Fin's jaw drops whenever I tell him and Shuî about what happened to Christina. "You're fucking kidding, right?" He asks. "I know Eric's a prick, but there's no way he'd do that."

I shake my head. "Wish I could say that, but no. She's incredibly shaken up." Probably traumatized.

Shuî seems a lot less high than he was when I saw him earlier. Still, he seems too wiped to actually respond.

"God, I hate Eric so fucking much. If he's going to do that shit, he should do it himself to prove his bravery." Oh fuck oh fuck Eric's right behind him. I glance over to Ash, who's fucking smirking at the situation, and Shuî's avoiding eye contact with anyone and eating his food. "Otherwise he just seems like a coward and a bully."

Eric is not fucking amused. His grey eyes flash with anger. "Maybe I should dangle you from the Chasm too."

Fin doesn't even seem fazed. "You know, if you kill me, you'll have to answer to my mom."

That's… not the direction I expected him to go with that. I was expecting a more "I'd make you do it with me," or some other tough sounding response. But nah, he's just sitting there, smirking up at him and baring a sharp incisor.

"Oh, your mommy's supposed to scare me?" Eric laughs.

"I mean, she slashed my dad's throat for beating to shit outta me and my baby brother, so I'm sure one little ex-Nose shouldn't be a problem."

…

What the actual fuck?

Even Eric is silent. Fin's smirk never wavers. "Yeah, there was blood everywhere. On the walls, on my brother's crib, all over me. I'm surprised there wasn't a huge blood trail on our way from the apartment to the Chasm. She must've gotten all the blood out with just that one slice. And have you ever seen someone fall into the Chasm? Oh man, their body tumbles around, guts everywhere, man!" He sounds like some nerdy Erudite kid describing a science project, not a man talking about his own father's murder. "Like, did you know how fucking long your small intestine is?"

Eric slowly takes a few steps back, then sharply turns on his heel and speedwalks out of the infirmary.

We're all silent for a moment, processing what we just heard.

"So, uh, dead dad, huh?" Ash asks after a few moments. "That explains a lot, actually."

"Hey!" Shuî actually sounds offended.

"You too? Explains a lot about you also."

Fin least out a boisterous laugh. "No way, you guys actually believed that shit?" He leans back in his chair and slaps his thigh. "Come on, that's fucking ridiculous. Mom would have been arrested for that shit. And no blood trail? Y'all don't know anything about bodies, do you?"

The rest of us shift uncomfortably. "Uh, no, not really." I squeak out.

He finally finishes his laughter. "Tough crowd tonight, huh?" He shakes his head and sighs. "Nah, sadly, my father's not dead. Mom did beat him half to death with a broom, and when he came back around, she threatened him with a cast iron skillet, but the fucker's still around. Probably." He shrugs.

Part of me wants to pity him. After all, he went through so much at such a young age. But as he launches into stories about how great his mom is and how lucky he is to have her, I can't help but admire his strength. He's still able to smile, to laugh, to live despite everything. Still, he should've had to go through all of that, even if he's strong now.

Resilient. That's the word for him. He's resilient.

0-0-0-0-0

After we get back from lunch, we spend an hour and a half practicing with our guns. I'm getting better, way better than I thought I would. Everyone's doing fairly well, actually. Four seems to be satisfied with our progress, as he lets us work on whatever for the rest of the time.

Shuî stays at the gun range, not wanting to aggravate his injuries, and Al stays with him. Drew and Molly also stay, but on the opposite end. Tris and Christina run laps, Peter lifts weights, Will and I do a core workout we found in a book, and Edward and Ash spar in the ring. It isn't scored, so it's a lot more casual.

"I can't believe Ash is talking to Edward." Will says. Is he really still mad about the breakup? Sure, it was a nasty end, with accusations of cheating and spreading rumors (though, in Will's defense, he did start dating Myra only a week after they broke up, so it's definitely suspect), but that was months ago. I don't let him know that I was thinking of asking him for help next.

"I'm sure it's purely transactional." I don't point out that Ash is laughing. Even Edward is smiling, which is rare for him. "Like it or not, Edward's the strongest initiate in here."

"Yeah, and of course Ash would shove aside everything that's happened just to get better." He says that like it's a bad thing, but I think it's admirable that he's willing to put aside personal drama in order to improve.

According to the book, we're supposed to repeat the workout 3 times for the full effect, but Will gets up. "I'm going to go jog with Tris and Chris." Heh, Tris and Chris. I like that. "You want to join?"

I wasn't feeling this workout either. Then again, running for an hour doesn't sound appealing either. "Let me get some water first."

I head over to the water cooler, and Four's standing there, observing Ash and Edward's training. I get one of the plastic cups and fill it, taking a drink. It's lukewarm. Gross.

I stand there for a couple moments, not wanting to run laps just yet. I look at Four. Maybe I can buy a few minutes by asking some questions.

"Hey, Four, so like, how do initiates from different factions tend to do?" I ask.

He looks at me. "Why do you want to know?"

I shrug. "I'm just curious."

He purses his lips for a moment. "Amity tend to be the physically strongest out of the bunch, though they often struggle with the mental aspect of fighting one another. Erudite does well with developing strategies, but can easily be knocked off course if something unexpected happens. Candor is great with reading their opponent's tells, but often end up fighting defensively."

Makes sense. "What about Abnegation?"

He looks over at Tris with an expression I can't read. "Haven't been enough to tell."

I wonder what he was like in his initiation. Was he cold and ruthless? He must have been to some extent, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten first. He's clearly strong, and could easily take anyone in this room, even Edward.

"If you're just going to stand there, at least pay attention to your brother." Four says. Fuck, he caught on to what I was doing.

Edward seems to be teaching him how to put someone in a proper headlock. They grapple around for a while, and I try to figure out what techniques they're using, but I think they both just have long arms. I wouldn't stand a chance.

Ash laughs whenever he finally gets it right, but Edward swiftly counters and almost slams Ash onto the ground before catching him.

"Never let your guard down, even when you think you've won." Four says. "It's a trap many inexperienced fighters fall into. Of course, if you're smart, you can use it to your advantage."

"How?" I take another drink of the water.

"At your size, you're not going to win by raw strength alone. But if you can manipulate them into thinking they have the upperhand, you can sweep the advantage out from under them and maintain control."

"Thank you, sir." I nod.

"Now that you've cooled off, get back to work." He crosses his arms and goes back to observing the fight.

Right. Now for an hour of running. Yay.

0-0-0-0-0

Christina and the gang don't stick around for dinner. I haven't gotten a chance to comfort her, not really. Sure, I've expressed empathy, but I haven't gotten to hug her. Is she more comforted by words or physical contact?

I'm honestly surprised how fast Shuî seems to be healing. I know that medical technology has made some serious advancements since the war, but it'll never cease to amaze me.

"It's official. I'm bleaching my hair today." Ash says after finishing his sandwich.

"I should probably get a haircut too. Knives aren't the best tool for it."

"You cut your hair with a knife?" Fin smirks. "You're sounding more and more Dauntless every day."

I blush a little. "I mean, it was an impulse decision, not exactly bravery."

"Still. Anyway, I can show you where I go to get my hair done, if you want. They're a bit off the main path, so they probably won't be super busy." Fin says, leaning back in his chair. He looks over to Shuî. "You planning on doing anything fancy with your hair?"

Shuî shakes his head. "Uh, not yet."

Fin shrugs. "Suit yourself. Though, I think you'd look good with red hair. Not like Crimson's red, but like a blood red or something."

Shuî blushes and looks down at his feet. "Uh, I don't think I'd look good with any color hair, Infinity."

Fin's eyes widen. "Dude, don't say shit like that." He leans across the table and puts his hands on Shuî's cheeks. "You're fucking adorable. If anyone ever tells you otherwise, punch them in the face."

Shuî hastily gets up, pushing Fin's hands away. "Uh, I should get back to the dorm. Ribs still hurt, you know?" He awkwardly laughs and speeds away.

"What, did he think I was flirting with him or something?" Fin blinks, looking surprisingly innocent for once. "Because I really wasn't. I just hate when cute people think they're ugly. Beauty is something to be appreciated."

"I think he's just a Stiff." Ash chuckles.

Still, it sucks to see someone unable to take a compliment, even if it's from someone with as strong a personality as Fin.

"Anyway, you guys ready?" Fin asks getting up.

I take the last bite of my sandwich and set it down. "Yeah, let's go."

Fin leads up up a couple loops up the Pit, then down a hall I haven't explored yet. I didn't realize there were shops off of the Pit, but here we are, a hallway lit by only the neon from the signs. We duck into a small hair salon after a few meters.

"Fin!" A voice yells. A tanned young woman with a blonde bob runs up and wraps her arms around his waist. She gets on her tiptoes and plants a kiss on his cheek, leaving a deep red splotch. Oh, shit, is she his girlfriend? "It's been so long! How are you? Is initiation going well? Are you winning your fights? Oh, you're in the same group as my cousin Marlene, right? How's she doing?"

"Marona, he was in here last week to get his roots done." Another young woman with half of her sleek black hair smirks as she leans against the desk.

"I know, but he visits Rex every day! Why can't he come see us every day?" Marona pouts. She looked normal height when she was hugging Fin, but as she pulls away, I realize she's almost as tall as Shuî. She looks over at me and Ash. "Oh, are these the new friends you were talking about? I thought there were three."

"Shuî's a lameass and didn't want to drastically change his hair." Fin shrugs. "Also, yeah, me and Marlene are both doing well."

"Good! And that means you're Ash, right?" She looks over to Ash, then to me. "And oh my God, Crimson, I knew you were short, but you're so tiny! It's adorable!" She bounds over and pinches my cheeks. "Aww!"

"Are you, uh, his girlfriend?" I ask.

She stands up and giggles. "I'm not even a girl half the time." Oh. Oops. "But no, I'm not dating him. You can have him if you want."

"Oh, uh, that's not what I-"

"Didn't you come here for haircuts?" The other woman raises her eyebrows.

"Oh, I call Crimson! Whatever you want for your hair, I'll do it!" Marona grins and stands up. "Fin, you sticking around?"

"Nah, mom's making cookies tonight, and Ian will be pissed if I don't teach him how to wrestle for a bit."

"Bring us some cookies! And tell your mom we said hi!" Marona takes me by the hand and leads me to a chair separated from the lobby area by sheets hang from a pole. "Oh, I'm Marona, if you didn't catch my name earlier.

"Nice to meet you." She - they, based on what they said earlier - shakes my hand lightly as I sit down in the chair. "So, were you going to dye it, or did you just want it cut?"

"Oh, uh, just a cut." I like my red hair, and I'm not too keen to change it.

"Alright! Did you have any particular styles in mind? I can help you look more masculine, if you want."

"How does everyone seem to know I'm a bit, anyway?" I ask as she starts brushing down my hair.

She smiles a bit. "Well, here in Dauntless, we really try to respect that kind of thing! It takes a whole load of courage to come out as anything but standard. We always try to spread the word to help avoid people accidentally misgendering others, you know? Especially Fin. I'm pretty sure he threatened to stab Rex if he didn't get it right."

"Wow. Oh, and yeah, if you could just trim it up and make it look more boyish. I like the length it's at right now."

Marona hums. "Alright. And yeah, Fin's intense. Has he told you that his little brother Ian's trans? That's why he's so insistent on this sort of thing."

That makes a lot of sense. "No, he hadn't. Oh, and uh, speaking of that sort of things, what pronouns should I use for you?"

"Honestly, call me whatever." She holds out her wrist, revealing a pink bracelet. "Right now, I'm feeling more feminine, so she/her pronouns work, but in general, I'm fine with whatever. If I'm wearing a blue bracelet, I'm feeling more male, and yellow means neither."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

The rest of the haircut goes smoothly. Marona tells me that their half-sibling May is the other hairdresser, and that their parents are in a loving three person marriage. At one point, they continuously try to brush down a cowlick off my hairline that points up and to my right, but eventually give up. After we're done, we move out into the lobby to wait for Ash and May to get done. No other customers come by, apparently since one of the main salons is having a sale right now, so I get to hear loads about Dauntless hairstyles and fashion. Self expression is very important here, so there's about as many styles as there are people. Marona's dyed their hair all shades of blue and purple, and they're probably going to be a ruby red before next week.

After a while, Ash emerges from the other curtained off area, and I can't help but laugh.

"Holy shit, you're hair is fucking orange!" It's not even a good orange like mine, either. It's like a burnt orangey-brown, and it's so cursed to see my brother as a brunette.

"This man really thought he could go from jet black to snow white in one session." May smirks.

"Oh dear," Marona says, and good god that sounds way too tame for a Dauntless born.

"If I'd known my hair would take so long, I'd have just let it go gray naturally." Ash sighs.

"See you next week, then." May says as she disappears into the back of the store.

"It was wonderful to meet you guys! Any friend of Fin's is a friend of mine, so stop by any time! Well, assuming I'm not busy." Marona giggles.

"People seem to hold Fin's opinions in high regard." Ash says.

"Well, yeah, a lot of people really like him. A lot of us are actually hoping he's going to become a leader. He's, like, kind of the model Dauntless."

"Is letting a 16 year old have that much influence really a good idea?" Ash asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

Marona raises an eyebrow. "You came from Erudite, right? Things work differently down here. Case in point, Eric." Their ocean blue eyes flit to the ground for a second. "Though, uh, he may not be the best example when it comes to good leadership."

Ash shrugs. "Fair enough."

God, his hair looks so weird. I could almost picture him with white hair, but this brunette shade? It's definitely odd.

Let's hope I sleep well tonight. I'll need it for tomorrow's fight.

0-0-0-0-0

A/N whoops is Fin my main character? I mean, Crimson's more the emotional heart of the group than the driving character, I've known that from the start, but I have some plans for Fin.