MAKE IT GO BOOM | JINX

S I X

C H A P T E R   #06   //   R I S I N G   T E N S I O N S

       Later that same night, Sage made her way back to their room. She had gone out to get her bruises looked at by a friend of Vander's. It was per Vi's request, and Sage did not mind following through with it.

As she walked through the packed streets of the underground, she thought about where Powder had run off to. She had not seen her since Vi and Vander had their private talk. She hoped to find her in their room. After all, she wanted to give her something.

While she walked, Sage took in the people around her. Many of them looked dangerous, like predators waiting for their prey. So she kept her head low and continued her tedious walk.

Eventually, she reached the door that led down to their place. She pushed it open and made her way down the creaky stairs. Muffled rock music became louder and louder the closer to the door she got. Typical Powder.

She opened the door and saw Powder sitting on her bed as she worked on something. Sage bounced down the stairs and approached her friend, "What are you workin' on?" Sage took a seat on the bed, sitting down criss-cross in front of Powder. She leant back and let her back hit the head of the bunk bed.

Silence followed her question. Instead of answering, Powder focused on the bomb she was trying to build. Sage furrowed her brows and tilted her head slightly, not understanding why Powder ignored her.

She gave her friend more time to answer, but she did not. So Sage nudged Powder with her foot. The shove caused Powder to lose her grip on one of the pieces she held. As a result, the bomb fell apart.

"Can't you see that I'm busy?" Powder blurted and raised the tone of her voice to be louder than usual. The blue-haired girl looked up at her for the first time since Sage had entered the room. Unfortunately, Powder's eyes were filled with annoyance.

"I'm... uh, I'm sorry," said Sage whilst scratching the back of her neck. She did not intend to ruin Powder's bomb, not at all. "I can help you build it back together," Sage offered after noticing Powder's dissatisfied expression.

"No," Powder declined, not looking up from her bomb. "Just go, okay?" she asked after she glanced at Sage.

"Okay... but first I wanna give you something," replied Sage. She reached into her pocket to pull out the necklace she had snatched earlier today. It turned out to be a necklace with a pendant of the letter P in capital letters. Sage felt elated when she saw how lucky she had gotten.

She hoped Powder would like it as much as she did. The necklace was purely made of metal, but it was still beautiful. The craftsman had surely put a lot of work into it.

She took it from her pocket and held it out to Powder, hoping it would cheer her up. It did not. As soon as Sage wanted to speak up, Powder shoved her hand away. The necklace flew out of her palm and landed somewhere in the room.

"I said go, Sage!" yelled Powder, which startled Sage. The green-haired girl stared at her friend, unsure of what to say. She decided to keep quiet and got up from the bed to leave Powder alone. She left the necklace behind, somewhere on the floor of the room.

She made her way to one of the higher rooftops of the Undercity. Her previously good mood was shattered. In a way, she was embarrassed about the gift, but then again, Powder was in a bad mood. Why, she did not know. Once Sage arrived on the roof, she walked over to the ledge and sat down, her legs dangling over the edge. She could see the Undercity and Topside, all the way back to the citadel.