"Are they ignoring us?"

"The freaking assholes! Should we break the door down?"

The twins were fuming.

"What’s happening here?" Nolan asked as he stepped out of his room, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Aren’t you supposed to be driving this whole thing?" Tina asked with a confused expression.

"We’re not going to get into a collision while you’re napping, are we?"

Nolan let out a heavy sigh.

"I’ve already checked our course. Plus, I have alarms set up in case... Wait, I don’t have to explain myself to you."

"Would you look at that..." Tina whispered as she stepped away from Cero and Roka’s room. "The Jinx has a mouth on him. What should we do with him, Gina?"

"I’m not sure, Tina." Gina answered as she stepped in Nolan’s direction. "Maybe we should teach him a lesson."

Nolan blinked for a moment.

"Stranger danger." He muttered, hand reaching into his pocket.

"Stranger...?" Gina and Tina’s words trailed off as,

Zap! Zap! Tsksksksk!

"Get close to me and I’ll tase the fuck out of you." Nolan warned nonchalantly.

"Woooow! Come on now."

"We’re just joking here, little Jinx."

"I don’t joke around with female Worka." Nolan’s taser lit up again. "I know how you people are."

"You people?!"

Nolan closed his door before the conversation could go further.

The twins scratched their heads and turned towards the door they had been knocking on earlier.

"I guess they’ve calmed down." Gina shrugged.

"Let’s just go to sleep." Tina sighed. "Bunch of weirdos on this ship."

"I swear."

The twins went back into their room.

Meanwhile,

"So, uh..." Roka whispered, pursing her lips awkwardly. "What’s the uh... Point of this again?"

"Does it need to have a point?" Cero stretched his arms as he yawned.

While he was lying comfortably on the bed, Roka was seated at the edge of the bed with her back tucked into the corner where the two walls met.

Cero ever so slightly opened his eyes to peek at her.

"Can’t two best friends have a sleepover and share a bed?"

"Oh, so we’re best friends now?"

"More than friends, right?"

"Riight..." Roka grimaced.

"Is this too much for you as well? I’m not going to kiss you if that’s what you’re worried about."

"I’m not worried about anything!"

"Then..." Cero raised the blanket. "Lie down."

"Fine. I will. I’m not worried. This is... Yeah. Nothing wrong with sharing a bed."

"Right." Cero nodded with a smirk as Roka slipped under the blanket to lie down by his side.

"It’s a pretty small bed though..." Roka muttered, lips pursed. "Are you sure you’re okay with-"

"It’s good." Cero interrupted. "Just means we need to stick close to one another." He added, his left arm brushing her right arm. "Don’t push me off the bed while you’re asleep, though."

"I’ll try. Can’t guarantee anything though."

Roka was visibly having trouble lying down and relaxing. Her entire body was tense, and it was obvious that she was trying her best not to move a muscle.

"So this is about taking things slow, isn’t it?"

"Aren’t you the one who wants to take things slow?" Cero asked as he turned to lie on his side.

Roka’s gaze remained stuck on the ceiling while he stared directly at her.

"I... Don’t know what I want."

"Okay, princess." Cero rolled his eyes. "Feel free to tell me when you figure it out."

"I can sense sarcasm." Roka turned her head away, staring at the wall next to her. "Like I said, it’s not that I don’t want... Um, it’s that..."

Her eyes suddenly opened wide.

"What are you doing?" Roka asked, her body frozen and unmoving.

"Touching your hair," Cero answered honestly. "Playing with it, you could say."

"Aha... Why?"

"Feels nice. Why?" He asked back while his fingers gently brushed her long, red hair. "Do you not like it?"

"No, I..." Roka slowly turned her head to face him. "I don’t... Not like it."

"Right," Cero whispered absent-mindedly as his hand slowly moved up Roka’s hair to caress her head. "Am I the only one who makes you uncomfortable?"

"I wouldn’t say that..." Roka’s words trailed off as she felt his fingertips stroke the top of her head. "Physical touch makes me uncomfortable in general."

"Yeah?" Cero’s fingers drew soft, tingly circles on Roka’s scalp. "Why is that?"

"Tough to say." Roka muttered.

While his touch previously made her on edge, it was now having the opposite effect.

Cero could tell that she was starting to relax as well. Her arms and legs weren’t as stiff as before.

"You’ve met my mother, so I guess that makes it a bit weird to say." Roka added.

"Mommy issues, huh?"

"Mmh." She nodded.

Her lips parted, but the words were difficult to utter.

She had spent a lot of time thinking about it throughout her life, but it was the first time Roka was about to utter the words.

More importantly, she wanted to utter them. To tell someone. To tell Cero.

"I always had trouble touching people, and being touched by them." Roka admitted with a shaky voice. "It’s going to sound pathetic, but I think it’s partly because my mother and I... Well, we were never really... How do I put it into words? For instance, I don’t think we’ve ever hugged, so... I don’t know. Yeah, my mother never hugged me. So, that’s... Yeah..."

Cero’s fingers momentarily stopped moving. Not only had Roka’s voice grown shakier with every word, but her eyes even seemed to water.

"A-Anyway, this is pathetic. Plus, you’ve met Rekka. I don’t know why I even said that. I’m a grown woman, there’s no reason to-"

"Having met Rekka, I can tell you one thing," Cero interrupted. "She’s a bitch."

"Excuse me?" Roka frowned and turned to face him.

"Yes, Roka. You heard me." Cero pursed his lips and nodded repeatedly. "Your mother is a bitch."

"Don’t say that just to comfort me. She’s-"

"No, I’m serious. Rekka’s a bitch. A bit of an evil bitch, honestly." He added. "Plus, I’m sure you were the cutest, sweetest kid."

Cero smiled, and Roka blushed as his index finger pushed on her right cheek.

"D-Don’t talk about me as a kid. That’s... That’s just weird..."

"My bad..."

Roka silently pursed her lips for a moment. Her gaze moved from the ceiling to Cero, then back to the ceiling.

She nudged herself to push against Cero’s hand, and his fingers started stroking her head again.

The pleasant, fuzzy, and tingly feeling started rising again.

"I was a cute kid though," Roka whispered. "At least, I think so..."