"See you soon, Kevin." Mrs. Jeck said, hugging her son tightly. "Please, visit more often, okay?"
   Kevin smiled. "Okay." He replied. He looked at Kathy and scowled. "Stop growing, would you?"
   "Never!" Kathy replied. "I at least wanna be taller than Venom!"
    Kevin scowl quickly turned into a grin. "That's no big feat, Kathy, Venom's like four feet tall."
    "Hey!"
    "What? It's true!" Kevin said, placing an elbow surely on top of Venom's head. Venom rolled her eyes and shoved him away playfully.
    Over by the side of the house, Jack and Aaron stood talking. "-and if he ever starts getting moody and indecisive, don't panic. It's a family trait for when he's stressed."
    Jack nodded. "Got it." He said. "Anything else?"
    "Don't think so."
    Jack smiled a bit. "So, Aaron, you seem awfully preppy. Have you got a girlfriend to go see?"
    Aaron laughed. "No." He said. "But... I have a boyfriend."
    Jack raised one eyebrow. "Oh?" He asked. "Well do you love him?"
     Aaron blushed a little. "Yeah, I do."
    Jack nodded once. "Then keep him around."
    Aaron smirked. "What about you, d'you have a girlfriend?"
    "Nah."
    "...Boyfriend?"
    Jack laughed. "Nope. Alone and free." Aaron laughed as well.
    "Jack! Hurry up, the boat's leaving!" Thalia called.
    Jack glanced over at his friends. "I should go." He looked back at Aaron. "God forbid they go on an adventure without me. They'd be dead in minutes."
    Aaron nodded. "Right you are." He took hold of the hybrid's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Take care, Jackie, you hear?"
    Jack nodded. "Loud and clear."
    "Jack!"
    Jack rolled his eyes and walked over to his group. "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" He said. "Let's just go home so we can get this whole endeavor over with."

"You coward." Kevin hissed.
    "Am not!" Jack replied defensively, his accent sounding very Monty Python-ish as he turned down a dare to teleport over the water and back again before he could get wet. He stood a bit taller, his jaw set. "I merely don't wish to die today."
    "You are too."
    "Am not!"
    "Are too!"
    "Am not!"
    "Yes you are, you Ender-sissy!"
    "No I'm not, Blue Brawn!"
    "Weirdo!"
    "Jackass!"
    Logan stared at the two, his brows furrowed in something of concern and confusion. "Sometimes it's hard to tell that they're actually, like, best friends."
    Thalia nodded, her arms crossed over her chest as she have a small, "Mhm," in response.
     Venom rolled her eyes at her friends and turned to find somebody interesting to talk to when her green eyes locked on a pair of blood red ones. Ethan stared at her for a moment, then ducked his head down under the collar of his black jacket and made his way below deck a bit hurriedly.
    Venom's expression grew curious and she followed slowly after him, forgetting all about the four behind her as they bickered on. She headed down the hall on the lowest deck and stopped by a closed door she knew as Ethan's quarters. "Sir?" She tapped the back of her first against the door a few times. "Is everything alright? Can I come in?" She hesitated as she realized he couldn't respond due to his lack of speaking ability. "Erm... If I can't come in, then make some sort of noise, like with your hands."
    When there was nothing, she nodded to herself and turned the doorknob, pushing the door open. "Sir?" She called, looking around. She saw him sitting down at a table, staring down at it and scratching at the wood. Venom walked quietly over and stopped at the other end of the table. "May I sit down?" She asked.
    Ethan gave a small nod without looking up. Venom nodded back and sat down opposite him. For a moment, the two sat in a rather awkward silence, before Venom broke it. "They say... They say you're a mute."
    Ethan finally looked up, raising one eyebrow in question.
    "The archives." Venom elaborated. "On the night before we left to rescue you, I looked you up. I had to dig really deep... You used to be around a lot according to them, but then you just disappeared and you were never mentioned again. It was like you were never there at all." Venom stared at him. "What have you been doing all this time?"
    Ethan smiled a little and stood up out of his chair. He reached over to the kitchen counter not far from him and grabbed a notebook and pen. He sat back down and wrote a few words before showing her.
    'Travelling.'
    "How long have you been gone?" Venom asked. "The archives didn't make it very clear since they were so old."
     There was another short pause as Ethan scribbled a response. 'It'll be four years in a month or so, I think.'
    "Wow, that long?" Venom asked. As Ethan nodded and closed the notebook, she hesitated. "There was one other thing..." She said, and Ethan stopped. "All the other commanding officers have descriptions of how they became associated with the army, but you don't. I can't help but wonder..."
    'Sorry, kiddo, that's classified.'
    "Classified?" Venom asked, slightly taken aback. "What's that supposed to mean?"
    Ethan smirked a little. 'Take yourself for instance,' He wrote. 'How did you join the army?'
    Venom froze. Her broad shoulders sank a little as her eyes remained locked on his. "That's... Classified."
    Ethan nodded and continued to write. 'You and I are very similar. Two venomous outcasts with pasts lost in the archives of time. We bury our pain and loss deep beneath our skin, never to be felt, because we cannot bear to feel it.' Venom stared at him in stunned silence as she realized everything he said was true. 'You understand, don't you? You feel exactly the same way.' Ethan paused in his writing before continuing.
    'It's a long story. I saved your Commander's ass.'
   Venom raised one eyebrow. "So you're willing to tell me now?"
    Ethan nodded and smirked, writing down two more words. 'Your turn.'
    Venom stared at him for a moment. Then she sighed and nodded. This Ethan guy seemed so much like her; She just felt like she could trust him. "My real name is Genette. I was brought up in the orphanage program after Seto and Ellis found me when I was twelve." She shook her head. "The only one who knows that is Kevin and if you ever tell anyone, I'll make you wish you could cry for help."
    Ethan smirked and nodded once, no words needed.
    As if on cue, a voice rang out from above. "Venom!" Jack called. "We made it back! Get the Ethan dude and let's go!"
     Venom and Ethan exchanged glances. "Right then..." Venom said with a sigh.
     Ethan stood and tousled his hair as he walked towards his door. "Let's go meet our dear Commander, now, shall we?" He said.
    Venom stared at him with wide eyes. "Did - Did you just...?" But he didn't respond, for he had already disappeared through the door. Venom ran after him. "Hey!" She called, but he didn't answer, as though he had never spoken in the first place.