.

"I can't imagine never sleeping," I commented with a bitter tone, though I had a funny feeling I would soon enough. How could I fall asleep with Cross still awake?

"Why waste the night sleeping?" he laughed. "There're so many better things to do!"

I turned around, staring him straight in the eye, trying to keep my expression fierce. "Tell me, Cross. What exactly do you do that keeps you up so late?" I wondered if he could say it straight to my face.

He smirked, leaning forward, his expression the opposite of mine – calm, serene, and humorous. "Women."

My jaw dropped open, and even I was shocked that he had said it so bluntly to my face without the least bit to restraint. Then again, how could I be shocked by anything Cross did at this point?

He leaned back, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows, waiting for a reaction. I just turned away, sitting cross-legged on the ground. I wished even more than before that I had been able to escape. The Noah could have Cross. We had survived four years without him; I'm sure we could survive another decade…or two…

"Can you at least try to sleep?" I snapped, finding that my voice was losing its edge. I was beginning to lose hope.

Cross sighed dramatically. "I wish, but that's impossible. My body doesn't allow me to sleep when there's a-"

"-Beautiful lady in the room. I know, I know." I groaned heavily, leaning back against the wall and shutting my eyes so that I didn't have to see him. How much longer was this night going to last? How much longer was it going to be until we were rescued? I wasn't sure if I could take another minute, let alone day, alone with Cross like this.

He stretched his arms out in front of himself. "I guess this is going to be a long night, huh?"

"Understatement."

"We'll have to find a way to keep busy." Just as I turned to shout at him, he added, "No innuendo intended."

I turned away again, but not without muttering, "Yeah, right," under my breath. Then, louder, "What do you have in mind?"

"A lot of things," he responded, a snicker rising in his voice.

"CROSS!"

"Sorry, it was too tempting for me to resist," he laughed. "You get so worked up over everything that I can't help but tease you."

I decided not to respond to that. I waited silently for his answer, figuring that I might as well listen to his idea if I had the entire night to kill.

He looked at the ceiling thoughtfully, and I half expected a light bulb to appear above his head – it was so strange to see Cross Marian concentrating. "Hm…well…we could talk, I guess."

"Isn't that what we're doing now?"

"No, this is me teasing you. Talking is different."

I rolled my eyes. "As if you know how to talk without adding a perverted comment to the conversation."

Cross shrugged. "I have to refrain from my usual…um…speech when I talk to people like Leverrier."

I smirked, remembering our latest meeting. "You don't refrain much."

"One of us has to keep the meeting interesting. Otherwise someone might fall asleep."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Come off of it! You're always the first to fall asleep!"

"Nuh-uh! Zokaro sleeps, too. He's been practicing so that he can do it with his eyes open. Not that anyone would notice, anyway – they're all afraid to make eye contact with him."

I was little taken aback when my laughter increased, but I couldn't hold it back. I stared out of the cell bars, refusing to make eye contact with him, but I listened. Just imagining Zokaro actually doing that was too amusing not to laugh at.

Cross was laughing, too, and I could feel him watching me. I tilted my head away from him, feeling a little self-conscious.

"Cross, how is that you fall asleep during those meetings?" I asked, unable to withstand my curiosity.

"What do you mean? It isn't hard once Leverrier starts rambling like that about nothing at all…"

"I thought you said you couldn't fall asleep when there's a girl in the room," I pointed out. "I'm in those meetings, aren't I?"

Cross shifted himself so his face was in mine, but I still refused to look at him. His breath touched my face lightly as he spoke. "Yes, but we aren't alone then. It's much more exciting this way. How could I fall asleep with all the tension in the air?"

I rolled my eyes, now glancing towards the corner of the ceiling. "You came close that time, didn't you? To making a perverted comment?"

"Obviously. But I didn't, did I?"

I felt my mouth curving into a frown again and he backed away, falling back into his seat. I shot a quick glance at him, wondering what had suddenly changed his mood. His smirk was gone and his mouth was a straight line.

"What?" I asked.

"No, it's just that I don't want to ruin it," he explained, though I didn't really understand what he was saying.

"Ruin what?" I repeated.

"You were fine just talking," he pointed out, "but I got carried away. Let's go back to talking. I don't want to drive you insane."

I couldn't look away this time. I was staring at him now, wondering if I heard correctly.

A smirk finally formed on his face again, allowing me to calm down a bit. At last, he let out a laugh, adding, "Though I don't know how my amazing looks haven't driven you insane yet!"

I smacked him in the arm, although I was relieved that he wasn't serious anymore. "Cross!" I cried, trying to sound harsh, though I could feel my voice cracking under my restrained laughter.

"Yes?" he asked in an honest tone.

I rolled my eyes, slumping back into my original position. "Impossible."