Awkward

Like a flower? I blink in confusion and stare at him for several silent seconds before asking "Like a flower? What?" Thane quickly clears his throat at says "Oh, I was saying no worries. You were as light as a flower."

I blink again before saying "Oh... I see." I clear my throat this time before throwing the cotton swab at him and saying "You just do it!" I stand up and walk to the other side of the truck, ignoring the awkward looks from the others.

My face is so red... I probably look like one of those red monkey butts you always see at the zoos! I sit down with my back facing the others as I try to forget what just happened. A few minutes later, Cruz plops himself down next to me and asks "Are you okay?"

I glance and him and glare but he gives me a knowing look and says "I'm being serious. Are you hurt anywhere else?" I deflate a little and shake my head no as I say "No, I'm fine." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small thing of chapstick and says "It'll help it from cracking once it starts to heal. If you need anything for your... you know, you can always ask me and I'll help."

I meet his eyes and nod my head before saying "Thanks, I appreciate it." Suddenly, Thane walks over and says "I didn't know you two were so close." Cruz smiles and throws his arm around my shoulders and says "Yup, old pals, remember!?"

I shrug him off and say "You stink!" He chuckles and says "Better get used to it. We're in the wild now!" Titus suddenly says "Huddle up, everyone. I want us all to stay close tonight." I frown at that and slowly stand up. What are we, three?

As we all sit around each other, I can't help but notice they all stink! Did none of them bring deodorant!? I turn my head and scoot back a little only to bump into Thane. He glances down at me and frowns but when I notice he doesn't stink, I decide to stay close.

That makes one of them! It was still considered earlier so we all sat around, swatting at bugs and trying to dry but it was almost impossible without the sun. Thane and I prop ourselves up on the side of the truck tires while the others sit in front of us.

Before I realize it, I'm starting to doze. Under normal circumstances, I would never be able to fall asleep like this but I was exhausted. When I hear birds, I slowly open my eyes and instantly feel pain in my neck! When I go to touch my neck, I realize I'm no longer sitting up!

I look up so see Thane's sleeping face! I quickly sit up and realize that I somehow ended up in his lap! What the hell!? I look around and see that the sun is just about to rise but everyone was still soundly sleeping. Everyone except Titus.

When he sees me, he smiles and nods before going back to the journal in his hands. He was still trying to discover something... I get up and stretch, flinching when I feel a few muscles trying to charlie horse so I decide to take a small walk while staying close to the others.

~~~~~~~

When Thane hears Valen walk away, he slowly opens his eyes and starts to stretch. The guy dozed off not even ten minutes after they sat down! He can't help but smirk when he remembers how Valen's head kept bobbing.

He wanted to keep him from hurting his neck so he moved Valen's head over to his shoulder. Once he fell asleep too, he was awoken when he felt the little guy move down to his lap. He was going to wake him up at first but something stopped him.

He didn't necessarily dislike the feeling. If anything, he liked having Valen sleeping on him. It comforted him and he was able to sleep better knowing that he was safe and not wandering around getting lost or attacked.

He almost screwed up earlier... When Valen blushed, he honestly resembled a flower! He hadn't even realized he said that out loud until Valen looked at him like that. He reaches up and rubs a hand down his face as he tries to understand his own awkward emotions.

This just keeps getting better and better...

~~~~~~~~

RAGERS

"Have you found them?" A man with green scales asks with irritation. A shorter male with patches of brown fur all over scratches the side of his face and says "Not yet, boss. We're thinking about releasing the hounds."

The man with green scales sneers at him at says "They'll be gone by then! I want the boy who snapped our chain!" Another guy with dark blue feathers walks over and says "I've never seen anything like him, boss. He has more than two powers!"

The man with green scales nods and says "That's why I want him. Our leader will be pleased if we can bring the brat to him. Spread out and search the trees! This isn't the first time hunting down a human! It's not that hard!!"

The man's eyes turn into slits as his green scales grow and crawl over his face like a strange wave before he blinks and it all disappears. One way or the other, they're going to find that little brat and bring him to the leader. He's tired of doing grunt work! He wants to move up and the fastest way to do that, will be with that kid.

~~~~~~~

Slowly walking around while watching the sun rise was mildly relaxing. Normally I would be asleep at this time, tucked into bed and dead to the world. What I would give for a hot bath and a big, fluffy bed.

I pull out a bent sucker, unwrap it, and pop it into my mouth as I continue my stroll but when I hear the bushes next to me move, I freeze. I look over to the bushes with wide eyes and try to listen. I reach for my gun and quickly realize I made a mistake. I left the gun with the others...

I try to take a step back but the bushes move again! I reach down to the knife strapped to my thigh and slowly unhook it as I keep my eyes on the bushes...