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Damon didn't expect bunking with Kai would mean he'd be exiled to the sofa.
Well, maybe sharing a bed was a little weird for Kai, then again... If anyone entered their room, wouldn't it be safer to be next to each other?
Kai sleeps like a log, and he snores. It's what wakes Damon in the night, finding the room shrouded in darkness and his back aching from the uncomfortable sleeping alternative. He really wants his bed.
There's a tiny fraction of him that feels guilty about possibly leaving Kai like this, because if anything happens to him, it's Damon's fault. But he kind of asked for it, and it's not like anyone would assume Kai of all people would be alone. And he probably screams like hell if anyone startled him.
Just one night of good sleep, is that too much asked?
As quietly as he can, Damon steals himself out of his room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. It's entirely dark in the hallway, so Damon has to pat his way back to his own room by memory alone. When he finally finds the handle, he sighs a breath of relief and enters.
And his blood immediately runs cold.
For a second he thinks maybe he's gotten the wrong room, but no. This is quite definitely his mocking display of a debater-themed dorm. So why is there a person sitting on his bed, their dark silhouette staring right back at him?
"Uh... Hello?"
It's dumb. He knows. Whoever is sitting there might have come to kill him and didn't know Damon was in Kai's room. It's dumb and reckless and yet his flight response does not trigger, because he hears a sigh and flicks the light on when his hand finally brushes the switch.
"Damon?"
"Eva?"
She's probably the last person he would have expected to find here. Against his better judgment, he doesn't feel the threat of imminent danger anymore... Isn't that bad? After everything, why does his gut want to trust her so badly?
"What are you doing here? In my bed of all places?"
Eva stares at him wide eyed, her nose flared like he had just caught her red handed with murder.
"I... needed a space for... doing math", she responds half-heartedly and averts her eyes.
"Math?"
"You know, like the mathlete I am."
Well, that doesn't fly with Damon. He approaches slowly and rounds the bed, sitting down at the edge.
"What about Diana? Aren't you bunking?"
"Well, yeah but... Duh. I wanted to do... Sudoku."
"Sudoku." Damon raises an eyebrow. "Alone. In the dark. Without any paper?"
"Well... It's part of my special training..."
Damon can't believe he actually fell for her scheme of her faked talent - right now, she's an awful liar. And that still doesn't answer his question.
"Why are you really here?"
Eva fumbles with her fingers. She's chewing on her lip, and Damon almost has the urge to reach out and take her hand.
What the hell?
"It's just... everyone knows now I'm just a mathlete, and they know where I am bunking. Diana can't protect me..."
"So you came to my room? Why the hell would you think it's safer here?"
"Nobody likes you, Damon. It's the safest place in the building."
Damon stares. Watches as her lips curl into a small smile and she snorts, biting down on her upper lip not to laugh.
"Wow. Thanks, I guess," he mutters under his breath, trying not to show the scratch at his ego.
"I didn't know you weren't in here. So I figured... Nobody would come here anyway. But then you did."
"Are you kicking me out of my own room?"
"Bweh... Why are you here if you're bunking elsewhere?"
She's always responding a question to a question. It irritates him, but it's also intruiging how she counters his attempts to dig deeper.
"Kai snores," he says simply.
"Sure. He's not sharing the bed, is he? Can't blame him."
"H-hello?!"
Eva giggles quietly and sighs, finally raising her head to look directly at him. "Well... Either you kick me out now, or..."
Is she blushing? Damon feels his face burn. Didn't they divide into same gender rooms because of this? It's not like he has any ulterior motives, but... Eva is...
Yeah, what exactly?
"Earth to Damon."
Eva snaps her fingers and Damon shakes himself out of his trance.
"Right. I don't mind if you wanna stay. I just can't spend another night on Kai's sofa."
There's a knowing look on her face he can't place, but he decides not to ask. She won't give him any responses anyway.
Still... She chose to come here of all places, and probably would've stayed here all night alone. She's not entirely wrong that she's a vulnerable target, especially after getting caught in a lie. People distrust her. Damon should distrust her, but he can't forget the way Eva sided with him when everyone else turned against him.
Would she have told him the truth at some point? Doubtful. But he can't say he's mad about it. It just shows that she's a clever mind, knowing how to use her intelligence to her advantage, despite her weak spots.
Another thing is that he didn't exactly catch her sleeping. She was sitting upright, staring at the wall. Was she scared? Maybe it wasn't the worst choice to come here. It would've meant Eva was spending the night alone, and it leaves Damon with a strange gut feeling. Not the same as Kai. Not quite.
So he stands and rounds the bed another time, turning off the light, before laying down at the furthest corner of it with a deep sigh. That sofa is horrendously uncomfortable. He's not going back there.
Eva climbs into the bed, laying at the outmost other corner, turned away from him.
"Good night," she whispers.
"Good night."
Silence befalls the room, and Damon would bet she's holding her breath. Moments pass, before Eva groans and rolls on her back.
"Awkward."
Damon scoffs. "You tell me."
He turns his head at the same time as she's looking at him. He can't really see her in the dark, but he can feel her gaze on him - a low gasp, like she feels it too, how tense the air between them is, as if a single spark would light the room on fire.
There's the rustle of a body moving on the bed, a dull thud of a hand falling against the pillow. And Damon doesn't quite know what compels him to reach out - she's a stranger as much as anyone, a talent he would have considered beneath himself... Still does, if it was anyone else.
But there's something about her that draws him in like a crow attracted to a shiny object. The tease of biting the apple to find out if it's sweet or sour. He's never going to know if he doesn't try.
Her hand is warm when he finds it, fingers shyly snake around his, loosely tangle. He's holding his breath, but the tension eases a moment later. It gets replaced by a wave of exhaustion, and for the first time since they arrived, Damon has a serene sense of safety hovering above him like a guardian angel.
Why her?
He can't tell. But when he listens to her breathing turning deep and level, he squeezes her hand once to reassure himself it's real. Maybe for once, he won't let go an opportunity to connect.
If it could be anyone, he wants it to be her.