Sector 7

20:05

We burst out laughing. "No way, really?" Thasia asked skeptically, still laughing.

Ajax nodded. "Yes really! The best part was you could tell that was Nayeas's bunny in her pocket. I couldn't stop laughing as they argued."

"I can't believe you had pets! That must have been so fun." I sighed softly, picking at the food in the aluminum wrap.

He shrugged. "Yeah, they're fun, but they're also a lot of work. We had the two bunnies, the snake, the scorpion, and the three piranhas."

"Wow piranhas!" Thasia breathed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Yep. Their names were Vivaldi, Incognita, and Quilla." He recited, taking a swig of his water.

"Cool." Thasia and I both whispered at the same time.

He laughed again. "Yeah. But what about you? No pets?"

We shook our heads. "Nope. Just a brother and sister who hate me." I explained.

"I had two parents that hated me," Thasia grumbled.

I put a comforting hand on her back. "We don't hate you."

"Yeah, you're pretty awesome Ion," Ajax said.

She looked up at us and smiled. "Thanks, Plasma. Thanks, Circuit."

"No problem kiddo." He punched her playfully in the shoulder before eating the last bite of his food.

"Yeah, when I win the Slate, I'm going to buy a house and live as far away from my parents as I possibly can. And you two are invited to visit or stay. You can even bring your sister's Circuit!" She exclaimed with delight.

He paled at the thought and turned away. "Yeah, ok. I'll come visit."

I nodded, still keeping an eye on Ajax. "I'll visit as often as I can."

She beamed before yawning. As she stretched, she mumbled. "I'm gonna go to bed. You can sleep in here Circuit. Plasma and I will give you one of our blankets."

Thasia stood up and peeled off the top cover of her blanket and handed it to Ajax. He took it gingerly and laid it on the floor next to my bed. I did the same with one of my blankets and he folded it slowly. Thasia made her way to the bathroom to change out of her jumpsuit.

"Plasma, does it bother you if I, um..." He trailed.

I put two and two together and I blushed. I shook my head and looked away. I didn't dare turn, but my cheeks were flaming.

When I couldn't hear anything, I cleared my throat. "Are you okay?"

He paused before saying, "Ah-yes. It's okay." I turned slowly to see him standing in nothing but navy blue boxers. He had abs and a hint of biceps. If my cheeks could get any hotter, they did. I looked away out of embarrassment. "Sorry." He mumbled.

The bathroom door clicked open and I whipped around to face Thasia who was wearing a flannel nightgown and carrying her jumpsuit in her small arms. She blinked before stating plainly, "Don't do anything stupid. I would like to get some kind of sleep tonight."

I choked on the air and Ajax twiddled his fingers. "Sorry." He whispered again.

"Don't be. As long as I can sleep, that's all that matters." Thasia spoke before I could say anything. "Goodnight." She crawled into her bed and slipped onto her side.

"Well," I mumbled before grabbing my own pajamas and heading for the bathroom. I changed quickly and left, leaving my jumpsuit in the bathroom.

When I came out, Ajax was under the blanket and looking at me with big brown eyes. He looked away when he noticed me staring at him. I blushed again and slipped into bed.

"I'm sorry," I whispered into the night.

"Don't be. I put you in an uncomfortable position." Ajax answered softly.

I hesitated before I asked, "Do you mind if I call you Ajax?"

"Please do!" He sounded relieved. "Sorry it's just, Circuit doesn't seem to fit me. May I call you Delphinium?"

"Delphi should do just fine." I chuckled softly, thinking about what Thaliard said. "I don't think I'll ever get used to the name Plasma."

He laughed a soft pretty laugh. "You're pretty funny Delphi. I bet a lot of guys love you."

It was my turn to laugh at what he said. "Ha, nah. No boyfriends for me. Never have, never will." A lump rose in my throat, but I ignored it.

"Oh, that's a shame." His voice was stiff. "I can see why you'd say that."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

He sat up and stared at me with his eyes wide in fear and glassy with tears. "Because we're going to die."

I sat up. "No, don't talk like that. We're not going to die, I promise."

He shook his head. "We are! I know we are! Low scores don't make it far in the Slate. I'll probably be the next one to go."

I slid off the bed slowly and sat next to him. I took his hands and whispered, "You are not going to die. I'll make sure of it."

"How? How can you make sure I won't die?" He started to cry. "I don't want to die Delphi. I want to see my sisters again. I want to be with my family again. I want to go home."

He pulled me into a hug and clung onto me as he sobbed. I held onto him, facing my own mortality as well. Death was real and it had already struck. We were all going to die in one way or another. We had twenty-three days.

Twenty-three days left to die.