Later that night, when Nikodemus and Carl were tucked into bed with the light off, Nikodemus stared up at the ceiling, wide awake. His head throbbing and his eyes bloodshot.

A high pitched screech thrummed in his mind over and over again.

He clapped his hands to his ears, his eyes tearing up from his inability to sleep and from the migraine the sound was giving him.

“Psst! Nicky, are you awake?” Carl asked, sitting up.

Nikodemus was overly grateful that his brother was awake and speaking. It helped to drown out the sound. “Yeah, I’m awake.”

“Is it the sound again?” Carl asked.

Nikodemus sat up and faced his brother, hanging his legs off the bed. “Yeah, it’s the sound…”

At the sight of his brother’s bloodshot, teary eyes, Carl’s brow furrowed with compassion. “You haven’t slept in days. Let’s go find out what this sound is so you can sleep well!”

Nikodemus shook his head as he hopped off the bed. “You stay here. I have to go by myself. If you get caught, you’ll get in trouble, too. Besides, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Carl followed Nikodemus, despite how Nikodemus protested.

“I’m not letting you go alone! We’re a team.” Carl said cheerfully.

Nikodemus sighed, unable to help a smile. “Alright, fine. But you have to be extra quiet.”

__

Abruptly, Nikodemus opened his eyes, rousing from his waking dreams. Damn, I really wanted to sleep in more.

Despite his desire to sleep in, Nikodemus found himself smiling at the memory of his happy little brother, protective father, and supportive mother.

He climbed out of bed, his muscles and eyes feeling heavy from sleep and exertion due to walking so long the previous night, and due to his night activities with Ellia. He stretched and then hopped off the bed.

In his mind’s eye, he imagined Carl’s bed was still next to his, and he was hopping off his bed, too, ready to go eat breakfast with the family.

Nikodemus turned away from the memory, both physical and mentally, focusing his attention on getting dressed. He only had the outfit he had come in, so he put that on.

Afterward, he headed to Ellia’s vanity mirror and frowned at his reflection. As always, his overlarge cranium mocked him. If not for his short limbs and his large head, he would look entirely ordinary. He had blond hair and blue eyes, and the planes of his face looked just like his brother's. He thought they were his best features just for that reason. He grabbed the comb lying on the vanity and brushed his dusty, disheveled hair, grains of sand and dust falling from it as he did so.

After that, he headed for the door.

As with most tribes he had been captured by, he was greeted by two guards just outside the door who he was sure would follow him around and watch his every action like a hawk.

As Nikodemus walked down the blindingly white hallway, he was greeted by many women hurrying down the stairs with their sheets and clothes in hand, dressed in pajamas.

Many of them paused to stare at him as if he was an alien. They were completely enthralled by his maleness. In other tribes, where the leaders were not as respected, the women would not wait for their turns with him. They would try to grab him and haul him to their bedrooms without his permission nor permission from their leader. He could be clever and smart enough at times to talk his way out of such ugly situations, but would fail at other times.

The guards assigned to him were usually enough to keep him safe from such... hungry women, but not always.

Nikodemus stopped one of the women in the hallway, who stared at him unblinkingly. “Hi there,” Nikodemus said brightly. “Does your tribe have showers? I could really use one right now. If your tribe doesn’t have showers, I can teach you how to install one.”

The woman’s mouth was agape. She was blushing and tongue-tied.

This woman, like Ellia, was a behemoth, though not as much. She was a little shorter and a little less muscular. Nikodemus thought she was pretty, but then, he wasn’t judgmental about such things and thought most women were.

Finally, the woman cleared her throat. She murmured shyly, “There’s some on the basement level.”

Nikodemus nodded. “Thank you.”

Afterward, she dashed away, giggling to herself.

The guards who were following him around muttered, “You could have just asked us.”

Nikodemus shrugged with a chuckle. “I wanted to see what her reaction would be.”