Chapter 13
Silver woke up feeling better than normal. Amazing, in fact. Was it possible…
A soft snore came from behind her. She turned to see Zoom slumped against the headboard, his arms folded snuggly in his green sweatshirt. His black hair stuck out from under the very top edge of the hood.
Silver felt a twinge embarrassment. Had he been there the whole night? They hadn't done anything, he wasn't even under the sheets, but still – what was she thinking? Though she couldn't deny that was the best sleep she had in a long time, Silver felt bad that he'd slept sitting up and wondered how much actual rest he got. Why'd he stay the whole time? She remembered saying she didn't want to be alone, but he could've left after she fell asleep. She wasn't mad that he stayed, of course. Just… confused? Ashamed?
The guardian gingerly crawled out of bed, careful to not disturb him. She went to the bathroom, closing the door behind her so the light wouldn't wake him, cleaned up, and brushed her teeth. Then she quietly crept to her closet, grabbing a set of sweats and a long sleeve tee to change into back in the bathroom. When she was done, Zoom was still softly snoring.
Silver sat on the bed, the side she had crawled out of, and looked at him deciding what to do. After quick consideration, she thought it best to just leave him. Who knew how much rest he got…
Silver slipped out and down to the kitchen for breakfast, meeting Agura in the hallway.
"You seem kinda perky," she remarked.
"Yeah… I slept pretty good for once…"
Zoom's neck felt stiff as his eyes fluttered open. He glanced down and was surprised to see the sheets empty. What time was it? He rubbed his eyes and yawned before swinging his legs out of bed. Why didn't she get him up? He shuffled over to the bathroom to make sure she wasn't there, even though he could clearly see from the bed that it was empty. He peaked at himself in the mirror, pulling his hood back.
Oh God. His hair was so flat from drying in a hoodie all night. That would most definitely have to be fixed before going down. Maybe it was best that she didn't wake him. He did not want her to see this bedhead. Zoom turned out of the bathroom, about to pull his hood back on, when the bedroom door suddenly slid open.
"Oh, good morning," she said as she walked into the room with a grin, eyes focused exactly where he didn't want them.
Zoom didn't even attempt to hide the groan as he whipped up the hood. "My hair – I know, I'm going to go fix it – I'm going right now,"
"I actually kind of like it," she chuckled crossing her arms. "it suits your air-borne personality,"
Zoom shifted his eyes around, looking anywhere but at her, trying to suppress the smile by pressing his lips to a tight line. One corner of his mouth betrayed his efforts.
"Sooooooo… how'd you sleep?" he asked, finally able to make eye contact.
"The best I've had in a long time – definitely the best since I arrived here,"
The other corner of his mouth gave way to a small smile. "Good… good…"
"Thank you… you didn't have to stay the whole night," she said, tilting her head.
"Yeah, well, wanted to keep making sure you were ok," he shrugged. Her eyes were more alive, her smile more vibrant, and her face tilted to see his was too much to handle. Geez, a good night's sleep practically made her glow. Zoom was nervous his cheeks were turning red and hoped to god his emotions weren't too thick that she could sense them. He chewed his bottom lip nervously. "I'm going to fix this," he jabbed a finger to his head. "before I head downstairs for some grub,"
"Ok,"
"Do you know what we're doing today?"
"Because Stanford kept begging, Vert said it's a rest day,"
"Right, right," he nodded. "Ok, well – see ya,"
He awkwardly and stiffly passed her and made his way out, feeling her eyes on his back as he left. Zoom didn't notice Vert in the hallway as he crossed over to his own room. The leader didn't grab his attention, just watched his scout with amusement.
Once Zoom fixed the hair situation he went down for brunch. Everyone had already eaten, even Stanford, and they were off doing their own thing for the day. He fixed himself up his favorite omelet and plopped onto the couch, propping his feet up on the ottoman. As he ate, he zoned out watching Spinner play Call of Duty.
Spin asked without looking over. "Dude, you good?"
"Yeah, why,"
"You keep turning your neck like you have a kink in it – you should get that checked out or something,"
Zoom turned his whole upper body to his friend. "Ok first of all, how can you see that when your eyes haven't moved, and second – my neck is fine,"
"Your fidgeting is bothering me – I can feel you moving. What, did you sleep on the floor like old times?"
"Nah," Zoom forked another piece of egg. "just slept funny."
Zoom finished up and rinsed his dish before putting it in the washer. Silver appeared wearing her tight workout shorts and oversized hoodie and made her way to the elevator. Zoom noticed she was carrying her sword and gave her a curious look.
"What are you…"
"Practice," she said simply before the doors shut behind her.
"She looked cute," Spinner remarked.
"You didn't even see her," Zoom arched a brow.
"I didn't have to – I can hear it in your voice,"
He was starting to get annoyed with this. Since when did the little Cortez become the next Sherlock Holmes?
"Nothing happened with my voice, and I barely said two words,"
"Three words," Tezz suddenly popped up from the kitchen behind them.
"Whatever,"
The scout was on his way out when Spinner shouted after him. "Hey maybe she needs someone to practice with – you should JOIN HER,"
"I can't, I've got a kink in my neck, remember?" Zoom grinned and left, hearing his friend laugh incredulously behind him.
Zoom couldn't deny he really liked the idea of practicing with her but he didn't want to get butchered – especially after what she did to the tires yesterday. Based off that, there wouldn't be a stack left for long.
He figured he would just go take a nap. It was rest day, after all. This was a day where the team prayed they didn't get a red alert from the multiverse. Zoom ruffled his hair and crashed into his bed.
Agura and Vert found Silver in the garage, whipping the blade in tornadoes around her. The whir of her blade through the air tickled their ears as they approached.
"Nice," Vert whistled. "maybe you could show me a couple things… I definitely need work on my swordsmanship,"
"I admire the work ethic, Silver, but it's a rest day…" the huntress smiled. "why don't you give your body a break?"
The blade sliced through the air, then stabbed an imaginary foe. "I feel great actually,"
"Ok… don't push yourself too much. We're heading to Zeke's – you're welcome to meet us there later if you feel like it,"
The couple traveled back down to the hub, leaving Silver with her mind and the satisfying sound of Whalo metal against air. This was a gift to her from Arena – a graduation present of sorts. Once Silver turned thirteen and had passed her hand-to-hand combat test, as well as the level three scripting exam, the master had deemed it time for blade training.
Arena said she had found the metal herself before Silver became her apprentice. It had been on a mission when she encountered the great dragon Ulysses in the Halo mountain range far northwest of Takesh. She'd saved the dragon from a dark spell trap set by poachers in the area, and he'd given her the rare metal as a thanks. They'd kept in touch ever since, and it was at least twice a year Arena would receive a letter from her dear friend, and once a year she'd make the trip out to visit him at an undisclosed location. Dragons were mighty creatures, but highly sought after by the dark domain. If they weren't careful, they would become extinct within a quincentenary.
Silver wondered if there were any more dragons left on Faven, and if any of them helped in the war effort to keep the sentients at bay. It wasn't uncommon to come across a dragon who despised the Favian people as a whole – so she wouldn't have been surprised to learn some sided with the Sentients to eliminate their oppressors.
As usual, her thoughts drifted to Sorren, forming every feature of his face, then shoulders, then torso, all in her mind till it was almost crystal. If only they had more time…
All the time in the world, Sil.
Thinking of his smile as he held her made her heart hurt, but her jabs at the air became that much sharper. It was getting harder to remember as more time passed… and she couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing. She no longer remembered how it felt to have him next to her. It made her feel ashamed enough already that days would go by where not a single thought of her past love would enter her mind. Her mind was the only way she could keep him alive. She was the only one left who remembered him… and everyone else.
Silver sighed and sheathed her blade. Grabbing a water bottle, she plopped on the bench, wiping sweat from her face. Though emotions weren't pleasant to face or deal with, it was considerably different after a good night's sleep – a new sense of clarity.
Sleeping next to Zoom.
She paused on that thought, wondering why it helped to be by him. Was it only him? Or did she just need a friendly presence to put her mind at ease? If it was just him that made sleeping better, why him?
It wasn't like she could test this to find out. She didn't feel comfortable even to just going up to Agura and saying 'hey, can you keep me company tonight while I sleep to test if I get nightmares?'
That was another feeling of shame and embarrassment: just the fact that Zoom stayed with her all night… next to her in bed. Apprentices weren't really allowed sleep overs in the Order. They were all basically neighbors anyway. Sorren was the only other one who'd slept with her before – which made her feel reluctant to have Zoom accompany her again.
Maybe her mind connected the two more than she was consciously aware. Though they looked nothing alike, she was very aware that their spirits were, for lack of a better word, kindred. They grew up in completely different worlds, but somehow, they had the same freeness about them – like they'd let the wind carry them to wherever it desired. And they shared a sense of clarity when it came to their purpose. They never needed to put it in words, but you can sense their loyalty and determination to live life to serve and experience it to the fullest.
She was done denying she and Zoom were close – she was clearly comfortable with him and trusted him more than anyone else on the team. She knew he felt the same fondness toward her, and was particularly protective at times, even when he did his best to not show it. She didn't understand why, but Silver could sense he was happy at moments like making a sandwich, or like this morning when she told him she slept well. And then he'd try to hide it and it just made it more obvious to her. Then again, all his emotions were very expressive so maybe it was just how he was?
It brought up another question she had to ask herself: was she close with Zoom because of who he was, or because of who he reminded her of?
After considerate thought, Silver settled with simply not knowing the answer. It was too soon to tell, and she would have to be ok with that.
She picked up her sword to head down for a shower. On further thought, a soak in the bath with a dried snack from her home world felt like a good idea.
Later that evening, while she was meditating using the water from the walls, there was a rap on her door.
"Come in,"
"We're watching a movie," Tezz's accent clipped the air as the door slid open. He faltered at the sight of bulbs of water floating about the room, aglow with magic. All of them were different sizes, softly bouncing through the air. He had to duck to keep from one meeting his hairline. "They… wanted to know if you would be interested…"
The guardian made a small grin. She sat in the middle of the room staring down at a few scraps of paper spread on the floor in front of her. The glowing orbs floated to their respective holding cells in the walls through little holes. Tezz felt more comfortable to approach her.
"What was that?"
She picked up the paper and stood to put them away. "A Crota form of meditation – it's great for delving into the depth of the mind, but it takes a lot of steps in a specific order to get there,"
Tezz's eyes focused on the paper. She gently handed it to him for him to examine.
"Is this Favian code?"
"Actually, it's written in script,"
"What's the difference,"
"Script is formed to meet with the magic in a steward. It's written how magic moves and breaths, not how we speak,"
Tezz continued to look confused as he studied the varied lines and shapes across the page.
"Favian code is our everyday language, the words that we say, put on paper, tablet, whatever,"
"So… this is… a magic spell…" he handed the paper back to her. "How… primitive,"
"The script alone isn't a spell, but it can be used to make one," she clarified, tucking the parchment away in a book on a shelf. The only book, in fact. Its binding was very dry and cracked.
Tezz arched a brow in judgement. "I still fail to see the difference."
Silver chuckled as they walked out. His comments didn't bother her. She didn't elaborate further, and Tezz didn't ask anything else.
The rec room was boisterous as everyone got situated. Stanford had claimed one of the cushioned chairs and now sat scrolling through his phone. Tezz quickly claimed the other to avoid the boys crammed together on the couch. The brothers, Zoom, and Vert barely made it work. For the first time since she'd arrived, Spinner looked reluctant to be in the rec room.
"Ready Spin?" Vert took a DVD case off the middle table and waved it around.
"What movie?" Silver took her seat on the floor in front of the couch, weaving her fingers in the shaggy rug. Strange how it was similar to the moss patches on Faven.
"The Conjuring," Vert whispered for an ominous effect before inserting the disc into the Blu-ray player. Spinner whimpered, clinging to his brother.
"Hehe, Spin lost a bet and now he's got to pay the price," the burly one chuckled.
"I don't do creepy or scary or ghosts," Spinner whined, wrapping skinny arms tighter around Sherman's bicep.
He rolled his eyes and shook him off. "You're fine. Have some popcorn – it'll make you feel better,"
"I'm too distressed to eat,"
Silver laughed. "Ghosts? Sounds interesting – Zoom is this what you were talking about?"
"Yeah, but worse," the scout's eye's widened as he slouched into the cushions behind him a large bowl shared between him and Spinner. "here, try some,"
She tasted the whitish-yellow flaky pieces, pleasantly surprised how they melted but also maintained a slight crunch. "did Agura not want to join?"
The movie started, lights dimmed, and Vert squished down in the seat next to his scout. "Nah, she had a phone call with her family back home – also not really her type of movie,"
Silver sat intrigued as the scenes played out. Everything about it was so… odd. One thing that was nice was that compared to John Wayne, this movie was in color. All the plant life in the movie was either green or brown – but mostly green. She waited for something to shoot up the actor's leg whenever they stepped on the grass, but when nothing happened, she remembered that the primary color of safe foliage here on earth was green.
Since the movie was set in an older time period, there was also the mystery of the buildings and their multiple appliances and tools. To the guardian, every room of the house looked cluttered and dysfunctional. The lack of natural light in the homes was bad enough. She had gotten used to living underground with the team and came to terms that she really didn't have much choice, but if a house was built above ground, why not take advantage of the light?
Occasionally, a slight whine or whimper came from Spinner's alcove in the couch. Silver wasn't fazed much by the concept of things moving without a visual antagonist, or scary images. It was like prism magic. Relying on her sixth sense rather than her eyes in these situations had thickened her skin against what she couldn't perceive visually, but the suspenseful music was starting to work its intentions.
Everyone was captivated, especially Tezz, which was surprising with how his scientific mind worked. Maybe having Silver around was starting to open his mind to dimensions unbothered by the laws of physics. Stanford attempted to dull his nerves by scrolling through his phone every once in a while, but it reached the point where he would just hold the device on in his lap while staring at the screen. It cast an eerie glow on his face. The only one who wasn't as tense was Vert who focused his attention over at Spin, knowing what was coming next. There was a pause in the sound on the TV, and Silver felt the tensity of the air grow unbearably thick.
The shock wave of sound rattled the room as the TV portrayed a horrendous image, and Spinner immediately screamed and buried himself under a blanket, scattering popcorn (which had impressively lasted this long) across the floor and in Silver's hair. Stanford's cry was second to his in volume as the brit jumped in his seat and slapped a hand to his chest while the other covered his eyes.
Silver had been doing well until this point in the movie. When the sound and image enveloped her senses, she fell backwards into the shower of popcorn, tucking her fists under her chin. "OPHELIA'S LIGHT!" Silver screamed, a strong cold wire coiled around her spine. The solo cups that had been holding their soda bounced three feet in the air as the glowing fluids jumped out and splashed the ceiling. The bowl and cups clicked and rolled around on the ground as everyone found their breath again. For a split second, no one moved – no one breathed.
"Woah," Zoom looked wide-eyed at the mess of soda over the coffee table and rug, pieces of popcorn now growing soggy in it.
Silver's body timidly relaxed and she exhaled, slumping into the legs behind her. "Oh my gosh… I was not – I'm so sorry, I… oh my," she started to laugh it off a little. "I haven't been startled like that in a long time,"
Tezz released his death grip on the arms of his chair, letting the color return to his knuckles. "Yes… well…" his face stricken in undeniable horror.
Vert laughed openly at the spectacle. Clearly, he'd seen this multiple times. This turned out better than he expected. "Oh my gosh," he clutched his side as he stifled another round of laughter. "that, was PERFECT,"
"Don't worry, I'll clean it up," The guardian audibly exhaled again, closing her eyes this time, and leaning back as her heart rate returned to normal. She heard a couple crunches as the popcorn squished between her head and Zoom's legs, so she sat up again. She started to comb her fingers through her hair, trying to find the pieces, and she felt little tugs at the strands at the back of her head.
"I got it,"
She turned to see Zoom sitting forward, a slight grin on his face as he picked out white pieces in her long hair. He clearly found the whole event comical. Silver was surprised she didn't really feel him jump behind her – but maybe she was too distracted to notice.
"You can keep watching," he said, nodding toward the TV while he combed a large popcorn out.
"I don't know if I should anymore," Silver wrinkled her brow. "at least not with the drinks around,"
Tezz nodded emphatically. "I agree,"
"You don't want to finish the movie?"
A slight chill ran down her spine. "I do, but I'm worried I'll do something more dangerous on accident," her eyes lit with the blue glow as she waved and coaxed the soda back into the cups, drying the carpet and table and collecting some popcorn pieces along the way. "I'd rather not take the risk," Silver got up, interrupting Zoom's work on her hair, and took the cups to the sink.
"I think I'll just call it a night," she said with a smile. "have fun,"
"YUP! Me too!" Spinner yelped and leaped over the back of the couch, ditching the blanket, and throwing it over his brother's head. "GOODNIGHT!" he ran past her and out the room, feet barely hitting the floor.
"You're not going to go after the blighter?" Stanford asked the blonde, annoyed that the main reason they were watching the movie had just left.
"Nah," Vert chuckled. "one good scare is enough to call it even,"
Zoom contemplated going up with her but thought it might look weird and too obvious. She was now tossing the cups in the garbage. He could see some popcorn left in her hair as she walked away. He turned back to the TV.
After about ten minutes (but felt like thirty), Zoom obnoxiously stretched with a fake yawn.
"Aight, Imma head up,"
Vert frowned. "Dude, we're only halfway through,"
"Yeah but I've seen it twice already,"
"Yeah and I've seen it twenty times before – I'm still watching – even Tezz is watching,"
That comment made the mathematician consider ditching too, but he was more enveloped in the story than he realized and couldn't pull away from his seat.
Zoom shook his head. "I'm tired – night guys,"
Sherman watched the scout make his way around the couch. "Didn't you like, sleep five hours today?"
"Yup – still tired,"
"Impossible," Stanford scoffed in British. "unless there's some other reason you're heading upstairs,"
"Nah," he waved the comment off.
"So you're not going to see our favorite guardian of a particular mystifying planet of which its name escapes me?" Stanford sneered.
"C'mon," Zoom sheepishly grinned, rubbing a palm across his neck. "her room is right across from mine… kinda unavoidable,"
Stanford put his hands up in mock surrender. "case and point,"
The scout made eye contact with his leader. Vert was smiling but dropped the discussion with a shrug before focusing back on his movie. The cape of embarrassment stuck to Zoom as he awkwardly walked out without any further interrogation.
When he reached the end of the bedroom hall where his and her rooms were, he stopped and stood for a minute. His weight shifted toward his door. Then he changed his mind and took a step to hers, then he paused and went back to face his door again.
Zoom shook his head. What was he doing? Why was it so difficult to decide whether to check on a friend or not? He had all the right intentions; it was just the guys who made it weird.
The door behind him slid open and Zoom spun around, startled.
She was standing in pajamas – shorts and a tee shirt with little blue flowers scattered across the white fabric, and an oversized black zip hoodie to keep warm. Her arms were lightly crossed over her abdomen with a look of amusement across her face. Silver stifled a laugh. "Is that what it looked like when you got scared?"
"Ha," he rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands in his sweatpants pockets. "I'd already seen it a couple times,"
"Hm," she squinted at him. "I'm ok, by the way. I'll be fine tonight,"
"Oh uh, yeah – good," he made a small smile. "how'd you know I was…."
"I can tell every time you've paused at my door – when I'm awake at least," she arched a knowing brow. "I can tell you're at least a little worried about something… and after last night I assume…"
Zoom was dumbfounded. His cheeks felt hot, and he tried and failed to suppress the smile of embarrassment. "Um… that's… uh," he stammered. "yeah… sorry,"
"Thank you," she smiled. "that's really nice of you, but you don't have to worry about me,"
"Ok,"
She monitored his body behavior for a bit. Neither of them moved and neither said anything.
"Can I ask you something?" she tilted her head.
"You just did,"
Silver rolled her eyes with an annoyed huff before looking at him seriously. "Why do you… care? I'm still alive – I'm ok – I'm not stuck a mermaid, so… what?"
Zoom paused – thinking about it carefully. "You know," he finally made solid eye contact. "I don't know… I just… do."
He waited for her to say something else, but she just watched him.
"Does it bother you?"
She breathed softly. "I don't know…"
"Ok…" Zoom looked down the hall, grateful that no one had come out. "well, if we're being super honest, I'm telling you I'm going to keep caring, Sil," he ran fingers through his hair. "so you're going to have to accept it, or being on this team is going to be a little more difficult than it already is,"
"I'm not a kid, Zoom," she frowned. "I'm older than you,"
"I didn't say you were. I'm saying this as a friend – and we talked about this. Mentally we're on the same level,"
"Science says women mature faster than men," she arched a brow, toying with him now.
"Ok first, where did you learn that – and second, I think life circumstances and how you cope with those have a little more influence than age on maturity,"
"Mhm, and what do my life circumstances say about me?"
"Well…"
"You think I can't handle it – like a kid,"
"No," he slapped a hand to his forehead, slightly exasperated.
"It's ok, you can still be friends with a kid… it's weird though,"
"Ok, hold on," his head lolled back, and he took a moment to collect his thoughts. She didn't seem irritated or upset, which was good. But he didn't like that they were having this conversation in the hallway. Spinner could be listening in. "Can we take this to either my room or yours?"
"You do know I'm saying this partly to push your buttons, right?"
"Yes, I know," he narrowed his eyes. "please – pick a room,"
Silver sighed with a slight grin and turned into her room, curling up in a chair. Zoom took the other one. Silver stared at Zoom and Zoom stared at the short table in front of them.
"We're friends, right?" he started slowly.
"You have made that very clear,"
"As your friend, I care about how you're doing – and I get that I can be a little much to the point where you would feel like a kid. But in my defense – and I'm sorry if this is too blunt – you've survived genocide, a year of living as a lab rat, the Vandal Ocean, the recent red sentient attacks, and basically did it alone,"
"Yes," she nodded calmly with a dark glint in her eye.
"I think I have a right to be more worried than normal. I told you – no one should have to go through what you've been through,"
"And yet I did," she grit her teeth and rose out of her chair. "and here I am – the others seem to acknowledge those facts just fine without… babying me about it,"
The scout looked up at her. "You have nightmares every night… you jump straight into danger – like with Kyburi and Lucious – and don't even stop to consider the consequences,"
"It's part of the mission," Silver arched a brow. "Isn't that what you said?"
"Going into danger as a team is different from going into danger alone – it's almost like you want to throw your life away,"
Silver crossed her arms and started pacing. "I understand that, Zoom. I'm working on it. What else do you want me to do?" She scrunched her fingers in her with a sigh. "What else do you want from me?"
"I'm not…"
"I've told you about how I grew up, who I grew up with, which then turned into who I lost," her voice got a little louder as she counted each of these things off on her fingers, ending with wringing out her hands. "WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT FROM ME," she stopped and looked him directly in the eye. "oh, and I made peace with your friend whose race is responsible for the genocide of my people – so WHAT DO YOU WANT – we're in a war, not everything is going to be handy dandy sun shines and rainbows,"
She could feel him aching inside as got up from his seat and stood directly in front of her, a couple inches away.
"Lean on me – talk about what's bothering you," he breathed.
She glared at him. "that level of trust takes time,"
"I think you want to talk," he didn't back away. "but are scared to,"
"Why would I be scared?"
"I don't know,"
"Trust," she hissed. "takes time. Don't come in here uninvited like last night again. Leave."
He turned and walked out. "For the record, I offered to leave – twice. You were the one who didn't want to be alone,"
Cold vapor brushed his neck on his way out.
