"And... game..! Man, ya'll are ASS at this," said Tanner as everyone else went bankrupt except Isabel, who gave up after a couple of hours because the game got boring.

  "Pure Romanian blood, Tanner... you bribed your way out of everything!" said Troy, as Tanner replied.

  "Hey, that doesn't change the fact that you took almost every single bribe!"

  Everyone laughed with smiling faces. Vanesa's gaze lingered on Varryance.

  "Alright, well... I'd like to sleep. It's late, and we have work tomorrow. I recommend you all sleep too," said Mack, rising up, taking a last sip of beer, and waving his hand behind him. Everyone chanted, "Goodnight!" as he walked off.

  "Yeah... he's right," Celene yawned, stretching. "Girls? You can sleep with me, I don't mind."

  "I don't... Vanesa?" said Isabel before Vanesa shifted her gaze to her.

  "Sure, sure... goodnight, you three!" she said before walking off with the other two girls, leaving only Tanner, Troy, and Varryance at the table.

  "So... Varryance..." Tanner began while cleaning up the board. Troy leaned back, clearly entertained.

  "Hm?"

  "You're from...?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well... Varryance doesn't really strike me as a purebred American name, now when you're here, the legend himself i can ask all sorts of questions!"

  "Well, it IS my name. I'm from Cali."

  "Shit? Cali? Born there, lived there?"

  "Yup."

  "Well, Troy here is from Virginia. Changed his name because... well, y'know, IARO and all. And me, Tanner? I'm just Tanner. Romania. Moved here to Oregon before it all went to crap. Changed my name too."

  Varryance's gaze wen't black hearing the "IARO" phrase, he decided to brush it off.

  "Wait... this is Oregon?"

  "Didn't know? We're in Newport," began Troy. "Well... what used to be Newport, anyway."

  "Out of all places... they chose to make a complex in Oregon..."

  "Why? Is Oregon bad or something?" said Tanner, as Varryance and Tanner continued their back-and-forth.

  "I mean... it's Oregon, I don't know... it doesn't strike me as a military region when, like... Nevada or Texas exists."

  "Dude, don't talk shit about Oregon. It's awesome. Ever been to that aquarium?"

  "Aquarium? What aquarium?"

  "Exactly," he said with an offended huff - all in good humor.

  "He's just fucking with you. Fucks with everyone, really," said Troy, yawning.

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  "When will you fuck someone for real, huh, Tanner?" said Varryance with a smirk, teasing him back.

  "Dude... dude... Celene? MMMM I mean... respect, respect..."

  "Yeah, I've seen your look... that obsessed?" said Varryance, as Troy replied.

  "Everyone knows about Tanner being in a massive crush on her... though not as bad as Vanesa looking at you... lowkey."

  "Lowkey..? The fuck?"

  "Whatever. My point is, his obsession isn't even close to Vanesa's with you. She practically stares at you every time you breathe."

  "Yeah! Dude, she's hot as fuuuuuuuuuck," said Tanner, fist-bumping Varryance, waiting for a return.

  "Yeah... don't talk dirty like that about women, or else you won't get any. They like respect, not the opposite," said Varryance, rising up.

  "Yeah, yeah... whatever," said Tanner, closing the board game with a stretch and a yawn. Troy tickled him, almost wrestling. Varryance walked out the exit as the two boys looked his way.

  "Is he that mad?"

  When he opened the door, a cold gust of wind hit him. It was dead quiet. Once he looked up-the stars absolutely filled the sky. The creaky walls groaned as the wind swept against the outpost. The giant SAM turrets beeped, a red LED flashing from the camera.

  Varryance climbed up the staircase to the catwalk along the wall, gazing beyond it. In front of him was the desert. To his right-the remains of Newport. To his left-a still lighthouse, no longer shining. He sat down, legs dangling off the wall, mind blank.

  Behind him, the lights in the outpost went dark room by room. Everyone was going to sleep.

  "Feels weird, huh..." Varryance muttered to himself.

  "One day we play Monopoly... the next we infiltrate an overrun fed base... fucking shitshow..."

  He laid back, staring at the stars. Sand brushed against his face with the wind. A tear slipped down his cheek. He wanted to cry for no real reason but he smiled instead. He felt something like hope. Despite two of them being clowns, the group was funny, alive.

  "Vanesa staring at me... huh," he muttered with a small smile. It faded when he heard a car approaching in the distance-engines roaring, headlights blazing.

  He kicked his legs back and laid low on the catwalk, watching the scene unfold. He was unarmed. If something went down, he was naked-figuratively.

  The car stopped in front of the gate. A passenger stepped out-a tall man with long, semi-curly black hair and a hard mesh mask covering his face. He held a tag, scanned it through the reader, and the gate opened. The car rolled inside and parked near the terrace where they'd talked earlier. The driver stepped out-it was Jax.

  "They asleep?" asked Jax.

  "Seems so," said the masked man in a dry, deep voice.

  Varryance thought about stepping out-but that'd look weird. Stalker-level weird. Better wait.

  "Come on, let's rest... we can never catch a break these days, can we..." said Jax as the masked man followed him inside. The door slammed shut. The lights flicked on.

  Varryance jumped down from the wall and followed. Inside, cheers erupted.

  "Jax! Rook!" shouted Celene excitedly.

  Varryance stepped in-perfect timing to break the ice.

  "Oh shit, Varryance, hey!" said Jax, shaking his hand and introducing him to the masked man.

  "Varryance, this is Rook-Rook Silas. He's our... how do we say it... professional."

  "Well... now you've got two," said Silas with a deep, blunt tone, shaking Varryance's hand.

  "Nice knowing ya."

  "Alright, everyone back to bed! Tomorrow's a big day, and I don't want anyone making mistakes. Varryance, you're with Troy and Tanner-they already prepped your bed."

  "Oh shit, thanks guys!"

  "Nah, no problem-come on!" said Troy, grabbing Varryance's hand, he did not have enough time to observe the Silas person, their cold eyes explained a story Varryanced wanted to know.

  "Hey, no! I did his bed, asshole!" Tanner shouted as Celene and the others laughed, turning off the lights and heading to their rooms. Silas and Jax took their own.

  "This is your room. Y'know, mi casa su-whatever the fuck the Mexicans say. That's your bed!" said Troy, pointing to a clean double mattress.

  "And now this is where I undress and whip my dick out in front of you, or what? Turn around!" said Varryance jokingly, making both of them laugh.

  Varryance, shameless as always, slept in his underwear. They were all guys-nothing to hide.

  "When we waking up tomorrow?" asked Varryance.

  "Mmm... Celene will wake you. Don't worry. But it's early," said Tanner.

  "Alright... hope she doesn't see me half-naked," said Varryance, curling under the blanket.

  "Tanner'll be SO jealous. He knows she'd be more impressed by you than him-" said Troy before Tanner hurled a full bottle of water across the room, hitting Varryance's bed in the middle.

  "NOT TRUE!!!"

  Varryance laughed. This was going to be a long night.