Young Writers Society

The words didn't register right away. It seemed to slowly sink in, and her body seemed to hear and register it first than her brain, because even without blinking, her eyes were gushing out tears that streamed down her face.

Evaline lifted his hand up to her chest and leaned in to prop her forehead on his shoulder to use as support, hoping he didn't mind that she was wetting his shirt with tears and snot. James embraced her with his one arm, pulling her close.

She didn't even know what to say. She was at a loss of words.

But one thing did come to mind.

"I love you too," she whispered as she cried in his arms.

James hugged her a little tighter as he let her cry in peace, comforting her as her sniffs and cries filled the silence.

She didn't know what came over her. She wasn't sad; these weren't happy tears. It couldn't be, hearing what James just said.

She couldn't even name the emotion that swirled and ballooned in her chest, filling her entire body with warmth as it pushed away her insecurities.

Was this what love was?

There were worries at the back of her head. Worries that she'd let her time powers control her emotions better than she would be able to control it, and worries that it would affect her future. Their future. She knew it would; it was just a matter of when.

She was always thinking of the future. But for now, with James, she just wanted to live and appreciate the present moment.

"So much," she finished with a heavy breath after a long silence, squeezing his hand again and then gripping his shirt with her shaky free hand to steady herself.

James rubbed her back with his hand gently and rhythmically.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Yes," Evaline said with a sniff, perching her chin on his shoulder as she leaned close to him. "More than okay. Thank you."

"You are most welcome," he said, still patting her back.

James seemed to give her a few long moments to collect herself as he held her, letting her sniffs and tears subside as they sat in silence together by the fire. After her breathing had steadied, he finally broke the silence.

"So..." he started, slightly pulling away. "I got a little sidetracked from what happened in Nye, before we parted. But I'm glad that went the direction it did. Do you want to continue talking about it?"

After a hesitation, Evaline also pulled away and wiped her face as she looked up at him. It seemed that whatever they were about to talk about next wasn't going to be as heavy as she thought it'd be after what just happened. She nodded for a few seconds.

"Okay," she simply said.

James nodded, and there was another small pause before he continued.

"When we regrouped," he said. "After Butch and Reed were no longer a threat. That was where I left off."

He looked up at her, like he was making sure she was following. She was, but she wanted to wait to hear what he had to say first. He nodded, as if to himself, and looked down.

"I noticed something was off with you," James said. "I asked you how many times you went back, and you never answered. Instead, you said that you wanted to go back to earth. I was insistent that we waited until you'd recovered from going back so many times before we talked about you going back. I wanted to be sure you were in your right mind and that it was really what you wanted. I wanted to wait until you could feel again."

He paused, and took a deep breath.

"When I told you no... you resorted to threats," he said slowly, and solemnly. "You shot at Elliot, spooking him, and he stumbled, falling down into the river. When you pointed the gun back at me... I broke my promise. And I wished you home."

With every passing word, Evaline gripped his hand and shirt a little tighter, feeling smaller and smaller. She knew she wasn't proud of what she did, but hearing it from James's perspective hurt, because the entire situation hurt.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly despite him already saying that he forgave her. "I'm sorry."

"I know," James said quietly. "You were trying to protect both of us in the only way you knew how. By pushing me away. But you don't have to keep pushing me away anymore. I'm here, and I don't want to leave you."

"But what if it happens again?" she asked desperately. "What if I threaten you again? And push you away?"

"I will just have to push back," James said. "And be patient again."

"But what if I hurt you again?" she persisted. "What if all of this happens again?"

"Evaline, I do not believe that we are doomed to repeat the patterns of our past," James said. "You keep talking about it like it's inevitable. But maybe you only believe it to be so because you have yet to discover a different path."

Evaline was quiet for a moment as she closed her eyes and held him tighter again, like the tension was symbolizing her rising anxiety, and she didn't want to let go of him in fear of losing him.

"What would that path be?" she asked softly.

"I can't say for sure, since this is new territory for both of us," James said softly. "But maybe... it has to do with what we were talking about earlier. Learning to grieve. To love, to lose, to heal. And doing it together."

He paused, sticking his chin on her shoulder in return as he whispered softly in her ear.

"Maybe that's all the notes have ever been trying to say. That we don't have to go in it alone."

Warmth fluttered in her chest again at his words, and Evaline chose to believe it.

"Maybe you're right," she said. "Maybe that's all there is to it. But if there ever becomes a fate I cannot change with you -- should I do this all again? I can't bear to lose you, James."

James hugged her a little tighter, and then started to pull away. He kissed her gently on the cheek before he leaned back so that they could meet each others' eyes.

"My whole life has been full of fates that I couldn't change," he said softly. "But I've made it this far, with you. I think maybe that's a sign I'm supposed to be here."

He shifted his position so that they were holding hands again.

"As for you, my hope is that for whatever losses in life that inevitably come - because nothing lasts forever, as much as it hurts to say - is that you would draw on the strength of the ones you love who are around you to help you through it. So yes. You would have to do it all again. I think we have to do it all over again whenever we are in the face of a great loss. But today, I'm simply going to enjoy this moment with you."

Evaline watched him and noted the utmost sincerity behind his eyes and words. Choosing, again, to believe every word he was saying. Choosing, again, to give herself to him. Holding her heart out for him to take as he offered hers to return.

She only hoped that he wouldn't walk away with it, but she knew, deep down, despite only being partners again for days, he wouldn't leave her. Not now, or anytime soon. Not unless her intentions were tainted, and she knew it wouldn't be. Not for him.

"You always know what to say," she said quietly as she gazed at him with an aching longing. "I don't know how you do it."

James laughed weakly, and looked off to the side.

"I don't consider it too impressive," he said softly. "I think it's more important to be able to follow through with things we say than to just have the right words. That's always the hard part -- doing what you say you'll do."

"And you do both," Evaline said confidently. "It's impressive you do both. That's what I like about you."

James still kept his eyes on the ground, but she could see him flick his gaze over to her just for a second, as his face flushed just a little bit.

"...Thanks," he said softly.

"That hasn't changed," she continued offering a small, soft smile. "You were always like this to me. Always patient and kind, always knew what to say, always true to your word. I admire that of you."

"That's... a lot of things," James said with a quiet laugh that sounded a little nervous.

"Maybe," she said. "But I expect the list to grow the longer as time goes on, because I know you're not perfect either. You've somehow learned to love my flaws, and I want to learn to love yours. I already have, but I want to love it more."

James still wasn't looking up at her, avoiding eye contact as he seemed to shrink a little in discomfort.

"I've... always thought that no one would really want to love someone who can't even seem to love theirself," he said, barely audible.

Evaline arched her brows in empathy, rubbing the top of his hands with both her thumbs as she began to pour her full attention to him instead. She knew that he said all he expected of her was to just be there, but she wanted to do more than that. She wanted to comfort him too.

"It's a common phrase to hear that you can't love others unless you love yourself," she said gently. "But we know that's not true. You have so much love to give, James. And I don't want it all. I want to give some of it back to you, because you deserve it, too."

James dropped his chin down towards his chest and squeezed her hands just a little.

"I just... keep waiting for myself to actually believe that," James said quietly. "It's like I know it in my head, but my heart disagrees."

"You said the journey to healing involves other people," Evaline continued, squeezing back. "Maybe this isn't something you can believe by yourself. Maybe you need someone to help you believe it. You say that I don't need to do anything to earn your love, but I want to take the steps for you so that you can earn your own love. Would you let me do that?"

James let out a faint laugh, huffing air through his nose.

"I'm not even sure what that means or what that looks like," he said. "But... yes."

"Maybe it starts small," she suggested. "By talking about your positive traits that make you, you. The ones that I and others admire. Do you like that side of you? Would you like me to list them out for you?"

James let out another nervous laugh as he shook his head.

"I-- you don't have to do that," he said quickly.

Evaline did it anyways.

"I've already said that you're patient and kind," she said. "But that's an overused expression to describe someone. Everyone is patient and kind to some degree, but you, James..."

She paused, waiting for him to meet her eyes, even though he quickly looked away afterwards.

"You are ridiculous," she said in a playful voice instead when she noticed that he seemed to already have a hard time taking the compliments. "You are ridiculously patient. How many times have you prevented me from being angry or annoyed? How many times have you chosen to wait and provide space instead of lashing out too? Just a few weeks ago, I was being annoyed for no reason, and I'd take it out on you, but you patiently waited anyways. And you were kind. Despite me being mean. You've done this for so long. I don't know how you do it. It's so admirable, and two of your most defining traits."

James's face seemed to flush to a deeper red, and he continued to look to the side, at the ground.

"I... didn't know you noticed," he said quietly.

Evaline scoffed, but she smiled. "I noticed the first day we met each other," she said. "I figured you were always like this. You have prevented so many needless tantrums from me without even knowing it, because I kept it to myself when you somehow defused me."

James finally looked back up at her, meeting her eyes.

"Is that a good thing?" he asked, looking amused.

"Yes," she said with a soft, sincere smile. "Of course it is. Can you imagine a relationship where we yell at each other because neither of us were patient?"

"That sounds miserable," James said.

"But you're not like that," she continued. "And neither of us are miserable."

James smiled softly, and he was quiet for a moment as he met her eyes.

"You can be patient too, you know," he said with a small grin. "But... sometimes you've given me the push when I need it."

"And maybe that's just what you need," Evaline said. "Someone to push you to love yourself. Even if I have to literally push you into it."

"Maybe don't push me too hard, though," he said with a small smirk. "I'm still bruised all over."

Evaline pursed her lips as she glanced down at his chest, trying not to let the flashbacks of the torturous memory take up space in her mind and ruin this moment.

"Dark," she said at first as she tried to rally her own thoughts. "Although, I've noticed that you often use humor to deflect trauma."

James's smirk disappeared, but he cleared his throat and briefly met her eyes.

"Thank you," he said, sounding like he was still trying to do just that. Deflect with humor.

"I didn't say that was a good thing," she said with the same tone.

"But what I'm hearing is that you think I'm funny," James said.

Evaline slightly narrowed her eyes at him, noting that James was repressing a smirk.

"I, too, think torture is hilarious," she dead-panned.

Any signs of a smirk disappeared on his face, and James looked back to the ground.

"Does it really bother you that much?" he asked quietly.

"No," Evaline said quickly. "No. No, it doesn't bother me. I'm only pointing it out because... well, you say it's healthy to talk things out, right? We didn't really talk about... that. And I'd rather listen to your thoughts about it first than hear it from a joke."

James was quiet for a moment, and she noticed his eyes had drifted down to his journal. It'd shifted and closed with all of the hugging, but it still sat in his lap.

"I guess..." he started. "It's just easier to make flippant jokes about it, instead of reliving it again."

"I understand," she said gently. "It's hard. But you also once told me: 'how can we ever move on if we don't talk about it?' And I do want you to move on from this, someday."

She could feel James's hands fidgeting a little in her grip, like he was getting antsy to let go, but Evaline only held him more firmly.

"I don't know how to talk about it," he said suddenly, pressing his lips into a small pout.

"It's okay if you're not ready," Evaline said. "But whenever you are, we don't have to talk about it all at once. We can take it scar by scar. There's no rush. I don't want you to rush this. I know it hurts."

She could feel his tension in his hands, and she could see it in the way he held his shoulders stiffly. He nodded slightly in agreement.

"Okay," he said quietly.

"But just so you know, James," she continued, rubbing her thumbs over his hands again. "You are more than a person who has gone through so much pain, and have the scars to prove it. I like you for you, but being you includes your past experiences too. I like all of you, the good and the bad."

James closed his eyes for a moment, and she watched as he took in a very slow deep breath and let it out with a sigh.

"You are also worthy of love," she said. "My love, and from yourself too."

James looked down at their hands, and she could see the mix of emotions swirling in his eyes. Weariness and gratitude. Like he was really trying to let her words sink in, even if it was hard.

"You say you don't believe it," Evaline continued gently. "But I believe it. And maybe, for now, that's enough. I'll keep reminding you every day if I have to."

James looked up to meet her eyes, and though he was starting to look a little tired, he still seemed present, and genuine.

"Thank you, Eve," he said softly.

Evaline leaned in to quickly kiss him on the lips.

"You're welcome, James," she said with a warm smile. "I mean every word."

James was quiet for a moment as his gaze lingered on her face and he wore a small smile of his own.

"Well... we ended up talking about a lot more than dreams," he said with a small laugh.

"That's okay," she said as she lingered her own gaze on him for a moment before glancing back at the fire, and at Elliot. "We'll have a lot of time to talk. But... maybe for now, we can take a pause on it."

She looked back at him, noting that he looked more weary and tired than he usually did, and deciding to take initiative on it.

"We should rest. Do you want to sleep first?" she asked.

"If you feel like you can stay up," James said. "I am getting pretty tired, so yes."

"I can stay up," she said.

After a brief hesitation, she let go of his hands to get up on her feet and walked to the saddlebag on Elliot, pulling out both blankets before returning to him and offering both.

"It's a chilly night," she said. "Being warm and comfortable may help you sleep."

James looked up at her with a small smile.

"Aren't you cold, too?" he asked as he took one.

"It's okay," she said as she dropped the other blanket on top of him anyways. "I have a fire to sit in front of."

"If you get too cold, though," James said. "Let me know. Okay?"

"Okay," she said with a small smile and then sat in front of the fire as James got comfortable, bundling the blankets over him as he laid down next to her, curling up by the fire. She could hear Sleepy chirp somewhere under the blankets. The chicken was often in his pocket.

They both shared their good nights - a habit she wanted to keep pursuing with him - and Evaline was left by herself under the night sky. She was a little tired, but it was always hard for her to sleep after heavy conversations. There was a lot to unpack with what they both shared, and she needed some time to absorb it all.

An hour or two passed and Evaline noticed that it started to get windy. It wasn't enough to blow the fire out, but it did make the night chillier. She glanced at Elliot and almost got up to take out more clothes for layers, but James's words kept repeating in her head: "If you get too cold, let me know."

She didn't want to interrupt his sleep when he was sleeping so soundly this time, but at the same time...

Evaline quietly crawled up to him, taking slow steps to not make any noise, but it was still difficult being completely silent. She knew he was a light sleeper.

She saw his head move, and he hummed lowly.

"Everything okay?" he mumbled.

For a second she kneeled in front of him, but then wordlessly lifted the edges of the blankets and wormed her way in so they would both be sharing it. Facing the same way, she snuggled close to James since they had limited room, and she was relieved when he wrapped his arm around her, bringing her closer.

"Yeah," she said quietly as she felt his warm breath behind her neck. "Everything's okay."

"Cold?" he asked quietly. He sounded half awake.

"Not anymore," she said. "I can still stay up. I'm sorry I woke you."

"It's okay," he said in a whisper. "Just wake me when... you know."

His sentence seemed to drop into a mutter, like he was drifting off.

"I will," Evaline whispered back, clutching the blankets they shared a little tighter.

She waited a few long minutes, and she could hear and feel James's breathing steady back to sleep.

Even though they were in the ungoverned lands, and she was vulnerable in his arms while he slept, this was the safest she had felt in a long time.

The next several days went by quickly.

They traveled as usual, and the days were short because the sun rose later and set sooner. It was becoming difficult to travel with Elliot because the forest ground was littered with roots and foliage. The trees seemed to curl and twist around them, and the birds, bugs, and other forest critters seemed to come in packs. Evaline didn't recognize many of them, but they didn't pose a threat. As long as they left her, James, and Elliot alone, she would leave them alone.

The animals were doing well. Sleepy was getting bigger now, and she sat comfortably on their palms instead of walking across it. Her feathers were growing in, becoming more gray than yellow. She still seemed to sleep for many hours out of the day, though. Her name was fitting.

Elliot was also growing in his winter coat - at least, that was what James explained. Evaline had no idea that horses grew more fur during colder months, but it made sense. Ellie did the same, although her hair was longer, and sometimes it felt like she shed all year.

James did ask her where Ellie was, and she explained that she gave her back to Hendrik to make sure she was taken care of while she was gone. Luckily, she took care of her before they had to leave everything behind in Terra. Ellie was in the sanctuary with some other trained animals, and even with Hendrik going on this trip too, she knew she was safe.

She did miss her cat, but throughout the years, she tried not to get too attached to anyone or anything, and that included Ellie. It worked out in both their favors that Ellie wasn't much of a riding animal and would not be suited for travel outside the safe zone.

On the first three nights, James woke up with a start because he had more nightmares. Evaline rushed to comfort him, of course, but this time he had nightmares from the undone memories she had caused. Over and over, he'd dream bits and pieces of her breaking into the prison to try to help him escape, and her breaking into the sunroom to truly escape Gaea.

She had gone back numerous times, because she knew she could afford to. It pained her that James had to see it and share the burden too. Some of the memories were not easy to watch, because she only went back if something went wrong. There were times when one or both of them were badly injured, and she tried again.

It was difficult for both of them to talk about, but she put James's needs over her own, and she comforted him to the best of her ability, assuring him that they were alive, safe, and well despite what he saw. She didn't want to delve into the details too much. She just wanted to comfort him and tell him that everything was okay.

Luckily, those dreams seemed to subside after only three nights. Or at least, he didn't wake up from it and talk about it anymore.

After that, James resumed his list of dreams and mentioned some minor dreams to her. He told her that he saw her go back in time because a mosquito bit her, and also because Ellie pawed sand on her sketch. It was a little embarrassing, but Evaline reiterated that she was able to go back in time on command, and small moments in time was even easier to do. If she could, why not go back in time and prevent minor inconveniences like that?

James also mentioned seeing Hendrik in an undone memory he saw on the first day he was able to dream, which piqued her interest.

"He asked you to tell him what he was thinking," James said. "And then you told him it wasn't like that, but then agreed. That was all I saw, really."

"Oh," Evaline breathed out with a little laugh.

She barely even remembered that, but that sounded about right.

"I don't think he fully understands how my time powers work," she said. "A lot of people don't. If I don't tell anyone I went back, it can be uncanny that I can 'predict' actions and conversations. It can appear like I read someone's mind, but really, I've undone a conversation. Seems that's what you saw."

James nodded.

"Ah," he said. "I see."

The conversation seemed to take a darker turn after that.

"There was another dream," James said. "That I assume, again, was an undone memory. It was only a few seconds. You were riding on your bike down a road, and a large deer jumped out in the middle of it. You veered off, skidded, and flew off your bike. The... dream ended half a second after impact."

It pained her that James had to see that too. Why couldn't he dream of more random mosquito bites? It must have been difficult to wake up to this.

"That did happen," she said solemnly. "It happened so fast and it was instinct, at that point, to undo it. I went back with enough time to slow down and avoid the deer."

James nodded, just as solemn.

"Most of the ones I've shared so far..." he said. "They're before the dreams started getting more intense. But -- there were two more I had of you, at the cabin, that I didn't get to yet. I know those are attached to some painful memories. Should I go on?"

Evaline took a deep breath. She could do this. She wanted to do this.

"Yes," she said firmly. "I want you to tell me so we can talk about it."

"Well... I only want to tell you mostly so that you know what I saw. It feels wrong for me to know memories of yours that aren't mine. It only seems right that I let you know. But, yes. We can talk about them too," he said softly.

"Thank you, James," she said as she offered a small, sincere smile. "I do want you to tell me, but I also want to give you explanations. We can talk about it."

James nodded slowly, offering her a small smile in return.

"Okay," he said, glancing back down into his journal where he'd kept notes. "The first one... you were back in the cabin. You were curled up, and you were crying. I was seeing through your perspective, so I didn't actually see much, but I felt a hand touch your back, and a woman's voice tell you that it was okay to cry. I didn't recognize whose voice it was. I don't think it's anyone I've met. But... that was it. It was only a few seconds long."

Ah. So that was what it was.

Evaline was quiet for a few seconds, staring blankly at the fire as she tried to put together her thoughts for James to best understand. It was getting easier now, but it shouldn't have been so difficult to say the truth. Sometimes it felt like deflecting and twisting the truth came easier.

"You have met her, actually," she said first. "That was Arima."

James looked to the side for a moment, like he was in thought, piecing things together.

"...Your cousin," he said.

"Yes," she said, then glanced at him. "You said she was nice, and you liked her, right?"

"From our brief interaction, yes," he answered.

Evaline nodded, taking another few seconds to collect her thoughts. She was glad James was patient, as usual.

"My time at that cabin was difficult," she began. "I've mentioned that was after I found Mel in the safe zone. She thought it would be good if I had a place to... well... I was unraveling. She tried to set me up with distractions to help. Books, music, art, even a piano. But it wasn't ever enough."

She glanced back at him nervously, wondering if he had enough of the pieces already to understand. He looked back at her with his eyebrows pulled together and arched upwards in empathy, but he seemed like he was going to be quiet and patiently and attentively await for more.

"It wasn't enough for me to be distracted by you," she finally spat out. "I told you. I couldn't get over it. Even when you were in Nye, unreachable, and not existing to anyone else. And I think -- I honestly think I just got worse over time. I don't know."

Evaline sighed heavily, looking away and tightly closing her eyes for a moment.

"There were a lot of undone memories during that time period, but you only saw some of them," she said softly. "Most of the time, I couldn't even control it. I let the emotional pain get to the best of me, and I'd float between times. And... that was one of the memories that you saw. With Arima. Because..."

She took another deep breath. Slowly.

"I asked her to remove the pain by removing you from my head," she said quietly. "And I wasn't sure I wanted to go through with it. So she comforted me. And that was what you saw."

James nodded slowly.

"I had wondered," James said softly. "If it was Arima who did that. Based on what little you told me of her powers."

"She didn't, though," Evaline continued. "She didn't completely remove the memories of you. She refused. And I'm glad for it now -- really, I am. I see why she didn't want to do it. But I did ask her to help, and she did. It helped."

"So... did she know about me, too, then?" James asked. "Before I came to Earth."

Evaline clamped her hands together, rubbing her thumbs along each other as she looked down.

"We share the same lineage for memory powers," she said softly. "For it to work, she has to witness it like she's living through it too. Even when it's for removing or dulling memories."

She tightened her hands and spoke again before James could get a word in.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she said quietly.

James looked like he was in thought, processing it all.

"I'm... honestly kind of glad I didn't know," James said. "When I first met Arima, I mean. In hindsight, though, she would've known I was lying out my ass, then. She'd made a comment about my name being uncommon. It makes more sense, now."

"We can trust her," she said quickly. "She wouldn't ever tell anyone. She's actually a therapist in practice. I think she's used to carrying other people's memories, even if they're bizarre, and keeping it a secret. I don't think she'd admit to knowing about you unless you told her you know."

James hummed.

"Good to know," he said. "If I ever see her again, I suppose."

"I don't think we will," she said. "So... I suppose you don't have to worry about that."

He hummed again, and was quiet again for a moment, wearing his expression that Evaline now easily recognized as the one he often had when he was deep in thought.

"What are you thinking?" she asked after a few moments of studying him.

"I'm trying to remember..." he said. "I think you told me a few months ago, maybe in my first week here, about people with Arima's powers. People who could remove memories. Therapists. And I'd told you that I never wanted to meet them."

James broke into a small smile as he shook his head and held the bridge of his nose.

"And then I met her anyway," he said.

Evaline faintly laughed through her nose.

"It appears you did," she said, then paused for a moment. "If you could, would you want to meet her again?"

James looked to the side, appearing unsure.

"I wouldn't mind being her friend," he said. "But... I don't know about..." He cleared his throat. "Therapy."

"I can understand that," she said gently. "I think it's harder to talk about your life with strangers. I'm finding it easier to talk through things with you, but we are far from being strangers."

James looked over to her with a small smile.

"Yeah," he said softly. "I don't think I would be very comfortable talking to someone who doesn't know me at all about everything in my life. And, it doesn't help that I would also have to explain so many things about Nye. That sounds... exhausting. I'd have to provide all of this context before I could even get to what I actually want to say."

Evaline nodded slowly, but something about his words made her feel off.

"Say," she began, deciding to voice her thoughts out loud. "Are we only together because of that? Because of not knowing about the world we landed up in, and having to depend on each other? Would we..."

She sighed, looking away.

"Would we even be together if it wasn't for that?" she finished softly.

"There's no way for me to know what life for us would've looked like if we were both from the same world," he said. "So I can't really speak with certainty about a hypothetical alternative. But I do think our bizzare, unexplainable circumstances helped in, perhaps, forcing us to lean on one another. I don't think that's a bad thing. It's just how life happened. But it's by no means the only reason I'm with you now, if that's what you're thinking."

"But -- let's say there wasn't a note when I was in Nye," Evaline continued, going through the hypotheticals anyways. "Let's say there wasn't proof that the bizarre happened, besides from what I told you. If it weren't for the note, would we have even been motivated to stay together?"

"I can only speak for myself," James said. "But after you told me you were from another world, I genuinely did believe you. And that was before you showed me the note. From that point on, I was determined to help you as long as you felt necessary. I wanted to help you get on your feet. Of course, that was... one of the first few days I'd known you. So, back then I wasn't thinking the way I do now. I was thinking more practically, but also it just wouldn't have been right to leave you alone."

"But what if that didn't happen?" she continued a bit stubbornly. "What if I wasn't from Earth, and there was no note, but the situation of my hypothetical Nye existence still put me at the same place and time of when we met? Without telling you I was from another world - because I wasn't - would you even have cared, or wanted to help? Would any of this have happened?"

James let out a small sigh, and shook his head slightly.

"I still would've cared, and I would've helped you," James said. "But if you never told me a thing about yourself, it could've gone two ways. If I had reason to suspect you were a mage in hiding, I would've let you travel with me until we eventually ran into the mages. So - hypothetically - you might've ended up joining the camp of mages we ran into. If I was certain you weren't a mage, I would've helped you to the nearest town, made sure you'd gotten enough food and supplies to get back on your feet, and then I would've left you there. So, no, none of this would've happened. But that's the nature of hypotheticals."

Evaline shouldn't have let useless hypothetical situations take up so much room in her head, but she disliked that it did. Neither of the paths he told her sounded desirable.

"And if I did tell you about myself?" she asked softly.

"It's hard to say," James said. "I have to be honest. In my six years of being wanted, I still have yet to keep any constant companions aside from Elliot, and if it wasn't because they turned on me, it was because I left myself, thinking it was what was best for them. Because at the end of the day, no matter who I was with, I was putting them at risk. And I couldn't justify doing that to someone - especially if they had far better safer options than being saddled with me. So... I don't know. I really don't know, Eve."

"Doesn't this bother you?" she blurted out. "Doesn't it bother you that it seems that fate matched us together? I'm glad for it. I am. I'm happy that this happened. But it's like -- we're following a pre-determined path, and we don't much of a say. Fate wants us to be together, and we are, and like I said, I'm glad. It's just... we're following it, doing exactly what it wants us to do. It's like it's toying with us. I don't know. I'm not upset. I just feel as though we don't have free will."

"I think we've always had a choice," James said. "We just happened to choose what the note's implied - if you even choose to interpret it that way. I don't feel like I'm being puppeteered into loving you. I'm choosing to do so in my own free will. Now, was I a little annoyed at first at a seemingly all-powerful entity acting as a third party by throwing us into each other's worlds? Yeah. I think that's reasonable. But I'm not upset about how it's turned out."

Evaline took a deep breath.

"I'm not either," she said. "I'm not upset either. I can't be. But it still feels like we were toyed with... even if it worked in our favor. I don't know."

"I feel like I've been toyed with for a long time," James said, almost too casually. "By 'fate,' or whatever you want to call it. But I've had to just... choose to go on in spite of it. Sometime in spite at it, when there was no other visible enemy to be spiteful towards."

"You've been spiteful towards fate?" she said.

"It's come and gone," James said. "Sometimes, at my lowest points, when I had nothing to live for, I decided to go on, just to prove to the universe that I could. It's... never been the most effective mindset. But it pulled me through some rough times."

Evaline was quiet for a moment, not wanting to taint his words with her brash thoughts.

"I'm sorry if I appeared upset that all of this happened," she said. "This fate - or whatever you want to call it - worked especially in your favor. And I should appreciate it for what it is, rather than tear it apart with all the hypotheticals that could have gone wrong."

James looked up at Evaline with a small smile.

"I will admit, I don't think I could've gone much longer with all of the what-if's," he said. "I don't mind questioning things. I just... I've found you don't really get a lot out of wondering what could've happened. Because even if you think you imagine something might've gone - or wil go - a certain way, the way life plays out... it's always so different."

"I know," she said with a small sigh. "You're right. There's no point in analyzing the what-if scenarios, especially if they take up needless negative space. I don't believe in luck, but in this case..."

She returned her gaze to steadily stay on him as she offered a small smile of her own.

"I'm lucky to have you."

"And I am lucky to have you too," James said.

They held eye contact for a few moment before James tore his gaze away.

"Do you think you have energy for one more?" he asked, glancing down at the journal still in his lap. "It'll be the last of the dreams from the cabin."

Evaline nodded slowly.

"Yes," she said. "I can listen to it."

"Okay," James said softly, flipping a few pages before speaking.

"In this dream, you were alone," he said softly, speaking slowly. "You were... crying again. Reading a page of your journal. Looking through your eyes, I wasn't able to not read it. But still, it felt wrong of me to."

He paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath.

"It said that you loved me, and you had for a while. It sounded like it was written in reference to our time at the Oasis - though I don't know how much you remember of that. You'd written that you loved me so much that it hurt, and you didn't know if you could handle it, or if I could too. And then... you tore out the page, and ripped it apart."

Evaline tried to remember this memory, but it was all so muddled, and she did recall destroying her journal many times before, but she didn't remember the explicit details of what the pages said. James's description tightened a knot in her stomach that seemed to crawl its way towards her throat to escape.

"That sounds right," she said softly. "I thought about destroying the journal many times before."

James nodded slowly, and he looked up at her with compassion.

"I'm glad that you didn't," James said. "I haven't looked at it, because it's yours, but we do still have it, if you ever find yourself wanting to look back."

Evaline slowly glanced at Elliot, at the saddlebag that held the journal. It felt odd that they were travelling with it - especially since it was supposed to be thrown out years ago by Mel - but she knew he had to take it to not leave any evidence of Nye behind in Terra.

"I don't really remember anything I wrote," she said softly. "But I know that it only held journal entries and sketches from my time in Nye. I haven't used it since then."

"I figured as much," James said gently.

Evaline took another slow deep breath, prying the words out from within her.

"I'm glad that Arima didn't remove my memories," she said. "Because it means I can still remember them. And... I do. I do want to remember them. Remember us, in Nye."

"You don't have to do it all in one day," James said quietly. "We're making new memories too. You can take your time. I just wanted you to know that the journal's there when you're ready for it. And... well, if you ever need help filling in gaps, I'll do the best I can with my own spotty memory to help."

They had time. So much time. And James was being patient, as he always was. This wasn't as scary as she thought it would be.

"Maybe we can start slow," she said softly. "One page at a time, like one dream at a time."

"That works for me," James said softly.

"...Would you read it with me?" she asked.

"If you want me to," he answered. "But I wouldn't want to read something you don't intend for me to see."

"I don't even know what's in it," she said. "But based on your dream, it sounded like I wrote down my personal thoughts at the time. And... that was five years ago, I know. But we're different people now, and we're together again, and we can communicate. I know you likely need some closure of what happened in our past, and I can't provide some of it because I simply just don't remember. I want to help with that."

"If it's any consolation, I think we tackled the most difficult conversation already, with our parting. That in and of itself helped me feel a sense of clos--"

"Or maybe I need closure," she cut in quickly. "I do want to see the progression of how we became what we were. What we are. But I'm not the same person today that I was back then. Neither are you. I know. But I want you to see that too."

James met her eyes, looking serious, but his eyes held empathy behind them.

"I want you to get closure too," he said. "If you having me go through your journal with you page by page is how you want to go about remembering, I will gladly do so. I just wanted you to know that you are in no way obligated to share everything in it, if you don't want to. That's all."

Evaline held his eyes, holding her gaze for a few moments to show that she was serious too.

"This is a big decision," she said. "And I want to go through big decisions together, not alone."

James reached out and took her hand, squeezing it.

"I'm with you," he said firmly. "We'll do this together."

The days continued to pass by, filled with the repetitive routine of travel, but also with the comforts of more small honesty conversations. James was glad that they were both able to communicate openly again - more than they ever had, really. Even in the past, they'd avoided topics under a quiet agreement that things didn't need to be discussed. But now, they seemed to both have grown, and they agreed that they couldn't just ignore their shared, or their personal past experiences.

And he was glad they weren't in any hurry, either. As much as he appreciated the conversations they were having, it often took him a few days to let things really sink in and process everything they'd discussed.

Over the past few nights, James found that his dreams started to fill in any remaining gaps of his own memories from The City of Angels, when he'd been caught by the Gaea. Considering that he'd lost up to six-hours' worth of memories, he found that his dreams seemed to drag on and on. When he woke up, he almost felt like he hadn't slept because he'd been reliving hours' worth of memories in his sleep.

A large percentage of the memories were in the sunrooms, and though James mentioned a few things to Evaline, a lot of it was idle conversation - or uncomfortable conversations that he didn't really deem worth repeating in full detail. He didn't think it was worth retelling every minute. Evaline was able to understand the gist of how it made him felt well enough with just a summary, and they both seemed to be content with that.

Sleepy seemed to be growing quickly, and her feathers were almost fully grown in. He had a feeling her growth spurt might've been her body's response to the cold - as a necessity for warmth, in the same way that Elliot was looking more shaggy as of late.

A week and a half had passed, and James and Evaline found their travels led them to a small canopy of trees where they camped for the night. James paused for a moment as the two of them double-checked what day it was and looked at the map to make sure they were on schedule, and then they settled in.

Their meal was simple, as they were running low on fresh rations. James figured by the time they met up at the rendezvous, they would be out, and dipping into their tightly-packed dried and freeze-dried rations.

James took the first watch as Evaline slept by the fire. The night air was cold, but not freezing, and James was able to stay warm by the fire as Evaline curled up in the blankets. James let Sleepy sleep with her so that the little chicken would stay warm, so that left him sitting beside Elliot, who peacefully rested his head down low as he slept as well.

It was quiet for a while, and James would frequently scan the area around them as he wrote in his journal. He was trying to record as much as he could of his memories and dreams, adding details when they came back to him. If anything, it helped him to organize them. He ended up counting all of them up, and he'd been right - he'd had almost a month's worth of dreams. Over a month's worth, now.

He was squinting down at the pages by the light of the fire when he heard Elliot stir. Elliot was always quicker to pick up on sounds and sights than he was, but James could feel the instinctual uneasiness set in.

Something was nearby.

James quickly closed his journal and steadily got to his feet, tucking the journal away in the saddlebag. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword - which he now had almost constantly resting on his hip - looking out into the darkness.

In the canopy of trees, he heard a shuffling of noise, and then a low growl as an animal approached. Not close enough to be able to pounce, but close enough that it could pose as a threat.



"Evaline. Get up," he said, nudging her with his foot before he stepped past her, between her and the beast that looked like a wolf with a racoon's face and coat. He drew his sword.

Evaline slowly stirred awake, opening her eyes but then sitting up quickly when she saw the animal take a few more steps, closer to their fire where the empty pan still sat from their previous meal. It seemed to sniff the area surrounding it, like it was looking for food.

"Let's go," she said quietly as she slowly got up on her feet, picking up Sleepy and covering her with the blankets to protect her from the beast. "But move slowly to not cause alarm. It seems to only be looking for food."

James nodded.

"And the pan?" he said, just as quiet.

For a second, the two of them stared as the wolf-racoon continued to sniff around the fire, pawing at the pan, but repeatedly drawing back since it was hot. It was only a matter of time before it realized that there was no food on the pan anymore.

"It's risky," she said, staying still. "But let's throw fresh food to bait it away from us. And then we'll grab our things and quickly run with Elliot."

"Okay," James said. "I'll stand guard between you and the creature. You grab the food."

Evaline nodded, and she began to quietly shuffle towards Elliot to not scare the beast. James slowly and steadily mirrored her steps, staying in front of her and keeping his eyes on the creature.

The beast, however, seemed to figure out that there was no food left. Its eyes landed on Evaline as she dug around the saddlebag, like it was able to smell the food from when she opened it. It growled and began to pounce towards her with quick strides.

James got in front of it before it made it very far, swiping in front of it with his sword. It jumped back before he landed any hits, turning its attention to him as it crouched low with a wary gaze and its ears pinned down.

Panicking, Evaline repeatedly threw some fruits and vegetables far away in the thick of the dark forest, but the beast seemed to want to attack James instead. James stood his ground, and before the beast could make the next move, he swiped again, this time more aggressive, and that seemed to scare it off. It backpedaled, and scurried away in the direction she threw the food.

As soon as the beast was gone, Evaline picked up the pan to quickly put away, and then hopped on Elliot, still with the blankets with Sleepy bunched in the middle.

"Let's go!" she whispered loudly.

James quickly sheathed his sword and hopped up in the saddle behind her, letting her take the reins.

All of the horse riding lessons he had taught her in the past paid off, because she was able to effortlessly ride away, leaving the fire behind them. Since the foliage around the forest was thick, it was proving to be difficult to ride fast, but they rode a steady speed for about half an hour before she slowed to a stop in front of another clearing.

"I think we're safe here," she said as she glanced over her shoulder at James.

"Alright," he whispered in reply as he leaped down out of the saddle first, offering his hand to help her down since she was still holding Sleepy.

While cradling Sleepy with one hand, she reached out and took his hand to get off the saddle and back on the ground. Standing in front of him under the moonlight, Evaline then offered Sleepy and the blankets to him. Sleepy poked her head out of the blankets, none the wiser with what just happened.

"I think it was a lone wolf looking for food," she said quietly. "We'll have to be more careful securing our food next time."

James nodded.

"No more giving away free food," he said as he bounced Sleepy in his arms a little, and she bobbed her head.

"And no more leaving cooking supplies out," she said. "But we don't have that much fresh food left anyways."

James looked down at Sleepy, considering making a joke about how that technically wasn't true because Sleepy could be food - but he knew both Evaline and Sleepy would disapprove, so he kept his mouth shut. Besides, he wasn't planning on eating Sleepy anyway.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" James asked, looking back up at her. "My adrenaline woke me up, so I'll be up for a bit."

Evaline glanced back at the empty clearing.

"It has for me too," she said. "Especially when it pounced on you. I can stay up for a little bit with you... Should we make another fire?"

James looked around, but there wasn't much for him to see in the dark.

"Can you make out if the forest floor is clear?" he asked. "If so, we could just huddle together in the blankets to stay warm. Another fire could draw animals near again, but it leaves us at a disadvantage - being able to see less, and being a little more cold."

He paused.

"It also would take more time," he said. "Building another fire."

Evaline took her time to scan their surroundings before answering.

"It's clear," she said. "As long as we remain on schedule, Hendrik should be setting the path so that the more dangerous beasts wouldn't show. I think the creature only showed because of the remnants of food we left out. I think we'll be fine without a fire for one night, if you think that's okay."

"Alright," James agreed. He scooped Sleepy up with one hand as he pulled the blankets away from her and handed the blankets to Evaline to unfold. "We'll share, then."

James and Evaline sat down on the ground near Elliot, and Evaline brought the blanket over James's shoulders and then over her own. James set Sleepy in his lap as the two of them grabbed both layers of blankets and closed the gap to secure the small shelter of warmth between their bodies. They were shoulder to shoulder, and leaned in towards each other while Evaline propped her head on his shoulder.

"Hopefully you didn't lose too much sleep," James commented quietly.

"I'll be fine," she said in the same tone. "Thank you, though. For being on guard."

"That's part of what keeping watch is for," he said, turning his head slightly and giving her a small kiss on top of her head.

Evaline let out a small smile in response as she nuzzled her head against his shoulder like she was getting more comfortable.

"This is the first time we've run into anything remotely dangerous in the wild," she said. "But it won't be the last... especially in the future when Hendrik won't be around to ward off the animals."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," James said. "But I think both you and I have some experience with wild beasts... so hopefully we'll both be able to draw from that."

"Right," she said softly. "We'll cross that bridge later."

There was a short pause before she spoke again.

"I meant it when I said I don't plan on returning to the safe zone," she said. "I don't know how many beasts we'll see in our future, but this certainly won't be our last."

"I'll keep my sword sharp, then," James said. "Just in case."

Evaline let out a deep breath.

"Before you came to Earth, I wanted to escape by myself," she said. "Away from the safe zone, into the ungoverned lands. But then you came around, and I postponed my plans... until now, that is. Since we're traveling together."

"Did you have a plan for facing the monsters before I came into the picture?" James asked.

"It's always the same plan with me," she said. "Just go back enough times until I'm able to escape."

"Makes sense," James said softly.

"But it's harder," she added softly as well. "When there's another person in the picture. Another person you're trying to save and escape with as well."

"I can imagine," James said.

"I hope we'll be okay," she said after a silence.

"Me too," he echoed.

There was a lull in conversation, and James sat with Evaline leaning her head on his shoulder. He could feel her putting her weight on him just a little bit more, like she was trying to get comfortable, and trying to fall asleep. He didn't know if she was actually getting sleepy again, though. He knew his mind was still alert, and his body was still energized at the sense of danger.

Though he'd run into many different beasts in his travels, there was always one that came back to haunt him, in different ways. Sometimes it'd creep into his dreams. Sometimes he'd think he'd see it in the shadows of the night, and he'd have to convince himself it was just his imagination.

It happened a little less on Earth, since he knew that it was a different world of different beasts, but it didn't change the fact that the sight of any creature always seemd to poke at the deeply buried memory a little more each time.

It was... worth bringing up. He just had to think of a way to lead into it.

"Hey, Evaline," he said quietly. "What's the largest beast you've ever seen before?"

Evaline seemed to lighten the weight on his shoulder a little from his question as she took a few moments to think.

"The last time I was outside the safe zone, I saw a giant creature that was like a cross between a hog and a wildebeest," she said. "It was massive, aggresive, and ran fast."

"When you say giant, how big are you talking?" James asked.

"It was maybe a foot taller than I am," she said.

James hummed. "That... doesn't sound too big," he mumbled.

Evaline huffed. "It's not like there are wild elephants out here for me to run into," she said.

"How big are those?" James asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, since I've never seen one in person," Evaline said. "But from what I've read... maybe double my height. Triple, if they're especially big."

"Are they known for being predators?" James asked.

"I don't think so," she said. "I think they're herbivores."

"They must eat a lot of plants, then," James commented quietly.

"Definitely more than Elliot," she agreed. "What about you? What's the biggest creature you've seen in Nye?"

James had deliberately asked the question so it would be asked back to him, but now that she'd asked it, he found himself hesitating. It wasn't because he didn't want to tell her. But the memories still felt like a distant, haunting dream - and every time he thought of it, the terror would creep in slowly, feeding into a paranoia of dangers that weren't actually there.

He had to take in a steady breath and try to distance himself from the memory.

"A panther," he said.

"And how big was that?" she asked.

"Over two stories tall," James answered soberly.

Evaline paused for a while, like she was trying to understand the gravity of his answer.

"Two stories," she repeated. "That's like... thirty feet. You saw a panther that big?"

"Yes," he said, struggling to find the courage to elaborate on his own.

"...How was it?" Evaline asked after a brief hesitation, like she was sensing the reluctance.

James took in a deep breath. He had to decide between building up context or just saying it outright. He ended up veering for the long way to the truth.

"This was a little under a year after you'd left Nye," he said. "I'd made it further north. Had a little detour with some outlaws that worked out, but I think... I mentioned to you before. A bounty hunter named Pitch found me and was tailing me for weeks on end, and ended up running me into the jungle. Or, rather, I'd run into the jungle to lose her, since I knew she wouldn't follow... because no one sane goes into the jungles of Nye. They're known for being home to the most dangerous beasts on the planet."

He paused.

"I actually didn't have Elliot at that time - which contributed to my desperation - and was the only reason I ran the risk of going into the jungle. I'd made an... ally. They had a friend who had a ranch. I felt at the time that I didn't even want to risk putting Elliot in danger, so I'd boarded him there at the time. The ranch was near the coast, but that's another story."

"So I went into the jungle alone, on foot. I had a sword, which helped me fend off a number of different beasts. Some seemed curious, others were clearly only interested in making me their next meal. But I was surviving, as miserable as it was. That was... until I started to venture into a part of the jungle that seemed to be devoid of any beasts. At first, I thought it was a sign of luck. A temporary reprieve. But the less I ran into any signs of life apart from small creatures of prey, I knew in my gut that something was wrong. Against my best wishes, I turned around to head back into monster-infested jungle, but I did it too late."

He paused again, this time swallowing hard.

"The thing is," he said. "The only reason there wouldn't be beasts in that part of the jungle is because there was either something for them to be afraid of, something killing them off, or both. As it turned out, it was both. I found that out the hard way when I saw the panther from afar."

"That sounds terrifying," Evaline said quietly when he took a few seconds to collect himself.

"It was," James whispered distantly, as the memory silently crept in like a misty fog.

"But it was even more terrifying when it looked at me," he said, his voice hollow. "And for a moment, we were frozen, locked in eye contact as I saw it shift... and I didn't make it very far before it caught up to me."

He knew he had to finish the story. Evaline had to know it didn't end there. But it was like there was a dark, foggy spot in his memory, and his mind refused to remember it.

"That was when I met Amy," James said, deciding to skip over all of the details. "In her wolf form, first. She saved me."

"Amy must have been very brave," Evaline said softly. "To be able to face the creature, all to save a stranger."

"She was," he said quietly. There was a second's pause before he added: "I... I just wanted to let you know. That I've faced off beasts before, and made it out. Unless you have reason to believe Earth has a two-story tall panther of its own... I think we'll make it."

"Thank you, James," she said earnestly. "And thank you for telling me. I know you mean it when you say you're prepared to face whatever beast may come our way, now more than ever. But..."

She raised her head up from his shoulder, but they remained touching with their shoulders with the blankets draped over them.

"The entire experience must not have been easy," she continued. "The jungle, the panther, and with what happened with Amy... Do you think about it a lot?"

"At this point," James said quietly. "So many things have happened that it often all blends together. But... it does come up, now and again."

"When it does come back again, you're welcome to talk about it with me," Evaline said gently as she turned her head to face him. "You don't have to keep it to yourself anymore."

James couldn't make out her features, but he could hear her voice close to his face.

"Okay," he said softly.

"I just want you to know that you can tell me anything that bothers you, including intrusive thoughts," she continued. "I'm happy to listen."

"The same goes to you," he said.

"I know," she said softly.

James was quiet for a moment as he felt the heat of her breath drift to his nose. He didn't realize how cold it was until that moment.

"You know," he said slowly. "It... actually would come a lot whenever Ellie was around. But I didn't know how to tell you."

"I'm sorry that happened," Evaline said after a brief pause, sounding sincere. "I can see how a big cat - even if it's not two stories tall, and not aggresive - can remind you of the painful memory. If I'd have known, I would have not brought her along with me when I saw you."

"It wasn't so bad," James said. "It was... mostly when she'd paw at me that I felt nervous."

Evaline paused again. "I understand," she said softly.

"Small cats are fine though," James said, his voice raising in pitch a little. "Usually."

"There's nothing undignifying to admit that felines make you nervous," she said. "It's okay, and I understand. Your thoughts and feelings are valid, and I would be me more than glad to help you out in situations if or when you find yourself being trapped with a cat, even if friendly, or even if small."

"Trapped with a cat sounds like an odd situation to be in," James said. "But I appreciate it."

"Stranger things have happened," Evaline said. "I like to cover my bases, though."

"Fair enough," James said with a slight smile.

Evaline slowly placed her head back on his shoulder, but not before pecking his cheek.

"I know it's a cliche," she said as she settled her head back in. "But it seems that it's true that people do crazy things for love. I suppose rescuing you from purring cats can count as that."

James laughed in his chest, and a puff of air escaped his nose.

"Is that crazy, though?" he asked. "Or is it just odd?"

"Depending on the circumstance, some people may argue that there is no difference," she said.

James hummed thoughtfully.

"True," he commented quietly.

A short moment passed before Evaline spoke again.

"I think I'm going to try to sleep again," she said, no longer holding back the tiredness in her voice. "But... not too long. You need to sleep too."

"I'll wake you in about an hour," James said softly. "Sleep, now."

"Can I stay like this?" she asked softly.

"If you don't think it'll give you a crik in your neck," James said with a slight smile. "By all means."

Evaline bunched a part of the blanket under her head that rested on his shoulder, and then leaned on him some more as she tightly held her end of the blanket around her.

"Thanks," she whispered after settling into her position. "You're comfortable."

"A high compliment," James commented under his breath.

The next few days thankfully went without issue as they made their way to the rendezvous point. Though James didn't keep the calendar on him, he was keeping track of each passing day in his journal, so that put them at December 31st. They spent the full day traveling, keeping track of their progress on the map. This rendezvous would put them at about 1/3 of the way to their final destination, where they would be retrieving Elise's brother and his two other companions.

The sun was getting lower in the sky, and Evaline started to explain to him more about their rendezvous point.

Apparently, they were gathering in an abandoned village that Alistair knew of from records. It was supposed to be closed off enough to keep out any larger prey - presumably walled or fenced. It was also rumored that there was a hot spring there, but no one really knew for sure.

The gathering was also planned for this date not just out of the convenience of the location, but because there was another Earth holiday called New Years' Eve - which was as simple as it sounded. It was the day before the start of the new year. James relayed that they had similar holidays in Nye, but before each solstice instead.

The idea was that they'd all be able to celebrate together before continuing their journey. James wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of another "celebration," but Evaline assure him that is wasn't going to be anything like what he experienced at the last party.

When they approached the village, they were able to spot it first for its tall, stone walls. Though James didn't think the walls looked odd, Evaline mentioned that they were considered ancient, presumably for being built with, perhaps, a method from earlier technologies. But to James, it just looked like a wall of stones piled atop each other and melded together with a mud-clay cement. Barbed wire lined the top of it though, and Evaline had to explain to him what that was.

There was a gate that looked like it was made of steel, and it was open wide. As they rode up, they could make out two figures standing on either side, like they were standing guard.

James recognized one of them as Hendrik, but the other was a woman he'd never met before. She was taller than Hendrik by a few inches, and she was very built, and toned. She wore simple clothes and had her long brown hair was pulled back in a neat braid. James easily concluded that she had likely joined them on the trip as extra muscle. Yet, despite her overall appearance, her countenance seemed kind and calm.

James slowed Elliot to a stop as they came to the entrance, standing between both Hendrik and the woman. Sleepy was sitting on the horn of the saddle and chirped loudly at Hendrik.

"There you two are," Hendrik's voice boomed before they came too close. "We've been waiting hours for you. About time you showed up."

"There's at least three hours of sunshine left," James replied casually. "We came as fast as we could."

Evaline stepped down from Elliot first as she walked up to Hendrik and the woman. Hendrik seemed to stiffen a bit as she approached.

"Thank you for waiting," Evaline said. "Is everyone inside already?"

"That's right," Hendrik said. "Deidra and I will close the gate when you come in."

James took that as his cue to hop off of Elliot. When he hit the ground, he held out his arm, and Sleepy fluttered down, landing on his forearm. He used his other hand to take Elliot's lead.

"Nice to meet you, Deidra," Evaline said to her with a nod of her head. "I assume you're the guard."

Deidra nodded sharply. "That's me," she said simply.

At that point, James started leading Elliot through the gate, and Evaline followed as Hendrik and Deidra pulled the metal doors shut with a clang. James saw Deidra pull a large bolt over where the doors met, locking it.

"She's already been briefed with who everyone is," Hendrik explained while Deidra secured the doors. "Let's go meet the crew."

James and Deidra followed as Evaline and Hendrik led the way. The two of them talked along the way, catching each other up to speed. Hendrik explained that everyone had heard from the others that they'd lost their radios and came separately. He expressed similar worries as Mel had - but was glad they were alright. Evaline ended up asking him about his animal companions, and Hendrik mentioned that he'd brought his half-rhino creature, Bongo. He'd also brought another creature that was a giant muscular fox, named Higgins. The names seemed arbitrary, but at least the name didn't sound too human.

Though James wasn't really someone to talk, with Elliot being a relatively human name too.

As they walked, James idly overheard the conversation as he took in the details of the village. The houses looked more familiar to things he knew. Wooden-faced homes with tall, pointed roofs that let rain sweep off of it, and small, dirt roads that wound throughout. The village itself looked a little worse for wear, and there were quite a few homes and buildings that looked like they were in disrepair. Some of the wood had gotten warped or cracked with the weather, and it looked like some of the homes might've been painted, once-upon-a-time. But now, they were faded, and dreary.

The village itself wasn't very big, and they ended up reaching a larger building that looked a little less out of shape. Outside of it, he could see Bongo beside the creature he assumed to be Higgins. It looked like there was a tall wooden fence that wrapped around the back of the building, hiding something behind it, like it was property that had been marked off.

Judging from the rise in humidity in the air as they got closer, James had a feeling the hot springs weren't just rumors.

The building they walked up to was a two-story home, and it had a long porch that looked like it had been patched with a few planks of wood over spots where the wood had weakened over time. There was a bench near the front door, and he could see Malkiel sitting there alone. The moment James noticed Malkiel, their eyes met.

James held the shared stare for a moment, but was the one to break away first.

"Melakae asked for you inside, Evaline," Malkiel said, still holding the steely glare. "In the back room."

Evaline glanced between Malkiel and the others, and Hendrik low-whislted without comment, already opening the door for all of them to enter.

"We're going in here anyways," he said. "But I'll show you the back room, boss."

"Thanks," Evaline said blankly, both for Hendrik and Malkiel.

She glanced back at James who was tying up Elliot next to Bongo. James met her eyes, and without words, he assured her that he would be fine. She nodded ever so slightly before she followed Hendrik inside, and Deidra followed after.

James hurried with the knot, tying Elliot's lead to the porch post

"No one said you were coming," Malkiel said with venom and disgust in his voice, watching him tie Elliot up.

"Good to see you too, Malkiel," James said dryly.

"Don't you think it's odd," he began, "that a man who has only been here for a few months is already taking part of critical missions?"

"Everything about me is odd," James said as he pulled the knot tight. Sleepy was perched on his shoulder, and he felt that it was fitting. It was proof of his statement.

"It is," Malkiel said with a steely voice. "The others may not suspect you, but I have my eye on you. I'm on to you, James. Or Matt. Whatever the hell your name is."

James walked up the porch steps, watching Malkiel with indifference.

"What is it that you suspect me of, exactly?" he asked.

Malkiel let out a mirthless "hah" as he leaned a little closer.

"Everyone knows that you've been keeping things from us," he said. "No one with your background would have all those fucked up scars."

James continued to stare at Malkiel with a neutral, unbothered expression. Malkiel glared back.

"Maybe I've only been keeping things from you," James said as he strode to the door, not waiting for Malkiel's response as he opened the door.

"Liar," Malkiel said before he could go in. "I know you're lying."

James paused in the doorway only for a second, looking back at Malkiel, thoroughly unimpressed.

"You're going to have to come up with an insult a little more creative than that to get a rise out of me," he said plainly, and then walked in, letting the door shut behind him.

The room he entered into was long. On the right, there was a long wooden dining table that had some food and drinks set up on it, and to the left, there were a few crates being used as stools and a blanket that had been spread across the floor like a rug. Katya and Tula was sitting down on the rug with what looked like playing cards and chips, and Deidra was sitting on a crate in the corner, like she was watching over everything. Hendrik had pulled a crate up closer, like he was observing whatever game Katya and Tula were playing.

But when James entered the room, everyone's heads shot to him for a moment. He heard Sleepy ruffle her feathers by his ear.

"James," Hendrik greeted, his low voice booming across the room again. "Come sit with us and play a game. You know how to play poker?"

James actually did, but he didn't know if the game was the same on Earth as it was in Nye.

"I might need a little refresher on the rules," he said as he walked over, sitting across from Katya and Tula, next to Hendrik. "Are you just starting?"

"We are now," Tula said with a sly smile, and then rearranged all the chips and cards on the rug.

"Hey, I was winning," Katya complained, but Tula didn't seem to care.

"The rules are pretty easy," Hendrik began, and then took a minute to explain the rules in brief while Tula set up. James was relieved that the only difference between Earth's version of poker and Nye's version of poker was that there was no real loss of money. It was just about lying and winning chips that held no real value.

That, and they were only playing it for "fun."

"That's about everything," Hendrik finished. "Ready to play?"

"Ready," James said as Tula started dealing the cards out. Sleepy was still on his shoulder, and he lifted her off, setting her beside him. She snuggled up against his hip as he took his cards.

"So, James," Tula said as she flicked her eyes up at him when she finished dealing.

"We saw your fight," Katya interrupted with a sneer. "You kick some ass. Why didn't you show off more in Terra? I thought you were a total pussy --" She placed a stack of chips in the middle. "Starting bets."

"Katya," Hendrik scolded. "Be nice."

"Make me," she bit back.

James put his starting bet in the middle, and Tula did the same. He didn't even look at Katya.

"I had no reason to," he said plainly as he looked at his cards.

"So?" Katya said as they all took a moment to look through their cards. "Does that mean all I have to do is piss you off even more?"

"I'm not going to fight you just because you say more cutting words, Katya," James said calmly. "I entered the fight to win a sword. That was all."

"Lame," she said with a bored expression as she drew a card.

"A sword, huh," Tula mused as she placed a card down. "You can fight and use a sword. Impressive."

"And he can bear children," Hendrik said as if they all needed a reminder.

"Raise," James said as he added more chips to the betting pool, ignoring their commentary.

"Call," Tula said.

"Call," Katya echoed, but more challengingly.

"Fold," Hendrik mumbled.

"Already?" Katya said with a sneer.

Hendrik sighed and placed his cards on the table, revealing an abysmal hand.

"Take it away, ladies," he said.

James was going to let that one slide. He was observing Katya and Tula's behavior, trying to get an idea of their hand. Katya seemed smug - but she almost always seemed smug. James had a feeling she was likely keeping up the appearance so that no one would suspect anything. It was possible that her hand was poor, and she was just bluffing.

Tula, though, was harder to read. Like him, she didn't seem to be exaggerating, and she didn't look nervous. Either she had a good hand, or she was just very good at lying.

They'd see how the rest of the game played out.

Katya ended up folding three more rounds in with a bitter groan, revealing that she only had a pair. James knew he had a straight, but he didn't know if that would be enough to win with. Especially since Tula kept upping her bets.

Like every other time he'd been with her, she was studying him. And this time, he was studying her too - but for the sake of the game.

Then, Tula pushed all of her chips into the middle.

"All in," she said casually, not even letting a hint of confidence show on her face despite the action.

James stared at her for a moment, and his eyes flicked down to her cards. He flicked his cards down, knowing he couldn't win this one.

"Fold," he said, pushing his chips towards her.

Finally, Tula smirked victoriously, revealing her cards to show that she had a full house. James was glad that he folded, otherwise it would have been a very graceless defeat.

"You cheated," Katya said with a huff as Tula already began to reset the game.

"I did not," Tula said. "It's simply a game of skill and luck."

"Hey, James," Hendrik called. "Got any luck you can share with me?"

"After that game, I might be all out," James said. "I don't know if I can help you, there, Hendrik."

"Maybe we just need to up the antics," Tula said, shuffling the cards. "You can act careless when there isn't anything to protect."

"What are you suggesting?" Hendrik said, interest piqued.

Tula shrugged, casually again. "Something that is focused less on skill and more on luck, if that interests you."

She paused, her eyes landing on James.

"Strip poker," she finished.

Hendrik let out a bellowing laugh. "Hah! Yeah, okay. I've gotta change for the hot springs anyways, so even if I'm outta luck, I wouldn't lose much."

"I'm down for playing if you don't cheat," Katya said with a glare at Tula.

Tula smiled reassuringly. "No cheating here," she said, then looked at James for a response.

"I think I'll sit this one out," he said.

"Quit being lame," Katya said. "We all already know what you look like without clothes anyways."

"Not exactly," Tula mumbled, but Katya didn't care to correct herself.

"How does this work, anyway?" James asked, ignoring Tula's comment.

"Glad you asked," Tula said, then began to spend the next minutes explaining the rules in detail, and answering questions.

It sounded like the game was going to be played faster. Instead of a full poker game, they each would show their best 5-card hand at the end of each hand, and the player with the best hand would keep all their clothes on while everyone else took off an item. Players would keep showing their hands accordingly, and the first person naked lost.

James could imagine how this would go wrong. Or at least, get uncomfortable. For him. He nervously fidgeted with his sleeve, pulling it over the bandage on his arm.

"You know what--" James started to say, but was cut off.

"He's playing," Katya interrupted before he could finish. "He's not a pussy."

James shot Katya a hardened look as she grabbed the cards from Tula.

"I'm dealing," Katya said with narrowed eyes at Tula. "Just to make sure you don't cheat."

"Be my guest," Tula said with a slight smirk.

Katya then dealt the cards out to everyone, looking like she was trying to do it quickly, as if she wanted to prove to Tula that she wasn't cheating and was doing it right. When she finished, James checked his hand.

A royal flush. Luck was on his side.

When they all revealed their hands, James hid his relief behind a stone expression, seeing that everyone's else's cards were worse.

Katya groaned as she annoyingly threw her cards on the ground. Before anyone could say anything about their loss, she lifted her foot to take her shoes and socks off, but then threw one sock at James, and another at Tula.

James bit back a comment about Katya being a sore loser - or a pussy, as she called him. Instead, he picked up the cards and reshuffled as the others started losing layers. Hendrik and Tula both seemed to copy Katya with their shoes and socks.

If it were James, he would've just done one shoe. That counted as one item.

When they dealt again and showed their next set of hands, it was Katya who had the best hand, showing off four of a kind. She let out a cheer of victory. Both Hendrik and Tula took off their jackets next.

James sighed as he untied his boot and set it to the side.

Katya leaned close to James, squinting and glaring at him. "That's cheating," she said matter-of-factly.

"One shoe is one item," James said matter-of-factly back.

"It's called a pair of shoes," she said back sharply. "Do you ever walk outside with one shoe? No. They come in pairs."

James only looked back at her with another sigh as he took off his other shoe.

"Socks too," Katya barked.

James took off his socks, and tucked them in his shoes. The movement woke up Sleepy, and she got up, curling up a small distance from him.

"Katya the poker police," Hendrik mumbled with a smirk as he lightly elbowed James.

"No one's cheating under my watch," Katya said defensively as she reshuffled the cards to distribute again.

James lifted up his hands, and then took the cards dealt to him. When they all revealed their next set of hands, Tula was the victor. James took off his jacket, and so did Katya. He was glad he was wearing layers. Meanwhile, Hendrik took off his shirt, only wearing an undershirt as a top.

Their next set of hands was dismal - except for Katya's. She had a royal flush, and she was gloating about it. James removed one of his three layers of shirts. It was the flannel. He folded it neatly along with his jacket.

Tula also removed her shirt, revealing a thin undershirt as her top. Hendrik removed his undershirt, making him the first shirtless person out of the group.

"Feel free to stare all you want," he joked with a smirk, mostly directing it towards James.

James did not stare. He kept his eyes on his cards.

Katya won the next round. Again.

"I think our poker police is corrupt," Hendrik commented as he got up to take his belt off.

James was quiet as he removed his second shirt, leaving only the thin long-sleeved shirt underneath. The bandages around his arm could be seen peeking out, and leaving seams under the fabric where the bandaging was layered.

"Does a belt count as one item?" Hendrik asked.

"Yes," James answered, and he was glad that Katya didn't seem to question it.

Although Tula was still wearing an undershirt, she stood up and wordlessly took off her pants. James immediately flicked his eyes away, deciding he was going to keep his eyes down for the rest of the game.

Katya won the next hand too.

"Are you sure you're not cheating?" Hendrik said.

"I'm not, I swear!" Katya said defensively.

"Watch out, pants are comin' off," Hendrik announced as he stood up to take his pants off, and James could deduce that he must be down to one article of clothing left.

Tula silently took her shirt off, but James didn't know or want to guess how many articles of clothing she had left. Not did he look to find out.

With his eyes avoiding everyone else, James begrudgingly accepted his fate. Katya was right about one thing. They already knew what he looked like without a shirt. That, at least, wasn't new.

He took it off with one hand, pulling the endge over his head and off both arms in a single movement. His bandaged arm was out for everyone to see, and at this point, Sleepy as hopped atop his growing pile of clothes, nesting in it.

Katya was already reshuffling to deal out cards again.

"So, how'd you get all those scars?" Katya asked casually as she redistributed the cards. "And what happened to your arm?"

"You have to be a little more polite if you want that story," James said with thinly-veiled annoyance.

"Can you please tell us how you got all those scars?" Katya asked instead, losing her patience.

"That's not part of the game, Katya," James said flatly.

"Fine," she said stubbornly, then paused before she finished putting all the cards down. "You're obviously super prude with being naked. What do you guys say about having him explain our scar of choosing instead of losing clothes when he loses? He's probably wearing five pants anyways."

"Eh," Hendrik said. "Would rather see him pantless."

"I agree," Tula said blankly.

"Well, monkey man?" Katya pressed, ignoring the others now. "Which one do you wanna do?"

"I'll take my chances with losing clothes," James said with a forced smile.

"Okay, but if you're wearing five pants, they all come off at once," Katya said with a huff as she finished putting the cards down.

James refused to tell her he was wearing two layers and looked at his cards. In their next hand, Tula won out. It hardly mattered, at this point. James wasn't looking at anyone anyways. Not enough to actually take it in.

"That's it, ladies," Hendrik announced after he stood up and lost his (presumably) last article of clothing. "And now I'm going to put on my trunks."

James shielded his eyes with one hand, waiting until Hendrik's footsteps depart from the room, down a hall. Even still, he didn't look up. He'd lost track of who was wearing what, but he knew it was his turn to lose his belt. He rolled it up in his hands and set it to the side.

"Since he's lost," James said. "The game is over."

"Seems so," Tula said.

"We play until there is one winner!" Katya said. "Not when there's only one loser."

"You're only saying that because you're winning," Tula said with a sigh.

"So?" she said back as she already took the liberty of shuffling cards again. "We're going to keep playing."

If Tula had been fully clothed, James would've looked up at her to see if she was going to sit this one out in silent agreement. Instead, he picked up his shoes, scooped them under his clothes, and cradled Sleepy in his arms.

"I think," he said more firmly. "The game is over."

"No it's not," Katya said dismissively. "It's over when I say it's over."

"I think you're a little drunk on power," James said dryly.

"We can keep playing. It's not that big of a deal," Tula said. "Right, James?"

James sat still for a moment, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath.

"I should've sat this out from the start," he said quietly as he got to his feet with his clothes in his hands and walked towards the hall.

"I knew you were a pussy!" Katya yelled.

"Is that the only word you know?" James called back.

"Do you want me to call you a little bitch instead?" she continued to yell. "Because I will."

James did not respond to that. Instead, he walked down the hall, out of sight. He was about to pass a door when it opened, and Hendrik came out, still shirtless, but wearing trunks.

"Good, you're here too," he said as he quickly looked James up and down. "There are some extra swim trunks in the room you can change into."

At this point, James didn't know if the hot springs were optional. He was already going to get harassment from Katya for walking out of the game early. He really didn't need to do anything to earn more.

"Thanks, Hendrik," he said stiffly, backing away so Hendrik could step out.

"Mmhmm," he said as he stepped through, but then paused after a few steps in, turning back around. "Would you also want sealed waterproof bandages? The docs have some that I can get you."

James glanced down at his arm, then back up at Hendrik.

"Sure," he said thinly.

"Feel free to get changed and I'll come back with it, then," Hendrik said with a nod as he turned around to fetch it.

"Alright," James said, looking around the room as he stepped inside. It looked like it was built to be a bedroom, and there were two cots set up, and a closet with some bags and belongings thrown inside. Extra clothes were stacked on one of the cots, and James spotted the trunks Hendrik was referring to.

James gave one quick glance back to make sure the door was closed and Hendrik was out of sight before he quickly set his clothes (and Sleepy) at the end of the bed and changed into the trunks. He folded his pants, adding them to his neat pile, and decided to leave everything there for the time being. Sleepy seemed to like the bed, and found a spot to huddle down in the midst of all the clothes.

James put the trunks on, and they were a little loose, but they had a drawstring he was able to pull tight.

He felt ridiculous, but he knew no one would be seeing anything new. He'd already consented to being seen by hundreds of strangers on TV. This just felt worse because it was more personal.

James looked up when he heard a knock. He returned to the door, opening it up.

"Here it is," Hendrik said as he offered a roll of banages that seemed to be made out of thick, nonbreathable material. "Just apply it like a normal bandage, but make sure to wind it up tight. It'll stick to your skin."

James looked at the roll, then up at Hendrik.

"It won't... hurt to rip off, will it?" he asked hesitantly.

"You can apply it over your existing bandage if the wound's tender," Hendrik said.

James nodded.

"Okay," he said, looking at Hendrik, then down at his arm.

"Need help applying it?" Hendrik asked. "Arm injuries are always difficult to patch up by yourself."

"Help would be appreciated," he said, glancing back into the room for a place to sit. There was space on one of the cots, so he backed into the room and sat on the edge.

"Don't worry, I've patched up many lads before," Hendrik said as he sat heavily next to him and then started to unwind the roll. "You may feel extra pressure. It's not bleeding any more, is it?"

James shook his head.

"Alright. Let's see what we're workin' with," Hendrik continued as he got the bandage ready. "Just extend out your arm and I'll wrap it around you."

James did so, offering his arm. Hendrik took James's wrist and pressed down the edge of the bandage, and then started to steadily wrap it down his arm, down to his elbow. His arm felt... secure. Snug, if he was describing his arm like a package.

"There," Hendrik said when finished, tearing the end of the bandage off and then pressing it against his skin where it stuck to him like glue. "All done. How does that feel?"

"Fine," James said. "Though I don't look forward to ripping it off."

"The key is to do it slowly and gently. Helps to do it in water. I can help you if you want," Hendrik said as he stood up.

"Seems counterintuitive to take it off in the water if the goal is to keep the wound dry," James said as he got up as well, twisting his arm to look at the bandage.

"Up to you if you want to rip off your arm hair," Hendrik said with a chuckle as he started to walk back towards the door.

"Well... maybe not, then," James muttered, glancing back at Sleepy who looked like she was comfortable staying in the bedroom. He decided to leave her in there, since he didn't want to think about a chicken being near steaming water.

James closed the door behind them as they both stepped back out into the hall, and at that moment, Katya and Tula passed by.

It seemed that they also dressed up in the time that James and Hendrik got changed too. Katya was wearing a one-piece bathing suit that was the same fabric and navy blue color. Tula, however, was wearing a deep green two-piece - but James flicked his eyes away. It seemed that her outfit wasn't meant to practical, seeing as it hardly covered anything.

"Where did you even find that?" Hendrik asked her with a scoff, referring to her outfit.

"I came prepared," Tula said with a shrug.

Hendrik half-rolled his eyes and shook his head, already walking down the hallway.

"Seems like a waste of valuable space," he mumbled only loud enough for James to hear as he walked past. James followed Hendrik, and tried to hurry away after him, but as Hendrik turned the corner, Katya stepped in his way, and Tula came up beside her.

"Do you wear five pants to hide your bruises too?" Katya asked as she didn't bother hiding her stare on his body.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you have a filter," James replied with a blank stare back, at her face.

"She doesn't," Tula answered for her, her arms loosely crossed as she also looked him up and down. "But I can lose her for you if you want."

"Let's just go to the hot spring," James said, trying to step to the side to get around them.

Katya scoffed at Tula's comment but otherwise ignored her, and then jabbed her finger to poke at James's ribs.

James felt something in his mind snap as a memory came flooding back, flooding to the front of his mind. Mathias, digging his finger between James's ribs. James tensed up tightly and clenched his jaw and fist at his side.

"Did you get that bruise from the tournament?" Katya asked sharply.

"Touch me again," James said cooly. "And you'll get your own bruise."

He pushed between Tula and Katya, marching down the hall.

Katya grinned as she quickly caught up to him. "Why?" she mocked. "Are you going to beat me up like you did with Hendrik?"

James saw a door that looked like it led outside. As he reached for the door handle, Katya jumped ahead of him, standing between him and the door.

"You gonna fight me?" she sneered. "Is touching you all it takes?"

"Maybe," he said, meeting her eyes with a steely glare, daring her to make the first move.

She reached a hand out but twirled it in front of his chest, like she was teasing him.

"Ohhhh, is that what happened when you and Tula slept together? You beat her up too? What are you, some kind of monkey psychopath?"

"Katya, cut it out," Tula said behind him, but Katya ignored her and kept her daggering glare on James.

"Make sure you know the definition of a word before you decide to use it as an insult," James said cooly.

After another intense moment of glaring at each other, there was suddenly a light, cool touch on his shoulder from Tula. James rapidly whipped his arm behind him to grab hers, but stopped himself just shy of making contact. His fingers curled as he stiffly jerked his arm away, having to regain control of his body's gut reaction.

While James was distracted, Katya jabbed her finger into his gut, reawakening the ache of an old, still-healing bruise. James whipped back around to grab her, but she was too fast. She anticipated him lashing out, and she'd had one hand on the door. She'd cracked it open and slipped out, shutting the door in his face.

"See you later, loser," he heard her yell through the door, her voice fading as she went farther.

James could still feel his heart racing. He could still see Mathias's face right in front of his. He could feel the man's breath on his face - but maybe that was just the heat in his own face.

"Are you okay?" Tula asked as she stood by his side, leaning towards him with concern in her face. "Katya can be a jerk sometimes. I don't know why she seems to target you specifically."

"I make it too easy," James said thinly, still holding his hands at his sides in tight fists. He took in a deep breath, and slowly released the tension from his shoulders, arms, and finally his hands. He could see Tula's eyes observing him closely in the corner of his eyes.

"Are you feeling okay, though?" she asked more gently. "You seem anxious."

"Good guess," he said stiffly, not quite looking at her as he kept his eyes glued to the door.

"You don't like it when others touch you," Tula commented as a guess. "Even if it's not a bruise or injury of sorts."

Fine. She might as well know too. Maybe it'd keep her from doing it.

"Glad you noticed," he said flatly, inching to the door and grabbing the doorhandle.

"May I ask why?" she asked as she followed by his side.

James looked over to her, keeping his eyes on her face. Just like at the poker games, she was fairly unreadable.

"Take one look at me and do the math," he said emptily, keeping his own voice and face a blank page.

"Someone has hurt you," Tula continued calmly, keeping her own eyes on his. "Recently and in the past."

"Sounds like you could've figured that out without asking," James said as he turned the door knob. Tula came closer and put her hand over his before he could push the door open.

James could feel his body tensing up again.

"Thing is, James," she said as she tried to meet his eyes again. "Not everyone is here to hurt you."

James did look up to meet her eyes, but his eyes were full of annoyance and suspicion.

He knew what she wanted to do with him, and he wasn't interested.

"I know," he said, pushing the door open and shaking his hand away from hers. He almost missed the first step that was outside the door
, but managed to catch himself on the second one, skipping down to the ground.

"Perhaps you need some training," Tula said as she followed after him, effortlessly going down the steps. "To not assume that all touch is bad."

James took a few steps forward as he looked out at the large, steaming pools in the back of the house. There were a few benches built at the edges of the water, and the fence looped around the back of them. The pool looked like it was all one, but it pinched in two spots, creating three larger sections connected by little openings.

The sun was starting to set, leaving everything with enough warm light for him to still make out details. He could see Hendrik and Katya were already in the water, and Katya was swimming further away towards Hendrik, shooting a glance back at James.

"I don't need lessons," James said sharply.

"You know what lessons I need, though," Tula said with a slight smirk as she stood next to him. "Swimming lessons."

"Shame," James said dryly. "I'm not a teacher. Maybe Hendrik can help you out."

"I could ask him," she said with a shrug. "Or I could ask someone more approachable."

James looked over to her, briefly meeting her eyes with a slow blink.

"Good luck with that," he said as he walked to the edge of the water and sat down, dipping his foot in.

It was hot. Especially compared to the cold December air.

Tula seemed displeased, but she left him alone for now, instead walking to the other side of the pool, presumably to talk to Katya.

"Hey, Jamie boy," Hendrik called as he waded towards him. "Chilly? Water's nice and warm."

James glanced up at him and slowly lowered his legs down over the edge. It felt like his body was burning, but he knew he'd get used to it after a few minutes. He just needed to wait it out.

When he slid down into the pool, the water came up to his chest.

"Seems the pool is easy to find," he commented quietly as Hendrik drew near.

"Astute observation, comrade," Hendrik said with a chuckle. "Ever been to a hot springs before?"

James didn't like the chill on his shoulders and the contrasting burning in his feet, so he slouched to sink a little deeper, up to his collarbone.

"No," he said, deciding to lie and play it safe, since he didn't feel like developing that particular part of his made-up backstory. His mind was still trying to jump back to the Gaea, over and over.

"Nothing like nature's hot bath to keep you warm in the winter, huh?" Hendrik mused.

James nodded, but he didn't feel like he had the mental capacity to carry a conversation at the moment.

"So, what made you want to come to this trip, anyways?" Hendrik asked after a short silence. "Mel told us that Evaline brought you, but between you and me, it seems odd for her to bring someone along. No offense."

"None taken," James said quietly. "When I heard Elise's story... well, I was reminded of my relationship with my own brother. I likely won't ever see him again. I guess, in some ways, I saw myself in her, and... I wanted to help."

He paused, flicking his gaze to Hendrik.

"I might not be able to make things right... but I don't see why I can't help someone else."

"You're not as tough as you appear to be," Hendrik said with a playful smile. "Everyone else is only going to see if it's true that the military can be destabilized with the procedure. It's nice you're going because of Elise's story, though."

"Yeah," James said, glancing over at Tula and Katya, who looked like they were talking. He quickly returned his eyes to a neutral, uninhabited point of the pool. "I guess so."

"So she told you the sob story," Hendrik continued. "And after that, you decided to leave everything behind in Terra to come here?"

"It's only been three months," James said. "I already had to start over once. I don't see why I can't do it again."

Hendrik hummed and sunk in a little deeper in the pool to rest the back of his head back for a moment in the water.

"Seems like a terrible deal if you ask me," he said. "Hell, I'll live in Terra for you when we come back."

"I don't mean to be ungrateful," James said.

"Was life in Terra too plain?" Hendrik asked. "Not thrilling enough?"

"The quiet was nice, at first," James said. "But then it became deafening."

Hendrik brought his head back up, the water dripping down the back of his neck as he turned to face James with a small nod.

"That's fairly poetic," he said. "Have you been writing poems too?"

"Sometimes," he said quietly, glancing over at Hendrik only for a moment.

"What about?" Hendrik asked, sounding genuinely curious and interested.

James swallowed.

"Things about my life," he said. "Or just observations. Thoughts that I have. It's not always specific."

"Sounds like they're fairly personal, then," Hendrik commented.

"Correct."

"Care to share what subject your latest poem was about?" he asked. "Or is that too personal?"

James was quiet for a moment as he stared down into the water.

"It's very personal," he said quietly.

"Lucky for you, I'm a man who respects another man's privacy," Hendrik said as he glanced at Katya, as if to wordlessly communicate: "Unlike Katya."

"Thanks, Hendrik," James said, this time, looking up at him to meet his eyes so he could prove he was genuine. "I really do appreciate it."

"Of course, but it's not that hard," Hendrik said with a small shrug. "But, tell me - have you also been writing stories? Not poem format?"

James looked off to the side in thought.

"There is... well, I'm still in the process of drafting up ideas. Nothing's fully formed yet. But the concept I've been thinking about is about a coal miner who gets caved in and has to dig their way out before they run out of air. It would be a short story. I'm trying to think of a twist ending," he said.

Hendrik hummed and mulled this over for a few moments before speaking again.

"Maybe the miner runs into a bunch of diamonds," he said.

James hummed.

"And to dig them out and carry them up would take more precious time and energy, but because of the cave's instability, they may be impossible to find again. I could explore the miner's internal journey - risking inordinate wealth over their own life. Could be interesting," James mused.

"Well, if inspiration hits tonight and you finish it before we leave tomorrow, I'd like to give it a read," Hendrik said. "Otherwise I think we'll see each other again in a few weeks."

"I actually do have some ideas now," James said with a slight smile. "It's a shame paper isn't waterproof, otherwise I'd get to it now."

"Shame that I'm warm-blooded and like nature's baths," Hendrik said with a short, deep laugh.

James smirked at that, but it didn't get a laugh out of him. He drifted a little in the water so that he was looking back at the house, and he seemed to look back just in time to catch Deidra stepping out the door. Unlike everyone else, she hadn't dressed down for swimming. Instead, she went out on the back porch and found a bench to sit on while she looked out at everyone in the water. Mere seconds after Deidra came out, Malkiel followed after.

He was dressed for the water with his hair tied up high in a bun, and a towel was draped around his shoulders. He seemed to scan the area before Hendrik called for him.

"Hey, Mal!" Hendrik shouted with a wave. "Join us here! There's a spot in the water with your name on it."

Malkiel looked over at Hendrik, but naturally his eyes flitted to James next to him, and they made eye contact for a brief moment before he decided to ignore him and casually walk towards the edge of the pool closest to them.

"You've met Malkiel, right?" Hendrik said to James. "Not a bad guy once he gets to know you."

James nodded, watching as Malkiel slipped into the water with a neutral expression.

"We've met," James answered.

"About time you showed up," Hendrik said over to Malkiel when he was standing nearby in the water. "Are you done sulking on the porch?"

"I wasn't sulking," Malkiel said sharply. "I was keeping watch."

"Keeping watch of what?" Hendrik said with a scoff. "Bongo?"

Malkiel sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Your damn rhinoceros."

"Malkiel, have you ever apologized to James from the first day we met him?" Hendrik suddenly said, changing the subject.

Malkiel sharply turned his head to him, still ignoring James. "He should be apologizing to you."

"Hm. Oh yeah. That happened," Hendrik said. "But yes. He already did. James is a good man who knows when to apologize. Isn't that right, James?"

James didn't like that he was being used as an example to compare Malkiel to.

"He doesn't have to apologize," James said steadily.

"Oh, I'll apologize," Malkiel said cooly as he scrunched his brows together, now watching James. "I am so sorry that I rightfully held you back when you were being aggresive. We have nothing to suspect of you."

James stared back at him, keeping his expression neutral. He knew defending himself was pointless. Malkiel didn't want to listen to reason. He wanted a reason to be angry.

"I forgive you," he said quietly after a pause, having to force the words out.

Hendrik lowly whistled when a silent tension sat in the air between them.

"Malkiel, that was the most half-assed apology I've ever heard," he said. "But seems that James is the forgiving type. Lucky you."

"Yeah," Malkiel said heavily, still glaring at James. "Lucky me."

James glanced between the two men for a moment before speaking.

"You know," he said, looking at Malkiel. "Apologies given out of obligation are hardly ever genuine. My forgiveness still stands regardless, but I don't need you to pretend around me."

"What do you mean, pretend?" Malkiel spat out.

"Using an obligatory apology as an excuse to slip in another threat was both unecessary and unkind," James said.

"So now the apology is my fault, then?" Malkiel continued, seething.

"No," James said calmly. "But if you cannot stand to be in my presence, I will be the first to do you the favor of giving you space."

And with that, he gave Hendrik a brief glance before he waded off deeper into the pool, eventually walking on his tip-toes when he got to the center of the pool. He swam to another, solitary wall where no one was sitting, and leaned back.

He could see Hendrik patting Malkiel and gently talking to him. Katya and Tula, meanwhile, were still chatting on the other side of the pool, but Katya looked distracted by floating on her back.

James was glad to be left alone.

He sat in the water and let the minutes pass, eventually finding that he felt a little too warm. He hopped up onto the ledge of the pool and let his legs dangle in the water as he cooled off a little before going back in.

He almost felt childish for being so blunt to both Tula and Malkiel, but he was tired of being both fawned over and patronized. It wasn't like they knew that he had no real control over being with them, on earth, in his situation - but he almost wished they understood. Then maybe they'd back off. Or maybe he would've been thrown out from the start.

James stared into the pool, lost in thought when he caught movement by the house again in the corner of his eyes.

Elise was stepping out, in a swimsuit that closely resembled Katya's. And there was a man he didn't recognize - he looked a little older. Maybe in his thirties. Unlike most of the party, he wasn't built like someone who fought or traveled much, as he had a bit bigger of a belly.

"Hi, James," Elise said with a smile as they approached him on the edge of the pool. "Mind if we join you?"

James looked at Elise, and then at the man following behind her. He could already see the man staring at him and studying him. Tracing his body. Looking at the scars.

"Sure," James said quietly.

Elise seemed to follow his gaze to the man, and she chuckled and shook her head.

"Sorry," she said. "I should have introduced you to each other first. James, this is Rudy. Rudy, this is James."

She gestured between the two of them, looking back and forth.

"Pleasure to make your aquaintence," James said politely.

"Rudy is my colleague," Elise explained, then turned to Rudy. "And James is part of the council from the safe zone."

"Doesn't look like you've seen the safe zone," Rudy said skeptically, still looking James over.

"Hilarious," James said dryly. "I presume you're a doctor like Elise is."

"I am," Rudy answered. "Scar tissue is one of my specialties."

"He's able to heal by gathering energy from the sun," Elise explained a bit nervously as she detected the rising tension. "He mostly specializes on skin-related trauma because of that. And I'm the opposite, so we work well together."

"Together, we go from skin to bone," Rudy added, still not tearing his eyes off of James's body. He was still on his feet, and James watched as Rudy made a point of walking to the other side of where James was so he could sit opposite of Elise.

Elise then sat down as well, next to him. Effectively, hedging James in on both sides... with doctors.

"Where'd you get those bruises from?" Rudy asked. "That one looks like you bruised your ribs down to the bone."

"James participated in a fighting tournament in the City of Angels," Elise answered for him.

"Looks like you lost," Rudy said.

James didn't feel like he had the energy to refute that statement.

Rudy pointed to his legs.

"No way those are from a few punches," Rudy said, like he'd already written off Elise's answer. "Looks like a rope, or something. And what's under your bandage, there? An open wound...?"

Rudy trailed off as he then scanned James up and down again. It looked like was determining his next question, and if he should ask it or not. James was trying to tell him no, just with his eyes.

"You should be dead from the scars on your back alone," Rudy said. "That--"

Rudy reached over to touch James's back, but James turned his shoulders, flinching away.

"That had to have torn clean through your muscles. You must've been completely immobilized immediately, if not from the shock alone. But you should've died instantly," Rudy said, practically thinking out loud. He leaned back to get another look at James's back.

"Damn," Rudy said. "I didn't even know skin could heal like that. And you didn't get a graft, either. The scar tissue looks so thick... it's phenomenal. Are you sure you don't have regenerative powers instead? How high is your pain tolerance? You're bruised all over, and I wouldn't even know it if you were fully clothed."

James was getting tired. He looked over to Elise.

"Your colleague likes to talk," he said quietly, just to her.

"Rudy," Elise scolded when she understood what James was saying. "I think the others are needing help with the food. Can you check inside to make sure dinner is going okay?"

Rudy frowned.

"I put on my swim trunks," he defended. "I'm not cooking like this."

As if to prove his point, he slid down into the water, but let out a surprised gasp when he did it too quickly.

"Damn, that's hot!" he hissed.

Elise sighed, offering a little strained smile before she turned to James.

"James, would you like to go inside with me to check on the others?" she asked.

"Gladly," James said with a nod, already pulling his feet out of the water.

They walked the edge of the pool until they made it to the porch, where there was a stack of towels on a table. They each grabbed one, even though they'd hardly gotten wet. James used it as an excuse to bring the towel over his back and shoulders, hiding himself from sight.

Before they headed back towards the door, Elise quickly pulled him aside, out of Deidra's earshot.

"I'm sorry about Rudy," she said softly and sincerely. "Our other colleagues call him Rude Rudy for a reason."

"I see he lived up to his name," James commented.

"It's not often that he gets to heal old scars," she continued. "I think he saw you and got carried away."

James glanced back at the pool, seeing Rudy drift over to Katya and Tula. From the sudden burst of laughter between him and Katya, it looked like they were already friends.

"Makes sense," James said with no conviction. Because it didn't make sense.

"I will never force you to do anything you're not comfortable doing," Elise said gently. "But I do want to let you know that healing of all shapes and forms is an option from both of us. I'd be happy to heal your bruises, and if you are interested, I am sure Rudy would be more than happy to heal your scars. You are welcome to let either one of us know if you are interested."

The night had hardly begun, and James was already ready for it to be over.

He felt drained, but at least Elise was kind, and talking to her didn't feel as much like work.

"Thanks, Elise," he said, looking to the door. "If I change my mind, I'll let you know."

That was his way of declining. He knew it was indirect. But for once, he just wanted someone to hear his no and listen for it.

"Take as much time as you need," she said with a small smile, then paused before she reached over to open the door. "Ready to go in?"

James nodded. His feet were dry.

Elise led James down the hall and to a room on the right. Inside, there was a kitchen. It looked a little worn, like everything else, but Alistair was cooking something over the stove-top with Mel hovering beside him.

Meanwhile, Evaline was sitting at a small table in the corner, looking over their map and writing down things. Presumably scheduling out the remainder of their trip, was what it looked like.

Evaline looked over when the door opened, and her eyes mostly landed on James.

"Hey," she said. "Is everything okay?"

"Elise!" Mel said before Elise or James could really answer, ditching Alistair to walk up to them with a sunny smile. "Oh, and James! Hello!"

James nodded, not quite able to muster up a smile for Mel. He looked back over to Evaline, trying to answer her with his eyes. He wasn't suffering - but he was uncomfortable.

"Hey again," Elise said with a small smile as Mel approached. "Rudy wasn't the most welcoming with James, so I thought I'd take him over here instead."

"That's thoughtful of you, Elise," Evaline said as she approached as well. "It's been a long past few hours. We could all use a break."

"I could use a break," Mel said. "Elise, can you help out Alistair again? He's been yelling at me when I'm too 'slow' for him."

"Oh, sure," Elise said as she glanced around. "Let me put on more clothes so that it's safer."

Elise left the room, leaving James with Mel and Evaline, as well as Alistair who was cooking in the other side of the room.

"So..." Mel began. "You went swimming, huh?"

"It didn't last very long, actually," James said, still holding the towel around his shoulders.

"Wanna go back?" Mel asked. "Ooh, we could all go together right now."

James looked back over at Evaline.

"If you wanted," James said. "Otherwise, I'll probably change."

"I'm fine with it if you want to," Evaline said back to him.

Mel exchanged glances between the two of them. "You both are separate people, you know," she said. "You don't have to go because the other is going."

"I know," James said.

He just wanted to go with her. But he wasn't going to say that out loud in front of Mel.

"We can go," Evaline said instead. "It's fine."

Mel stole more suspicious glances between the two of them, smiling coyly. "Okaaay then," she said as she opened the door. "Let's go get changed. Want us to meet you back at the pool, James?"

"I'll wait in here, actually," James said.

"Sure, if you want to stand shirtless next to Alistair, I won't stop you," Mel teased.

"I'll meet you at the changing room," Evaline said to her before she could leave. "Just give me a minute."

Mel nodded, and then left the room. Evaline turned back to James.

"How are you doing?" she asked softly.

"I've been better," he whispered back under his breath. "But I'm okay."

"Do you need anything?" she asked. "Whether it be something tangible, or other requests, like wanting to stay away from someone, or having time off?"

James glanced back at Alistair. He looked like he was focused on cooking, but James didn't know how keen his hearing was - even if he didn't mean to overhear.

"Katya," he said, barely audible. "She's being nosy. Among other things."

Evaline nodded in understanding. "I'll make sure she won't bother you again tonight," she said. "Anything else?"

James flicked his eyes down at his arm, which was hidden under the towel.

"Just tired of being stared at, is all," he whispered. "But there's nothing you can do about that."

"I'm sorry," she whispered back, then glanced at Alistair, looking like she wanted to say more, but thought better of it since they weren't alone. Instead she reached over to gently grab his fingers, but only for a second since she squeezed them then let go. "I'll try to stay with you for the rest of the night," she added.

"Okay," James said quietly, deciding to keep it brief. Alistair, of all people, was the person he was least worried about gossiping, but still. He didn't feel like saying much in his presence.

"I'll be back," Evaline said. "Will you be okay waiting?"

"Yes," James said, offering her a small, but tired smile. "Go."

She nodded as she mirrored the smile and then reached over to open the door. "Okay," she said softly over her shoulder. "See you in a bit."

James glanced over at Alistair, and then at the table. He pulled out a chair and sat down, looking at the map that Evaline had left spread out on the table. It was the one that they'd gotten from the eccentric photographer in the City of Angels. Vance.

James sat in silence for a minute as he studied the map, but he wasn't thinking about their travels.

He was thinking about what Elise said, and her offer to heal him.

Maybe if he was healed up it'd give everyone less reasons to pester him with questions and lingering stares.

"How do you usually celebrate New Years?" Alistair asked, breaking the silence as he crossed his arms and looked over at him. It appeared that the lids were placed on the pans, and he was leaning against the other side of the table while he waited for the food to simmer.

"Well... I don't normally celebrate it, actually," James admitted. "The past few years I've been alone on New Years Eve."

It was a stretch of the truth, but it was true enough.

Alistair nodded. "I understand," he said. "This is fairly atypical for me to celebrate it like this too. But I guess it's a nice change every once in a while."

"I suppose so," James said, flicking his eyes to the pans on the stove-top. "What are you making?"

"A few typical New Year's dishes," Alistair said as he glanced back at the pans.

He went on to describe the dishes. One involved seasoned and roasted vegetables, another involved potatoes simmered in zesty breadcrumbs, and another involved stuffed pasta shells. He mentioned that Mel would also be making bread rolls since she was a better baker.

"I've had some of her bread before," James said. "So I can attest to her baking skills."

"Did she give you rolls with designs on it?" Alistair asked.

James smiled a little, trying to recall.

"Yeah," he said, looking up in thought. "I think they had little happy faces on them."

"That sounds about right," Alistair said with a breathy laugh. "Whenever there was a fight or disagreement when we were younger, she would make them to bring everyone together. She liked to give me a smiling fireball design."

James hummed.

"So they were peace-keeping bread rolls," he said with a smirk. "That's cute."

Alistair chuckled. "It started off that way, yeah," he said. "Did she upset you that she brought bread to compensate for that?"

James squinted in thought. She'd brought him the bread right after the Day of Peace party. His eyebrows raised a little in realization, and he nodded slightly to himself.

"Ah," he said to himself. "You know what, that explains it. There was a miscommunication between us. I didn't even realize the bread was an apology."

"Well, now you are in on the secret that Evaline and I realized years ago," Alistair said with a small smile. "Mel thinks she's sneaky and clever all the time, but this this is one of the few things she does unconsciously, I think."

"I'll make sure not to point it out, then," James said with a grin. "I would hate to stop getting free bread whenever we get in an argument."

"That's precisely the reason why Evaline and I haven't told her either," Alistair said with a small grin himself.

"You can trust me to keep my mouth shut," James said with a little smile. "I wouldn't want to ruin it for you two."

Alistair glanced over with a smile, and a small silence passed before he spoke again.

"I know I don't know you that well, but I respect that you don't push boundaries," he said. "I think people get bored without the security of a daily routine from society in the sectors, and it's not uncommon for me to witness others disrespecting other people's privacy."

"That's unfortunate," James said quietly. "Boredom is hardly license to use other people's personal lives as entertainment. I hope you haven't been victim to them too many times."

"I agree," Alistair said. "And fortunately, I don't live as much of an exciting life to garner that much attention. I know it can't be easy for you, though."

James flicked his eyes down to the table as he felt his chest ache a little. It was strange, having it pointed out. He hadn't expected this - not from Alistair.

"It's..." he hesitated, before quickly finishing his sentence. "I'm used to it."

Alistair nodded slowly, his gaze fixed back to the pots and pans simmering.

"That's a shame," he said. "Well, you won't have me asking questions. I'd rather talk about bread with happy faces on it."

James smiled slightly, but he couldn't help but feel like his sadness was painfully apparent.

"Thanks," he said, still looking down at the table, his eyes drifting to the map.

The door suddenly opened, and Elise walked in, fully dressed again and even wearing an apron.

"I'm back," she announced as she stepped in and glanced between James and Alistair. "Did I interrupt anything?"

"No," Alistair said as she leaned forward again and stood in front of the pans. "You came in right in time. I could use your help, if you don't mind."

James watched as Alistair let Elise to the pots and pans, directing her from dish to dish as they checked on the progress of the food. James was content to sit at the table in silence, where he studied the map a little closer, deciding to try to commit it to memory in the event that it was damaged or lost. He ended up studying it in a deep focus, but the focus was distrupted when he could hear Mel and Evaline return before even seeing them.

"We're back!" Mel announced loudly as she opened the door, hand on her hip.

She was wearing the same swimsuit as Katya and Elise, and so was Evaline, although Evaline was wearing a long jacket with her arms crossed.

"Ready to go?" Mel asked James.

James got to his feet and nodded, moving to follow them out the door.

"Bye, Elise! Bye, Alistair!" Mel called, poking her head out and waving goodbye at them.

Elise said bye back, but Alistair simply lifted his hand to wave and turned back to the food. With that, the three of them started to walk back down the hall towards the pool. Evaline walked beside James while Mel led the way.

"So, James, have you ever celebrated New Years before?" she asked, then glanced around and said more quietly, "Do you even know what that is?"

James glanced between Mel and Evaline, letting an honest look leak to his face of genuine uncertainty.

"...I mean, it seems self explanatory. Celebrating the start of a new year," he said quietly.

"So this is all, like, super new to you?" Mel asked as she faced forward and continued walking.

"Yes," James said, still talking softly.

Mel hummed. "So Evaline hasn't told you about the traditions or anything?"

James looked over to Evaline.

"Aside from staying up until midnight?" James asked.

"Yep," Mel said as they reached the door, opening it for them. "Anyways, we're here. Let's go in the pool."

James stepped through first, and Evaline followed right behind him, with Mel coming out after. It looked like Deidra had decided to join in the pool as well, and she was talking with Malkiel and Katya. It seemed like an odd group, but it looked like Deidra's presence was the only thing connecting the two.

Meanwhile, Hendrik was talking to Tula, and Rudy was off at the edge of the pool, leaning on the pool wall with his head tilted back over the edge. He looked fast asleep.

James paused by a bench to set his towel down, and glanced at Evaline and Mel, who walked up with him to the edge of the water. Mel looked at the both of them and crouched down, stepping in without hesitation.

"Why can't all bodies of water be this warm?" she mumbled mostly to herself as she then suddenly plunged in without any need for transition. Her hair was tied up in a high bun to avoid getting wet, and she waded deep enough to be standing with her shoulders up exposed to the air.

"Do you want to go in?" Evaline asked James as she took off her jacket and set it beside his towel.

James nodded, and lifted his bandaged arm a little, showing her the waterproof bandage.

"Never had a waterproof bandage before," he said quietly, just for her to hear.

"First time for everything," she said just as quietly, leaning in a little so he could hear better. "For example, we've never celebrated a new year together until now."

"I guess that makes it special," James said with a slight smile, and then he stepped down into the water, starting to walk and crouch down so that he quickly dipped in deeper.

Evaline followed after him, although she gracefully walked in without squatting. He went deeper and waited until she met him at his side.

"This is better than the river," he said, suppressing a smirk.

"A lot better," she said as she reached behind her head to drape her hair along one shoulder.

"You know, your hair's getting long enough to braid again," James commented quietly.

"Is it now?" Evaline said with a raised brow as she lifted up a wet strand between her fingers. "I've tied it half-up for a while. Maybe a new style would suit me."

"Maybe," James said with a slight smile. "You know, I was actually trying to grow my hair out again before Mel offered to cut it. Then my hair might've been as long as yours is now, if I'd left it alone."

"So it's possible that, if Mel didn't cut your hair, you'd be standing here with braided hair," Evaline thought out loud.

James suppressed his smile from growing, and instead shrugged.

"Maybe," he said. "I guess you'll just have to imagine it."

"Or we wait a few months for it to grow out," she said with a growing smile.

James ran his hand through his hair, thinking about it.

"True," he said. "Though, the in-between process can look a little awkward at times. It's a shame we won't run into Mel very soon after--"

"Won't run into me what now?" Mel's voice loudly interrupted behind them, a few feet away since she didn't want to stand in the deeper end, and she wasn't comfortable with swimming.

James looked from Mel to Evaline with a raised brow. He inched closer to her so he didn't have to shout. Evaline followed behind him as they came back within reasonable speaking range.

"I was just talking about growing my hair out, and it's a shame you probably won't be able to trim it in the process," James said.

Mel hummed with a cheeky smile. "I need a second opinion, Evaline," she said. "Do you think I should cut his hair again?"

"If he wants to cut his hair, there's no reason for me to be opposed to it," she answered.

"But do you like his hair the way it is now, or do you think it'll look better if longer?"

Evaline looked over at James, studying his hair for a moment. "I like it now," she said. "But I think it would look just as good long. Hair is hair, and I have no preference."

James actively suppressed a small, victorious smile as he looked back at Mel.

"If you say so," Mel said with a shrug and a small pout. "Thoughts about a beard, though? Looks like his stubble's been getting a little prickly."

"Like I said, hair is hair," Evaline answered as she glanced at his beard and back to Mel.

"Is chest hair also hair?" Mel thoughtlessly asked.

"Hair is in the name," James said.

"Can't a girl just hear her friend say that her other friend looks nice a certain way?" Mel asked innocently.

"James, you look nice a certain way," Evaline said in a monotone voice, suppressing a smirk.

James couldn't help it. He bit his lip to bite back a laugh, and instead it came out as a snort.

"You know what," Mel said in defeat, but she was grinning. "I'll take that adorable snort as my win."

James tried to fight back his smile, but it kept tugging at his face. He glanced at Evaline, briefly trying to communicate with a quick look that it was clear Mel was on to them.

Did they want to let her know? James had a feeling her teasing would only continue.

"I agree it's a bit adorable," Evaline said softly so others wouldn't overhear.

"Oooh, is that so?" Mel said, now clearly invested. "Tell me more."

"Hm, that's it," Evaline said back to her. "That's all you get."

"Don't get too greedy," James said, flicking his eyes to Mel with a small smirk.

"C'mon, James," Mel teased. "Be a little more generous. What's that word you always use with me? Magnominous? Be that."

James tightly pressed his lips together, trying to hold back another laugh, but it sputtered out, and he sunk a little into the water, looking away with a wide smile.

"Magnanimous," he said through his laugh.

"And you know what?" Mel said with a wide grin. "I'll take that laugh as my win, too."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," James said as he glanced over at Eve, catching her smiling at him. It looked genuine, and it kept his own smile from fading when he briefly met her eyes.

"Alright, I'm obviously not interrupting anything," Mel said as she flicked her eyes between the two of them. "So I'll be over there if you want to be more magnanimous."

James lifted his hand up to his face, shielding his eyes for a second as he took in a deep breath to kill the bubble of laughter in his chest, and he looked back up at Mel.

"Noted," he said with a lingering smirk.

Mel grinned and started to wade away, passing Tula and Hendrik who were approaching them.

"Hello, my two favorite people of the group," Hendrik said with a grin as he effortlessly walked towards them. He glanced back at Tula. "No offense."

"Yeah, no," Tula said as she half-rolled her eyes.

"Didn't know you had favorites," James said, flicking his eyes from Tula to Hendrik.

"He says that to everyone," Evaline explained to him. "Especially when he's been drinking."

Hendrik shrugged innocently. "I may or may not have found an aged barrel of whiskey. What of it?"

"Just how aged is it?" James asked.

"Aged to perfection," Hendrik answered, and Tula face-palmed and sighed.

James laughed lightly with a huff of air through his nose.

"Well, if you start feeling too off, at least there are doctors around," James commented.

Hendrik scoffed. "As if I'd die of alcohol poisoning," he muttered.

"I meant more--" James started before sighing. "Oh, nevermind."

"So, we heard you guys laughing," Hendrik continued on, changing the subject.

"We heard James laugh," Tula corrected, flicking her eyes at Evaline for a second.

"Did Evaline say a funny joke? I want to hear it. I don't think she's ever said a joke before. I'd probably laugh too," Hendrik said.

"Mel just pronounced a word wrong," James said. "That was all."

"Mmm, Mel is a pretty funny gal," Hendrik commented, then glanced at Evaline. "You too, Evaline. You're hilarious."

"Uh huh," Evaline said blankly.

"You have a nice laugh," Tula commented as she side-stepped towards James. "It seems like a rare sight."

"You should hear me laugh when Elliot tells a joke," James quipped.

Hendrik raised a brow. "Yeah?" he said, seemingly taking the joke seriously. "What's that like?"

"It starts with a snort and ends with a whinny," James deadpanned.

Hendrik looked like he was thinking hard and long. "Snortwhinny...?" he mumbled, clearly confused.

"There's a pause between the two," James clarified, holding back a smirk.

"Hendrik, you're embarrassing yourself," Tula said, clearly unamused.

Hendrik waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, I'm just embarrssing her," he said. "Am I embarrassing you, Evaline?"

"No need to bring me into this," she said.

"Am I embarrassing you, James?" Hendrik went on.

"Not at all," James said, no longer bothering to hide his smirk.

"Perfect," Hendrik said as he pushed Tula aside and then squirmed between James and Evaline, putting his arms around them, over their shoulders, and bringing them close. James's smirk disappeared, and he couldn't help but suddenly feel very small.

"Alright, that's enough, Hendrik," Evaline said with slight annoyance as she pushed him off.

"Oh, right, right, no touchies," Hendrik said as he brought his arms up, letting them go. "My bad."

James turned his face away from Hendrik's armpit and inched away.

"We'll just be over here now," Evaline said as she took a few steps away, glancing at James, wordlessly inviting him, and he followed.

"And that's my cue to leave. Hendrik, out!" Hendrik said as he started to walk away, leaving Tula behind.

Tula was watching James and Evaline closely the entire time, but more so James than Evaline.

"We both know that Hendrik can be a character sometimes," she said to her, then looked over at James. "Sorry you witnessed that."

"It's... fine," James said. "He was like that at the last party, too, honestly."

"This is why I'm against Hendrik drinking," Tula said. "Why we're against Hendrik drinking," she continued as she glanced at Evaline again.

"Tula, what do you want?" Evaline asked bluntly.

"I'm merely observing two friends being friends with one another," she said innocently.

"We're hardly friends, and I doubt you're hardly friends with James."

"Weird. That wasn't the sign he gave me when we kissed," Tula said calmly as she was observing Evaline this time.

"If you're trying to get a reaction out of me, you'll have to try harder than that," Evaline said, unfazed.

James had been wanting to forget that kiss happened. But apparently, it was coming up again. In front of Evaline, too. This was... unpleasant, to say the least.

"I may take you up on that," Tula said with a slight smirk as her gaze landed back on James. "You're both sleeping together, aren't you?"

"No," Evaline said cooly.

"Shhh," Tula said dismissively. "Let the grown man talk."

"We're not," James said neutrally. It was true. That they hadn't slept together. But...

"Romantically together, then," Tula continued, eyes still fixated on James.

James reached under the water with his foot, blindly tapping Evaline's leg.

"No," Evaline said as soon as he tapped her leg. "We're not. Romantically together."

Tula tilted her head like she was able to detect the lie, the edge of her lips being tugged into a smirk.

"You've always been a bad liar when you're nervous, Evaline," she said as she reached over to cup her face with her hand, and then began to walk away, only glancing over her shoulder to smirk at James.

James only looked back at her with a neutral expression, watching as she started to swim away.

"...Is that true?" Evaline asked lowly as she also watched Tula swim away.

"That you're bad at lying when nervous?" James whispered back, and Evaline nodded. James paused.

"Sometimes," he said. "I don't think that's a bad thing, though."

"Should I have told her the truth?" Evaline whispered as she turned back towards him.

"I was about to," James whispered back. "It seemed the fair thing to do."

"I got nervous," she said. "Tula being the first to know seems unsettling."

"I get that," James said quietly. "I would rather have told Mel, when she asked without asking."

There was a short pause.

"Does that mean you want to tell the others?" she asked softly.

"If it means avoiding more of that pointless drama," James said, still speaking lowly. "I'd prefer it. Unless you think it would cause more."

Evaline tore her gaze away from him and then glanced around to make sure no one else would sneak up on them.

"I don't know about drama," she said. "But it would... I don't know. I don't think anyone has ever associated me with -- you know. And they don't know that we have known each other longer."

"They don't have to," James said with a small shrug. "But you know everyone better than me. I don't have much of a reputation to lose. I want to leave this up to you."

"I don't want my superficial reputation to get in the way of us," she said quickly. "If you are more comfortable with others knowing, that's more than enough for me to agree."

James briefly met Evaline's eyes with a softened look, and he smiled, just a little.

"I feel like if we told Mel, she'd do half the work for us, letting everyone else know," he said quietly.

"Maybe," Evaline said softly. "Would you prefer the others hear it from her, then?"

"I feel like Tula deserves for us to apologize for lying to her face," James said.

"I'm fairly sure Tula is a sociopath and isn't hurt by it," she said back with a small scoff.

"On the off-chance that your unprofessional diagnosis is wrong," James said with a raised brow. "Let's just start by..."

His sentence trailed off as he scanned the pool again. It looked like Tula was with Mel and Hendrik, though she looked a little annoyed with Hendrik still.

"We could just tell all three of them," James suggested. "Efficiency."

Evaline glanced between him and the group. "Right... right now?" she asked in disbelief.

"I feel like the longer we wait, the more awkward the reveal would get," James said.

"I... I guess," Evaline said with her brows furrowed, clearly getting anxious. "What do we even say?"

James paused for a moment, looking to Evaline and seeing her anxiety evident on her face. He didn't want her to be anxious about it, but he also didn't know if that was avoidable. Even he felt nervous, but he was simply ignoring it for her sake.

This was a necessary social interaction. It was going to be fine.

"'Hey, by the way, Evaline and I are in a romantic relationship,'" he said quietly, whispering so only Evaline could hear as he said the words as if they were a test-run. "'So yes, Mel, you were right. And Tula, you as well. We just needed to talk about it with each other first before letting you know.'"

He paused, before adding.

"Though, we don't have to tell them right now," James said. "We could wait a bit. We have all night. I didn't mean we had to do it now, only that we should do it before we go. Or, before the night's over."

Evaline tightly pressed her lips together as she stared at the group of three. Tula looked more annoyed when it seemed that both Hendrik and Mel were teasing her.

"No," she said quickly. "Let's do it now. Right now. Let's go. Yeah?"

Evaline turned back to face James with a mix of anxiety and seriousness in her face. She was clearly apprehensive about the idea, but she still seemed sincere in wanting to tell them, even though she was suggesting to rush into it.

James nodded.

"Alright," he said, offering her a small, assuring smile as he started to wade, and then swim towards the others. Evaline hesitated, but then followed behind.

"Who are you even trying to impress?" he heard Hendrik say with a smirk over to Tula. "Bongo? Higgins? Hell, Elliot?"

"Nah, Hendrik, she's trying to woo James's chicken," Mel piled on with a giggle.

"Hah!" Hendrik bellowed. "I get it. Because it's a cock."

"You are not funny," Tula said with a groan, looking unamused. She seemed to be the only one who noticed that James and Evaline were approaching while the other two were laughing at her, watching them but not saying anything.

"Hey, Mel," James said, giving her a glance. "Hendrik. Tula."

"Hmm?" Hendrik hummed with a grin, his laughing fading as he turned towards them. "Oh, hey, we were just making fun of Tula's bikini. Say something witty."

"Something witty," James said, looking up at Hendrik with a faint smile.

"See?" Mel said with a grin as she elbowed Hendrik. "I told you James was hilarious."

"Heh. I'm dying of laughter."

"I can tell," James said dryly.

Hendrik and Mel exchanged a high five behind their backs and then shifted their attention back to Tula.

"I swear to god, I'm leaving," Tula said before they even opened their mouths, already starting to walk away.

"You may want to stay," James said quickly, before she made it very far. "I wanted to tell you all something."

Tula stopped and slowly turned around, attention piqued. With Mel and Hendrik's attention back towards James and Evaline, she waded back, standing closer to James than the others.

"Are you going to say 'all something'?" Hendrik said with a smirk.

"No, actually," James said. "I figured I should tell you all, I just needed to talk about it with Evaline first. Tula and Mel have been keen enough and seem to have already noticed. Evaline and I are dating."

There was a one second pause before Mel and Hendrik both talked at once.

"Whaaaaat?" Hendrik drew out, still processing.

"I knew it!" Mel said with a grin, pointing between the two of them. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it."

"Whaaaaaat?" Hendrik said again, like he didn't believe him.

He pointed at Evaline who was already flushed from embarrassment, hand on her cheek. Then he slowly pointed at James.

"You? And Evaline?" Hendrik clarified. "Like... romance?"

"Yes, Hendrik," James said with the clarifying condescenscion of one talking to a child. "Like romance."

"Aren't they cute?" Mel said with a smile to Hendrik, but Hendrik was already moving towards Evaline.

"Awww, boss, I didn't know you were into that!" he cooed as he put his arm over her shoulder and ruffled her hair like she was the child. "I can already hear the wedding bells ring."

"Oh-kay, Hendrik, that's enough," Evaline said while beet red, nervously smiling as she pried his arm off her.

"Aw, she's blushing," Hendrik said with a grin, gesturing at her while looking at the others for validation. "Anyone ever seen the boss blush before?"

"Pfft. James probably has," Mel said with with her own grin.

"That's true," James said neutrally, looking at Evaline with a small smile.

Evaline let out a loud groan, and she impulsively submerged herself into the hot water as a means of escape, but then immediately returned to the surface, hands on her face, and already hotter.

"Wow, that is really, really hot," she said with a nervous laugh.

"Are you alright?" James asked quietly, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Evaline only looked at him and nodded.

"Congratulations," Tula finally said between the chaos, arms crossed, looking unreadable. "You two are perfect for each other."

"Sorry about earlier, by the way," James said. "We hadn't talked with each other about telling everyone yet, so you caught us off guard."

"It's no big deal," Tula said. "I'm used to Evaline lying."

Hendrik low-whistled. "Tula, are you trying to ruin a perfectly young romance?" he said with a gentle tone that a father has when talking to a young child.

"Oh, yes, that is exactly what I'm doing, Hendrik," Tula said sarcastically.

Hendrik snapped his fingers and then pointed at Mel. "She's not trying to impress a chicken. She's trying to impress James."

"Ohhhhhhh," Hendrik and Mel said at the same time, like they had shared many feined telepathic moments like this before.

"Hah. Awkward," Mel said with a sneer.

The teasing was enough to break Tula out of her neutral, unreadable expression as she narrowed her eyes at them and shook her head, then groaned and rolled her eyes, wading away.

"Tsk. Grow up," she said without even giving them a backwards glance.

Hendrik and Mel high fived each other behind their backs again and then turned their attention back to James and Evaline.

"So anyways, where were we?" Hendrik said.

"You were about to shower James with affection," Mel offered.

"From a distance," James clarified.

"If I give Evaline a kiss, would she pass it on to you, from me?" Hendrik thought out loud.

"That won't be necessary," Evaline quickly said.

"I can recieve it in spirit," James said.

Hendrik then dramatically kissed his own palm and then blew on it towards James's direction for him to catch. James raised an eyebrow as he raised a hand and "caught it" and then patted his cheek.

Mel stifled a laugh as she looked between Hendrik and James. "Isn't he great?" Mel said to James, referring to Hendrik. "The guy is as funny as you."

"It's a good thing I'm not competitive," James commented, flicking an amused gaze to Evaline, briefly meeting her eyes. She didn't seem as axious as she was before, although she wasn't relaxed, either.

"James and I can share many things together, including being the funniest man," Hendrik said. "Won't share the same girl, though. No thanks."

"Thanks, Hendrik," Evaline dead-panned.

"Appreciated," James echoed, though with a small smirk.

"So, when did this all happen?" Mel said with a smile now that she had the giddiness out of her system.

"Just after we met up with you, Alistair, and Elise, we decided to make it official," James answered.

"Oooh, I see, I see," Mel said with a nod. "Ya know, you both told me on separate occasions that day that you were into each other. So, you're welcome. Definitely helped somewhere along the way."

"Thanks, Mel," James said sarcastically with a small smile.

"Hey, Evaline, did you tell James what you told me that day?" she asked.

Evaline looked mortified for a half second. "Uhhhh," she drew out. "...Nnnnno."

James looked between Mel and Evaline for a second, raising a brow.

"Sounds like something that can be saved for later," he said. "Without an audience."

"This is so spicy," Hendrik said with a growing grin. "I figured James was a romance kind of man. Didn't know Evaline was either."

"I'm not," Evaline said defensively.

"Eh," Mel said with a shrug and another playful elbow to Hendrik's arm. "She kind of is. Right, James?"

James looked to Evaline for confirmation. She didn't seem upset, just a bit annoyed with the teasing, but in the same way that siblings get annoyed when they tease each other.

"She has her moments," James said with a slight smile, still looking at her.

"Is this the 'very personal subject' you were hiding from me earlier?" Hendrik asked. "Been writing romantic poems about your girl, huh? Good lad."

"Oooh," Mel cooed. "James writes poems. That's kind of adorable."

"I only care if she thinks it's adorable," James said, neither directly confirming nor denying the nature of the poems Hendrik was assuming he'd written.

Mel seemed to take the bait.

"Well, Evaline?" she asked her. "Is it?"

"You know, I've only known James for a few months," Evaline said casually. "He hasn't shown me any poems, so I guess I really can't say."

"And the story only gets spicier," Hendrik said with an amused smirk.

James watched Evaline for a moment, trying to meet her eyes, which she did after a brief hesitation. He softened his eyes and tried to communicate that he wasn't trying to hide poems from her - as small of a thing as it was. He had written a few about her, and them together. They were just still works in progress.

He could feel Evaline feeling for his foot under the water, like she was trying to tell him it was okay, and she wasn't taking the current situation seriously. James offered her a small, second-long smile.

"Spicy isn't the word I'd use," James said, looking back to Hendrik. "I am not a food."

"You do look like a snack, though," Hendrik said. "Evaline agrees with me."

"I'm not commenting on that," Evaline said blankly.

"I have a feeling there are some sayings that have... changed," James said, looking from Evaline to Hendrik with mild confusion.

"Ah, young love," Hendrik continued. "Of course you two are together. How did I not even consider this? Two time powered people? Of course, of course."

"That's because you were too distracted by your animal instincts," Mel said with a teasing smile.

"Speaking of, papa bear is going to get us more drinks." He then pointed between the three of them, one at a time. "Whiskey? Whiskey? Whiskey?"

"No thanks," James said.

"Hendrik, I doubt that's even safe to drink," Evaline said.

"Are you sure it's even whiskey?" Mel asked. "Tastes nothing like it."

"It's in a barrel," Hendrik said with a shrug.

"A lot of things can be put in a barrel," James countered.

"I'm going to get more whiskey," Hendrik said anyways. "C'mon, Mel. Let's go gossip about our two favorite people."

"You got it, Hen," Mel said with a smirk as he began to wade away, but she stayed at her spot for a moment as she turned back to James and Evaline, and then came in for an impromptu group hug. "I'm really happy for you guys," she said with a big smile in her voice.

James decided to endure the hug for a moment, but he started to pull away a little early. "Thanks, Mel," he said quietly.

"Yeah, thanks for... you know," Evaline said as Mel let them go. "Yeah."

Mel giggled. "Sure, no problem," she said. "Do you, uh, want us to tell the others? Or are you going to tell them yourself, too?"

James looked over at Evaline, trying to get her answer with a shared look.

"I don't mind if you talk about it," James said, mostly thinking about Katya, Rudy, and Malkiel. None of which he really wanted to talk to. "Evaline?"

"We can tell Elise and Alistair ourselves," Evaline answered as she also looked at James for agreement.

James nodded in agreement, looking back to Mel with a small smile.

"Sure!" Mel said ecsatically, then glanced around the pool. Katya and Tula were talking to each other, looking like they were having a serious conversation. Malkiel was talking to Deidra on the other side of the pool, and Rudy was still asleep.

"Well, I dunno what Tula has told the others yet, but we can talk to them first." She glanced back to where Hendrik was walking out of the pool. "...Ya know, before he gets wasted from this sketchy alcohol. Be right back!"

And with that, she quickly waded away, leaving James with Evaline again.

"So..." Evaline began as they watched Mel go off. "That, uh... I guess that went well?"

James looked back to Evaline, giving her a little grin.

"I'd say so," he said, making eye contact with smiling eyes. "Could've gone a lot worse. So I'm happy."

Evaline held his gaze and then matched his smile softly. "Well..." she said. "If you're happy, I'm happy."

"I hope it wasn't too awkward for you," James said, glancing over at Mel and Hendrik, who were walking towards Malkiel and Deidra, presumably to tell them first. "Being teased, and all."

"It's okay," Evaline said as she followed his gaze towards them approaching Malkiel, already looking uncomfortable. "I survived. I guess it's a nice change of pace from you being constantly teased instead."

James hummed. "I guess so," James said, flicking his eyes between Evaline and the others.

Evaline let out a deep sigh. "And now we just wait until Elise and Alistair come out, I guess," she said softly.

"How was your time with them earlier?" James asked. "Did they just want to see you?"

"I suppose you can say it's their group - and me - who spearhead all the plans going forward," she said. "We'll get to the destination in two months. We were figuring plan routes and two other rendezvous points. I can fill you in on the details later." She paused. "But, yes, also that, I suppose. Wanting to see me."

James smiled slightly.

"They're good people," he said.

"Who?" Evaline asked as she faced him again. "Mel, Alistair, and Elise?"

"Yeah," he said.

She nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, they are. I trust them the most. It helps that we have a lot of history."

"They told me a little bit," he said. "About you growing up together in school. I think you were off with Mel at the time. I didn't ask questions, really, but Elise seemed eager to fill me in so I didn't feel left out."

Evaline stared back out to Mel and Hendrik talking to Malkiel and Deidra, although it seemed that they were mostly talking to Malkiel since Deidra wouldn't really understand the context. They could hear Hendrik laugh loudly as he leaned over and ruffled up Malkiel's hair against his wishes, patting his head when he got irritated.

"That sounds about right," she said. "Well, hopefully it was nothing bad. But knowing Elise, it probably wasn't."

"It wasn't anything bad," James said. "They were just talking about how you all became friends. You, Alistair, Arima, Elise..."

He trailed off, deciding to leave it there.

"Yeah," she said softly, then paused for a moment. "Elise wasn't really a friend, though. More of a distant big sister to all of us. I think she still volunteers to play that role now, even though we're all capable adults."

"It seems like she tends to take on that role with a lot of people," James said.

"Careful," Evaline said with a small smile as she turned back to him. "She might want to adopt you, too."

"I don't know if I have a choice in the matter," he said with a slight smirk. His gaze flicked back to the house for a moment, and he paused as his smirk faded.

"You know..." he said slowly, lowering his voice. "I... have considered asking her for help. With -- the bruising, at least. I don't know if I want to -- well, she wouldn't ask for an explanation for the -- my arm."

He cleared his throat.

"I'm just thinking about it, is all," he said quietly. "Since... well, she already knows. There's no use hiding it."

Evaline softened her eyes in understanding, and she slowly pulled her hand out of the water to reach out and gently touch a bruise on his chest.

"Does it hurt when I touch?" she asked quietly.

"If you were to add any pressure," James said softly. "Yes. But... right now it just aches with certain movements."

Evaline nodded, her eyes watching her own hand as it slowly drew across his chest, barely applying pressure.

"Does that hurt?" she asked softly again.

"A little," James said, watching her hand.

Evaline slowly pulled away, returning to the water. "If that hurt, then I can't imagine how much pain you must be in the strain of walking and moving every day," she said softly, meeting his eyes. "If Elise is offering help, and all it takes is an agreement from you, then I encourage it."

James held her gaze for a moment, and then looked down into the water, nodding.

"I don't know about the burn, though," he whispered. "It feels like... that's too much to ask. I know it hurts her too. To heal."

"I can't speak for Elise," she said gently. "But I think she'd still be interested to know if you're interested. She knows her own limits, and she won't push herself."

James nodded again, and his gaze drifted over to Rudy at the edge of the pool. He still looked fast asleep.

"I suppose... if I had to," James mumbled. "I could ask Rudy."

"How about this," Evaline began. "If you want me to, I can be there for you, and we can talk to Elise together. We'll see what she says first, and if she's unable to heal the burn, we can talk to Rudy. Sounds good?"

James looked back at Evaline with a tender expression of gratefulness in his eyes.

"I can do that," he said. "After... you know. Food and whatever else."

Evaline nodded, and James could feel her hand blindly reaching in the water, first brushing against his waist, but then finding his hand to hold underwater. She gave him a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah," she agreed with a smile. "It's a plan."

James squeezed her hand back.

"Thanks, Eve," he said softly.

James was glad that for the next few minutes, him and Evaline were left alone. They drifted to an opposite end of the pool and were able to talk quietly with one another, and James felt like he was finally able to relax a little bit and actually enjoy the therapeutic warmth of the pool, now that his body had finally adjusted to it.

James and Evaline both people watched a little bit, observing as Mel and Hendrik made their rounds around the pool - even stopping by Rudy, who Hendrik woke up with a little splash in the face. Rudy didn't seem too happy, but when it became apparent that Hendrik was drunk, Rudy started very vocally voicing his confusion and concern as to how that even happened. That only seemed to send Hendrik into a fit of laughter while Mel was left to play mediator for a moment.

Eventually, Mel disappeared back inside with Hendrik, presumably to get another drink - or inspect the "barrel of whiskey" Hendrik kept talking about.

It had been about fifteen minutes when they saw Elise poke her head out of the back door with oven mitts and a dish in her hands. Faintly, they could hear her voice sing out that the food was almost ready. She carried the tray over to a large table that was on the back porch, and she set it in the middle. As James and Evaline drifted closer, James could see that it looked like bread rolls.

With a quick glance at Evaline, he nodded to the table, and they silently agreed to step out together.

They got out by the bench where they'd left their things. James stepped out and grabbed his towel while Evaline picked up her jacket, though it looked like she was going to wait until she was a little more dry before putting it on. He was about to offer her his towel, but they saw there was still a stack of unused ones on the porch. They hurried over and James grabbed a towel before she could and brought it around her shoulders, pulling her close for just a moment and kissing her on the forehead before he quickly pulled away with a little grin.

Evaline smiled shyly and blushed as she tightened the towel around her, but then the smile quickly disappeared and her blush deepened when she looked forward and saw Elise watching them. Elise smiled and waved at them, but then returned to set up the table by herself.

"I guess, uh..." she mumbled. "I guess we just told her without saying anything."

"Was that okay?" James whispered gently.

"No - I mean, yes!" she blurted out, facing him. "Of course it is. I was just - I just thought I'd point that out."

"We can tell her directly, too," James said, unable to hide his little smile as he watched her get flustered again. "Just so she knows for sure."

Evaline took a deep breath in and out, inhaling through her nose and exhaling out her mouth as she watched Elise. "Okay," she said. "I can tell her."

James nodded, and he turned to lead the way, walking up the steps of the porch and towards the table where Elise was setting down placemats and arranging some plates and utensils.

"Hey Elise," Evaline said casually, but James couldn't help but notice that she was intensely staring at her with her brows drawn together.

"Hi Evaline. Hi James," Elise said with a small smile as she set down a plate. "Everything okay?"

Evaline nodded, glancing at James for a quick moment to make sure he was there. "Yeah," she said. "I thought I'd tell you something... since others know, and I figured you should know. Because, you know. You're a member of our team. And you should know too."

Elise stopped for a moment to look up at her, eyes flicking between the two of them. "Okay," she said, sounding more worried than anything. "I'm listening. Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Yes - yeah, everything is okay," Evaline said quickly. She took a quick breath and spoke her next words with false confidence. "In fact, more than okay. We're great. James and I are great. And also, we are kind-of-sort-of dating. I mean, we are. We are dating. We're together. In a relationship. And I thought you should know."

James was not going to laugh, but he couldn't help the almost goofy smile that came to his face. He knew Evaline was nervous, but he was glad she pushed through it. He looked at the ground for just a moment to collect himself before looking up at Elise.

Elise was silent for a moment as it looked like she was waiting for her to say more, but when she didn't, she blinked and then smiled, letting out a small chuckle.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to laugh," she said with the lingering smile on her face as she moved around the table again. "I was just expecting bad news. I'm glad it wasn't, though."

"Oh... hah," Evaline said nervously. "Well... I guess I'm glad I didn't say bad news either." She then facepalmed herself, stopping herself from talking before she could say anymore.

James came up beside Evaline, putting his arm over her shoulders as a show of support, and a silent way of telling her he was proud of her.

"Sorry for momentarily worrying you," he said to Elise. "We just wanted to tell you ourselves, before you hear it from someone else."

"That's very thoughtful of you," Elise said. "Thank you for telling me. I don't think this would really change anything between us, though."

James smiled a little and shrugged.

"True," he said. "It's just nice that now people know."

Elise nodded as she finished setting up the table, brushing her hands off as she nodded to herself.

"I bet it is," she said as she looked up at James with a smile. "I'm sorry that the two of you felt like you had to keep it a secret."

"In all fairness," James said. "We were only official as of just after we last saw you. So, it's not like we had an opportunity to tell you all until now."

"Oh, huh. I see," Elise said as she trailed off, like she was trying to remember their interactions last time, and connecting the hints and pieces now. "Well, New Years is the second best holiday for couples," she continued with a smile.

James glanced over to Evaline with a small questioning look as he still held his arm around her shoulders, and then looked back at Elise.

"That's right," Evaline answered before James could say anything.

"...Why?" James asked.

"Silly... sweetheart," Evaline said to him, visibly cringing at her own words. "Did you forget that a kiss at midnight symbolizes good luck?"

James blinked slowly for a moment as it processed that it was apparently supposed to be well-known information.

"Ah," he said with a small, growing smile, trying not to laugh at hearing her call him sweetheart. "Can't forget that."

"No, not at all," Evaline kept blurting out despite getting flustered. "How could I? Not me."

James bit his lip, trying not to laugh as he nodded, but his smile fought at his face.

Elise watched them for a moment, looking both concerned and happy for them. "...Yeah, it'll be a good time," she said reassuringly. "The food should be here soon, too."

"Oh, yes," James said, quickly changing the subject. "Do you guys need help with anything? Carrying anything out?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Elise said with a small dismissive wave of her hand. "You both enjoy the holiday. I can get the rest of it."

James nodded, deciding not to push it as Elise already started to turn to head back inside.

"Thank you, Elise, for helping with all the food," he said.

"Yeah, thank you, Elise. For other things too," Evaline said, cringing at her own words again.

Elise glanced at Evaline with an amused look as she smiled and walked past, but didn't push it.

"No problem," she said. "I'll be right out."

And at that, Elise slipped back inside, leaving the two of them alone on the porch. James squeezed Evaline's shoulders before pulling away, looking over at her with a small smile.

"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked softly.

"That was a disaster," Evaline grumbled.

"But if there's anyone to have a disater with talking about this, it's Elise," James said. "She handled it well."

Evaline sighed. "Yeah. I guess so," she said. "But I am not telling Alistair. Telling him would just be too embarrassing."

James laughed softly in his chest.

"I'll let him know," he said. "I'm proud of you though. For telling Elise."

Evaline turned her head to watch him, her previously hardened face softening as relief washed over her.

"You know, I've accomplished a lot in my life," she said. "But for some reason, that is now top of my list."

James smiled.

"Then I'm glad I got to witness it," he said softly.

"Even though it was a disaster," she added.

"I think you need to rework your current definition of a disaster," he said gently.

"You know what," Evaline continued, running away with her previous thought. "Let's have you do all the soft talking from here on out. I'll stick to negotiating during situations where our lives depend on it."

James raised an eyebrow.

"Soft talking?" he asked with a smirk. "What, like anything besides a negotiation?"

"No," she said as she scrunched her face. "Just... you know. Soft subjects. Like... relationships, and love, and... blech."

"Oh, so love is 'blech' now," James said with a teasing grin.

"You're not blech," Evaline said in a defiant tone.

"Neither are you," James said, still watching her with the teasing smile and laughter in his eyes. "Sweetheart."

Evaline pouted and narrowed her eyes at him. "Thanks, honey," she teased back.

"No problem, dearest," he said, biting back a laugh.

"Oh, I can win this game," Evaline said with childish stubbornness. "Darling. Pumpkin. Babe. Sweetie."

"Eve," James said, as if he was adding to the list as he continued watching her with an amused smile.

That sent her face red again as her pout deepened and she scowled.

"That's not fair," she bit back. "You can't use my name as a term of endearment."

"But I like your nickname," James said innocently, and the sentiment was genuine.

"Yeah, but I can't just use James both as your name and a term of endearment," she complained. "What am I supposed to call you?"

"Well... Hendrik used 'Jamie,' but that makes me feel like a child," James said with a shrug.

Evaline stared at him blankly. "Are you seriously suggesting I call you a nickname that Hendrik thought of on the spot?"

"No," James said with a small laugh. "I don't know. If you wanted to be poetic, maybe you could pick something related to time. Since you're Eve. And... well, you know."

He decided it would be best not to explicity talk about his actual powers, but he felt that his tone communicated it well enough. She could go back, and he could go forward.

Evaline brought her finger to her lip, looking to be in thought.

"Maybe I will," she said. "I'd have to think about it."

"Though, I don't think there's a lot of nickname-worthy words for things that... come after," James said with a shrug.

"Or maybe it'll be something more random," Evaline said. "Like Thumbs. Because you always rub your thumb on my back when we hug."

James stared at her blankly for a moment, and he looked to the side in thought. He didn't realize he did that. Not consciously.

"I... do?" he asked quietly.

"Do you think if we hug right now, your thumb would move on its own and then you'd realize it then?" Evaline asked with the beginnings of a smirk.

"I don't know," James hummed, still looking up in thought. "I didn't realize..."

Evaline then wrapped her arms over his shoulders and gently came in for a hug as she wrapped her arms around his back, perching her chin on top of his shoulder. James slowly wrapped his arms around her back, and he put his head on her opposite shoulder.

"Thank you for being there... Thumbs," she said softly in his ear.

As if on cue, James felt his thumb start to move up and down, and it was a strange feeling, suddenly being self-aware of something that had once, apparently, been a thoughtless automatic action. He laughed softly.

"I'm still not sure how I feel about being nicknamed after one finger," James said with another little laugh.

"That's okay," Evaline said as she slowly began to pull away, but stopped when her hands slowed down to hold his upper arms. She looked at him, grinning. "It won't be a term of endearment. Just a term of silly when you inevitably act silly."

James tilted his head to the side with a little grin.

"Inevitably, huh," he said quietly.

"That's right," she said. "Inevitably."

James hummed, and pulled one hand away from her so he could reach up and boop the tip of her nose.

"Good," he said.

Evaline smirked and then also let go with one hand, rubbing her nose for a second before performing the same action, but on his lips.

"Yes," she said. "Good."

She paused for a moment, her smile widening.

"J'aime," she said softly, saying the words "I love" in French.

James's expression softened.

"I like that," he said just as quietly. "It's better than 'Thumbs.'"

Before Evaline could reply, his attention was pulled away when he saw the back door open up, meaning they were no longer alone and out of view of others. He could see Hendrik's head pop out just before he threw the door open, shouting.

"FOOD'S READY!" Hendrik yelled.

James pulled away from Evaline, watching as Hendrik stepped out with Elise, Mel, and Alistair following behind. They were all holding different dishes and things needed for dinner, and James knew he and Evaline would soon get in the way, as they were still standing right by the table. He glanced at Evaline before the two of them backed away to the edge of the porch, watching as everyone brought in the different dishes, setting them all in the middle of the table.



James could smell the aroma of freshly baked food, and his stomach gurgled just loud enough for Evaline to hear.

Now, he was hungry.

"Should we get changed?" James asked quietly, leaning over to Evaline. "Or will we be going back in the water at some point?"

Evaline glanced around the others, who were still wearing their bathing suits, but had a towel or some kind of article of clothing on since the air was still chilly.

"It looks like the others haven't changed," she said quietly back. "But we can grab you a jacket or something to put over if you're cold."

James had his eyes fixed on the food, though he did notice the others getting out of the water and starting to gather around the large table.

"I think I'll be okay," he said, securing his towel around his shoulders.

"Okay," she said with a nod. "Ready to grab food?"

James nodded, and they got in line around the table, grabbing plates and utensils. He and Evaline split off a little as they both ended up intermingling with others, as they were all crowded around the table. Once James had a full plate, he decided to pull away from everyone, finding Alistair just as he was walking away from the table too with a plate full of food as well.

"This all looks delicious, Alistair," James said with a grateful smile as he poked at some of the potatoes on his plate.

"Thanks," Alistair said with an appreciative smile. "Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks."

James held up his fingers with his fork, as if to say: "one moment," and took a bite of the potatoes. He chewed for a second before nodding in approval.

"Better," he said, still with half a mouthful of food.

"Glad to have your approval," Alistiar said with a slight smirk as he started to bite into his plate as well.

James nodded with his head for Alistair to follow so that they could sit down, and he led them to the stairs by the back door, and he sat down first. Alistair sat down next to him, leaving a comfortable amount of space next to him.

"Have fun in the pool?" Alistair asked.

"A little bit," James said with a slight tilt of his head to the side. "Are you going in after you eat now that you're done in the kitchen?"

"I might," he said, then paused in thought. "But if I don't, Mel might push me in. So I'd like to avoid that."

"Probably better to prepare for your fate then," James said with a nod as he dug in to his plate get another bite of food.

"Yeah," Alistair said with an amused smile. "Best to prepare."

At that, the two of them fell into silence as the two of them ate. James ate at his usual fast pace, but he tried to slow himself down a little bit so it looke like he was trying to savor it - because he was enjoying it. The hunger had just hit him suddenly, and he had to restrain himself a little bit.

James was about halfway through his plate when he paused and swallowed his food, glancing over at Alistair.

"I did want to tell you," James said. "So you're not out of the loop, and you don't hear it from someone else. Evaline and I are dating."

Alistair was about to eat a forkful of food, but then stopped at his words and looked over at James with a brow raised.

"Is that so?" he mused, in thought. "Huh. Okay. Good to know."

"Yeah," James said with a slight smile. "I just wanted to tell you in person."

"I appreciate it. Thanks for letting me know," Alistair said as he finally took the big bite.

James nodded and took another bite of his own. They both chewed in silence for a moment, and Alistair spoke again after swallowing.

"I guess I don't really know how anyone else reacted," he said. "And I know it's not really any of my business. But I will admit I am a little surprised, especially since you've only been here a few months."

"That's fair," James said after a pause, waiting to swallow down his food. "It wasn't like I was expecting to get in a relationship when I found myself here, but I'm glad it's turned out the way it has."

Alistair hummed, poking at his food as he was sifting through his thoughts.

"Do you mind if I ask a few random questions about yourself?" he suddenly asked.

James shook his head.

"Not at all," James said quietly. He understood why he'd want to. "Go ahead."

"Do you like to read?" Alistair asked first.

That... wasn't exactly what James had been expecting him to ask on the front end, but, okay. Sure.

"Yes, I do," James said. "Quite a lot, actually."

Alistair nodded. "Are you fond of music?" he asked next.

"Very much so," he answered.

"Do you tend to stay calm, no matter the circumstance?"

James pursed his lips and looked off to the side.

"I'd say so," he said. "As a general tendency, yes."

"Would you say you're idealistic?" Alistair asked. "And charismatic? Patient?"

"I'm far less idealistic than I used to be," James admitted. "But... people have described me as those things before."

Alistair paused, looking over at him for a second, and then let out a genuine, hearty laugh.

"Sorry for all the random questions," he said through a smile, continuing to poke his food. "It makes sense now, despite you only being here a few months. She certainly has a type."

James tilted his head to the side as his mind worked to do the math. There was a small sliver of a dream that leaked to the front of his mind. Something about Alan and Evaline, and a break-up, or a relationship. He'd written it down, but it was fuzzy.

A type. So... Alan might've been similar. Maybe. Unless Evaline had been with someone else before. But neither of them had discussed past relationships, so he wasn't surprised it hadn't come up.

"I see," he commented quietly.

"No matter," Alistair said. "Sorry for making this awkward. I'm sure you both will be happy."

James raised a brow, looking at Alistair with mild curiosity. It sounded like Alistair had doubts that weren't just based on how long they'd allegedly known each other.

"You don't sound so sure," he said. Though his tone was non-accusatory. He genuinely wanted to know what Alistar wasn't saying.

Alistair glanced at him. "It doesn't matter what I think, since none of it involves me," he said. "But you're pretty observant if you were able to pick that up on my words alone."

"I think you're more observant than you let on as well," James said.

"Comes with the job," Alistair said with a slight smirk, then paused. "But are you interested to hear my thoughts anyways?"

"I think, because I know you value and respect privacy, I more greatly value your opinion, knowing that you wouldn't give it carelessly," James said. "So, yes. If you would."

Alistair nodded. "Sure," he said. "I don't mind sharing, although I don't know if it'd meet the high expectation."

"Believe it or not, I care about what you think, whether it's simple or elaborate," James said.

"Well, I appreciate that," Alistair said. "But it's not about what I think; it's about what has happened in the past. So when you say that I sounded uncertain about the longevity of your relationship, it's not because I have anything against the two of you, or disapprove."

He extended out one leg so that his foot would be resting on the next step, pausing in thought.

"I asked you all the random questions because I was describing my brother. He was quite close to Evaline back then. This was also so many years ago, so obviously she has changed, but they separated over a trust complication, I believe. I'm grossly oversimplifying this, but she's been closed-off since then. I'm not saying it will repeat again - but she does have a tendency to repeat her past mistakes."

James was quiet for a moment. Surprisingly, nothing Alistair said was very new. It fell under some things him and Evaline had already discussed. They'd talked about trust, and opening up. About repeating past mistakes. She'd never brought up her relationship with Alan, but he knew that was years ago. Regardless of Evaline's 'tendency to repeat her past mistakes,' he knew that they were both approaching their relationship with a far more steady, realistic mindset than they had five years ago, and likely far more than she'd approached her past relationship with Alan.

"What was your brother's name?" James asked gently.

"Alan," he said as he took another bite. Unlike Evaline, Alistair didn't look hurt by talking about him. But he also didn't know that James knew far more than he let on.

"It sounds like we might get along," James said with a faint smile. "Aside from... well, me dating his ex."

He hated that he had to pretend to not know. But he knew he couldn't just say it.

Alistair breathed out a puff of amused air as he quickly chewed and then swallowed.

"Yeah," he said. "That... would be interesting to see. Hah." He paused for a moment. "But yes, aside from that, it sounds like you both would have hit it off." He paused again. "But also, he passed nine years ago. So unfortunately, I can't set that up, unless you'd like to visit his grave, or jump back in time that long ago."

James's expression softened.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said softly.

"It's okay," Alistair said with a small appreciative smile. "It's nice to talk about him in his memory."

"I can understand that," James said slowly. "I... I feel the same way about my father. It feels better to keep the memories of them going. So, in a way, they're still there, at least, in stories."

"I agree," Alistair said. "It's what they would have wanted. To be remembered by stories worth sharing."

"Are there any memories of Alan that you like to retell?" James asked gently.

Alistair pursed his lips in thought for a moment, looking to be in thought as he sifted through his memory.

"We're twins," he said. "Not identical, so it's not that hard to tell us apart. But there was one day where he was convinced that our classmates could only tell us apart because he wears glasses. So one morning, we exchanged appearances. I was dressed up as Alan and pretended to be him, and he was doing the same to me."

He smiled and shook his head.

"I could not believe that only our closer friends picked up on it," he continued. "Not even the teacher noticed - even when we switched back in the middle of the day."

James smiled, trying to imagine it.

"You must've looked more alike than you thought," he said, still smiling. "I'm sure, as twins, you could see all the differences, though."

"I guess so," Alistair said with the lingering smile from retelling the memory. "I was kind of a sloppy kid, and he always dressed to impress. So maybe no one looked at our faces."

"Once you have a certain look, people associate you with it," James said. "If you clean up all of a sudden, you'd be surprised how some people don't recognize you at first. You should've seen Mel after I shaved."

Alistiar smirked as he glanced back at him. "Does that mean you dress to impress now?" he asked.

James scoffed.

"In my farmer clothes?" he said with a smirk. "Yeah, right."

"Your suit was pretty impressive at the Day of Peace party," Alistair said. "Although... Mel probably chose that for you, didn't she?"

"She did," James said. "Though, she did run the idea by me first. So I suppose, in that way, I did sort of pick it out. She has good taste."

"I think she does that on purpose to make you think that."

James's smirk grew. "Figures," he said with a slight laugh. "Well, it all worked out. I'm glad I didn't show up underdressed. I would've felt even more out of place."

"Imagine you showing up to that party wearing farming overalls," Alistair thought out loud.

"No one would ever let me live it down," James said, shaking his head as he tried to imagine it. "God, I'm glad that didn't happen."

He caught himself - he almost said gods, which he never heard anyone on earth say.

Alistair chuckled. "Yeah," he said. "Although, it seemed that people harassed you anyways for simply existing. So I don't know if overalls would have made a difference."

James sighed, slouching forward over his plate as he tried not to relive the nightmare that was that party.

"Yeah," he said lowly. "I... I don't know if that's going to change any time soon, really. Everyone seems to -- well, not you, but -- a few people seem determined to try and get under my skin no matter what I do."

"I don't think it helps that your situation puts you at the disadvantage of not being able to blend in as well," Alistair said.

"You're telling me," James muttered.

"Well... at the very least, Mel, Elise, and I don't seem to get under your skin. And Evaline too, obviously."

James looked over at Alistair with the hint of a smile.

"All things considered, that's still a pretty long list of people, considering I started out not knowing anyone," he said. "I guess I can't complain."

"If it were me, I'd try to escape an uncomfortable situation by escaping, even if it means talking to someone else," Alistair said as he returned the small smile. "So you know who to find if you get uncomfortable."

James offered Alistair a grateful smile.

"Thanks," he said. "And... well, I know you're not exactly under the eye of scrutiny all the time, but if you ever just want someone to sit with or talk to, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"Glad the offer goes both ways," Alistair said with a smile, then returned to eating his food.

James smiled in return, and then returned to eating as well. They sat in silence as the two of them hungrily cleared their plates, though James (predictably) finished first. James glanced down at his empty plate and then looked back over at the table. A few people were sitting around it, but he spotted Evaline sitting a little further off on a bench with Mel and Elise.

It looked like there was still enough for seconds, seeing as everyone had already gotten a serving.

He glanced at Alistair.

"It's okay if I get some more, right?" he asked.

"Of course," Alistair said. "There should be more than enough. Help yourself to as much as you want. Even if we run out, there's more food in the kitchen."

James nodded. "Okay," he said as he got to his feet, walking back over to the table with his empty plate. As he walked back onto the porch, he could see most of the chairs were full, aside from two. Katya sat next to a sleeping Rudy, and Tula was opposite the doctor. On the other side, Hendrik had his feet propped up on the edge of the table and his arm around the back of Malkiel's chair - though Malkiel didn't look too thrilled about it.

James wedged between the two empty seats to reach over the table and tug the pasta dish closer to him so he could scoop out some more of the shells with the serving spoon.

As he started scooping, Hendrik's deep voice caught his attention.

"Hey, lovebug," he said, patting the open seat next to him. "Jamie boy. Come sit with us."

James glanced back at Alistair, and saw that Deidra had walked up to him and leaned on the wall, and the two of them were now talking.

"Sure," James said distantly, though he didn't plan on sitting with them for very long. He pulled out the chair Hendrik had patted and set his plate down as he sat. He reached across the table and grabbed another bread roll as well, which he promptly took a bite of.

"So, how's the love life going?" Hendrik asked, slightly slurring his words.

James waited until he was done chewing.

"It's been, like, thirty minutes," James said.

"A lot can happen in thirty minutes," Hendrik countered.

"Well, it's still going just fine," James said. "How's being drunk off of suspicious 'whiskey' going?"

"Look, man," Malkiel cut in before Hendrik could answer. "Hendrik's only looking out for you. He's concerned."

"No I'm not," Hendrik said.

"It sounds like you're the one who's concerned," James said as he stared at Malkiel, meeting his eyes as he took a bite of bread.

"Maybe I am," Malkiel said as he glared at him across Hendrik. "What of it?"

"Your concern reads a lot like anger to me," James said casually, still holding his eyes.

"And maybe it is," Malkiel continued cooly as they fiercely held eye contact. "What, you scared?"

"Nope," James said, taking another bite as he looked away.

"Oh-kaaaay," Hendrik said after he low-whistled. "I'm sensing some unresolved tension. Let's talk about it like the good lads we are."

He then brought his arms around both their shoulders and abruptly brought them in close.

"You both going to get along?" he asked with suddenly threatening low voice.

"Will do," James said, trying not to focus too much on Hendrik's odd-smelling breath and being in his grip.

"I've got absolutely no problems with him," Malkiel said blankly.

"You know," James said. "We could just talk this out like adults, Malkiel."

"That's right," Hendrik answered for him, letting go and setting his hands on their head, patting the two of them like they were pets. James cringed under his hand.

"Let's talk it out," Hendrik finished, his hand resting on their head.

Malkiel was the first to throw his hand off of him. "You want to talk? Fine," he said to James. "You come in here lying on day one, and now you've somehow convinced Evaline that you're trustworthy. Even getting in her pants to do so. That's sick."

James gently grabbed Hendrik's wrist and lifted his hand off his head, and then turned to face Malkiel with a serious look.

"First of all," James said steadily. "I did not get into her pants at all, actually. And I'm not trying to convince people I'm trustworthy. I'm just trying to do the best I can in a difficult situation, and I'm sorry if that makes me look like my intentions are impure. And as far as lying goes, I think you're being presumptuous. The first month here, especially, was really hard for me, and I was, admittedly, very anxious most of the time. If you were trying to determine my truthfulness based solely on my breathing patterns, then of course you'd pick up on inconsistencies. But it has nothing to do with me trying to decieve you and everything to do with the very nature of finding myself in a foreign situation, time, and place being - to not mince words - terrifying."

"That's a fantastic apology, James," Hendrik said, then looked over at Malkiel. "Malkiel? Thoughts?"

"For an anxious man, you sure seem to know the kinds of words to say," Malkiel said cooly, ignoring Hendrik. "It's almost as if it's rehearsed."

"Do you want me to apologize for being well-spoken?" James asked. "I think a lot. So yeah, I've thought about what I might say to you if you were to be open to having a conversation, but that doesn't mean my words are any less genuine. I just like to thoughtfully consider how I say things so that it is precisely what I mean to say to avoid miscommunication."

"You seem like a man who likes to talk the talk but not walk the walk," Malkiel said. "You give me reasons and justifications to trust you, but your actions thus far have led me to believe anything but that. You're going to have to do better than talking through apologies."

"Please," James said with a small wave of his hand. "Tell me what I've done to earn your suspicion. I would like to know."

"Fine. Let's start with Evaline," Malkiel said as he kept his steely stare on him. "It's obvious you're using her to your advantage. For what, I don't know."

"Obvious how?" James asked. "Conjecture is hardly evidence. I like her. Is that what you're looking for?"

"I don't buy a second of it," Malkiel said sharply.

"You think my affection for her is ingenuine?" James asked.

Malkiel scoffed. "Your affection, I don't know. But her 'affection' towards you? The woman is incapable of love and relationships. Right, Hendrik? Back me up on this."

"I am a mediator. I am simply neutral," Hendrik said stiffly, watching the two of them.

"So this is about your bias towards Evaline, then," James said. "I don't know about your past experiences with her, but the fact that would consider her incapable of love is a cruel accusation, founded or not. She is still a person."

"I have my reasons for not trusting Evaline," Malkiel said steadily. "And it's not what you think. I don't know whether you're for or against her, but either way, she's a heartless backstabbing bitch, and you better watch your back."

"I don't need to know your story for why you don't trust her, but it is completely unecessary and unkind to tear her down - behind her back, no less," James said calmly.

"She already knows my thoughts about her," Malkiel continued with a scoff. "It wouldn't make a difference. She knows what she's done."

"Where I'm failing to follow is how any of this has to do with me," James said.

Malkiel leaned in closer. "Think deep and hard. Has there ever been a time when she has threatened you, acted cruel and heartless when you least expected it, and did everything in her power to get her way?"

"Still not hearing what this has to do with me," James said cooly.

"And I'm not hearing you answer a simple yes or no question," Malkiel said as he leaned a little closer.

"I have seen Evaline be determined to get her way," James said, not moving from his seat as he stared back at Malkiel. "There's your answer."

"You only answered to one out of the three options," Malkiel pointed out.

"Because it was the only one I've witnessed," James said, meeting Malkiel's eyes with a hard glare.

The two of them glared for a few seconds as tension sat heavily in the air around them, so much so that not even drunken Hendrik wanted to intervene.

"You better watch you back, James," Malkiel said lowly. "Whether you're genuine or not, you're a danger to the mission and the council."

"Do elaborate," James said calmly, not looking away.

"I think you're a spy sent to infiltrate the group," Malkiel said as he kept his stare. "With a made-up background, questionable power, and a short time frame - yet you've managed to become close to Evaline, while also being tagged along the mission."

"A spy sent from whom?" James asked.

"It could be anyone," he said. "The sectors. The tribalists. Hell, maybe just the military. You tell me."

"I doubt that there is one thing I could say to you that would earn your trust or dissuade you of your suspicions," James said. "But for whatever it's worth, on my life, I'm not a spy."

"Maybe you should walk the walk first," Malkiel continued. "If we get to the destination without any problems, and we get back to the safe zone safely, then there's no reason for me to suspect you as much."

"As much," James echoed. "And how am I supposed to ensure the mission goes without problems when the ungoverned lands in and of themselves are unpredictable? I can't be everywhere at once, and I'm not god."

"By problems, I mean a spy's network infiltrating the mission," Malkiel said. "We could all very well die on this trip. But I would die happier knowing our deaths were from a natural beast of the lands rather than it being from your hands."

"Well if that's what you're worried about," James said, his voice steady. "Then I'll have no problems proving myself not to be a spy. Because I have no interest in harming any of you."

"Good," Malkiel said, voice still cool. "Prove it to me, and then we can talk."

"I look forward to it," James said, turning away to return to his plate.

"Alright, sounds like you two had a productive heart-to-heart," Hendrik said as he reached back to ruffle their hair again, but Malkiel immediately slapped his hand away. "Everything good now?"

James was silent as he took a big bite of bread to fill his mouth as an excuse not to talk.

"Just peachy, Hendrik," Malkiel said neutrally.

"Oh, I love peaches," Hendrik said. "You like peaches, right, Mal?"

"Uh huh."

"And James? Do you like peaches?" Hendrik asked.

"They're on my list of top ten fruits," James said dryly after he finished chewing.

"See? Look at that," Hendrik said with a grin. "You're already on the path to being best friends."

"I'm going to talk to Rudy," Malkiel announced, abruptly getting up to walk over to the doctor despite him sleeping.

"Hm. Mal's ruder than normal today," Hendrik commented. "He's usually more tolerable."

"That's how he normally is around me," James commented quietly.

"My working theory is that he has this weird complex around Evaline," Hendrik said. "Sorry, bud. Looks like you gotta carry some of the baggage."

"I don't mind carrying it on her behalf," he said, poking at his food with his fork. "I only tire of petty tension. But I can endure it."

Hendrik patted his shoulder. "You're a good man, chicken boy," he said. "You're pretty damn selfless sometimes."

James looked across the table at Malkiel, who was practically dragging the half-awake Rudy out of his chair and off the patio to talk to him. Rudy looked nothing but confused.

"...I guess," James said blankly as the spectacle finally left his line of sight, and he was left with both Katya and Tula staring back at him from across the table.

"I read in this magazine once that some relationships fail because the ratio of giving and receiving is off," Hendrik thought out loud, none-the-wiser that the women were staring at them. "Maybe you should love a little less."

James flicked his eyes between Hendrik and Katya and Tula.

"No," he said, his voice a little higher in pitch. "I think I'm loving just the right amount."

Hendrik hummed. "Does she give you as much love equally?" he asked.

"How would you quantify love, Hendrik?" James asked, looking at him squarely.

"Me?" he asked innocently, pointing at himself like he wanted to make sure that James was asking him for love advice.

"No, your brother," James quipped. "I'm talking to you Hendrik."

Hendrik grinned but then picked up his mug and took several big gulps before letting out a satifying "ah" and then placing it back on the table.

"You know, I used to be a ladies man in my twenties, like you," he said. "But then I realized women were a bore. So my first advice to you is to drop her."

James blinked slowly.

"Enlightening," he said sarcastically.

"See, a lot of the women I've met were superficial and fake," Hendrik continued. "Who the hell wants flowers as a gift? They wilt so fast. What you gotta give to woo the man is an animal. Animals are forever. Until they die. But then you get another one."

"No one woman is the same, you know," James said. "Women are people too. You talk about them like they're all clones of each other. I've met women who would love to recieve an animal as a gift, and men who would just as joyfully recieve flowers."

Hendrik hummed. "You know, maybe I just thought their bodies were too alien," he mused out loud as if this was something James needed to know.

"If it's just that you're attracted to men and not women," James said neutrally. "That's fine. But no need to speak poorly of a whole group of people because you're not attracted to their bodies."

Hendrik grinned and then lightly elbowed him on the arm. "Ohhhoho, James, you're quite the ladies man, eh? Eh? Ehhhhh?"

James blinked slowly and sighed, shaking his head. He took another bite of bread and decided to avoid eye contact with everyone at the table.

"Don't tell me Evaline's the first," Hendrik continued. "If so, what a first experience, huh."

Gods. This again. First it was Mel. Now it was Hendrik.

"Mmhmm," he hummed impatiently.

Hendrik paused for a moment. "Seriously?" he asked. "Really, she's the first?"

James took in a deep breath and leaned forward with his elbows onto the table, and he ran his hand through his hair with a sigh.

"No," James said. "But you're not getting any more than that, so don't bother."

"I'll tell you about my first if you tell me about your first," Hendrik offered instead.

James flicked his eyes to Katya and Tula who were still across the table. They seemed to be softly talking to one another, glancing at them every once in a while.

"I'd rather not," James said wearily.

"Or may I instead interest you in some of the rebellion scoop we heard about Malkiel? And even Evaline?" he offered instead.

"Still not interested," James said, still holding the side of his head in one hand.

Hendrik seemed to mull over his own thoughts. "Tough one to crack, aren't ya?" he teased.

"You're finding this out just now?" James asked, looking over at him with a raised brow.

"You're like a tortoise," Hendrik mused. "You move slowly on the land and then retract in your shell before you could eat all the bread crumbs."

"Tortoises don't even eat bread," James retorted.

"Not the tortoises I met," Hendrik retorted back, then paused. "...At least, I'm pretty sure they were okay. Now I'm worried."

"Sounds like you have a tortoise to check up on," James said.

Hendrik then reached over to ruffle up his hair, doing it more aggressively than last time.

"You're my little tortoise," he teased.

James leaned away from him, just a little, squinting his eyes at him.

"Uh huh," he said with sarcasm. He'd take that over baby man. It was only slightly better. "And you're too touchy."

Right on cue, James could hear someone approaching behind them, and he was relieved to see that it was Evaline.

"I agree," she said. "You're too touchy, Hendrik."

Hendrik innocently lifted up his hands. "And James has been saved by Evaline like a damsel in distress. My bad."

James rolled his eyes. He was tired.

"I've already told you I don't like being touched, Hendrik," James said. "You're the one who keeps forgetting."

"My bad. This whiskey is giving me the loopies," Hendrik said.

Evaline stared at him. "Are you okay? Should I get Elise over here?"

"I'm fiiiine," Hendrik reassured. "Right, tortoise?"

"I'm concerned about you too, honestly," James said. "You should at least have Elise check on you."

"Get up," Evaline said with a sigh. "I'll take you inside until you sober up."

"Yes, boss," Hendrik said with a weak salute, and then sat up, but then fumbled when it looked like he got dizzy. James immediately got to his feet and steadied him, putting his arm around Hendrik's back.

"Easy, there," James said.

"We have you," Evaline said as she got around the other side to support him standing up. "Let's take you to Elise."

"Tortoise, let the women handle it from here," Hendrik slurred as he looked down at James. "C'mon, you're better than the sexism in your time. Women are empowering in this day and age."

James stared at Hendrik with a tired expression. He was literally only trying to keep Hendrik from falling, but fine.

He sighed and pulled away, glancing at Evaline.

"I've got him," Evaline said as she widened her stance and adjusted her position to steady him some more.

Luckily, it seemed that Hendrik was standing up on his own. He just needed some steadying.

"I'll take him inside with Elise," she said as she looked over her shoulder at James. "Will you be okay?"

"I'm fine," James said, shooing her away with his hand. "Hendrik's the one who's drunk, not me."

"Okay," she said, lingering her gaze on him for an extra second. "I'll be back. C'mon Hendrik."

James watched as Evaline stepped into the house with Hendrik, and when the door closed behind them, he saw Elise and Mel enter in just after.

James slowly turned to look at Katya and Tula. They were both staring at him back.

He glanced behjnd him, seeing that Malkiel was off with Rudy - and Deidra and Alistair had joined them by the edge of the water. It seemed like an odd combination.

When he looked back at Katya and Tula, he sighed and sat back down, taking another bite of his food.

"Hey, lover boy," Tula called. "Why don't you sit with us? You seem awfully lonely over there."

"There's only a table's length between us," James said through a chew. "I can hear you from here."

"Whaaaat?" Katya called, cupping her hand around her ear, and pretending that she couldn't hear him.

"If you're hard of hearing, then maybe you should go see Elise too," James said as he took another bite of food.

"Sit next to you? Sure, okay," Katya said with a grin as she got up and then raced to sit on the chair next to him. Tula followed behind, more slowly and gracefully, sitting on the chair on the other side of James, trapping him between them.

"Comfortable?" Tula teased when he visibly tensed up.

"You pay attention," James said, taking another bite of food and talking through the mouthful. "I think you already know."

"Remember what I said?" Tula said as she lightly traced a healed scar on his upper arm with her fingertips. "People can say a lot without saying anything."

James pushed his chair back, and stood up.

"For everything you hear, it seems that you don't listen," he said.

"Aw, come on," Tula said as she watched him, slightly tilting her head. "You wouldn't want to ruin a party with a tantrum, would you?"

"I'm not a child," James said calmly. "I am simply going to leave someone who clearly doesn't care to respect my boundaries, which really isn't that hard to do."

"What do you think, Tules?" Katya asked over him.

"Hmmm," Tula hummed. "I think Malkiel was on to something, Katya. He just didn't think all the scars were relevant in the argument. But James is clearly hiding a stain of his past. Perhaps it's a complex motive to sabotage the mission. It would be a shame if someone told Oliver."

James took in a slow, deep breath as he tried to steady his already fried nerves.

"Of course, he could always just sit down and talk to us, instead of the two of us making assumptions," Tula continued innocently, then flicked her eyes up at James. "Isn't that right, James?"

James stiffly sat back down.

"There," Tula said with the edge of her lip curling up. "Was that so hard?"

"What do you want, Tula?" James asked, looking her in the eyes.

"You're nervous," she said as she was observing like usual, and unreadable like usual. "Why?"

"You touched a scar attatched to a bad memory," he said thinly. "I am currently trying not to relive it."

"And what memory is that?" Katya asked. "Tell us."

"That's the exact opposite of what I'm trying to do right now," James said, feeling his heart starting to pound in his chest.

Tula clicked her tongue in disappointment at Katya. "Come now, Katya," she said. "That's not very nice of you. James is clearly traumatized by the scar that someone inflicted upon him. It must have been done on purpose, especially judging by the shape, and his reaction. Perhaps..." She paused, tilting her head again, watching him closely. "It was more than just an attack wound?"

James pressed his lips together thinly and he swallowed.

"Tules, check out the ugly marks on his back," Katya said as she glanced behind him. "Think someone did that too?"

"I'm not sure," Tula replied, unmoving, her gaze still fixated on him. "Perhaps James would like to tell us."

James was quiet, clenching his jaw tightly as he tore his gaze away from Tula and stared straight ahead, leaning foward on the table.

"Hey, look, he's even got a tattoo!" Katya said with a wicked grin as she leaned behind him, poking his lower back. James's entire back tensed up tightly, and he pinched his eyes shut.

The memory was years old, now, but it flashed back in his mind. He glared down at the table.

"What does the letter 'B' mean to you, James?" Tula asked, still not having moved or glancing back.

"Are you just going to point out every scar?" James asked thinly. "Because if you want their stories, this is not the way to get them."

"Fair enough," Tula said. "No more pointing out, then. Just listening."

James looked over to Tula and met her eyes with a pointed glare.

"I'm not going to tell you," he said lowly.

"Hmm," Tula drew out. "I wouldn't want to torture you to find out."

James smiled venomously, and the smile didn't meet his eyes.

"I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?" he said as his smile quickly disappeared.

"Please," Tula said with a small smirk. "What do you think I am? Of course I wouldn't do that. We're on the same team here."

"Seems in pretty poor taste to threaten someone on the same team with torture, however lightheartedly you might've meant it," James said.

Tula reached up to cup his face in her hand, leaning in close to his ear.

"It's called a joke, lover boy," she whispered in a sultry voice, then leaned back, her hands still on his face. "Lighten up and smile. It's a good look on you."

"Let me go, Tula," James said stiffly as he lifted his hand and gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from his face.

"You didn't have to act out of instinct and push my hand away," Tula said, watching him. "I would have simply let go, if you've given me the chance."

"If you'd cared about my wishes at all, you'd never have touched my face in the first place," he countered.

"Wishes?" Tula said as she curiously tilted her head and pulled her hand away from his. "And what are your wishes, James?"

"I have already told you," James said. "I. Don't. Want. To. Be. Touched. It is not that hard to understand."

"Oh, I see," Tula said with feigned understanding. "Being touched. The scars. Silly me. You see me as a threat."

"Are you done?" James said, still watching her, but his senses were acutely aware of Katya's presence as well, and he watched her from the corner of his eyes.

"Malkiel isn't the only one who's suspicious of you," she said with steely eyes. "So I suppose me being 'done' won't happen for quite some time, especially since you did not answer any of our questions."

"All you asked about was how I got my scars," James said. "Just like every other fucking person I've ever met. And you have done nothing to merit the answer, or my trust. So the distrust is mutual."

"I'm glad we have reached a mutual agreement," Tula said with a false smile. "I apologize that we never became more than friends. Although, it appears you have filled the void yourself."

"Yeah," James said cooly. "I have."

"But no one can ever fill the void of your insecurities and crippling self-doubt," Tula said with false sympathy. "I do apologize."

"Apology not accepted," James said flatly.

"No worries at all," Tula said with the begginings of a smile. "Chin up, will you? You have a lovely smile."

She got up to leave, and so did Katya, but not before James felt a tug of his hair. It appeared that Katya had tore off a few strands for whatever reason, and he whirled around to face her, glaring.

"Bye, ugly," she said as she walked away with Tula with his hair in her fingers, smirking at him before turning away.

James didn't care about the digs at his appearance, but he did very much care about being threatened, and harassed, and having his boundaries pushed without respect or regard for his warnings.

James hadn't quite finished all of his food, but he didn't have an appetite anymore. He got up to his feet and stepped off the porch, found the back door, and slipped inside. He could hear Hendrik in the front room talking loudly as Elise and Evaline were speaking softer, at a normal volume. He couldn't make out much of what they were saying, it sounded like they were chiding him. He didn't want to interrupt. He didn't want Hendrik or Elise to know.

He just wanted to be alone, where no one could see him, or touch him, or make him feel small.

After all these years, he hated that he was still so soft. He hated that every touch and cutting word still ate away at him. He hated that he couldn't just take it and forget about it.

This was why bounty hunters liked toying with him. Because if they pushed him far enough, they'd always get a reaction. But this felt different. He still felt fragile, like he was a conglomeration of broken pieces shakily holding together with nothing, and all it took was one puff of air to send him clattering back to the ground.

He walked down the hall, passing several doors before he found a stairwell, and he went up it, not caring where he was going. The second floor was smaller, but there was a bedroom, and a closet with a door, and it was dark, and empty.

James didn't care how childish it was to walk into a closet and close the door behind him, hiding in the darkness. He curled up into a ball and hugged himself, trying to ease the ache of his own heart and the stinging of his eyes as he buried his head in his arms.

Something had changed after he'd tried to kill himself by overdosing. It was like all of his walls were weakened, and he didn't know how to push back anymore. Maybe that was why the Gaea were able to break him so easily. Maybe that was why everyone was able to get under his skin.

James tried to muffle his cries, losing track of how much time passed as he sat alone, in the dark.

After some time, he could hear footsteps distantly down the hallway. His heart started to race, and he frantically wiped his eyes and got to his feet. He was about to step out of the closet so no one would find him there.

"James?" he heard Evaline call from the door. "Are you in here?"

James shakily opened the closet door, peeking out.

"Yes," he said, his voice embarassingly hoarse.

"Hey, there you are," she said softly as she stepped in and quietly closed the door behind her. "I was worried when I couldn't find you. I'm glad you're okay."

James tried to meet Evaline's eyes, but before he could even look at her and get out a word, tears started streaming down his face again.

"I don't know what to say anymore," he said in a hoarse whisper. "Even on earth people don't trust me just because of how I -- how I look."

Evaline immediately arched her brows in empathy and softened her expression as she quickly walked over, taking off her jacket to drape around his shoulders instead.

"Shhh, it's okay," she said gently. "You don't have to say anything now. I'm here, and I trust you."

James bowed his head low and inched towards her, resting his forehead on her shoulder. She snugly wrapped the jacket around him so it wouldn't fall off, and then gently wrapped her arms around his back, applying very little pressure.

"It's okay," she repeated. "I'm here now."

"I'm so tired," he whispered, swallowing back as his voice cracked. "I don't know how to defend myself. I don't want to have to make up stories for how I got -- I don't want to tell the stories at all. Not with them. I should've just stayed inside. Kept my clothes on. It would've been better than this."

Evaline lightly rubbed her hand up and down on the jacket on his back.

"I'm sorry the others asked you invasive questions, and I wasn't around to help you deescalate," she said softly.

"I tried to just leave," James croaked. "But Tula threatened to tell Oliver about her and Malkiel's suspicions of me. I don't even know if Oliver knows I'm on this trip but -- I --"

He took in a deep breath, lifting his head for a moment as he sniffed so he didn't risk getting snot on Evaline's shoulder.

"I feel pathetic, crying like this," he muttered. "I know I shouldn't. But I -- if I was on Nye, I feel like I would've been able to call her bluff, if it even was a bluff. But I just don't know anymore."

"You're not pathetic," Evaline said as she slid her hands down to his upper arms. "You have emotions too, James, and you're allowed to feel them. I want you to be yourself."

She glanced at the door.

"Tell you what," she continued. "I can grab our clothes, and blankets, and food, and whatever else you may need. We can talk about this in detail when I come back. You don't have to face anyone you're not comfortable with for the rest of the night. How's that?"

James glanced out the small bedroom window. He could see the back corner of the pool, but no one was there.

"You want to stay up here?" he asked quietly, not sure what she meant.

"You misunderstand," Evaline said with a small smile. "I want to stay with you."

James couldn't help but hear Hendrik's voice in his head. Being saved by Evaline like a damsel in distress. James knew it didn't matter. It shouldn't have mattered. But it just piled on to the shame that was already drowning him.

No one really thought he could handle himself, did they?

He nodded slightly, trying to push back the accusations of his own mind at himself. Trying to focus on Evaline. On the present.

"Okay," he said, trying not to feel distant, as his head still swam with thoughts. "I'm... I'm sorry--" he cringed as the apology flew out, and he sighed in frustration with himself. Maybe he did need therapy.

"My mind is a mess right now," he mumbled.

"It's okay," Evaline said as the rubbed his arm with her thumbs. "Do you want me to stay here with you for a bit before I get the items?"

"Yes," he whispered softly, looking down at the floor with his eyebrows knit tightly together.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly. "Or do you want me to just be here with you for now?"

"I want to talk about it," he said, but his voice hitched, and his mouth pressed into a pout. "But I also want to cry--"

The last few words grew warbled as he bowed his head again, slowly reaching forward and holding Evaline so that his face was buried in her shoulder, hoping she didn't mind that his tears were hitting her bare skin. He held her firmly, but not too tight.

Evaline wordlessly welcomed him in, her arms around him wrapped a little more snugly as she gently brushed her hand up and down his back. He could feel the side of her head lightly leaning his own.

"It almost felt like I was talking to Carter again," James whispered through quiet cries. "The way Tula kept trying to twist my words back against me, and said things she knew would hurt. Am I just that easy? That easy to control? I feel like I just keep running into people who keep trying to--"

James hugged her a little tighter.

"I'm sorry," he squeaked, still painfully pushing the words out through tears. "I know I don't need to be sorry. I'm just so tired, Evaline. I'm trying, I really am. This is why I stopped telling people in the first place. About how I don't like being touched. They'd always just take advantage of me. They'd always use it against me."

"It's okay to cry," she said softly, still gently brushing her hand against his back in a rhythmic motion. "People can be cruel sometimes, and it's not your fault that they are like this. You are trying so hard, James, and I'm proud of you. I love the person you are."

James felt the tension in his chest release, and he ran out of words to say. He simply hugged Evaline as the tears kept coming, trying not to cry too loud for fear of somehow being heard. After about a minute or so, he took in a long, shaky breath and slowly pulled away, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"Thank you Eve," he said softly with a little sniff.

Evaline smiled and then lifted up a hand to also wipe his face with the back of her hand.

"I'd do a better job if I were wearing sleeves," she said softly. "But regardless, I'll always be there to catch your tears."

James smiled weakly. "And I'll be there to catch yours," he whispered, sniffing again as he tried to begin to collect himself.

Evaline smiled and wiped off his cheek before returning her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there when they asked uncomfortable questions," she said softly. "I won't leave your side for the remainder of the night."

James briefly met her eyes, but then his eyes fell to the floor.

"It's not that I don't want you to," he said quietly. "But I wish you didn't have to. I wish... that I could just handle myself."

"I understand," she said just as quietly. "It's hard to be around domineering people, especially when they are being hostile for no reason."

James took in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sure there is a reason," he said softly. "I've earned their mistrust, one way or another."

He thought about Tula, and wondered if her turnaround from aggressively flirtatious to viciously cruel had anything to do with the fact that he was no longer available, but it seemed unfair to attribute her change in behavior solely to that. He didn't want to assume she was that petty. If anything, she might've grown suspicious just from hearing him and Malkiel talk. James still wasn't glad that it was a public conversation, but he hardly had a choice in the matter with drunken Hendrik essentially forcing them to make nice.

"Some people will never trust you," Evaline said gently. "But that is okay. You don't need to earn everyone's trust, especially if they are not significant in your life."

"I guess so," James said, still with his head down. "I guess... it's just hard to think differently. I've been trying to gain people's trust for years."

"It takes time," she said. "And I don't expect immediate change, or even any change at all. But I just want you to know that some people are not worth trusting. I don't trust Tula either, but it seems that the feeling is mutual and we keep ourselves at a distance."

James nodded.

"I guess... I'll just be keeping several people at a distance, then," he said quietly.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Evaline said gently as she rubbed her thumb against his arm. "You don't need to be friends with everyone."

James nodded again, and he was quiet for a moment as he led his breathing level out again, and he wiped his face again to make sure it was dry.

He looked to Evaline, meeting her eyes.

"Does it look like I've been crying?" he asked.

Evaline tilted her head and kept her eyes on his face, observing his features.

"Your eyes a little more puffy than normal," she said softly. "But I only know that because I've memorized your features. I don't think others would notice."

James took in a deep breath.

"I think I'm ready to go back then, now," he said. "I don't need to hide, for the rest of the party. I'll be fine."

He reached up and took her hand, holding it firmly.

"With you," he said.

"Okay," Evaline said with a soft smile, lightly squeezing his hand for a second. "If that's what you want, then that's what I want too."

James returned the smile faintly.

"Besides," he said, pulling away a little and starting for the door. "There are still a few hours until midnight. And don't think I won't remember the little thing about a good luck kiss."

"And here I thought that you would grow tired and sleep through it," she teased as she followed after him.

James looked at Evaline with a knowing smile. "Please," he said. "If anyone can stay up, it's me."

"I should have known better," she said while mirrowing the smile. "I suppose I'll have to stay up with you until you sleep, then. First holiday together and all."

James's smile grew, and he took her hand again as they stepped out into the hallway, holding it between the two of them.

"Technically, we could count your birthday as our first holiday," he said quietly. "But I like this too."

Evaline looked back at him with the lingering smile as they walked down the hall holding hands. "Birthdays are hardly holidays," she said softly. "But if you count mine, I'll count yours, too."

"I think birthdays should be considered holidays," James said with a teasing kind of stubbornness, even if it was unprovoked. "So, yes."

Evaline let out a breathy laugh. "Consider myself persuaded," she said. "Birthdays are now holidays."

James looked over to her with a playful, victorious smile as they started walking down the stairs.

"Yes," he said under his breath.

Evaline squeezed his hand again. "You know, a tradition for New Years that people tend to gloss over is a list of resolutions," she said, glancing at James to gauge his reaction. "Just things they'd like to improve from one year to the next."

James glanced back at her with his eyebrows raised in interest.

"Oh?" he asked.

"It could be fun to make a list together," she said casually. "If you're interested."

James paused as they made it to the bottom of the steps, and he turned a little to face her, still holding her hand.

"Is there something you have in mind?" he asked.

"I haven't given it too much thought," Evaline said. "But, I mean, general things come to mind right now. Like communicating more."

"That's a good start," James said with a slight smile. "We can add more to the list..."

He trailed off as he looked up down the hall, hearing Hendrik's booming voice and heavy footsteps. It sounded like he was going back outside.

"Maybe when we're back on the road," he said, looking back over to her with a lingering smile. "If that's alright."

"More than alright," she said as she met his eyes with a smile of her own. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Glad we're on the same page," James said, letting his gaze linger on her face for just a moment before he gently led her by the hand out into the hall.

When they got back outside, everyone had finished eating and was in the pool, including both Elise and Alistair. Rudy, by some miracle, looked like he was awake, and talking actively with Katya. The two of them were laughing, and their laughter was loud and carried across the backyard.

Hendrik helped contribute to the din by speaking at a loud volume even though it was completely unecessary. He and Mel were back to talking again, and Alistair was with them, looking like he was listening quietly between the two of them.

That left Deidra, who was with Elise, and the two of them looked like they were having a quiet, pleasant conversation. And then there was Tula and Malkiel.

James didn't really give them more than a quick glance. He wasn't interested.

Him and Evaline hopped back into the pool, sticking to themselves for a little bit before they gravitated towards Mel, Alistair, and Hendrik. James waited to approach until it looked like Hendrik was sobering up a little, and his volume decreased to a more tolerable level.

"Watch out, the lovebirds are coming," Hendrik said with a chuckle to Mel and Alistair to grab their attention, but said it loud enough for James and Evaline to hear too.

"Hendrik," Mel scolded, shooting him a pointed look, like she was trying to tell him to stop the teasing.

"Oh right, my bad," Hendrik said as James and Evaline approached. "You are both more than love and I respect you as a person. With or without whiskey."

James stared at Hendrik for a moment before he let out a small chuckle.

"Thanks," he said with laughter still in his voice. "I respect you too."

"Good lad," Hendrik said.

"Surprisingly, all Hendrik had to do was take a nap," Mel said. "I don't know how he goes from drunk to sober so quickly."

"I'm built different," Hendrik said with a shrug.

"Uh huh," Mel said with an amused smile.

"Sometimes all it takes for me to feel normal again is a nap as well," James said with a shrug. He noticed Evaline drift to the side with Alistair, and he gave Mel and Hendrik a quick glance as he followed after. Hendrik and Mel didn't skip a beat in continuing their conversation with each other.

"...change of pace, but I don't mind it," James heard Evaline say the tail end of her sentence to Alistair as he approached. They both turned to him when he stood next to them.

"Hey, James," Alistair greeted.

James nodded with a slight smile. "Hey, Alistair."

"I was just making sure Alistair was up-to-date with the news," Evaline said to him with a small smile. "Seems you've already told him, though."

"I'm sure both perspectives are nice," James said with a small nod from Evaline to Alistair, indicative that she could keep going if she wanted.

Evaline slowly nodded, turning back to Alistair. "Um. Yeah. So I was just saying that living outside the safe zone has actually been a nice change of pace. I know Hendrik's animals have given us the safer experience, but ot overall does feel less restricting."

"I think you've always gravitated towards places with less rules," Alistair said with the beginnings of a smirk. "I guess it was only a matter of time before you ended up out here."

Evaline half-rolled her eyes. "We're both out here, you know."

"As far as anyone else is concerned, I'm only gone on a long research trip," Alistair said with his smirk widening.

"Let me guess," Evaline said, like this was rehearsed. "Oliver pulled some strings?"

"Wise guess," he said. "Who else would it be?"

"I don't know," she continued with the casual tone. "Alicia. Ovrell. Maybe even your mom?"

Alistair let out a long "hah" and then gestured at Evaline while looking at James. "Has she always been this funny with you?" he asked. "Something's changed."

"I like to think I am a positive comedic influence," James said, trying to suppress a smile and failing.

Alistair chuckled and shook his head, returning his attention back to Evaline, who wore a smug smile.

"Anyways, it doesn't matter," he continued. "But now I have to come up with bogus data."

"You'll figure something out," Evaline said. "Since you've apparently grown the brains the last couple years."

Alistair stared at her blankly for a second. "Always the brunt of your jokes, aren't I, Evaline?" he mused.

"I guess some things never change," she said with a small smile, glancing at James. He returned the small smile.

"Some things change, though," Alistair said. "Like... your... romance," he said as he was clearly trying to fish for something and then landed on that.

Evaline looked at him with a raised brow, amused. "Some things truly do never change," she said. "Like you not being witty."

"Oh, shut up," Alistair said while rolling his eyes, and Evaline let out a breathy laugh.

"Anyways, have you gotten to know James?" Evaline asked. "Besides awkward interactions?"

"I wouldn't say I've had awkward interactions with him," Alistair said. "But yes."

"We've had some good conversations," James said, looking to Evaline with a slight smile.

"I'd say so too," Alistair agreed.

"That's good to hear," Evaline said. "I wouldn't want you to have any bad conversations."

"What about average ones?" James asked with a teasing little smirk.

"Hmm," Evaline hummed as she returned the smirk. "Acceptable."

"Speaking of average conversations," Alistair cut in. "How did you both meet each other?"

"Oh, that's right," James said. "You weren't there."

"This seems to be a reccuring theme," Alistair said with a sigh. "I guess that's what I get for still living in the sectors."

"It's probably better that you weren't there," James said. "I made a bit of a spectacle of myself."

Alistair raised a brow, looking curious. "Are you talking about the council meetings?" he asked.

"Just the one," James said. "The first one I went to."

"Elise was there too," Evaline said. "I think you helped bring her in."

Alistair nodded, thinking back. "Right. Yeah, I remember that. No one really told me what happened during the meeting, though."

"Well," James said. "I wasn't present for the entirety of it. I just know what happened after I was invited in..."

He paused for a moment, his eyes drifting across the pool, only landing on Malkiel for a split second before he looked back to Alistair.

"To put it nicely, I was in denial that I'd actually managed to transport myself to a different time, but it all hit me when I stepped into the meeting and realized I couldn't deny it any longer," he said slowly. "I... in not so many words, 'freaked out.'"

"I can imagine," Alistair said. "Seems bizarre that's even possible. I'd be freaked out too."

"I may have also punched Hendrik, but we're good now," James said.

Alistair blinked and then flicked his eyes over to Hendrik. "You punched Hendrik?" he asked. "Not the other way around?"

"I felt threatened," James said. "I didn't know who all of you were, and I was just trying to get away at that point. But then Malkiel used his air powers to hold me in place, and at that point, I was just in a panic. So... it was an interesting time."

"That sounds intense," he said. "But at least nothing bad came out of it, I hope."

James briefly glanced at Evaline, but kept going. It looked like she wanted him to tell the story from his point of view.

"Evaline was the one who helped me to calm down," he said. "She actually listened to me."

Alistair nodded. "She's a good listener. Sometimes."

"Thanks, I try," Evaline said dryly.

"After that," James continued. "Things fell into place. Evaline took me to Terra, and that's where I spent the last three-or-so months until now. She would come by from time to time."

Alistair nodded again. "I see. Seems that you both spent a good amount of time with each other even before the mission."

"That we did," James answered.

"Well, I hope traveling with each other every hour of the day brings you closer together," Alistair continued. "I've gotten to catch up with Mel and Elise more, but it does get tiring, sometimes."

"I can imagine," James said. "I think there's always going to be moments in travel where you get a little tired of all of it, but Eve and I have gotten along just fine so far."

Alistair was quiet for a moment as he blinked then looked between James and Evaline, who was looking at James with wide eyes and turning pink. Did he say something wrong?

"Did you call her Eve?" Alistair asked with the beginnings of a smirk.

James blinked, and looked between Evaline and Alistair. Well, there was no denying it now.

"Uh... yes," he said.

Alistair hummed with a wide smirk as he noted that Evaline looked flustered and dismayed already.

"I didn't know you let other people call you Eve... Eve," he said to Evaline.

"I guess some things have changed, then, Ali," Evaline snapped back.

Alistair looked a bit annoyed, but for the most part, didn't let her nickname faze him too much.

"You know, since we're on this subject anyways, I did tell James that you have a type," he said, and continued anyways even when Evaline began to pinch the bridge of her nose to hide her face from embarrassment. "Seems that you gravitate towards smart men who can patiently handle your anxiety and talk for you when you can't. Also seems you let them call you Eve now."

"Shut up," Evaline grumbled, and Alistair smiled victoriously.

James looked between the two of them with a raised brow.

"I don't think that's a bad thing," he said with a small shrug. "It's just an observation."

"I don't think it's a bad thing either," Alistair said. "Just ironically predictable."

James watched Evaline, who sighed and rubbed her face, looking like she needed a moment to collect herself. James decided now was a time to change the subject a little.

"What about you, Alistair?" James asked. "Do you have a 'type?'"

Alistair looked at him with an arched brow, perhaps surprised by the sudden turnaround.

"Not really," he said casually.

"I did notice at the Day of Peace party that you and Arima had exchanged corsages," James said. "I hope it's not too forward to mention it."

"I didn't know that," Evaline cut in. "You and Arima?"

"We're just friends," Alistair said defensively.

James raised a brow, looking at Alistair with quiet skepticism.

"Well, I guess it's not my place to pry," he said dismissively. "Sorry."

"Oh, do tell, James," Evaline said with fierce determination.

"A man's personal business is his personal business," James said matter-of-factly. "If he doesn't want to talk about it with us it's none of our business."

"Dearest, are you going to side with Alistair and not your partner?" Evaline continued stubbornly.

James flicked his eyes to Alistair with a look of apology. Alistair looked unamused by Evaline's behavior.

"In this case, yes," James said, looking back to Evaline with an innocent smile as he shrugged.

Evaline groaned and gave up on James, shifting her attention to Alistair. "You know, it was only a matter of time before you and Arima happened," she said.

"Nothing happened," Alistair said blankly.

"Because we did all feel like you were alone," Evaline continued anyways.

"Evaline," James cut in calmly.

"What?" she said as she whirled around at him.

"If he says nothing happened, nothing happened," James said. "Besides, if you were in his shoes two weeks ago, you wouldn't want people prying about us. It's okay to just drop it."

He then looked at Alistair with another apologetic glance.

Evaline let out a long sigh, narrowing her eyes at Alistair, who was now the smug one of the two.

"Fine," she said in defeat.

And as if the universe decided to toy with them, Mel's voice was heard behind them.

"Whatcha talking about?" she asked.

"The table is open to new subjects at the moment," James said.

"We were just talking about the relationships we had as kids," Evaline said before anyone could say anything after James. "Specifically about how Alistair had none."

Alistair facepalmed and Mel grinned, already getting giddy.

"Hey Alistair, remember when you were interested in me?" Mel asked casually.

"Mel, I was like, fourteen," Alistair said with a groan.

"I still kind of feel bad," Mel continued anyways.

"And like I said. Happened more than ten years ago."

James was beginning to feel grateful that no one knew him ten years ago.

"I think we all felt bad," Evaline added on. "Especially since the rejection was public."

"James, what about you?" Alistair suddenly asked, returning the subject hotseat back to him. "What attempted relationships did you have as a kid?"

James stared at Alistair blankly for a moment.

"Oh," he said quickly. "I wasn't in any relationships. Not like that."

"Not like that?" Mel teased with a grin. "What does that mean?"

"Just -- I mean, I had some friends," James said defensively. "But nothing romantic. I wasn't really thinking about that as a kid."

"Ooh, what were your friends like?" Mel asked next, sounding genuinely curious. "We all know about each other as kids but not anything about you. Tell us, tell us, tell us."

James felt his face flush a little bit, and he flicked his eyes over to Evaline - not to look for an escape, but... well, she knew more about his childhood than anyone.

"I guess," James started. "I didn't really have a lot of close friends, actually. Just one. His name was Carter."

"What's Carter like?" Mel asked, none-the-wiser and assuming they were best friends.

"He was pretty charismatic," James said. "I was a lot more quiet at the time - not that that's changed too much, but... I guess I was more shy. Carter was well-spoken and very social. Any other friends I made tended to be his as well."

"Awww, James was a shy boy," Mel cooed as she poked Evaline like this was new information they both were learning about. "Sounds familiar."

"Uh huh," Evaline simply said, glancing at James and meeting his eyes for a moment. He could tell she didn't want to say too much on this subject.

"So, James, he was your main friend, right?" Mel asked as she turned her attention back to him. "Surely you made more friends, though. Maybe through Carter?"

James smiled weakly with a nod.

"There were a few friends we spent time with more regularly," James said. "About... seven of us, in total. We all went to the same school as well, actually. Since we were about twelve. I was the youngest though... I uh, skipped a grade."

Yes, that was how he was going to put it. In actuality, he'd lied about his age, but that didn't matter. But he had been required to test into the school, so in a way, it was still on merit.

"That doesn't surprise me since you're smart," Mel said. "But besides the smart bit, that's not too far from us. There was six of us that became good friends around age twelve. Too bad you weren't around, and it could've been the seven of us, huh?"

James maintained his small smile, but it felt strained.

"I guess so," he said. "A shame I wasn't born in the same time, then."

Mel hummed. "If you were, you'd be bunched in with the rest of the time travelers," she said. "That would have been interesting."

"Mel," Evaline suddenly said like she knew what she was thinking, but Mel spoke again before she could say too much.

"Hey, did you know that Evaline and Oliver were actually supposed to get married?" she asked James with a grin. "Maybe you could have taken Oliver's place if you were born sooner."

James's smile waned, and he gave Mel a look. Yes, he did know that.

"James, I think we're more interested in hearing about your five other friends," Evaline said sharply before anyone could respond.

James flicked his eyes over to her.

"Oh, uh, sure," he said. "Well..."

He paused for a moment, looking up in thought as he tried to recall the memories and separate them from the pain of Carter's involvement in it all. For the sake of retelling things, he could put on rose-colored glasses.

"So, there was me, Carter, and the other five. I'll just... go through them, I suppose. There was Helen, and I think, aside from Carter, I got along with her the most. She was a bit stubborn and hard-headed at times, but she had a really strong work ethic. She was the type who didn't believe in cutting corners. We would often study together, because she took our schooling very seriously, and so did I. We often didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but that was what we bonded over, so to speak. School, I guess."

"You made a friend and all you talked about was school?" Mel asked in disbelief.

"That was just with Helen," James said innocently.

"Sounds like a painful friendship," she mumbled.

"Believe it or not, I actually liked school," James said. "And learning. So it wasn't painful for me."

"So did Evaline," Mel said as she glanced at her, and then looked at AListair. "Eh. Not Alistair though."

Alistair and Evaline both exchanged unamused glances at each other, but refrained from commenting, knowing it would only egg Mel on.

"For the record, most all of the people I was friends with were... at the top of our class," James said, though it felt strange to say so. He wasn't trying to humble-brag. "So we all cared about school."

"We've got a smarty-pants over here," Mel said with a teasing grin. "So, what about the rest of your friends?"

"You might've liked Fonzie," James said. "He was brilliant, but he never acted like it. He was always telling jokes and trying to make everyone laugh, even at the expense of looking like a fool. He was a character, and he got in trouble a lot, even though he kept his grades up. Carter didn't exactly help, on that end. He was usually the instigator, egging him on."

"Hah!" she said with a smile. "You're right, I probably would've liked Fonzie. Sounds like me and Elias when we were young, except Elias was as dumb as rocks. Fun person, though."

"Fonzie was fun too," James said. "But because he was smart, he often knew just where the line was... so he didn't stray too far. But he was always pushing the boundaries, just a little."

"Too bad Fonzie didn't jump forward in time with you," Mel said.

"Well, I haven't seen him in a long time, so... it's unlikely it would've happened anyway," James said, making brief eye contact with Mel, trying to remind her without words what little she would've known about his situation. He was wanted in Nye. That made things more complicated.

Mel hummed, and thankfully didn't prod from that sentence alone. "Mm'kay. So there's you, Carter, Helen, and Fonzie. Who else?"

"There was Kirk, and he was a pretty laid-back kind of guy. He would often just go with the flow of what everyone else was doing, but on occasion, he would do or say something unexpected. He had a mischievious side that would come out unpredictably. Pranks, and that sort of thing. But he was so unassuming none of us ever saw it coming. Except for Carter and I, after we picked up on some of his... more subtle cues."

He paused, and lifted his hands up to his face.

"He'd always do this little thing with his eyebrow. Just a little twitch," James said, poking at his eyebrow and trying to imitate the quick, twitchy movement. "And then he'd look away, like he was calculating."

"Why does he do that thing with the eyebrows, though?" Mel asked, scrunching her nose.

"I don't think he knew he was doing it," James said with a shrug. "We never pointed it out, because then he might've stopped doing it."

"If I did something unconsciously that the others knew about, I'd want to know," Mel said confidently.

James could see Evaline and Alistair glance at each other again, like they were both wordlessly telling each other: "Yeah, we're not saying anything." He took that as a sign to be silent about Mel's apology bread as well.

"Sometimes you don't want to steal away from people's little quirks by pointing them out," James said. "It's part of what you enjoy about them, you know?"

Mel hummed again, a teasing smile tugging her lips. "Hey Evaline, has James ever pointed out your quirks?" she asked.

Evaline glanced between the two of them before landing on James. "Um... no, I don't think so," she said.

James flashed Evaline a cheesy, toothy smile with his eyebrows up high and his eyes closed, but it only lasted a second and faded into a small grin, and he sucked his lips in for a second as he looked down into the water.

"Guess he's keeping it a secret because he enjoys them," Mel teased, and Evaline let out an embarrassed chuckle as she slightly blushed.

"Hey, I still have two more friends I haven't talked about," James said, changing the subject.

"Do tell," Mel said, still grinning as she gestured with her hand to signal that he could let it out.

"Well, there was Dennis," James said. "He was a big guy, and liked to throw his weight around a little. Fonzie and Carter did a good job of keeping him in his place, though. He was... er, I think the term you would use is more of a jock. And then there was Ingrid. She was a lot like Carter in the way she held herself, though she was a little more quiet. Very intentional and thoughtful. She actually was the only one who didn't really like Carter that much, come to think of it. We could never figure out why."

"Yikes. Sounds like some friend drama," Mel commented.

"Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, it didn't come up much," James said. "It was never really... resolved. At least, not to my knowledge. Maybe they made amends without me knowing."

"Yeah," she said, looking to be in thought. "I get that."

Alistair then cleared his throat. "So, uh, James," he finally said. "I hope someday you can figure out how to go back, if you're interested, so you can see your friends again."

James looked blankly at Alistair for a moment, and then flicked his eyes away with a small, sad smile.

"Oh... well, that's a nice thought," James said. "But... we had a falling out years ago. I don't think there's any saving that. It's better to just leave it in the past."

There was a short silence that followed, and Alistair looked at Mel to answer, but when it became clear she didn't want to comment, it became apparent that the responsibility of a response was placed on him.

"Oh, uh..." Alistair began. "Yeah. I can agree with that. Sorry to hear that."

"It's okay," James said with a small, appreciative smile. "You didn't know. Don't worry about it."

Alistair nodded, looking up at the starry night sky as he said his next words.

"Well, since it seems that you've settled in this time period, hopefully you'll make more meaningful and lasting friendships," he said.

"I think I'm starting to," James said softly.

Evaline reached in the water and found his hand again, interlacing her fingers with his. She looked at him, softly smiling. He returned the gentle smile.

"We can be your friends," Mel butted in.

James looked back at Mel with a growing smile, and his eyebrow raised.

"Can be? I thought you already were," he said teasingly.

"Aha!" she said with a grin as she splashed a bit of water on him. "Caught you admitting that we're friends."

James leaned away a little from the water with a faint laugh.

"You make it sound like I'd never say it," he said with a smile.

"Evaline is too stubborn to admit it sometimes," Mel said, looking at her and then over at Alistair. "Alistair too, sometimes. James, you should teach them lessons."

"Lessons in friendship acceptance," James said formally. "Lesson one: get over your denial."

"Thanks, James," Evaline said with a smirk. "I'm cured."

"It's a two-step process," James continued. "Lesson two: use your words to say it out loud. 'You are my friends.'"

"Hey, Mel," Alistair called. "I'll follow the two-step process if you forget what happened when we were fourteen."

Mel hummed. "Mmm... no."

"Ah, well," Alistair with a shrug over at James. "Looks like all three of us are stubborn."

"How unfortunate," James said with sarcasm. "Your hands are tied."

Suddenly Evaline let out an airy laugh, and she shook her head as she looked between the three of them, a smile meeting her eyes.

"You three are ridiculous," she said.

"We can up the antics, if that's a challenge," James said with a playful smile.

"Oh?" Mel said with another grin, interest piqued. "What do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know," James said innocently. "I was thinking of stealing a page from your book, with a little--"

He then threw his hand into the water and splashed up water towards her.

"Hey!" Mel complained as it landed on her hair, and she pouted. The pout quickly turned to a fierce determination as she then jumped to the space in front of him and flail her arms around to cause a wave of water around them.

James laughed and ducked his head under the water, just for a second, and then came up, spitting water in Alistair's face.

Alistair had his arms in front of him when Mel splashed, but he put them down right in time to be hit by James's attack stream. He looked at him, mildly amused, but then drifted his gaze over to Mel. They both stared at each other for a second, exchanging a look of mutual understanding before both moving at once.

Mel splashed water and caused ripples of movement them, and suddenly there was steam that surrounded James in a thick blanket. He could only hear the others wade around him, as well as the other voices in the pool who were likely confused by what was going on.

James made a potentially poorly calculated decision to duck under the water, letting the heat surround him. He then swam blinding in the direction he heard someone moving, until he ran into them. He then surged to the surface with a big splash, seeing that it was Evaline, now soaking wet and staring at him with half-lidded eyes. James couldn't help but laugh.

"I am now a casualty of this war," she dead-panned.

"Oh noooooo," James said in mock-pity. "What a tragedy. I guess I will just have to carry your body with me until it can be buried."

And with that, he reached under the water and scooped her up in his arms, with one arm under her legs and one behind her back.

"Or potentially use you as a shield. It is unclear at the moment," he said with a playful smile.

Evaline laughed as he carried her, and she held on to the back of his neck as a grin lingered on her face.

"You are ridiculous," she said.

"Thank you," James said. "I take pride in that."

At that moment, there appeared to be an incoming big wave of water that was heading fast their way. Instinct took over, and much unlike his teasing, he quickly spun around and held Evaline close so that the wave would wash over his back and head, leaving Evaline's head shielded.

Except it didn't come.

He then heard Mel beside him mimicking sounds of water. "Psssshhhh shwaaaa HIT!" she said, then pretended to get swept away. "Ah! It burns! So much water! I'm droooowwwningggg." She then dramatically fell in the pool, up to her nose with a mischevious glint in her eyes as she faced James still holding Evaline.

James laughed at her spectacle of a performance, but stayed on guard. He bounced up in the water, kicking up his legs in Mel's face. As he kicked up water, he conveniently propelled him and Evaline away from her as well.

He heard her loudly spit out water and splash from losing her balance, but then laugh. "I will have my revenge on you, Jamieo!" she yelled across the water.

"Okay, Mello!" James shot back with a laugh.

"Oh, blessed day, I have been saved by the evils from the water," Evaline said dramatically as she cupped his face. "How ever shall I thank my saving grace?"

James laughed again.

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be dead," he said with a little laugh. "Miss casualty."

Evaline smirked and then suddenly went limp and let all her weight fall on his arms, although it was still fairly easy to hold her up because of the water's buoyancy.

"I am now dead," she said blankly with her tongue out and eyes closed.

James looked down at her with a goofy smile, and he leaned his head forward, poking her cheek with the tip of his nose.

"Mm, yes," he concluded. "Very dead. The tongue sells it."

He started to pull back a little - but Evaline peeked at him with one eye open and then quickly leaned in to kiss his cheek, although the motion was so fast that she didn't fully have time to retract her tongue, so it came out sloppy and wet.

"I have returned from the dead by your kiss," she said. "Much appreciated."

James laughed with a puff of air through his nose as he looked down at her.

"Any time," he said.

James and Evaline spent quite a bit more time in the pool, eventually laying of the splashing games and going back to talking and just relaxing for a few moments in silence as they drifted around in the water. Hendrik came by again for a minute to tease them about the water fight, calling them children, and James just let it pass.

Eventually, James started getting hungry again, so he and Evaline stepped out to dry off before wandering back over to the table of leftover food, which was abandoned, as everyone else was off enjoying the hot spring.

James found his half-eaten bread roll still on the table from earlier and promptly finished it off before taking two more, happily sitting down at the table, facing the pool as he munched on them with his towel hanging over his shoulders. Evaline sat beside him, but she didn't seem hungry, so instead she was just watching him eat.

"You seem to really like bread," she commented.

"Bread is so hard to get out in the wilderness, you know," James said. "You can't just go find an oven. Bread is a..."

"Treat?" she finished for him when he trailed off.

"A rare novelty," he said, taking another bite. "But also a treat."

Evaline smiled in amusement, looking back over the pool. "Noted," she said.

And just like the many other items she had noted that she gifted him in the past, James was sure she really was noting this, filing it away in her head somewhere. But he wasn't upset about it. He actually enjoyed that about her - that she remembered things. He was learning that it was one of her ways of showing she cared, and he didn't want to take that from her.

Besides, he would always appreciate bread as a gift. Proven by the fact that he also wasn't going to tell Mel about her quirk, either.

He and Evaline sat in a comfortable silence for a moment as he continued to finish off the bread rolls, and he washed it down with some water. As he was finishing up, he could see Elise was stepping out of the pool and walking over. She looked like she was scanning the table to see what was left.

"Hey Evaline. Hey James," she said with a smile as she glanced at them then returned to looking around the table for leftovers. "Taking a food break?"

"On occasion," James said. "I have an unending stomach."

"Yeah, it's only James, really," Evaline said with a smirk. "I'm just making sure he doesn't overdose on bread."

Elise chuckled, deciding to opt for a bread roll as well. "The bread is delicious, isn't it? Mel made it."

"The only thing that would make it better is if it was filled with cheese," James mused.

"Ah," Elise said as she stood next to them with a roll in hand. "You must not be lactose intolerant. Lucky you."

"I have been fortunately gifted with the power to eat cheese, yes," James said. "It's my third power. My second one is being able to eat endlessly."

"I can confirm that," Evaline said with a teasing smile.

Elise laughed. "Well, unfortunately, your third power is fairly rare these days. But I might know a connection to various farms when we reach our destination. Maybe they make cheese, and we can do some trading so you can taste it again."

"That is something to look forward to," James hummed as he looked over at her. "Do you want to sit down?"

"Sure," Elise said with a smile as she pulled up a chair next to James. "Thank you."

"Yeah," James said with a small smile in return. "How's the night been for you, so far? Now that you've finally had a chance to enjoy the pool?"

"It's been very relaxing," she said after a pause from eating. "The hike here has been fairly intensive for all of us. I'm glad we can not only relax our minds but also our body from any muscle or joint pains. Hot springs have natural minerals that can quickly rejuvenate you, and it is just the thing we need for this trip. At New Year's Eve, no less."

"I guess we have the planners to thank for that," James said with a little grin as he looked at Evaline.

"I only picked the date to do a whole-team rendezvous point," Evaline said with a small smile. "Alistair told us several different locations in the predicted area, and it was Elise who finalized the spot. And Mel... well, she brought the hype."

"All equally important pieces of the puzzle," James said.

"I think you would be great at planning too, James," Elise said. "Everything has already been planned up to the destination, but we could use your insight on the way back."

"James is insightful and tactical," Evaline added.

"I'll help wherever I'm needed," James said. "Just let me know if and when you'd like my input."

"Don't worry," Evaline said with a smile as she looked at him. "We will."

James nodded, feeling a little timid under her gaze.

"Alright," he said quietly.

"What about you - how has your night been so far?" Elise asked. "It looked like you were having fun with Mel and Alistair earlier."

James grinned a little.

"Yeah, we had fun," James said. "I think I won that water fight. I consider it my small success for the night."

Elise laughed. "I can tell," she said. "Hopefully the water wasn't too hot, though. I wouldn't want anyone scaling up."

James blinked, and sat still for a moment as his eyes flicked to his bandaged arm.

"Oh... no -- I think we're all okay," James said. "From the water."

"That's good," Elise said. "I also packed moisterizer if your skin is feeling dry from the combination of hot water and cool air. Just let me know if you need anything."

James was quiet for a moment, considering if he wanted to bring this up now. He didn't really want to wait for a better time. At the moment, everyone else was in the water, and out of earshot, and they were shaded under the porch enough that people wouldn't really notice... unless they were trying to be nosy.

"Actually," he started hesitantly. "I was... considering what your previous offer. To heal my bruises. If that's still on the table."

Elise looked up at him, now with her full attention, and setting the half-eaten bread roll on a plate.

"It is," she said with a small smile. "Bruises are the easiest to heal with my power. I'd be happy to help if you want me to."

"If it's not too much... it would help," he said.

James could feel Evaline reach under the table and gently set her hand on his knee, like she was wordlessly giving him support and encouragement.

"It's not much at all," she said. "But just so I understand the full scope, may I first see the bruises and ask a few generic questions?"

James slowly scooted his chair back, and he felt Evaline's hand pull away. He nodded, and took off the towel that was around his shoulders, setting it on the back of the chair. He didn't know if he had to point them out, as the bruises on his chest and abdomen were still pretty dark and apparent, as were the one on his legs.

He stood up and turned his shoulders a little to show her his back, even though the motion made him nervous. He knew that bruises from the vines wrapped around there at least, but he couldn't really see what else was back there.

"How long have you had them?" Elise asked.

"About two and a half weeks," James said. "Closer to three."

Elise nodded. "It looks like it's starting to yellow on the edges, but not quite fade. How is the pain level?"

"It's not bad," James said quietly. "It only aches with pressure and repeated movements."

"Is it uncomfortable?" she asked gently.

"...A little," James said. "It's just an... overall achiness. It's gotten easier to ignore."

"We all have different tolerances of pain," Elise said. "But just because you are used to the pain, does not make it any less painful."

James only nodded slightly as he straightened his shoulders again to face her.

"I can heal you," Elise said. "All of the bruises. But I do ask that this happen closer to when we are resting, since I will be fairly tired afterwards, if that is okay with you."

James nodded again, quickly.

"Of course," he said.

"I can do it today, if you'd like," Elise continued. "I can knock at your door tonight and do it privately. No need to make a scene of it."

James met her eyes with a look that was full of relief.

"Yes," he said quietly. "I'd prefer that."

"I'm glad to hear that," she said with a smile. "Now, is there anything else that's painful that you're considering to be healed?"

James flicked his eyes down to his arm, and the bandage.

"Yes," he said slowly. "It's... a burn."

"Is the timeframe from when you obtained it the same as the bruises?"

James nodded.

"When we ran into the Gaea," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Elise said gently. "It pains me that you're in pain, but I do want to help alleviate that for you. It's hard to know what kind of healing I can do without looking at the wound, but instead of undoing the seal over your bandage, I can ask more questions instead. Is that alright?"

James nodded.

"Okay," he said quietly.

"You can sit down," Elise said with a small smile. "If it's easier."

James nodded and did so, sitting back down in his chair. Evaline reached under the table and took his hand, gently squeezing.

"What's the pain level of the burn?" Elise asked.

James hesitated for a moment, looking down at Evaline's hand in his, but not quite looking at her.

"It... hurts constantly," he said quietly. "It stings, and it's still tender. It something hits it or rubs up against it, its worse. But in the waterproof bandaging, its a little more subdued, I think. Since it's so snug."

Elise nodded. "It sounds quite deep. Do you have pain all throughout the burn? I ask because if you don't feel pain in some parts, your nerve ending may be damaged."

"It didn't get that deep," James said. "I can still feel the pain of it."

"That's a good sign, because pain is only temporary," Elise said. "It sounds like it didn't penetrate through the second layer of skin, then." She paused for a moment. "With your bruises, I'm unable to completely heal both layers of skin... by myself, anyways."

She glanced over her shoulder to look at Rudy in the pool, but didn't suggest that he help out loud.

"If we're waiting until the end of the night," James said. "We... could ask him then. I'd rather not bring it up with him now."

Elise nodded and faced him again. "Would you like me to talk to Rudy myself? I can bring him when I visit you at the end of the night."

"I'd appreciate that," James said, feeling relieved that he wouldn't have to subject himself to questioning for Rudy directly - at least, on the front end.

"I can certaintly do that," she said with a smile. "I'm sure he'll say yes, but I'll ask him closer towards the end of the night so you can enjoy the rest of the holiday without questions."

"Thank you, Elise," James said quietly.

"I'm happy to help," she said. "Is there anything else you'd like me to know?"

"That's all," James said.

"Okay," Elise said. "If you think of anything else - whether it be big or small - you are always welcome to let me know."

James nodded. "Okay," he said with a small, thin smile.

"We really appreciate it, Elise," Evaline said. "I know it can't always be easy."

"Don't worry," Elise assured. "I know my limits. That's why doctors tend to work in groups."

Evaline nodded. "Still, thank you."

"You are very welcome," she said with a small smile, then looked over at James. "No one deserves pain. You're no exception to that. I am happy to help."