Ex POV 

The strange man shoved his way into the door. None of us recognised him, probably a spy, possibly not. His hair was unkept, like the storm outside had styled it in it's own messy way, taking total creative freedom on his looks. 

Well, me, Al, and Creed are all of the same mind so we raise our guns as soon as we heard the door knob turn. Cat, Indigo, Pearl, and Fwhip were a bit slow on the uptake, the latter lowering his gun as soon as he saw the face of the man. Soft brown eyes, widened in shock, the gun metal grey glinting in them. Lips parted in a partial greeting, the corners upturned in the smallest of smiles. Light stubble traced his jawline, making him look the tiniest bit older. 

Al didn't lower his weapon, and I, as the loyal right-hand man I am, didn't either. Pearl lowered it after Fwhip did, and Cat and Indigo seemed politely confused. I understand them, to be plainly honest. This was their second meeting in the revolution, still their first week on the job, and some random guy just straight up stumbled into the meeting room, so yeah. Weird first week for that pair. 

Pearl and Fwhip, the strongest we have, smiled tentatively. "Sausage, why're you here?" Fwhip said, taking a small step towards the man. Pearl shot us a glare that could cut glass, signalling us to lower the guns. I glanced at my partner, watching him lower his own weapon and slightly lowering my own. Our guards remained up. How he found us scares me. Is he stalking us? 

"You left me at home. And you never leave without waking me up." The man, Sausage, explained. It seemed the world didn't exist. It was just our arsonist and this strange man. "What's going on, mi amor?" 

Fwhip glanced at Al. There was a pleading in his bright, cyan eyes. The pleading of a lover, begging some unseen force to let the one they adore so much into the secret. I caved. I get how he feels, and, hopefully, Al does. 

The longing lovers feel to know all the others secrets is one only matched by those equally, or more so, in love. 

"Fine. Just tell him. But if he turns out to be a government spy, Crimson, you know the recipient of the fire." Al glared, before slowly sitting back down. I followed suit, sitting down and holding back a smile as his fingers intertwined with my own. 

Despite danger, homosexuality will reign supreme. 

Fwhip led Sausage to a seat. We always have extra seats in our meetings. Not because we often expect visitors, but because we bought a huge ass table and we couldn't handle having gaps between the seats. He took the man's soft hands in his own, calloused and burnt ones, looking long and hard into hazelnut eyes. "So... I've been keeping a huge secret from you..." he took a deep breath.

A memory came back to me, swimming forwards from the back of the pool that is my thoughts. The dull light of the candles, arranged on a tablecloth like had become tradition at that point. Three years since that night, that dark and unforgettable Christmas Eve...

"Where did you get this?" I had asked, running my thumb over a small scar on Al's cheek. It looked fresh, but nothing like a burn or a slip would cause. I watched a a flash of regret cross his face, bleeding into his army brown eyes. "Alexander, what did you do?" There had been, that night, a tremor in my voice that I didn't notice, but he did. Worry, worry about him. 

He took a breath, some silent fight going on behind his angel eyes. His fingers picked at his nails and he chewed the inside of his cheek - a pair of nervous habits I've picked up from dating him for 4 years. "Ex, I have something I need to tell you..." It seemed his gay side won that battle over the self-preserving side. "I... don't work full time at the shooting range... I barely work half time... most-" Al ran his hands over his face, something both of us do when we're stressed. "-most of my working hours are spent running a revolution." 

Stunned silence. I could taste the hesitance in the air as he spoke the last three words. I felt anger bubbling up inside but that was crushed as I saw the look of worry on his face, the regret - whether it be from not telling me sooner or from him running an illegal group with the sole focus of changing the positively shit individual governing system our village runs off. 

The village of Koriand, nestled in a remote mountain area so well that it takes days by foot to reach it from the city where the Twin Universities reside, is a shitty little place. They claim to love us, and care for us, but we know they don't. They make a public statement about our misdeeds. They choose one "lucky person" every month, take them away, then they come back a week later different. People ignore it, praying they won't be next, because they take you in the night. 

"It's been going on for a while. It started as a few of us, but we have a full taskforce now, with agents specialising in all fields... I'm sorry I didn't tell you... but I was scared. Scared they would find out about us and punish you." He said, his words hurrying as he spoke. "You know how they feel about rebels..." 

I did know. 

And I know even better now. I've seen countless of our men punished in the square for suspected rebellion. If they knew about the underground society of those who listen to every cry of pain, every word of warning (Listeners, we're known as), they would have field day. 

Still, as I watch Sausage take in Fwhip's explanations with an open mind, I wonder how Koriand is still considered a beautiful and welcoming society. Especially with the iron fist of the Watchers choking the whole village.