NationStates Jolt Archive

Hao had been slightly distracted by the motions of Lauri's hands and the words comeuppance were the last things that he had truely heard.

Shaking himself, though still keeping one eye on her, he managed to recall the string of conversation.

"After that scare we all just had, I don't think he'd have wondered off too far. Right now, I think it's importent not to smother him. The kid just got the crap scared outta him, and he's not dumb."

Christian laughed, and took a bite of his food, his stomach on the verge of growling at him. “I think I’m up for the challenge, and I believe that I can match you pace for pace.” A sudden frown marred his features as he took a breath in, attempting to puff up his chest to make him look more in shape that he actually felt. Holding it for as long as he could, he gave a large gasp out, as he leant back against the wall. “Well, maybe not, but I will die trying.”

He looked about the camp, which seemed oddly quiet for the time of day. “Hopefully you’ll get a chance to talk to some of the other members, not that many seem present at the moment…other than Derret.” He lowered his voice slightly. “And I’m not he’s the best person to meet first, he is kind of…unusual.”

* * * * *

Lauri nodded, even though her eyes seemed to flick around her, looking for Will, until she fixed her gaze on Hao. “I know, I worry too much. But after today…” She gave him a smile, relaxing slightly, though she wished that the little boy was in view just to ease her mind. “I just don’t want anything to happen to him…I feel responsible for his safety.” I’m like his mother, and with that comes worry…who would have thought I would behaving like this…me, who wanted to see the world before she settled down. She grinned to herself at her thought.

Kim grinned a little, looking at her food, "Really now? I should warn you... I've got quite an appetite..." He took a largish bit of her food, trying to keep from giggling as she ate. She coughed slightly, managing to swallow her food without choking as she started to laugh at him. She smiled at him, "Well, nothing like dying with a smile on your face, hmm?"

She nodded absentmindedly, eating some more as Christian turned serious, talking about the camp. His comment on Derret brought her up short, "Um... huh? What do you mean 'unusual'... and... which one is he anyway?"

"We're like his family now I guess..."

With little cerimoney, he jumped into the pool, eventually comming up beside her.

"But enough with the seriousness, need any help cleaning yourself off?" he asked with a grin.

Behind the grin, a whirling series of thoughts still turned. It had been a while since any of them had talked about getting off the island and though they had grown comfortable there, Hao was now starting to wonder if they ever would.

Christian smiled, and looked over at the food over by the fire. “Well, I think we may have enough food to cover your appetite today, but we’ll have to hope that we can catch something tomorrow, otherwise you might go hungry.” He took a bite of his food, and chewed thoughtfully. “Of course, there is quite a good supply of fruit around the island, so you should be okay, and the fish are particularly tasty, but as you can imagine they are not the easiest thing to catch without the proper equipment, but we manage.”

He looked over to where Derret was sitting as Kim asked her question. “He’s not really a people person.” He laughed. “Which could be said for me too, I suppose, but he is…well, I’m sure you’ll understand when you get the chance to speak to him. But in the past, he has been a little difficult and…domineering. I think he has calmed down over the year, but there is something about him that seems untrustworthy. I would not want to have to rely on him for my survival, shall we say?”

Turning back to her, he grinned. “The others are pretty normal. Hao and Lauri are just ordinary, though Hao can be a little highly strung. But I guess that comes from being the unofficial leader of the group. Lauri has been like the mother of the group, and will probably be grateful having you around. She’s also become the surrogate mother of a little boy who lost both his parents in the sinking.” His eyes glazed over slightly at the mention of the accident. “Daniel, he is kind of like the grandfather of the group, nothing seems to bother him, kind of like a peacekeeper. And the others, well, they are as new as you.”

* * * * *

Lauri nodded and smiled, as she wrapped her arms around Hao, and pulled him close. “Have I ever refused your help?” Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to his lips, feeling the stress of the day finally ebbing away. She knew that they did not get as much time alone as they might wish for, but they – or she – had given the protection of Will a lot of importance, and sometimes in doing so she did not give Hao the attention she would have liked too.

“It’s been a while since I had someone scrub my back.” She grinned as the kiss came to an end and she stood staring into his eyes. “Thank you, Hao. I really don’t know what I would do without you.” Moving one of her hands, she brought it up to his cheek and gently stroked, once more being grateful that despite the hardships they had faced, she had someone who cared about her…and someone she could share her life with.

Will had finally surfaced about the time Hao hit the water, and was busily scrubbing himself off as best he could with just water and some leaves. He wanted this damn sand off him, out of his clothes.

The dirt was all over him, darkening the water as he scrubbed at it, scrubbing furiously, scratching at his skin, tearing off the top layer of it. He was silently crying as he scrubbed himself, rubbing and scraping, failing to notice either the pain or the blood that was beginning to turn the mud which flaked from his body bright crimson.

"Well, you wouldn't be having as much sex I think," Hao replied with a small smile before bringing his head back down and kissing her deeply.

"Speaking of sex..."

As un-smooth as that was, Hao was still under the age of 21 after all.

Kim grined cutely at Christian, "Aww... you'd let cute lil' me starve? And I thought you were a gentleman..." She giggled softly, "Fish? Boy, you're desperate to get me swimming, aren't you?"

She nodded at his description of Derret, "I'll keep that in mind. I hope you're wrong though. In a situation like this, if you can't trust the people you're with, you're in trouble." She sighed softly, "Well, even if you can't trust him to help you, it seems he won't harm you... better than nothing."

She smiled at the run-down of the others before grinning a little, "And what about you, Christian? The cute, brooding artist?"

Lauri grinned and pulled Hao towards her. “Or I might, but with someone else.” She pressed a kiss to his lips and smiled, her fingers running over his chest. “Tonight, once Will is sleeping.” Almost as if the sound of her voice speaking the young boy’s name, she once more wondered where he was. She raised her hand and slightly stroked Hao’s cheek. “I love you.” She smiled, and then turned, her eyes frantically searching for her ‘son’.

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened, as she watched Will, his hands rubbing his skin. “Will! Will, stop!” She called. She looked back at Hao and untangled herself from his arms as she move quickly to where Will was washing himself. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him to her. “What have you done?” She looked at the bloody scratches that he had cause to his body. “Stop it. Lauri will make sure you are clean and safe. I promise. You will always be safe as long as I’m here.”

* * * * *

“It’s all about survival…even if the competition is very beautiful.” Christian let his words hang in the air, knowing that Kim was not feeling very good about her appearance at the moment. But to him, she was perfect. “And as for the fishing, you don’t have to help, you could just stand on the beach and shout encouragement, if you think I’m only after you for one thing.” He grinned, although he had to admit that he would not refuse the chance of seeing her following a swim.

He shook his head, realising that now was not the time to linger on thoughts that would end up doing things to him that he really did not want to happen. He suddenly wished that he was back at home, and had the opportunity to get to know Kim in the usual manner. Dinner and dates, and then who knew what. On the island he could offer her…nothing.

Smiling he looked down at her ‘plate’. “I certainly would not let you starve.” He met her eyes. “I may not be the best hunter or fisherman on the island, but I certainly would not let you starve.” He paused for a moment, and then grinned again. “And who’s brooding?”

Kim looked down at her plate, smiling shyly, "Thank you." She glanced up a little, a playful grin moving across her lips, "Mmm, yes... I think 'encouraging' you would be a wonderful idea. I can't wait." She wondered if she was leading him on, but she didn't think so. They were teasing each other, to be sure, but it was mutual, and they both enjoyed it. Also, she liked his company and, she had to admit, he was quite enjoyable to look at. She supposed that the activity level required on the island might have something to do with it. If he had been a complete lay-about, he wouldn't have survived so long.

She set down her mostly empty plate and smiled at him, leaning in and giving him a hug, "I know you won't, Christian." She pulled back, brushing a strand of hair from her face, "Despite all the teasing, thank you. You found me on the beach and helped get me back to being myself again." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and grinned impishly, "Just because I give you a hard time doesn't mean I don't appretiate everything you've done for me... or may do for me in the future." She let the last comment hang in the air as she grabbed the last bit of meat on her plate and popped it into her mouth, mildly amused that were it not for this island, she never would have tried the Adkins diet.

Will collapsed as a shivering ball of child against Lauri, finally feeling the pain as her arms made his stop their work. Even still, his tears stayed silent.

After a long moment, he actually spoke. Quietly, though, against Lauri's chest, so only she could hear. "But you're not always there. You go off with Hao sometimes, and then you let him hurt you."

It was quite possibly the most his surrogate mother had ever heard him speak at one time.

Lauri listened to Will, the surprise on her face was very difficult for her to disguise. “Oh, no, Will, even when I leave you when you are sleeping or spend a little time with Hao, I never really go away. I’m always there for you.” She smiled, before pressing a tiny kiss to the top of the young boy’s head. “And he doesn’t hurt me.” Her eyes found Hao’s with a smile, as her cheeks turned a slightly deeper shade of pink.

“I love you, Will.” Her eyes once more found the boy’s face. “I will never be far enough away from you that I could not hear when you needed me.” She tightened her hold on him and pulled him against her. “I promise, if ever you call, I will come running, always.”

* * * * *

Christian’s smile grew as Kim spoke. He had enjoyed her company, more than he had of any of the others on the island, or even before he arrived there, if he was truthful with himself. He looked at her, his own expression changing, becoming more serious. “You’ve done more for me than I think you could understand.” He paused for a moment in thought. “I’ve been here a long time, longer than I thought. I always believed that we would get saved.”

He smiled sadly. “Every day was the same for me. The same routine, sleeping, hunting, eating, sleeping, but when I met you, all that changed. Now I have someone who inspires me to try something new. And for that, I am grateful to you.” He did not follow through with a kiss, though he had been very tempted. “Perhaps we can help each other through this?”

Kim smiled at him, touched by his openness and she hugged him tightly, "You're wonderful, Christian. You've made the impossible bearable and I... I owe you for that, thank you." She sighed siftly, enjoying being close to him, and just enjoying it for several long minutes. Eventually she released him and smiled again, "I guess we should sleep, huh?" Her eyes twinkled a little, "Busy day tomorrow, as I recall..."

(OOC: blarg, the damn forums wouldn't let me log in till I found a way around it, lol)

As she pulled away from him, he felt a flash of something he coudn't quite put his finger on. Hao puzzled at it for a few seconds until it's form became apparent to him...

It was insane, but as he saw Lauri hug Will to her, he felt the shape of the emotion that had pinged at him. Jealousy.

because she's YOURS

'No... not just mine, Will needs her too...'

Yours, and you know it.

'God, will you SHUT up!?'

... ... ...

A cold shiver plunged down his spine and slivers of shakes danced along his every nerve for a few seconds before he recovered control of his motor functions.

She turned to look at him then, a slight blush, wheither from the coldness of the water, or something else, coloured her cheeks and he could see her talking to Will, though he couldn't quite formulate what she was saying.

But it looked private, so he stood there, looking on, waiting for for the right moment to approach Lauri and the silent, quaking child in her arms.

A child who's skin now looked like it had come out the other side of a dry car wash.

'geez...'

Christian wrapped his arms around Kim as she hugged him, unable to stop the smile from growing. “It is a pleasure to have made it easier for you, Kim. And I hope I can continue to do so,” he grew suddenly serious. “Because it might not always seem so easy or so bearable. But whatever happens, know that I am here for you, through the good times and the bad.” He broke back into a smile as he watched her for a moment.

He yawned playfully, stretching his arms out to exaggerate the motion. “And you are right. It has been a busy day today and that is not going to change tomorrow.” He grinned. “Would you like me to tuck you in?” He got to his feet and presented his hand to her to help her from the ground.

* * * * *

Lauri looked up at Hao and smiled, as her arms remained locked around Will, holding him to her body. She pressed a tender kiss to the top on the young boy’s head, and whispered softly. “Hold on tightly, and we’ll go back to the camp.” She felt him tighten his grip, as she rose from the ground, carrying Will in her arms.

Walking over to Hao, she met his eyes. “I think we should get back so that we can get Will to bed.” She frowned for a moment, as she saw him looking at the young boy’s arms. “He’ll be okay, he just got a little scared. But he has us to look after him, and we will make everything all right. Won’t we, Hao?” She looked down at Will, who was resting again her body.

Kim nodded, her own seriousness matching his, "I know. I think it hasn't completely sunk in yet, so... thank you in advance." She smiled at him, "And I'm here if you need someone to talk to too. It's only fair, after all."

She accepted his hand, standing up and grinning at him, stretching as well, and over-emphasising the motion teasingly. She grinned at him, "Oh, you're such a gentleman." She traced her finger over his shirt, "My knight in... tattered rags." With a light laugh she looped her arm through his and wandered to the small cave that she had been using as 'home'. "Be it ever so humble..."

Christian walked Kim to her cave and paused outside the entrance, his hand resting on the wall. He let his eyes flick around the interior at her comment. “I’ve seen worse places to sleep. I remember when we first arrived, when all we had was the beach.” He turned to face her with a smile. “Caves tend to keep the rain off better than a few leaves and things.”

He laughed at the memory. “Still, it makes you appreciate what you have.” He took hold of her hand and brought it up to his lips, pressing a kiss to her fingers. “Have a very good sleep and wake up well rested.” He grinned suddenly. “As you…I mean, we have a busy day tomorrow.”

He shoved aside the unworthy thoughts in his head.

"Yeah... yeah we will," Hao reassured, sliding an arm around Lauri's waist, making sure not to make contact with the raw flesh on Will's arm.

"We'll be alright."

Kim laughed a little, "Be it ever so humble, there's no cave like home." She smiled shyly as he kissed her fingertips, leaning in and up to give him a quick kiss on the lips, "I'll see you in the morning." She smiled to herself as he walked away before turning and heading into the cave, feeling pretty happy despite being stranded without hope of rescue on some God-forsaken island.

She made her way to her makeshift bed, arranging everything and curling up to sleep. She sighed softly and said goodnight to the empty cave before closing her eyes and trying to sleep. She desperately missed her bed and her pillow, but there was no sense in pining for those things, they were gone forever.

Lauri, Hao and Will made their way back to the camp, holding each other and looking like a family. Lauri was careful not to cause Will any pain by holding him so that his arms were untouched. She felt comfortable with Hao’s arm around them, protecting them. The journey was made in silence, each keeping with their own thoughts, until finally they broke through the boundary of the camp, and were once more in the familiar setting that spoke of security, and to Lauri, of home.

“I should put Will to bed.” Lauri looked at Hao and smiled. “I should sit with him for a while until he’s asleep. He’s been through a lot today.” She tilted her head and pressed a kiss to Hao’s cheek. “Do you want to come, or would you rather wait with the others?”

Her eyes flicked around the camp, taking in Daniel and Derret who were talking together by the fire, probably talking about the events that had happened earlier, as they both looked at the new arrivals. Christian was standing over by one of the cave entrances, speaking to the latest surviver, Kim.

* * * * *

Christian smiled, and stood beside the entrance for a moment listening to the sounds of Kim preparing her bed. He felt oddly very tired and yet more relaxed and rested than he had in a long time, or at least since he had been on the island. His thoughts returned to the day he had spent with Kim. He had experienced the island in a new light. Showing her around the place had made him really look at what he had around him, and despite some of the luxuries he had back in his old life, this one was not as bad as it could be.

For a long time, when he had first arrived, he would sit endlessly on the beach, looking out to the sea at the spot the ship had gone down. Sometimes, he wondered as he felt himself pulled down into his own internal hell, why he had been allowed to survive. Why he had to struggle every day to feed himself, to keep himself alive, when others had been given the easy way out. But as the year went on, and he had settled into this new life, he became grateful that he had been given a chance to continue. And now, he knew that he would be forever grateful that he had not lost his life that night. He now had a purpose and someone to share that purpose with, be she friend or more.

Finally he stepped away from the cave entrance, and walked over to his own. He shouted goodnight to the others that were still awake, and moved inside. He was not sure how long he lay awake staring at the roof of the cave before sleep claimed him, but he would remember the dreams that held him captive that night, during the first truly restful sleep he had experienced since arriving on the island. For once, his dreams did not contain people screaming as they fought for their lives.

Once Will was settled, it took the exhausted young boy a very short time to fall asleep.

He had after all, been through, as Lauri had said, quite a lot for one day.

The only problem was, he did not stay asleep. The second he started to move in his sleep, his eye bolted open as he rubbed his torn up skin on the ground which made up his bed. No tears came, and he tried again to sleep...

Eventually, it even worked, when he was so tired even the pain did not wake him...

Lauri sat beside Will, watching him as he slept. She had seen him wake up several times with the pain, but she had not moved to wrap him up in her arms, which had been her first desire. Instead she had remained still, making sure to keep quiet, watching the boy she thought of as a son suffer, unable to do anything for him. She made a mental note to find something more comfortable for him to sleep on in the morning, when the sun was back in the sky, but that would be after she had taken the young boy to the sea, to soak his wounds in the salty water to clean his injuries.

Once he seemed to settled, though she knew he would not sleep as well as she would hope, she rose slowly to her feet and made the short journey to the entrance of the cave, sitting on the threshold of her home, her eyes fixed to the rapidly darkening sky, which watched her back with its countless twinkling eyes.

Kim curled up in her 'bed', trying to get comfortable on the hard rock. Last night, falling asleep had been easy, she had been so exhausted, she could have slept on a bed of poisonous snakes. While she was still drained today, she was recovered enough to be fully aware of just how uncomfortable sleeping in a cave was. She made a mental note to try and come up with some ideas for bedding. Who would have thought that classes on ancient history would be so useful? Sure, she'd taken plenty of survival courses in her training to be a daredevil, but those just told you how to survive. Learning how the ancients lived taught you how to achieve a modicum of comfort.

Thinking about those classes made her thoughts drift to ancient art techniques, which made her think of Christian. She blushed softly as she thought about their banter back and forth. She had fun teasing him, and he certainly enjoyed teasing back, but it operated on a deeper level than that. She was already finding herself attracted to him, and any attempt to parse that feeling kept getting sidetracked by thoughts of him. Sure, she would be attached as he pulled her from the ocean, and sure, there was a limited selection -- as it were -- to chose from, but she wasn't some animal interested only in sustaining the species, after all. No matter how much she tried to reduce her attraction to logical explinations, however, she couldn't make it go away.

And then she'd do something silly like think about kissing him, or diving for hematite and she'd get horribly distracted again.

It was somewhere between her sixth and seventh arguement with herself that she slipped away into a dreamless sleep, no longer troubled by possibilities, ramifications of actions, or anything of the sort. She was able to just sleep, and that was enough.

Hao moved up beside her with two portions of what had been dinner.

"Hey girl, gotcha something to eat."

He placed it in her hands and sat down beside her.

"So... long day huh?"

Lauri smiled and took the offered food from Hao, making herself comfortable. She placed the ‘plate’ on her lap and looked at her companion as she waited for him to settle beside her. “A long day is a bit of an understatement. I could do without a repeat for a very long time.” She picked up a bit of meat and nibbled it tentatively. “I’m so glad that you were there today, Hao. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” She smiled sadly. “I don’t know what Will would have done without you.”

She met his eyes, hers filled with gratitude. “As for how I am, I think I could sleep for a week. I can’t remember feeling this tired for a long time.” She looked down at her plate, lowering the piece of meat back down. “I guess I’m not as hungry as I thought I was.” Her eyes once more found his. “I think the excitement of the day as made me lose my appetite.”

* * * * *

Christian yawned sleepily and left the two other men sitting near the fire, neither looking like they had plans to turn in for the night any time soon. He moved over to the cave that he called home, stopping at the entrance to briefly look in the direction where Kim was sleeping, despite not being able to see her from where he stood. A smile crept over his lips as he entered the cave and made himself comfortable. For the first time in a long while, he had something to look forward to upon waking.

"Oh I dunno, you're not hungry now, but who knows what's gonna happen later that might increase your appitite. Better to eat now," Hao responded solemnly with only a hint of a wink in his voice.

He himself wasn't all that hungry either, but food was food and who knew what tommorow might bring after all? Up went the plate to his lips as he took a bite of the meat.

"Hmm... tastes like Chicken."

Lauri laughed lightly, and looked back at her food, picking up a piece tentatively and taking a nibble. “I suppose a couple of mouthfuls won’t hurt.” She looked at Hao, smiling. “Do you sometimes wish we could be sitting in a nice restaurant with a good bottle of wine, using pretty plates and cutlery?” She sighed slightly, wondering why she was letting herself dwell on what she no longer had in her life. “Although, I guess if we weren’t here, we would not be together.” Her eyes held a sadness at the thought.

“What do you think you would be doing now, if we hadn’t been stranded on this island?” Her eyes found his, questioningly. “Who would you be with right now, eating dinner with?”

His lips unlatched themselves from the slightly burnt leg of meat that he had been chewing and thinned slightly as he compressed them. There was quite a range of people whom he could be having dinner with right now... a range of people who probably assumed him dead.

"I... I dunno. I suppose alone. Maybe with friends or family possibly. Girl I was dating broke up with me a year into my service soo... I really don't know."

"What about you?"

“I would most likely be sharing dinner with a group of girls I worked with one the liner.” Lauri felt her heart sink, as their faces flashed through her mind. It had been a while since she had really thought about her friends, and suddenly her head began to swim as she recalled their screams and cries as the ship had began its descent into the dark waters. She took a deep breath, trying to fight away the memory. “I…ah…I…” Her face went suddenly pale, as her hand moved up to cover her mouth.

Without another word, she got to her feet and ran a short distance away, into the bushes, before she began to gag, unable to keep her food down. Once she had finished, she wiped her lips with her hand, feeling tears pricking her eyes. Her body shook, taken by surprise to her reaction to the thoughts she had been having. She had managed to contain her emotions in the past, had managed to keep them buried, but she took the events of the day as the major cause in this reaction in her.

Feeling more herself, she stood silently, making sure the nausea was not going to return, before she turned and took a step back through the busy, looking bashfully at Hao. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have eaten.” She took another step towards him, when suddenly the events of the day overwhelmed her, and the tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Hao moved to embrace her, wraping his arms around her.

"Hey now..." he said softly into her ears.

The truth of the matter was that he felt just as capable of crying as her. He Missed his parents and his friends, his room and his stuff. But he had discovered something here, something different from anything he had had before something that...

There was something different. His mind was nagging at him to notice something different about the way that she felt in his arms something...

"You've been throwing up an aweful lots lately eh?"

Wrapping her arms around Hao, Lauri felt comfortable and safe. Her tears began to dry up, as she stood in his embrace. “I’m sorry.” She looked up into his eyes, her own ringed with red from crying. “It’s been a long day, and I guess it has brought back a lot of memories.” A small smile broke over her lips. “But I feel better now.”

She rested her head down on his shoulder as Hao’s question whirled around her mind. The words had indicated a point that she was hoping she would not have to ever get to, even though she knew she would eventually. But putting her fears into words would make the situation all that more real.

Unwrapping her arms from around him, she took a step backwards, her eyes lowered from her face. “Hao, I…” She paused, her eyes moving up his face until she met his gaze, her breath growing raspy as she felt fresh tears prickle at her eyes. “I think I’m pregnant.”

"You're..."

Derret appeared behind her as if from no where.

"Holy shiet, you're pregnant?!"

He nattered on and on, peppering her with questions, a lively gleam in his eye.

"Hey Daniel!" He hollered, "Come check out the news!"

Hao hadn't said anything past that first word though and his face had gone expressionless.

Thoughts ripped through his head, whirling at increasing speeds around and around; not one thought lasted in his sights long enough for him fully explore it. She was pregnant. He was going to be a father at 20. They were to have another kid on this island. The Kid would GROW UP on the island.

They would die and leave the kid alone on the island...

"huh."

Lauri was taken by surprise when Derret crept up behind her, sharing in their news. She had been hoping to keep it a secret from the others, at least for the time being. She answered his questions as best as she could, smiling awkwardly, while the whole time looking at Hao, trying to gauge his reaction to the news. It was not hard for her to tell that he was stunned, not that she could really blame him. She had not been thrilled with the idea when she had finally realised what was the matter with her.

“Hao?” She asked as he finally stammered his answer, just as Daniel joined the party.

“What’s all the fuss?” The new arrival enquired as he looked first at Derret, then at Hao and finally focused on Lauri, as the news was imparted to him by a chattering Derret. “That’s…great!” He paused, not sure whether he should be happy or sad for the couple standing in front of him. “Derret, I think we should leave them alone for a moment.” He gave Lauri a smile, as he moved away from the group, heading towards the caves to turn in for the night.

Watching as he walked away, Lauri turned her attention back to the father of her unborn child, her eyes asking more questions than she could form the words for. “I’m sorry, Hao.” She lowered her head, unable to look at him, or meet his gaze. “I…I think I’m going to bed.” She raised her eyes slightly, peaking at him through her lashes. “We should talk about this in the morning, when we are both less tired.” Despite her words, she did not make a move to leave him, hoping that he would say something.

Hao slowly wrapped an arm around her and nodded his agreement with what she was saying.

Yeah, you're right. We should go to bed."

He led her off to their sleeping cave, slowly as if he was pushing through shin deep sand for ever step he took.

A child. HIS child.

Hao laid them both down on their improvised bedding and wrapped his other arm around her, spooning against her back and holding her close. After a strained five minutes, he finally asked, quietly:

"So what are we going to do?"

Lauri lay against Hao, feeling safe in his arms. Her mind swam, images flashing past. She could see them both with Will. In her arms was the newest arrival to their family. They were surrounded by the comforts of home. Across the wall was hung a sign welcoming the little bundle of joy into the house. Almost as one they moved through the house, up the stairs and into the nursery, painted in non-gender specific colours.

Then the image dissolved and instead of a nice house, full of comforts, they were standing on the island, their feet sinking slightly into the warm sand. The sun beat down on them as she tried to shield the glare from the baby’s eyes. Around them the call of the animals they shared their home with.

Hao’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. She was unsure how long they had been quiet, it felt like forever and a second at the same time. Her heart sank and her stomach did a jig as his question registered in her mind. She paused for a moment, grateful that she could not see Hao’s eyes.

“What can we do?” She felt tears prickling her eyes. She swallowed, trying to keep her voice level. Things were bad enough and now they had become countless times worse. “If this was anywhere else our options would be…anything, but here…?” She stopped. “Hao, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.”

Hao frowned, hugging her tighter. "No option I guess. I mean... it had to happen some time right?"

And it was true. They had lain together may times since the shipwreck and there had never been any protection.

No real option to been seen either. If Lauri was with child then she was with child the pragmatic side of him said. There wasn't anything that he, or any of them, could really do about it.

Oh, but there was something he could do about it, a dark corner of his brain commented. He could indeed prevent any child of his from having to ekk out a dangerous exsistance on this ugly little isla...

He chuckled very softly, "I guess all those trojan man commercials just didn't take."

The chuckle became alittle louder, "And hey, I hear when women become pregnant, they actually get fairly randy. Also, since you're ALREADY pregnant..."

“Hao! What has got into you?” Lauri sat up suddenly, and turned to face the young man. “I don’t see that this is a laughing matter.” As she finished talking, she felt a tear well in her eyes and her lip began to quiver.

She felt angry and confused, lost and frightened. Having a baby with the man she loved was meant to be a wonderful thing. She felt more like she had stepped into a nightmare and Hao was not helping matters. She had wanted him to tell her that everything would be all right, that they would get through it together, instead he was making silly jokes about her becoming randy and no longer having to worry.

Staring at him for a moment, she shook her head and lay back down on their makeshift bed, turning away from him. “We’ll discuss it in the morning.” She felt the tears roll down her cheeks.

* * * * *

Daniel looked at Derrett and shook his head. “This is something we really could do without.” He lowered himself onto the floor, seating himself by the fire. It always became chilly when the sun began to set. “I just hope that Hao can handle this problem on top of everything else. He’s been acting very strange lately, I just hope this doesn’t send him over the edge.”

Hao felt her turn away from him and would not reach out for her, again, the rest night.

Instead he was stuck in the dark, contimplating his last ugly thoughts of the night as they were wispered into his ear by his hindbrain.

'He could indeed prevent any child of his from having to ekk out a dangerous exsistance on this ugly little island. All it would take is a way to incapasitate Lauri and a long stick. HE could prevent any child of his from having to ekk out, or fail to ekk out a dangerous exsistance on this ugly little island... all it would take... He COULD prevent his child from ekking out a deadly exsistance on this ugly little island. He could prevent his child from dying on this ugly piece of rock... All it would take... All it would take... So very easy.'

And the dark thoughts rebounded in his mind, mutating every so often, until the wispers rocked him to an uneasy sleep of unending crying and a soft, bloody lump on the forest floor...

---------

"You and me both man. Not only for Lauri and himself, but for us too. It's hard enough for FOUR people to live out here, imagine trying to do it with just 3 with 2 kids around."

Lauri was not sure how much she actually slept during the night. Every time she closed her eyes nightmares came. Whenever she lay awake in the cave, she felt very alone and frightened. She wanted nothing more than for Hao to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be fine, but his reaction had caused her to me more concerned than ever.

Carefully, she got off from the floor and moved over to the door of the cave. She looked back at the two bundles on the floor, both of whom had become very important to her over the last year. Her hand went down to her stomach, cradling the child that was growing inside her. She wanted someone to tell her what to do, not that there was much she could do. Would she want to get rid of it even if she could?

She lowered herself down and sat on the floor, using the slight step as a seat. The camp outside was quiet, which was unusual. Normally when she woke there was normally someone already awake and pottering around. But everyone had retired.

The sounds from beyond the camp were faint, the crackle of the fire the only real noise in the air. She looked over at the flames, watching them dancing slowly, as the fire began to work itself out.

Pushing herself up, she moved over to the fire, the heat still noticeable. Bending she picked up a log from the pile and tossed it onto the fire, watching the flames slowly grow as it took hold.

“You’re up early?”

Lauri spun around, surprised, her eyes wide.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Christian smiled as he drew near. “I wasn’t expecting any company at this hour.” He walked over to the pile and picked up another couple of logs.

Lauri smiled, as she began to relax. “Sorry, I’m… I guess I’m just a little jumpy.”

“Can’t sleep?”

“Not really.”

Christian frowned and pointed to one of the larger logs that were used as benches. “I’m a good listener, if you think it would help.”

Lauri looked at the log then lowered herself down onto the seat. “It’s nothing.” She looked up at Christian and smiled. “But I’d be grateful for some company.”

He gave her a smile and took a seat beside her. “It’s times like these that I miss early morning television. You know, the kind of programmes that no one admits to watching?”

The young woman laughed, in a less than happy way. “Television is the last thing I’m missing at the moment.” She looked at Christian and sighed. “Alcohol would be most welcome about now.”

Derret had left the camp early that morning, taking his knife and spear with him while leaving the gun in it's hiding spot. He was confident enough with his skills that a walk through the early morning jungle didn't concern him as much as it might have months before. Besides, with both of his hand weapons, killing alittle bit more meat wasn't totally out of the question.

Mostly though, Derret itched to leave the camp for a few hours. Last night had dropped a certain pall over their home, leaving all who remained there feeling less than at their best.

So in the wee hours of the morning, before even the sun had awoken, he walked off into the jungle surrounding their home.

----------

It was a fairly small creature in front of him; kinda rabbit like in that it would twitch it's nose at certain plants and moved in a sort of loping motion.

Some say that hunting clears the mind and focuses the body, unfortently, when the mind is busy and the body unwilling, it results in your pray lopping it's merry way away from you whilst you dust yourself off and thank god none of the rest of the survivers saw you fail to catch yourself a bunny.

At least, that's what Derret was now contimplating as his face was losing it's flush of embarrisment.

"Screw it, failure's not helping to clear my mind. Come to think of it, hunger ain't either."

So it was off his own merry way he went.

--------------

Derret returned just in time to see Lauri start up her conversation with the new guy. From his prespective, he also saw two eyes flash in the rising sun. Two eyes at his own height that burrowed straight into the back of Christian.

He was only able to complete half his thought of 'oh shi' before the eyes turned away from the twosome and back towards the interior of the cave.

OOC: In addition to the above post, Cause this guy was still laying unconcious in one of the caves, lol. Hell, in RP time, that was only... what, 2 days ago?
-----
It must have been the combination of the punch and the pain, but Patrick finally awoke a day later feeling better... and completely horrible.

Better because the infection in his leg had indeed been burned away, but completely horrible because of the dihydration and lack of food that had finally set in.

"Hello?" He called out weakly.

Lauri sat starting at the fire, hardly noticing how light it had become. She watched the orange flames flicker and dance, then jump as another log was added to the pile. She turned away from her vigil and looked back at Christian, having forgotten for a moment that he was there. He gave her a smile and indicated the caves.

“I think I’ll go check on our new arrivals,” he smiled and shook his head. “After being here for a year and a half with just the few of us, it seems weird being able to say that.” He let his mind wander to one new arrival in particular, wondering if Kim had woken yet.

Lauri got to her feet and dusted off the loose dirt that seemed to always be clinging on to her skin and clothing. “I should see if Will is awake.” She returned Christian’s smile. “Thank you for listening.”

“Think nothing of it,” he replied as he took a step back, giving her room to pass. “It’s not as if you really bent my ear that much.” He paused for a moment. “If you ever need anyone to keep you company in the early hours of the morning…” He broke into a grin. “You might have to rely on one of the others. I normally like to wake with the lark not the bat.”

Lauri laughed lightly, feeling a little more like her normal self, then turned towards the caves. Her heart sank as she made her way to what she called home. She wished she could turn back the clock and make everything right again.

* * * * *

Daniel had watched proceedings from his own cave and frowned. There was a strange feeling in the air that hung over the camp like a sign of trouble. He had watched Derret leave, knowing that the younger man liked to disappear for a little space, usually with a knife or gun. To begin with, Daniel had always been a little unsure about Derret, even a little concerned. But now, his fear was resting with another in the camp, one that he felt sure was going to need all the support he could get.

He took a step forward and nodded his head at Lauri as she passed, not sharing any words. He knew the young woman was not in the mood for talking. She had fallen silent while talking to Christian and Daniel felt that she was saving herself for a more important meeting.

Just about to step out of his home and head for the fire, he heard a faint noise coming from one of the other caves. In all the confusion of the previous night, he had forgotten completely about the injured man they had carried back to the camp. So with a quick turn of his body, he soon found himself walking in the opposite direction.

He entered the cave where Patrick lay and greeted the injured man with a smile. “And how are you, this morning?” He asked as he moved over to where Patrick lay. “Let’s sit you up and get you fed and watered – if you feel up to it that is. And then I’ll fetch Hao to take a look at you.

* * * * *

Lauri paused at the cave’s entrance and looked inside. She could see Will was still asleep, but she knew that he would soon wake, as he stirred slightly. Her eyes moved a little to where she and Hao normally slept, then took a cautious step inside.

“Hao?” She called, indicating her arrival, in case he had not spotted her coming in. She walked over to where her young charge slept and then stopped, careful not to disturb him. She stood still, waiting for some reaction from the father of her unborn child, who was no longer lying where she had left him.


[ooc: Sorry for the delay. Holiday and real life getting in the way.]