Episode 9 (Serena Season 2)

Angelo tells us he's happy to find help,

but I'm still surprised when an entire group of sailors turns up led by Joaquin.

He looks over Logan's design and the work Clyde has done for a few minutes before giving a firm nod.

Joaquin: "This is pretty ambitious."

Logan: "You should see the boat that got us here."

Logan: "I designed the engine so it kept itself afloat."

Joaquin: "But you still had a captain?"

Clyde: "Yeah, that was my question. But I suppose it worked well enough."

Logan: "You're not going to get over that, are you?"

Clyde: "When we're off this island, you and I can go through a bottle of rum and talk about it, how's that?"

Logan: "Hah, fair enough."

MC: "Are you alright with giving us a hand, Joaquin?"

Joaquin: "Tell me and the seafarers where to go. It'll be nice to keep busy."

TK: "How about we get all this wood out of the way first?"

Arthur: "Yes, grab a saw and mind your fingers."

Serena returns to the corner surrounded by wood shavings,

starting to clean up the planks that we've already cut,

and Arthur starts work on the sails now that he's made several coils of rope.

I move to start carrying planks, taking my place in the middle of an assembly line.

Clyde: "Make sure to give each other room."

Clyde: "We don't want to be knocking elbows and send things flying."

Joaquin: "I second that."

Joaquin: "Keep your egos in check and don't toss the wood around, boys."

That gets a few laughs, and soon the air is filled with idle chatter and the constant rasp of saws,

slicing through all the logs that Angelo brought.

With this many people, the pile gets big fast, but as the sun beats down on my neck, I'm sweating like crazy.

(Is it getting hotter here? Maybe it's a change in the seasons.)

After another few minutes, a wave of dizziness spirals through my head and I go still,

holding the plank in my arms really tight.

TK reaches to take it from me and frowns when I don't let go.

TK: "Hey, you alright?"

MC: "Yeah, just... is it warm outside to you?"

TK: "I mean, kind of. We're carrying big trees around."

Serena: "?"

MC: "Huh?"

Serena: "You look a bit flushed."

Serena: "Come here."

MC: "I'm fine, I--"

Serena: "Step out of line. Please."

It's rare that she goes out of her way to say please,

so I relent with a sigh, excusing myself from the line to kneel next to Serena.

She places a hand against my forehead and immediately frowns.

Serena: "You're going to take a break with some water."

MC: "But I want to help--"

Serena: "No one's helped by heat exhaustion."

MC: "Ugh. Okay."

Sitting next to Serena is nice at least, and I watch her work for a bit

before Leilani comes over and squats right down next to me.

Leilani: "Heavy work, huh?"

MC: "Yeah."

MC: "Don't know why it was making me dizzy, though."

Leilani: "Nothing wrong with taking a few minutes rest."

Leilani: "Besides..."

She giggles, quietly gesturing to all of the sailors passing the planks along.

A few of them have their shirts off, exposing sun-drenched muscle for everyone to see.

Leilani: "The view's awesome, right?"

MC: "...This break did suddenly become a lot more appealing."

Serena: "Is that what I have to do when you need medical attention? Take my shirt off?"

MC: "I--"

MC: "I wouldn't say no."

Leilani laughs even louder and I blush, attention falling back on Serena.

Muscle or not, I prefer to watch her hands work.

Leilani: "Really, though, you doing okay over here?"

MC: "Honestly, I'm pretty thirsty."

MC: "I think that's why my head's spinning."

Leilani: "Why didn't you say so?"

Leilani: "Come on, I'll take you back to my place for some shade and a cold drink."

MC: "Serena, should I--"

Serena: "Yes."

Serena: "Thank you for offering, Leilani."

Leilani: "Hey, no problem. Sometimes the weather out here gets to be a little much."

Leilani helps me to my feet and we walk away from the docks together after I say goodbye to Serena.

She seems relieved, so I keep a hand over my eyes while walking towards the treehouses,

just to ward off the sun a little while longer.

Leilani gives me an entire cold pitcher to myself, and once I start drinking the water,

I have to stop myself from guzzling the whole thing down.

I take it cup by cup,

listening to Leilani tell me about her father and the village until my head is clear again.

Leilani: "You feeling better?"

MC: "So much. Thank you."

Leilani: "Trust me, it's not the first time I've gone to the docks and seen someone ready to drop under the sun."

Leilani: "People don't want to take breaks when they're helping someone."

MC: "Yeah. And we already lost time when Logan's arm got hurt."

Leilani: "In a big rush to get home?"

I was about to ask if she wasn't too, only to catch myself a second later.

(Leilani was born on the island.)

(This is the only home she's ever known.)

(I can't imagine what the rest of the world would seem like to her.)

MC: "Yeah. Although I'm not sure what I'd do first thing when I got back."

MC: "Call my parents, probably."

MC: "Then shower for like ten thousand years."

Leilani snickers at that, and after making sure I eat a snack,

she lets me leave the treehouse and head back towards the docks.

I take the long path under the shade,

staying close as I can to the trees until I catch sight of Olivia's place.

(The plants are kind of hard to miss.)

When her face appears through one of the vine-covered windows, I jump in surprise,

but she smiles and waves at me.

I smile back and Olivia gestures for me to come inside, pointing towards the door.

(I wonder what she wants?)

The house is a bit warmer than it was in the middle of the night,

especially now that I can see all the plants crowding all the walls,

but it's still a relief from the sun outside.

Olivia: "Hey, you got here at a great time."

(I did?)

MC: "Um, for what?"

Olivia: "There was something I wanted to show you earlier, but I never got the chance."

Olivia: "That is, if you can keep a secret."

A. "What kind of secret?"

B. "I don't know about that."

C. "Is it about the plants?"

---

A. "What kind of secret?"

MC: "What kind of secret are we talking about here?"

Olivia: "Nothing dangerous."

Olivia: "I promise I'm not going to reveal that all the meat here is secretly people."

MC: "...That's a good thing because I had a lot of meat with breakfast this morning."

---

(Serena wants to know what's going on with Olivia too. I should listen.)

MC: "Okay. Hit me."

Olivia: "Come over here for a second."

She leads me over to the cage and I try not to squirm in anticipation as she pulls the sheet back.

Then my jaw hits the floor.

MC: "Wha--"

What I first take in as a nest of vines starts to move from within the cage, raising its rounded green head.

I let out a squeak of fear, but Olivia puts a soft hand on my shoulder.

Olivia: "Don't worry. It's not going to bite."

Olivia: "This is my own little Mithridate."

MC: "Your what?"

Olivia: "It was supposed to be an antidote for everything in ancient times."

Olivia: "Except this plant is the real deal."

Olivia: "The liquid it secretes from its skin works on all kinds of sickness."

Olivia: "It even makes the other plants here work better."

Her thumb rolls a small circle around my shoulder and I try not to be distracted by that,

staring at the plant -- the creature? -- in the cage.

MC: "Okay, but if this does such good things, why keep it a secret?"

Olivia: "Because it looks kind of scary."

Olivia: "That's enough to make some folks avoid the treatment,"

Olivia: "and we don't have a lot of other options here."

MC: "But you told me."

Olivia: "I thought I could trust you. It helps that you're a good listener."

The blush I was struggling to keep down when Olivia touched me the first time ignites in full force,

leaving me clearing my throat and staring right at the little moving plant instead of her face.

MC: "Thanks."

MC: "I need to get back to the docks, though."

MC: "I was just taking a break from carrying planks around."

Olivia: "Don't let me keep you."

Olivia: "I know you want... to get home."

Something about the way Olivia hesitates makes my chest tighten, just for a split second.

(She almost sounds sad.)

The sun is alreaddy gone as I reach the docks again, and it's dark enough that a jolt of worry hits me.

(What if everyone already went back home?)

(Serena might be running around everywhere trying to find out where I am.)

Much to my surprise, everyone is still working, and there's a real skeleton of a ship being formed.

Clyde and Logan are hammering away at a thick peg holding two big planks together

while more wood is stacked,

and I'm moving to see more when Serena comes right up to me.

Serena: "Hey."

Serena: "Are you feeling better?"

MC: "Yeah, a lot."

Serena wraps her arms around me in a tight hug while no one's looking and I quickly return it,

not wanting her to slip away so fast.

She murmurs something against the curve of my neck, and it takes me a second to realize what I heard.

Serena: "I was worried about you."

MC: "Leilani made me drink a ton of water and sit in the shade."

MC: "I guess the sun was too much for me."

(The plant thing was a bit much too, but I can't say anything here.)

(...And Olivia really did want me to keep it a secret. But--)

Serena: "Clyde was just finishing up. How about we head back home?"

MC: "Jeez, I didn't get to help much today."

Serena: "Don't worry about it. You feeling better matters more."

She takes my hand, stealing me away after a quick shout to Clyde.

I keep close as we head back to the treehouse,

but Serena stops us when we reach the rope bridge outside.

MC: "What's up?"

Serena: "Nothing. The view is just... nice."

I follow her gaze to the lights of the village below,

their gentle glow carrying into the distance but not strong enough to blunt the shine of the stars overhead.

It's a perfect balance, and when I sit down on the edge of the bridge, Serena takes a seat right next to me.

Serena: "Want to stay for a little while?"

MC: "Yeah."

MC: "I missed you today."

Serena: "I missed you too."

Serena: "To no one's surprise, smoothing wood is mind-numbingly boring."

MC: "Carrying stuff around isn't too exciting either. But it looks like everyone got a lot done."

(If the ship sails, we'll be home soon.)

(Our lives will change all over again.)

(For some reason, that's scary.)

Serena: "Everything okay?"

(Whoops. I guess that showed on my face.)

A. "Thinking about the future."

B. "This is a lot of changes at once."

C. "Better with you here."

---

C. "Better with you here."

MC: "Yeah. Everything's better now."

Serena: "Are you sure?"

MC: "Of course I'm sure."

MC: "You're right here with me."

---

(I don't care about the damn plants or Olivia.)

(This is where I feel at peace.)

MC: "Hey."

Serena: "Hmm?"

MC: "You're too far away."

I hook my leg over Serena's, catching a glimpse of her smile as her arm slips around my shoulder,

slender fingertips drumming up and down my skin.

It's such a gentle, playful touch, one that I lean right into.

She's so warm even with the night breeze dancing around us,

showing a tenderness that I cherish every time we're alone.

Serena: "Better?"

MC: "So much better."

Serena: "Then maybe we can--"

A long yawn from me interrupts her, and Serena chuckles.

Serena: "--Get you to bed. More rest wouldn't hurt."

A. Why don't we tire each other out?

B. I'm too sleepy.

--

B. I'm too sleepy.

MC: "Sorry. I just got super sleepy."

Serena doesn't seem to mind in the least, helping me to my feet and leading me back to the treehouse.

---

I crash out just seconds after I hit the bed, but not before Serena's arms come around me and hold tight.