire way get his attention. Kairo snapped out of his thoughts and shot his best friend a questioning and half annoyed look. "What the hell, dude?"

"Bruh, we've been calling you, but you've just been zoning us out."

Kairo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry about that. Lost in thought, I guess."

"About who?"

He raised an eyebrow, confused, as four pairs of eyes were glued on him. "What now?"

"Who were you thinking about? 'Cause the way you seemed to glare into space and how you gripped your fork seemed like you wanted to murder someone."

Kairo scoffed. "Oh, I'm just bored with everything right now. And annoyed at Clovis as always."

"HA!" Calix yelled suddenly, making Kairo jump. "Told you so!"

The others all rolled their eyes. "Aye, shut up, lucky bastard." Akilah mumbled.

Kairo chuckled. "Yeah, he's an absolute pain. Especially since he never tells us anything."

"Oh, you just reminded me," Yves piped up. "I overheard something you may want to know."