Jimmie swiped his brows, the stinging from the gathered rain, subsiding somewhat. He dragged his hand on top of his damp armour, trying to get some parts of his body, not drenched. He glanced upwards, droplets of water gathering on his glasses, preciously shielding his delicate eyes from the stinging rain.

The grey clouds stretched far in the dark night, and Jimmie decided to take his second pill. It would be fucking stupid if he died from radiation sickness. Especially after everything that’s happened.

Popping it into his mouth, he meticulously chewed on it, the bitter taste spreading like a poison. He chastised himself for never learning to swallow; It had been a bad habit from childhood, never truly gone.

While chewing, Jimmie looked over at everyone, most hunkered down with their hands covering some exposed part of their body. Dick had a blanket he had garnered from somewhere, clung over the top of his head, hiding his face.

Jimmie let his eyes wander, only stopping once he saw Piernov, the only one standing, looking out over the dark landscape. Whipping his head around as he saw, or thought, he saw something. He wasn’t wearing glasses, but the rain didn’t seem to bother him, droplets practically running down his eye.

Jimmie wasn’t the only one who had noticed, as Bill bellowed out.

“Hey Pier! Let me borrow those eyes, this rain fucking sucks.”

Piernov glanced over his shoulder, down at Bill, who was peering back at him with his big hand covering his face. Piernov looked back out at the dark landscape and responded.

“You can't borrow my eyes, that would make me blind.”

Bill laughed merrily, but coughed as some rain found its way into his mouth. He cursed with a whisper, not audible because of the heavy rain. He then shouted after the last bit of rain was spit out.

“Can you borrow me some money then? Those eyes aren’t cheap”

“No, I dont have any money.”

Bill shrugged unhelpfully, responding with a neutral tone.

“I know that, but I mean, once we get back home.”

“This is home, and I dont have money at home.”

Bills eye’s narrowed on Piernov, his face growing a little darker, and his tone a little heavier.

“No, this isn’t home, this is a shit-fuck of a planet. I mean our real home!”

“This is my home.” Piernov responded unhelpfully. Bill stared at him in shock, his lips growing tight as he practically seethed out.

“Piernov, you do-“

But Bill got interrupted before he could finish, the commander had placed one firm hand on his shoulder. Bill looked at the commander quizzically. The commander merely shook his head, Bill looked confused. And as the commander took his hand off, slowly walking away. Bill looked back up at Piernov, asking with a hint of displeasure.

“Okay, home. Could your parents send some money at least?”

The commander stopped in his step, turning back around with a stern face, telling Bill to shut up. Bill took his eyes away from Piernov to stare at the commander. Which took Jimmie by surprise, Bill wasn’t the type to talk back.

“Or what? I’m just asking questions."

The commander stood silent, eyes narrowing. Jimmie didn’t understand what had brough upon this strange reaction from Bill. Maybe it was the exhaustion, maybe he was angry, Jimmie understood anger. But before the two of them could bicker, Piernov responded.

“My parents hate me”

Bill froze by the words. The commander only kept staring at Bill, his eyes narrowed further. Bill looked up at Piernov, eyes confused, and he asked without thinking.

“Then how did you get those eyes?”

Piernov turned around, looking down at Bill with his eyes, acidic water dripping from them. And spoke quietly, almost not enough to hear through the heavy rain.

“My dad blinded me when I was young, I was a “fucking robot in disguise” according to him, I am not. Then Dad left us when Mom defended me. Then, as the years passed, she started hating me too, I think."

Piernov stared blankly down at Bill, who kept his head high, looking at Piernov in confusion. But he started squirming a little, not sure where this was going.

“She couldn’t raise me on her own, so she gave me to the army.”

Bill couldn’t keep his eye on Piernov, glancing over at the commander, seeing an angry face staring back at him. He looked back at Piernov, feeling uncomfortable.

“The army gave me eyes, the best eyes they said. But it came with a condition, I had to repay them, and they said I would never be able too. So they sent me here, to fight until I die”

Piernov went silent, second ticking by, the rain just as heavy as before, just as uncomfortable. Bill looked around, avoiding Piernov’s piercing gaze until Piernov spoke again, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“I dont want to die”

And Bill looked down in shame, down at his wet feet, down at the muddy ground. Barely whispering.

“I’m sorry, Pier, I’m a fucking asshole.”

Piernov tilted his head in confusion.

“You’re not an asshole, you just have one”

And Bill whipped his head up, a small smile breaking through his sad expression, his guilty expression.

“Yeah, your right.. Sorry Pier”

Piernov kept looking down at Bill, his face crunched down into confusion. But he didn’t ask why he was sorry. He just assumed that with Bill going silent, Bill meant for the conversation to end. Piernov wanted to get better at socialising, be better with people, so he decided that Bill wanted the conversation to end. It was hard to be social.

Jimmie looked away, down at his feet, hiding his own face from the unbearable rain.

Jimmie didn’t see the commander bowing down next to Bill, giving him a whispered thrashing. Dick inching closer to give him a powerful, but gentle punch. Jimmie didn’t see Rick using his body, his armour and blanket to cover Chris. Jimmie didn’t see Piernov glancing out at the darkness, a darkness that wasn’t dark for Piernov.

Jimmie was just looking at his shoes.

And Jimmie noticed that one wasn’t properly tied.

I’d better fix that.