As the bus rocked its way down the last few streets before her stop, Carla fought a yawn. Today's shift had been especially long and busy, and she could do with going straight to bed, but she knew she couldn't. Alniss had told her they were having a couple of people round that evening, and Carla wanted to be awake enough to talk to them. She only remembered Jasmine a little: they'd shared a feeding a few times, but they had never been close. Jasmine had been too shy to really talk to, anyway, and Carla had been happy enough spending time on her own for the few hours Silrin was outside her head.

Soon, the bus pulled to a stop and Carla got to her feet. She smiled as she stepped down from the bus directly in front of Alniss. Alniss had never failed to meet her after a late shift in almost a year, not once, and she'd never been late, either. It was good to see she wasn't on her own, too. Carla knew that Alniss got scared walking about alone at night, but it didn't seem to matter how often Carla told her it was okay, she could stay home: Alniss was always there when Carla stepped off the bus.

A surge of affection hit Carla as she thought this, and the hug she gave Alniss in greeting lingered longer than normal. "Hey," she said as she pulled back. "Is there any point me saying you really don't have to do this?"

"Oh," Alniss said, sounding uncertain. "Don't you... would you prefer it if I didn't?"

Carla, who had expected the usual "I want to" or "I don't mind", was taken aback slightly. "Of course not. I like you meeting me, I just don't want you to feel like you have to do it."

"Good," Alniss said, sounding relieved.

Letting her eyes drift away from Alniss, Carla took in the slim woman standing beside her. Her face was familiar. "Jasmine?"

The woman laughed gently. "No, not quite, although I think the confusion's my fault. I'm Akhir, Jasmine's Yeerk. I clearly didn't balance my DNA mix very well."

"You do look like sisters," Alniss said, as they began to trudge up the sidewalk towards home.

"Jasmine's back at the apartment," Akhir clarified "She's looking forward to seeing you again. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Carla replied. "Pretty good, actually. Kind of tired, but what can you do?"

"Work at the cafe instead?" Alniss interjected. "We have the money now. I wouldn't tire you."

Carla rolled her eyes. "Understatement of the year. You'd just let me sit in the corner and bring me food. Which is why I want you to hire someone you feel OK about asking to do some actual work."

There was a short silence, then Alniss said quietly: "okay."

"Your cafe must be doing well, then, if you're looking for more staff," Akhir commented.

"I suppose so."

Alniss was too modest sometimes, and Carla quickly cut in with: "it's doing great. If you ever go, get the red velvet cake. It's amazing."

"If it's even half as good as the chocolate cake we had today it must be quite something." Akhir smiled gently at Alniss, who was looking tense.

Alniss didn't return the smile: she was frowning, fiddling with a button on her jacket, and kept opening her mouth as though preparing to say something. Eventually, just as Carla was about to ask what was wrong, she burst out with: "Carla?"

"Yeah?" Carla held back a frown of puzzlement, trying to look encouraging. Alniss' nerves were beginning to make her worried, but it was clear that whatever Alniss was about to say was important, and Carla didn't want to make it harder for her.

"You know that... those things you wanted to do, to help Oglud and the others? Do you... do you still want to do it?"

Carla froze. "What?"

Alniss looked at her, sadness and worry competing for expression on her face. "Because you can, if you want to. Be part of that group, I mean. I..." she closed her eyes. "I shouldn't have tried... well, maybe I should, because I'm still afraid it might be dangerous..."

"You're going to let me do it?" Carla interrupted, with mixed feelings. She'd been hoping Alniss would change her mind, becoming increasingly impatient with the Yeerk's restrictions. But Carla was also afraid herself... and she had to admit that part of her had welcomed the excuse to back away from involving herself with the group.

Alniss nodded slowly, then glanced at Akhir. "Well... I'm saying it's your choice. I'm not saying whether you should or you shouldn't, although I really don't think it's a good idea. But I.. I'm not going to stand in your way."

The Yeerk's voice was anxious, hesitant: the whole idea was clearly still frightening, and Carla hastened to reassure her.

"I'm not going to do anything dangerous," Carla promised quickly. "If I do still want to do it, even. I don't want to frighten you."

Alniss looked up at her, eyes widening in surprise. "You might not want to do it?" she asked hopefully.

Ah. Carla quickly realised she'd have to backtrack: emphasising her own doubts too strongly would only give Alniss false hope, lead her to persuade Carla not to try after all. "No, I want to. I'm just... scared, that's all."

"Jasmine and I are involved," Akhir interrupted, before Alniss mustered a reply. "I don't know if that helps at all, but I'm sure Jaz would be happy to chat to you about how it's been for her."

What? Carla wondered. She wondered whether Akhir had been part of the peace movement too: surely she wouldn't have been allowed to join the group otherwise. Unless she just worked with Illim, maybe, but surely the involuntaries wouldn't tolerate an Empire Yeerk joining them. "They let Yeerks join?"

Akhir smiled. "Apparently so."

"Are you..." Carla trailed off, thinking better of it. If Akhir was in the movement and hadn't told Alniss, she might not feel too comfortable if Carla forced her to admit it. She'd just have to try and quietly check with Jasmine later. Although, if Jasmine had been a peace movement host she might not want to speak to Carla, she might be like Sara... the thought made Carla's stomach twist with anxiety.

"I never joined the peace movement, if that's what you're asking," Akhir said with a smile, saving Carla from a very anxious evening. "Shall we keep walking?"

"Sorry," Carla murmured, immediately continuing her walk up the darkened road. Alniss and Akhir fell into step beside her.

"Don't apologise. It's my own fault for not bringing a jacket."

They walked along in silence for the few minutes it took to get back to the apartment block. Carla could sense Alniss' tension, even in the darkness, and reached to take her hand. Alniss jumped a little as she did so, as though surprised, but soon squeezed Carla's hand back.

"Thank you, Alniss," Carla murmured. She wasn't sure what had prompted Alniss' abrupt change of heart, though she had a suspicion Akhir might have had something to do with it. But whatever had caused it, Carla felt like a block between them had been lifted, even though the relief was short-lived, masked by the realisation that she now had no excuse for not communicating with the involuntaries, even if she didn't meet them.

"You don't need to say that," Alniss replied, as she usually did whenever Carla expressed gratitude. "I'm sorry if I've..."

"You don't need to say that," Carla echoed softly, giving the Yeerk's hand an extra squeeze. "We'll talk about it. I'm nervous about it, too – we can work together, can't we, to make sure it's safe?"

There was a second's silence. "Yes," Alniss said slowly, sounding surprised. "Yes, I... I would like that."

A couple of minutes later, they arrived at the apartment. Carla was glad of the warmth as they stepped inside the door, and she soon added her coat to the pile crammed onto the few hooks in the hallway.

"I'll warm you some dinner up," Alniss said. "If... if you want me to," she added, with an uncertain glance at Akhir.

"Of course," Carla replied, puzzled. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh. Good. I will, then."

Carla followed Alniss through to the living room, Akhir trailing slightly behind. Carla felt a little more justified about her earlier confusion when she saw Jasmine, chatting away to Kalran: she really could have been Akhir's sister. As they entered the room, Jasmine turned towards them, smiling shyly at Carla. She glanced quickly at Akhir before looking back, her smile a little more confident.

"Hi," Jasmine said quietly. "It's nice to see you again."

"Hey. You, too." Carla walked across to a sofa and sat down, crossing her arms across her body as she did so. It had been just her and the Yeerks for so long that the presence of another human made her nervous... and it wasn't helped by the knowledge that Jasmine might have had some awareness of her pre-infestation, when she'd first come along to the Sharing. That would not have made a good impression. Carla'd been in quite a state when she first joined the Sharing, and she couldn't really remember whether she'd met Jasmine then or not. Carla had learnt not to worry about the Yeerks who'd seen her like that, but humans were a different story.

Jasmine glanced away from her, looking briefly behind her at Akhir before returning her eyes to Carla. "How are you?" she asked, her voice a little louder than it had been.

As she did so, Akhir crossed the room and sank onto the sofa beside Jasmine, who let her body rest against her Yeerk's with unhesitating ease. Carla felt a pang of loss at the sight, imagining what it might feel like to have Silrin beside her like that.

"I'm fine," she managed, hoping her slightly choked voice wasn't noticeable. "You?"

"I'm very well," Jasmine said. Her face showed a hint of concern for a moment: maybe she'd heard something of Carla's emotions in her voice, but the expression was short-lived.

"Where is it that you're working?" Akhir chipped in. "I don't think I ever asked you."

"Domino's," Carla responded. "Nothing exciting."

Akhir smiled amusedly, which puzzled Carla.

"Sorry," she said quickly, in response to Carla's frown. "It's just that dinner tonight might not quite be what you're hoping for."

As if on cue, Alniss appeared with a plate piled with pizza and salad. "Sorry," she echoed as she placed it in front of Carla. "You must be fed up of looking at this by now."

"Your pizza's way better than the stuff at work." Carla picked up a slice, piled with vegetables, mushrooms and cheese. "Besides, it's not like they let us eat any of it."

"It's Kalran's, not mine," Alniss corrected.

"Just as good," Carla said, with a smile at Kalran, before taking a bite. She took a moment to enjoy the explosion of flavours on her tongue: Kal never cooked bland food, and today's pizza was no exception. "Thanks," she murmured, once she'd finished chewing. "You guys have a good evening?"

She directed her question at Kalran, who seemed relatively relaxed compared to how she sometimes was these days.

"Yes," Kalran replied. "Did you? How was work?"

Carla shrugged. "It was work. It was okay."

Shovelling some salad onto her fork, Carla fell silent, letting the others' conversations drift around her as she ate. She didn't feel much like talking, despite the presence of their guests. In fact, their visit was bittersweet. It was interesting to have new company, more people to interact with than the five Yeerks that now felt more like family than friends.

But Carla couldn't help noticing a thousand little things that felt like sharp glass in her heart. The way Jasmine's eyes flickered back to Akhir every few minutes, no matter who else was talking; how Akhir let her head rest gently against Jasmine's hair as she listened to Hallim talk about her work; the little smiles between them at some private joke. It brought back Silrin's loss with an intensity Carla hadn't experienced for years now, and she was secretly glad when the two stood, almost at the same second, and announced they had to get back.

"I hope I'll see you again soon," Jasmine said to her, smiling hopefully. "It's a shame we didn't get a proper chance to catch up. Can I give you my number?"

"Yeah, sure." It'd be too rude to say no, and besides it would give Carla a chance to call her, check what her experience of the campaign for voluntary infestation had been.

"Great." Jasmine's smile broadened, and she glanced at Akhir, as if to share her pleasure. "You'll have to visit us next time," she added as she took out a small pink notepad and pen from her bag and wrote her number down. "All of you, if you'd like." She glanced around at the Yeerks, who smiled back at her.

"We'd like that," Alniss replied. She nudged Carla's side. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," Carla murmured, trying to strike a balance between being polite and non-committal. Hoping to shift the subject slightly, she continued: "Akhir told me you're helping with the campaign for those Yeerks who're trapped in the Pool. Can we talk about that sometime?"

There was a clatter as Kalran dropped the mug she was carrying into the kitchen area of the apartment. Luckily, it was empty, as it rattled along the floor for several seconds before coming to a halt. Kalran herself stared at Carla in shock for a few moments, before her eyes shifted anxiously to Alniss. "I... I promise I didn't bring them here for this," she said quickly. "I didn't know they were going to bring it up."

"I didn't bring it up, exactly," Akhir said slowly. "It came up. I'm sorry if I shouldn't have mentioned it."

Carla looked across at Kalran, worry beginning to build. Kalran's eyes were still fixed on Alniss, and she was beginning to fiddle anxiously with a ring on her finger, biting her lip as she did so. In short, she was clearly scared.

"It's fine," Alniss said eventually. "Carla and I have discussed... well, I'm... I'm not going to stand in the way of her helping. Though I still don't think it's a good idea."

"What?" Kalran sounded shocked, disbelieving. "You... you've changed your mind?"

"Not entirely. Like I've said, I won't stand in Carla's way, but I still don't..."

"I'll be okay, Alniss," Carla said softly, hoping to reassure her. She turned her attention to Jasmine, who was looking puzzledly between the three of them."Can we have a chat about it sometime?"

"Oh... yes... yes, of course." Jasmine smiled at her. "I was nervous too, at first. I haven't done much yet, but what I have hasn't been so bad. And Akhir says it's safe, so..."

"I said Elsa was probably safe," Akhir corrected. "Not necessarily everything about the campaign, but I'm sure you're able to judge that for yourselves, both of you."

Carla turned her eyes to Akhir. Now things were beginning to make a little more sense: perhaps Akhir's sense of safety had translated to Alniss. Akhir certainly looked calm, her body relaxed and open where she stood close to Jasmine's side. Their closeness set off another pang in Carla's chest, and she quickly looked away as the two said their goodbyes to the others. Relief washed over her as the apartment door shut behind them. As her body relaxed, Carla noticed just how tired she was: she'd been exhausted on the bus earlier that evening, but the events that had happened since had been so unexpected that her tiredness had disappeared, only to come back in full force now.

A few minutes later, Carla was standing in her darkened bedroom, lit only by the soft orange-tinted glow of the lamp that sat on a small table halfway between her and Alniss' bed. The room was small enough that it functioned as a bedside table for both of them, although she had to reach up a little to take anything off it when she was in bed, as it was taller than ideal. Most of the apartment's furniture was secondhand, a mish-mash of things bought at charity shops and jumble sales over the years. But that fitted, somehow, considering how the Yeerks filled every available surface with pictures and mirrors with little regard to colour schemes.

There was a slight creak as the door opened. Carla looked around to see Alniss stepping through the open doorway, at first on tiptoes and then a little more heavily once she saw Carla.

"I thought you'd be asleep," Alniss said quietly. "You seemed tired."

Carla smiled at her, feeling a flicker of warmth at her friend's consideration. "I am. I'm going to bed soon." She hesitated: it was late to have a serious discussion, but she wanted to say something about Alniss' change of heart. She imagined it hadn't been easy... and, if she had to admit it, she was still curious about what had caused it.

"Thank you, Alniss," she said softly. "For letting me make my own decision. I know you're afraid."

"Yes," Alniss admitted. "Yes, although less so than I was. If Akhir isn't worried about Jasmine..."

Involuntarily, Carla's face twisted with pain before she was able to control it. She hoped the darkness of the room might be enough to conceal it, but it soon became clear it wasn't.

"Are you alright?" Alniss asked, crossing the room to her.

Carla nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. It's just... it isn't easy, to see them together."

Alniss looked down at the floor, saying nothing for a few moments. "I'm sorry," she ventured eventually. "I'm not much good, I'm afraid."

Puzzled, Carla frowned. "What do you mean? It's not your fault. How could it be your fault?"

"Well, I... I don't... it doesn't matter," Alniss replied hesitantly. She reached across slowly to touch Carla's shoulder.

Deciding the offer of comfort was too much to pass up, even to press Alniss for what she meant. Carla leant into the hug, burying her head against Alniss' shoulder. Despite the raw feeling of grief lurking just below her breastbone, she smiled slightly. Alniss smelt of yet another new perfume: the Yeerk could never settle for just one, too enamoured by all the different scents to make a decision, and it seemed to change almost daily. Alniss traced slow, twirling patterns on her back, and Carla soon began to feel better.

"Thanks," she murmured, as she withdrew from the embrace. "I needed that."

Alniss nodded, looking relieved. "Good. You would tell me, wouldn't you, if you didn't?"

Carla smiled. "I can't imagine I ever won't want a hug from you, but yeah. Of course." She paused for a second. "And I'll tell you what goes on, with the campaign. I don't want you to be worrying about it. And if you want to come to anything with me..."

"Yes," Alniss said quickly, before Carla had finished speaking. "Yes... that would help."