Chapter Text
It’s a good thing Yaz isn’t alone on this island or she’d have lost it already. She doesn’t want to make light of her trauma or anything like that. It’s just a fact: Without the others- without Sammy- she might be in a really dark place right now. As it is, she’s predicting years of therapy when they finally make it home.
But that’s for later. Right now, it’s time for Yaz to figure out how to crack the enigma that is Brooklynn.
She’s made it her mission to figure the pink-haired girl out, especially when it comes to Kenji, the pair of them hanging around one another a bunch despite the fact that Kenji is clearly in a relationship with Ben.
Getting the baby dinosaurs to safety is just the excuse she needs to have some one-on-one time with her. Yaz figures maybe the best approach would be to directly ask the girl. She doesn’t need a repeat of that one time Brooklynn thought Yaz had feelings for her. Yikes.
Kenji attempts to split the group to cover more ground, which would have resulted him and Brooklynn heading off together, but is immediately halted by Yaz.
“Usual teams then?” He says nonchalantly, looking at Brooklynn expectantly. Brooklynn smiles in affirmation, the two ready to head off.
“Actually,” Yaz speaks up, “Brooklynn and I got this one.”
“Hmm? Oh. Okay.” Yaz can barely hear him as she drags the other girl with her. Sammy has since wandered off to find her own dino to save and from the briefest glimpse Yaz has over her shoulder, she can see Kenji following her. Good. Doofus can keep her company. Hope they don’t end up having too much fun. Almost died during the paraglider incident.
“Yaz? What gives?”
“I just wanted some time to chat.” Yaz replies cooly, giddy inside that she may finally crack this today.
“Uh… sure.” Brooklynn replies, doubtful.
“Great. Hush up until we get further away.”
“What?”
“I said we’re almost there, c’mon.” She replies without missing a beat.
Brooklynn, without another word, allows herself to be dragged along.
---
The fact the baby dinosaur they’re dealing with is a weird hybrid is not lost on Yaz, but at this point, of course the baby dinosaurs they’re here to save are some Frankenstein experiments. She can’t decide if the thing is cute or terrifying. She’ll decide after some quality time with it and see whether it’s just vaguely annoying like Bumpy was or meat eating like almost everything else they encounter.
“Okay, little one. Time to go.” Brooklynn coos as she waves a branch in the things face. It seems mildly interested, which is a good sign, but then again, it may just as well tackle her down and eat her face. Only time will tell.
Time, at least from Yaz’s point of view, is turning slowly. Brooklynn has been at this for a few minutes and the thing has barely moved. Yaz has since crossed her arms and furrowed her brows in slight annoyance.
“Move, baby. You gotta go.” She tells the thing, as if it can somehow understand English.
Brooklynn looks at her like she’s dumb. Suddenly, the girl’s face turns clammy, and gulps before she gets in a little closer to the thing.
“Wanna go for a walky-poo?” The pink haired girl squeaks out in the most saccharine, diabetes-inducing voice Yaz has ever heard and it takes all of her willpower not to laugh in the other’s face. That, or run away in disgust.
“I pwomise it’s somewhere weally weally special.” Gag.
Yaz was a second from screaming at the thing, maybe to drown out the baby-talk, but lo and behold, it works. The baby starts moving, following Brooklynn and the branch she’s carrying.
Huh.
Still. GAG.
“I swear if you tell anyone about this…” Brooklynn says darkly, her voice suddenly a much lower register than it was a few seconds ago.
“No promises.” Yaz teases. The other girl laughs softly at that. Things go quiet, but at least the baby is moving along. This isn’t ideal since Yaz’s intention was to get the other to spill about her thing with Kenji, but is this really the time? Shoot, since she dragged her here, she might as well go for it, no?
Hopefully this doesn’t bite her in the butt.
“So. What’s up with you and Kenji?”
“What?!” She practically screams, scaring the dinosaur a little. After calming it down some, Brooklynn glares up at Yaz.
“I said–”
“I heard you.” She says, exasperated. Things are quiet again and it seems like Brooklynn doesn’t want to talk about it. Can’t have that.
“So?” Yaz prompts the other.
“So? So what about me and him?”
“Why’re you suddenly around him more?”
“What? It’s not sudden. We hung out all the time.”
“CKK.”
“Huh?”
“Before the yacht ride, the ‘Cool Kids Kayak’ was the last time you guys had any kind of alone time. You two are definitely hanging out more.”
“Nu-uh! We hung out when were checking out Mitch and Tiff's yurts. And when we were being chased by the Baryonyx! Though, by then, we found Ben. And Hap was there, too. Huh. Anyway, whatever. We hang out."
The look on Yaz's face must look decidedly unconvinced, because suddenly Brooklynn rolls her eyes and looks away from her.
"Just- so what if we are? What's the real thing you want to ask, Yaz?” Brooklynn has since stopped moving, the baby dino nibbling on the plant a little as she waits for her to answer.
Here we go.
“Do you… have feelings for Kenji?”
Brooklynn’s eyes go wide, her jaw slack. Either she wasn’t expecting Yaz to catch on, or she’s missed the mark completely and the other is stunned by her question.
The fit of laughter the pink-haired girl lets out tells her it must be the latter.
“Feelings??? Like, I like him??” She practically wheezes out.
“Yeah?”
Another burst of laughter. If Yaz didn’t start this whole unpleasant exchange, she’d be a little put off by Brooklynn’s reaction. After another minute, the younger girl calms down and starts them on their way again, the baby dino crying as it has to work once again for it’s meal.
The smile on Brooklynn’s face is hard to read. It occurs to Yaz that the other didn’t actually give her an answer, but as it is, she’s a bit flustered from Brooklynn’s outburst. The three of them make out into the hallway, their course set on finding the others.
Yaz once casually brought up the idea of Brooklynn liking Kenji to Sammy, and the other girl had a similar reaction. She didn’t laugh so hard she couldn’t breathe, but she did chuckle and offer her an “Oh, Yaz,” as she kissed Yaz’s forehead affectionately. Seriously, is it really so far fetched? I mean, maybe a little, but still, she didn’t make up the whole ‘they hang out a whole lot lately’ thing.
“He reminds me of my dad.” Brooklynn offers in a soft voice.
It takes Yaz a second to realize that the other even said something, but when the words finally click in her brain, her attention snaps back to the pink-haired girl.
“Kenji? Like your dad?”
“Yeah. Well, one of ‘em.” Oh yeah. She forgot about that detail about Brooklynn. She’s never had her parents on her show before, so Yaz has no frame of reference if that’s at all true. However, that statement is so specific and out there that it must be true.
“Don’t go telling everyone else, okay?”
“Not a word. So–”
“I only started to notice cuz he has the dumb beard thing going on. My dad also has one. Then everything else kind of clicked, you know? He’s kind of like the older brother I never had.”
“Uhuh.” Brooklynn cringes at her response then looks at her sheepishly.
“It’s weird, right?”
“I mean, not really.” She lies. Well, not entirely. The explanation would explain why they hang out so much lately. Heck, that was the reason Darius took to Mitch so quickly. Brooklynn herself was the one who called him out on it, and at the time, everyone thought it was in bad taste. But she was right. Honestly, if Yaz met someone who reminded her of her mom, she would probably latch onto them as well.
“Thanks, Yaz.”
“I mean it. It’s not weird.” She assures the other. Brooklynn looks at her with kinder eyes, filling Yaz with relief that her invasive questioning didn’t damage her already fragile friendship with the other. Things go quiet again, giving Yaz time to think more. Hmm. So it wasn’t because she liked him. She feels relief for Ben at least, who she figured out is in a relationship with Kenji. She hadn’t seen that forlorn look in his eye as of late, but then again, they’ve been in more peril than normal as of late, too. Which is saying something, sadly.
Yaz, not one for ‘comfortable silence,’ tries to keep the conversation going.
“So, is there someone you do like?” Her voice coming out sing-songy.
She knows the question might be a can of worms. Realistically, if she answers at all, Brooklynn would say Darius. Besides the fact that the other four of them are taken, she (and honestly, everyone else) has noticed that the two have this sort of tension going on that has yet to be resolved. It was almost palpable when they said goodbye the other day when Darius volunteered to stay close to Kash. Hell, they saw it when Darius pulled her up onto the roof earlier this evening. Their whole deal, she knows, is not her imagination.
If the pink-haired girl gives any other name besides Darius, Yaz may very well throw herself against the wall in frustration and give up her hobby of meddling with her friends. God, imagine Brooklynn said she liked her? What the hell is she going to do???
Still, Yaz curious nature does somewhat reassure her that the question is one she wants to know the answer to.
Brooklynn does say something, but she’s so far ahead of Yaz, branch and dino in tow, that she can’t hear her properly.
“What was that?” Yaz asks. She can hear the other reply again, not at all louder. Suddenly, the corner yields another hallway, from which Kenji emerges from and bumps into Brooklynn.
“What was that about Darius? Did he call?” He asks, eager to hear the answer.
Brooklynn puts her hands up defensively, shaking her head. The girl then walks past him, presumably to where Sammy is. Smirking, Yaz casually walks up to Kenji, observing the two other girls showing off their dinosaurs to each other, who have since started playing together.
“Is something up with her?” Kenji asks.
“Nah, she’s alright. Maybe a little homesick, but aren’t we all.”
Oh, shoot. Did she just give away what they were talking about? Yaz knows sometimes her snark and wit can get her into trouble, but this would be the fastest she’s ever given away a secret. Not that she does that often, mind you, but still.
Yaz glances up at Kenji who hasn’t responded and sees a distant look in his eyes, his expression far away.
“Kenji? Dude? You okay?”
“Yeah… Peachy.” He says, before rejoining Sammy and ‘Angel,’ the hybrid they rescued.
Okay. What is up with him??
Yaz doesn’t know if she has it in her to keep up this energy of figuring the others out. Instead of using what she now calls the ‘Brooklynn’ method, she goes for the tried and true ‘Darius’ method.
“If you ever want to talk,” she starts as she caught up with everyone else, her tone hushed, “I’ll listen. I give great advice.”
He doesn’t laugh like she expects him to, but he no longer looks… off.
“Thanks, Yaz.”
They go on their way, hoping to find Ben and get this show on the road.
Hopefully, everything will go smoothly from now on. Yaz doesn’t know how much more she can take.
