Xara couldn't sleep.

Not an uncommon thing, after Fred had died, but it made waking up all the more annoying.

Some nights were good. She'd get at least five hours of sleep and wake up- not refreshed, but not like she was exhausted. Some nights were absolute shit; she'd slip into a hazy doze and snap fully awake after only an hour or two, eyes bloodshot and bags under her eyes in the morning and a screwed-up face of anger and pain and red eyes that glowed with pain-

Tonight was somewhere in-between. It wasn't absolute shit, but it wasn't going to be a good night, either.

She sighed and sat up. It felt like an ache was drilling into her very bones, but she tossed the blankets off and made the bed- she wasn't going to be getting back in there tonight. She figured there'd be something she could take a sip of in the kitchen.

Maybe she'd splurge on a soda. She usually avoided sugary carbonated drinks before the dance, considering all the 'very polite' comments she'd get on her appearance (one lady had once clipped that she'd gained another four pounds before Romeo had told her in 'very polite' terms to fuck off.

Actually, no, he'd just told her to flat-out fuck off.)

There was someone in the kitchen, and Xara almost grabbed the meat cleaver off of the rack to throw at them before realizing it was just Jesse, drinking some water. It was in a canteen- probably one they'd brought with them.

"Doesn't that water taste like leather?"

Jesse let out an almost-shriek and almost dropped the canteen as they fumbled to spin to see her. Xara went to the fridge and snatched a lemon-flavored soda from one of the shelves.

The fridge was one of her favorite inventions. As much as Yurin could freeze food naturally, walking into a freezing cold cavern just made it inconvenient, as you still had to bundle up to get in there. Even demons who had been born in Yurin and become naturally resilient to the cold had to put on a coat.

Now demons could put food in a somewhat-reasonably-sized box and not have to put on a coat to go get it.

And it only took a fuckton of redstone to do that.

(To be quite honest, Harper and her first attempt at a 'computer' had used almost enough redstone to fill a room the size of a human football stadium, and it still wasn't as good as the fridge.)

On afterthought, she glanced at Jesse. "Want a soda? I'm sure it'll taste better than leather-water," she said, absently.

Jesse blinked at her; Reuben was lapping at the water Jesse had spilled on the granite countertop. "Ah... I don't need it..."

"Trust me, demons don't need to live off of soda," Xara said drily, making Jesse's face flush bright red. "You want one? A human brought one and we've managed to make an... okay replica of it."

Jesse blinked. "Which soda?"

"You think I know?" Xara rubbed her eyes and tossed Jesse the glass bottle; Jesse managed to catch it without letting the glass bottle shatter all over the kitchen.

They hugged it, hesitating, then quietly reached up. They shifted their sleeve to grip the cap and twisted it off; the drink popped and fizzed.

Like a normal human soda.

Jesse figured it was safe enough to drink, but looked back at Xara. "Uh... this doesn't have poison in it, does it?"

"No. We tried, but it just made the drink taste bitter as fuck," Xara grumbled, taking a swig of the soda- the bubbles almost burned going down.

Jesse took a tiny sip.

Then blinked.

"It tastes like Sprite..."

"Is that what it's called in your world?" Xara asked. "We just call it soda, here."

"We have too much soda in our world; if we said soda undoubtedly someone would ask 'which one'?" came Jesse's response, taking a little sip. "I like Sprite the most, honestly... it's got the most sugar, but it also has the nicest flavor for me..."

Xara grunted and took another swig. "It's pretty good."

Jesse gave her a little smile. It was oddly shy, tiny pink spots forming on their cheeks, and they looked quite adorable. It was almost like seeing a very pleased-with-themselves child.

She couldn't help but let her lips quirk into a small smile herself. "Hmm. What are you doing up?"

Jesse's face fell. "Oh... um... a habit..." They hesitated, then took an overly large mouthful of 'Sprite'- perhaps to avoid answering the question directly.

They instantly regretted it and almost sneezed soda out of their nose.

Xara settled at the countertop, taking another sip while Reuben drank from their half-empty canteen. "What other drinks do you have in the human world?"

"Uh... sparkling water... which would be soda but without the sweet stuff-"

"Sounds absolutely fucking disgusting. Continue," Xara said, getting more soda from the fridge.

"Uh... hot chocolate... fruit juice, fruit punch... um..." Jesse had completely blanked. They usually didn't drink a large variety of things, due to their legal guardian's... grocery-buying tendencies. "... wine..."

"Oh. We have wine here too. Do you drink wine a lot in the human world?" Xara asked, cracking open the soda bottle and practically knocking it back like a shot.

Jesse stared at her blankly. How did she drink it like that? Didn't it send bubbles up her nose?

"I'm too young for alcohol in the human world..."

Xara frowned. "Kids can't drink alcohol?"

"No."

"Weird." Xara sipped on her soda again, rubbing her fingers along the intricate designs on the bottle. It was a familiar, friendly groove, tracing movements that felt soothing and almost gentle on her thumb.

Jesse fidgeted with their soda bottle- they hadn't even finished a third of it yet. "Ah... what are you doing up?" they asked, meekly.

"Can't sleep either." Xara stared back into the bottle, the clear liquid bubbling a little and sending a faint mist of lemon-scented water up near her face. "Haven't been able to for a while now."

"Oh..." Jesse twisted their fingers shyly. "A lot of lords have insomnia..."

Xara laughed at that- a harsh bark of a sound that inadvertently made Jesse jump. "Not that surprising. We have a lot more to worry about than most Cosmos denizens."

And I have the most, she thought to herself, but refused to voice it aloud.

"... ah... that makes sense." Jesse scratched their cheek awkwardly. "I'm... mostly worried about the party... since Mevia's said most Yurin people are-"

"Snobby?" Xara interjected, when Jesse cut themselves off and stared awkwardly at the floor.

As technologically forward as Yurin was, this tended to trend along the lines of Yurin folk being a wee bit more... what was the human word?

Bougie than perhaps some other districts were.

Jesse choked on their soda. "... um... yyyyyyyes. That's... more to the point than..." Jesse fumbled their words, cheeks flushing pink.

Xara flashed a sharp grin at Jesse. "Than politeness would indicate? Nah. Don't worry about it. Fully aware most of the district is snooty as all hell." She grabbed yet another bottle out of the fridge.

If Jesse was concerned about her sugar intake, they didn't remark on it.

"Oh." They looked at their own soda, fiddling with the little strap on their canteen and giving Reuben another tiny puddle to drink from. The little pink piggy practically beamed at Jesse and nudged their arm before resuming drinking from the puddle.

"Um... will- will I have to do anything special? I- I don't want to cause you any trouble..."

Xara's heart had been hard for the longest time after Fred's death. She'd cried her eyes out- screamed until her throat was raw and her voice was a croak and she was aching and in pain- before sealing her heart behind a wall of ice and hatred and cold stares and distance.

It melted a little.

"Nah. I know they're pretty snooty, but unless it's a baron, they don't have enough social standing to do much. Barons are picked by the world, after all."

"Is Ivor the only person who can speak with the world?" Jesse asked, blinking at her.

Xara considered it. "Just about... but many people have the potential for the ability. The magic shifts from person to person- one person will receive the gift once he dies, and then they'll likely become a lord."

"Ah... do people accept it?"

"Mm? Oh, usually. It's completely random." Xara took another swig. "If anything, if you manage to severely offend someone with your fashion choice, all you'll get is some very 'pleasant' comments about it for a few months."

Jesse's eyes lit up. "Like high school!"

Xara let out another bark of a laugh at their excited analogy. "Sure, whatever the fuck high school is. I'll take your word for it."

Her dark-violet-and-red eyes leveled to look at the human, who was quietly rubbing Reuben.

"How do you feel about the October Children?"

"Mm? Oh," Jesse finished, lifting their eyes to the ceiling to consider it. "Ah... they're all pretty nice so far. Lukas is really nice... and Gill and Maya are... funny..."

Xara grinned- it was almost baring her teeth. "They sure are. Sure they'd get married if they'd ever get along with each other."

Jesse actually giggled at that.

"Um... and Aiden-"

"Hm?"

Jesse jumped; managing to catch their soda bottle- thankfully, only about half-full, so it didn't spill everywhere. "Oh- uh- hi- hi Aiden," Jesse stammered nervously, their face going bright red in embarrassment- though a nervous energy practically zinged through their eyes.

A part of them was still afraid of him.

Afraid they'd do something wrong and make him hate them.

Aiden stretched a bit with a yawn, adjusting his eyepatch. "Yo. What are you doing up?"

"Drinking soda with me. Want one?" Xara asked sharply, without skipping a beat.

Misery (and apparently insomnia) loved company, after all.

Aiden considered this, then nodded. "Alright. Better than laying in bed listening to Gill snore and worrying about making a fool of myself tomorrow. I can't dance."

"You can't?" Jesse asked, almost automatically, as Xara snagged a soda and passed it to Aiden- he caught it, gave the bottle a shake and then popped off the top, drinking the especially fizzy liquid.

"Fuck no; you'd be better off asking the pig to dance," Aiden grumbled, after drinking three entire gulps of the soda and making Jesse give a startled laugh.

Xara watched the two of them talk- Jesse a little tense, Aiden... well, being Aiden.

Which was to say he was something of a grumpy asshole.

As much as she hated Romeo (did she really though?), she respected the October Children. They'd come at a particularly politically rough patch, and helping ease the pain of losing Fred, the pain of losing the lord in the center, the political unrest that resulted from that, was something that she was begrudgingly grateful for.

And as much as she hated Romeo (she didn't, though, did she?), she respected him for getting the October Children into fighting shape in less than a few months. They were already some of the most skilled contracts any demon had ever had, and they'd barely been here that long.

But it's not really hate, is it?

Just disappointment.

Just sadness.

Just anger and grief and missing the way things used to be, because nothing will ever be the same.

She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and debated drinking something a tad bit stronger than sugary bubbly water to drown them out.

"- what's your favorite human mythical pig, then? There's not that many, if our books are right."

"Well, the Erymanthian boar is cool, I guess, but it's not my favorite..."

Xara took another swig of the soda.

If she did, she'd drown out the sight of Jesse giggling periodically and trying desperately to avoid spitting a sugary drink into their lap from laughter while Aiden made lazy comments, tracing his fingers over the bottle and not quite smiling- but looking. Regarding them.


A/N: is it way too late to publish this chapter

yes

am i doing it anyway

yes

have had a 'wonderful' month

birthday

Toni42: They're still snooty don't worry lolol / Hehe :D / Hm, I wonder :3c

TheAmberShadow: It was kind of something I was keeping in mind, haha! / LOLOLOL thankfully the Oasis in canon wasn't full of people like this. I. Don't think. / Oh, no, they don't mind the illegal fakes. Makes it confusing to know if you've managed to steal an actual key or just a very well-crafted fake. Xara just. May have engaged in an activity known as blackmail and extortion. Which isn't exactly cheerfully looked upon in Cosmos cities. / Hahaha / midterms survived, now for finals! xD / :3c

ThePlayaJam765: Yurin people are snobby haha / No, Xara is not okay xD / Ty :3

DubstepDragon14: Just a little more hehe / :3c / Aww thank you haha

Darkbeast Dend: :3c

Happygoluckymegami: They're on the mildly stingy side too xD / Pretty much! / I actually didn't notice; I forgot RWBY existed lolol / At home; imagine bringing a chicken to a party xD

jessicanightmarewolf: Ahhh :0 ty!

That's all for now! See ya, so long, and g'bye!

x.X. A.L. X.x