"Tell me about your safe zone," Paige demanded, as she crouched in front of Dale. She would have sat, but she wanted to stay on guard just in case the two strangers weren't trustworthy. With her class and skills, Paige was honestly as comfortable in a crouch as she was sitting, anyway.

  "Rude. That wasn't even a request," Dale groaned, sitting up slightly.

  Paige's pupils narrowed on the young man.

  "Whoa, I'll answer." He said sitting up straighter. "Wicked eyes by the way. How'd you get them?"

  "It's a class thing," Paige answered.

  "Yeah, duh. I mean, obviously."

  Paige shifted her weight forward slightly, placing her paw--uh, hand--wait... No she realized, it was actually a paw, or very paw-like. Somehow, she'd unconsciously triggered Formed by Friendship.

  "Awesome...Cat-girl... So hot-" Dale began. He quickly revised his statement as Paige's claws extended. "I-I mean badass. Sorry..." He said as he tried to press himself tighter against the wall, squishing against his pack.

  Paige finally relaxed, and decided to sit down. Taking off her own pack, she reached inside and pulled out two of the starting food rations she had left. She handed one to Dale and called out to Levi. "Levi, here give this to that guy." Without looking, she tossed the food ration in Levi's general direction. Dale's eyes followed it.

  The food ration wasn't even close to reaching Levi, yet he moved in a flash, caught the small package, then moved back to hand it to Trent.

  "Man, he's fast. You guys are pretty strong, huh? At least around as strong as me and Trent. Probably a little stronger," Dale commented.

  Paige raised an eyebrow, very doubtful about Dale's assessment of their comparative strength. "Yeah, well, maybe we can have a light spar after you eat and tell me about the safezone you came from."

  Dale's eyes snapped back down to the rations in his hands as if having food had finally clicked in his head. He quickly unwrapped the package and shoved the funky cheese toward his mouth. It wasn't what Paige would have gone with, but she just watched on as he chewed and quickly swallowed several bites, then broke the hard bread in half, grabbed her and Levi's water flask and poured a little water on the bread before taking a bite out of it, too. He tore a bite from the jerky and chewed for a long time, closing his eyes and moaning with pleasure.

  After he swallowed, his face suddenly twisted in pain and he clenched at his stomach. "Oooh. I shouldn't have eaten so much. Oooh. God that hurts."

  Paige realized that even that small amount of food was probably way too much for someone who hadn't eaten in almost a week and had been rationing food long before that. She quickly used Share Traits to summon her horns, and cast a heal on Dale.

  He instantly sagged in relief, then cracked an eye to look at Paige. "Now that's cool. What are you? Obviously some kind of shifter...but that healing ability... That's way outside any shape shifter ability I've heard about."

  "Again, you talk first. If I trust you, I might tell you." Paige threw a glance over her shoulder at Levi and Trent, expecting to have to heal Trent soon, too. Yet Trent was still focused on the game board in front of him, and hadn't even touched his food.

  "Yeah, he's lost it a little since we've been here," Dale commented as Paige turned her focus back to him. "He's not really like this. After a couple weeks, he just..." Dale let out a sigh and sat up straighter. "He just started acting twitchy. I had to start making him eat. He kept accusing me of things. I think he's doing everything he can to avoid the reality that we're going to die here."

  "Seems like you accepted that way too soon," Paige replied.

  Dale's eyes snapped back to Paige as an emotion other than apathetic resignation finally flashed across his face. He tensed, glaring at Paige for a moment before slumping back. "Yeah. Maybe. But, I guess we'll see. You're stuck here with us, now. Maybe you can beat the game, who knows. But I'm not getting my hopes up."

  Paige wanted to pop off some smart-ass comment, something petty, anything to make him feel stupid for doubting her and Levi, admittedly mostly Levi. Yet, as his eyes met hers, something in them was already so defeated that she couldn't. It was like looking at prey that had already accepted its approaching death and had stopped fleeing, stopped shivering, and just lay still, looking up and waiting for the killing blow.

  Rather than demand Dale tell her about his safezone again, Paige relaxed a little and moved her question in a different direction, with a less threatening tone. "So, are you some kind of martial artist or something. Your gear definitely seems suited to martial arts."

  Though she relaxed, she kept Formed by Friendship active. She also tried to force a softer, more feminine voice. Yes, it was manipulative, but Dale clearly thought Cat-girls were hot. She'd use any advantage she could. She only wished she had a tail, but her cat form came from a bob-cat, so that was out. Paige had never had a tail at all, even a short one, using the ability.

  Dale's cheeks grew red, and for the first time, he gave her a small smile. It was shy and nervous, but it was there. Paige felt slightly guilty, but she really wasn't flirting or leading him on. She was just being friendly and maintained an appearance she knew he found attractive. Yeah, it still made her feel like a slime ball, but getting information was too important to dwell on it. She could, after all, just beat it out of him. At least she wasn't doing that.

  "Yeah. It's a...well, it is a martial arts class, but it is kind of embarrassing. I don't exactly look the part, after all." Dale met Paige's gaze for a second, then looked away.

  Paige leaned back slightly, trying to relax and seem more casual. She shrugged. "It's a new world. New rules. We can be whatever we want to be," she answered.

  Dale's smile widened. "True." Then his face grew slightly more serious. "Look, I'm sorry, I would rather not tell you exactly what my class is. It's clear you don't trust me with your class details, and I've found that a good rule of thumb is to not extend trust farther than it is extended to you."

  Paige was taken aback by Dale's response. She had expected him to cave a lot easier. She respected the fact that he hadn't and that his reasoning was pretty diplomatic and understandable.

  "What about him?" Dale asked, pointing to Levi.

  Paige glanced over her shoulder, then back to Dale. She thought about lying, but decided that there was only so far she could go before it did start to be disrespectful to everyone, including herself. "Yeah, we're together." Paige expected Dale to show disappointment about it, but instead, he threw back his head and laughed. Paige watched Dale in confusion, wondering what had been so funny.

  After a few seconds, Dale's laughter subsided, and he met Paige's gaze. He cleared his throat before he spoke. "Yeah, that was already pretty obvious. Despite your clear attempts to butter me up by acting friendly, everything about you two screams very, very intimate partners." Dale let the words hang for a moment before continuing. "No harm done. No offense taken. But, what I meant with my question was, what about him? Martial artist or..."

  Paige relaxed slightly at Dale's response, then looked over her shoulder where Levi stood watching the game. He chewed his nails as he stared down. It had stopped driving her crazy weeks ago, but she also knew that if the game was even half as hard as their new company suggested Levi's nails would be down to the quick and bleeding by the third game. He'd be lucky if he even had his cuticles intact.

  She wasn't going to yell at him yet, but if he pulled out his dagger to start picking at them, she'd have to intervene.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "So?" Dale added, pulling Paige from her thoughts.

  As she turned to meet Dale's gaze, Paige considered what was safe to tell him. "He is a martial artist... But, he falls a lot more into the 'something else' category," she finally answered.

  Dale nodded. "Not sure exactly what that means, but yeah, I kind of picked up on that."

  Paige didn't say anything after Dale's response. She didn't know exactly what to say. Part of her wanted to shift back to her more aggressive intimidation approach, but as beat down and resigned as Dale seemed, she was worried she'd have to go farther than she wanted to get him to actually open up. She didn't really want to hurt him if he was just a random guy trapped in a labyrinth. She also didn't think continuing with her friendly approach was going to get any more out of Dale.

  Fortunately, Dale solved the problem for her.

  "I tell you what Paige, you mentioned sparring. So how about we spar? The loser tells the other what their class is first. But we both have to share. And afterwards, if I trust you, I'll happily tell you about my safezone. Deal."

  Again, Dale surprised Paige. He still realized that her asking about his safezone was her main goal, despite how vulnerable, gullible, and apathetic he'd seemed at first. For a moment, Paige didn't know how to respond. Then she decided that Dale's idea was exactly what was needed.

  "Okay," Paige agreed. She stood slowly, trying to make sure she didn't seem threatening. Over her shoulder, Paige called out. "Hey, Levi. Me and Dale are about to spar."

  For a few seconds, Levi didn't answer. Then she heard him mutter, "Yeah. No problem." Paige knew Levi well enough to know that he hadn't actually registered a word she'd said. She turned to look at Levi, who still stood over the game board, knawing at his fingernails like they were popcorn and his whole life was the movie.

  "Levi!" Paige yelled.

  He finally jumped a little and turned to Paige. "What? I'm trying to learn the game," he said gesturing to the board.

  "Yeah, and do you know what I just said?" Paige asked.

  "Yeah. You just said you were going to talk to Dale about their safezone," Levi answered confidently.

  "Yeah, no. That was a while ago. What I just said was that me and Dale are going to spar."

  A look of confusion passed over Levi's face. "Oh. Oh...well, you can do whatever you want. Why are you telling me anyway?" Levi asked.

  Paige put her hand on her hips, looked to the floor, and shook her head in frustration before finally looking back up at Levi. "Because if I didn't tell you, you might think something was wrong and go all white eyed demon. I'd like to avoid that."

  Levi's face suddenly shifted to understanding. "Ah. Yeah, that checks out. Good thinking." Then Levi turned back to looking at the game. Paige could tell he'd already completely checked out again. "Have fun. Love you." He said unconsciously, back to his unfocused, autopilot voice.

  Paige's heart leapt to her throat. Part of her was thrilled to hear him him say it. Another part of her was... just... 'Damn, Levi, why couldn't you say that looking me in the eyes the first time.' He wasn't even aware he'd said it.

  When she looked back to Dale, who was now also standing, his eyes were slightly wide. "'White eyed demon?'"

  Paige waved Dale off dismissively. "Don't worry about it. It has way too high of a price unless things go really bad. I just wanted to make sure he knew things weren't going bad."

  "O-oh. Okay. That's...good...I guess," Dale answered stiffly.

  "So you ready to spar? We have plenty of room, but we'll have to be careful not to go near their game." Paige began bouncing up and down, loosening herself up, enthusiastic grin on her face.

  ----

  "And that's game," Trent commented as their invisible opponent's piece clicked into place.

  Levi didn't quite see it. He stared down at the confusing battlefield before him, but still couldn't see exactly how Trent had come to the conclusion the game was lost. "Wait, why do you think the game is lost? You still both have about half your pieces. Yeah, you have less, but still... I don't get it."

  "Just watch this turn," Trent answered, voice devoid of emotion.

  Suddenly their opponent issued a series of challenges, losing half their remaining pieces, but taking an equal amount of Trent's pieces and demoting most of his upgraded pieces in the process.

  After the play was finished Trent gestured over the board. "I was trying to squeeze enough of my pieces through that gap to establish a threatening flank. They saw it immediately. I tried to pull off pressure by pushing a solid line to their ranks, but then they repositioned to take an equal amount of forces in the conflict. I tried to pull back, but they issued a small challenge as a threat, and I was forced to reinforce the line again. I couldn't retreat out of it at that point. So, I tried to squeeze as many upgrade pieces through the gap as I could. They used the opportunity to pinch off and surround my forces. The rest of this is just a mop up job for them. Maybe with a less skilled player, I could recover and take their remaining pieces one by one, but trust me... It is over." Trent swept his hand over the board, knocking all the pieces off.

  Boom! The sudden noise drew both Levi and Trent's attention.

  Levi turned to see Paige skidding back where Dale's heel had driven down into the ground.

  "Why are they fighting?" Trent asked, shooting to his feet in alarm.

  Levi put an arm in front of Trent's chest. "Calm down, they're just sparring. Look at their expressions." Levi was tensed, preparing for the worst, but Trent relaxed.

  "Ah. Yeah, the idiot's smiling like a madman. Can't understand why he loves it so much." Trent stood watching as Paige and Dale exchanged blows, before letting out a sigh. "I'm kind of glad to see it. I think what broke me the most about this place was the moment I realized he'd given up. It may seem hard to believe, but before we got stuck in here, he was one of the happiest people I knew, and always eager to share that with other people."

  "Are you two...?" Levi ventured, eyeing Trent from the corner of his eye. There was no way he could know for sure one way or the other without asking. He just didn't have the intuition for it. But he'd found most people weren't offended if you just asked.

  Trent turned his head to meet Levi's half gaze with full attention. His mouth formed into a tight frown, yet somehow his eyes still smiled.

  "No." Trent answered. "No, we're not. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to be. But, he is 100% straight. Which sucks. I've never seen a woman appreciate him the way he deserves." Trent turned back to watch as Paige and Dale exchanged flurries of blows, neither landing a good hit.

  Levi could tell Paige was holding back. She definitely wasn't pulling out her newest skill development. Her form didn't shift at all. Yet, watching Dale, Levi recognized that Dale was holding back, too. They both seemed to be slowly increasing intensity and pressure, just enjoying the spar.

  "Does he know?" Levi immediately regretted asking. The truth was, he didn't really want to know. He definitely didn't want to get into a conversation about it. It was just the part of Levi that couldn't help but empathize with others jumping up to bite him in his ass again.

  "Ooh yeah. He knows. He was super kind about it when I told him. I was afraid I'd lose him as a friend. He was the one that didn't let that happen." Trent patted Levi's shoulder. "But I can tell you really don't want to get into it."

  "I mean It isn't that I care about...you know ...or whatever," Levi started to say.

  Trent cut him off with a wave of his hand, and gave Levi a kind smile. "Don't worry. I don't think you're a homophobe." Trent met Levi's eyes. "You would be just as uncomfortable talking about any relationship drama." For seconds, Trent just stared at Levi in concentration, before continuing. "Definitely ADHD. Definitely some trauma. You come across like an off-brand version of 'dark and mysterious' that came out looking a little more 'dim and questionable' than the real thing. It would actually be kind of cute if it wasn't for all that anxiety and..." Trent shuddered. "Just...so gross."

  "Uh..." Levi tried to piece together everything Trent had just said and drew up a blank. He honestly didn't know if he'd received a genuine compliment, an outright insult, or some weird, heartfelt combination of both. But, even more than that, the way Trent seemed to be able to read Levi like an open book put a knot in his stomach. It reminded him of the Shaman in a way, but creepier. Levi wondered if it was some kind of Skill or Ability.

  But Dale had also seemed to do the same thing from time to time. It put Levi on edge.

  Before he could formulate a response, Trent gestured to the pack of rations.

  "Mind if I eat? I just remembered your girlfriend threw me some food."

  "Uh. Yeah. That's fine," Levi answered. He relaxed a little as Trent turned away, sitting back down and pulling the rations into his lap.

  Trent ate slowly. In fact, even before he began eating, he unwrapped the rations at the slowest pace imaginable. Levi was seated across from Trent watching as he moved so deliberately Levi believed that he planned out his every single move before he made one.

  "I realize I seem weird," Trent said after he swallowed a bite of cheese. "I just... I have never really been good at eating. Plus, I can't eat too much given the circumstances. So I am purposefully slowing myself down."

  "How do you do that?" Levi asked. Trent had put some of his concerns to rest, but there was one big nagging question.

  "Do what?" Trent asked, looking up over another bird-bite of cheese.

  Levi just stared back, hardening his expression.

  After a moment, Trent nodded. "Yeah. Well...I'm a real person, if that's what you're wondering. And it isn't me doing it. It's-It's something about this room. After a while, you start hearing whispers in your head. Then you realize they're someone else's thoughts. Then you tune them out. The you forget that what you're hearing isn't what the other person said."

  Levi was skeptical, but had no real reason to believe Trent was lying one way or another.

  After a long stretch of silence, Trent shrugged, never looking away from Levi. "I can't convince you so easily. And I'm not sure I could respect you if I could. So do the thing."

  "What thing?" Levi asked, feeling suddenly cornered.

  Trent shrugged again. "I have no idea. The thing. The thing you've been wanting to do this whole time and the thing that Paige doesn't like very much. That thing."

  Levi nodded slowly, finally understanding. "Okay. But..." Levi considered warning Trent not to freak out. He thought about explaining. But as Trent stared back at him and calmly took another bite of near rancid cheese, Levi's 'fuck it' mode kicked in.

  As Levi's eyes went white, he could finally see the answers to his nagging question.