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Claire sat cross-legged in the sand, her arms grumpily crossed over her chest. Her hair hung loose and soggy, twisted strands clinging around her face as the light night breeze stirred them.
Her gaze lingered on the burning wood crackling in their campfire, her light blue eyes reflecting the shifting flames.
They’d been shipwrecked by some kind of bioweapon. A giant, mutant lobster. At least, that’s what it had looked like in the split second she’d seen it before being thrown overboard.
Leon had jumped after her like an idiot.
A beautiful, selfless idiot.
Which had now left them stranded and alone on some random, remote island with no other land in sight.
At least the giant lobster was also out of sight.
A little further down the beach, still visible under the pale moonlight, Leon ran back and forth with a long, pointed stick, hurling it at the ground. Each time he threw it, he’d yell like a viking charging into battle, only to trudge over and yank it from the sand in disappointment whenever he missed.
Claire had no idea what his target was.
She tipped her head back to look at the night sky, sighing softly as the stars glimmered above them. At least the view was nice, and the company wasn’t bad either.
Even if she had to suffer through his dumb jokes. He’d already called the monster lobster an 'm-lobster,' trying to mash the words together.
Her eyelids slowly began to droop, the warmth of the fire brushing against her face. Claire closed her eyes, one last thought drifting through her mind before sleep could claim her.
How long were they going to be stuck here? Forever?
A wet, heavy slap by her feet jolted her awake.
Her eyes flew open to find Leon standing over her, leaning against the stick he’d jammed into the sand beside a cat-sized crustacean.
Claire lurched backward with a yelp, clutching a hand to her chest. “Leon!”
“Dinner is served!” he said with a smug grin, clearly proud of himself as he grabbed the thing by its rigid tail and flung it into the fire.
The creature was a dark greenish-blue, long and thin-bodied. Six scrawny legs stuck out beneath it, along with four awkward claws. Two snail-like eyes jutted from its head, drooping to either side.
“What the fu–!?”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure it’s a m-lobster baby.” Leon shrugged as he dropped down beside her in the sand, poking the dead creature in the fire with his stick.
Claire stared at him in sheer disbelief, then glanced around the beach like she was searching for the nearest coconut to bonk him with.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any in sight.
“First of all, stop calling it an ‘m-lobster’!” she snapped, crossing her arms again and trying very hard not to look at it as the heat slowly turned the shell orange. “Secondly, do you really think I’m gonna eat that?!”
Leon huffed dramatically, nudging it around the fire with his stick. “Fine. More for me then.”
The two sat in silence, listening to the waves washing softly over the shore, the quiet crackle of their fire, a seabird squawking somewhere in the distance, and the faint bubbling of flesh inside the shell of that thing as it heated.
“I’m sorry,” Claire sighed, her gaze drifting to a small pebble beside her soaked boot. “You… shouldn’t have jumped after me.”
Before she quite realised what he was doing, Leon shifted closer and circled an arm around her, pulling her gently against him. Her shoulders tensed for a moment, then relaxed as she settled against his side, warmth spreading through her as his hand rested at her hip, tracing slow, absent circles there.
Leon huffed out a quiet laugh. “Look, if you start apologising for every stupid thing I do, we’re gonna be here all night.”
Claire smiled softly and rested her head on his shoulder. After a moment, he tipped his own head gently against hers.
“In the morning, we’ll build a really big fire. That’s bound to grab someone’s attention,” Claire said quietly, their fingers finding each other and slowly lacing together.
“Sounds like a plan.” Leon turned back to the baby m-lobster, prodding it with his stick before fishing it out of the fire once it looked done.
It could’ve used some garlic butter, but Claire didn’t think it tasted all that bad.