A/N: Exam season is over! I repeat, exam season is over! So yes, I have made a return to my various accounts with published works to attempt to finish most of them by the end of the year (so far doing not so well). I'm sorry for leaving most of you guys hanging with my updates, I totally neglected posting author's notes about it all and that's my bad. However I hope to make it up to you all by updating as frequently as possible (while also avoiding burnout and writer's block).

Nevertheless, enough babbling from me! Just enjoy the latest read.

CarBarrier - God, thanks for the review once again! You're honestly an angel. I don't know what I would do without your reviews :)

Till next time,

D.L.D

*I do not own Divergent or any of its character and plot work. This is simply an adaption*


Chapter Six: Conflict Room


That morning I wake to the buzz of an electric razor. Meliodas stands in front of the mirror, his head tilted so that he can see the corner of his jaw. His green eyes are narrowed in concentration, set on the task at hand. Content, I hug my knees, covered by the sheet, and watch him. Honestly, I have never thought he would be the sort who had to shave. With how young he looks, part of me figured that he didn't get the usual problem of shaving. Yet, once again, Meliodas surprises my expectations.

Almost instantly, he spots me spying. "Good morning," He says, a smile edging its way onto his face. "How did you sleep?"

"Ok," I get up, and as he tilts his head back to address his chin with the razor, I wrap my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder, right beside where the Dauntless tattoo peeks out from under his t-shirt.

He sets the razor down and rests his hands over mine. Neither of us break the silence. I listen to him breathe and he strokes my fingers idly, the task at hand entirely forgotten. Time can pass in great chunks in moments like these and I don't think either of us would ever notice; time passing is something we don't really sense when we're together. It is both a good thing and a bad thing - we never know how much time we have left.

"I should go get ready," I say after a while, sighing as I unravel my arms from around him. I am reluctant to leave Meliodas but I am supposed to go and work in the laundry rooms, and I don't want the Amity to say that I'm not fulfilling my part of the deal they offered us. The last thing we need is to have the Amity becoming disgruntled and annoyed with our presence.

"I'll get you something to wear," Meliodas says.

A few minutes later, I walk barefoot down the hallway, wearing the shirt I slept in and a pair of shorts Meliodas gave me. Lazily, I stretch as I reach my doorway, feeling my joints crack and my muscles smooth. For once I feel somewhat refreshed and that feeling fills me with a sense of purpose - or rather some kind of optimism that had been missing as of late. However it all fades when I enter my bedroom, spotting Estarossa, standing, right beside my bed.

Instinct makes me tighten up and my eyes dart around the room for some sort of blunt object. He was someone I would never trust fully; my body would never allow itself to be relaxed around him ever again.

"Get out," I manage to say, forcing my voice to come out as steadily as it could. But it's hard to keep the shaking from my voice. Whenever I look at him, it's hard for me not to remember his eyes as he held me over the chasm by my throat, or how he'd smirked as he'd slammed me into a wall in the Dauntless compound. Hairs prickle on the back of my neck. My spine will always shiver whenever I see him. Always. And that will never change.

Carefully, he turns to look at me. His dark eyes are full of questioning, wide and imploring. Lately when Estarossa looks at me, it's without the usual malice he often holds within his gaze. Most of the time he seems exhausted, his posture slouched, his wounded arm limp in a sling. But he doesn't fool me. He can never do that to me again. Ever.

"What are you doing in my room?" I demand, forcing my voice to sharpen. Part of me flinches at how harsh my voice sounds, not recognising it at all as myself. But then again, there are many parts of me that Dauntless has changed.

He walks closer to me, "What are you doing stalking Damon?" His gaze sharpens. He leaves no room for me to deny. "I saw you yesterday."

Pressing my lips, I match his stare with my own, "That's none of your business." My head nods toward the door. "Now get out."

"I'm here because I don't get why you get to keep track of that hard drive," Estarossa admits, shaking his head as he leaned against the wall. His arm hangs haphazardly in its sling, his free hand scratching his stubbled chin. "It's not like you're particularly stable these days."

"I'm unstable?" I laugh, shaking my head. "I find that a little funny coming from you."

Estarossa pinches his lips together and says nothing. Instead he continues to watch me, his dark eyes clinging to my every movement. My every action and word.

"Why are you so interested in the hard drive anyway?" I ask, raising a brow. No part of me trusts this person. Not a single trace of me ever will. Estarossa is all about gain. All he cares about is saving his own skin. He wouldn't be beneath stealing the hard drive if he knew where it was. Nor would he ever be above ratting us out just to make sure that his own life was preserved in return.

"I'm not stupid," He scoffs, rolling his eyes as he pushes up off the wall. His hair moves with the shake of his head. "I know that it contains much more than just the simulation data."

Again, all of my systems are switched to flight or fight. Whenever he moves, whenever he can change the situation, my brain is always searching for a way to protect myself from him. That's why my eyes watch as he moves around the room; that's why my muscles tense, preparing to run or pounce, as I watch the expression on his face, the way his gait moves with each slow step. Every part of me is alert. Every part is stiff. My entire spine aches with how rigid I am.

"No, you aren't stupid, are you?" I remark, shaking my head with a small laugh. My gaze narrows, accusatory, as I glare at him. "You want to give the Erudite the data. You think that if you deliver it to them, then they will let you back into their good graces." My hand rests on my hip - an action to hold back the urge to clench a fist. "You only care about yourself, Estarossa, and you've made that very clear from the first day we met."

"I don't only care about myself," He scowls, his features darkening at my words. His voice is venomous. "I don't even care about getting back into the Erudite's stupid good graces." He takes a step forward, closer to looming over me with his giant frame. "If I had, Stiff, then I wouldn't have helped you to get out the compound."

Outraged, I jab his sternum with my index finger, digging in my fingernail, "You only helped me because you didn't want me to shoot you again."

"I may not be an Abnegation-loving faction traitor," He spits the words, roughly seizing my finger. As he leans down, his face inches from mine, his frown deepens. "But no-one gets to control me - especially not some brainy Erudite behind a stupid screen."

Panicked, I yank my hand back, twisting so that he won't be able to hold on. Cold air replaces the stifling heat of his palm. My hands feel sweaty.

"I don't expect you to understand," I sigh, wiping my hands off on my shirt as I inch toward the dresser. My hiding spot. "I'm sure that if it had been Candor and not Abnegation that was attacked, you would have let your family get shot between the eyes without protest." I turn back to glance at him, my face plain and not at all hiding the disgust I felt toward him. "But unlike you, Estarossa, I'm not like that. Family matters to me."

"Careful what you say about my family, Stiff," He moves toward me, toward the dresser, but I carefully shift so that I stand between him and the drawers. I'm not going to reveal the hard drive's location while he is here, but I don't want to leave the path to it completely clear, either. That would just be entirely reckless.

Almost as if he knew where it was, Estarossa's eyes shift to the dresser behind me, to the left side, right where the hard drive is hidden. I frown at him, and then notice something that I hadn't spotted before: a rectangular bulge in one of his pockets. The exact same size as the hidden hard drive. Instantly, my entire body panics, sirens and alarm bells echoing through my thoughts as my frown turns into a scowl.

"Give it to me," I demand, holding out a hand. "Now."

He grins, "No."

"Give it to me, or so help me I will kill you in your sleep," I threaten, holding back the growl that wants to leave my throat. That hard drive is important - no, vital. Estarossa cannot be trusted with it no more than anyone else. No-one should have it. Not even me. That's why I kept it hidden, safe. Yet, of course, Estarossa found it and now he wants to rub it in my face just like he always does when he thinks he has the upper hand.

"If only you could see how ridiculous you look when you threaten people," He laughs, a smirk spread on his face. My anger rises. "It's like a little girl telling me that she's going to strangle me with her skipping rope."

I start toward him and he steps back, right into the escape of the hallway.

"Don't call me a 'little girl'," I seethe, trying my best not to kick off a scene. That was the last thing we needed right now, the last thing we want. If I get too angry, if I break the no violence rule, then all sorts of hell will be raised within Amity. If that happens... well, we'd have a lot less time to prepare for what happens next. That's if the attention of Dauntless or Erudite doesn't drift towards here first.

For a moment, Estarossa seems to consider what I say. For a moment, he stands there, hard drive in pocket, in the middle of the hallway, looking as if he were actually considering my words. As if he was actually registering the fact that I could be a true threat. But only for a moment.

"I'll call you whatever I want," He says, looking down on me. Like a child. My patience snaps.

Aiming my left fist where I know it would hurt most, his bullet wound, I jerk into action. Easily he dodges my punch, so instead of trying again, I seize his arm as hard as I can and wrench it forcefully to the side. Estarossa screams at the top of his lungs and while he's distracted by the pain I boot him in the knee, knocking his balance and making him topple to the ground. He ends up falling with a great big thud.

Instantly, people rush out into the hallway, wearing grey and black and red. Concerned faces popped out of every doorway. In the middle of it all, Estarossa surges toward me and punches me in the stomach. I hunch over but the pain doesn't stop me - I let out something between a groan and a scream and launch myself right at him, my left elbow pulled back near my mouth so that I could slam it as powerfully as I could into his face.

One of the Amity grabs me by the arms and half-pulls me half-lifts me away from Estarossa. Pulsing, the wound in my shoulder throbs, but I can barely feel it with all the adrenaline rushing through my veins. Straining toward him, I try to ignore the stunned faces of all the Amity and the Abnegation - and Meliodas - around me, and the woman kneels next to Estarossa, whispering words in a soothing tone of voice. I try to ignore his groans of pain and the guilt stabbing at my gut. I hate him. I don't care. I hate him.

"Liz, calm down!" Meliodas shouts above the hubbub, the only clear voice in the hallway.

"He has the hard drive!" I yell back, still struggling. "He stole it from me! He has it!"

Calmly, Meliodas walks over to Estarossa, ignoring the woman crouched beside him, and presses his foot into Estarossa's rib cage to keep him in place. He then reaches into Estarossa's pocket and takes out the hard drive.

Meliodas says to him - very quietly - "We won't be in a safe house forever, and that wasn't very smart of you." Then he turns to me and adds, "No very smart of you, either. Do you want to get us kicked out?"

I scowl. The Amity man with his hand on my arm starts to pull me away, taking me down the hallway. Immediately, I try to wrench myself from his grasp, unwilling to be dragged off to some unknown location.

"What do you think you're doing?" I snap, still filled with frustration from the whole incident. Trying to slow him down, I attempt to dig my heels into the floor. "Let go of me!"

"You violated the terms of our peace agreement. You can't remain in this space," He says gently, not at all bothered by my stubbornness. Instead he easily continues to drag me away - as if it were normal to drag someone away from a fight in Amity. "We have to follow protocol."

"Just go," Meliodas says. "You need to cool down."

I search the faces in the crowd that had gathered. No-one appeared to disagree with Meliodas. Their eyes skirt mine. So I allow the two Amity men to escort me down the hallway, on a walk of shame that honestly felt like heading toward a prison. However, I didn't want to embarrass anyone any further - especially myself - so I was willing to take the punishment. Amity wouldn't be too hard on me, right? They are the most peaceful faction.

Pounding, my head feels heavy - a sign that I am calming down. The graying Amity man opens a door on the left. A white label on the door reads in black lettering: The Conflict Room. Definitely like something out of a prison.

"Are you putting me in time out or something?" I ask, my voice suddenly a lot more quiet. That is something the Amity would do: put me in time out, and then teach me to do cleansing breaths or think positive thoughts. They didn't seem like to type to have more strenuous and extreme punishments like the Dauntless. Nevertheless, the thought of being in trouble reminds me of it, of Diane and how she hung over the chasm, shivering from the cold water, her hands slipping on the slick rail of the bridge. She almost died that day.

When I am inside the room, I have to squint to see because it is so bright. Letting in all the light, the opposite wall has large windows that overlook the orchard. Despite this though, the room feels limited, probably because the ceiling, like the walls and floor, is also covered in wooden boards.

"Please sit," The older man says, gesturing toward the stool in the middle of the room. Like all furniture in the Amity compound, it is made from unpolished wood and looks sturdy - as if it still part of the earth. Although I do feel on edge, especially because of how past examples of punishment have gone, I don't sit. I refuse to.

"The fight is over," I say, no longer feeling angry nor annoyed. Instead I am anxious, antsy, already feeling trapped in this room. "I won't do it again. Not here."

"We have to follow protocol," The young man says, calm, collected, certain. There was no room to argue with them both - even if they were being extremely nice and accommodating. "Please sit and we will discuss what has happened and then we'll let you go."

All their voices are so soft. Not hushed, like the Abnegation speak, always treading holy ground and trying not to disturb anyone else. Soft, soothing, low - I wonder, then, if that is something that they teach their initiates when they first come here. Which ways are best to speak, move or smile in order to encourage peace.

I don't want to sit down, but I do, perched on the edge of the stool so that I can get up quickly if necessary. The younger man stands in front of me, his arms at his sides, appearing at ease. Hinges creak behind me. I peer over my shoulder - the older man is fumbling with something on the counter behind me. Rattling soon replaces the creaking, echoing off the wooden boards of the room's boundaries in a grating tone.

"What are you doing?" I ask, not at all at ease. It is too quiet, too silent for me to feel comfortable.

"I am making tea," He responds.

"I don't think tea is really the solution to this," I say, knowing all too well that tea would never absolve my issues with Estarossa. If it were that simple I would have invited him to a tea party ages ago, offering the best cakes and the best teas around, hoping that it would get rid of the annoyance he brought into my life. However, tea can't solve complex issues. If tea could, I would be holding a lot of tea parties right now.

"Then tell us," The younger man prods, drawing my attention back to the windows. He smiles at me. "What do you think the true solution is?"

"Throwing Estarossa out of this compound."

"It seems to me," The man says gently. "That you are the one who attacked him - indeed, that you are the one who shot him in the arm. It appears that you are often the one to strike first."

"You have no idea what he did to deserve those things," I refute, unbelieving that they would take his side. If they knew what Estarossa was truly like, all of the awful things he had done, then they wouldn't want him here. They wouldn't take his side. My cheeks feel hot and mimic my heartbeat. "He tried to kill me. And someone else - he stabbed someone else in the eye... with a butter knife. He is evil. I had every right to- "

A sharp pain pricks at my neck. Dark spots cover the man in front of me, obscuring my view of his face.

"I'm sorry, dear," He says, tutting as he shakes his head. "We are just following protocol."

In his hands, the older man holds a syringe. A few drops of whatever he injected me with is still within it. Bright green, the colour of grass, they peep at me from behind the clear syringe. I blink rapidly and the dark spots fade away, but the world still swims and tilts before me, like I am shifting back and forward in a rocking chair. Back and forth and back and forth and... My brain feels dizzy with it all. So does my stomach.

"How do you feel?" The younger man asks, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I feel..." Angry. I was about to say. Angry with Estarossa, angry with the Amity. But that's not true is it? I smile. "I feel good. I feel a little like... I'm floating. Yeah, I'm floating! Or is it more like swaying?" I shake my head. "Never mind, how do you feel?"

"Dizziness is a side effect of the serum. You may want to rest this afternoon," He advises, still calm and collected. However, a grin soon cracks on his face. "And I am feeling well. Thank you for asking. You may leave now if you like."

"Can you tell me where to find Meliodas?" I ask without really thinking about it. When I imagine his face, affection for him bubbles up inside me and all I want to do is kiss him. My face warms and a giggle leaves me. "Dragon, I mean. He's really handsome, isn't he? I don't really know why he likes me so much. I'm not very nice, am I?"

"From what I've seen, most of the time no," The man responds honestly, shrugging. "But maybe if you tried to be, you could be nice."

"Thank you," I hum, content. I give him two pats on the shoulder. "That was really nice of you to say."

"I think you'll find him in the orchard," The man answers my earlier question. "He went outside after the fight."

I laugh a little, "The fight. What a silly thing..."

And it does seem like a silly thing, slamming your fist into another person's body. Like a caress but much too hard. A caress is much nicer. Much more kind and loving and wanted. Maybe I should have ran my hand over Estarossa's hand instead. That would have felt better for both of us; my knuckles wouldn't be blazing as much as they are now if I hadn't punched him. Silly me for thinking that punching would do anything good.

Getting up, I steer myself toward the door. I have to lean against the wall for balance, but it's sturdy so I don't entirely mind. Stumbling down the hallway, I find myself giggling at my lack of stability and balance. Just like when I was younger - before I joined Dauntless - I am clumsy again, like a newborn learning to take their first steps. My sister used to smile at me and say, "Be careful where you put your feet, Elizabeth. I don't want you to hurt yourself".

When I walk outside, the green of the trees feels greener, so potent that I can almost taste it on my tongue. Maybe I can taste it and it is like the grass I decided to chew when I was a child just to know what it would taste like. I almost fall down the stairs because of the swaying and burst into a fit of giggles when the grass tickles at my bare feet. Still laughing and stumbling, I wander toward the orchard, determined to find Meliodas. I can't wait to see his face when he spots me.

"Dragon!" I call out. Why am I calling out a mythical creature? Oh yes. Because that's his name. I call out again, "Dragon! Where are you?"

"Liz?" A voice says from the trees to my right. It's almost as if the tree is talking to me, knows my name. I giggle, but of course it's just Meliodas, ducking under a branch. Of course a tree wouldn't talk to me - trees are unable to form such wonderful, vocal sounds.

Eagerly, I run toward him and the ground lurches to the side, toppling my balance. Almost falling, I wobble on my left leg before he catches me, his hand on my waist steadying me. The sudden contact sends a shock through my body and all my insides burn like his fingers have ignited them. I pull closer to him, pressing my body against his, and kiss him.

"What did they- " He starts but I stop him with my lips. He kisses me back, but too quickly, and I sigh heavily.

"That was lame," I say bluntly. Only for my cheeks to heat from the admission. Rolling my eyes, I maintain by grin as I correct myself, "Ok, no it wasn't, but..."

I go to kiss him again but he stops me once more, his finger pressed to my lips. Why is he being such a downer right now? What happened to the Meliodas who climbed the Ferris Wheel with me? The one who liked to flirt with death and told me that he liked me because I was different - not pretty. That Meliodas wouldn't object to me acting like this, right? I'm pretty cure he'd be completely fine with it, going along with my sudden happy-go-luckiness.

"Liz," Meliodas looks at me, solemn severity settling into his words as he holds me in place by my shoulders. "What did they do to you? You're acting like a complete lunatic."

"That's not very nice of you to say," I pout, shrugging his hands away from me. Instead I lace our hands together, locking with fingers with his as I grow a wider grin. "They just put me in a good mood, that's all. And I really want to kiss you, so if you could just relax- "

"I'm not going to kiss you. I'm going to figure out what's going on," Meliodas shook his head, pulling his hand free from mine.

For a second my pout grows larger, but then I smile as the pieces click together, explaining exactly why he was drawn to me and I to him.

"That's why you like me!" I exclaim, feeling so silly for not realising it sooner. Obvious, oh so obvious, the truth was staring at me right from the start. I was just so consumed with anger, consumed with grief, that I didn't recognise it sooner. "It's because you're not very nice either, Dragon. It makes so much sense now." Laughing, I shake my head. "You like me because I don't mind that you're a pretty mean person."

"Come on," He says, releasing a sigh, completely ignoring my epiphany. "We're going to see Nadja."

Giggling, I wink at him, "Just so you know, I like you too."

"That's encouraging," Meliodas responds flatly, his expression looking just as unamused. "Now come on. Oh, for God's sake. I'll just carry you."

Effortlessly, he swings me into his arms, one arm under my knees and the other around my back. Usually, I would have panicked at such closeness. being raised in Abnegation always made me wary of closeness. But right now I feel content, so I wrap my arm around Meliodas' neck and place a kiss on his cheek, giggling as I did so. Then I discover that the air feels wonderful on my feet when I kick them about, so I end up waving my feet up and down as he walks us toward the main building where my Aunt Nadja works.

When we reach her office, she is sitting behind a desk with a stack of important-looking papers in front of her, chewing on a pencil eraser. Carefully, she looks up at us and her mouth drifts open slightly. A hunk of short, light magenta hair covers the left side of her face. Altogether, she looks a little scattered from our arrival - caught off-guard by the unexpected visited prompted by the two men who had helped me to calm down.

"You really shouldn't cover up your scar," I blurt out, my face feeling warm from the sudden confession. "You look prettier without your hair covering your face."

Too heavily, Meliodas sets me down. The impact is jarring and hurts my shoulder a little, but I like the sound my feet make when they hit the wooden floorboards. I laugh at the sound but neither Nadja or Meliodas laugh with me. Strange.

"What did you do to her?" Meliodas demands, his voice terse. "What in God's name did you do?"

"I..." Nadja frowns a little, her thin brows pinching and wrinkling the skin of her forehead as she peers at me. "They must have given her too much. She's quite small; they probably didn't take her height and weight into account."

Beside me, Meliodas grows even more tense, "They gave her too much of what?"

"You have a nice voice," I blurt out, smiling at him.

"Liz," He turns to me, appearing frustrated as he shakes his head. "Please be quiet."

Why did he look so annoyed in that moment? Like me talking to him the way I am is a massive problem. Surely, I am making sense. Surely, the words that easily slip from my mouth are kind, soothing words. Most people would grin and smile and laugh from a compliment. If someone said that I had a nice voice, I surely would have stared at them as if they had given me the biggest hug in the world. But in this moment, Meliodas looks almost strained. As if... what I'm saying is wrong.

"They gave her the peace serum," Nadja interrupts my thoughts, lips pursed together as she glances at Meliodas. "In small doses it can have a mild, calming effect and improve the mood. The only side effect is slight disorientation. We usually administer it to members of the community who have problems with keeping the peace between us all."

Meliodas snorts, "I'm not an idiot. Everyone who is a member of your community has problems with keeping the peace because they're all human. You probably dump it into the water supply."

For a few seconds Nadja does not respond. Instead she purses her lips once more, hands folded calmly on the table as she simply looks at the pair of us.

"Clearly you know that is not the case or this conflict would not have occurred," Nadja states, her voice an oddly calm tone as she raises a brow at Meliodas. "But whatever we agree to do here, we do together, as an entire faction. If I could give this serum to everyone in the city then I most definitely would. You would certainly not be in this situation if the entire population was under the influence of the peace serum."

"Oh definitely," Meliodas agrees, nodding his head. However, it didn't feel agreeable - no, it felt as if he were mocking her. "Drugging the entire population would be the best solution to our problem. Great plan."

"Sarcasm is not kind, Dragon," Nadja admonishes his, something stern stirring up within her as she frowned. "Now I am sorry in the mistake of giving too much to Elizabeth, I really am. But she has violated the terms of our agreement and I'm afraid that you might not be able to stay here much longer due to that. The conflict between her and the boy - Estarossa - is not something we can ignore in Amity."

"Oh, don't worry," Meliodas scoffs. Yes he was definitely hostile. Anger is bubbling beneath the surface. "We intend to leave as soon as possible."

"Good," Nadja smiles, although it appeared solemn as she continues, "Peace between Amity and Dauntless can only occur from a distance. When we maintain our space from one another, the two factions work perfectly together."

"That explains a lot."

"Excuse me?" Hurt filled her voice, gentle and soft like a whisper. "What are you insinuating?"

"It explains," Meliodas grit his teeth, his voice a low warning, "Why, under a pretense of neutrality - as if such a thing is possible! - you have left us to die at the hands of Erudite."

Sighing quietly, Nadja turns away and glances out of the window. Beyond it is a small courtyard, made up of warm brown slabs of curved stone, with groups of clustered vines growing within it. Like they are trying to come in and join the conversation, they twist toward the window's corners, bright green leaves and tiny buds of growing flowers dotted across their thick stems. One of them was bright white, the petals pristine.

"The Amity wouldn't do something like that," I break the silence, glancing toward my now stone silent aunt. "That's mean. Leaving someone to die - that's the complete opposite of what they stand for."

"It's for the sake of peace that we remain uninvolved - " Nadja begins.

"Peace," Meliodas almost spits out the word. Venomous. Sharp. "Yes, I'm sure it will be very peaceful when all of us are either dead or cowering in submission under the threat of mind control or being stuck in an endless simulation."

Scrunching, Nadja's face contorts and I mimic her, to see what it feels like to have my face that way. Honestly, it doesn't feel very good. Tight around the mouth, tugging at my forehead, it feels uncomfortable and strained. Every muscle in my face, every little part that pulls at my cheeks and brows and lips, feels as if it were moving in an unnatural way. I'm not sure why she pulled such a face to begin with.

Slowly, Nadja says, "The decision was not mine to make. If it was, perhaps we would be having an entirely different conversation right now."

"Are you saying that you disagree with them?" Meliodas asks.

"I am saying," She sighs once more, shoulders heaving with a heavy-set fatigue. "That it isn't my place to disagree with my faction publicly but I might, in the privacy of my own heart. Just as we all hold our own feelings within our hearts."

For a moment something flickers through them both. Perhaps it is a moment of clarity. Maybe it is something that finally makes Nadja's intentions clear to Meliodas. Whatever it is, that something was brief as a blink of the eye. One second it is there, almost tangible between the stares of their eyes; the next it is gone, a faded ghost of something that could have meant much more than the vapidness it now meant.

"Liz and I will be gone in two days," Meliodas announces, stone-like, final. There is no room to argue. There is no hidden animosity - no, the hostility and disgust was certain. "I hope your faction doesn't change their decision to make this compound be a safe house."

"Our decisions are not easily unmade," Nadja answers, her face a calm pool of water. No ripples, no waves: she is just a smooth plane of nothing. A seamless reflection. "What about Estarossa?"

"You'll have to deal with him separately," Meliodas shrugs, not at all seeming concerned about his well being. Dismissive, almost cold, it was as if he couldn't care less about what happened to our fellow ex-Dauntless member. "He won't be coming with us."

Easily, Meliodas takes my hand in his and his skin feels nice against mine, though it's not smooth or soft. Battle-worn, covered in rough patches of past scars and fresh callouses, his hands are not the first thing one would think of to be nice. Yet I like them anyway. Holding his hand, feeling the rough exterior of his hands, is just as wonderful as feeling the softest, smoothest hands in the universe. Undoubtedly.

Apologetically, I smile at Nadja. Her face remains unchanged, fixed into a slight grimace that tugged at her half-exposed face.

"Dragon," She says, soft and quiet. Part of me thinks of when I had seen her in the past, a fleeting figure of my early childhood. "If you and your friends want to remain... untouched by our serum, you may want to avoid the bread. It's our signature dish, just like how Dauntless have their cake."

Meliodas says thank you over his shoulder as we make our way down the hallway together, me skipping every other step. All the way he keeps his hand tight around mine.