Episode 8 (Serena Season 2)

A hundred different excuses come to mind, each more ridiculous than the last,

but my overriding instinct is to run.

Before I can scramble into the other room fast as my feet will carry me,

Serena grabs my wrist, pulling me back against the cage.

I go still with her other hand clamped down over my mouth,

Serena's entire body tense as steel wire, tightly coiled against me.

Olivia's footsteps scrape against the floor, leaves whispering as she brushes by the plants.

(There's no way she's not going to see us. Everything's glowing in here!)

MC: "Mm."

Serena: "Shh."

MC: "Mmm!"

Serena sighs with the softest huff of breath against my ear,

letting her hand fall away before she whispers right against my skin.

Serena: "She'll hear us."

MC: "She's going to walk on top of us. We should just--"

Serena: "I know."

Serena: "...Take my lead."

I don't have time to answer before Serena stands straight up,

and Olivia's footsteps stop with a creak against wood.

When I stand up too, she's right there, staring at the both of us with her jaw dropped.

Olivia: "Serena? ?"

Serena: "So you are here."

Serena: "I knew the door had to be unlocked for a reason."

Olivia: "I--well."

Olivia: "That doesn't explain what you're doing here."

Serena: "I was hoping to get a few medical supplies from you before you left on your trip."

Serena "When the door was open, I was sure you were still here."

(God, she's bold. I couldn't have said that to Olivia with a straight face.)

Olivia raises a brow, mouth opening to form words a few times before she settles on a laugh instead.

Olivia: "I've lived on this island so long that I stopped locking the door. I never thought about it."

Olivia: "There's not a lot of thieves here when everyone knows everyone."

Serena: "My mistake."

Olivia: "I can give you some supplies. Just let me get my bag from the front door."

Olivia: "I dropped it when I thought someone had broken in."

The bag Olivia drags back in is full to bursting with plants, some of them glowing but all of them strange.

(I've never seen leaves like that before.)

Olivia: "Would you two like some tea? I was about to make a cup."

Serena glances at me, irritation flaring in her eyes for a split second, but she nods.

I agree a bit faster, smiling.

MC: "That'd be great."

(I mean, if we try and rush out of here, that's both suspicious and rude.)

She escorts us to the kitchen, pouring water into a small kettle and leaving it to boil.

The little leaves Olivia put into our cups are the first I've been able to recognize in the whole house,

which makes me feel a little better.

Her fingertips brush mine when she hands me the tea,

and I can't hold Olivia's gaze for long before my face starts to heat up.

(It's just the steam, okay?)

Olivia: "Enjoy."

MC: "Thank you."

Serena: "I thought you said you were going to be gone for a few days, Olivia."

Olivia: "That was the plan until I walked into the edge of a rainstorm."

Olivia: "The second I saw those clouds, I turned around."

Olivia: "No sense in losing what I'd already collected by having everything washed away."

Serena: "I'm amazed you needed more. Your collection here is impressive."

Olivia smiles wide, and I think that's the first time Serena's ever gotten that sort of reaction out of her.

Olivia: "Thanks!"

Olivia: "I've been trying to catalogue them, but half my time is spent just taking care of everything."

Olivia: "So many of the plants can be used for healing, and I haven't even figured out half of those properties."

Serena: "Is that so?"

Serena's stony gae seems to go right over Olivia's head,

as she nods enthusiastically before taking another sip of her tea.

MC: "Do you have a pet too? I saw a cage over there."

Olivia: "I suppose that's one way to put it."

Olivia: "It's really late. You two should probaby head back to your treehouse."

(Oops. And we've overstayed our welcome.)

Serena: "You're right."

MC: "Thanks for the tea."

Olivia: "You're welcome, ."

Olivia: "Come back for another cup sometime."

Serena: "...Good night."

I don't manage more than a smile before Serena's hand is on my back and guiding me out of the kitchen.

She doesn't stop wakling until we're through the front door and out in the chill wind again,

the darkness enough to make me scurry straight towards home.

MC: "It's so cold!"

Serena: "I know, but we're almost back."

Serena: "...Maybe I should bother Angelo tomorrow about getting you a jacket."

MC: "I'm not the only one who needs new clothes."

MC: "If I could just have a fifteen minute online shopping spree and get some outfits sent here..."

Serena's murmur of agreement makes me giggle,

but her expression turns tense with thought again

as we carefully cross one of the rope bridges on the way to the treehouse.

MC: "Everything okay?"

Serena: "Ye--no."

Serena: "I'm still thinking about those damn plants."

Serena: "I didn't learn anything. All I have is more questions."

MC: "Me too! I thought there was just the one type that glowed, but she had so many."

MC: "If all of them can help people, Olivia has a whole pharmacy in her house."

Serena: "A thoroughly untested pharmacy."

Serena: "Not to mention whatever was in that cage."

Serena: "She didn't tell you if it was a pet or not, if you didn't notice."

MC: "I wasn't going to insist. I mean..."

MC: "...We totally broke into her house."

Serena: "There wasn't even a lock to break. It was just left open."

A. "So she's got nothing to hide."

B. "It was still... entering."

C. "Good thing there's no cops."

---

B. "It was still... entering."

MC: "It was still... entering."

MC: "Well, er, trespassing."

Serena: "Feeling guilty for being an accessory?"

MC: "No! I totally volunteered to come with."

---

(I'm not sure if this is all suspicious or if the plants are as much of a mystery to Olivia.)

MC: "Everyone's got secrets, right?"

MC: "Maybe she's not supposed to keep an animal around or Angelo would get pissed off."

Serena: "That's a lot of faith in someone you barely know."

MC: "I knew you for about five minutes before my life was in your hands."

MC: "Worked out pretty well."

Even in the dark, I can see Serena's face flush,

and she tugs on my hand to lead me into our treehouse.

At her insistence, we both wash up to make sure there's no traces of the plants lingering on our fingers.

MC: "Ready to head back to bed?"

Serena: "I have one more question."

MC: "Yeah?"

Serena: "If everyone has secrets, what are you hiding from me?"

My jaw drops before I let out a sheepish laugh.

MC: "Um, well."

MC: "I don't think there's anything I've tried to keep from you."

MC: "Rain check on being mysterious?"

Serena: "If you insist."

MC: "I'm going to insist you all the way into the bedroom."

Serena's teasing 'ooh' draws a snort out of me as I pull her back to the bed,

quickly tangling us in the sheets again.

They're not as warm as we left them, but that will be fixed soon enough.

(Trust me, I've got ideas.)

Clyde calls us all down to his treehouse after lunch, and Logan is in a great mood.

Serena winces when he starts flexing his arm around, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain.

Logan: "I'm good as new."

Logan: "Whatever Olivia stuck on me, I want to get five in a bag next time we go on a hike."

Logan: "'Cause it's magical."

Serena: "Engineers believe in magic now?"

Logan: "Hey, I don't have a medical background."

Logan: "You tell me what ten syllable words doctors use for that plant and I'll give it a go."

Serena: "There's only one syllable I have in mind."

There's a brief flip of black hair as Serena returns her attention to Clyde,

and Logan gives me a weak smile of embarrassment.

(I might call the plants magical too, but I'm really not sure after we went through Olivia's house.)

(...Which the rest of them totally don't need to know. I don't think it would go over well.)

Clyde: "Now that Logan's right as rain again, we can go back to building the ship if everyone's up for it."

Clyde: "But with some precautions. I don't want anyone getting hurt this time."

Arthur: "That might be difficult."

Arthur: "We only have so many hands to go around and help with the heavy lifting."

TK: "We could always split the tasks up differently."

TK: "Work together to get all the wood cut first, then start on the lifting."

Serena: "That's going to waste a lot of time."

Serena: "We're building a vessel large enough to get all of us across the ocean, not a canoe."

Arthur: "I would say that time is the one thing we have excess of,"

Arthur: "but it would take quite a while if we focused on a single piece at once."

Logan: "If we really need it, I could design a quick level and pulley to--"

My vision loses focus for a second, an ache blooming right behind my eyes,

and I squeee them shut for a moment.

The diziness surges for a minute before it fades, as quickly as it showed up,

and I shake my head to push the haze away.

Serena: ", are you alright?"

(I'm probably dehydrated. It gets really warm here in the daytime.)

MC: "Thirsty."

Serena: "Clyde, could you hand me that cup?"

She makes sure I drink two full glasses of water before turning back to the conversation,

and thankfully, the strange feeling doesn't come back.

A. "Logan, you sure you're okay?"

B. "Run that by me again."

C. "I think we can do it."

---

A. "Logan, you sure you're okay?"

MC: "Logan, are you sure you're really okay?"

MC: "I don't want us to get ten minutes into building and have your arm get all rubbery."

Logan: "Clyde made me pick him up earlier to prove it."

Logan: "Believe me, I'm good to go."

---

Serena nudges the cup of water back to me one more time and I take a long sip.

Arthur: "Have you considered speaking to Angelo about this, Clyde?"

Arthur: "He didn't mind letting us borrow some tools."

Arthur: "Perhaps there's a few villagers who want a hearty workout building a ship."

Clyde: "Good point."

Clyde: "And if we make a vessel fit enough to get out of here, I'd be happy to share the design with him."

Clyde: "The more the merrier."

(It would probably get done a lot faster too.)

MC: "That sounds like a great idea."

Serena: "Mm. As long as they're willing."

TK: "We've already made plenty of friends. I bet a couple of them will help out."

Serena hums in idle agreement, and after nods from all around the table, it's settled.