Chapters:

1. Graduation

"Why's the White Ranger at a graduation ceremony?"

"Her brother's son is graduating."

"Really? Which one is he?"

"He's... eight, no nine from the end. Bored-looking, silver cord."

"What does the silver mean?"

"You don't have any pilots in your class?"

"If we do, they don't spend much time in the labs."

"They wouldn't. *You* shouldn't spend so much time in the labs."

"If you ever left paraplay, I might listen to you."

"At least I know what everyone's colors mean."

"You got a list when you signed up to be a class marshal."

"So did your sister. She should have given it to you."

"If she wasn't unconscious she might have remembered."

"Ci... he's looking at you."

"Who?"

"The pilot. The one you've been staring at. The nephew?"

"He's not looking at me."

"He's doing a good impression of it."

"He's probably looking at the door."

"At his own graduation?"

"It's boring. If I'd known what I was agreeing to, I wouldn't be here either."

"You would. You're nice like that."

"I wouldn't be. I'd be out diving."

"No you wouldn't."

"I would."

"You would not."

"I really would. I'll tell my sister so as soon as she wakes up."

"I saw that!"

"What?"

"You just winked at him!"

"I wanted to know if he was really looking at me."

"Is he?"

"I can't tell."

"Am I crazy, or--"

"Yes."

"I'm serious."

"Seriously crazy, true."

"Just look over there."

"Where?"

"I think that girl is staring at me."

"Everyone is staring at us; it's our graduation."

"They're staring at Delphine, not us."

"You're talking almost as loudly as she is."

"Only because I'm bored."

"I'd be less bored if you'd stop talking."

"She winked at me!"

"You're deluded."

"No, that girl winked at me!"

"The same one as before?"

"Over there, by the door."

"That's where I wish I was, too."

"Would you just tell me if I'm crazy or not?"

"I already did."

"But you didn't look."

"You must be really bored."

"I thought we'd already established that. Look over at the door."

"She's one of the class marshals?"

"Blonde hair, blue wristband."

"Is she old enough to be a marshal?"

"I think she's just short."

"Her friend's pretty."

"I don't care about her friend."

"Well, I don't care about her. Stop staring; you're probably scaring her."

"Look, she's talking to her friend."

"Tell me why this is important?"

"I wonder what she's saying."

"You're pathetic, you know that?"

"No, I'm bored."

"They're not mutually exclusive."

"How long do we have to stay?"

"You don't want to meet your pilot?"

"'My pilot' doesn't know I exist, and I'm hungry."

"There's a dinner after the reception."

"I'm hungry now."

"You can probably get out of the dinner, but not the reception."

"Why not?"

"Because you're a class marshal."

"Stop reminding me."

"You asked."

"Are you going to the dinner?"

"It won't be that bad. The food is good, and there won't be any more speeches."

"I'd rather eat at home."

"Don't be antisocial."

"I don't *know* anyone here!"

"You know me. And Stari, and Aura and Cen."

"Did she tell you to take care of me?"

"She didn't have to, Ci. Cheer up; it's not so bad."

"Not yet it isn't."

"That's better. Look, here comes your pilot."

"He is *not* coming over here."

"I think he is. Where are you going?"

"Wherever he isn't."

"Why don't you want to talk to him?"

"I just don't."

"It's because you winked at him, isn't it."

"He probably didn't even see that."

"So why are you leaving?"

"I'm thirsty, all right? I'm going to get a drink."

"Get me something too."

"I will, but I'm not coming back until he leaves."

"Don't worry. I don't think it's me he wants to talk to."

"I'm not listening to you."

"She's avoiding you."

"She isn't avoiding me."

"She saw you coming and she went the other way."

"How do you know she saw me?"

"She looked right at you."

"Maybe she was distracted."

"By what?"

"I don't know. I'll go ask her."

"You'd have better luck asking her friend."

"If you like her friend so much, why don't *you* talk to her?"

"When I could be watching you make a fool of yourself?"

"That's your idea of a good time?"

"I know where the real entertainment is."

"Thanks for the support."

"Support for what? You're chasing some kid because you think she was watching you."

"She's not a kid."

"She looks like she's fourteen."

"She has to be at least nineteen; she's a class marshal. And she winked at me."

"You haven't hit your head recently, have you?"

"No, but I'm about to hit yours."

"Because I'm not sharing your delusion?"

"I'm stuck here all evening and I just want to introduce myself to a pretty girl!"

"When you say it like that, it sounds almost normal."

"Thank you."

"I said 'almost'. Don't get too smug."

"Is it, or does it only seem to be, your goal in life to keep that from happening?"

"Just a fringe benefit of my usual activities, really."

"I'll try not to overestimate my importance."

"Good. Wait here; I'll see if I can introduce you to that girl."

"You know her? Why didn't you say so?"

"I don't know her. But hopefully she doesn't associate me with your psychotic self yet."

"So she won't avoid you if you're not with me. Good thinking."

"One of us has to."

"Can I help you with that?"

"Thanks, but I'm just getting a drink."

"Two, by the looks of it. Want me to hold this one while you get the other?"

"If you have nothing better to do."

"Frankly, it's you or one of my delusional friends, and you're prettier than he is."

"Do you have a lot of delusional friends?"

"Sometimes. It seems to come and go."

"I don't suppose you've noticed whether it's contagious or not."

"I guess I wouldn't know, would I? Either way, I'd think it wasn't."

"That's a pretty rational statement for a delusional person."

"You think so? Maybe it really isn't, then."

"Or maybe you've developed an immunity from prolonged exposure."

"I like that theory better. I'll have to mention it to my friend."

"He probably won't appreciate it. Delusions tend to fog the brain."

"I've noticed that, yes."

"I have someone waiting for this drink--can I introduce you?"

"Much as I'd enjoy that, I actually came over to ask you the same thing."

"You want to introduce me to one of your delusional friends?"

"Would you walk away if I said yes?"

"Maybe not. But you could tell me why."

"Well, for some reason, he's convinced you were staring at him... What? What did I say?"

"That was him? That's the friend you want me to meet?"

"Who?"

"The pilot. The White Ranger's nephew."

"You *were* staring at him?"

"I didn't mean to."

"You didn't happen to wink at him, did you?"

"He thinks I'm an idiot, doesn't he."

"Completely the opposite. Is that why you ran away from him?"

"I didn't run away. I went to get a *drink*."

"Sorry. He thought you might be avoiding him."

"So he sent you instead?"

"No, not at all! He's--shy, so I said I'd ask you for him."

"...He's not shy."

"All right; he's not. It was the only thing I could think of that wouldn't offend you."

"Reiya's over by the other table. You and your delusional friend are welcome to join us."

"Thanks--you know, I still don't know your name."

"I don't know yours, either."

"It's Sanaro."

"I'm Cetaci. Pleased to know you."

"Likewise. And--do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Not refer to your friend as delusional while he's listening?"

"Exactly."

"I'll try to restrain myself."

2. Reception

"I wish to offer my congratulations on your achievement," Delphine said, surprising him by appearing without ceremony at his side in the midst of so many. "You have done very well."

He smiled quickly at her, trying not to look as though he had been looking for someone. "Thanks, Aunt."

"I understand your parents are hosting a celebration tomorrow," she added. "Do you mean to attend?"

"Oh, I'll attend," he said dryly. "Truth. If my parents have to drag me out of bed at quarter before, they'll make sure I don't miss it."

She inclined her head, pretending not to notice his reluctance. "I will see you tomorrow, then."

Distracted by the conversation, he failed to notice Sanaro's return until it was too late. His friend reclaimed his place against the wall with studied indifference, saying blithely, "Your girl's waiting for you." Then, as though he had only just realized she was there, he added, "Greetings, Ranger Delphine."

He did his level best not to glare at his friend, who had clearly done that only to cause trouble, and he forced a smile when his aunt tilted her head inquiringly at him. "'Your girl'?" she repeated, the slightest hint of reproof in her tone.

"He's not serious, Aunt." This time he did glare, giving his friend a look that said clearly Thanks for that. "I'll see you tomorrow, true? Thanks for coming."

He dragged Sanaro off, knowing the remark would get back to his parents before the end of the day. "Thanks," he muttered under his breath. "That was a really great thing to say in front of the first female White Ranger since Kalesi."

Sanaro blinked, then looked a little chagrinned. "Oh. I didn't think of that. Sorry."

He sighed. "If you're lucky, the family will be too busy asking me about what you said to take offense at how you said it. Which I *also* owe you for," he added, giving his friend an annoyed look.

The other shrugged, his embarrassment already fading. "Just trying to keep myself entertained," he said, an unrepentant grin tugging at his expression.

"Surprise," said a voice in Cetaci's ear.

"Aura!" Reiya positively shrieked at the sight of her friend, drawing looks from those nearby as she reached out her hand. One or two of the looks turned blank as someone pretended not to see the multi-colored pin displayed prominently on the other girl's sash.

Aura pressed her palm to Reiya's briefly, and Cetaci snuck a glance at the pin while she was distracted. I know what you're thinking, it read defiantly. I just don't care. She tried not to giggle--Aura was a telepath, and a strong one, and she'd been open about it since before Cetaci had known her. She was one of a very few students who dared to wear TP rights slogans wherever she went.

"Hello Ci," Aura added, holding out her hand in turn. "How's your sister?"

She touched Aura's hand, trying to hold onto her smile. "They say she's getting better. She's still not awake much."

Aura's fingers squeezed hers gently before letting go. "She'll be all right," she said, sympathy warring with worry in her eyes. "It takes time."

"She'll be sorry to have missed this," Reiya said, glancing around. "I know she had an invitation to the graduation party tonight."

"I'll cause enough trouble for both of us," Aura promised, a smirk chasing the worry off of her face. "Shall we start now?"

Reiya grinned at the challenge, but she shook her head regretfully. "Can't. We're waiting for Ci's pilot to show."

"Really?" Aura sounded so interested that Cetaci bit back her protest. "Which one?"

"Delphinius," Reiya answered for her, and only then did she realize that she hadn't known his name until now. "Ranger Delphine's nephew."

Aura's expression went from one of interest to distaste in a flash. "Not *him*," she said skeptically. "He's not a friend of yours, is he?"

Delphinius stopped, catching sight of the person who had just joined the two girls. "Oh, not her," he muttered. "Sanaro, wait."

Sanaro paused, looking at him oddly. "What's wrong?"

"Remember that girl I hit in the diver lanes a few days ago?" he asked, staring at the trio by the second table.

"Vividly," Sanaro confirmed. "Insane and with an attitude to match."

Delphinius sighed. "That's her," he agreed. "And she's over there by the table with our friends right now."

Sanaro peered through the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of them. "Interesting," he said, sounding amused. "Maybe your girl isn't such an angel after all."

"I never said she was an angel," he protested. But he felt compelled to add, "And don't judge her by the company she keeps. You don't know anything about her."

Sanaro laughed. "Neither do you, my friend. Try to keep that in mind!"

He shifted uneasily. "Maybe we should wait until they're alone."

"With the number of people here? That could be all night. Come on--if you don't at least talk to her after this, I'll never let you forget it."

"You know him?" Reiya asked, turning to search out the object of their conversation. "How?"

"He ran me down in Coralside last week." Aura frowned in the direction Reiya was looking. "Tore up my flit over the southwest exit flow, then came back and swore at me for being in the diver lanes with a flitter."

"You shouldn't have been," Reiya pointed out, her eyes dancing with mirth.

"I know, but he didn't have to be so insufferable about it." Aura was still eyeing the crowd.

"What were you doing over the southwest flow?" Cetaci asked, not sure she wanted to know. Most of Aura's driving antics weren't legal in a diver, let alone a flit.

"Buzzing the paraplay dome," Aura answered, flashing her a grin. "The kids love it."

"And every time I have to pretend that I have no idea who it is," Reiya put in.

"Oh, look, there's Cen," Aura said innocently, as though she hadn't heard. "If you're trying to meet Silver Boy there, it's probably better if I'm not around."

"You don't have to leave," Cetaci protested immediately, but Aura shook her head.

"I don't want to see him again anyway. He'd probably give me another lecture. I'll catch up with Cen and we'll go get a place for dinner. You're both coming, aren't you?"

Reiya said "yes" just as Cetaci said "no", and Aura gave her a look. "I'd stay and talk you into it if *he* wasn't two steps away," she said. "Reiya, make sure she comes. See you both later."

With that she was gone, and her timing couldn't have been better. No sooner had she vanished than a familiar voice spoke from somewhere behind Cetaci.

"And another one runs away," Sanaro commented. "You seem to be having that effect on people this evening, Delphinius."

"Do I look scary or something?" he asked plaintively. It figures, he thought wryly. The one night I go out of my way to meet people...

The thought trailed off as the blonde-haired girl turned around and he got his first good look at her. Had he thought about it, he would have expected her to have eyes pale enough to match her hair. But instead they were so deeply violet that they were almost blue, and though he knew he was staring, he found he couldn't help himself.

"No one ran away," the girl snapped, and those almost-blue eyes sparkled indignantly. He was so caught up in watching them that her displeased tone barely registered.

"I suppose she went to get a drink, too?" Sanaro suggested lazily.

"She went to meet a friend," the blonde-haired girl informed him. "Not that I'd blame her for 'running away', as you say, after the other day."

She shot an odd look in his direction--somewhere between curious and scathing--and it was enough to rouse him to protest. "Hey, the accident wasn't my fault," he informed her. "She was out there illegally."

"She didn't hit *you*!" The friend of the blonde-haired girl sounded more indignant than she did, and she seemed about to continue when Sanaro intervened.

"She should have," his friend drawled. "Might have given him some respect for flits. He's always complaining about how fragile they are--makes me crazy."

Diverted, the girl's friend gave him a second, more appraising look. "Do you flit?"

"Sometimes," he allowed. "I'm Sanaro, by the way, and my incompetent friend here is Delphinius."

Delphinius did his best to repress a glare. He hated to let Sanaro get away without a retort, and more than that he hated letting it happen repeatedly, but his friend did have an uncanny ability to smooth over almost as much trouble as he started. The confrontational atmosphere faded a little, and the blonde-haired girl even smiled at his introduction.

"I'm Reiya," her friend told Sanaro, her gaze sweeping toward him to include him momentarily.

"Cetaci," the blonde-haired girl added. "Pleased to know you." Unlike her friend she spoke only to him, but then, he reminded himself, she and Sanaro had already met.

He didn't know what made him press his fingertips together before nodding to her--Delphine's formality rubbing off on him, maybe--and he regretted it the moment he did it. It was a silly thing to do among students, really...

She looked surprised at the gesture, but not as surprised as he felt when she echoed it. He felt a smile spread across his face, and then--she *winked* at him.

"I saw you do that," he blurted, searching her expression for some sign of comprehension. "From the platform, during the ceremony... I saw you wink."

Reiya laughed, and the blonde-haired girl--Cetaci, his mind supplied, trying it out--looked faintly embarrassed. "I was trying to decide whether you were looking at me or the door," she mumbled, not looking away. "It was hard to tell."

"Oh, he was looking at you," Sanaro interjected. "In fact, he couldn't stop--"

"Sanaro's going to stop talking now," he said loudly, glaring at his friend even as he spoke over him. "Because he's such a good friend that he isn't going to repeat anything I might or might not have said at the time..."

Sanaro gave him an arch look. "How good a friend am I, again? Refresh my memory."

"Good enough that you don't have to be bribed," Delphinius told him.

Sanaro sighed in mock-regret. "I was afraid he was going to say that," he confided to Reiya.

"Sanaro!" said a voice from the crowd, and he looked up in time to see Leis waving to them from the other end of the table. "Delphinius! They're going to start serving the graduates. Come on!"

Sanaro waved in acknowledgement, but Delphinius hesitated. "You'll be at the dinner, true?" he asked, strangely anxious that this girl he had only just met should not disappear so quickly. If she did, he knew he might never see her again.

"Certainly," she answered, and her friend gave her a strange look.

Smiling, he barely noticed. "Then I'll see you at dinner. It was nice to meet you."

"And you," she replied automatically.

He saw Sanaro nod to Reiya out of the corner of his eye, but if they had exchanged words he'd missed it. He followed his friend toward the nearest exit, looking back just before the crowd swallowed them up completely. She was watching him go with a small smile on her face, and whether it was meant for him or not, he couldn't help grinning back.

3. Banquet

She sighed, watching the students in front of her take their time in the buffet style serving line. "Did I mention that I'm terribly hungry?" she asked plaintively.

Her friend just laughed. "I thought you weren't going to come to dinner at all," Reiya teased. "If you'd just gone home after the reception you could be eating already."

"I should have," she muttered half-heartedly. At the time, Delphinius' attention had been so flattering that she couldn't say no.

"But then you would have had to say 'no' to your pilot," Reiya observed, an impish look in her eyes. "That hopeful look was cute. I wonder how many times he's used that to get a 'yes' out of girls."

"I didn't come because of the look," she said sharply. She hesitated, though, knowing that after her earlier complaints about the evening there was no excuse Reiya would believe. "I just... didn't want to be rude."

Reiya laughed again, but before she could say anything else a new voice interrupted. "I'm sure I know the two of you from somewhere..."

She tried very hard not to jump, but she couldn't keep a smile off her face as she glanced over her shoulder. Delphinius was standing directly behind them, a mostly-empty plate in one hand and a mock-puzzled look on his face. As soon as he caught her eye his expression cleared, and he added, "I knew I did. How could I forget those eyes?"

He grinned charmingly at her, and she fought to hold his gaze instead of looking away in embarrassment. "I'm sure they're just like anyone else's eyes," she told him, uncomfortably aware of Reiya's amusement.

He looked offended. "Are you implying that I don't know what I'm talking about?"

"No," a dry voice put in from behind him. "She's implying that you're a deluded yet incurable flirt, which is true."

"Hi, Sanaro," Reiya said. Her tone was just shy enough that Cetaci looked at her in surprise.

"Hello," he replied calmly. "I apologize for inflicting my friend's presence on you again, but I couldn't talk him out of it. I thought it was better to come with him and do damage control than to simply watch."

"In case you hadn't noticed, this is the buffet line," Delphinius informed him. "You came for more food, the same as I did. It's your turn, by the way," he added, nodding toward Reiya.

She turned quickly and snatched a plate off the end of the table, moving forward to serve herself in the space that had opened up in front of them. Cetaci followed her, but she couldn't help glancing over her shoulder as their bickering continued.

"I came for more food," Sanaro agreed, switching his plate from one hand to the other while he watched Reiya. "You came because you have absolutely no ability to resist a pretty face. Knowing this, my secondary motivation was to keep you from getting into trouble."

Her gaze slid toward Delphinius at the "pretty face" remark, and she found him sneaking a sheepish glance in her direction. Their eyes met, and he shook his head. "I can resist a pretty face," he corrected, still looking at her. "It's the beautiful ones that I have trouble ignoring."

She felt Reiya poke her sharply, and she looked back at the table when she realized she was staring. "I suppose that's why you put up with me, then," Sanaro said, helping himself to a second round of appetizers.

"No," Delphinius retorted. He reached around her when she paused by the salad bowl, claiming the spoon from a dish on the other side of the table. "I put up with you in spite of that."

"I'll consider myself privileged," Sanaro said dryly, but Delphinius wasn't listening.

"You're not going to try these?" he chided, watching her put the salad forks down and step away. He waved the spoon enticingly in her direction. "The least healthy thing they're serving and you pass it up?"

"She's obviously planning to outlive you," Sanaro remarked, stepping around them. "No sane person eats those."

Cetaci paused, considering. "That sounded like a challenge," she said, catching Delphinius' eye again. "What are they?"

He grinned at her words. "Salafish. They're poisonous, but only if you eat an incredible amount of them. They're good."

She didn't like the sound of that, but as she watched he popped one of the tiny fish into his mouth. His amused look didn't waver as he chewed and swallowed it, and she wasn't about to let him outdo her. She reached for the spoon but he pulled it back, picking up another fish and holding it out to her.

His implication was clear, and she let him put it in her mouth with only a flicker of hesitation. Her eyes widened as the taste registered, and she stared at him in surprise. "It *is* good," she managed, around her mouthful of fish.

He laughed, and it was such an enjoyable sound that she almost didn't hear Sanaro groan. But his friend's words reached her ears clearly, and the other appeared beside them with a full plate. "Come on," he said firmly. "Before you start spreading any more of your bad habits."

"Why do you always assume I'm corrupting people?" Delphinius demanded, shooting her an apologetic smile as they drifted away. "If you weren't such a bad influence yourself, you wouldn't have to use me as cover."

"You wouldn't recognize it in me if you didn't do it yourself," Sanaro replied irrepressibly. Whatever response Delphinius made--and she was sure he made one--was lost in the crowd.

"Are you going to eat anything but salad?" Reiya inquired, joining her as she stood staring after them. "And after you were so hungry a few minutes ago."

"I'm still hungry," she protested. She turned back to the table to finish filling her plate. Feeling strangely furtive about it, she took a few more of the salafish while her friend wasn't looking.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Watch where you're sitting," he retorted automatically, trying to cover his chagrin.

"He's too busy staring at girls," Sanaro commented, setting his plate down at their table and sliding back into his place. "He doesn't bother with mundane things like friends, or furniture, anymore."

"Some of my friends would be more appealing as furniture," Delphinius muttered. He sat down too, unable to resist glancing over his shoulder again.

"Who *are* you looking at?" Leis wanted to know. He leaned back in his chair, trying to peer around Delphinius. "Are those the girls you were talking to at the reception?"

"He's obsessed with the blonde one," Sanaro said, before he could answer. "He's convinced she likes him."

Maricut glanced up from his plate, pausing long enough to squint in their general direction. "Is she from sciences?"

"You know her?" Sanaro asked, following his gaze.

Maricut frowned, considering. "I don't think so," he said at last. Delphinius watched as the girls made their way across the room, uncomfortably aware that everyone at the table was now staring at them. "She does look familiar, though."

"She looks young, if you ask me," Leis remarked. As the girls paused to set their plates down at a table by the windows, he asked, "Is that Cen over there with them?"

"Cen and his telepath girlfriend," Maricut said disgustedly, returning his attention to his food. "If that's the kind of person she's friends with, you should stay away from her, Delphinius."

Delphinius froze, salafish halfway to his mouth and a deliberately blank expression on his face. "Why do you say that?" He was well aware of the other's prejudices on the subject, but he hadn't expected to have it thrown in his face tonight, of all nights.

"They congregate," Maricut answered, as though it should have been obvious. "She and her friend are probably telepaths too."

"Just because they're sitting with one?" Leis shot a quick look in Delphinius' direction. "Don't be ridiculous. They're not healers. I'm sure they're perfectly normal."

Maricut just shrugged, but his expression said that he wasn't convinced.

Delphinius set his spoon down carefully. "Is there something wrong with telepaths?" he inquired.

Maricut didn't even look up. "Don't start with me, Delphinius. You know I don't have anything against your family."

"It's different for Rangers," Leis put in quickly. "Maricut's just saying that it's disconcerting when any regular person could be reading your mind."

Maricut glared at him. "Don't tell me what I'm saying!"

"They don't do that," Delphinius objected. "Telepaths have morals too."

"Not everyone's as honorable as you are, Delphinius," Maricut told him. "If you ask me they should all wear pins, like Cen's. At least then we could avoid them."

He tried very hard not to grit his teeth. This was not the time or place to get into a fight, and he really wasn't in the mood. He supposed if there were a telepath at the table it might be different, but there was no one here to be hurt if he let the issue slide this time.

Taking a deep breath, he got to his feet and managed to smile at Maricut. "I sincerely hope that one day you learn what it's like to be in the minority. In the meantime, if you will all forgive me, I'm going to find some more pleasant conversation."

"Delphinius..." He heard Sanaro sigh as he turned away. "Don't go."

He felt a flash of guilt for abandoning his friend, but it was graduation. He wasn't going to listen to this tonight. If Sanaro didn't like it then he could get up and walk away just as easily.

"How did you do that?" Cen demanded.

"You were distracted," Aura teased. "You're supposed to concentrate. Reiya, want to play?"

Reiya pushed her plate out of the way. "You bet I do. And I'm going to win, too."

"No you're not," Aura said cheerfully. "But at least you're positive about it."

"That's what I was just thinking about you!" Reiya exclaimed, feigning surprise. She placed her right hand on one side of the transparent sphere and cocked her head. "Ready?"

Aura imitated her, and a tiny point of green light appeared in the middle of the sphere. "Go!"

The little light flickered, first in one direction, then another, dancing back and forth through the sphere. Reiya would push it in one direction only to have Aura shove it back, or deflect it just in time. Reiya was the stronger of them, but Aura was fast, and they were probably the two most evenly matched Globe players at the table.

"Wish I'd thought of that." The voice that spoke from behind Cetaci as she watched was rapidly becoming familiar, and she fought to suppress a smile. "Next time I have to attend a graduation, remind me to bring a Globe."

"Even if it's your own?" she suggested, glancing back at him.

"Especially if it's my own," Delphinius said emphatically. He cocked his head at her. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." She looked around the table while he pulled up a chair, seeing Cen give Delphinius a polite nod as he sat down. "Cen, do you and Delphinius know each other?"

"Vaguely," Cen said with a polite smile.

"Only in passing," Delphinius added.

Aura gave the table an exasperated slap as Reiya laughed, signaling the end of their game. The interruption effectively rescued her just as she realized that much of whatever Cen did know about Delphinius had probably been filtered through Aura.

"I win!" Reiya crowed, in case anyone hadn't noticed. "Hi, Delphinius," she added, almost as an afterthought. "Want to play for the honor of going up against Cetaci?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, looking amused. "Are you that good, or is that just the way the turns worked out?"

Before she could answer, Aura pushed the playing sphere in their direction and suggested, "See for yourself." She didn't even try to hide the smirk on her face.

Cetaci leaned back in her seat, not sure she wanted to be Aura's method of revenge, no matter how subtle. Delphinius had already reached out and put his hand on the Globe, giving her a questioning smile as he did so. He obviously had no idea what they meant.

"Go on, Cetaci," Reiya said with a grin. "Show him how to play the game."

Cetaci shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Cen asked, putting an arm around Aura's shoulders as she leaned back to watch. His look was almost as smug as hers was. "He wants to play against you."

"And I'm sure Delphinius is very good," Aura put in. "Aren't you, Delphinius?"

Cetaci gave her an irritated look, but Delphinius just shrugged. "Better than average, I suppose. Come on, Cetaci, it's just a game," he added, seeing her reluctance. He flashed another smile in her direction. "Win or lose, I won't hold it against you."

She frowned. He wouldn't back down in front of Aura and Cen, she realized. He didn't care whether he won, but if he didn't play at all they'd be smirking for the rest of the evening.

With a sigh, she moved her chair a little closer to the table and put out her hand. The little green light sprang to life in the center of the Globe, and she felt its gossamer touch behind her eyes. "Ready?" she heard Delphinius ask.

Lifting her gaze to his, she nodded once. "Go." She didn't even have to look into the sphere. She gave the green flame a nudge, down and a little to the right, and she felt it slip past his resistance and into the opposite side of the sphere.

He blinked, looking down. "Wait, I wasn't paying attention. Again?"

"Too busy looking into her eyes?" Reiya teased.

"I haven't played in a long time," he said, a little defensively.

"It isn't you," Cetaci began, but her friend cut her off.

"Be quiet and play, Cetaci," Reiya told her, suppressed laughter in her voice.

She pulled her hand away just long enough to give the game time to reset, and then she settled her fingers across from Delphinius' again. "Ready?" she asked, knowing that letting him start the game would give him a psychological advantage.

Looking down at the sphere this time, he nodded. "Go."

Again, the little light slid right past him to dissipate against his side of the Globe.

He stared at it. "How do you *do* that?" He caught her eye again, sounding the slightest bit uncertain. "Am I that out of practice?"

"Yes," Aura said unrepentantly. She looked quite pleased with herself for someone who hadn't actually done anything, Cetaci thought.

"No," Cetaci said, letting her hand fall to the table. "It's just--how I play."

"There are a few people who are unbelievably good at it," Reiya put in, taking pity on her. "Cetaci's one of them. She says she doesn't do anything, but none of us can beat her. We wouldn't let her play at all, but she likes to show us up every now and then."

"I've heard of that," Delphinius agreed, studying her. "I'd never met anyone who could do it until now."

She squirmed a little, and his intense look faded. "I concede," he said with a grin. "Does that make you the table champion? Or do you still have to play Reiya?"

"I'll pass," Reiya said quickly. "As far as I'm concerned, Cetaci won."

"And it's time for dessert, anyway," Cen declared, coming to her rescue. "Who's still hungry?"

"Me!" Aura was on her feet immediately, holding out a hand to help him up, and Reiya wasn't far behind.

Delphinius stood too, but he waited for her to step away from the table before following. A moment later, though, she heard him murmur, "Good game" in her ear, and she smiled to herself as they followed her friends back toward the buffet table.

4. Invitation

"Have I mentioned the word 'pathetic' in association with you recently?"

He waved a hand at his friend, trying to make him be quiet. The automated comm signal answered his question, and he disconnected. "Room 227, west wing," he announced.

Sanaro rolled his eyes. "Tell me that you aren't seriously going to do this."

"You go on ahead," Delphinius told him. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Delphinius..." Sanaro studied him for a moment. "Look, if you really like her, you're going to scare her away. And if you don't like her, stop playing these games and let's go have some real fun."

"Not enjoying watching me make a fool of myself anymore?" Delphinius inquired.

"It was only fun compared to the alternative," Sanaro retorted. "Unfortunately, when compared to the surface party, watching you stalk some girl you just met loses some of its appeal."

He frowned a little. "Do you really think I'd scare her?"

"You're scaring *me*," Sanaro informed him wryly. "And I already know how psychotic you are. Or I thought I did; I'm rapidly revising my opinion of your stability."

For a moment, he considered that Sanaro might be right. He didn't really know her, and showing up at her door this late when he had only met her today might be considered a little bit... obsessive.

Yet she had seemed genuinely pleased to see him at dinner, and she hadn't shown any sign that she wanted him to leave. He wouldn't have left, either, but Leis had pulled him aside to apologize when they went to get dessert. The other had sounded more upset than the earlier confrontation warranted, and he hadn't felt right brushing it off.

"I'm going to do it anyway," he said. Between Leis, Sanaro, and the training wing that had chosen that moment to start a boisterous rendition of "Sail Away", he hadn't had a chance to look around for her until much later. By that time she and her friends had been gone, and he hadn't been able to find out what her plans for the rest of the night were.

"Ask me if I'm surprised," Sanaro answered, amusement and exasperation warring with each other on his normally carefree countenance. "Are you sure you don't want me to wait?"

"No, I'm fine." He hoped it was true. "I'll see you on the surface."

Sanaro nodded once. "Be well."

He had to smile. "Thanks."

"Hold still!" Reiya exclaimed, tugging gently on her hair.

"Ow," Cetaci protested automatically. Then she ducked again, giggling as Stari's second shot went wide. "Missed me!" she taunted, shooting back and watching her sister's friend dive out of the way.

"You couldn't hit the wall if you'd been aiming at it!" Stari's laser light flared in retaliation and this one hit its mark, making her sleeveless shirt glow briefly.

"Don't have to; you've hit it enough for both of us!" She caught Stari's shoulder with her own light, and the other girl's dark skin lit up too.

Reiya reached over her shoulder and snatched for the toy, and Cetaci doubled over it instinctively. Her friend shrieked as she lost her balance, tumbling unceremoniously down on top of her. Cetaci rolled over on her back, swinging the laser light around toward Reiya and pressing the button.

Reiya shrieked again, trying to shield her eyes as the glowing mist settled for a second on her hair before evaporating. Cetaci laughed at her, scrambling away and reaching up to touch her own hair. Before she could figure out what Reiya had been doing to it, though, she saw her own fingers light up and she spun around to see Stari diving underneath a blanket.

"Ruckus!" another voice yelled, and Cetaci looked up to see one of Stari and Aura's roommates standing in the doorway. "Quiet, ruckus!" the other girl repeated, mock-sternly. "Cetaci, there's someone at the door for you."

She frowned, glancing over at Reiya. Her friend's eyes were wide. "Your pilot?"

She pushed the button on the laser light, shooting her friend absently. "Don't be silly. Who knew we were going to be here tonight?"

"Anyone who stopped by our room," Reiya answered, lunging for the light again. "I left a note on the door."

"Hey!" The light slipped out of her fingers as Reiya snatched it, and her friend turned it on her immediately. "Don't do that; I have to go talk to someone!"

"It's a fashion statement," Reiya told her, giggling. She used the light again, painting a glowing smiley face on Cetaci's shirt.

Cetaci scrambled to her feet, the mist already fading. "Very funny. If this is someone from sciences, I'm going to hurt you."

"Even the labs take graduation off," Reiya said. "Besides, if it is you'll probably scare them away."

"What did you do to my hair?" Cetaci demanded, lifting her hand to touch it again. She could feel the little braids Reiya had put in it, but she couldn't believe that was all her friend had done.

Reiya lifted her own hands, wiggling her fingers innocently. Blue sparkles glittered there. "I put sparkles in it. It looks good!"

"Actually, it does," Stari offered from her place on the floor. "As bizarre as that sounds when Reiya's the one who did it."

Reiya threw herself at the blanket-covered form. "Yield, stargirl! Give me the light and I'll let you live!"

Stari yelped, managing to paint Reiya with luminescent mist before rolling out of the way. A good part of the furniture had been lit up, too. "Never!"

Cetaci stepped around them, doing her best not to get in the way of anyone's light laser. Stari's roommate exchanged amused glances with her before retreating to the couch in the main room, and Cetaci went to the door. Reiya was right when she said no one would be in the labs, but the only other thing she could think of was that it was someone from Medical trying to reach her about her sister...

Bracing herself, she pulled the door open.

"Hi," Delphinius said hesitantly.

It was so late at night that it was almost morning, and here he was, probably the only graduate in the city wandering around the student wing. He couldn't have come just to see her. She was wearing next to nothing, she had no idea what her hair looked like, and she probably had surprise written all over her face. She almost closed the door again.

The curious looks from behind her were enough to dissuade her from that idea. She stepped out into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind her. "Hi," she said at last, studying him. "You were... looking for me?"

"I was," he admitted, sounding more than a little sheepish. "I--uh, I went down to your room, but you weren't there. I saw the note and thought I'd try here instead."

"Reiya left it," she said. Her mind raced, trying to guess what could be so important that he would go to this kind of trouble on his graduation night. Surely it couldn't be just her. "She was expecting someone else to join us."

"And here I am," Delphinius replied, a hint of his former cockiness showing through. "I must have missed you after dinner; I didn't see you leave."

"I didn't know you were watching," she said, giving him a deliberately bemused look. "Did it matter?"

"It mattered because I was going to ask you what you were doing this evening." His grey gaze was completely serious, but some of her surprise must have shown on her face. "Really. I was wondering if you, um... wanted to come to the graduation party."

"With you?" The words were out before she could think about them.

"Well, I certainly wasn't going to ask you for someone else," he said, amusement tingeing his obvious chagrin at her inquiry. "With me was the general idea, yes."

"Oh." She shifted, not knowing what to say to that. "That was nice of you."

She didn't miss the flicker of disappointment in his eyes. "You don't want to go?"

She blinked. "You're asking me now?"

"I'm sure I mentioned that I wanted to ask you then," he said patiently, a small smile on his face. "Since I couldn't, yes, I'm asking you now. I hope I didn't... interrupt anything?"

She touched her hair self-consciously, and his smile widened a little. "I like your hair."

She held his gaze as best she could. "Reiya's idea."

"I'm serious," he said, apparently realizing that she thought he was joking. "I like it."

This time she did look away, but that only made her more aware of what she was wearing. It was a girls' sleepover; she hadn't thought to see anyone but her friends until the next morning. "Thanks," she murmured.

She heard him sigh. "Am I stalking you?"

Startled, she lifted her head to stare at him. "What?"

"Sanaro thinks I'm stalking you," he admitted. "He thinks I'm being too obsessive, and I'm going to scare you off. Should I not have come? Should I wait a few days and then call you or something?"

She felt a reluctant smile tug at her lips. "Are you joking?"

"No!" He put one hand on the doorframe and leaned against it, looking mildly frustrated. "I'm trying to make a good impression here, but I don't think it's working." He paused, then added, "Any suggestions?"

She stared at him for a moment, finding herself fighting the urge to laugh. "No," she managed at last. "I think... you're doing a wonderful job."

"Does that mean you'll come?" he asked eagerly.

She couldn't help it. She laughed. "I'm not exactly dressed for it," she pointed out, holding her arms out to the sides.

To his credit, his gaze didn't stray from hers. "I think you look beautiful," he countered, his voice suddenly quieter than it had been before. "But I'll wait, if you want."

She just looked at him, feeling her grin turn contemplative. It was true she would love to go the graduation party, as crazy as it seemed at this late hour, and she didn't think she'd mind going with him. He was fun and oddly charming--but this particular party did have a reputation, and she couldn't help wondering a little about his motives in asking a girl he'd only just met.

There was only one way to know. "Why me?" she asked bluntly.

He only looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you asking me?" she insisted. "You don't even know me."

"But I'd like to," he pointed out. "What am I supposed to do, stalk your friends instead until I know enough about you to ask you out?"

She tried not to giggle at that thought. "No, that's probably not a good idea. But... it's just--the graduation party..."

"People sneak off and aren't heard from until the next day?" he asked, sudden comprehension flashing across his features.

She nodded hesitantly, strangely reassured when he didn't look shocked by the idea. "I'm not--I don't do that."

His hands moved, and she laughed aloud as he gestured "relief!" at her. "Neither do I," he promised, a comically abused look on his face. "I swear I just want to get to know you better."

She pressed her lips together in an effort to stifle her giggles, but it was a futile effort and the look he gave her said he knew it. She couldn't say no after putting him through all that. She lifted one hand in a gesture of agreement, and a delighted grin spread across his face.

5. Games

"You're ignoring your date."

He snapped the disc back in Sanaro's direction, careful not to overcompensate and give his friend an opening. "I'm not ignoring anyone."

The disc clicked against Sanaro's reflector as he sent it careening back across the table. "You are aware that she left the room several games ago, yes?"

"So?" He barely managed to retaliate in time.

"So for someone who was obsessed with getting her here, you're not paying that much attention to what she does."

"I wasn't obsessed with getting her here." This time he wasn't fast enough, and the disc tumbled off his edge of the table. He sighed, bending down to retrieve it. "I was obsessed with seeing her at all."

Sanaro gave him a bemused look. "Which you're not doing, because you're ignoring her."

"She's ignoring me," he corrected, setting the disc back on the table and eyeing the other end of the table. It would only take one more point for Sanaro to make this his third win in a row.

"If she is--" Sanaro returned his opening shot without effort. "She's doing it after you ignored her first."

"Maybe I'm ignoring her because she's the type of person to ignore me if I ignore her." He bounced the disc off the single guard on Sanaro's side of the table, somewhat satisfied to see his friend having to scramble to catch it in time.

"That's a bit childish," Sanaro observed a moment later.

"Really?" The disc bounced off his reflector before he could get it into position, sliding back toward Sanaro at a speed that was distinctly less than what he'd been aiming for. "I'm not even sure what I said."

"Game," Sanaro announced, straightening up as his return sent the disc over the edge of the table again. "Not that you're the best player on the planet, Delphinius, but losing three times in a row is excessive even for you."

"I think I've just been insulted."

"I think so too," Sanaro agreed. "Are you going to go talk to her, or do you feel like losing another game?"

He hesitated, turning the game disc over and over in his hand. In truth, the more appealing of those options was obvious. But Sanaro had caught up with him the moment they set foot on board, and she had been with Aura's friends for almost as long--should he take the hint?

"You haven't even told her she's on our tag team," Sanaro reminded him. "She might appreciate knowing that before they call her name over the speakers, you know."

He smiled ruefully, for the reminder only served to illustrate that "taking the hint" had never been something he was particularly good at. "True enough," he said at last, tossing the disc to his friend. "I'll see what I can do."

"Keep the nose up," Aura said over her shoulder, leaning closer as Cen's simulated wake made her "flit" bob uncontrollably. "Don't let go of the controls. Look farther ahead; don't try to correct for every little thing."

"Easy for you to say," she muttered. She was struggling just to keep up with the simulator, let alone to force her phantom "flit" to obey her commands.

She had already crashed twice, prompting "game over" to appear on both her screen and Cen's. The sim tanks were designed to let flitters "race" as recklessly as they wanted to, but Aura and Cen had taken over these two for the sole purpose of teaching her to pilot one. At the rate she was going, she thought she might have to be content with only a diver license for a while longer.

"You're doing great, Ci," Aura said, putting her hands on her shoulders encouragingly. "It's not real; you can crash as many times as you want before you get the hang of it."

"Even after you get the hang of it," Cen added dryly. He had turned toward them, barely watching his controls as he added his sometimes helpful comments to Aura's. "That's what the tanks are for, after all."

"Teaching flitters to ignore rules?" another voice suggested. "Is there a diver lane simulation in there anywhere?"

"Watch the rocks," Cen said, ignoring the remark.

Aura, however, did not. "If such a simulation exists," she answered, not turning around, "it would be perfectly safe. I can think of only one person blind enough to be a threat to flits in the diver lanes."

The mimicked control board beeped at her, indicating a shallow bottom, and she froze. She'd never managed to make it this far out from the game's starting point, and she had absolutely no idea what to do about the alarm. "Cen?" she asked, a little nervously.

"Just watch the rocks," he repeated. "You're doing fine."

"A flit can manage in any kind of water," Delphinius' voice offered, seeming to understand her question where Cen had not. "Shallow or deep, it doesn't matter as long as you don't hit anything."

As the first obstacles showed up on her echo readout, she slowed down as much as she dared. She just wasn't quick enough to maneuver, even at the reduced pace Cen had been setting. She did wish briefly that it was Delphinius' hands on her shoulders instead of Aura's, but then she pushed the embarrassing thought aside in favor of concentrating.

"Where did you hear that?" Aura was asking. "Modern Tech class?"

"Just because I don't flit illegally doesn't mean I don't know how to do it at all," Delphinius informed her. "I've had a flit license for three years."

"Are you any good?" Aura asked, her tone one of politely feigned interest rather than actual curiosity. It was condescending enough to be irritating, even when the question was directed at someone else entirely.

"Race me and find out," Delphinius offered, just as blandly.

Cen was so far ahead of her at this point that she wasn't even sure where his flit was, but she didn't have much spare attention to put into wondering. She could feel the drag on her controls as she didn't manage to completely avoid one of the rock outcroppings, and she swore as her disabled flit broadsided another and "game over" flashed across the screen.

"Done that," Cen said amiably, ignoring Aura and Delphinius behind them.

"Delphinius has probably done it out on the ocean," Aura added over her shoulder. "He has a hard time seeing things that are right in front of him."

She knew Aura meant it more as an insult to Delphinius than as a slight to her, but she couldn't tell if that made her feel better or not. Just then, though, the speakers near the ceiling came to life, and Delphinius held his silence as the announcement came on. It didn't take her long to figure out why.

"Teams 34 and 35, report to the laser arena," the speakers announced. "Team 34: Leis, Delphinius, Sanaro, Cetaci. Team 35: Maricut, Haley, Marino and Corusca. Teams 34 and 35, please report to the laser arena."

She heard Delphinius clear his throat, and she turned around in surprise. "Did I just hear my name?" she demanded when the message didn't repeat again.

"I heard your name," Cen replied. He didn't take his eyes off the sim tank in front of him as the game reset.

"That's what I was coming to tell you," Delphinius said, looking a little sheepish. "We kind of signed you up. I hope you don't mind."

"We?" she repeated. Sanaro's name was the only other one she had even recognized.

"Well, I signed you up," he admitted. "I would have asked you first, but the line was already pretty long and they can't always fit everyone in..."

She couldn't help smiling, and his hesitance melted away so quickly she wondered if it had been an act. "Come on, then," he said, self-confidence back in place as he gestured to her. "Let's go show them how it's done."

"I hope he shoots better than he flies," Aura muttered to Cen as she took Cetaci's place at the sim tank. She spoke just loudly enough that it was obvious she intended them to overhear, and Delphinius paused.

"Was that a challenge?" he inquired mildly.

"It did sound like one, didn't it," Aura agreed.

"I just wanted to make sure." Delphinius considered her back for a moment, then added, "If I had nothing better to do, I'd even take you up on it. But since I do--perhaps another time."

She didn't wait for Aura to reply, for the situation was already degenerating and this time Delphinius' friend wasn't here to smooth things over. "Would you like me to meet you at the arena?" she asked pointedly, hoping Aura wouldn't make things worse by trying to get the last word.

He flashed a smile in her direction and she was hard-pressed not to roll her eyes. Was that supposed to make up for him insulting her friend? She told herself firmly that it did not, no matter that she found herself smiling back.

"I'm with you," he said simply, surprising her by holding out his arm. She slid her hand through his arm tentatively, and she was relieved when neither Aura nor Cen said anything else as they walked away.

Delphinius paid no attention as one of the student volunteers recited safety instructions in a bored tone of voice. Only when he saw Cetaci struggling with her vest did it occur to him to ask if she'd ever played before, and when she said "no" he had to grin.

"You'll be good at it," he told her, tugging the clips into place on her vest. "I bet you have great aim."

She shook her head. "Not really," she admitted. "I mean, I've never been in a shooting gallery, but I don't throw very well if that's anything to go by."

He looked at her in surprise. "It isn't, really," he said at last. He was so used to firearms training that he forgot sometimes that it wasn't something most students went through. "It's a different kind of coordination. I should know," he added wryly. "I can throw, but my shooting is... less than excellent."

She actually laughed at that. "I'm surprised to hear you admit that," she said, her tone distinctly teasing. "I didn't think Delphinius of the Kith squadron did anything less than excellently."

Somewhat disconcerted that she knew his squadron affiliation, he gave her a mock-reproving look. "Now, that's not fair. You already know more about me than I know about you, and you didn't even ask."

"Neither did you," she pointed out. Her expression was smug as she caught and held his gaze, and he couldn't help noticing that her eyes seemed deeper somehow.

Then someone clapped his shoulder, and he blinked as Leis motioned for them to hurry up. Sanaro had already disappeared into the darkened arena, and Cetaci moved to follow him. Leis was right behind her, and Delphinius hesitated only a moment before stepping into the weightless and somewhat unpredictable environment.

Gravity vanished the moment he entered, and his sight went with it the moment the door behind him swung closed. He heard his "gun" chime as soon as the sim went online, and he put out one hand to find the wall. The sound of static and a high-pitched cascade of notes told him someone had fired, and abruptly the tiny arena was full of sound.

He pushed off, catching the glint of someone's vest as his eyes started to adjust, and his gun went dead just as he pulled the trigger. He tried to turn, but without the accustomed drag of water in weightlessness he overcompensated. He heard someone laugh, but over the sound of shouting and repeated fire he couldn't tell if it was directed at him or not.

Someone grabbed his wrist, startling him enough that he brought his gun to bear instinctively. It was still dead, and he saw blue glitter catch the meager light as his rescuer pulled him toward a handhold. "I see what you mean about your shooting!" she called loudly as she pushed off in another direction.

His eyes widened at the unfairness of that remark, and he turned his weapon on her as she slid away. It surprised him to pull the trigger and hear something, and she would be the first person he hit. He tried to hide a grin when he heard her exclaim as her gun went dead, and he pushed off in what he thought was a "downward" direction before she could figure out who had hit her.

For as long as he had played this game, he had never been able to figure out why it was so much fun. It was too dark to definitively identify anyone, so all any of them had to go on was flickers of motion and the sparkle of light as their guns flashed. With no way to know who was who and nowhere to hide, firing was as much an instinctive reaction as anything. There was no strategy in the chaos, little control over motion in the weightlessness, and frankly, not much motivation to keep yourself from getting shot.

Maybe it was that lack of control that made it fun, he thought, holding the trigger down as he tracked a tumbling shadow. His gun suddenly shut down again, and someone careened into him from behind. "What, it wasn't enough to shoot me?" he demanded loudly, not sure the person who had tackled him would even hear.

"Sorry!" He didn't recognize the voice that spoke, but suddenly the wall slammed into his side. He fumbled automatically for a handhold, just catching himself before he would have rebounded away.

Even as he gathered himself to push off, his gun chimed and someone else's fired, shutting his down the instant it came back online. "Hey!" A too-close laugh left no doubt in his mind about who had managed that one.

He reached out, grabbing for her wrist as she shot by and catching her hand instead. He almost let go, but in the darkness she couldn't see his expression and he could almost pretend that he hadn't realized. He pulled her closer, ignoring her indignant exclamation.

It wasn't the lack of control, he decided then, feeling her catch a nearby handhold to steady herself. It was the utter lack of consequences that made the game so exhilarating. "No shooting members of your own team," he informed her, letting his fingers trail across the inside of her wrist and over her palm.

"What--"

He couldn't tell if she was more startled by the comment or the caress, but he wasn't going to wait to find out. He pushed away from the wall, twisting to avoid someone who hadn't been there a moment before only to find himself tumbling uncontrollably. He fired anyway, hearing someone's trigger sound cease abruptly as he found a target almost by accident. He kept shooting, losing himself in the adrenaline of twist, duck, and fire until his shoulder encountered another solid surface.

He groped for a handhold and missed, only just managing to push in a likely direction as the wall went away again. He no longer had any recollection of which way had been "up" or "down" before the sim began, but it didn't matter. Everything was a wall until the gravity came back.

As though the thought had been a summons, his gun went dead again. At first he thought someone had hit him, but then a hint of light infiltrated the darkness and he realized that everyone else's weapons had fallen silent as well. As the lights brightened, he felt a gentle tug coming from somewhere "above" him and the resurgence of gravity was as disorienting as ever.

He put his hands out as the "ceiling" drew him closer, and as the gravity strengthened everyone awkwardly tried to reorient themselves. He managed to flip, less than gracefully, he suspected, and suddenly the ceiling had become the floor again as his feet found something solid underneath them.

He was careful not to move too quickly in the still below normal gravity, and by the time he made it to the door most of his team had already left. He followed Maricut out, bracing himself as he stepped warily through the door.

The lightness went out of his step immediately, and it was suddenly that much harder to walk. He forced himself to move anyway, to make room for whoever was behind him, and it got easier with every step. He started to tug his vest off even as his eyes scanned the other students, looking for blonde hair and blue sparkles among those gathered by the door.

She already had her vest off and was handing it to one of the volunteers--a volunteer who wasn't quite as bored looking as he had been before. He smiled at Cetaci, saying something to her that wasn't quite loud enough to be distinguishable over the hum of voices. She shook her head, but she was smiling too as she glanced over her shoulder.

She caught his eye for just a moment, her smile fading, and he wasn't sure he liked the thoughtful expression that flitted across her face. He looked away quickly, trying to pretend he hadn't been staring.

"Subtle," Sanaro's voice commented from behind him. "Very subtle. You really do like her, don't you."

It wasn't a question, but his friend seemed to be waiting for a reply nonetheless. "Sure," he said, trying to keep his voice light. "She's cute." He knew he was staring again as she turned to speak with Corusca, but the memory of her fingers brushing against his was magnetic.

"Come on," Sanaro said, shaking his head. He handed off his vest to one of the volunteers and added, "Let's go get something to eat."

"What happened to me not ignoring her?" he protested, wincing at the plaintive note in his voice. He barely noticed as Sanaro took his vest from his hands.

"If you'd been listening," Sanaro informed him, "you would have heard Corusca say the same thing to her just a moment ago. You can either follow her around for the rest of the night, or you can pay attention and just happen to be where she is."

"Which is obviously very different from 'following her'," he said, amused by his friend's distinction. "Right. Thanks."

"That's what friends are for."

6. Challenge

She leaned over the railing, staring out at the starlight on the still water. The cool night breezes tugged at her braids, and the lanterns behind her cast her shadow out over the surface of the ocean. She reached out with one hand in a futile effort to touch her reflection.

"Can you keep your friend from doing something stupid?"

She pulled her hand back abruptly, trying not to blush. "My friend?" she repeated, not turning around.

"The telepath," Sanaro's voice prompted impatiently. "Can you keep her from doing something stupid?"

She frowned a little. "Her name is Aura," she said, looking over her shoulder at him. She tried not to let her disappointment show when she realized he was alone. "And no, probably not."

He nodded curtly and turned away without another word.

"Wait," she said, starting after him automatically. "Why? What's going on?"

"She challenged Delphinius," Sanaro answered. He vaulted over one of the loading gates, not bothering to unlatch it. "They're already gone."

She pushed the gate open and followed him. She hesitated when he settled into one of the student flits, but when he started the engine and disengaged the clamps she could see he had no intention of waiting. She invited herself on board, catching the back of his seat as the flit shook itself free of its moorings and started to turn toward the open ocean.

"Where are you going?" she demanded, half-falling into the seat beside him as the flit leapt forward. Her words were drowned out by the roar of the engine, and she flinched as they barely avoided colliding with a returning craft.

Eyes straight ahead, Sanaro handed her a headset and motioned for her to put it on. She did, somewhat awkwardly, and she saw him tap his earpiece. She mimicked the gesture, and suddenly she heard his voice in her ear. "I'm going after them, of course."

"Why?" she asked, surprised at his matter-of-factness.

"Because Delphinius isn't that good," he answered tightly. "And Aura is reckless."

She felt a twinge of nervousness. "You think he might get hurt?"

"I don't see how he could not."

He said nothing else, and the only other thing she wanted to know was something he couldn't answer anyway. They rode in silence save for the noise of the engine and the rush of the wind, and after a few minutes away from the lanterns of the surface party her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. It was then that she realized she could make out the cliffs silhouetted against the horizon.

She glanced over at the controls, hoping for a glimpse of the racers, and she heard Sanaro swear. "What?" she asked, looking up automatically. She could see nothing but sea and shadows, so she returned her attention to the scanning field on the pilot's console.

"They're at Rey." Sanaro, too, was looking ahead as though he could make something out in the starlit darkness. "There's no moon, and he agreed to a challenge at Rey. Sometimes I wonder that Delphinius has lived as long as he has."

Now she could see the single craft symbol on his display, but she didn't understand what it meant. "Why is there only one? Where's the other flit?"

"That's not them. That's probably Cen, at the finish line."

She hadn't heard Sanaro sound so serious since she'd met him. Deadpan, yes, but genuinely serious? She wondered absently how he and Delphinius had come to know each other.

She heard a strident tone coming over her headset just as the engine noise started to diminish a little, and she finally caught sight of another flit, approaching fast from somewhere dead ahead. As their flit slowed further, though, she realized that the other was stationary and it was only they that were coming up on it at such a tremendous rate of speed.

She saw Sanaro reach up to touch his earpiece again, and then she heard him saying something that clearly wasn't directed at her. "Give me their coordinates."

She fumbled with her headset, locating the wideband selector just in time to catch the end of Cen's response. "--can't interfere."

"The hell I can't," Sanaro retorted. "I'm not going to let my friend be bullied into getting himself killed!"

"I'm sure he'd be glad to know you have so much confidence in him," Cen's voice replied.

"He's a fighter pilot!" Sanaro practically shouted. "He's not used to a flit!"

"Then he shouldn't have accepted the challenge."

Despite his words, two sets of coordinates appeared on Sanaro's display, trailing two flit symbols. Specs appeared on the tracking readout, too, but they didn't mean much to her.

Apparently, however, they meant something to Sanaro. He hesitated over the engine controls, his features twisting into a frown in the dim light of the faintly glowing screen. "Cen," he began.

Simultaneously, Cen swore. "Aura!" The other didn't bother to localize the broadcast. "Get out of there!"

"What--"

Sanaro pointed, as though it would do her any good. "Flit malfunction," he said tersely. "Her engine balance is way off."

Beside them, Cen's flit sprang to life, and Sanaro smiled grimly. "It's not so funny when it's his girlfriend," he muttered under his breath. Their craft chased Cen's around the edge of the Rey field, heading for the racers as fast as they could go.

It wasn't fast enough. Only seconds later one of the flit symbols on the forward display flashed orange, then red, and then, to her horror, the symbol disappeared altogether. "Sanaro?" she asked uncertainly.

"Flit's gone." His earlier alarm was gone, and he seemed almost nonchalant. "Must have overloaded the engine. Hope she didn't hit anything when she ejected."

She frowned worriedly, not liking that pronouncement no matter how calmly it had been delivered. She tried not to fidget, knowing the flit was already going full out. The time-to-intercept countdown on the tracking readout seemed to slow down the closer they got.

Finally, though, the glint of a flit in the distance caught her eye, and Sanaro cut their speed quickly as their flit dove into the field. Cen reached it first, and the few seconds after their delayed arrival were nothing but a blur.

Aura was standing in Delphinius' flit, her long wet hair defying the wind's attempts to lift it away from her shoulders. Cen's flit had latched onto the side of Delphinius', and he was demanding an explanation that neither of them seemed concerned with providing. Delphinius was beside Aura, his arms folded as he gave whatever she was saying his full attention.

In that first moment as they slid across the water and came to a stop within touching distance of the other flits, she couldn't help noticing that neither Delphinius nor Aura seemed particularly shaken by what had happened. They were so collected that they might have been out for a leisurely ride rather than picking up the pieces of a race that had ended disastrously.

She lifted her chin, trying to suppress the feeling of being hopelessly out of place. *They're just students,* she thought fiercely. They weren't that much older than her, no matter that they seemed to have a daunting degree of self-possession.

"You would have won," Delphinius said, his voice penetrating her thoughts at last.

"Yes," Aura agreed without rancor. She regarded him with what might have been the smallest amount of respect, and Cetaci couldn't help wondering what had happened. "But the fact remains that I did not. I concede the challenge."

"It was incomplete," Delphinius reminded her. "I didn't win anymore than you did, and I won't accept a concession."

"Someone tell me what happened," Cen demanded. "I suppose we're going to have to come up with an excuse for losing this flit, too, so I might as well have something to go on."

Cetaci's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought about explaining the disappearance of the flit... but Cen sounded as though they might have had to do it before. She didn't have any idea how often Aura raced, though it was apparently more often than Delphinius.

"Student flits," Aura said disgustedly. "Mine would have taken half again that speed."

"The engine overloaded," Delphinius offered, his gaze suddenly settling on her. He looked startled and even a little embarrassed to see her there, though she couldn't imagine why. "The flit slammed into a hazard just before it went up. I hope it wasn't a reef, or we're going to hear about that."

"Boulder," Aura corrected. "Don't forget to erase that log."

Delphinius looked a little uncomfortable at that. "That's a small problem, actually. I already tried."

Aura just shook her head, leaning past him to touch the recorder feed. It didn't respond, and she tried it again. "You're right," she said, sounding surprised. "It's stuck."

"Short of destroying the recorder," Sanaro said, not sounding terribly concerned, "is there anything we else we can do to delete it?"

"I can do it." She surprised herself by speaking up, but when four pairs of eyes turned toward her she only hoped it was the truth. All of them but Sanaro had reason to know how little experience she had with flits.

"Ci's good with computers," Aura agreed at last. She held out a hand to help her bridge the distance as Cetaci perched hesitantly on the edge of Sanaro's borrowed flit.

Even with stabilizers, the craft bobbed a little, and she felt Delphinius catch her other arm as she stumbled onto the deck of his flit. She pulled away as soon as she regained her balance, remembering his touch in the laser arena and not wanting him to know she was still thinking about it.

"How can you do anything with it if the whole interface is inactive?" Cen wanted to know, watching her crouch down in the pilot's seat.

"I'm not going to do anything with it," she said, trying to ignore the way Delphinius was leaning on the back of her seat. He was probably just watching to see what she would do, but she didn't dare glance back and find out. "I'm just going to wipe it."

"How?" Delphinius inquired. His tone was only curious, not disbelieving.

She smiled a little to herself, rerouting the scanner controls so that they looped in on themselves. Her sister had shown her how to erase the tamper-resistant diver logs once, and it had seemed a useful thing to know. "Same thing that happened to Aura's engine. I'm going to overload it." She turned the scanner up to maximum gain and listened to the feedback whine louder and louder until it broke off and the scanner screen went blank.

"In other words," Sanaro said, sounding amused, "you destroyed it."

"Just everything that was in the recorder." She tried to sound casual rather than defensive. "The recorder will still work, once someone replaces the data chip." She broke the makeshift routing loop, and a moment later the scanner came back online.

"Thanks, Ci." Aura sounded genuinely appreciative. "I really don't need another flit violation this month."

"You don't need another violation this *year*," Cen informed her. He was helping her into his flit when Cetaci turned around, and she was just in time to catch Aura's smile.

"You're just jealous," she told Cen. "You haven't done anything remotely exciting in... how long, now?"

"I still love you," Cen reminded her. "Doesn't that count?"

"Want a ride?" Delphinius offered, interrupting her none-too-subtle eavesdropping. "It's the least I can do, after you blew out the log for me."

Her attention diverted, she frowned at him.

"What?" he asked, when she didn't answer. "What did I say?"

She was momentarily prevented from replying by the noise of Cen's engine as it powered up. Sanaro's flit echoed it a moment later, and she waved absently at him. Delphinius followed her gaze and nodded, apparently responding to some gesture his friend had made. The other flit turned away, disappearing into the dark just after Cen and Aura had gone.

As the sound of other the other vehicles faded into the distance, their isolation was suddenly an inescapable reality. They were actually standing out under the stars, in the middle of both the ocean and the night, alone. She supposed, somewhat idly, that if nothing else she would find out whether his motives were as innocent as they seemed.

"So," he said at last. He sounded a little awkward, and he made no move toward her. It occurred to her then that she was staring at him, and that he seemed a little disconcerted by it, but she didn't look away.

"I'm not speaking to you," she informed him abruptly.

"Really." He gave her an odd look that bordered on a smile, and she frowned again. He could be terribly condescending every now and then, and she hadn't decided yet whether she found it charming or irritating. "And why not?"

Irritating, she decided without hesitation. "Because that was stupid!"

He blinked. "What?"

"Rey is the most dangerous field at the Falls!" Even she knew that, from things her sister had said and the way Sanaro had reacted when he realized where they were. "A little less luck and Aura could have been killed tonight!"

He actually laughed, which only annoyed her more. "Luck?" he repeated, grinning at her. "She's ten times the flitter I am. If you were going to worry about someone, you might as well have worried about me."

She glared at him. "What makes you think I didn't?"

He hesitated, his grin fading a little as he returned her stare. "That... was nice of you," he said uncertainly, as though he wasn't sure whether she meant it or not.

"No," she replied firmly, determined not to let the adorable look of confusion on his face overwhelm her. "It's not nice. It's aggravating. She's my sister's best friend; you're just some guy I met at graduation."

"I'm glad I made such an impression on you," he said wryly.

Spreading her hands to the sides, she pointed out, "Well, I am here."

He just looked at her for a moment, then finally he just smiled and dropped into the seat next to her. "I don't understand you," he admitted, not taking his eyes off of her. "But I really like you."

She couldn't repress her smile at that, and for just a moment she thought she could see her reflection in his eyes. It was odd, but the image she saw there was prettier than the one she'd seen in the water earlier.

7. Ask

"Which one is the act?"

"Excuse me?"

"Sometimes you're just like the other pilots, and sometimes you're almost shy."

"I don't think anyone's ever called me 'shy' before."

"Sanaro did."

"What?"

"At graduation, when you sent him over to introduce you."

"I didn't send him over!"

"He didn't come because *he* wanted to ask me out."

"All right, I sent him. But it was his idea. Why did he call me shy?"

"He was trying to think of an excuse for being sent."

"Did you believe it?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Because you assumed I was just like the other pilots."

"Aren't you?"

"I don't know. What are the other pilots like?"

"Overconfident and condescending are the words that spring to mind."

"Is that the way you think I am?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes not. That's why I asked."

"Are you ever anything but brutally honest?"

"On occasion."

"Such as?"

"When we first met, I told Reiya I didn't like you."

"For a graduating pilot, I've been singularly unpopular all night."

"Possibly because you hit my sister's friend with a diver."

"If she hadn't--wait, your *sister's* friend?"

"Aura is my sister's roommate."

"Older sister, or younger?"

"Does it matter?"

"I answered your question."

"No, you didn't. Which one is the act?"

"Both."

"Older."

"Fair enough..."

"I like being above the surface to see the stars."

"I can't help thinking there aren't enough of them."

"I've never been into space."

"Never?"

"My research is on the reefs, not the stars."

"Really? What do you study?"

"The physiology and culture of bioluminescent communication."

"...You just made me feel about three years old."

"How and why creatures on the reefs glow."

"Thank you."

"Are you going to keep flying now that you've graduated?"

"There's nothing better than a fighter and the stars."

"Why the Kith squadron?"

"You say that as though you already know."

"The escorts are the only interstellar squadron?"

"That's it."

"Isn't it more dangerous, though?"

"Aquitar hasn't been at war in living memory. Who'd attack us?"

"I guess that's true."

"That's the most diplomatic I've heard you all night."

"How do you know I don't believe you?"

"I just feel it. Why do you think Kith is dangerous?"

"...I just feel it."

"Very funny."

"I'm serious. Do you really not think the Border war will affect us?"

"Do you know how far away the Border is? Aquitar isn't going to get involved."

"Eltare might."

"Aquitar has no ties to Eltare anymore."

"You only say that because we don't need them right now."

"And they don't need us. That's what it means to have an independent government."

"I think you're wrong."

"I'm sensing that, yes."

"Does your aunt agree with you?"

"About what?"

"That the fighting won't affect us."

"Probably... I'm not sure; we don't talk much."

"That surprises me."

"Do you spend a lot of time talking to your relatives?"

"I might if they were Rangers."

"It's not as exciting as it sounds, believe me."

"Are you telepathic?"

"That's not a question that usually comes up in idle conversation."

"Your aunt's a Ranger. I was just curious."

"The telepathic alleles are recessive, you know."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just because I have a telepathic relative doesn't mean I'm likely to be telepathic."

"You're more likely to be than I am."

"Are you?"

"No."

"Neither am I."

"Then why didn't you just say so?"

"Because I didn't like your reasons for asking."

"You don't know why I asked."

"Why did you ask, then?"

"I was trying to find something that wasn't an act."

"What?"

"You said your arrogance and your shyness are both acts. So who are you, really?"

"You thought finding out that I was a telepath would be the answer?"

"No. Telepath's just another label. Like fighter pilot."

"So what was the point?"

"You were offended that I asked. That wasn't an act."

"Should I be disturbed that you're so devious, or flattered that you put so much thought into it?"

"If I'd really thought about it, I would have asked if you ever wished to be telepathic."

"How much older is your sister?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because Aura was a class marshal, which means she's graduating next year. Your sister is Aura's roommate, which means she's graduating next year too. But you said your sister is older than you are, so you're either yearmates or there's something you're not telling me."

"How did we get from telepathy to my sister?"

"There *is* something you're not telling me. And we got here because there's something I'm not telling you, too, so I figured you might as well take a turn at feeling defensive."

"You *are* telepathic."

"And you're not old enough to be a class marshal."

"No. My sister's in Medical, so I took her place at the ceremony."

"Is she all right?"

"Would she be in Medical if she was?"

"*Will* she be all right?"

"I hope so."

"So do I."

"...I'm sixteen."

"And you're running your own research project?"

"Did I say that?"

"No, but--I just assumed. You sounded very fond of it."

"I am. And yes, it's my project. My advisor pushed it through for me."

"She must have a lot of faith in you."

"She does."

"...You were right about me being telepathic."

"You didn't have to lie about it. You know I'm friends with Aura."

"I know your sister's friends with her. I didn't know how you felt about it personally."

"I think the fact that we make it into such an issue is ridiculous, that's how I feel about it."

"I agree with you there."

"But you're Ranger kin, and even you wouldn't admit to it."

"It's different when it's you. Even my friends don't know. Except Sanaro."

"Why did you tell me?"

"You asked."

"I asked the first time."

"Maybe I like you."

"I know you like me. That doesn't explain why you told me something you won't tell your friends."

"Sure it does. I like you more than I like my friends, that's all."

"Am I supposed to be flattered now?"

"If you want to be."

"You're doing the cocky pilot act again."

"Takes one to know one."

"I can't even flit, let alone pilot a fighter."

"Want to learn?"

"Flitting?"

"It'd be a start. It isn't hard."

"You saw how bad I was at the sims. I can't believe you're even offering."

"The sims are obstacle courses, not training programs. Go out in the middle of the ocean and there's nothing to hit. You'll be fine."

"Are you a patient person?"

"With you, I suspect I could be endlessly patient."

"Did you kiss me in the laser arena?"

"What?"

"In the laser arena. Did you kiss me on purpose?"

"Is this going to affect whether or not you let me teach you to flit?"

"No."

"Then yes, I did. It was sort of... accidentally on purpose."

"Could you be more decisive in the future?"

"...I'll try."

"So how do I start the flit?"