limbo and coffee

23: pat pat ass

Aeria's

"Asea, you don't have any theory?" Ourie asked Asea when they were having a meeting. Trey and Akio's both in their rooms (also listening as they sat by the floor so the two will hear) and really, Em and Fiona have no idea how would they be able to sleep tonight.

Ourie watched Asea blinked fast. "About the noose?"

"Yeah."

"I think they'll ask one of us to hang themselves. It'll be tomorrow, our first week, I mean. If it still applies, it'll happen." She said it all too nonchalant that even Azrael got disturbed by it. 

"You mean, they'll kill us?" Trey asked from behind the door.

"They wouldn't. They would just hurt us really bad."

"But it's just the asterisks, right?" Akio asked. 

"Fiona and I don't even have slips or asterisks as all of you had." Aeria could see her wanting to say more. She knows those eyes that stare too much. She wanted to say something but she's stopping herself.

"They won't kill us." She repeated, her eyes sure of it.

"How are you so sure about that?" Fiona asked. She does feel bad for what happened and she refuses to think of her more. She's still giving benefit of the doubt to Ourie who've gotten silent and started to keep to himself more. Maybe that's why Trey's sadder these days and Em's busier in comforting him.

"They just won't. Also.." Her voice fell into a whisper, looking at Aeria directly. "Don't go down there alone, their men are mostly alphas." Ouch. Why is she the one getting the special eye contact? Ah, because she spends her time in the library these days, reading and reading to escape again. She mostly does it in the morning and every time, she'll see Yasser there, also reading.

He's reading law books. After all, Yasser's a Political Science major. But, he later said, he was trying to find something else. He said, "if there's any way to save a hopeless overly guilty idiot like Ourie." He said it like a joke and it managed to tug a smile on their faces but the silence that befalls them after made her sad.

Because his friends don't tolerate what he did. And she can see that. Yet, they're patient with him and accepting of his predicament. They don't hate him, they hated what he did, and that made the difference. And even if she wanted to talk to Ourie to maybe ease the burden he's feeling, she also didn't know what to say. It's not like she can say, hey Ourie, it's fine, it was your alpha instinct's fault, not yours or hey Ourie, it'll be fine, really.

On second thought, maybe she could say that, that it's going to be fine. As she can see that he's trying his best to right the wrong and that he deeply regrets that. Maybe, he's trying to prove that he's worth a second chance. But maybe not now. And it isn't her place to give him that.

Also, Ourie's a really good friend and he never sexualized her. Never made her uncomfortable and what he did was his instincts' fault and not Ourie at all. Or maybe it's just her trying to cover up what he did and thus completely defeats the purpose of giving him the benefit of the doubt. Nevertheless, even if what he did is wrong, she wanted to detach what he did from Ourie himself. Like how his friends did for him.

"And..." She whispered. "I found out we're in Russia."

Of all countries, she never thought it was Russia. Wow. "How did you know?" Em asked, smiling a little, proud that she managed to deduce that.