(cowritten with the wonderful @syzygy)



Rhea frowned at the guard in disapproval as he shoved X'lian into the cell with much more force than necessary. "Don't be a twat," the Tertian said to the guard, the words spilling from her lips in annoyance. When the guard just curled his lip up in a sneer at her and manhandled her into the cell, her eyes flashed to become a Tertian orange and she snarled at him. She blinked away her aggressiveness as the cell slammed shut a breath away from her face. After the guards walked away, she rubbed tiredly at her eyes. Maybe all the violence and tension at mealtime was getting to her. She made a small noise of sleepiness, annoyance, and fear in the back of her throat before flopping onto her cell bed, grateful that she had the bottom bunk and didn't have to use her energy to climb up the ladder. "How you feeling, X?" Rhea asked, tired but still caring.

X'lian blinked slowly, flexing her claws and glaring after where the guard had left, white eyes narrowed. "I am..." The Voidborn trailed off slowly, studying the light reflecting off the heavy set of talons, out of place on her delicate-looking fingers. "-I believe it is guilt? It is an almost foreign emotion, I am not sure how to feel about it."

She let her hands drop to her side, fixing a calm gaze on her cellmate, noting the exhaustion of her expression. "You need sleep. Do not stay awake on my account, I am fine." She shifted her weight from foot to foot before scrambling up the ladder, heaving herself onto the top bunk with a soft noise of complaint. Plastic crunched under her body weight and she squirmed, pushing the plastic spoons away. There were...a lot of them.

Rhea sensed her cellmate's discomfort and shifted to her feet, climbing halfway up the ladder to peer over the top rung at X'lian with round, earnest eyes that widened when she saw all of the spoons. Dammit, she'd forgotten about those. A slight blush colored her cheeks in embarrassment, but she collected them from around the Voidborn, asking as she worked, "Nonsense, you're my friend. Now, what could you possibly feel guilty for?"

X'lian laughed quietly at Rhea's expression, crossing her legs in a crisscross position and blinking steadily at her roommate. "I let my emotions get the better of me and I lashed out at someone who did not deserve it." She rested her hands on her lap, talons clicking together.

Rhea shook her head. "For all you knew, he very well might have deserved it. Better to know than not, I say. And you wouldn't know if you hadn't confronted him. Besides, I would have done the same thing. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." She had paused in collecting the spoons while she advised her friend, but now that she had finished with her bit and was open to listening, she continued to pick up the spoons.

X'lian plucked invisible pieces of lint off her pristine uniform, helping Rhea by sliding the spoons into a neat pile. "Still. I let my emotions get the better of me. I should have been more in control of them."

Control. The one thing she longed for the most. She could compartmentalize people into little boxes, could sort memories and thoughts into meticulous strands all she wanted, but it was all meaningless as long as she was in this prison.

Rhea saw the sadness weighing down on her friend's shoulders, and she gave her an empathetic look, putting a hand over one of X'lian's own. "Hey. It is good to be in touch with your emotions. Sometimes, the most wild of us are the ones who are so out of touch with what we feel. Besides, there are few things we can control in this life, especially with the way we're being told to live it now. Don't let it weigh on you so much, X. It may crush you."



Rhea raised an eyebrow at the new prisoner stalking away from the basketball players, finding him to be slightly more interesting than the textbook in her hands. "Now, what in the world happened to him?" she mused softly to herself before hopping up and walking over to him. Best to figure it out herself, no?

Smokey’s spine buzzed from his neck all the way down the length of his back. In one moment his eyes flicked to the left. A second later, his neck twisted sharply a perfect ninety degrees. His eyes narrowed, then slowly pulled back to center—only to veer right again, this time more deliberate, and perhaps more strained.

He’d learned to read footsteps like language. When someone walked with purpose, their stride had a rhythm—each footfall hitting the ground with a spring-loaded certainty, propelling them forward in quick, efficient bursts. A quiet kind of violence. A stalker’s cadence.

But this girl’s stride was different; lighter, quieter, measured—and yet, her eyes were locked on his.

Smokey snorted, sharp and haughty, sucking in a heavy breath through his nose. The air cracked against his face like whiplash, lifting his chin into a reflexive sneer. Was she stupid, approaching him like that? He couldn’t help but wonder if this girl was a moron—or just fearless.

He threw his head back a bit higher to meet the unassuming inmate with a sidelong glare. He wanted to get a good look at her. Instinctively, he stepped back—just enough to keep his balance and avoid toppling over. But it was more than a reflex, it was a decision. He’d earned his new reputation, and now he’d have to wear it—scars and all.

Whatever happened next, Smokey would be the one to finish it. Of that, he was certain.

With a slow exhale, he let the mechanical hinges in his spine click and ring loose. His eyes fluttered shut as he shifted his weight, lolled lazily on his right leg to face her fully, and dragged the other around and over. His stride was languid, almost limp, like he had all the time in the world.

His chin dipped, hiding the small scoff he smothered behind his lips. And then he waited—eyes still half-lidded—eager to meet her gaze again.

Behind those lowered lashes and the soft, smug curl of his mouth was a challenge: daring anyone to be the next to set Smokey Braggs off.

X'lian was curled up in a corner with some kind of advanced mathematics textbook, in a foreign language. She studied a page, scribbling down notes on a piece of paper before struggling to flip the page with her heavy talons.

They weren't quite made for paper turning.

As soon as Rhea got up, she abandoned any interest in the math to shoot her gaze up, eyes flitting to the person her roommate was heading towards.

A frown tugged at her lips but she didn't move. Not yet, anyways. If Smokey made any attempt to hurt Rhea, well, then she might move. For now, she would continue to try and get to the next page in this damn math textbook.

As she approached, Rhea tilted her head and gave the lad with obvious trust issues a wide, bright smile. "Hi! You look new here. Enjoying your stay so far?" she asked, simultaneously lightly teasing and genuinely wanting to know if this new guy was okay. She knew better than most not to judge people based on rumors, appearances, or initial hostility.

She kept her senses on high alert, listening to the scrambling of X'lian's talons against each other as the Voidborn tried to gently turn the page. Rhea made a mental note to help her find a droid to help with page-turning once she'd properly met the newcomer.

Smokey's smirk instantly sagged into a disgruntled scowl as the girl greeted him with a sly grin.

Not worth my time. His pondering was dismissed abruptly just as he bumped past the odd-looking girl. She resembled a human in most respects—same frame, same movements—but her eyes were... off. Not enough to matter. Just a small, curious observation.

He kept moving. Best not to engage anyone who wasn’t a direct threat. Smugglers were assholes and killers were sweet—that rule held true in nearly every prison across the galaxy, but this “killer” in particular didn’t seem to carry any ulterior motive, at least not from what he could gather at a glance—and that was all she was: a glance. Just like everything else.

Smokey scoffed, and the thought drifted into the same pit where all the rest went—wherever the hell that was, even he wasn't sure, and it wasn't exactly easy to give a damn if he already forgot about them.

Rhea's brows furrowed, and she turned, giving the fellow a befuddled look (that he didn't see, considering he was walking away from her). She shrugged and bounded after him, her resolve unbroken and continuous in her pursuits. "Not too much of a talker, I take it. That's okay, we've all got our own specialities. I take it you don't much care for the sports available for us to play, no? Would you prefer a board game? Ooh, or do you like books?"

Smokey planked his foot down, letting the motion jolt through his scrawny frame. He staggered back deliberately, like he’d just been hit by some cosmic inconvenience, then whipped his neck around with a dramatic snap, smacking his lips loud enough to echo. His face hardened into a bored, bratty scowl—the kind of look a snot-nosed teenager might throw at a teacher just to get detention.

He gawked at Rhea, jaw slack, eyes glassy with fake confusion.

“I dunno how to read,” he announced, voice thick with mockery.

Then he picked up his jaw, turned on his heel, like that one line was enough to stomp out whatever flicker of compassion she thought she could offer.

Rhea shrugged in dismissal of his attitude and the finality with which he said his statement, following him with a smile. "That's okay! If you want to learn how to, this place is actually a great place to learn and I could help teach you. If not, there are a lot of other fun things to do."

Eclipse smirked slightly as she watched the drama going down, taking her attention off of the newbie at the craft station for a moment just to watch. This would either end well (which would be boring), or it would end badly and she'd get to see the actions of her potential piece upon the playing field.

Smokey didn’t respond at first, but Rhea’s chipper persistence hovered in the air like a damn mosquito. He let it buzz in his ear for a while, but eventually, he caved, giving her a sideways glance. His lids blanketed the feral gleam underneath, although it only betrayed his agitation even further even if it made him look less like a maniac.

She really wasn’t gonna quit, huh? Not after he'd g already given her exactly what she wanted. With a huff, he rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, fingers brushing against the familiar shape of his lighter. That little spark of rebellion always made the day go by smoother. With it, he could light up and forget the sound of cheerful voices like hers among several other peculiar things.

He flicked it open with a soft click, flame just barely alive when something made him pause: a pair of eyes that most definitely weren't Rhea’s. For one, Rhea's gaze had the intensity of an action scene in a superhero comic book from the 60s. Secondly, she was standing right next to him. But this second pair of eyes seemed to evade him wherever he looked.

But then his gaze snapped up across the room—locked, instantly, with Eclipse. Amusement was slapped plainly on her face without the tiniest trace of fear.

Smokey’s smile knifed across his face and slit open into a sneer. His thumb hovered over the flame for a second longer before he casually snapped the lighter shut and slipped it back into his pocket like nothing had happened. Best to keep it hidden from prying eyes like hers. Something told him this woman wasn't just watching for entertainment.

Without a second look, he pushed past the loud mouth, shoulder brushing hers just enough for her to remember he was an asshole, but judging by the fact that the tertian's words kept chirping on behind him, it probably didn't work.

His demeanor shifted, less hostile, more curious---relaxed even---like a wolf catching the scent of something new in the air.

He made his way toward Eclipse, that same sly grin spreading across his face, eyes narrowed with curiosity and something just a little feral.

Rhea raised a brow at the lighter. "Impressive," she muttered even as he stalked away. Upon seeing he was heading toward Eclipse, a grin bloomed in full force across her face. Oh, goodie. He'd be making friends. She grinned at Eclipse and gave her a slightly mischievous look.

"Alright, then, I'll leave you to it. Nice meeting you!" She chirped to the standoffish fellow before skipping back over to X'lian, giving a wide grin to one of the inmates playing basketball (Ghent, a fellow Tertian, who snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes, a hint of a smile playing at his lips).

Rhea finally plopped back down beside X'lian and smiled at her in a slightly less energetic, more real version of her grins. "I'm sure we can wheedle one of the guards into getting a little contraption that helps you flip pages, X. It was foolish of them to not have made a few electronic versions of these books and have them available online where they're more easily accessible for taloned folk." Rhea paused, remembering a few moments in the past when X'lian had lost her temper with a page that had torn through her claw easily. "You know what, before we do that, I think we should take a look at that group playing Uno. Ace is over there, so it can't be too bad. Plus, Uno was fun last time, even though you kept winning. The cards they have in prison are thicker than the ones outside of prison, so that should be fine for your claws." Rhea yapped, putting away the textbooks she had brought out for herself. It was a bit of a bad habit for her to start yapping to get people to go along with what she wanted since that was what she'd had to do at home, and she'd taken to doing the same with X'lian even though she'd go a long with most of what she did.

"It's fine, the talons will go back soon. They usually do." X'lian closed the textbook with a heavy thud, sliding it away on the nearby table. "Besides, most of the guards are...not fond of me."

Her gaze flitted over to the group playing Uno, then around the room, then back. "I mean, if you want to lose more games of Uno, then sure, let's go."

Cessa snickered softly, giving him an unnerving grin. “And what do you have against spoons? Who knows, maybe one day a better wager will show up. You get better with skin in the game,” She gave a nod at his cards, her expression amused as she tried to provoke him further. “And you clearly need the practice.” She sneered, plucking a card from his hand before throwing it at him in a ninja star manner because I don’t know the word for it.

Rhea laughed softly at her friend's Uno remark and gave the Voidborn a sweet, understanding look. "Come on, Uno loves me. And the guards don't hate you, they just hate your power which makes them fear you. It's better to be feared than hated here, anyway," Rhea shrugged, her face uncharacteristically serious before she looked between X'lian and the Uno gang, her face splitting into a mischievous grin. "Okay, time to prove you wrong. X, this round'll be for my pride," she muttered under her breath, shooting a grin toward her friend before marching off to the table, certain her friend would be soon behind her.

She stopped across from Ace and a new girl with a grinning face. Something was off about the grin, though. Something sharp hid under the skin of that girl, and Rhea knew it as well as she knew the monsters prowling under her own skin. She let her gaze soften into a more appreciative one as she looked at the lass before turning to the center of festivities with a broad, slicing grin, sliding onto the bench across from the chairs Ace and the girl had commandeered for themselves. (Rhea subtly ensured there was a spot for X'lian beside her by stretching her leg up onto the bench area beside her and folding it like half of the butterfly yoga position).

"Hey," she said, her voice welcoming even though it was she (the newcomer to the table) who should be welcomed. Her voice was cooler this time, more controlled, less exuberant than she'd been with Smokey. The prisoners who were playing with Ace who had budged up slightly to make room for her merely chorused gruff noises of acknowledgment, focused on the game at hand. So she let her gaze switch to Ace and the new lass at their side.

The card hit Ace on the cheek, and they rolled their golden eyes as they caught it. Ace played a card without much of a glance, more focused on the pestering girl at their side.

“The game is all about the luck of the draw,” they said dryly. “There’s really not much I can practice, especially for a card game I’m not that invested in.”

As Rhea sat down across from them, Ace returned the smile. “We can deal you in next round,” they offered, right before laying down another card.By now, their large stack of cards had significantly dwindled, though Ace was still unlikely to win.