For the past hour and a half, I've been making my rounds. I've talked to people, hearing their excitements and their concerns. I've learned about their pasts, good times and bad. I've done everything I can to give everyone a good impression of myself since only the health cadets have had a chance to know the girl behind the tinted glasses. But in order to keep a calm and pleasant demeanor, I've had to drink.

Public settings have always made me feel like I had to find a good corner to rock in, and alcohol is the only thing that I've found that makes that need recede into the shadows of my mind. It's a good thing that Elena wasn't joking when she said that there was going to be a lot of booze.

"It was great to hear your planned projects for the coming weeks." I pin a smile across my face and watch as the two engineers I was talking to nod and walk away. Once they've disappeared behind a mass of bodies, I throw back the glass in my hand and swallow the remainder of champagne in it. What was this? My fifth glass?

"Looks like you could use another." A deep voice behind me raises the tiny hairs on the back of my neck.

I turn around, finding Raiden a step closer than I would've anticipated. "Hmm, you may be right." I look at my glass, tilting it back and forth, watching the few remaining drops move along the bottom.

"Then we have to fix that." He takes my empty glass as an officer with a half-full platter passes by. Swapping out our two empty glasses for two full ones, Raiden moves swiftly then holds one out to me. "Speak of the devil and all that."

I raise a brow and look between the glass and his face. He holds a lady-killer smile as he stares down at me. I grab the stem, taking the glass from him and tilt it in his direction. "' And he doth appear.'"

Our glasses meet then I take a sip, knowing that if I'm to last the whole bonfire, then I really need to slow down. "It was looking like you missed nearly everything those two said."

I hum and note his outfit, a pair of faded blue jeans and a black dress shirt. Black, for engineering. "Yes, well, I'm willing to bet that if I had whipped out a few of my medical terms they would've had the same problem."

"Of course, but we wouldn't want our people being sent to the infirmary due to tachycardia caused by their intimidation of you, now would we?" My smile disappears, he not only used the technical term for increased heart rate, but he used it correctly.

"Don't look too surprised, it'll hurt my feelings."

My teeth clench momentarily. "I'm just impressed. How would the elder of engineering know that?"

"Well, elder of health, we all have our pasts. Mine just happens to include someone who pursued medicine."

"Is that so? Whom might that have been?"

Raiden smiles and looks to his left. "It looks like I need to go save a brother." He downs his drink and grins at me. "See you around, Serina."

He's gone so quick I don't have time to decide if the wink I saw before he left was real or if it was just my imagination. My eyes try to follow him through the mass of people, but soon I can't figure out where he's gone.

My fingers skim the rim of the glass, the idle motion keeping me grounded. "Someone knock you off your world?"

I jump, it must have been a meter and a half into the air, somehow not spilling my drink. "Rosemary! I swear to God—"

"What? It's not my fault you're jumpy." She shrugs, her shoulders moving the perfectly ringlet curled red hair that lies draped over them.

I roll my eyes and rake a hand through my hair. "I'm not even going to get into it."

She purses her lips and nods slowly, glancing at the half-filled glass in my hand. "How many of those have you had?"

"The drinking age—you know what? It doesn't matter. All that matters is that I apparently haven't had enough." She frowns when I drink from the glass. Her own glass seems to be neglected. "Drink up girl, the night's still young."

"Oh, don't worry about that, this one is brand new." This is when I notice the slight pallor of her face, the nervous twitch that her left pinky makes, and the confused look that graces her features.

I turn to face her fully, and reach out, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Girl, are you okay?"

She takes a deep breath and meets my eyes. "Yeah...I think."

Unhappy with her answer, I gently grip her wrist and pull her to the edge of the crowd, needing a quieter place to talk. "Rose, what's wrong?"

I subtly move my fore and middle fingers along her wrist and find the radius, counting her pulse. It's a little slow for what it should be in such a loud and crowded place. Dropping her wrist, I tentatively move my hand toward her head, ready to feel for a temperature when she blinks and snaps out of her daze. "What are you doing?"

"I—you blanked out of it...are you okay?" To think Raiden was just talking about the engineers suffering from tachycardia when it's now my heart that beats out of control.

"Oh, yes, I'm okay." I force myself to take a few slow and steadying breaths to push away the effects of the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

"What the shit, Rosemary?!" My volume attracts glances from dancing figures around us that move with the pounding music. "What was that?"

Her ears turn pink and her free hand starts to fiddle with a piece of her hair. "I occasionally experience absence seizures when I'm overwhelmed." Her hesitancy to tell me makes me sad, but the revelation only proves to make me angry.

"Don't you think you should've told me? You know, considering who I am!" My grip on the stem of the glass is dangerously tight. I force myself to set it on the platter of a passing officer and take a deep breath. "Listen, this is something I should know. I'm supposed to know every possible medical emergency around this colony, and not knowing this could cause problems."

"Serina, they've become so sparse—"

"Rose, it doesn't matter!" People around us stop dancing to listen in and I lower my voice. "What if you were suturing an injury and one occurred? What if you were helping in surgery? What if you were out on your own and something dangerous happened?"

"Serina, I couldn't tell you because it could ruin my career!"

I frown and lower my head to pinch the bridge of my nose. "Normally, yes, it could. Though, considering I control who I let do what if the infirmary, I'm not going to let this affect anything, unless it becomes a problem."

Rosemary holds her hands to her face, covering her mouth. "Thank you!"

"That being said," I hold up a finger. "I'm going to need to keep someone with you, everywhere. The safety of my people is my first priority, and you're included in that group."

She purses her lips, seeming disappointed with my decision. "Really?"

"Yes. Besides, I saw you getting to know a certain officer. I'm sure he wouldn't mind watching out for you."

Her ears glow with a darker shade of pink and I laugh. I had noticed that she and Major Cavanaugh had spent some time talking together. It was hard to not notice the sneaking glances between the two of them when the other wasn't looking. It was very amusing and interesting to see the stoic officer smiling while he talked to a girl he thought was cute.

"I—I don't know what you're talking about..." She says then proceeds to gulp down her drink, seeming to need the alcoholic assistance.

I share a laugh as a small group of people come up behind her. Astrid sets her hands on Rosemary's shoulders and leans around her. "Come on, Doll, everyone could see that you like each other."

"Not to mention that most of us already ship the both of you." Elena comes around her to stand next to me, crossing her arms. The movement of her arms bunch up the lantern sleeves of her persian orange sundress.

"Oh, leave the poor girl alone!" Lorna frowns at the three of us briefly before giving Rosemary a smile. "I'm sorry for their needy childishness."

"Hey!" The three of us call out in unison as Rosemary laughs, appreciating Lorna's support.

Lorna shoots us each a solid look, telling us to drop the subject, not that it will last long. Elena takes this as an opportunity to compliment everyone on their outfits. Lorna wears a pair of ripped jean shorts with a brick red and black striped shirt with the shoulders cut out. Then Rosemary wears a white sundress with an ivy pattern along the edges, the green nicely accenting the red of her hair.

"Rina?" Astrid snaps in front of my face and I blink.

"Huh? What?" I blink a few more times, looking between each of the girls.

"You spaced, like in need of a cryo-cell spaced." My brows raise and I take a deep breath.

"I need a drink, I'm being too analytical for a setting like this." The girls laugh and I adjust my glasses, the sun setting quick.

As we walk in search of booze, I grow more and more irritated with these tinted glasses. It's gotten to the point in the day that it's too dark to wear them, but it's still too bright to go without. After an internal debate, I'll take them off and hook one of the temples over the waistband of my skirt, leaving them to dangle at my side.

"I bet you're looking forward to adjusting to the light and no longer needing those." Lorna nods her head toward the glasses at my hip and I release a breath.

"You have no clue. I actually have five different levels of tint that I have to go through. These here, are the darkest, so I still have quite a bit of adjusting to go." Lorna whistles and shakes her head.

"That's crazy. I can't imagine having to do that. I7 has two suns and they were both almost always visible on Straxutis. Nights were typically only seven hours long depending on the time of the year and our position around both suns."

"Wow." She nods and we twist around person after person, still somehow falling behind compared to the other three girls. "What was it like on Straxutis?"

"Well, it was boring." I snort and she shrugs. "It was. Straxutis is a mining colony, a fairly small one at that, and there wasn't much to do. I was an only child and my parents were divorced. I was just counting the days until I turned twenty-one and got to leave the stupid rock."

"That's...very honest. Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?"

I duck below a swinging arm and shoot the guy a glare despite his turned back. "Just, you know, for being straight forward, not many people are anymore. People typically try to beat around things or dress them up better than they are. It's refreshing to talk to someone honest."

"Well, that was a little depressing." We laugh and I point at her.

"That's exactly my point! You were honest and straight forward." We finally catch up with the girls, finding them talking to a group of guys. The guys turn out to be Raiden, Will, Jaxon, Leon, Cavanaugh, and someone I haven't met before.

"I just don't see a reason for hiding the truth or how I feel about something, there's no point. I've been told that I can be overly blunt at times."

"Well, I'll support it, so don't worry, you have me in your corner." She laughs quietly and we join the group. "I'm sure we didn't miss anything."

"Yes, but it looks like we did." Jaxon grins, the setting sun behind him giving his silhouette a heavenly glow. "Looks like Serina has taken off her glasses and is letting us see those pretty blue eyes."

"Ha-ha, very funny." Jaxon leans to the side and the sun peaks past him, temporarily blinding me before I move so he blocks it again. "Though, if you keep moving, I'll put them back on."

A series of "ahh" and "no" bounces around the group and Elena shakes her head. "Give the girl a break, Jax. She did save all of our asses during that speech. Who knows, we could've forced you to make it."

Jaxon momentarily pales but scoffs and crosses his arms. "Puh-lease, I would've nailed that speech." He glances at my still hunched figure and surprises me by moving to block the sun so I can stand up straight.

I give him a subtle nod, not wanting to draw too much attention to his small act. "So, who's the newcomer?" I say, raking a hand through my hair.

Everyone turns to the man just to Leon's left. He's a rather tall fellow, extremely built as well. I'm sure he could crush any one of our skulls in a lock with his elbow in just a few seconds. "Ah, this here is Liam. He's one of my recruits."

Jaxon leans over Leon to give Liam a solid bump to the arm and Liam grins. "That's right." His voice is higher than I would've anticipated, though, still far from high enough that it would seem odd for his build.

"I see," I smile and meet Liam's eyes. "So that means that you're one of my soon-to-be victims."

Liam freezes, the word "victims" pair with my profession chilling his muscles until they no longer move. "Huh?"

I shake my head and look at Jaxon. "You really haven't told them?" He rubs the back of his neck, seeming embarrassed at the call out. Giving him a disappointed look, I turn back to Liam. "This dunce was supposed to tell you all that myself and a few chosen cadets of mine, will be coming to evaluate each of the guard cadets in order to determine if you are all physically capable of protecting this colony, especially while everyone is adapting to the environment. We essentially decide if you stay in the guard or not."

The group is silent, each staring at one person before moving onto another, almost like they're trying to gauge the reactions of each person. Everyone is still, the writhing bodies around us being the only thing that assures me that time hadn't stopped.

A laugh turns each of our heads to look at Raiden. "Aw, very funny! You really seemed a little scary there, Serina. Let's not scare the poor guy." He chuckles again and a few stiff laughs join him.

I raise a brow and look to my side, meeting gazes with Lorna. She shakes her head and shrugs, knowing that I was completely serious.

"So, who's ready for another drink?" Astrid pulls an officer with a full platter over and we all shout, the brief lull in comfort forgotten as we each reach for a glass.

Glasses in hand, we raise them to meet in the air in one large motion of clinking glasses. Laughs can be heard as some foamy liquid spills over the edges, then we each take a drink, some larger than others.

I lower my glass then move to Astrid's side, pulling her over to talk in a smaller setting. We move closer to the center of the crowd to gain some distance from our fellow leaders and new friends. Once we've stopped walking, Astrid, having had a little too much already, starts to sway her hips to the music, her arms starting to rise into the air.

"Slow down there, girl. We need to catch up first." She opens her eyes and they shine.

"Rina! Oh my God, I love you so much! Do you know that I love you?" She slurs her words and I smile.

"Yes, sister, I know."

"Good! Can I dance now?" Her eyes close again and her head sways.

"Uh-uh, not quite." I grip her shoulders, moving my right hand at an odd angle to avoid stabbing her with my glass.

"Boo-ooo..." She hick-ups halfway through the word and frowns. "What do you want, bitch?"

This makes me laugh. "Well, bitch, I want to know how talking to Will went. I know you were planning on talking to him a bit."

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. That can't be good. "It was fine, of course, until it fucking wasn't!" I frown and she goes on. "We were talking, but then he started blanking on his responses and almost immediately, Raiden showed up! He said that he had to talk to Will about some living stuff because they share a cabin!"

It looks like I need to go save a brother.

Ah, so it wasn't just a lame excuse to avoid my question. "Well, that sucks, A."

"I know!" She whines and spills some of her champagne down my arm by accident. "No! My drink!"

I roll my eyes and wipe the cold liquid off my arm. "I'm glad to know I didn't even grace your mind."

"Huh?" Astrid narrows her eyes in confusion then throws her arms around my shoulders, her glass getting lost somewhere in the action.

I stumble back a step and huff in surprise. "Astrid, what the fuck?"

"I'm tired."

I groan and clench my teeth, looking around for a certain someone. Finally, to my left, I spot a forest green shirt in the mass of color. "Will!" I call out and he very quickly makes his way over.

"Serina? What—uh, what happened here?" He rubs his forehead and tilts his head.

"Oh, you know, best friend drank too much and has now thrown her entire weight onto me. No biggie." He slowly nods and remains silent. "Would you take her?"

"What?" He meets my eyes, shocked.

"God, I'm surrounded by idiots. Would you," I point to him. "Take her," I gently pat Astrid's back. "And take her back to our cabin? I'll get an officer to show you the way."

"Oh, sure. Though, the officer won't be needed." He nods and I stare at him with a concerned look. "Oh, I guess that came out a little creepy. Anyway, my botany cadets and I have to catalog each plant in the colony and where they can be found so for the past two days, we've been walking around and making note of what is where. So, naturally, I notice where people live."

"Ah..."

"Plus, an officer might have pointed it out. I think her name was, Lieutenant... Michelson? About yay high, sweeter than honey." He holds his hand up and I narrow my eyes. Maggie! Little snake told him where we lived?

"Was anyone with you when she told you?"

He nods. "Sure, Raiden was with me. On our way to our cabin earlier today, our officer quite literally ran into her. When he apologized, she just laughed and said that he was lucky you hadn't seen or else he might be in a cast."

Will chuckles and I shake my head, I'll have to talk to her about telling people where we live, I don't want people just wondering into our house whenever they want to talk.

"Cool, anyway, a little help?" I gesture to the now almost unconscious Astrid and he nods. In one quick, smooth motion, he has her cradled in his arms bridal style. "Stay with her until I get there? I'll be there soon; I just have to make a few PR rounds when people see one of their elders carried out of a party virtually unconscious."

He nods and turns around, moving around people, careful that Astrid isn't hit by any of the dancing bodies. I set a hand to my forehead and take a deep breath. This is going to be a lot of fun.

"Looks like the world has just landed on your shoulders." Raiden comes up on my right and holds out his hand.

Gripped in his fingers is a damp napkin. "You could say so." I take the offered napkin and wipe up and down my arm, getting as much of the excess champagne as I can so I don't get sticky.

"Why don't you head out and go care for your friend?"

"Because I now have to explain to everyone why one of their elders was just carried out."

He waves a hand in the air. "I'll take care of it. Tell a few people that the change in altitude had gotten to her and you're going to help her with the altitude sickness, everything will end up fine. Everyone knows that our altitude is much higher than the normal for anywhere on Reonerth, people will believe it."

My hand stills on my elbow and I blink. "I hadn't thought of that."

One of his hands shoves itself in a pocket and his other taps his temple. "Always have to be thinking." He reaches out and nods to the napkin in my hands. Slowly, I hand it back to him and he idly folds it as he looks around. "Go on, I'll handle it."

I remain silent for a moment then nod. "Thanks." He smiles and before either of us say something and stretch the conversation on longer than it needs to be, I turn and hurry off to take care of my wasted best friend.