“Seriously Muffin?” Cameron said as he leaned forward. His eyes were locked on the screen in front of him, the controller in his hands being mashed rapidly. Akira leaned in to watch. Playing with these two never ceased to amaze him once they decided to compete. Zas leaned to the left and concentrated; this was the day he finally bested Cameron. He’d been practicing with Ezza all week, and she could be mean when she wanted to be. Just as he was about to execute his killer move, GAME OVER flashed across the screen.

“What!?” Zas roared.

“Muffin, it doesn’t matter how devastating a move is, if you can execute it, it’s useless.” Cameron said going to get a drink. Zas grunted and put his controller down a little harder than necessary.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Cameron asked Zas. He practically purred at the suggestion that Zas might need him for something. Akira huffed beside him and Cameron shrunk inwards.

“Ezza needs… well we need to move. She’s freaking out about the size of the place, and all the issues with it.” Zas said. Cameron looked at him for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out what was missing. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was off.

“And why do you want to move all of a sudden? Ezza’s been perfectly happy being squashed here with you since you arrived.” Cameron stated flatly. Zas hesitated and scratched his head which only made Cameron’s invisible claws sharper.

“I may have messed up. A little, like a very little. A lot.” Zas said fumbling his explanation.

“Messed up how?” Cameron asked. Akira knew his cue, he excused himself for the washroom as the other two moved into the livingroom. He could hear perfectly fine from there thanks to the thin walls, but they would feel like they had privacy.

“Ezza brought a friend home. Penny Pizzazz,” Zas stopped at Cameron’s uttered comment about a village door knob. “I panicked with Ezza. You know how I feel, and I didn’t want to mess that up, and the other night we were out celebrating and I couldn’t stop myself, and she didn’t deserve that, and I didn’t want to hurt her and I don’t. Penny came along, and well… she takes the pressure off. Ya know what I mean?” Zas asked lamely.

“Yeah, you choked. Caring, beautiful woman in your life. Want to treat her right, lay the town rug. You, Muffin, are a real piece of work.” Cameron finished. Zas sighed, he hated these lectures from Cameron who had no idea what it was like.

“Drop her and get over what ever this is that’s going on with you. Man up Muffin, man up. Darling? I know you can hear me come out and give the screw up some advice, then we’ll go.” Cameron called out. Two seconds later Akira came out of the washroom and jumped right in on apartment hunting and lecturing.

 

Zas sat back on the couch, contemplating everything that Akira and Cameron had told him. He had a decision to make and it’s implications scared him. Heck, he’d been a wreck since that night in the bar. He shouldn’t have touched Ezza like that, it was his old family curse creeping up again: Destroy the one you Love. Ah man!

Giving himself a slap in the face, he went into the office and started looking up the apartments for rent in the city. He would kind of miss this this little rat infested suck hole. A rattling in the pipes could be heard as water rushed through the walls from another apartment. Then again, a move would be a good idea.

Zas was sitting at the desk in the office when Ezza bounced in the door. She was home from work and it looked like it had been a good day. She chirped a quick hello, then went to change right away. Zas chuckled as he went to close the door she had left open. As he closed the door, Penny came out into the hall smiling and pursing her lips at him. Zas’s eyes widened, he started to close the door a little too eagerly when Penny flirtingly pulled the neckline of her dress down, uncovering the top of her breasts. There sat his mark on her skin, a deep red that practically glowed fire engine red in Zas’s mind. Penny turned towards her door. The look she gave Zas before entering was an open invitation. Yeah, it’s time to move.

 

Zas and Ezza stood around a fishing pond trying their luck. Ezza had decided that outdoor activity was what Zas needed to get rid of his grumpy mood. What Zas needed was to stop falling for Ezza, and to get away from Penny. He shouldn’t feel guilty for sleeping with Ezza’s friend, and he didn’t know why he felt the need to hide it; even though he really did.

Sighing, he pulled his line from the water. Ezza did the same, looking concerned. She walked over and put her hand to his forehead to check for a fever.

“Are you alright?” She asked him.

“Yeah, I just need some time to myself to figure things out. I think I’ll take a walk. Will you be okay?” He asked grabbing her hands and holding them away from his body. When Ezza nodded, he gave her a small smile, then he turned and started walking towards the hills.

Ezza watched Zas go with mixed emotions. She knew he was troubled, but he wouldn’t talk to her about what. That wasn’t like her best friend at all. They always told each other everything. Stretching her shoulders she reminded herself he would tell her in time. Realizing her emotions weren’t calm enough to fish any more, she got up to explore another area of the park.

As she watched the children on the climber, a flash of green caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Looking over to where she had seen it, her breath caught in her throat. At the edge of the park stood a plant man. Her first one! Ezza practically ran over and came to a lurching stop in front of the man.

“Hi,” she said out of breath. The man looked at her and smiled back at her with a flirty little grin.

“Hey, you want something from me?” He asked. Ezza smiled she wanted his bean.

“I would like your bean, please.” Ezza said. The man smiled at her, and leaned in close.

“You can have whatever you’d like of mine, Sweetie.” Ezza blushed as she caught on to what was happening.

“Oh God, does that actually ever work for you Zechariah? All it does is make me puke a little in my mouth.” A green woman said coming closer. Ezza smiled at her, and gave a silent thank you.

“I’m Mara Downs. Let me rescue you from this Neanderthal. His name is Zechariah Russ by the way. Most people call him Rusty because of his game.” Mara said leaning in to Ezza, all the while keeping her eyes on Zechariah. To his credit Zechariah only clenched his jaw and turned away in a huff.

“Do you have a bean too?” Ezza asked. Mara grinned.

“I sure do. You can have mine.” Mara said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a vibrant pink, glowing bean. She handed it to Ezza, and then blew a kiss at Zechariah. Then she flounced off, laughing. Ezza pocketed the bean as she watched Mara go, then turned back to the plant sim in front of her.

Grunting he reached into his pocket and pulled out a fiery red bean and tossed it to her.

“Thank you.” She said.

“Yeah whatever.” Zechariah shot back in a clipped tone. He walked out of sight yelling to Mara to get back here, and to stop ruining his opening lines.

                                                                                                            *******************

Zas had climbed in to the hills, hoping that the higher he went, the more he’d leave his problems below him; unfortunately it didn’t seem to be working that way. He came to a fork in the path. He noticed a boarded up area. Curious he walked over.

Inside the shaft it was dark, and as the wind blew past, it made an eerie whistling noise. He was about to turn away when he heard a chiming sound from within the tunnel. It almost sounded like someone was singing. Curious he went closer to hear better.

After a few moments, his curiosity getting the better of himself, Zas looked around for watchers and then entered the shaft when he saw no one. Zas explored until he entered into an expansive cavern.

The light itself seemed to come from a pool of water that took up three quarters of the cavern floor. It’s light was reflected off of the cavern walls which were embedded with numerous crystals all over the place. Zas slowly crept forward, some primal instinct telling him he shouldn’t be here. Creeping past some rocks, Zas entered into the center of the chamber. The light and the singing in the pool was louder and seemed to moving below the surface of the water. Climbing onto a lower ledge on the rock wall and stealing himself against some crystals, Zas got a better view of the pool. His mouth dropped open from the shock.

Under the surface of the water, he could see the wreckage of a ship, one unlike any he had seen before. And swimming in and out of the wreckage were all sorts of fish, but one in particular caught his eye. It glowed that erie blue that lit up this chamber, and as it swam, the water rushing over its crystal like scales made a humming noise; the singing he had heard. Not sure what he was looking at, but thinking that he had to bring Ezza here to investigate, Zas climbed down, and started heading back the way he’d come.

He grabbed a few crystals on his way out, as proof of what he’d seen, just in case Ezza didn’t believe him. Slowly he made his way back up to the shaft enterance, and then he ran down the hill as fast he could. He stopped only once on his way, long enough to see that Ezza hadn’t moved from the fishing pond and then went join her.

“You’ll never guess what I just found.” Zas said quietly throwing his line in beside hers.

“A giant lizard who breathes fire and keeps this place hot?” Ezza guessed.

“Well, no, but I wouldn’t put it past this place.” Zas said looking around them. Then he recounted his little adventure to Ezza. Her face lit up and she pulled her line from the water.

“I want samples.” She said eagerly. Zas grinned, thankful that he had gotten some. They left the park giddy about his find, and making plans to go back and explore together and gather samples of the water and soil.

 

Zas laid on the couch staring at the ceiling. He really knew how to show a girl a good time, well Ezza anyways. She’d locked herself up in the office with the crystal samples he had gotten as soon as they’d gotten home. She hadn’t come out for a long time, and when she did she went straight to bed, exhausted. Zas had felt pride for her, and even though he cursed it, he had felt attracted to her and her determination.

His phone went off in his pocket and he pulled it out, knowing already who it was. Getting up quietly, he opened the door quietly and slipped out down the hall. He stood in front the door and texted. The door opened and hands reached out and pulled him in by his shirt. The door had barely closed behind him when he felt her mouth on his neck, and her hands undoing his shirt buttons.

“This is the last time.” He said, shame saturating his voice.

“Of course she replied kissing her way down his stomach.” Zas closed his eyes and leaned back. He hated himself so much right now, and he’d literally die if Ezza ever found out about himself and Penny. She was Ezza’s only friend beside himself and Cameron.