It had been a week since our return to the Infinity. It was the week of The War Games and my team was ready. Dragon was getting used to the tolerances of his new arm, the speeds, strengths, weaknesses. He was excited about it to say the least, a bit happier about the loss of a limb than most would assume. It was 23:17 and I was still awake, staring up at the ceiling. I remember what happened last time I was up this late, listening to the hum of Infinity's engines. I smiled to myself and felt heat rise to my cheeks thinking back on the time I'd been able to lull the demon to sleep. I could at least dwell on the good memories I had stored somewhere in the very back of my mind.

I sighed and flipped my pillow over again, hoping for any relief from the piece of cardboard I called a pillow. This side was cooler, which was fine. I guess. Tonight was gonna be a rough night. I forced myself to close my eyes and waited for sleep to come.

When sleep did hit me it wasn't for long, at 0400 I was up and out of bed once again, grabbing my small bag of toiletries and heading to the bathroom. Jasmine was already in the bathroom when I walked in. I stood quietly off to the side and watched her run a finger over the deep gouge in her skin that rested smack dab in the middle of her face. She sighed and turned towards me, seeing me stand in the shadow of the doorframe, my sly grin on my face, it obviously startled her because she nearly threw her bag at me.I chuckled and walked up to the small sink and mirror, splashing water into my face and hair before pulling out my toothbrush.

Of course Jasmine chose when I had a toothbrush in my mouth to ask me a question, "Hey, uh, you wanna come to the gym with me?"

"Chure jut gimme a minot." I responded as best I could past the plastic toothbrush and my mouth full of toothpaste.

She chuckled and waited until I was done, both of us walking back to our rooms to grab something other than our underclothes. I slid on a pair of sweatpants and left on my tank top, walking back out to see Jasmine dressed in her same pair of sweatpants with the same old hoodie wrapped around her waist. We both turned the corner out of Crimson Hall and began the long walk to the ship's humongous gym and recreation center. The halls were loosely occupied and when they were it was drowsy marines who snapped awake when either of us passed. When we finally opened the door to the rec center, it was filled with marines and a few SPARTANs as well getting there early morning workouts in. There were marines everywhere pumping iron and gritting teeth, straining to lift weights that were obviously too much for them.

I sighed and headed directly for a treadmill, Jasmine hopping on the one adjacent. I started off at a brisk jog, about 10 miles per hour. Jasmine started hers up and I fell into a rhythm. The thumping of my feet against the fabric of the treadmill lulled me into a state of calming, an easy five minutes passing before I looked to my right, to Jasmine. Her pacing was a bit slower than my own, her strides a bit shorter. I looked at her face and she looked tense, too concentrated. I reached over and lightly pushed her arm. She looked back over to me.

I had a smile plastered on my face as I spoke, "Hey, don't let me beat you now."

She let some of the tension fall from her features as she upped her speed. I in turn, upping my own. Soon it was getting ridiculous with marines crowded around our two treadmills. I was getting tired but there was no way I'd let her beat me now. I looked over and saw her fully smiling, before turning to me and giving a low giggle. I chuckled back before upping my speed again. We were breaking 25 mph each and no sign of stopping soon. I wasn't at a full sprint yet but I was damn near close. Jasmine reached up and bumped her speed up a bit more. I exhaled loudly before bumping my own. I had to start to breathing through my mouth as we broke 30, Jasmine's smaller legs pumping in a furious blur. I smiled pushing through the burn in my legs to gain another 2 mph and break ahead of her, but as always, Jasmine came back with a steely determination. I saw her face, she was panting, her strides getting longer as she reached for every step. I chuckled, knowing I had her purely on leg strength, I was gonna hold this o-

Whoa! I felt my head hit the fabric and send me spiraling backwards into the gym's wall. I blinked slowly a few times, rubbing my head. I must have tripped during those last few moments. I heard Jasmine's treadmill slowly come to a stop before I looked up to see her panting, smiling face. I shook my head and laughed before taking her outstretched hand and letting her pull me to my feet.

"Looks like I win." she boasted as marines gave off a few cheers around us.

"Oh yeah? Well I've gotcha next time." I said, punching her arm awkwardly.

She chuckled grabbing two towels off of the shelf and tossing me one. I wiped my face and armpits, running the length of the cloth down my back before throwing the sweaty towel in the laundry basket nearby. I walked up next to Jasmine as she threw hers down as well. We walked out of the gym, Jasmine throwing taunts at me all the way back to our rooms. I rolled my eyes at some, retaliating with a smile at others, she was cute when she let loose from the shell she'd built around herself.

We had made it back to Crimson hall and we were about to branch off into our personal rooms, but Jasmine called me from behind.

"Hey." she said, a faint little whisper, though warm as it was, I turned to it, "Thank you, for doing that for me."

So she had noticed, not that I'd needed her to to feel good about doing so, "No problem, everyone deserves a little fun every once in awhile, even us." I said with a smile.

Jasmine's eyes widened and she blushed a bit, stuttering for a moment, "W-what do you mean by that?"

I chuckled and shut my door

"Samantha Thomas answer me!" She yelled through my door.

I shook my head changed out of my clothes, a towel wouldn't get the sweat out of my sweats. I threw on a T-shirt and another pair of baggy sweatpants, my favorite thing to wear.

"I'll see you at the War Games party J." I said as I walked by her door.

Her door suddenly slid open to reveal her holding up half of her bra that wasn't strapped on, I looked down and away casually as she spoke, "I'm going with you."

"That's what I said."

"No, I mean I'm going with you."

"Fine, it's a date."

"I-I never said that!"

"Sure you didn't, now finish getting dressed before one of the boys come by."

She blushed again, going cherry red before slamming the door and shoving clothes on as fast as she could slip them over her shoulders.

I chuckled and leant back against the wall nearest her door, thinking about what to wear tonight, though it wasn't as if I had a grand selection of things to pick from.