Page 14 of Puck Your Feelings

---

"That's… unfortunate."

When we board, every single teammate is staring at us with varying degrees of amusement.

"Beckane?" Petrov calls out. "Is good name!"

"Shut up, Petrov," I mutter, sliding back into my seat.

Kane follows, settling in with his protein shake and salad. He opens the container and starts eating with a fork he apparently brought from home, because of course he did.

"You know that's insane, right?" I gesture at his setup.

"It's called preparation."

"It's called weird."

"Says the man eating beef jerky of questionable origin."

"This jerky is fine."

"The expiration date is smudged."

"That means it's mystery jerky. Could be from any year. Schrödinger's jerky."

Kane actually pauses mid-bite. "That's not how Schrödinger's cat works."

"Sure it is. Until I get food poisoning, the jerky is both safe and unsafe."

"That's... actually not the worst application of quantum theory I've heard."

I blink at him. "Did you just compliment me?"

"I said it wasn't theworst.There's a significant difference."

"I'll take it." I tear open the jerky bag with my teeth. "This is basically a bonding moment."

"We're not bonding."

"We're sharing snack philosophy. That's practically friendship."

Kane returns his attention to his meal, but I catch what might be the ghost of a smile before he hides it behind another bite of chicken.

***

TWO HOURS TO go. I’m officially fucking dying.

I’m bored out of my mind and Kane still reading his depressing book like it's the most interesting thing in the universe.

"What's it about?" I finally ask.

He doesn't look up. "Violence. Despair. The human condition."

"Sounds fun."

"It's not meant to be fun."

"Then why read it?"

"Because not everything needs to be entertaining to have value."

---