Rory watched as he scolded her, although he wasn't sure why she was being scolded.

Weird…

School had finished for the day. Rory could finally implement his new findings into his research document, a sense of bliss flowing throughout him.

Rory paraded out of the school gates. Jasmine came up behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Amari-”

Rory almost fell forward, catching himself before he could.

“WHO THE FU-”

“Amari.”

Rory finally noticed Jasmine and Amara, standing behind him.

“Oh…”

“So we were wondering if Nenko was okay,” Jasmine said straight away.

What is with her and last names…?

“...He's fine. Not sick or anything,” Rory summarized.

“Well… that's good.”

“Yeah… see ya.”

Rory walked away, a single priority on his mind.

“Wait, Amari!”

She tugged Amara's hand, pulling her towards Rory.

“Where are going to in such a hurry?”

“...home,” he almost grumbled, starting to feel impatient.

She laughed at him, sticking her face up close to his.

“I don't bite Rory. It's crummy to stay at home all the time. Why not spend a little of your “genius” time with us?” Jasmine said suavely.

Is she flirting…? Like her girlfriend is RIGHT THERE. Maybe she's just… always like this...?

“...Just for a little bit… then I have stuff to do…” Rory gave into.

“Great!” She chimed, finally moving her face away from his, “...Amara and I will just walk with ya for a bit then.”

She flounced her hair with a flick of her hand, then adjusted her yellow-tinted sunglasses.

“Can I ask you about Corrin?”

Rory blushed, a chill spiking up his neck from just hearing his name.

“Oh? Are you blushing?”

Rory looked away, wanting to slap himself for doing this again.

“...he's always been such a quiet person, but he seems to have opened up to Mr. Genius over here,” Jasmine speculated, her speech smooth and teasing at the same time.

Rory gritted his teeth, feeling utterly uncomfortable from her mockery.

What is she trying to say…?

“I guess… he's mostly just my study partner,” Rory mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

“Just study partners…?”

Amara gave her a knowing look, raising a brow. Jasmine smirked back, her face showing mischievous intent.

“It was nice talking… I've gotta board the subway now… um see ya tomorrow,” Rory said, shaking his hand in an awkward waving motion.

“Yep. Always a pleasure, Amari.”

“I'll see you in physics…” Amara said, voice as quiet as a mouse.

They left hand in hand, going back into the heart of Base Five.

Rory's shoulders rose from their sagged position as if the weight of sociable activity had diminished.

He took a long sigh, finally able to be alone with his thoughts. He gazed out at the black tunnel of the subway, as he thought about what he saw today.

So Corrin has those weird symptoms every now and then for some reason… probably related to his medical condition. Seeing that contact on his com, it to be one of the Dr. Henson's…

He could recall the moment over and over, but he couldn't pull out any new information.

He rubbed his forehead, feeling the grease of his hair and the sweat of his forehead.

I'll just have to wait and see…

Corrin glimpsed down the cracked road. The afternoon sun warmed the street with orange hues and made the metal roofs of buildings radiate a golden shine.

He spotted Rory coming down the street. He expected him to notice him, (like he usually did), but to his surprise, Rory nonchalantly just went to his house.

Corrin approached him from behind.

“...Rory…”

Rory slowly turned around, Corrin placing his hand on his shoulder.

“...So about today… The whole medical condition I have…. Don't worry about it,” Corrin said in broken phrases.

Rory's eyes looked from his hand on his shoulder to his face, his face starting to turn red.

He's really close…

“... I-It’s fine, I um… didn't really read into it…” Rory said, smiling.

Corrin smiled back, cheeks pink as well.

“That's good… so can you study tomorrow?”

“...Y-yeah for sure. I'll just have to make sure with my mom…”

“Then that's not really 'for sure’, huh?” Corrin corrected, somewhat humorously.

God, I must look like an idiot right now!

Rory's face started to go from pink to red, his anxious self becoming more embarrassed.

“Yeah, you're right...” Rory chuckled awkwardly.

Corrin laughed a tad, covering his face with his hand when he did.

“I'll see you tomorrow, then,” he ended, giving Rory's shoulder one last pat before turning to leave.

“B-Bye…”

Rory gave a small wave, still waving even though Corrin wasn't acknowledging him anymore. He was rooted there, still caught in the moment.

Silas pulled up to their house, in his truck. He got out of the driver's seat, taking notice to Rory's infinite wave at nothing.

“What the weird…”

He came over to him, poking his shoulder.

“AH!”

Rory sprang up into the air like a cat.

“Christ, Silas! Warn me, jeez!”

Why am I so jumpy today? Jasmine now Silas… hope this doesn't become a habit…

“...Well, you were waving at nothing so… I guess I scared you outta that… wack,” Silas clarified. "Anyway, I came by to tell Des that I got the food rations for the kids… Mind helping me take them in?”

“Ugh… fine.”

The food rations were sent by the government, to feed the orphans Desirae housed. Rory hated unloading the rations, but since Silas’s co-worker got caught drinking booze on the job, he had to do it.

Silas popped open the back of the truck, the chilled air of the refrigerated truck wafting at them.

They appreciated the air, before suffering to taking in mountains of food boxes and containers.

Vega stuck his head into the open door, finding his Dad fanning himself with a newspaper, with a beer in the other hand, while he relaxed on the couch.

Rory was laying flat on the ground, an ice cube sitting on his forehead.

“Just took in all of the food rations?” Vega asked.

“Yeah because some lazy mooch decided to not help,” Rory chastised.

“Hey, I help my old man all the time. Today was my me and my girlfriend's anniversary, so don't go 'calling me out’,” Vega seethed.

Rory sat up from his spot, the ice cube sliding off his forehead.

“Well congrats then,” Rory sassed.

“If you still think my girlfriend's a myth, she's not.”

“Even if she isn't, like hell I'm interested.”

“Stop being so salty. You're just acting like that because I wasn't here to-”

“Enough!” Silas roared.

They both glanced at Silas's blazing expression, shutting their mouths.

“Can an old man just enjoy his drink?! You youths are so whiny!” He complained, “both of you are so damn sensitive!”

“No, I'm not!” They growled in unison.

They glowered at each other, then turned to face the opposite direction.

Rory gave one last scornful look at Vega, before stomping up to his room.

“I'm Vega and I'm just the most polite and right person in the whole entire world! Well actually, you're just an ass that comes over and eats our food!” Rory ranted to himself, as he rolled around in his heaps of clothes, “I'll just call Mom and tell her I'm studying with Corrin tomorrow…”

He dialed with anguish, then put his com to his ear.

“Hi dear, what is it?”

“Can I study with Corrin tomorrow at the library after school?”

“Yes dear. Call me tomorrow if you're gonna stay later than six, alright?”

“I will. Bye, Mom.”

“Love you, dear. I'll see you later.”

As she hung up, Rory let his com slide from his ear to the ground.

He rolled on to his stomach, pressing his head into the thick sweater on the ground.

He needed to calm down, if he got too upset he could forget all of the info he had collected today.

He sighed, closing his eyes to think.

As he went through all of his thoughts, he started to think about Corrin.

He had been researching him for more than three weeks. He hadn't learned much about Oasis like he wanted to, but more about the way Corrin was like and his notions.

It should've bothered him, but for some reason, he didn't mind learning about him, over Oasis.

He knew the main reason why he was intrigued by Corrin, which was Oasis, but at the same time, there was this invisible string connected between them.

The string defined the other reason why Rory just wanted to even be around him. But Rory didn't understand it, didn't understand why he felt anxious, and got red in the face when he saw him.

It vexed him, making him refuse to look into it.

He pushed the idea into the back of his head, into the vault. He forgot about it, deciding it was best to let the answer reveal itself.