Lucidity

Chapter Eleven: The Collapse

Once Anwyn and Kosa had left, Yaz tried to take the opportunity to try and lure out Junior's more friendly the side. The side of him that had concealed a threat from Hazhil just so that the Rindea could still ndulge in naive delight. Maybe now that the two other girls weren't there to judge him, she'd have a better chance.

"You know, your flirting with the girls is doomed to fail," Yaz casually commented as she sorted through her supplies. The task was fairly unnecessary, but after having spent years balancing family life, reading and two jobs, she found it extremely hard to do nothing.

Junior, in the meantime, was polishing his shoes, not even bothering to take them off to do so. He glanced up at her, then coldly stared into her brown eyes while he said, "I suggest you check your facts first next time. I don't just make up stories about sexual encounters with women because I have nothing better to do. They're true, you know."

"If that's all you've got to brag about, you can't have had an especially nice life so far. I'm sorry-"

"I've had a great life, okay!?", Junior snapped and they both knew he was lying. Not wanting to hurt him, Yaz remained silent, waiting for him to lead the way forward.

He finished polishing his shoes, then headed over to Nokia and began stroking the dog. Yaz couldn't completely hide her surprise at this, but then again, why shouldn't he be a dog person. She plucked together some courage and remarked, "You know, I think you're quite a big softie underneath. I know you'll deny it just like you did with the whole Hazhil thing, but I don't think you're as much of a jerk as you'd have us all believe."

Nokia opened his eyes and let his gaze linger on Yaz for a while, before looking up at Junior, who stopped petting him and just crouched briefly, before saying, "You know exactly who you are. Be glad for it."

From that point onwards, no more words were exchanged between the two of them. Yaz was buried in thought, trying to piece together what he had most likely meant by that. She could come up with many possibilities, but it wasn't quite as easy as all that.

When Kosa and Anwyn returned, they were both surprised to see Junior kneeling at the latter's puppy's side and ruffling his speckled fur. In fact, Anwyn genuinely let out a small gasp, causing Junior to realise the girls were back. Immediately, it was back up onto his feet and Yaz's heart lept - it must have meant that he'd been more comfortable with her.

Junior awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, then spoke, "You have a fine specimen of a dog there, Miss Anwyn."

All three girls were astonished by him addressing Anwyn so. Suddenly, it dawned upon her. Of course, it all made perfect sense! The reason he'd shown so little interest in her must have been because he had fallen head over heels in love with her. Anwyn felt herself growing giddy at the idea and now that she thought about it, she was fairly certain that the reason she'd been feeling so upset earlier was because she'd been jealous.

Kind of creeped out by Anwyn's wild grin, Junior blurted out, "I'm going to town for a drink."

"Weren't you meant to stay here in case something happens?", pointed out Kosa, not because she would miss him, but she found the idea of him going out to enjoy himself while the rest of them roasted in the sandstone building extremely unappealing.

"I thought you and Anwyn could hold your own? Besides, I'll only be gone for thirty minutes, what could possibly happen in that time?"

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"We're going to die," screamed Anwyn, flailing her arms around like a penguin trying to fly.

Kosa slapped her, then yelled, "Get a grip! We're not going to die!"