Ahoy there - Polo and Batty :3

“What are you, my mother?” Desire muttered bitterly as she followed him. The moment he heard the words, Lex froze, shoulders tensing with anger, then wheeled to face her, "No, Desire!" He snarled furiously, "I'm your f*cking friend!" He stormed up to her, grabbing her by the collar and almost lifting her off her feet in his fury. He was surprisingly strong for his size. "Goddammit, Desire!" He shouted, "You could have died, don't you get that? I could have lost you!" At last his expression softened slightly, and his eyes flashed silver with fearful worry as he finally released her and took a step back.
"Forget it." He muttered bitterly, "You don't get it."
Then he turned away with a sigh, and stormed back across the beach. He walked right up to the ocean, finding some rocks to sit on, and started cleaning the nasty gashes in his arm. The salt water burned savagely, and frankly it was all Lex could do to keep from tearing up, but he continued washing the wound anyway. The salt would help to disinfect it, and it wouldn't do to be getting an infection when they were stuck in the middle of nowhere.

When at last his arm was clean, Lex sighed, and slowly stood up, stretching his sore muscles. He had no idea how he'd even managed to fight that cat off. He had heard that adrenaline could make people do crazy things, but until that moment, he had never experienced it.
He glanced back at Desire, and with another heavy sigh, he slowly approached her.
"Hey, Dezzy?" He murmured when he reached her, looking appropriately contrite, "I'm sorry I flipped out at you like that." He looked up at her, and added quietly, "I guess I was just worried."

"No, Desire! I'm your f*cking friend!" Lex shouted at her, emphasizing his words by picking the girl up by the neck of her worn shirt and was jerking her around wildly. Desire was frightened, even more frightened of this angry man than she was of the great jungle cat, but the only indication she gave of it was to widen her eyes a little. she was not going to give this man the satisfaction of knowing he scared her, which was exactly what he wanted. She knew men like him.
"Goddammit, Desire! You could have died, don't you get that? I could have lost you!"
The words fell out of her ears at that moment. She wasn't listening to anything that he said; she was simply concentrating on staying alive and notmaking this harder on herself. If she provoked him any further, who knew what could happen. Normally she trusted him, but at that moment any kind of good feeling she had for him was gone. This wasn't okay.
Then Lex seemed to realize what he was doing and dropped her.
"Forget it. You don't get it."
With those words he was gone, drifting back aimlessly to where there boat was on the beach. She stayed in the outskirts of the jungle, not coming out onto the sand but staying where they could watch each other. He sat down on a rock and submerged his injured arm in the water, as if he were cleaning it. His back was facing her, but from his shivers, she could tell that the water was cold or that he was hurting, probably a mixture of both.
Desire sat there for a while on the carpet of dead leaves, thinking about what had happened just yards away with the jaguar. Lex had jumped in front of it, risked his life to save hers, and had gotten angry at her because she had run off into the jungle and had nearly gotten herself killed.
Yeah, that was pretty understandable.
But she hated being manhandled, especially off duty, and what Lex had just done broke a connection that she'd had with that man. Whatever bond they'd formed for weeks on that small fishing ship was now broken, damaged. It was torn, along with her heart.
He'd broken her trust, and that hurt more than anything else, she realized as the anger began to fade.
"Hey, Dezzy? I'm sorry I flipped out at you like that. I guess I was just worried."
His words startled her from the reverie she was in. She glanced up at him as he walked up beside where she was sitting.
"That's an understatement." She murmured quietly, still not exactly sure how she felt about the situation. A lot of time had passed; the sun was just beginning to set over the still waters of the ocean, casting an eerie red-orange glow over the land. The air was beginning to cool down, causing her to shiver, even though it wouldn't get too cold tonight.

"That's an understatement." Desire replied, and Lex smiled apologetically, flashing that irresistibly adorable expression of his. "Come here." He said, pulling her gently into a warm embrace. His bloody arm wrapped around her shoulders, while the other gently rubbed her back. "I shouldn't have been so rough with you." He murmured, sounding honestly remorseful, "It's really not like me, but you just gave me such a fright." He held her tighter for a moment, then breathed a heavy sigh and released her, stepping back to meet her gaze solemnly. "Just hear me out here," He said, "You're the only real friend I've ever had. When I thought I was going to lose you..." He shook his head, "It was the most scared I've ever been. I'm not the guy who attacks a f*cking Jaguar," He laughed, "I'm the guy that chucks it some poisoned meat and runs the hell away!"
He smiled, releasing his tension at last with a heavy sigh as he tweaked Desire's chin teasingly. "You got me all crazy."
He took a deep breath, and then stepped away. He hoped that Desire was ready to let this whole thing go, because he sure was. It really was unlike him to lose his temper like that, but as it were, he had come to care for Desire far more than he had expected. He supposed that was what happened when you spent your life surrounding yourself with fake friendships and slapping expiration dates on any fake relationships that cropped up.
Now that he had finally found somebody he really cared about, he was desperate not to let her slip away. His entire life had been turned around, and at that moment, Desire was all he had.

Lex gave her that irresistible then, the one that caused girls to go insane and her anger to ebb away, and she hated him for it. There was no denying that there was definitely some feelings for him, feelings that she couldn't get rid of. She was falling in love with him day by day, and she couldn't seem to stop herself, even though she wanted to.
"Come here." Lex murmured gently, pulling her into a hug. His arms were warm around her. One hand gently rubbed her back, the other pulled her closer. Nobody had ever been this gentle to her, never. She'd never had any love interests when she was little - they were strictly forbidden - and people didn't come to prostitutes to cuddle and play kissy.
"I shouldn't have been so rough with you." Well, yeah. "It's really not like me, but you just gave me such a fright."
She had to believe him on that. It honestly wasn't like him, or at least the man that he always portrayed himself to be in the stories that he told. Besides, he didn't seem like her was capable of much anger. People were always surprising, though.
He squeezed her tightly for a moment and then released her. The shivers crept up her weary body once again, the chill of the night air poking goose bumps into her skin.
"Just hear me out here. You're the only real friend I've ever had. When I thought I was going to lose you... It was the most scared I've ever been. I'm not the guy who attacks a f*cking Jaguar, I'm the guy that chucks it some poisoned meat and runs the hell away!"
Desire's head was swimming, the thought colliding into each other and spinning out of control. They hurt, too. All of the motions and sounds going on in her brain was giving her a headache. But she didn't let on and heard him out, just as he asked. She could sort through her thoughts later.
The white haired man got up and left her in peace. She found that she could breathe again, and she let out a small breath of relief.
"You got me all crazy." He teased her.
"You're telling me." She snorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "You don't know what crazy is."
She stood up and moved next to him, standing close enough that her arm brushed his. "I'm not going to forget this, Lex." She murmured quietly, more to herself than to him. "I can't. But maybe it will fade in with all of the other incidents. There are plenty of those."

"I'm not going to forget this, Lex." Desire murmured as she stood beside him, "I can't. But maybe it will fade in with all of the other incidents. There are plenty of those." Lex looked down at her, then just nodded and smiled gently as he said, "I'm not going to forget it, either."
Clearly, although willing to apologise, Lex was still not willing to accept all the blame for their argument. He had been wrong, but Desire had been wrong, too. She had been reckless... She had scared him, and he didn't like that. But it was over now, and he would put it behind him. He was just glad to have the air cleared between them once more.
"Come on." He murmured gently, touching her arm, "I dropped my bag somewhere in there; I need to find it." He sighed, and glanced down at his bleeding arm as he added, "I've got to get something on this scratch before it gets infected. That'll be the last thing we need right now. And besides..." He pouted sulkily, "It hurts."
So, with Desire at his side, he walked on back into the jungle, and soon found the spot where he had dropped his bag in the dirt. When he found it, he sat down on a fallen log and set to work applying antiseptic salve to his arm. When it came to bandaging it, however, he found that working with one hand was simply impossible. That was when he turned to Desire.
"Would you mind?" He asked, handing her the bandage, "I can't do it with one hand."

Lex still looked a little tense, as if he hadn’t let go of the entire thing. Yeah, he wasn’t going to forget, but he still needed to get over it. She’d gone into the jungle without his supervision. Big deal.
As it turned out, it actually had been a big deal, she reflected. She needed to recognize that.
The two of them went back into the forest to retrieve the bag that Lex had dropped. It was the only thing that they had, so it was important that they got it. It had their medicines and the last of their food. She was surprised that Lex remembered the way, but he fought through the tangled trees and led them to the site of the attack without failure. The carcass of the jaguar still lay where they had left it, the blood dripping out and mixing with the dirt to form a sick mud.
He picked up the bag as she examined the furry beast and began applying antiseptic to his arm and then a salve. But when the time came to bandage, he figured that it would be best for some help.
“Would you mind? I can’t do it with one hand.”
Lex handed her the role of bandages, and she took it quietly. She knelt on the ground next to him and took his arm, holding it tightly and wrapping the bandage around it even more tightly. It was a long process, and she took a while with it. The grumbling in her stomach was not helping her focus, and it took more than one attempt to get the wrapping done properly.
“Sorry.” She murmured when she finished. It was a sloppy job. She gave a small apologetic smile and dropped his arm.

"Mm-mm." Lex mumbled, shaking his head, "It's fine. Thanks." He shot her a warm smile, then stood and slung his bag over his good arm. "Let's try find something to eat." He suggested, "Unless you want to try cook a jaguar?" He flashed a teasing grin, then dusted himself off and looked around. "There's sure to be some fruit around here... Maybe a river... I can fish." He added helpfully, shooting Desire a hopeful smile. "Come on, let's look around."
And so they did. For the next half-hour or so, they traipsed around the jungle, hot and sticky with sweat from the humidity, until at last they found a beautiful trickling steam in a clearing. After following it for a few minutes, they found that it fed into a large, crystal clear lake. And sure enough, Lex could see the silver flickers of fish darting around beneath the surface. "Oh, god, that looks good!" He groaned longingly, staring with wide-eyed adoration at the beautiful, cool water.
"Screw it, I'm way too hot, I'm taking a dip, and I'll catch some fish after." He grabbed Desire's hand, and flashed her a dazzling smile. "Join me!"
With that, he quickly stripped off his clothes, right down to his boxers, and dived elegantly into the lake - perfectly shameless. He was submerged for a moment, then he broke surface, spitting out a mouthful of water and laughing in exhilaration. "Now that" He grinned, "Was DAMN good!"

Desire wrinkled her nose at the comment about the jaguar. The meat probably wouldn't be any good. It was all gamey. But if it got too bad, they could always try to cook it, she supposed. Jaguar was better than starving.
Then the two of them meandered aimlessly around the jungle for some time. She took in all of the sights and sounds and smells, even though her sight was limited night was coming on fast, covering everything in a dark shawl of black. A vibrant bird swooped down right in front of her and perched itself on a nearby tree, cocking its head to the side and looking at her with curiosity. It was like it had never seen a person before, which she could understand. It didn't look like anyone inhabited this place. She thought about trying to kill it for food, but it didn't look like it had much meat. Besides, it was far too pretty.
They continued walking and Lex finally found something interesting. A bubbling stream that ran into a clear lake. It was small enough that she could probably see all around it in full daylight, but large enough that Lex was able to shed his clothes and dive head first into it - and come up sputtering and beckoning for her to join him.
She arched an eyebrow at him and hesitantly pulled off the pair of pants she was wearing, and then the shirt. She only wore a dainty pair of panties now, and although she didn't want to get those wet, she didn't want to take them off even more. After dipping her foot in, she shook her head. "Nah, I think I'll just stay out here." Then she seated herself on the ground in front of the lake and spread her legs out, allowing the water to flow over them.
But a small smirk split her face. When Lex had turned around and was preoccupied with looking at something in the water, she quickly bolted up and dove in after him, nearly landing on top of him. She spread out her limbs for extra splash, and although it stung a little, it was completely worth it.
Desire's head broke the surface, a coy little smile on her face. Then she started laughing. The water felt so good as it washed away the layers of dirt and grime that had built up for weeks on that tiny fishing ship. It was exciting to be clean again, even if she was bathing in a giant puddle of fish piss.

[[I regret to tell you that I shan't be on tonight D: My friend is dragging me to a play ]]

((No worries. Thanks for posting. ))

At first Desire refused to join him, but after Lex had become used to swimming on his own and started hunting for fish, Desire suddenly surprised him by leaping into the water, nearly on top of him, and sending up a huge splash which drenched him completely.
"Hey!" He exclaimed, uttering a spluttering laugh as he wiped the water off his face, "Watch it, you!" When her face broke the surface, Lex aimed a playful splash at her in retaliation, then scooted away, diving underwater. He moved like a dolphin in the water; it was as though he had been born there. In a way, he supposed, he had been. He had spent most of his life out at sea, and the harsh water had always been more friend than foe to him.
After he had been submerged for a while, Lex suddenly swam up to Desire from below, playfully grabbing her ankle. He gave it a sneaky tug, then swam up with one powerful stroke of his arms and broke surface beside her. He shook his head, cuasing his gleaming white hair to stick up at odd angles, and shot Desire a goofy, boyish grin.
It was so typical of Lex; so carefree, even when he probably should have been freaking out about the whole 'deserted island' thing. But no, as always, Lex was just a bubble of positivity, putting his need for fun above everything else.

[[Babysitting tomorrow morning as well for about five hours. It's nearly midnight and I have to wake up at 6 -_- The things I do for you, Polo.]]

Desire watched with a playful smile on her face as Lex gracefully dove beneath the surface of the water, the surface breaking into a hundred ripples that cascaded about each other. She could see his every move as he twisted and turned, moving through the water as effortlessly as if he was born and raised in it, like he was secretly a sea creature. Maybe his mother was a mermaid.
The thought entertained her, and even though she was able to track his motions, she was so distracted by committing his movements to memory that she was caught by surprise when he yanked her ankle down. For a brief moment, she was pulled underneath. The water closed over her head with a loud sucking noise, a barrier between herself and oxygen.
She still hadn't completely gotten over that time when she almost drowned - the first day that she had met Lex. Panic gripped her for a moment, froze her in place, kept her still. Then she regained her common sense and banished the irrationality, promptly kicking up and breaking the surface of the water. Lex flashed her a cocky, teasing grin and shook his hair. Beads of water flew from the tips and landed on her face.
"I can play that game, too." She said with a smirk, trying to cover up the fact that he was taking her breath away. She whipped her hair around and smacked him in the face with it once, but mostly just flung water droplets at him. When she was done and quite dizzy, she flashed him a small smile and then swam back to the shore and got out. The last of the daylight was fading over the red-tinged ocean. Stars were beginning to twinkle and shimmer in the darkness of the sky, like flecks of gold dust on an ink stain.
Desire sighed and laid out on the grass, not bothering to put her clothes back on. They would just get wet, and she had taken them off in the first place to keep them dry. No, better to let the wind chase away the water.
"See that star?" She called, pointing one hand up towards one of the brightest stars in the sky. "It's my grandmother's star. I didn't know her, but my mother always said she loved the sky. And when she died, her spirit went up and became that one. It hadn't appeared in any of her notebooks or charts about the sky - it just showed up one day. My mother says it showed up the day she died."
Desire didn't mention that those notebooks were the very reason that her grandmother had received the beating that had killed her. Somehow it just didn't seem very appropriate.

((I'm soooorry. XD ))

"I can play that game, too." Desire said, and Lex grunted when her hair slapped him hard in the face. "Oi!" He laughed, using his arms to shield his face from the spray of water, "Watch it!"
Eventually the onslaught of splashing ended, and Lex returned Desire's smile as she swam to the shore. After a moment he followed, and flopped down heavily on the grass beside her. The moon was high in the sky; full, too. Lex had always loved the sky at night...
"See that star?" Desire said suddenly, and Lex's eyes followed her finger to a bright spark of light in the sky, "It's my grandmother's star. I didn't know her, but my mother always said she loved the sky. And when she died, her spirit went up and became that one. It hadn't appeared in any of her notebooks or charts about the sky - it just showed up one day. My mother says it showed up the day she died."
"Huh..." Lex mumbled softly in response, staring awestruck up at the sky, "That's a pretty cool story."
He folded his arms behind his head, and relaxed his body as he gazed up at the star that Desire had indicated. He didn't know if it was really her grandmother's spirit, but he wanted to believe it. Somehow, the idea made him hopeful...
He lay with Desire a while longer, staring up at the sky, then cast an absentminded glance toward her.
He froze.
The way the moonlight hit her at that moment; it was without a doubt the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The gentle silver light gleamed in her eyes, and drenched her semi-nude body in subtle shadows. He felt his heart skip a beat, and it was only with an effort that he dragged his eyes away.
Shocked by the racing of his heart, he quickly sat up, and muttered something about going fishing. Without waiting a moment, he fled the scene, and started rummaging around in the bushes for a long stick that he could sharpen into a spear.
His heart was still racing, and Lex found himself suddenly becoming aware of a shocking fact: He was falling for Desire, and that scared him. He had never had feelings for anybody before... Sure, he had slept around some when it suited him, and taken part in a few shallow relationships when it seemed convenient, but he had never felt true affection for any of them...
He supposed that was what happened when a person stopped lying... They were suddenly forced to face life's harsh truths.

[[Oh my goodness, this isn't like us, having our characters fall in love D: I guess we're going to have to bring a life-threatening injury of sort into play xD]]

Lex complimented her story, but somehow Desire could feel that he was only saying that. It was a corny story, really - nobody needed to tell her that for her to know. But she was lonely. She missed her family all the time, and even though the feeling was beginning to fade away, her heart still ached for them.
After she took the ship out of town and across the seas from Egypt to Ethiopia, she never heard from her mother again. Her father was never really in the picture - she didn't even know who he was - and it made her sad. To think, her mother had done everything in her power to make sure that Desire was safe, and she abandoned her like that. Every day she felt guilt for not convincing her mother to come along.
"I was born here, and I will die here." She told Desire.
Desire supposed that her mother had died. Slaves didn't live that long in her neighborhood. It was a good thing that she had gotten out while she still could.
Suddenly Lex shot up, shattering her thoughts as he did so. He muttered something about going fishing and stormed off angrily, his footsteps like cracks of thunder. He stomped off into the distance until he was out of sight, and Desire was alone.
How funny. Just this morning he had screamed at her because she did the very same thing.
She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, knowing full and well that Lex's intention wasn't to go fishing. He had left in a hurry, so either something made him leave or something called to him from the jungle. It was unlikely that anything out there appealed to the strange white haired man - although she had been wrong before - so she figured that something within their little area had driven him off. The only thing in their area was her.
What had she done this time?
The thoughts stewed in her mind for hours, until finally her brain decided that she needed a break. Mercifully it quieted, and she fell into an uneasy sleep.

((Ah, but it is inevitable. Characters always fall in 'love', the weaklings. But yeah. I do agree that they need more torture... There's NEVER too much torture. ))

Desire soon fell asleep, and to be honest, Lex was pleased. It left him some time to think, or rather to convince himself to stop thinking, and he found his mind to be blissfully empty as he built up a fire in a robotic fashion, then caught some fish to roast over it. By the time the fish were done, Lex was calm, and Desire seemed relatively rested.
He walked over to her, and woke her with a gentle touch on the shoulder.
"Hey," He said, "Here, it may not taste very good, but it's something." He handed her the roasted fish on the stick with a warm smile, then fetched his own and sat down beside her to eat it.
"It's nice here..." He mumbled, nibbling at his hot fish, "That probably sounds weird, but it's kind of cool getting away from people for once, even if I didn't exactly plan it." Lex laughed, then cast Desire a glance and asked, "What do you think? Are you doing okay with all this?"

A warm hand pushing on her shoulder woke Desire from the light sleep she was in. She mumbled a few words of protest and laid around for a few more minutes. The aroma of roasting fish made her open her eyes, and she was surprised to see that Lex had a fire crackling and was cooking a few fish over it.
Then he handed her a fish on a stick and sat down next to her, his own in hand. A smile was plastered onto his face, giving no indication of what was up with him running away before.
She wanted to know, and she wanted to know badly. Her mind was swarming with different ideas, different possibilities, everything that could have made him bolt away like that. She didn't know what had happened and it was driving her crazy.
She didn't let on though. He would tell if he really wanted to, and she knew that she wouldn't get the truth if she tried to force it out of him.
"It's nice here... That probably sounds weird, but it's kind of cool getting away from people for once, even if I didn't exactly plan it."
Desire shrugged, understanding his point. "We technically haven't explored this whole place yet. There could be a village just on the other side of those trees." She didn't bother to add the possibility of there not being another side. The dense jungle could continue all the way up to the beach. But did it really make any difference?
"What do you think? Are you doing okay with all this?"
She shrugged. "There's nothing better I could be doing. As long as we've got what we need, a little camping out never killed anybody." She shot him a wry grin.

"There's nothing better I could be doing. As long as we've got what we need, a little camping out never killed anybody." Desire replied, and Lex smiled appreciatively in response. "That's true." He agreed, chuckling, "I love how nothing fazes you."
Lex nibbled cheerfully at his fish for a while, not too concerned by the strange taste, and stared up at the night sky, seeming relatively peaceful.
"Speaking of camping..." He mumbled as he stripped the last of the flesh from his fish skeleton, "I suppose we should try find a decent place to sleep? I obviously don't know much about this place, but from what I've seen so far, the wildlife isn't exactly friendly."
Lex uttered a nervous laugh at the memory of the jaguar, and rubbed his bandaged arm absentmindedly. That had not been a pleasant experience, and he was still a little shaken. He didn't like the idea of taking on another wildcat, and he certainly didn't plan to for a long, long while.
Besides, his arm still hurt, and he had to admit that he was frightened of getting infection in the wound. On an island like this, so far from everything, a bad enough infection could mean the end... And Lex was nowhere near ready to die.
Shaking off his dismal thoughts, he turned back to Desire, and asked with a smile, "Should we explore a little?"

Lex pondered her answer for a moment with a smile on his face, and the two of them ate their fish in silence for a while. She was starving and hastily gulped down the meal. She didn't care that Lex was a horrible cook either; any kind of food was good enough for her. She supposed that she wouldn't want to live on fish during their entire stay on this island, however - Lex was convinced it was an island, even though they still hadn't explored it all yet.
Her companion then brought up the problem of sleeping. They were rather out in the open out here. This lake was the only fresh water they'd seen around the entire time, so most likely all of the animals in the area came here when they were thirsty. And she already knew from their behaviors that they weren't as wary of humans as she'd have liked.
But hopefully they would be scared of fire, and they did have that on their side.
"I don't think we should go right now." Desire said, shaking her head. "It's still dark out - how long was I out for, anyway? - and we don't know anything about this place. I think we're better off where we are.
"Whatever is out there already knows that we're right here. This fire is enough to let them know. We can use it to protect us. I wouldn't want to tramp through the jungle right now, even if we brought torches or something. We don't know what would try to pounce on us from the trees. At least here we can see what is coming at us."
She shrugged. "You can go to sleep if you want; I can keep watch." And with that, the girl tossed the greasy stick into the fire and walked over to her pile of clothes. She was completely dry now, excepting the damp mess of her hair. But she would be naked until morning if she waited for that to dry, and she didn't particularly like that idea. She quickly dressed and walked back over to the small campsite, appreciating the way the glow of the flames bounced off of Lex's profile.

Lex listened to Desire's argument, and in the end he had to agree that it made sense, but he still didn't like the idea of sleeping out in the open. Perhaps it was cowardly, but he liked to feel sheltered... Still, he knew that what Desire said was logical, so he knew he had to go along with it. Sighing heavily, he nodded in agreement.
"You can go to sleep if you want; I can keep watch." Desire offered as she got up, and Lex smiled gratefully at her.
"I'd appreciate that." He replied, "I'd love to pretend that I'm a buff, fearless warrior with eyes in the back of my head, but since we're being honest..." He shrugged, and smiled helplessly, "I'm scared shitless of Jaguars, and-" He waved his hand vaguely, "Whatever else is out there."
He lay back on the ground, not exactly comfortable, but content nevertheless, and stared thoughtfully at the sky as he watched Desire dress out of the corner of his eye. He liked his companion. He wasn't sure what he would do if he was stuck here alone - probably get back on the ship and keep sailing out to sea until he died of starvation... But now that he had Desire at his side, this had all become an adventure, and Lex loved a good adventure!

((Sorry for the bad post. :3 No ideas... ))

[[It's your turn to come up with an idea. Besides, my creativity is being all taken up by may character analysis of Jack Merridew. *shudders*]]

Lex wasn't falling asleep, Desire noticed as she walked back to hi. He laid on the ground, looking up at the sky, and telling her how he wasn't brave, how he wasn't a warrior. How the unknown of the jungle scared him. To be honest, it scared her too, so his saying that didn't really help. But it made him feel a little more relatable. She could understand him.
He was silent for a little while longer, but he didn't close his eyes. Hesitantly. Desire moved over to him and sat next to his head. She was carrying the knife that Lex kept in his backpack, but she set it down next to her. Just in case anything wanted a little midnight snack.
"Go to sleep." She murmured gently, reaching her fingers out to his hair. It was such a strange color. The orange of the dancing flames gave it a golden hue. Tentatively she ran her fingers through it, glancing down at him as if asking for permission. Then she began to almost pet him. It was something she did to help people fall asleep. Usually she'd rub their backs, but Lex was laying on his.
"Go to sleep."
***
Desire woke Lex as soon as the first rays of a red sun poked over the trees behind them. He had been sleeping for a good couple of hours, which should be enough rest to last him for a while.
"Wake up, sleepy-head. We've got a lot to do today."

((*SIGH* I'll try. XD Haha! Good luck with that. ))

"Go to sleep." Desire murmured when she sat down beside him, and Lex looked up at her with vague surprise. She reached over to stroke his hair, and just watched her with calm curiosity, trying to ignore the butterflies doing aerobatic flips in his stomach. He didn't want to admit that he was developing feelings for Desire, but at this point, there was no denying it. Desire's touch was as warm and caring as a mother's; something Lex had never known. He craved it. Craved the warmth, the comfort, the caring...
"Go to sleep." Desire repeated, and with a heavy sigh, Lex obeyed.

He did not wake until the early hours of the next morning, when Desire roused him with a gentle greeting. "Wake up, sleepy-head. We've got a lot to do today."
"Okay, okay..." He grunted, swatting her fingers away when she poked his face, "I'm up..." He slowly sat up, yawning, and stretched his arms up over his head.
"Hm" He murmured, smiling, "I feel better now." Standing up, Lex glanced around the clearing, then turned back to Desire. "You hungry?" He asked, "I could catch us some more fish... Or, if we looked around enough, I'm sure we could find some fruit..."

[[I'm off to church, although I think the point is moot, considering all of the gay plots I come up with during the sermon xD I probably won't be back until after midnight your time so don't wait up for me ^^]]

Desire shrugged at his suggestions for food. She wasn't particularly picky about taste. "You may want to catch a couple of fish for breakfast or something. Then we can go exploring a little bit." She smiled dryly. "I'd offer to go look for some fruit while you're fishing, but I doubt you'd let me because of yesterday. In fact, I'm thinking you're never going to let me out of your sight again."
She chuckled and untied her hair, then ran her fingers through it, attempting to pull out the tangles and stuff. It was laborious work, and she eventually gave up. She would probably need a metal toothed comb, considering her hair was tied with a bit of rope the entire trip over here.
Desire glanced over her shoulder at the jungle looming mysteriously in the background, wondering what exactly lay within. They would need to find out if they were planning on staying.
That was the one good thing about their situation, though. They could leave at any time they chose because they had a boat. The people that usually ended up in this kind of situation weren't so fortunate, but hey, she was okay with it.
"We should probably check the perimeter, too." She said, turning back to the fire and sitting cross-legged in front of it. The flames were a lot lower than the night before. "See if this is an island, or maybe there's a village of some sort just around the bend."

"You may want to catch a couple of fish for breakfast or something. Then we can go exploring a little bit." Desire suggested, and Lex nodded, automatically picking up his fishing spear as Desire continued, "I'd offer to go look for some fruit while you're fishing, but I doubt you'd let me because of yesterday. In fact, I'm thinking you're never going to let me out of your sight again."
Lex cast her a sharp glance, but as he was about to object, he paused. Then he chuckled, shaking his head, and admitted, "Okay, you're probably right." He offered a sheepish grin, and leaned against his spear as Desire added, "We should probably check the perimeter, too. See if this is an island, or maybe there's a village of some sort just around the bend."
"Good plan." He smiled, "But for now, let's eat. Will you get the fire going again while I catch some fish? Thanks Dezzy." He grinned and patted her head patronizingly, then strode happily over to the lake, and set to work catching some fish.

A short while later, he returned to Desire with four fish - two each - and handed them to her. "Your turn to cook." He said, sitting down beside her and dropping his fishing stick. "I'd like mine medium rare, please."

Desire poked and prodded the fire boredly as Lex went off the fish. Nurturing the flames wasn't something that she was particularly good at. She almost killed it a couple of times when she wasn't paying attention and toppled the larger logs onto the embers. Sparks had flown up and into her face, making her spit out a stream of curses.
Needless to say, she was finished with the fire when Lex came back. It was a good thing that he was a sufficient cook, because she sure as hell wasn't getting close to that fire ever again. Damned flames.
"Your turn to cook. I'd like mine medium rare, please." He shot her a cocky smile, which she she countered with a deadly glare.
"Just because you'd like it that way doesn't mean it's going to happen." She muttered under her breath, and then speared the fish onto the sticks. She held them over the fire as best as she could, but even without her dislike of flames, she wasn't the greatest cook. Sure, she could make a mean sandwich, but when it came to actually roasting food, she just couldn't do it.
Three of them she burned, and the fourth was way undercooked.
"Sorry." Desire apologized as she handed him his breakfast. "I think we both agree that you should cook." She gave him the least burned one and the undercooked one, so he could get that up to the medium rare he wanted. As for herself, she suffered through her meal and ate the crusty fish in silence. She wasn't as hungry as she was the night before, but she finished it all.

When the two of them were finished eating, Desire gleefully kicked dirt over the fire. The wind was going in the opposite direction however, and it came back and into her eye. She swore quietly and rubbed the particles out, but her eyes were still watering.
"Damn fire is bullying me." She said glancing at him with a small smile. "Can we leave now?"