Pull Your Weight

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It was a fine and crisp mid-day kind of morning.  As Pat came out of her little tent, she felt awkward. Now, she had a burden of lies stuck to her chest and a hidden agenda behind all her actions. It felt, odd. She didn't have to fear the Leopard as much, knowing she'd been given a light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't certain just yet. But she knew the bunny was scared into lip locked silence.

Looking up, she saw Michelle and her two minions talking around the now dead firepit. Lulu spotted her and waved, making the other two stop and address her.

"Heeeey sleepy kitty. You ready for round two?!" Minwa teased and got up, putting her arm around the Cat. She laughed and shook her head, glancing at Alona's tent.

Michelle caught her eye and smiled.

"We'll let her sleep. She should be exhausted from yesterday." She waved her hand dismissively at the tiny tent and Pat nodded sheepishly.

The Cat didn't know how to face her. She knew the rabbit could put two and two together. She wasn't beat up, and Michelle was none the wiser of her situation.

She hoped the bunny might sleep a little longer. 

They all got back in their bathing suits and played in the water for a while. Losing track of time.

Alona sat staring at the sunlight through the thin blue fabric with no expression. She was in fact still naked. She rolled over and huffed. She felt really good naked. She hadn't really slept with nothing at all before. Her sleep was rather peaceful, and she really wished she could nap more.

But she knew they'd come around poking their heads in at her at some point. So begrudgingly, the Witch slid on bathing suit number two! It was in her pocket. She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled it out. This one was a black one piece with a zipper up the front, going all the way up into a turtleneck, the zip tab had a silver circle that was a good size, it looked like a choker.

She was kind of glad Pat had woken up when she did. It would be hard to explain the number of hickeys the Jaguar most likely planned to put on her. Amusing though, it certainly would have been.

She unzipped her tent and stepped out. As soon as her face passed the threshold she was back into character and walked over to the lake rubbing her eyes and yawning. When Michelle saw her, she laughed and waved.

"MORNING SLEEPY HEAD!" She yelled loudly and obnoxiously; the sound reverberated off the trees. Alona grumbled something back and sat down at the edge splashing her toes in the water. The Leopard just shrugged and smiled. Clearly the rabbit was a bit hungover.

Pat had to look away from her as soon as she saw her. The Cat had to get it together. She needed to hide her emotions well enough to be an asset. Her blue haired head dunked under water, inconspicuous. Minwa and Michelle didn't notice her as they giggled about Alona's pouting face. Lulu was just silent. After the veil was pulled from her eyes. She really didn't have the heart to gush over how cute the rodent was. It felt awful. To fawn over her while knowing she was prey to an Apex, felt too cruel.

How could she meet those purple eyes, filled with innocence, and purity? Knowing she was being hunted and defiled by Brutus? Wasn't this silence for the best? Alona herself knew not to let Michelle know. She knew it was beyond helping. There was no other explanation for her to be so tongue tied.

So the Hyena couldn't feel too bad? Right? She wasn't the one doing it. It wasn't her fault.

The Hyena felt a knot in her throat.

When Pat came back up her expression gave nothing away. For now. She glanced up at the Witch. Alona caught her eye and the Cat nervously smiled.

The rabbit's face was unreadable somehow, it looked distant and gave nothing away. Quickly looking away from Pat and back at the water she splashed in, her long eyelashes shading her big eyes as they looked down. The Cat gulped.

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