I hold up her hair, rubbing circles on her back as she vomits again. We've sat here in the bathroom for the past half hour, sitting in a heavy silence between each heave. With each lean over the toilet, less and less returns from her stomach and she sits back after, more tired than before.

            Astrid sits back against the wall, her head falling back with the gleam of sweat along her brow. "Come on, A. Let's get you into bed."

            "Serina..." She whines with her eyes closed and her voice is too soft. "I don't want to move."

            Moving some hair behind her ear, I give her a small smile. "I know, but you need to rest and let your body work its way through all of that alcohol."

            She groans in defeat, raising her arms in a silent question for help up. I bend over and pull her arms around my neck, her sleep-craving body too weak to carry her on its own. Luckily, the bathroom to situated right between our rooms so we don't walk far.

            Once she's laying on her bed, eyes closed to no doubt fight off another wave of vertigo, I pull up my Link and shoot Maggie a message. "I'm going to see if Maggie can come watch you for a bit."

            "Rina...why?" Astrid wipes at the sweat coating her face.

            "Because I don't want you to be on your own and I need to go look for a few items."

            "What...what is so important that you're going to leave your best friend for?" I chuckle and shake my head.

            "How about a drink that will make you feel better."

            She groans and bats her hand around, seeming to look for something to hold onto. "Please, no coffee. I don't think I could hold that down even if I tried."

            "No, no, that's just an old wives' tale. Coffee can't actually sober you up. It may stimulate your senses and shake away a bit of the stupor, but it won't help."

            "Then what, what are you getting?"

            "I'll need bananas, honey, and milk, or at least this planet's equivalent."

            "What for?"

            "The banana helps calm the stomach, honey builds up the depleted blood sugar levels and the milk soothes the stomach as well as rehydrates your system."

            "Really?" A new voice joins our small conversation.

            I look at Maggie with a smile. "Yes, and aren't you a quick one?"

            She waves her hand ignoring my comment. "How do you know about the Hangover-Smoothie?"

            I take Astrid's hand, giving it a small squeeze as I chuckle. "It comes with the territory." I set a hand on my leg, over the material of the skirt, bringing attention to its rich blue color.

            "Ah," Maggie nods and awkwardly sits on the edge of Astrid's bed. "Um, how long do you think you'll be gone?"

            I watch her check her watch and I raise my eyebrows. "Mm-hmm," She jumps, seemingly surprised by the noise I made. "Did I pull you away from a certain Captain?"

            Her mouth moves much like a fish's when out of water, struggling for something competent to say. Astrid chuckles as best as she can in her current state, which isn't very well. "Oh, poor girl, you did pull her away from Novak."

            Maggie's face turns bright red, her expression boarding terrified and embarrassed. "I—well, it's irrelevant." She trains her features into ones of stoic focus. "My assignment while planetside is to protect and serve Serina and the other elders to whatever extent it may entail. Ignoring a summons by you to stay with a superior of mine would've been both inappropriate and against orders."

            The bland relay of her assignment grips my heart in a surprisingly tight hold. Shaking off the shock of her revelation, I straighten my posture and clear my throat, giving a brief nod in her direction. "Thank you for the clarification on your assignment, Lieutenant. Anyway, I'll be on my way and try to hurry back, I wouldn't want to keep you for too long."

            My voice sounds cold, even to myself. There was a wall around my heart that was erected when Shawn left, though in the time I had spent with Micah, a window had been placed in that wall, allowing just enough space for people to reach in and touch the long-ignored organ. But hearing Maggie—Lieutenant Michelson's words—the window was quickly boarded up, covered in planks of wood so tightly packed that only slivers of space remained of the once open area.

            The lieutenant's face crumbles into one of shock. "Serina—"

            "I better be on my way, that way you can be on yours sooner." I turn my attention to Astrid and give her a small, sad grin before turning my back to the room and walking out.

            "Wait! That's not what I meant..."

            I've made it outside in record time, the lieutenant's voice dying away the farther I get. Soon, the only sound around me is the crunching of gravel under my feet and the faint pounding of music still being played in the square. I can vaguely make out shouts of excitement, but not enough to put together what is happening. The only thing that I can tell is that everyone continues to enjoy the excuse to party along with the unlimited amount of booze, completely unaware of the emotional betrayal that had just occurred.

            I had allowed myself to trust those who I had just met, and our relationship was started by an order. I had allowed myself to call an attendant an ally, and the help I had gotten was because it was an order, not a request. I had allowed myself to find friendship where I shouldn't have, the GTA officers would be leaving once we had the planet stably colonized anyway. Any connections we make with the officers would be severed the day they took to the star-filled sky, off to support another new planet.

            No matter how much my heart ached to connect to another person, the pain of abandonment kept the poor thing just out of reach. With the muscle locked away, I wouldn't have to—

            "Hey, watch out!" Hands grip my shoulders and I'm yanked from the roadway as an object comes speeding towards me. I fall back against a chest and watch in stunned horror as what looks like a land-Skimmer races across the ground where I had just been.

            My heart pounds and all thought leaves my mind, all except for the gratitude that sits in the front of my brain for the person that saved me from becoming one with the gravel road. I pull myself from the hands still on my shoulders and turn around. When I'm met with a pair of dark blue eyes, ones so dark they almost look black in the night, my thank you is blocked from my lips by the same wall that sits in my chest.

            Raiden's eyes storm with astonishment. "Are drunker than shit or what? You damn near got yourself killed. And only on the second night here!"

            This shakes me out of my sudden stupor. "No, I'm not drunk. A little too lost in thought, maybe, but not drunk."

            His scrutinizing gaze looks me over, searching for any reason not to believe me. I huff and cross my arms, the cold feeling of irritation settling over my bones, matching the chill in the air with the sun gone. "Are you going to continue to look at me like some sort of enigma? Or are you going to tell me what that was?"

            He frowns, his brow furrowing as he looks in the direction the vehicle had gone. "That?" He points the same way and I roll my eyes.

            "No, the giant bird that flew above us without your knowledge."

            A lone brow rises halfway up his forehead and the ghost of a grin flashes across his face before disappearing. "Ha, the Aorian knows sarcasm."

            I groan, no longer patient enough to wait for an explanation. The gravel cries out beneath my feet when I turn from Raiden, almost protesting the act of leaving him. "Hey, what's taken root in your ass? You seemed to be in a fine mood earlier."

            My temper flares at his words, but I force myself to stay turned from him. Instead of yelling, I simply stop in my place and pinch the bridge of my nose. Breath in. Breath out. "I'm sorry if I seem upset, it's not like my best friend drank herself sick or anything." The words leave my mouth before I can catch them and I bite my lip, having heard the heavy sarcasm that dripped off my words, much like the way venom would drip off a set of fangs.

            He scoffs, brushing off my words like they had been a pair of arms in reach for an embrace. "Best friend? You met the chick yesterday."

            He's right, in a way. Even if she and I had talked almost every day for the past four years, I hadn't really met Astrid in person until yesterday. My shoulders slump forward, suddenly heavy with the emotional weight of the day. "I only met her in person yesterday."

            I turn to look back at Raiden and he looks down at me with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean?"

            I move my hands up and down the front of my skirt for a short moment, wishing for pockets to stuff them into. "I've known Astrid for four years. We met on a support forum for people who had siblings leave them behind. Her sister and my brother left only a few months apart from each other and we both lost our closest friend."

            I rub my hands down my face, I had forgotten how exhausting it was to lock up my heart, I can now feel the small slivers of space cracking into larger ones. "You have a brother and he left you? Isn't that like the Aorian equivalent to murder?"

            I take a deep breath, cementing the cracks that had formed. "You could say that." I wanted to shut myself away from everyone only moments ago and here I am, practically telling my life story to a stranger. "If I've answered enough of your questions, I really need to go find some stuff for Astrid."

            I don't wait for a confirmation or denial; I just start to trudge down the pathway. "It's called a rover."

            This stops me, again. "Huh?" Rather than turning, I just look over my shoulder, my feet slowing to a stumble.

            "The thing that nearly flattened you, it's called a Rover."

            "Oh..." A hand moves through my hair, my fingers getting caught in countless knots. "You..." I sigh and pull my hand from the blonde locks. "You wouldn't happen to know where Will and Elena are, would you?"

            "Will, he'll probably be at our cabin. Elena, she will be a little harder to find. Although..." He pulls up his Link and types something out. "We both happen to know someone who has taken a certain liking to Ms. Light."

            I shake my head. "Jaxon?"

            "The one and only. Despite us all only being here a short time, he's managed to make it a habit of knowing where each of the seven of us is, Elena especially."

            "I guess being the head of the guard would do that to you."

            "Yes, it would, Mrs. Peacock."

            We both turn to face behind us, my heart racing. Jaxon and Elena walk towards us, both of them closer to the other than would be considered professionally appropriate.

            I set a hand to my chest, willing my heart to slow. "Where the Hell did you guys come from? And how did you get here so fast?"

            "We were just around the corner and like Raiden here said, I make it a habit to know where we important people are at all times." Raiden and I share a look, he simply shrugs, and I hold back the shudder that prickles at the top of my spine. "So, how may we be of assistance?"

            I blink at his use of the word "we" when I had only anticipated speaking with Elena. "Uh..." I look between the two of them and push the alcoholic haze from my mind, the dwindling energy thickening the fog. "Elena, I need bananas, honey, and milk—or at least this planets version of them. I figured that you and or Will would know where to look for them."

            Elena rubs at her arms a little, the thin material of her dress doing nothing to keep her warm. "Uhm, yeah..." She sets a hand against her forehead, trying to think through the alcoholic fog herself. "Honey and milk, they should have it in the refectory. As far as bananas go, I'm sure they have something there as well, but Will would know what the closest match here would be."

            I yawn and nod. "That's what I was thinking, but I figured I would check so I wouldn't have to run around all over the colony."

            My yawn turns into a contagious affliction, each of the other three taking a turn covering their mouths as they yawn. "What...what do you need those for?" Elena yawns again and dabs at her eyes as they start to water.

            "It's for what was coined the 'Hangover-Smoothie' and long story short, it will make you feel better after all this alcohol."

            "Yeah? How do you know that?"

            I give Jaxon a blank stare. "I'm the elder of health for a reason."

            "Say no more." He raises his hands in defeat and takes a half step back. "There's no need to depart your wisdom, we shall simply act on your word."

            My eyes roll before I can even comprehend making the motion. "Just remember that I'm in charge of all medication and surgical procedures, the next time you get hurt." I turn and start to walk towards the red housing burrow. "Now, I have a friend to help. Raiden, you know where I live, it only makes sense that you show me where you live."

            There's a moment of stillness save for myself before a second pair of footsteps join my own. Soon, Raiden steps to my side and I can see him lean forward slightly to look at me. "How did you know?"

            "That you know where my cabin is?" He nods. "Will told me, he doesn't seem like one to try to keep things to himself. Though, he also doesn't really seem like someone who could keep things to himself even if he tried."

            "Ah, so you've noticed."

            "It's sort of hard not to."

            "So, you must know that he's weak-in-the-knees for Astrid."

            I laugh, it's a full, from the stomach sort of laugh. "Oh, poor guy. It was obvious from the start. It was also pretty obvious on her part."

            "Ha, you helped with that one. You should've seen the flush on his face after you said she thought he was hot yesterday."

            "Boy, was I in trouble for that one."

            "We saw the two of you run off. How far did she chase you?"

            "The entire way, the only reason I'm not covered in bruises from her fists, is because I was able to lock myself in my room before she got there and stayed there until she calmed down."

            We share a laugh and I follow him when he steps off the roadway and walks up the steps to an identical cabin to my own. We let our laughter die out then he slowly opens the door. He sticks his head in and yells. "Honey, I'm home! Plus, we have a visitor in need of your help, so make yourself useful."