Felix opens his mouth, likely to ask a question, but gets interrupted by a yawn, which causes Octavia and me to yawn as well. Josh opens his mouth to comment but is interrupted by a yawn, followed closely by Dani and Sparrow. Sans Dani, we share a collective laugh about it as Sparrow stands. 

"Well, looks like it's bedtime, so I'll be off to my own cabin," he says. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Cass! I can call you Cass, right?" 

"Yeah, sure," I chuckle. "It was nice meeting you as well, though I wish it were under better circumstances." 

"Sometimes good things do come out of the end of the world, like meeting you guys! Good night!" With that, he takes off, as Josh stands as well. 

"We should all get some sleep," Josh says, stretching. "We have a big day tomorrow, with clean-up and getting the camp ready to move. I imagine Leon will want to use that truck to block up the gate."

Dani attempts to stand to her feet but groans with pain, holding her ribs. Without thinking, I stand, and I'm by her side, offering a hand to help her up. She pauses, glancing at me warily, but takes my hand with a small sigh. I carefully pull her to her feet and loop one of my arms around her waist, grabbing her belt to help support her as she slings one of her arms over my shoulders again. 

She doesn't look at me as she speaks, opting to look nowhere in particular. "The spare bedroom is the first door on the right, and the bathroom is right across the hall. Josh will show you how to use the shower." With that, she gestures to a door at the end of the hallway, directing me to the back bedroom as my siblings bombard Josh about using the shower.

Carefully, I help Dani to the room, and I'm surprised to see how clean it is.

Two twin-sized beds sit on opposite sides of the room, with two trunks, one at the foot of each bed. A large writing desk occupies the space between the two beds, and a large bookshelf is on the far wall.

I lead Dani to one of the beds, where she plops down, grunting with effort and sitting at an angle that favors her side.

"Do you need anything?" I ask her slowly.

"Eager to please, are we?" She counters.

I scoff. "Take that as a 'no' then." I turn heel and start for the door, too tired for any bitter back-and-forth bickering after the whirlwind of a day I just had.

"Wait," Dani sighs. I glance skeptically back over at her, an eyebrow raised. Her head is hung, and she's biting her bottom lip almost to the point of bleeding, contemplating her following words carefully. For a moment, I don't think she'll say anything, but after another beat, she says, "Thank you for helping me protect everyone. And for coming back."

I pause, surprised at her words, but I smile, welcoming the change of attitude and glad that I decided to play nice for now. "Sure thing, it's the least I could have done."

Dani looks like she wants to say more, thinks better of it, and decides to keep her mouth shut, tugging her legs into the bed and rolling on her side. I take it as my cue to leave the room, closing the door behind me and returning to the living room.

"Thanks for that," Josh says when I return. "Hope she didn't give you too much trouble."

I shrug. "Nothing I can't handle. I'm sure Dani can be a softie when she wants to be."

"I heard that!" Dani's muffled voice echoes from the back bedroom, and Josh laughs.

"Let me know if you ever find that part of her because I'm gonna want pictures!" He chuckles. "All joking aside, though," he adds, "take Dani with a grain of salt. I know the apocalypse has hurt everyone, but some wounds take a while to heal, you know?"

"Well, I'm glad you're taking a chance on us strays then," I tell him. "If we had stayed at that little camp as long as we had planned to, and if you hadn't come along when you did, we probably would have gotten caught up in that mess on our own, and I'd take getting mugged in the woods by you guys over the Widows any day."

"Eh, it was nothing," Josh grins. "It's just a shame that you guys are leaving after a while. Having you guys around would definitely be an improvement."

I raise an eyebrow, and Felix and Octavia perk up. "Oh? How so?"

"For starters, we could always use more hunters, especially with the winter coming and all that," Josh starts. "Secondly, with your siblings as calm and collected in a crisis as they are, it's a great morale boost."

I glance at my siblings, who are looking at me with puppy-dog eyes, practically begging that we stay longer. Saying no to them is hard, but saying no to having big, strong walls around us with shelter, ample supplies, and relatively kind people is even more challenging.

I manage to shake my head, however. "Sorry, but we just can't stay longer than a few days. I hope you understand."

"It's all good; you don't have to explain yourselves to me," Josh dismisses with a sad smile. "But, for tonight at least, we have running water. It's not warm, but it's an option if you want to take showers."

Felix and Octavia perk up again, reinvigorated at the idea of having a shower and working toilet. 

As expected, once Josh shows us how the tankless shower works, Felix and Octavia fight and argue over who goes first, ending when Felix uses his superior size and strength to nearly throw Octavia out of the bathroom. Dani yells for my siblings to keep it down from the back bedroom, which Josh simply laughs at.

"I'm going to turn in for the night on that lovely note," I tell Josh.

"Probably a good idea, before Godzilla back there decides to take matters into her own hands," Josh replies, gesturing with his head towards the back bedroom. "Sleep well, Cassandra. You, too, Octavia."

"Yeah, sure," Octavia grumbles, flopping on one of the beds. "Sweet fucking dreams and all that shit."

Josh just laughs at that, shaking his head as he wanders towards the back room and knocks on the door. "Are you decent in there?"

"Yes, Josh, I'm decent," Dani sounds annoyed - so far, when does she never? - and Josh steps in, closing the door behind him.

I sigh, heading into the spare bedroom and flopping on a twin bed.

"Well," Octavia groans, throwing her hands in the air from her position on the bed, "today was eventful."

"Yup," I breathe. "Fought a couple of weirdos in the woods, got taken to a camp full of weirdos, camp got attacked by a bunch of assholes and a Titan, and now we can add 'harassing the local paramedic' to the list."

"Hey, I never harassed her. Some of my thoughts are just a little more public than others. Plus, those weirdo's turned out to be total hotties."

"So the whole camp is full of hotties, now?" I taunt.

Octavia throws one of her feather pillows at me, hitting me square in the face. "Ew, Cass, gross! No, I was talking about the step-siblings in the other room!" She pauses, glancing out the door towards Dani and Josh's door. "Do you think they're actually step-siblings, or do you think that they're step-siblings?"

Now, it's my turn to hit Octavia in the face with a feathered pillow. "Octavia, you're nasty, you know that? Only you would ask that kind of question!"

"What? I'm curious! Everyone has a kink, you know," Octavia giggles, settling the pillow back under her head. "Besides, they're both hot, but I've got my eye on Dani."

"Do not even go there, Tavia," I warn her. "You know we're not staying long."

She groans, throwing her hands out to the side like the drama queen she is. "Yeah, but why? Besides the Widow's, this place is a paradise! And I'm not just saying that because of the hotties next door!"

"Mom told us-"

"No offense, but fuck mom, okay?" Octavia growls. "Sending your kids on a bullshit suicide mission with a tacky piece of jewelry five states away with no explanation is hella sketchy. We should focus on finding a safe place with trustworthy people. Oh, look, we found it!"

"Octavia," I warn.

"I'm just saying," Octavia continues, "Mom had a lot of loose screws the last time we heard from her. I wouldn't be surprised if she died of insanity."

"Octavia!"

My sister pauses, sitting up to look at me, concerned.

"Just... Stop talking like that. She's alive," I sigh. Maybe if I say it out loud more often, I'll trick myself into actually believing it. "I know she is. So just... don't talk like that."

I know she can feel just how serious I am about this, and after a while, she finally nods, sighing. "Alright, Cassy. I won't bring it up anymore." Even though I know she's lying, it's nice to hear that for tonight at least, she'll drop the subject.

The bathroom door opens up less than an hour later, and Felix steps out, his hair wet, and looking happier than I've seen him in a while. He steps into the bedroom, his content expression falling when he notices the room's solemn tone.

"Uh, did I miss something?" He asks.

"Octavia just farted, that's all," I lie.

"Eww, Tavia! Could you not wait while I showered before shitting the bed?!"

"Sorry, little bro," Octavia shrugs with a tired grin as she stands. "You wanted the bathroom first after I told you I've been holding it in for a while. It's best to answer when nature calls because leaving her on 'read' is a sure way to start regretting life."

Felix looks over at me pleadingly as Octavia wanders to the bathroom with a satisfied grin. "Cass, can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Nope, last one in the room gets to sleep with Stinky Butt," I tease. Felix groans, reluctantly climbing into the bed Octavia was just lying in as I get comfy on mine.

Several minutes pass before Octavia finally joins us back in our room, closing the door as she enters. I blow out the lantern as she gets settled in the bed with Felix, the two of them bickering about the limited space, though their arguments have no bite to them.

"Sleep well, you two. I love you," I mutter to them.

"Love you too, Cassy," they mutter in unison, falling asleep almost instantly.