Chapter Text
Sam Thitivoranan was pacing around his shelter, waiting for his team to come back from foraging. Despite his calm expression, his mind displayed great turmoil.
He could not stop thinking about the easiest first boot ever, Miss Aubrey Summers. She was an easy out! But...oh, the look of pain on her, Oliwia Morawska―that was her best friend. He never wanted to see pain like that on her pretty little face again.
He caught what he had said, recoiling at the word 'pretty'. He couldn't think she was pretty! She was competition! He didn't think she was pretty... with those... unruly ginger curls and... sparkling amber eyes... made him sick just thinking about it.
"Hey dude!"
Sam jumped back in surprise; that had scared him.
"Whoa! Sorry, buddy! Didn't mean to scare you!" said Ren as he came down from the tree she was in.
"I AM IN NO HEADSPACE TO BE STARTLED LIKE THAT!" Sam said, his flustered expression showing.
"Oh, well, what's wrong? I'm no Dunia the witch or Aubrey the emotions expert, but I think I can figure out what's been bugging you."
Sam sighed. Why not? Ren couldn't possibly know; it's not like he'd been obvious about his little.....infatuation. "Shoot, what do you think?"
"You have a crush on our signature cat girlie, Oliwia!"
Sam's face paled; Ren knew. No! No! No! No! "How is this possible?! HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW?"
"Well, first off, you seemed to stop yourself from comforting her after the whole Aubrey thing. Then you couldn't stop staring at her in her swimsuit. Then―"
"OK, I GET IT!" Sam snapped as his face grew even redder. That was humiliating.
"Wow, someone's touchy about his crush," Ren smiled, "Y'know, I saw the relief on your face when I used my idol on her.......You voted for her.....Why'd you do that if you like her?"
Sam sighed, "I need to eliminate distractions." His eyes, tone, and voice went back to the same coldness as always. "My emotions always get in the way; no way are they getting in the way of a million."
"Dude, that's harsh. Even if you don't *love* her, she's still a human being."
"Just because that's true doesn't mean I have to accept my feelings." His face went grim, and Ren noticed, dropping the topic.