Neo was breathing heavily on the ground, but managed to slowly pull himself to his feet as he looked over at Noah. The boy appeared to be as unharmed as him, which filled him with immediate relief. The battle passed by as a blur in his mind, Neo had never experienced anything like it before, though he couldn't help but feel like it was only the first of many. Zuro was testing them, that was clear even to him through the way he had been talking, and even though the pair had fought like hell they never once seemed to do any damage to him. If there was anything to take away from what had happened it was that he was unimaginably strong, but not entirely invincible. Every grunt or exhale of pain from Zuro felt like a small victory in and of itself, and only spurred Neo on to fight even harder in those moments. He was sure he wouldn't have put up anywhere near as much of a fight as he did if Zuro actually wanted to hurt him, and not just see the true extent of his abilities. The fact itself pissed him off. He thought back to the entire scuffle and everything that had happened throughout. The definite turning point for him at least was breaking through Zuro's tendrils. Sure, they were probably weak in comparison to Zuro himself, but at least now he knew the chances of countering them weren't zero. He wasn't sure what it was but when Zuro had started talking about the evil misdeeds he was going to do, it filled Neo with pure rage, which somehow seemed to heighten his abilities. There was only one other time when his anger had gotten to him during a fight, and at that point all he saw was red. He'd entered some sort of blind fury, and although it did seem to make him more powerful during the fight, he still ended up losing. He wouldn't let that happen again with Zuro. "You alright?" Noah asked as he jogged over, face still hidden by his mask as his eyes examined Neo. "Yeah, you?" Neo asked, glancing behind Noah as a few people came out from the building they'd been hiding in and began filming the two. Come to think of it, he'd actually completely neglected the fact he was out in public during his fight with Zuro. The three of them had been fighting in the middle of the road, and he now turned to see that there was a pile of cars a good few metres away that had all been left behind in the terror of the situation. People were started to flood the streets now, moving from whatever hiding spot they had been in in seeing that the main threat had left. A few of them were beginning to approach both boys, a factor Noah had already noticed since approaching Neo. "I'm perfectly fine, though I think it's definitely time for us to go. No doubt someone got a good video of all that." Noah said, before placing a hand on Neo's shoulder. The boy was about to speak when the two suddenly teleported, reappearing in Neo's apartment. "Whoa..." Neo muttered, glancing around his usual messy place before his gaze fell on the huge gaping hole in the wall Zuro had thrown him through "Shit...that's not good." Civilians from the streets would definitely be able to see inside, but none of them seemed to have noticed where both boys had disappeared to. Neo quickly raised a hand and conjured a dark wall to appear, precisely filling in the spot in the wall that had been destroyed. Noah's mask fell away as he pulled out his phone and began typing something, as Neo watched and dismissed his own disguise "What are you doing?" He asked as Noah quickly sent whatever he'd typed and looked up at him "Messaging the others. I feel like we ought to go talk to them, don't you?" "Yeah, actually, that sounds like a good idea. Did you send anything to Kayla?" Neo questioned as the other boy shook his head "I don't know if her or her parents even heard what went on outside, but either way it's unlikely she'll meet us till the morning." Neo nodded, then paused to think for a second. He was sure Kayla would want to hear what happened, and if she was still at home with her parents surely it wouldn't be too much of a problem for her to meet them. He pulled out his phone and typed a quick message before sending it to her "Noah and I just had a run in with Zuro. We're both okay, come to my apartment if you can and we'll tell you about it". Noah's phone rang suddenly, so he picked up and placed it against his ear "Hey...don't worry, we're both f-...yeah, we were going-...I'll tell you about it there, okay? Bye." He hung up, catching Neo's questioning look and letting out a soft chuckle "Synthia." He said as an explanation, as Neo nodded with understanding. "No doubt her and Axel will be on their way to Kelsie's, if they aren't there already." Noah went on, letting out a small sigh "We ought to head. It's too far for me to just teleport us there, but walking shouldn't be too bad." "Yeah, alright. You think we should tell them about Hector, right?" Neo asked, with Noah nodding as confirmation "I do, especially now that we know trusting our powers while fighting works pretty damn well." "Yeah, I agree. Though it does feel strange that Hector sought us out to tell us that minutes before we came across Zuro." Neo said, simply speaking his sceptical thoughts out loud, but Noah paused at it. "That's...something I didn't consider. Now that you mention it, it is awfully coincidental. What do you think it means?" Noah asked, with Neo giving a tiny shrug, surprised at the proposal that his random thought might actually lead to something "My immediate thoughts go towards the two of them working together, or at least somewhat intwined in a way. But then again, why would Hector help us if that were the case?" Neo said, leaning his back against the wall with a considering expression. "Exactly. It could be possible that Hector has some sort of future sight and knew we'd need to learn to fight before Zuro attacked. That is...weird to think about. Plus that scruffy old man doesn't seem like someone to have such a great power, regardless of how much he weirdly knew." Noah said, shaking his head and dismissing most of the strange theories he was starting to come up with "We'll just have to ask him next time we see him. Being sceptical probably won't help us." Neo opened his mouth to agree, but stopped as a small knocking sound came from the door. Noah flashed Neo a puzzled look, but the boy was already heading towards the apartment door and swinging it open. Kayla stood in the doorway, looking Neo over as soon as the door opened before hurrying past him to examine Noah as well without so much as a hello. "You two don't seem hurt." She stated, looking Noah in the eye sceptically before turning to face Neo. "That's cause we aren't." The black haired boy said, shutting the door and walking over to Kayla "We managed to somewhat hold our own against Zuro but he uh...he wasn't exactly trying to hurt us. More like testing us." "Then you're lucky to even be alive. How did you end up facing him anyway?." Kayla asked him, before taking her first real glance around Neo's apartment, her expression refusing to show whatever her opinion of it was. "He was sorta waiting for me here when I got home. We ended up outside after he threw me through a wall. Which is when Noah joined in." Neo explained to her, motioning to the large black section of the wall that he'd filled in. Kayla furrowed her brow as she looked between the wall and Neo, then spoke "Something tells me there's more to this than you two are letting on. Even if Zuro was testing you, it seems hard to believe you two would get out without a scratch." "You're right. There's something we learned about our powers that ended up giving us a slight edge." Noah said, getting Kayla's attention while Neo nodded to himself in understanding. "We have to trust them." He went on, trying to figure out the best way to go about explaining what happened with Hector "Trust our instincts, though it's more like if we trust our powers then our instincts become heightened because of it. If we're able to rely on them, they'll protect us to the best of their ability, as well as helping us to fight to the best of our ability." "And you know this how exactly?" Kayla glanced between Neo and Noah, somewhat disbelieving what she was being told. "I was getting to that. While me and Neo were leaving the hospital we kinda got...kidnapped. It's not as bad as it sounds, we ended up meeting a man named Hector who knew a lot about our powers. It was strange, but he told us what I just told you and he was right about it all." Noah looked at Kayla, trying to see if he was getting through to her, but he only appeared to have made her more confused "And this guy, Hector, knew this all how?" "That we don't quite know." Neo spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck "But he told us that we'd meet again, and that eventually he'll be able to explain more to us." Kayla glanced down slightly, taking a minute to gather her thoughts, then took a deep breath and looked up at the two "Do you guys understand how crazy you sound? Seriously, you're lucky we've all got superpowers and there's a murderous otherworldly being threatening the city otherwise I wouldn't have believed anything you just said." Neo and Noah exchanged a glance, before the latter spoke up "Does that mean you do believe us?" "Yes, for fuck sake, stop making me second guess it. You guys have no reason to make up something like that, and it does explain why the fight with Zuro went so well." Kayla let out a sigh as she brushed a hair out of her face, then Neo looked at her with a small smile "Glad we got that sorted. Though now we'll have to go tell the same exact thing to the others." "Yeah, tell me how that goes in the morning. Are you guys heading there just now?" Kayla asked, receiving a nod from Noah "We were planning to, yeah." "You can't come?" Neo questioned, with Kayla's head spinning to shoot him a grim look. She examined his slightly stunned expression, then carefully softened her own "No. I'm afraid I can't join you all, at least not until...never mind, I'll let you know if it's possible or not. Until then, I should probably head back to my place." She flashed Neo a gentler smile, a quick look of guilt crossing her features before she turned towards the door and began moving towards it. "Wait!" Neo said as he quickly grabbed Kayla's arm, causing her to turn back around in surprise to face him "I just um...now that we're here, talking, I was curious. About your powers. You never told me exactly what they were, and I've never seen you use them." Kayla's gaze flicked to Noah for a second, before turning back to meet Neo's "Another time, Neo. It's not something I-...it's difficult to show it off. And it could be a little...surprising, to hear about. Next time we get the chance to talk, preferably alone, I'll tell you, okay?" Neo gave a small nod, moving his hand back to his side as he suddenly felt a tad bit awkward. Kayla placed her hand on his arm this time, the small smile back on her face as she locked eyes with him "Stay safe, you two." She looked over Neo's shoulder at Noah, giving him a friendly smirk "Would be a shame if you wound up dead." "That was a short discussion, you sure there isn't anything else you want to ask?" Noah questioned as he walked towards the pair, with Kayla shaking her head to him and waving her hand dismissively "I'll hear the rest some other time. I'm playing it risky coming here in the first place, and Kelsie and the others will definitely be worried about you two. You ought to get going." "Alright then, have a good night." Noah said, giving her a small wave goodbye. Kayla smiled, then turned her attention back to Neo to exchange a small glance. He stayed quiet however, not quite sure what else there was to say, until she uttered a soft "Bye." And left through the door, closing it quietly behind her. Neo turned and immediately caught Noah's eye, with the boy standing cross armed and wearing a slightly amused yet still serious look on his face. "I know what you're thinking, and before you say anything, that is a bad move." He said condescendingly, with Neo looking suddenly aghast. "I didn't say anything." The boy defended, but Noah gave him a knowing look "You were considering, I can tell. She has far, far too much on her plate. Trust me when I say the possibility of it working in the long run is a trillion to one." Neo grew quiet, a slight red flush coming to his cheeks as he said nothing for a few seconds, before opening his mouth "Who said anything about the long run?" "Neo, have you ever actually had a girlfriend before?" Noah questioned, noting the sight of Neo's embarrassed expression. "There's never a bad time to start..." "Halfway through dealing with someone like Zuro doesn't seem like a bad time to start?" Noah countered, with Neo letting out a small exhale in return "Well I don't know, I've never been in this position before. My life could be over at any time nowadays and with everything me and her have in common and all that, maybe it would be good to have each other. Plus, she sort of...gave me a look." "She gave you a look?" Noah piped up, looking sceptically at Neo, who gave a small nod to signal that he stood by what he said "Kayla Lennings does not give people looks." "Can we drop this subject?" "Sure, sure, I just wanted to try and clear that thought from your mind." Noah let out a sigh, then nodded towards the door "Are you ready to go?" "Give me one minute, I'm gonna change quickly." Neo hurriedly ran to the other side of the room, grabbing some clothes from the wardrobe against the wall then heading into the tiny bathroom. Not long after he reemerged in jogger bottoms and a short sleeved t-shirt, then pulled his hoodie back on over it, pocketed his phone and wallet, which he'd grabbed from the dresser, before moving to the door, opening it, and heading out with Noah at his heels.
Synthia paced up and down Kelsie's living room, biting nervously at her fingernail. Axel was situated on the couch, leaning back against it and closing his eyes while Kelsie lay beside him, one arm around him while her head rested on his shoulder. She watched Synthia as she walked from the T.V to the bedroom door, then back again, before letting out a small sigh "Synth, you know they're both okay. We'll just have to wait till they get here to hear the specifics." She said, with Synthia pausing to glance over at her. She gave a small nod and returned to her pacing, but Kelsie could see from her expression that there was more to her worries. "That's not everything, is it?" She asked as Synthia stopped again, then chewed her lip as she turned to face the other girl "Is it Neo?" There was a moment of quiet, with Kelsie's gaze staying focused on Synthia until she gave her a tiny nod. "Come sit." Kelsie said, patting the spot on the couch next to her as she shifted slightly to a sitting position. Synthia let out a sigh and walked over, dropping down onto the couch with her hands in her lap. "Talk to me." Kelsie instructed, watching the girl with a soft, friendly smile. Synthia took a minute to think of what exactly she wanted to say, then began talking "I don't know what to do. I don't know how I'm meant to act around him after what happened. I mean...he saved my life Kelse. It seems so surreal, but that's what he did, and I hardly even know him. And now I just-...I want to thank him, and show him how grateful I really am but I don't know how to without seeming...you know..." "I think I understand. If you want to thank him, saying so is enough. He would've done it for anyone, Neo is just that type of person." "Thanking him is too...little. I feel like...Jesus, I don't know what I feel. Whatever it is, it's strong. You don't know what it was like Kelsie, when we were under that building. I woke up at some point you know? I couldn't see a single thing and I-...for a second I thought I was dead. But then he...was there. He didn't say anything, but it was enough. It was so fucking scary, and I hate thinking about it but I feel like I need to just...talk to him." Synthia placed her face in her hands and groaned into them, while Kelsie rubbed her shoulder with one hand soothingly. "Give him a hug when you see him, say thanks too of course, then the next time you get the chance, bring up what happened. Hear what he thinks about it and tell him your thoughts too, then after that things between you both should be a lot clearer. You don't have anything to worry about Synth, he'll understand." Kelsie told her, before the girl pulled her hands away from her face and flashed a small smile "Alright. I'll do that then." "Neo's got some stuff about him that I can't quite figure out." Axel spoke up with his eyes still closed, causing both girls to jump slightly. His voice sounded weirdly grave and thoughtful, but when he opened his eyes a soft smile fell upon his face and he looked exactly like his usual self "But he's a good guy, and I don't think his morals could be any nobler. Don't let what I think fuel your little crush though." "Go back to sleep, we preferred you that way." Kelsie chimed with a smirk, leaping to Synthia's defence as a faint blush appeared on the girl's face. "I was never asleep, I heard it all. And I thought I would give my input as a guy." Axel defended, smiling slightly as he sat up on the couch. "Input as a guy huh? If we wanna hear about how our boobs and butts look we'll be sure to ask." Kelsie teased, with Axel looking at her with feigned shock "That's a very stereotypical and misogynistic thing you just said." "The word misogynistic doesn't work when you're talking about a guy." "Since when were you all picky about literacy?" "You're such a tool." Kelsie chuckled and gave Axel an apologetic wink, causing the boy to exhale through his nose in amusement. "Thanks for the advice Kelsie, I think it'll help quite a bit." Synthia spoke up now that the two were finished with their squabble. "Anytime girl. I'm here to help." Kelsie said with a smile, one that Synthia gratefully returned. The trio fell into silence again, with Synthia now at least a little bit calmer, as they waited for Neo and Noah to arrive. Eventually they heard faint chatter from outside the front door, causing all of them to look over, and then Noah entered using his spare key with Neo close behind him. Whatever conversation they were having fell short as they entered, and as soon as they did Synthia, Axel and Kelsie stood up, looking at them both with irritation, curiosity, and concern respectively. "You two better have a damn good reason as to how you managed to 'bump into Zuro' as you so elegantly put it." Synthia said, her glare piercing straight through Noah. "Hello to you too." The boy said teasingly, while Neo looked at him in puzzlement "That's what you said to her in your text?" "I still had a little bit of adrenaline during the aftermath of the fight, forgive me for not considering my words more carefully." Noah said defensively, causing Neo to sigh. "Are you both alright is the important question." Kelsie commented as she walked closer to the boys, placing a hand on Noah's arm in concern as she looked him over quickly. Neo noticed the boy actively tense at Kelsie's touch, shaking his head to himself in amusement, then watched as the girl moved on to look him over as well. "You both seem fine." She stated, her eyebrow raising in curiosity "Last time we encountered Zuro he dropped a hospital on you and put you in a coma for days. And yet here you two are, unscathed." "We'll explain everything, lets sit down." Neo said, moving over to the couches as the others followed. Noah and him took turns explaining things to the other three, telling them practically everything they told Kayla with a few extra details. They all looked equally stunned at the mention of Hector, as well as the insight into the fight that happened with Zuro and his strange change in motives. "Last thing he told us was that he planned to torture us both horrifically. About as pleasant as you'd expect from Zuro." Noah finished, watching the trio shift in their seats as they took in all this information. Axel was the first to speak, leaning forward as he looked at the pair "That's certainly something. This Hector guy, is there any chance we can meet him?" "I think so." Neo said, thinking back to exactly what Hector had told him and Noah "He revealed that he knew about all six of us, and he was adamant on us meeting him again, so it seems like a possibility." "You guys don't know where it is he took you?" Axel questioned, with Neo shaking his head "It was weird. We were unconscious when he brought us there, and when we left we appeared in some alleyway, without a single sign of any door nearby." "That...is really strange. Guess all we can do is wait for him to get in contact." Axel replied, sighing and leaning back on the couch. "In the meantime..." Kelsie spoke up, addressing everyone around her and not just Noah and Neo "...what are we gonna do about Zuro? So far he's targeted innocent civilians in the street, and innocent civilians in a hospital. I don't know about you but I'm sensing a trend." "We have to stop him from killing as many people as possible." Neo said immediately, looking at Kelsie with an extremely serious expression "We seemed to have drawn his attention back at my place, but as soon as he gets bored of us you can bet he'll go straight back to his usual deeds. We have to be there to prevent anymore lives being lost." "Your cause is righteous..." Axel said, running a hand through his hair subconsciously "...but how are we gonna make it possible? We can barely keep ourselves alive against Zuro, and how will we even know where he's attacking before it's too late?" "Hector said that we outnumber Zuro, and that he doesn't stand a chance against us at full strength. If we train, learn to fight, and master our powers, he won't know what hit him. And with Hector's help I'm sure we can accomplish that. As for knowing Zuro's attacks..." Neo paused to think for a second, everyone else's eyes on him before he looked up right at Noah "Your electrical powers. It's not just for attacking or shielding or whatever, is it?" "What do you mean?" Noah asked, not fully understanding Neo's meaning. "I mean like...is it possible to hack into some sort of electrical device, or control it or something? Surveillance cameras, police radios, cellphones, anything like that?" Neo questioned, his determined gaze burning into Noah. "I uh...I don't know. I have this strange connection with any type of electricity so it could well be possible but...right now it's way, way out of my skill level to do anything of use with it." Noah said, causing Neo to look down with a sigh, immediately downtrodden "Though Hector could help. Maybe we're expecting too much of him, but if he's really as knowledgable as he lets on it's worth a shot." Neo looked up again, then grinned hopefully "We'll ask him then, next time we see him. Until then, we can keep an eye on any internet sites or new reports. If we hide our identities and put up as big a fight as we can muster, we can stop Zuro doing what he does." The boy looked at the four people around him, meeting each of their gazes to try and read their expressions, but then Axel spoke up "Hang on a second Neo. I think you might be getting ahead of yourself. Don't get me wrong, you're a better man than me for being so passionate about this but...you're forgetting something key. You need to know if we're willing to risk our lives or not. And that's exactly what it is - in fact it's more than that. It's going against all odds, putting our lives on the line while being fully aware how little our chances of success are. It doesn't come as naturally for everyone they way it does for you." Axel looked at Neo in a very patient and considerate way, simply trying to make him see exactly what he was asking of everyone. Neo fell quiet, then glanced around at the others yet again. Synthia had her gaze on the floor, not having said a single thing since the group had sat down on the couch. Noah was also looking down at his hands, thinking about what Axel was saying. Only Kelsie still met Neo's gaze, and she flashed him a wide smile "You can count on me to heal you up whenever you need it." Her words managed to spark a small flutter of relief in Neo as Axel spoke up again "It's different for you Kelse, you know that. You don't have to be there, fighting head on against someone who can kill us all with a flick of his wrist anytime he wanted to." The boy said, causing Kelsie to pout and stick her tongue out at him, though ultimately she understood. "Listen, I'm not trying to shatter hopes here, I just think-" "I'm with him." Axel was cut off by Synthia, who was now sat up straight looking at her brother with confidence. Her gaze then turned to Neo, and she gave a small nod to solidify her decision "I'm with you." Neo looked into her eyes for a second, then smiled brightly and uttered a genuine thank you to her. She glanced away again, and as she did Neo felt a hand fall on his shoulder and grip it tightly. Noah was on his feet and had moved to stand beside Neo's chair, grinning down at him as the boy looked up with slight surprise "I've been with you this far. I don't intend to back down now. Zuro promised unimaginable torture to both of us, so I guess we'll just have to endure it together." Neo watched the boy, then his smile widened into a shit eating grin as he nodded to Noah, before turning to look at Axel along with the other three. Axel glanced between each of them, then leaned heavily against the couch as a small smirk crept into his face "Well, you don't really expect me to say no after all that do you? I'm with you all, all the way." Neo couldn't quite seem to get rid of his smile as he looked at all his companions, then nodded firmly to both them and himself "Alright then. From now on we're uh...the anti-Zuro squad?" "Jesus fuck no." Synthia said, laughing heartily at the suggestion for a name. "Are we actually making up a group name? What is this a boy band?" Axel teased, with Kelsie slapping his shoulder "Hush, I think it's nice." "The defenders of Earth." Neo tried for a second time, with Synthia only laughing harder "Way too sucky." "How about just 'The Custodes?'" Noah spoke up, with the group looking at him in confusion. "It's Latin for 'Guardians'. Just thought it was kinda fitting. Good name for the newspapers too if they ever get their hands on it." "Better than the anti-Zuro squad." Synthia chimed, with Neo sighing before looking up at Noah "You know Latin?" "A little. I had a lot of spare time growing up and someone I knew ended up giving me some lesson." Noah answered, with Neo seeming a little surprised by this. "Lets go with that then. We can have it painted on our superhero costumes." Axel said with a chuckle, which Neo perked up at "We're not wearing costumes...are we?" "How else are we gonna protect our identities?" Noah said, but his voice definitely sounded like he was teasing Neo. "You won't catch me dead in a costume." Synthia announced firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Masks. Masks are a good way to go." Kelsie said, with Neo and Synthia nodding in agreement. "We'd probably have to get them custom made or something." Synthia said, with Neo quickly casting a hand over his own face and creating a dark mask for himself, creeping up and covering his mouth and nose like a veil. "Doesn't get much more custom than this." He stated, speaking perfectly clearly despite the obvious barrier that should be making it difficult for him. Synthia waved her own hand in front of her face and a metal mask, similar to Neo's, materialised out of nowhere. "Yeah, I can't do that." Axel stated, letting out a sigh "Big powerful red lasers are no good for making masks." "I'm sure one of us can cover for you." Noah said, conjuring his own mask over his face just to show off "When the time comes." "Great, glad the matter of protecting our identities is sorted. Anything else?" Axel questioned, looking around. "I was thinking of something actually." Neo started to speak, remembering his thought from back when he first woke up in the hospital "Our phones definitely seem pretty fragile considering what we're getting ourselves into. I was thinking there could be another way to talk to each other. Maybe a different...electrical device?" Neo looked up at Noah with a hopeful, shimmering gaze, causing the boy to sigh "Like I said, out of my skill level. But maybe after I speak to Hector I'll learn more about it. I'll make a mental note of it." "Thank you." Axel watched Neo with a curious gaze, then smiled and sat up "Well guys, I think it's safe to say we are on the road to kicking Zuro's ass." "Yay us." Kelsie said, clapping her hands childishly before standing up "Now, it's currently round about three in the morning. Neo and Noah, you guys went through quite a lot today so I have no doubt you're tired, and since Neo's apartment isn't exactly safe from Zuro anymore and Noah doesn't have his car it looks like you will be staying here tonight." The pair looked at Kelsie, surprised by her sudden switch from childish to parental, before nodding simultaneously. "Synth, Ax, the offer of staying applies to you guys as well." She said as she turned to the siblings, with Axel shaking his head with a hint of apology "I would definitely love to, but if there aren't anymore attacks from Zuro I plan on heading to work tomorrow. Plus, with everything that's been happening I feel the need to check on my Mom more and more frequently, I'd get a tad bit nervous if I didn't." "Alright babe, make sure you stay safe on the way home." Kelsie said, quickly leaning over to give Axel a soft kiss before turning to Synthia "You gonna head with him?" "Yeah, I um...I think so." She said, her eyes glancing over at Neo for a second, not long enough for him to notice but more than enough for Kelsie to understand what she was thinking. She quickly leaned over and whispered something to Axel, who smiled slightly and stood up "Alright well, I'm gonna head out to the car. Stay safe guys, Synthia don't take too long." As the group waved to him, he left through the front door, closing it gently behind him. "Noah, come help me prepare for you two sleeping over in the bedroom real quick." Kelsie said, grabbing Noah's hand and practically dragging him towards the bedroom door. Neo only caught one glance of the boy's puzzled expression before both he and Kelsie had disappeared into the room, leaving only Neo and Synthia in the living room. "Axel was awfully quick to leave. It's stra-" Neo was in the process of standing up as he spoke, but the second he did Synthia cut him off by tackling him with a tight hug. "Synthia?" He said curiously, a somewhat confused expression crossing his face "What are you doing?" "Thank you. For what you did, in the hospital. I wanted to talk to you as soon as I woke up but they said you were still asleep, and now here you are up again and-..." She droned off, but Neo's expression was quickly taken over by surprise and realisation "Oh my god...I completely forgot with everything that had happened. It slipped my mind and-...I didn't even ask how you were." He said, his own arms moving to hug the girl back. Synthia shook her head against his shoulder, letting out a small chuckle despite the fact she was starting to shake ever so slightly "I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. All thanks to you, that is. Do you remember-...do you remember being under there? In the darkness? I don't know if you were even awake when I was but I-" "You said my name." Neo muttered quietly, looking down at the floor as he thought back to the both of them being trapped in his dark cocoon "I'd been screaming, breaking down, hoping that some miracle would happen that would save us. It was terrifying, I was giving up hope and starting to accept that I wasn't gonna make it out and then-" He cut himself off in hearing Synthia sniff, clinging to him as tears slid slowly down her cheeks. He didn't say anything else, since there was nothing more either of them needed to disclose. They both knew exactly how scary it had been for the other, and they'd both wallowed in relief at the other person's presence under all that rubble. Neo held on tightly to the trembling girl in front of him, for how long he didn't have a clue. Eventually she stopped shaking, wiping her eyes with her sleeve as she let out a small sigh "Jesus, I must look stupid." "Don't say that. I'm sorry if me coming here made you feel like this." Neo said quietly to her, thinking back to how little she'd said during their group talk. "It's okay. Getting to let them out is definitely a much nicer feeling." She pulled back slightly to look at him with a small smile, one that he happily returned. There was a moment of quiet between them, until Synthia reached up to rest a hand gently on the side of Neo's face, then leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "I'm alright now, kay? Don't start worrying about me the second I walk out this door." "I'll do my best." Neo said, his smile widening slightly as he tried to hide the faint blush on his cheeks. He unwrapped his arms from Synthia and she did the same to him, before starting to make her way to the door "Oh, and bye to you guys too you fucking eavesdroppers!" She shouted towards the bedroom door, listening as a hurried ruffle came from it, sounding distinctly like two people scrambling to get away from the door. Neo chuckled, then looked back at Synthia as she gave him a small wave before slipping out the door. He turned towards the bedroom door and opened it, entering the room and immediately spotting Noah and Kelsie, who had rapidly moved to leaning against the wall and laying on the bed in the most casual way possible "...so then I said that's not a camel. That's my wife." Noah said as soon as Neo entered, causing Kelsie to laugh so hard she snorted, purely at his horrible attempt to cover up their eavesdropping. "I'm...not even gonna say anything. What's happening with the sleeping positions?" Neo asked, watching as Kelsie did everything she could to stop her laughter and compose herself. "Well...aha...I'm afraid I've got a boyfriend boys, so you two are gonna need to be the ones that share my parents' bed. Unless one of you wants to sleep on the couch that is." She said, watching as the two boys exchanged a glance. "I want the bed." They said, perfectly in sync, before turning to look at each other with narrowed eyes. "Well then its settled, you guys will be sharing." Kelsie said with an amused grin. Before either of them could start to argue she moved over to Noah, gave him a tiny kiss on the head, then did the same to Neo "Sleep well guys. Seeya." She chimed, before slipping out the door with a small wave. The pair watched her go, with Neo turning to see Noah's face a bright red colour "You really like her huh?" "Undeniably." The boy answered, rubbing the back of his neck with slight embarrassment "But if you want more details it'll have to wait till morning, cause I am shattered." "Me too. You better keep to your side of the bed." Neo said as he moved towards it and pulled his hoodie off, deciding it's safer to not strip to his boxers when sharing the bed with another guy, something that Noah seemed to silently agree on. "If you start hogging the covers prepare to get shocked." Noah said as he slipped into the bed, with Neo doing the same at the other side "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Have a good one." "You too." And with that, they both fell into sleep facing completely opposite directions on the bed.