#wiley136

[tired-gage]

Wiley had nodded off while Gage kept watch, staring over at her every few minutes to make sure that her chest still rose and fell, that she hadn't died. Wiley just needed to hold out for a little longer. If they could hide until they were the last ones left...it was a strategy that rarely worked, Gage knew, but it was possible.

Then the bombs started.

The crashes grew closer, a strange not-quite-warmth, perhaps just a lack of chill, filling the air. Something was coming, and they couldn't hide any longer.

"Wiley," Gage whispered, shaking the girl slightly as to not jostle her too hard lest she rip her very amateur stitches, "Wiley, love, we have to go."

@wileydepot

[tired-gage]

Still curled around Neptune, Gage was awoken by the sound of boots against snow, directly by her head. She thought at first someone was in the tent with them, but then realized they were still outside. How much time had passed? How long had they been asleep? Gage nudged Neptune awake and picked up the duct tape. It wouldn't do much, but there were limited options and at the very least it could give her a running chance.

But when the tent opened, it was Wiley that stood in the doorway.

One arm still tucked against Neptune, the other with the duct tape raised high, Gage stared at the girl she had failed to protect. You're bleeding, she tried to say, but in her shock, those weren't the words that came out.

"This isn't what it looks like."

@neptune-akoya @wileydepot

[tired-gage]

"Are you ready for tomorrow, do you think?" Gage asked, sitting back down at the empty dinner table, their mentors and escorts having left after the avoxes whisked away the remnants of their meal. Wiley was still seated next to her, and Gage couldn't quite read the expression on her face. "I don't know what I'll be doing for the private training myself. I was hoping to speak with Cat about it beforehand but I've been a bit...embarrassed." It was hard for her to feel the student when she'd been the teacher for so long, even if she knew that to be learning was nothing short of commendable at any stage.

"Cat and Holland are quite the pair, don't you think?" she added after a beat. She wanted to know what Wiley thought of them, if her thoughts lined up with Gage's. They only had so much time left before the Arena, and the only strategy Gage had was "protect Wiley." She needed to figure out if the women on her floor were reliable, and she hadn't been in her twenties for quite some time.

@wileydepot