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Saainst the back of the chair He sat there in silence until a tear trickled out, and another He wiped the it out slowly "I hate this," he said

Alex looked over his shoulder at his friend "Me too"

They stayed together in the hallway for a long ti not to lose it, until finally Samheed said, "I heard about Aaron"

Alex’s hand wavered, and he cursed under his breath, trying to fix the errant line he’dthe excess paint onto his pants When he’d fixed hisfor me, you know"

"Makes sense"

"I’ Or why he was captured"

"If he’s even alive," Samheed said

Alex frowned at his work "Why would they kidnap hi to kill him? Why not just kill him?"

"I don’t know"

Alex painted a while longer "I think he’s alive"

"Yeah?"

"Yes I don’t knohy I just--I just think I’d, you know, feel so if he died I’d be able to tell" He let out a sh "Sounds weird, I know"

Samheed shifted in his chair "You alere a little weird when it came to Aaron"

"I suppose I ht ere"

Sah "Look, I know he’s your twin, but he’s a bad person And you’re not And I thinkif it’s possibleyou should just forget about it About hione"

Alex cringed and stepped back to look at his work "I suppose you’re happier with Gondoleery in charge," he said, sarcas into his voice

Salance at hiue, which wasn’t easy for hiht," Saure out how to stop her kind of ic That’s true"

Samheed’s admission surprised Alex, but he took it without question They fell silent again

Slowly, as Alex finished sections of the 3-D door, the corners and edges pushed out fro was finished Alex took a tiny rubber co "Preserve" The component hit the canvas in the center, spread out, and rippled to the edges so it would never tear He released the drawing fro it so he could deliver it to Lani