Episode 6 (Serena Season 2)

I wake up slowly, turning over before I've even opened my eyes,

but the tight embrace I'm expecting isn't there.

My fingers fan out across the sheets, which are still a bit warm but completely empty.

MC: "Serena?"

Blinking away the haze of sleep and glancing around the room, it's clear she's not here either.

The bedroom door is cracked an inch, and I take that as an invitation to get out of bed and start looking.

(I know she wasn't in a great mood last night, but things seemed okay before we passed out.)

I find signs of Serena's work all over the kitchen counter,

stains of color straked across the cutting board from fruit mashed to pieces,

but she's not in any room of the house.

Without any other clues, I slip outside, keeping an eye out for her.

It's not until I've skirted the edge of the jungle long enough to reach the grass,

that I spy a figure in the distance, focused on the canvas standing in front of her.

Smiling to myself, I climb up over the hill, approaching Serena with quiet steps.

Quiet awe fills me as I see the colorful landscape that she's detailing with careful strokes, her homemade paints surrounding her.

Serena is entranced, body relaxed as she briefly gazes off into the distance, sizing up her subject.

MC: "Hey, Seren--woah--"

I stumble over a rock sticking halfway up out of the ground, ending right up on my belly in the grass.

The 'oof' that's forced out of me catches her attention,

and I blush before quickly getting up to sit next to her.

MC: "Hey."

Serena: "Having a rough morning?"

MC: "I was. But that's because I didn't know where you were."

Serena: "Sorry. I left when you were still asleep."

MC: "Stressed out about something? That's pretty much the only time you paint."

Serena: "That's not true. I painted you once."

My face heats up at the memory, but I know a deflection when I hear one.

MC: "But you're not painting me now."

Serena: "It's... I'm fine."

Serena: "I wanted some time to think, and it's quiet out here."

(To think about what is the question, but I know better than to push.)

(She'll open up when she's ready.)

MC: "Sorry to break up the silence, then."

Serena: "Your company isn't a disctraction, . It's fine."

MC: "You say that like I don't love being a distraction."

MC: "But where'd you pick up that canvas from? I didn't see any at the market."

Serena: "I was hunting around for more dishes in the treehouse closet when I found some supplies in the back of it."

Serena: "The paints were all dried out, but the canvas and brush were still useable."

Serena: "It was more luck than I expected to have this morning."

MC: "Maybe the people who lived there before knew you'd be coming along."

Serena: "Oh? Am I an artist in the middle of a prophecy now?"

A. "You're pretty magical to me."

B. "That's a little wild."

C. "Maybe Angelo knows."

---

A. "You're pretty magical to me."

MC: "Could be. You're already pretty magical to me."

Serena: "That's absurdly cheesy."

MC: "And yet you're still smiling."

MC: "I'm going to call that a win."

---

Serena shakes her head, bemused, and turns back to painting.

I lean against her free shoulder to watch as she details the grass,

transforming a see of green into so much more.

Serena: "You're going to be bored in about two minutes."

MC: "What's that supposed to mean?"

Serena: "Every time I try and finish a painting with you next to me, we usually end up doing something else."

MC: "I promise to be super quiet?"

Serena: "No. I think I'll let this layer dry."

She sets her brush down next to the paints and turns,

hands cupping my face before pulling me into a deep kiss.

(If she wants to get a headstart, I'm not going to complain.)

We drop off Serena's canvas before heading down the docks to find Clyde.

He had sent once of the villagers to grab us,

but I'm not sure why until I see him standing in front of a huge pile of wood with a grin on his face.

Clyde: "'Ey, Serena. ."

Clyde: "Angelo made Christmas come early."

Clyde: "I told him I wanted to make a ship."

Serena: "And he cut down half the jungle for you?"

Clyde: "Something like that."

Clyde: "Sent the boys out to pick up some tools from around the village too."

Clyde: "Ready to put your nose to the grindstone for a bit?"

MC: "Just tell me what to do."

Clyde: "Well, when Logan--"

Logan: "I'm here! Tools incoming."

Hope zips into view,

clinking and clanking as a basket full of tools hangs from a rope tied to the bottom of the drone.

Clyde chuckles to himself before picking up a saw out of the bunch.

Clyde: "Logan's going to help me measure and I'll cut."

Clyde: "If you don't mind sanding, Serena, I'll get  and TK to start carrying the planks around."

Clyde: "Arthur volunteered to figure out the ropes and sails."

Serena: "I can't imagine they have sandpaper out here."

Clyde: "Aye, no chance, but there's this."

He hands Serena a nondescript piece of steel,

but when she flips it over, I can see a subtle bladed edge along the bottom.

Serena: "Clever. I'll scrape my heart out."

TK: "One pack mule, reporting for duty."

MC: "Hey, you're not the only one."

MC: "Let's get lifting."

It takes a little bit to find our rhythm, but after each stack of planks Clyde cuts,

TK and I move them where Logan directs,

and Serena starts sanding each one smooth enough to fit cleanly together.

Arthur's braiding rope in a huge coil in his lap, fingers working in a quick rhythm.

Clyde: "You have a good morning out in the grass, ?"

MC: "How did you know I was over there?"

Clyde: "It's all over your shoes."

MC: "It was... really nice."

MC: "Being out in nature and stuff."

(I'm not sure if the guys know Serena paints in her off-time.)

(It might be a private hobby.)

Serena: "I don't ever want to think what's all over our shoes."

Serena: "They really need to be replaced."

Logan: "Tired of wearing the same dingy clothes all day, doc?"

Serena: "Aren't you?"

Clyde: "Serena, you've made that shipwrecked dress put the rest of us to shame for months."

Serena raises a brow, then promptly flicks some of the wood shavings in his direction.

Serena: "Nice try, Clyde."

Serena: "Very motivating."

Clyde: "Can't I give my best friend a compliment?"

Serena: "You can."

Serena: "But you know the consequences."

They grin at each other and I smile to myself,

hoisting up another bundle of plants with TK as Clyde turns back to his work with the saw.

TK: "Have you and Serena been exploring the village?"

MC: "Yeah, some."

MC: "It's nice to have a whole community here."

TK: "Getting tired of being stuck with us in the resort, huh?"

A. "No, just you."

B. "The resort was kind of lonely."

C. "It's a nice change."

---

A. "No, just you."

MC: "Nope! Just you."

TK: "Ouch, right in my one feeling."

TK: "I left myself open to that."

---

Arthur: "I hate to interrupt, but your workload is stacking up."

MC: "Whoops!"

TK and I hustle to move the planks back in place,

and I steal a glimpse at Serena, who gives me a little wave with her scraper in hand.

Clyde: "Hey, Logan! Watch it!"

Logan: "Son of a--"

A nasty thud carries through the air before Logan groans in pain.

I turn just in time to see the heavy log trapping his arm in place,

and Clyde frantically moving to pick it back up.

Logan: "Ow, ow--"

Clyde: "Stay still. Let me get this off ya."

Logan: "So much for measure twice, cut once."

Logan: "Goddamn--"

TK and I run to help Clyde, prying the log up off Logan's arm and back into the pile.

Serena tosses the tool in her hand aside, urging the rest of us away so she can examine him.

Serena: "No compound fracture. That's a good start."

Serena: "This is going to hurt a bit, Logan."

Logan: "More than it already does?"

Her fingers carefully press along his arm an inch at a time until Logan yelps,

hissing through his teeth and trying not to jerk back.

Serena frowns, but turns back to look at Arthur.

Serena: "I'm going to need some of that rope."

Serena: "Did you have any materials ready for a sail, Clyde?"

Clyde: "Yeah, we've got plenty."

Serena: "Slice off some of it for me so I can put a sling together."

Logan: "Is it broken?"

Serena: "Definitely."

Logan: "Aw, damn it."

We all watch as Serena wraps Logan's arm up with care,

sliding the rope up over his shoulder so it can stay supported.

He grimaces through the whole thing, but there's not much else to do but grin and bear it.

Angelo: "Hey, what's going on over here? I heard shouting."

Clyde: "We've got a man down."

Clyde: "Serena's patching him right up, though."

Serena: "But you're going to be out of commission for a few weeks."

Serena: "Hope might have to do the lifting for you."

Angelo: "A few weeks? There's no point in waiting."

Serena: "Excuse me?"

Angelo: "Olivia's fixed up broken bones in a matter of days."

Angelo: "Let me go get her."

Serena tenses up from heat to toe, eyes turning to ice,

and I see Clyde cringe in the background as Angelo runs off.

He comes back a few minutes later with Olivia, her bag weighing heavy by her side.

Olivia: "Someone need a medic?"

Logan: "A little late for that. My arm's already busted."

Olivia: "Think positive thoughts, Logan."

Olivia: "Let me get you out of that splint."

Serena takes a step back when Olivia moves forward,

reaching into her bag and pulling out a whole glowing plant.

She starts tearing off leaves and putting them around his arm as a new wrap,

holding everything tightly in place.

Logan: "Ow-- oh."

Olivia: "Just take a deep breath. Let it all work."

Logan: "Okay, now it doesn't hurt so much."

(That fast? These plants can do anything!)

Logan: "...Damn, now it doesn't hurt at all."

Logan: "It just kind of tingles."

Olivia: "You'll still need to take it easy for a couple days,"

Olivia: "but I'll leave you with some more to put on a new wrap each morning, okay?"

Logan: "And then I'm good to go?"

Olivia: "Takes more than a broken bone to stop things from moving around here."

Serena: "Nonsense."

Serena hisses quietly under hre breath, low enough that I think I'm the only one who hears it,

but I jump when a low growl rumbles from the other side of me.

I startle, looking for the source, and Olivia yanks the top of her bag shut.

Olivia: "You've wiped me out for supplies, though, Logan."

Olivia: "I'll have to head out and get some more."

Angelo: "How long?"

Olivia: "A couple days."

Olivia: "I think you'll get along without me."

Olivia: "You've got Serena here too now."

Angelo: "That we do. Stay safe, Olivia."

She nods, then looks at me and smiles.

I'm even more surprised when Olivia places a hand on my shoulder, eyes locking with mine.

Olivia: "Don't get lost again while I'm gone, huh?"

MC: "I..."

MC: "I'll try not to."

Then just like that, Olivia turns and is on her way,

but the force of her gaze lingers for me long after she's gone.