Sector B

66

The pod stopped right in front of her apartment building. Amir stepped out of the pod first once it fully parked and he stepped aside and waited for Rory.

Rory climbed out, a little disappointed that Amir rushed her back home so early. She grabbed her things, including the box of cupcakes. Before Amir could register, Rory embraced him with a small smile.

"Thank you, Amir,"

Amir chewed on his bottom lip and tapped Rory's back awkwardly. The hug was so sudden and caught him off guard. He almost forgot how affectionate Rory was compared to Astellians.

"You should head inside,"

"You're not gonna come in? I mean, you brought me here. At least stay for a snack or something—"

"I can't, I've got to head back to the Agency." Amir grinned. "Direct orders."

"Direct orders?" Rory mumbled. "I guess Theodore is prepping the Agents for something big?"

"Something like that," Amir huffed. "He called to say congratulations, by the way. If not for paperwork, I'm sure he would've made it to the ceremony."

"I wasn't expecting for him to come anyway." Although Theodore placed her in a position to work with the Agency because of Jax, their relationship wasn't all that great. Theodore was always formal with her.

He did treat her better than before, but there was still some distance. Rory tried many times to find common ground with him. To even hear that he thought of coming to her graduation ceremony was surprising.

"Well," Amir glanced back at the pod. "He sends you his best wishes. I've gotta go and head back. I'll see you tomorrow, or maybe in a few days." Amir shrugged. "Depends on when you come in to conduct maintenance. Speaking of which, my glove has been acting a bit odd lately. Hope you don't mind checking it out."

"How odd?" Rory raised a brow.

"You'll see when you get there." Amir sat back inside the pod and the doors slid to a close. He waved at her one last time before it took off and drove away. The gust of wind blew her hair and skirt back as the vehicle fled away.

Rory sighed and slugged her feet toward her home. While everyone else was out celebrating, she was forced to stay at home and eat her cupcakes alone. Well, not exactly forced, but she didn't have a pod to just escape on her own.

She was saving up for one though.

Rory went up the long staircase that led up to her apartment on the next floor. The elevator was still in repair. By the time she got up there, she did her usual routine and scooped out water from a bucket with a cup and poured it over the klovoc flower in front of her door.

"At least he was kind enough to leave me with a plant," Rory scoffed and made sure that the flower was in good condition. Two more buds were forming beside the main flower, which was a good sign. It was thriving.

To her, it was all she had left of Decha. "Now that I think about it, maybe you need more sunlight." Rory dragged the pot a bit further out for the Sunbeams to shine on the dirt. Talking to her flower was normal for her. She didn't care if her neighbor downstairs thought she was insane for doing so.

Flowers and plants responded well to sound. "There you go," She brushed the dirt off her fingers on her skirt. Then she turned toward her door and dropped the package of cupcakes. It busted open and some fell out onto the floor.

Her jaw dropped.

Decha was leaning against the door to her apartment casually with a slight smirk on his face. He was dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt with a black vest wrapped tightly around his torso.