Nic gave Laurel a hug back and kissed the top of her head.

So Laurel snuggled a little closer, seemingly content with the silence.

--

Frei finally turned to leave once more.

Nic seemed content with snuggling for awhile too.

--

"You gonna visit later?" Fin asked Frei.

Frei turned and gave a slight shrug. It seemed to be a maybe.

"Okay," Fin said, putting a smile on his face. "I'll see you later then."

Frei nodded and took her leave.

Fin watched Frei leave and waved.

--

Eventually Long found his way into the gym to work out. No one else seemed to interact with him, and some people even went out of their way to avoid him. But he didn't seem to notice as he ignored everyone else.

Pepper was doing pull ups as he walked in. They seemed breathlessly easy for her. When she spotted him, she hopped down and approached, "Are you violent when you work out or something?" she asked, amused, as people avoided him.

"Excuse me?" Long asked as he got ready to lift some weights, looking confused that Pepper had addressed him.

"Everyone's avoiding you like the plague," she noted before looking at the weights, "Can you lift more?" she inquired.

Long stopped getting the weights ready and turned to Pepper, still confused. "... Can I help you with something?" he asked.

"I bet I can lift more than you," Pepper challenged.

Long blinked blankly at Pepper.

"C'mon! Let's do it! This place is desert!" she complained.

Long started looking at Pepper like she was crazy. "I won't compete with you, miss," he explained before going back to adjusting the weights.

Pepper rolled her eyes as she stepped infront of him, "I'm not a miss!" she snapped, "And what, you scared a girl would beat you?" she demanded.