An unfamiliar loud jingle rouses Atlas from his sleep. Tiredly blinking awake, he squints in the direction it is coming from. There, on the edge of the bed, near his hand sits a silver phone lit up in its tune. A second later it goes silent and not fully awake to comprehend why there is a phone sitting on his bed, he dozes back off.

Just as he begins to drift away, the phone plays its jingle once more. Atlas groans, sliding his hand at the phone with enough force it goes sailing onto the floor. When the phone refuses to stop, he throws his pillow over his head cursing the device. If this is his mother's way of convincing him he needs a phone, she sure has an annoying way of showing it. If there was even the slightest interest in getting one, it was long gone now.

Silence again. Finally. He prays it stays that way as he lets himself slowly slip away once more. The door to his room opens and footsteps come into the room, calling all his attention to it. His eyes refuse to open, so he just lays there, teetering between sleep and wake, listening. The steps stop near his bed and not a moment later something solid hits his shoulder hard, stinging enough to cause Atlas to fly into a sitting position. He grabs the injured area, brows turn down to the phone that is now resting on his bed again and then up to whoever had thrown it.

"What the hell, Kyla?!" He growls at the tall, dark haired girl standing smugly a few feet from his bed. A twinkle of amusment gleams in her deep blue eyes. 

"Well if you had answered your phone, I would not have had to take such measures," she retorted, setting her hands on her hips.

"My what?" He glances down at the silver phone once again laying on his bed. This wasn't his. He knew for a fact that he did not buy this piece of garbage.

"Ta da! You are the proud owner of a new phone, courtesy of moi. Think of it as an early partnering gift." 

He rubs his face with his hands, relaxing into a more comfortable position on his bed. "Did my mother put you up to this?" He asks.

"Nope," she says simply as she walks to his bed. "I did it all on my lonesome. But she and I both agree that you need one." She takes his phone into her hands as she sits on the edge and proceeds to mess with it.

"Awesome," Atlas replies sarcastically, rolling his eyes. 

With his mother, he can drag out his promises until she finally gives up, but Kyla was proactive. If she wanted him to do something, she had a way of making it happen no matter how much he fought. One of the more adapted of his people, she loves everything humans have to offer except for the humans themselves, and she could never fully understand Atlas' distaste no matter how many times he explained it.

She adjusts the sleeve that had fallen off her shoulder of her loose fitting cropped t-shirt as she leans in toward him, moving the phone so that he is able to see as well. "I went ahead and added your family to your contacts, see." She flips from the word 'Dad' to the word 'Mom.' "And of course my family as well. Jared has already sent you a bajillion texts."

"I've lived for 20 years without a phone and got along just fine. I'm pretty sure I can survive however many years I have left with no problem." He leans back against the wall his bed is snuggled into refusing to allow Kyla to show him anything else that it may do. "And tell your brother he needs to get a life."

"This isn't the first time you've given your mother a mini heart attack," she retorts. "Take it from someone who's known you their whole life, you need it more than you think you do." He isn't surprised at all by the fact that she knows about the previous times he'd scared his mother. This girl has her practically wrapped around her finger. Who knows what they talk about when he's not around.

"Here, take it you old man. You'll thank me later." She chucks the phone to his chest this time. The loud thud of phone to bone made Atlas flinch.

"Doubt that," he mumbles taking the phone in one hand and rubbing his sore chest with the other. He stares at it a moment before carelessly tossing it onto the bed near him. He will keep the thing, but only because it will stop these women from nagging at him any longer.

"Why are you here anyway?" He asks changing the topic.

"Ouch," she remarks bringing her hand to her chest in her fake attempt at acting appalled by his question. "I can leave if you want me to."

"That's not what I meant, you know that. I was planning on stopping by after work."

"I brought over some fudge. I made extras yesterday at work and gave some to your mom to share, but was told it was all gone before you got home. So I made some more before bed. Chocolate peanut butter, your favorite!" She sings the last two words with a playful grin. Atlas' mouth waters at the mention of chocolate peanut butter fudge. Chocolate and peanut butter together is like a weakness to him, and she is very much aware of it. 

Kyla scoots back and joins Atlas against the wall, her grin now replaced with a more dismal expression as if remembering something unhappy. "I wish we had an off switch. Everyone's so depressing today."

"Do you know if there's been any new revelations?" 

Kyla shakes her head. "You would know more than I would." She proceeds to lean into Atlas, resting her head on his shoulder. 

"Do you have any speculations as to who it could be?" 

"A case of mistaken identity, I hope. Though if it is one of them... Those kids should have just followed the rules. None of this would be happening if they had followed the rules." 

Kyla's always been one to follow the rules. Didn't matter where she was or what it was for, if there were rules, she followed them. For as long as they have known each other, he has managed to keep her completely oblivious to the fact that he doesn't follow the rules either. He can only imagine her reaction if she ever found out.

"What's with the face?" She suddenly asks after it had gone silent. He looks down to find her deep blue eyes on him, a corner of her mouth turned up into a small smirk.

"What face?" He asks, his expression instantly goes serious.

She rolls into him until her head is in his lap and brings her two index fingers up to poke at his cheeks, pushing them upwards until he smiles again. "This face. What's with the goofy grin?"

"No reason," he replies looking up away from her. 

"Yeah right," she badgers. "Do you find people who don't follow the rules funny or something?"

He snickers. "Quite the opposite actually." She sits up, making a face at him. As she opens her mouth to speak, he lightly flicks his finger at her nose. "I have to get to work."

"Hey!" She exclaims, throwing a hand to her nose as she removes herself from his lap. It is Atlas' turn to be smug as his little feat of getting her off his lap worked. "What was that for?"

Ignoring her, he slides off the bed and heads over to his dresser. He grabs the first shirt his hand touches and throws it on. 

"Wait! Don't forget your-" 

Atlas is out the door before she can finish her sentence. He purposely walked out of his room without his new phone just to spite her, which makes him grin. Another win.

He makes his way down the hall to Marina's room, which he does every morning if he's home before work. She is already up and ready for the day that she will be spending in her room making as little sound as possible. She is sitting on her bed, busily needling away at yet another blanket to add to her mound. 

Children under the age of ten are hidden away from society due to their unpredictable behaviors. It hadn't always been this way, but in the last several decades it has become something of a must. Atlas feels Marina's stricter house arrest rules had been due to his inability to obey and stay out of the public when he was not much older than she. To make up for it, he often sneaks her outside himself. It doesn't go without some punishments for himself, though. There has been couple times he did get caught sneaking her away, but they were well worth it to see her face.

When she sees him, she jumps to her feet and dances to him, smiling ear to ear. "Off to work?" She signs.

"You know it." He grins.

She gives him a stern look. "You better come home this time."

"I promise." Her face softens, but there is a hint of doubt mixed within it. "There's some chocolate peanut butter fudge in the kitchen if you want some. Courtesy of Kyla," he signs in an effort to boost more positivity. He shakes a hand through her hair to which she allows.

As he starts out the door, he feels something grab his shirt. Turning, he is immediately greeted with her pitiful expression, her big, deep blue eyes bore into his. 

Kneeling down, he takes her shoulders. "I promise you on my life that I will come home. That better?" Her beaming smile returns and she nods. 

He huffs a short chuckle, shaking his head then leans into her, pressing into her forehead. "I could never leave you," he says to himself. After several seconds, he stands back up and steps out the door, leaving Marina standing at the door watching him.

"Aw, why can't I have a relationship like that with one of my brothers?" Kyla says the moment he closes the door, startling him back into it. 

"Jeezes, Kyla, you scared the hell out of me. Have you been standing there this whole time?" 

Kyla pretends to ponder for a minute then nods with a smile. "Pretty much." Atlas brushes by here with an exasperated exhale. Kyla turns and hurries to his side. "I'll walk to you to the lobby," she says as they walk. 

Atlas didn't protest. Her company is pleasant, even if she did enjoy giving him a hard time. Once they reach the lobby he watches her bounce away from him toward his mother, her long hair swaying behind her as she did. If it has to be anyone he is to partner with, he is glad it is her. She seems to compliment him. Everything he refuses to be, she is; she isn't afraid, and he respected that. 

The moment Atlas steps outside he is bombarded with heavy grief. Kyla was not kidding when she said everyone was depressing. It is a struggle to stay even slightly positive as he makes his way down the boardwalk to Johnny's. His gaze stays down in front of his feet as his anxiousness starts to steam within him. Atlas hated working Saturdays. The boardwalk always seems to be livelier, especially with the Sun shining. 

A bark from his right causes him to glance in the direction where lines of boats were docked. He sees Lady sitting, watching him with her tail wagging. She looks genuinely happy to see him. Her owner is busily working on the rope again. Atlas gives the pup a quick look in the eye to which she reacts with the perk of her ears, much like last time.

"Stay," he whispers to her when she stood. Lady licks her muzzle seemingly discontent with her command, but she sits. 

Atlas holds her gaze, allowing himself to really feel the power he held over the creature. It is an ability unique to their people, one that is forbidden to be used on humans, but is also not fully understood. So he soaks up the understanding of it on animals. He is aware that there is influence in his gaze and he's gone as far as these simple commands that although he speaks quietly, the connection he has seems to make the animal understand. 

He felt this same influence when he looked into the eyes of that girl, but he didn't have the guts to try giving her commands. Would it hold the same amount of power as on animals? Or would it be less...or more? He isn't entirely certain he wants to find out. 

"Maybe, we'll see. I've got some things planned first. If there's time we'll meet you there, okay?" A low voice says from the direction Atlas is walking, and before he has the chance to look back and dodge in the appropriate direction the two collide. 

The phone in the guy's hand slips through his fingers, but Atlas' quick reaction time allows for him to swiftly slide his hand beneath the falling phone, catching it.

"I'm so sorry man, I wasn't watching where I was walking," the collider apologizes as he retrieves the phone from Atlas. Keeping his gaze on the guys mouth as he speaks, Atlas nods in acceptance and continues on without a word. 

"Hey, sorry I dropped my phone. But I'll shoot you a text if we do head over there," the guy says returning to his conversation.

Atlas only takes two steps before he stops in his tracks. With the thickness of the widespread emotions, he almost missed it. He turns back to the guy who is now tapping away at his phone as he walks. He isn't sure how it is even possible, but he is sure he felt something from that guy; an excited feeling. It's definitely not coming from him and nor anyone else in the community. That guy is exuding an elatement about whatever it was he talking about in that phone call. There is no doubt. But how was that possible? He can only read his own peoples emotions... 

He turns to continue his way to work completely wrapped up in how he managed to tune into the guy's mood when he hears a familiar tone. It is coming from the pocket of his shorts. Sticking his hand in his pocket he freezes, eyes closing with a huff knowing exactly what it was. Sly... he thinks as he pulls it out, turning it to look at the lock screen.

Kyla: I win ;)

**Thanks for reading! <3 Kay**