Nobinson Crusoe

“Ain't touching that.” Alex looked at the egg sac.
“Oh for Goodness's sake, I'll do it.” Molly headed towards it, about to nudge it with her foot. Jacky grabbed her. “Oh no you don't.”

Jaxx indicated the fallen beast. “Hmm. Think we could cook it?”
Phi shot him a look of disgust. “I am NOT eating that.”
Seymour instructed Efof to move him closer and peered at the strange, slimy object. “M'yes, might not be a good idea to eat anything which that erupted from.
Katrina had moved away from the animal to save a sleepy Max the distressing sight.
Cass and Jay were standing side by side, both inspecting the beast with grave expressions.
“Yeah, no eating this one” Jay said. Though spoken gently, it was an order. He gave Jaxx a pointed look.

White Wolf sniffed the air “Something doesn't smell right.”
Alex was still smoking and tried to waft some of his smoke away from the large hamster. “Sorry.”
“Not you,” He sniffed the air again, whiskers a-twitch “something else...” He began striding around, sensing something unseen. It put the group on edge.
“Something else what?” Snapped Seymour.
“Something else... is coming.”

Jay stalked over to White Wolf “Well where's it coming from?”
“That way...” He indicated the same area of undergrowth the beast had emerged from.
Jaxx tilted his head. “Oh yeah! I can hear it rustling in the grass.”

Phi let out a whimper. Alex put a finger to his lips and she kept it together.

Without really consciously deciding to, Jay, White Wolf, Alex, Jaxx and Davie formed a semi circle a little way back from the gap in the bush, awaiting the new creature's emergence. Alex picked up a sturdy stick, feeling better prepared with its weight in his hand. Seymour and Efof watched from a little way to the side, Katrina looked like she wanted to be poised with the boys but was tied up with Max. Jacky kept Molly to one side, obviously not wanting her to get too close in case she got hurt, Molly on the other hand looked like she was quite up for the adventure. Cass stood to one side shifting nervously from foot to foot.

“Here it comes” murmured 'Wolf.
Jaxx nodded in agreement.
Alex felt his body readying for a grapple. Then...

… a tiny, mouse like creature, with oversized ears and long back feet hopped out of the brush.

The guys glanced at each other.
Jay's face creased in bemusement “Is... Uh... Is that it?”
Jaxx squinted down at the little rodent, White Wolf sniffed at it and nodded. “Yup.”
“Oh for Smeg's sake.” Alex moved off and flung his stick away.
“It smelled bigger.”
“It sounded bigger too.”

Seymour glared at them, shaking his head.
Efof grinned. “That was fun, wasn't it?”
Cass gave him a look.

Phi raised a shaky hand. “Can we go back to bed now?”
Jay cast a look around. “Yeah. Let's get some sleep.”
“What about the egg sac?” Asked Jacky.
“Could you and White Wolf check it out tomorrow?”
Jacky looked at it and screwed up his nose. “I... guess.”
“Go on!” Molly prodded him “It'll be interesting.”
Alex, now seated back in his lookout position, watched them and found his eyes caressing the curve of the girl's backside. He wrested them away. Inappropriate.

The little creature hopped curiously to the edge of the camp, it didn't seem particularly frightened. Alex hoped nobody wanted to eat it.
---
The Next Morning

The still sleeping Dwarfers were awoken by the sound of a man screaming nearby.
“What the hell is that!?” Jay sat up.
“I say! Did another beast come in the night? Who's it taken?”
“It's that man, Alex.” Molly told them.
White Wolf twitched an ear “Is he all right? It sounds like he's being tortured.”
“Yes...” Said Jacky “He's fine... Phi is brushing his hair.”
“It's my brush.” Candice smiled, proudly.

--

Alex rubbed his head, it was sore, but he had to admit he felt a lot better without his hair in a giant knot.
“Thank you.”
“You're very welcome, Alex. I couldn't bear to look at it like that any longer, it was horribly untidy. I'm just going to wash my hands...”
He looked towards the hills, roughly where he imagined Phil's cave might be located and wondered how the GELF was getting on with his alcohol.
“I wonder how Phil is getting on with his... al- uh, ca- … Oh.”
She'd gone.
He got up and wandered back into the camp. It looked like the others were all up and busying themselves preparing breakfast.
He walked past Jacky and Molly, trying to keep his eyes to himself. They both smiled politely at him, Jacky said “hi”. He ignored them.
He grimaced a little as behind him he heard Molly whisper. “That was a bit rude.”

White Wolf seemed to be in charge of cooking or... whatever he was doing.
He looked over at the approaching Alex, noticing he wasn't working. “Fetch some water, would you?”
“In what?”
“We made some water skins from the beast.” He chucked a couple Alex's way.
“Uh... okay.” He took them and wandered down to the lake where Cass was sitting in the early morning sun.

As he crouched to fill the skins he gave her a sideways glance.
“'Look Alex' what?”
“Hmm?”
“You said Look... Alex...” before the beast, last night.
“Oh, that.”
He waited.
“That was... nothing” she dismissed.
He lifted an eyebrow and stared at her for a moment.
“Right you are.”
Despite the many, often literally painful, lessons he'd learned about women, they would still always be something of a mystery, he was sure.
He finished up and went back to camp.

After handing the skins over, he sat at the side of the clearing, watching the others bustle about, and feeling a bit like a spare part. He squinted in the sun and scratched at his now irritatingly furrier face.
“Anyone got a knife?” He enquired. “A sharp knife.”
“Why?” Said Phi, who was busying herself tidying the site. She paused a moment and pointed to his belly. “So I can take your staples out?” She carried on and tripped clumsily over a log. “Whoops!”
Alex's eyes widened. “Uh... No. Actually I want to get rid of this damn itchy beard.”

The itchiness wasn't the only reason he wanted to get rid of it. He was pretty sure he looked like he was homeless right now. Or shipwrecked. Both of which of course he was while the Dwarf was uninhabitable and they were grounded, but that wasn't the point. He felt ugly and beardy. He thought that if Justin were here he'd probably be calling him “Nobinson Crusoe”. He snorted at the thought and for a moment he missed the little smegger. He shook the thought from his head and his gaze fell on Bedge's inert body - now there was someone he really did miss. Poor sod.
He wondered what it said about him that the only being he ever talked to in any way nearing “properly” was a machine. A machine who used to make accessories out of human skin. For fun.
Oh no, wait, he sometimes spoke to Holly too. Who was...
... also a machine.
Hm.
Doesn't play well with others.

He caught Molly's eye and attempted a slight smile to make up for ignoring her and Jacky earlier. She looked mildly startled. He didn't blame her, she probably thought he looked like a pervy serial killer.
Or a creepy hippy.

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Sorry it's so long. That probably surprised me more than you.