Mira slammed the dorm room door behind her and gave an exasperated huff. She leaned against the synthetic wood, trying to process the last couple of hours. She felt the welts in her eyes from the oncoming tears, and for a moment she went to wipe them before noticing another presence in the room and quickly routing her arms to a cross.

“Just pretend I'm not here,” Stephen said, rolling to face her from where he floated up near the ceiling skylight. 

“Oh, f**k,” Mira groaned. "I thought you were in the library.”

“I found this book,” Stephen replied. He waved it to her with its spine open. An old history book, it appeared to be. “Came back here to read in privacy.”

“You’re so lame,” Mira whined. “I need my privacy too.”

“Lame is a push too far,” he started. “...Ok, sorry, do you want to talk about it? Is it about Castor?”

“I’m fine,” Mira replied, not adamant about sharing her trouble with him.

“Uh huh,” Stephen answered. “Are you positive?”

“It's not your concern,” Mira replied. 

Stephen turned his legs down to the floor. His shirt was off, as per usual, showing off his sepia skin, and he had on the same pair of gray athletic shorts he had worn to practice earlier. He picked a random shirt off the ground and threw it on.

“Do you want to go to Violet?” Stephen asked, fixing his shirt, seemingly tossing the previous topic of conversation.

“What?” Mira asked, confused by the sudden change of tune.

“Atlas and Yue are at Violet right now. I wasn’t going to join but figured I'd go to give you the space.”

“Then why are you inviting me?” Mira questioned, still standing firmly, but her arms had fallen from their cross.

Stephen shrugged. “Well, do you?” 

Mira held her breath but eventually sighed. “Fine. Just give me a minute.” 

Stephen patted her on the shoulder, which she swiped away as he exited the room. 

Mira groaned and looked up through their skylight towards the dark blue sky of the nebula. She stared for a moment, fixating on a background constellation, before stepping out of the room and joining Stephen outside.

They began their journey through the tunnels of Helyx Academy. Stephen tried a few times to make conversation but got nowhere until she properly broke her silence.

“I don’t have long,” Mira said. “I ran from what happened. They’ll be on my ass soon enough.” 

Stephen nodded, knowing saying anything would probably aggravate her. 

“I think I actually f**ked it this time.”

They eventually progressed to Violet and landed on the platform to enter it. It was one of the nicer parts of the building. The entrance was polished with stone, and white and bright purple designs jotted the columns. A large sign lay above the glass double doors labeled: Violet, UV Bathing Pad. 

Stephen stepped in front of them, and they hissed as they slid to the side. The cool embrace of space hit the both of them, and Mira’s veins flashed with a wave of purple energy to keep warm. 

The UV pad was a circular courtyard-like area. It was surrounded on all sides by windows into the complex but had an open roof that faced their white dwarf star. The cushioned ground sat on a rotating platform that always turned to face the star. 

Stephen scoured the courtyard for their friends. 

Mira saw a hand wave in the distance. It was Atlas, her twin brother, adorned in his yellow-collared cloak. 

Stephen waved back and nudged Mira to move as he began to make his way over to them. To avoid the groups of people lying on the ground, Stephen pushed upward, his feet ignited with a powerful whoosh. Everything up to his knees was coated in his fiery dark blue plasma. He directed himself towards them. 

Mira followed, using one foot to boost herself up, joining the three of them. 

Stephen had landed directly beside Yue, his head propped with his hand as he landed on his side. “Hey,” he smirked. 

Yue gave him a glare and pushed him away. “You’re the worst,” she said. 

Stephen laughed and rolled onto his back, looking upwards at Helyx. “Like they say, opposites attract,” Stephen smiled.

“Wow, great one,” Yue replied, not needing to visibly roll her eyes. "Atlas, we’re switching places.” 

“Oh,” Atlas answered, not making an attempt to argue. 

Yue stood and drifted over him, rolling him closer to Stephen. 

Stephen regained his position from before. “So Atlas,” he said, smirking yet again. 

Mira landed beside Stephen. “Stop flirting with my brother,” she said. 

“Let's make a deal,” Stephen started, rolling over to face her and holding out his hand.

“Absolutely not,” Mira replied, cutting him off. 

Stephen readjusted. “Tough but fair,” he said.

“Mira, how are you?” Atlas asked, turning his head toward her.

“Fine,” Mira replied. 

Stephen shook his head at Atlas, trying to signal she wasn’t in a good mood. 

She smacked him in the head with her wrist. 

“Ow,” he blurted, rubbing his head.

“I’m going to guess the answer is no, but do you want to talk about whatever it is?” Atlas asked.

“Not particularly,” she said, then sighed. “Later.” 

Atlas nodded. 

Mira cringed at what she had said. Admittedly, she did want to talk about it, though, at least before Rigel found out. For now she just wanted to close her eyes and feel the rays. They felt good, today at least, and made her forget her worries, even if for but a moment. She took out her earpiece and placed it into her pocket. The sounds of chatter disappeared around her, fading into the vacuum of space. 

Before the rest could become anything meaningful, she was nudged. Mira groaned, refusing to open her eyes.

Stephen nudged her again.

She slipped her earpiece back in. “What is it?” 

“Mira!” a voice shouted, a vaguely familiar one, from across the courtyard. 

Mira groaned again, not wanting to look up, but Stephen again nudged her. She looked up and saw, standing across the courtyard where they entered, the governmental robes of Castor. She was a bit surprised to see him there. Her expectations didn’t change, though. She thought she was in deep shit. 

“Mira!” Castor shouted again. She slowly got on her feet. 

People in the courtyard were staring now. It was completely silent except for the echoing of her name. 

Atlas quickly stood and grabbed Mira’s shoulder. “I can go with you."

“I’m fine, Atlas. Go lay back down,” Mira replied.

“But—” he began.

“Just go back,” Mira cut him off. 

He stopped trying to reason with his sister and watched as she continued to trudge across the platform. Her arms were crossed, and she glared at people staring at her, intimidating a few of them to glance away. 

Castor stood impatiently at the doorway, tapping his foot on the ground. 

A few people scuttled out of Mira’s way as she forged her path forward. She caught up to Castor, standing below him. 

He motioned her to follow, and they entered the building.