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The Girl laughs at the scene in front of her. The Boy stuck grapes a straw and has been shooting the insides of them at a now very irritated cat. The Cat hisses in disgust each time one hits him and moves to a different table in the cafeteria to avoid any more assault.

But the Boy has good aim and won't surrender easily in this fight. After about five successful shots the cat races out of the room, ears back in annoyance.

The Girl laughs lightly again. All the moments like this have felt foreign to her. Such simple happiness in a world like this.

The Girl flinches when she feels an uncomfortable wetness on her cheek. The Boy laughs then gazes at her with a wicked grin. The Girl rolls her eyes and wipes the fruit innards off with her forefinger, sighing.

The Boy burst into an obnoxious laugh at that, holding his stomach in amusement. The Girl narrows her eyes at him but cannot find herself to be genuinely upset.

The Girl stands and dumps her plate into the garbage. Lunch was half a granola bar and a handful of grapes. Glancing back she sees that the Boy is no longer laughing, a wide smile has taken its place.

The Girl turns to the door, saying,
"I hope you had your fun. I'll be working in the garden if you need me."

When the Girl exits the large room she already knows the Boy has moved to follow her. Hell, she hardly ever finds him not in the glass room. The Girl hears the Boy's quick feet behind her and they soon fall into step beside each other.

-

The Boy looks out over the botanical garden from the second story balcony. The large grass room reminds him of his family trip to Tennessee when we was younger. They had visited Opryland, even rode the boat through the river.

The indoor garden he is currently standing in does not have a river, it is not quite big enough. Nonetheless, it reminds him of his family, and the smell reminds him of the world before the ash.

From where the Boy stands he can see the Girl working. At the moment she is picking raspberries from one of the 16 bushes throughout the colorful greens.

He thinks about the Girl, not in that way. It's not as though he hasn't had those kind of thoughts about her. Of course he's thought about her sexually, she's the first girl he's seen in a year that wasn't dead.

He doesn't allow himself to dwell on those thoughts. They are more of cars at a drive through, none of them have stopped to come in. They make his interactions with the Girl afterward awkward for the Boy.

By now the Boy sees the Girl as a little sister, that he needs to protect her in this dangerous world. At least, he thinks the Girl is younger than him.

As the Boy looks out at the slowly dimming room he decides he'll settle in early tonight.

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