CRASH , kirin o'connor

vii. day sixteen

trigger warning

day sixteen!

"who wants some more?" kirin asked as he walked back to the group as they sat near the tent, everyone was there except josh. which luna thought was weird, he was never gone.

"this is unreal, dude. i can't believe you got it to taste okay" raf said, "hey, it's not just okay, okay? this shit is fucking marketable. it.. it's all-natural gluten-free. it's exotic. i mean, when we get home, me and you are gonna talk. we gonna see if we can't market this shit." scotty laughed, grabbing a piece of meat as kirin went around the group.

"yeah, i don't know. i tried a few things. took that bunker ketchup and used it as a rub, and then I smoked a meat for a punch of mesquite." kirin replied, leaning against a log as he sat next to luna. "um, i'm sorry, what?"

"uh, my coach used to be a pit master. taught me all this cool shit." kirin answered, "it's good, kirin. compliments to the chef." ivan complimented the boy.

luna placed a hand on kirin's arm as she looked at him, "yeah, it was really good, chef kirin" she agreed, smiling softly at him. he smiled back, grabbing her hand intertwining their fingers.

"where's j-bird, huh? he get any?" kirin asked looking around for josh. "you know what, maybe we should just let him chill. he's super hungover. probably should just, like, walk it off. besides the energy is good here. if josh comes over, then it's a whole spiel about alcohol and the effects on his microbiome." seth immediately answered, it made the boys laugh but luna looked at the boy and rolled her eyes, she had a bad feeling and she didn't know why.

"he might not be drinking enough water." raf said, "that's true.. raf, tell them what he told you. tell them why he doesn't wanna drink from the water supply."

raf laughed, "he doesn't want to abuse his white privilege." he said using air quotes. luna just tuned out the rest of the conversation, her attention focused on kirin as she rested her head in his lap, his fingers running through her hair gently.

"josh! come hang out!" henry yelled over to the boy as he stood up. "i feel like i just told you to let him chill, but okay." and again luna thought it was weird how seth didn't want josh to come over and join the group.

"packs don't leave the weak on their own. it's against nature." henry stated.

"hey. how are you feeling, man? you holding up okay?" seth asked, luna sat up and noticed as josh sat a little separated from the group.

"joshua, would you like some water?" ivan asked josh, "i really shouldn't." he answered.
"i want you to know that me and my people would very much love for you to take some water and not die."

"yeah, dude we want you to rebound. we got a 'good vibes only' thing here and.. uh, we want you in on it. here. seriously." seth tossed josh a water.

"hey josh, are you sure you're okay?" luna asked softly, looking over at him, he just just nodded in response. he seemed off, but luna didn't push any farther.

"oh, shit. we blew through the fucking water supply." — "aw, man." — "no, no, it's cool. it's cool. between the alcohol and.. and the salt on the meat, we weren't not gonna get thirsty. we just.. we just got to.. we got to hit the woods, find some fresh water. come on, come on."

"spillz is right. we can't really put this off." kirin agreed, standing help then helped luna stand up as well.

"should we split up, cover more ground?" scotty asked, " excellent idea all the way around. i'll.. i'll hang back here with.. with j."