The third day spent inside the house was much like the first two. Wake up, do whatever, die while working out under Beol’s tutelage, and go to their rooms.

As for their gear check-up, the arrival got delayed for the next day. Deck’s contacts weren’t all reliable.

This time, Hawk went somewhere at nighttime. He didn’t tell anyone where and no one bothered asking.

Inside the girl’s room, they were all having a talk about dates.

“I’m just saying,” Bloom was the one leading the topic. “Tall women are goddesses among us mortals.”

“I don’t remember having ichor for blood.” Crimson, who, surprisingly, allowed herself to join the conversation, jokes, to which the blonde rolls her eyes.

“I’m not tall but I sure am a goddess.” Jane lets the surge of self confidence ooze out.

“You sure are, love.” Bloom, who was close, says while caressing the dark skinned girl’s hand gently.

“Sure, women are alright.” The redhead comments. “I know I am.” She waves her hair around for added flair. “But men are just… wow.”

To that note, both girls aside her shudder.

“No offense but men suck ass.” Bloom remarks.

“I mean, literally-” Jane adds, snickers from both of them.

“What’s up with you and guys?” The tallest of the three asks curiously.

“Not your business, sis.”

The suddenness of that tone shift annoys Crimson but she opts to sigh deeply. Getting worked up because of a self centered dwarf wouldn’t do her good.

Jane watches the situation unfold with a surprised look. “C’mon, no need to be so rude to her.”

“Then maybe she shouldn’t stuff her nose up everyone’s lives.” Bloom barks back. “And you better not try defending her.”

Offended that the rudeness was now at her, Jane stands up. “What? What if I do want to defend her?”

“Then I guess you also want to suck her up good, huh?” Now, Bloom stands up, a vein begging to pop out of her forehead. “Like you do that asshole you call a friend.”

Crimson didn’t understand how the conversation strafed to this. Or how hot headed Bloom really was.

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As for Jane, all she sees is red. Clenching her fist tight, right as she’s about to take a swing, noticing the mood shift, the redhead holds her arm in place through her wrist.

Looking back at the taller woman, Jane has a mixture of rage and confusion in her face.

Earlier that day.

“J has a fuse the size of a walnut.” Samuel says while on the rooftops, his and Crimson’s now usual meeting spot. “Keeping my cool to make sure she doesn’t blow up is hard sometimes.”

“Why do you do this though?” The redhead asks, genuine curiosity in her tone. “She isn’t your relative, is she?”

“Nope.”

“And you two aren’t dating, right?”

“She may joke about it but yeah, we aren’t.”

“Then…” She gestures for an answer, visibly confused. Samuel looks forward, as if reminiscing of the past.

“We go way back. I did a thing for her and that kind of made us get together somehow.” He sighs. “At first, she felt like she needed to do something to pay me back so she stuck around and did pretty much everything I asked.” He shudders. “But it was really creepy and kind of annoying.”

“You two seem like good friends though.”

“And we are.” He looks back at her. “She eventually got that I wanted a friend, not a shadow, and after a lot of talks, she… grew up.”

Crimson tilts her head a little. “Sometimes, you talk as if you were her dad.”

“More like older brother.” He chuckles. “Her jokes border on sexual harassment sometimes.”

She snorts. “You really do love her, don’t you?”

He looks ahead again. “Maybe too much.”

She mimics him. “I think that’s cute.”

Back to the present.

“I think Syndrome would be upset over this.” The redhead comments with an apologetic tone.

Forcing her arm away from the taller girl’s grasp, she looks away in embarrassment. Then, glancing at the blonde with a glare, she walks away.

“Yeah, you can go kiss his ass real good!” The toxic blonde bursts out.

Samuel, who had heard enough, peeked through and saw where his friend was going. He knew she needed some time to cool down.

He also saw Crimson go to the rooftops. Since Hawk was who knew where, he figured following her was the most natural thing.

Once there, he notices her glancing into the distance, the night sky being a contrast to the usual orange sunrise. He sits next to her.

“We’re a bit early for this, no?”

She sighs. “Yeah, I guess.”

“What happened?”

“Bloom had a hissy fit over nothing.” She chuckles. “I half expected her to be a short fuse but just wow. Also, she said some mean things down there but I guess you heard all that.”

“Pretty much.” He grimaces. “How didn’t J not fold her in half?”

“Because I was there.” She then glances at him. “That wouldn’t have looked pretty.”

“Thanks for that.”

They both remain silent for almost a minute.

She then waddles closer to him.

He notices it but chooses to keep looking forward.

She looks like she wants to say something. He still doesn’t look at her but asks. “Wanna say something?”

She leans her head on his shoulder. “No, not really.”