Cassie has put her shirt back on, and is slowly moving her arm in random directions, carefully watching how it reacts. Her eyes light up when she sees the size of the tray.

"I'm glad I get to keep giving you hot meals, even if I didn't cook this one." I place the tray in her lap and pull off the lid, releasing a cloud of steam.

In front of her sits a large grilled and heavily seasoned fish, sitting on a bed of white rice. Green beans surround the fish, and a slice of lemon tops everything off. A bottle of champagne, what feels like too much for one person, sits to the side with a large bottle of water next to it.

Cassie immediately reaches for the bottle of alcohol and passes it to me.

"You should move this before I chug it."

I really hope that's a joke. I take it anyway, just to be sure, and place it carefully on the floor by the bed.

Cassie dives into her food the best she can while being careful with her new arm, and I grab her book to keep me distracted while she does. I don't want to just stare, but I do steal glances. It's just so nice to watch her enjoy something, to forget all the stress we've been under for so long.

Halfway through eating, she slows down, and I think actually tastes the food for the first time. Despite that, it only takes her a few minutes to completely clean her plate, and to quickly drink a few cups worth of water.

"Feel better?" I ask and put down the book.

She leans back against the headboard and lets out a loud sigh.

"Much better."

Silence overtakes the room. Does she want to rest? Or is just sitting here together doing nothing awkward? I'd certainly rather be doing anything, but what even is there to talk about?

"So, how's your arm?"

"It's good." She sits forward, demonstrating by carefully touching each of her fingertips to her thumb, one after another. "Not as much of an adjustment as the first time."

"Is this one faster or slower than the old one?"

"Slower, but not by much." She clenches and unclenches her entire hand quickly to demonstrate. "I won't be punching the roof again."

"Or your own face." Was that a bad idea to say? Is making her remember an embarrassing moment going to make her feel bad? It is, isn't it? Why didn't I think before I spoke?

Cassie gives a small snort, entirely washing away my worry.

"I fucking hope not. It took days for the bruise to disappear."

"Really?" Corax and I had a few days to relax then, and she never visited.

"Yeah. Ivy convinced me to let her put some makeup on me to cover it, and it was fucking miserable. Washed it off within the hour."

"What's so bad about it?" I ask.

"It felt like my skin was being suffocated." Cassie shakes her head gently back and forth, shaking away the memory.

I should have warned her, she wouldn't have had to go through that. No, no don't apologize. I couldn't have known how sensitive it would be, I had no way of knowing she would end up hurting herself. If I did, I would have warned her. Acknowledge, rationalize, and dismiss.

"How does Ivy handle it then?" I ask.

"I'm sure you could get used to it, I just think it's a waste of money. And I have enough crap I waste money on."

"Oh, speaking of money, do I actually get any? I never asked Silver."

"You better. If not I'll yell at them for you."

"You don't have to do that!" I don't want to stress Silver more than I already am. "But Corax and I talked about buying a telescope. Do you think I'll have enough?"

"I have no idea." She shrugs. "I'm not even sure where you'll find one for sale, but you don't have to buy anything, so eventually yeah."

"I hope so."

"If not I'll buy you one." She tries to reassure me.

"You don't have to do that! You just said you need your money." I'm not going to let myself be a detriment to her. I'm not going to make her life worse in any way. "It's just a stupid telescope, I can just look up."

"Shut up." She pushes herself forward. "I can spend my money on whatever I want. And if that includes you, you have to deal with it."

"I'll try." My voice comes out as a whisper. "But you really don't have to."

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"I know." She swings her legs out from under the cover, and scoots down the side of the bed, stopping right next to me. "I wouldn't offer if I wasn't willing."

"Alright." I scoot away from her just a few inches to let myself lean in and rest my head on her shoulder.

Cassie lets her head drift to the side, resting on the top of my head. We sit together for a few comfortable minutes in silence.

"What do you want to do today?" I ask.

"Open that champagne, but I should wait."

I nod in agreement.

"I don't want to do anything, you know, together while I'm drunk." She says quietly. "We can still hang out, but like we were a week ago."

"That's fine." I reassure her. "Being drunk messes with the way you think, right? I wouldn't want to do anything anyway." I don't know if I could live with myself if I was taking advantage of her.

Her smile brushes against the top of my head.

"Thanks." Cassie's hand gently lands on mine, and I spread my fingers, letting her entwine with mine.

Silence takes over once again for a few comfortable minutes, only for Cassie to break it this time.

"Hey, before I drink…" She lets her thought trail off into nothing.

I squeeze her hand, offering my silent support. I'm not going to push her into saying whatever she's trying to, I feel like that's a bad thing to do.

"Now that you have your skin again. If you want to see if kissing is better, you can."

Don't just rush to say yes as soon as possible. No matter how much I want to, I need to make sure she's not just doing this for me. I don't think she is, but being safe seems important.

"If you do, I'd love to, but I'm just happy sitting like this."

Her hand grips mine tighter, and her organic one reaches up to land on my cheek. She gently guides my head to look at her, and quickly presses her lips against mine.

A small squeak, the cutest sound I've ever heard, escapes from her throat. My mind melts, every thought wiped away, the entirety of my existence dedicated to processing this single feeling.

I wrap my arms tightly around her and hold her close. All I want is more. I could stay here with her for forty years and be happy.

She eventually breaks off the kiss, and lets her forehead drop onto my shoulder to recover.

"Was that better?" I ask.

"Way fucking better." She fails at stifling a sudden bout of laughter, her entire body rocking from the effort. "It was like kissing a tin can the first time." She whispers.

"I'm so sorry! You should have said something!" I even made her kiss me twice!

"It's fine!" She can barely get the words out between her laughs. "It was still nice." It takes her a few long seconds to fully recover. When she finally does, she pushes back a little bit and looks into my face, a smile spreading across hers. She glances away the moment our eyes make contact, and her smile falls. "I'm going to go get a bath."

"Alright." I'm not sure what made her suddenly so sad, but I'm not going to ask. She'll say something if it's my fault. "I hope it's good."

"It will be." She climbs off the bed, but pauses at the door. "If I toss my clothes out, will you get them washed?"

"Of course. Do I just hit the intercom and ask them to take care of it?" I ask.

"Yeah." She steps outside, and a moment later another door opens and softly closes. Not long after it opens once again, fabric gets tossed onto the floor, and the door quietly closes one last time.

I guess that's my sign that it's safe to leave.

Cassie's clothes sit in a small pile in front of the bathroom door. I scoop all of them up into my arms, and walk towards the intercom.

"How can I help you?" The intercom asks just a moment after pressing the button.

"I need laundry done." Actually, I should probably get my shorts cleaned too. Zero already took care of my shirt, so I might as well. I pull off my shorts and add them to the small pile of clothes.

"Understood, someone is on their way up. How quickly do you need them cleaned?"

"These are the only clothes I own, so quickly please." Cassie still has a spare set in her backpack, and I guess I don't technically need pants. Maybe I was too greedy asking for them to be done quickly? "And is it possible to get them repaired too?" I already know the answer, they fixed my clothes the first time we were in Vegas, but I still feel better asking.

"Of course. It may delay the cleaning by a few minutes, but if that's alright with you, we will go ahead and do the repairs."

"That's fine, thank you." If it's anything like the food deliveries, it's probably not even worth sitting down to wait.

I only have to stand awkwardly with the clothes in my arms for fifteen seconds before someone knocks on the door. I open it to yet another android, identical to the first one.

I offer them the clothes, and he takes them carefully into their arms.

"Thank you."

The android reaches for the door, but I place my hand on it to stop him.

"I can handle closing the door." I completely fail at hiding my annoyance, but if they can recognize the tone of my voice, they give no indication.

"Of course." The android responds with a voice I'm unfamiliar with, and turns down the hallway.

I know it's their entire job to take care of everything, but I just wish they'd treat me like I'm capable of doing literally anything. It's not worth getting angry about. They're forced to act like that, possibly literally.

I shut the door and return to Cassie's bedroom. Or is it my bedroom? Are we sharing it, or should I be claiming my own? I grab my half-repaired scalp and hair from the bedroom, and I might as well grab Cassie's alcohol, a cup, and the reminder of her water too. I bring everything out and set it on the kitchen table. Corax's nest is in clear view of one of the chairs, and I make sure to sit in that one.

He looks so comfortable, I'm almost jealous. Actually, who says I have to finish my hair now? I worked all night, I can take a break. Corax's nest is plenty big enough for two people.

Although I'd hate to mess it up by standing up when someone stops by to deliver my shorts and Cassie's clothes. I'll work on my hair until then, and then ask to join him.

Turns out, I only have to wait eight minutes before our clothes are returned. Both of our clothes are perfect, the patchwork repairs I did are seamless, as if they never went through the storm. The color, the texture, it's all perfect. How do they do this, and so quickly too? They don't just produce a new one, I know my clothes, it's the same set.

I put on my pants, fold Cassie's clothes, and leave them just outside the bathroom door.

"Cassie? I'm sure you heard, but-"

"I did, thank you."

I head over to Corax's giant nest.

"Can I join?" I ask.

Corax nods, and I climb on next to him. I spread out, closing my eyes and letting Corax's soft ticking noise wash over me.

This is so nice.

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