bakerstreet | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

The Bitty Meme

photo tumblr_lat5tl1OxK1qc1896o1_500_zps0cbc3040.gif

Time to re-explore that childhood (or get one for the first time). Rules are as simple as usual!

૪ Post up your character -- name and canon.

૪ When replying to someone's post, go and RNG for option one, and see just how conscious you'll be of the trouble you're in.

૪ You can hit it up further for options 1-11 of wat do, and then, let it rip!

૪ Cue crack, hilarity, fluff, angst- a full spectrum of genres.

૪ ????

૪ PROFIT!

You're Just An:

1. Adult mind in the wrong body - looks like you really shouldn't have drank that potion, after all! Better hope nobody sees you like this, and that the effects aren't permanent...

2. Adorable bitty all rounder - Maybe it was an accident, maybe not. But your size is your age, with all the mental attributes that come with it.

Okay, So Wat Do?:

1. Back to school! First day back, middle of term with a small bullying problem? Time for your bitty to get some edumacation. Play with some friends or get the teacher involved! If your adult instincts are still all there, maybe you could play yourself up as a child genius; who knows? Someone might catch you out...

2. It's adventure time!~ Them kids have all the imagination. Quickly! Your damsel in distress needs rescuing from the dragon! It's time to kiss the bride! Play time has no rules, and neither does this prompt- except for curfew. Mother dearest always said to be back before dark.

3. Gots a boo boo! Oh dear, looks like someone's gone and skinned their knee. This requires a serious operation of silly jokes and coddling, before those tears start to fall and never seem to stop.

4. I think I love you! Young love is just so beautiful. Maybe you're pulling pigtails, so to speak. Maybe you have a crush on your teacher, and you just HAVE to get it out there. The clearest sign of love is always a note, however- just make sure to make that 'yes' box really big, so they know exactly where to tick.

5. They went away. We all lose loved ones, sometimes. Maybe the rents have just split, maybe your best friend is moving away. Maybe the only reply that can really be given is that "they're in heaven now, sweetheart". Whatever the reason, they're just not there, and you want to know why.

6. Off to the circus! Or the theme park. Or the aquarium. It's babies day out, with all the crack, fluff, and panic inducing moments implied. Pet a lion! Go on the Ferris wheel! Just try not to lose your adult companion, or things could become dicey.

7. You're in big doo-doo, mister. You missed curfew by ten minutes. Your Sunday best is covered in mud and god knows what else, and you let rip that new swear word you picked up from that friend you're not allowed to play with. You bet your ass you'll be in the naughty corner for weeks.

8. Big ball of FUBAR. You went and got yourself lost, at no fault of your own. The big kids pushed you down the well, and left you there. All you know is you're in a huge amount of trouble, and a little kindness is going to have to go a long way to get you safe.

9. Go the fuck to sleep. Dreamland is good, trust me. No really- don't get out of bed, you're fine right. There. Its time for bed, or to prepare for it! Bath time doesn't mean run down the halls naked, but if you catch a quick break, I'm sure you can achieve great things.

10. Time to shine! This is your big moment, right here. That dance recital you've been working hard on, the Christmas play, and you're the tree. This is a big point in your life, a time where you can show off your skills and make history! This is it. You're making it happen.

11. Choose your own adventure! Re-roll, or get out another idea that appeals to you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Isaac's brows drew together and he sighed, his arms folded and he shifted his weight. "No, you're not disappointing me.. it's just the world.. how it seems we're the only ones left." For a while he went through the idea, the thoughts that his parents were the ones that disappointed him the most. They hadn't survived, they didn't come back, they were probably changed too. Isaac sniffed and shook his head. "I don't know.. If we get in gear we can leave this .. place sooner. We should look up North, up the coast, find a good ship, maybe a sail boat.." He felt like he had some how caused her to feel like this was her fault.

Another nod. "Everything here is ruined, we'll move up the coast and try to find an older town." By older town she meant one created before the zombies, before the looting and pillaging roaming bands, before people started turning on each other out of desperation and fear. "Some fishing village that has some boats we can get usable parts from. We'll make your boat and find our island." Alice gave him a reassuring smile, feeling better now that they had a plan. It would also be nice to get away from this town, yet another disappointment for them on their long journey.

"I'll see if there's any gas in the vehicles left." Alice moved to him and hugged him briefly. "Don't go too far, okay?" Her mothering tone in her voice them as she looked over her shoulder at him while walking away.

It took them two days to find the next town, and it was a fishing village more or less. From the shops Alice could guess it used to be a tourist destination too. She spent some time in one of the gifts shops, looking at bumper stickers and snowglobes, feeling nostalgic. If they found this island it would be like starting life in a new world, a world without all these haunting memories. For some reason it was difficult for her to let go but the more she thought about it the more she knew it was for the best. Isaac needed something permanent and Alice wanted to give him that if she could, if this was what he wanted. Maybe she wanted it too but she was too afraid to try. She would be strong for him like she always had.

They scavenged a lot of fuel from the vehicles in this town as they made their way to the docks. When they got there, Alice was astonished at what they found. There were about a dozen boats all moored, and every single one of them looked complete. They were dirty and weather worn yes, but they weren't damaged. She pulled the old motorcycle down the wooden dock and stopped it, then laughed as she looked behind her at Isaac. "Think you can work with these?"

"Yes!" Isaac's face was bright and he set to work on looking through every single boat. It took a week to gather what he needed, find the best salvageable boat, and fix whatever it need fixing. He had backups for his backups and worked whole heartily through the week, early in the morning to late at night. He directed Alice in whatever he needed her to do to help him but worked mostly on his own. They couldn't have asked for a better spot to find, really. There was a shop near the pier where Isaac found plentiful supplies and he began to wonder why no one else made it out here and retrieved their boats. Though, maybe some had? He then thought about his parents, about Alice, it took them over five years to make it out here. To be in this spot. Maybe people were on their way, or at least attempted to come and unfortunately didn't make it.

Isaac made sure the waste tank was functional and their fresh water supply was operational. He had adapters, screws, extra tanks hanging off of the side of the boat, secured by tight rope. Adhesive sealant, towels, the fridge working off batteries, extra power-tech Marine AGM batteries, battery cables, gel-tech marine batteries, extra battery switches. He was spoiled for the whole nine yards and feeling utterly confident.

Furthermore, they had supplies and resources to use for when the food in the fridge ran out. Fishing poles, lines, nets even. Extra chains, an underwater storage chest that set beside the lifeboat. He had even rigged, built, and installed an Air-X Marine Wind Turbine that produced 400 watts of power at 28 mph winds. He was feeling pretty good, and the complete preparation for all of this took less than a month. Nearly three and a half weeks and he was jonesing to get out to sea.

"It's done."

Alice spent those weeks playing Mom, mostly. She cooked for her growing, working boy and kept their adopted but temporary home clean and comfortable. Whenever Isaac needed something not in the nearby parts store she would go out and find it somewhere in the town, occasionally finding other odds and ends of use. The most original idea she had for helping them prepare for their voyage was to get them both some new clothes but especially some mens clothing... for Isaac to grow into. She actually spent a very long time shopping around the town for his wardrobe, feeling quite a few emotions over it. Her little baby boy, he was growing up so quickly. She spent some time sitting in a child's bedroom of a random house in the fishing village, wondering about Isaac and what kind of man he would be. He didn't have the luxury of this kind of childhood. She wondered where his real mother was.

When the day came he announced the boat was done, she was only happy for it: no more tears and no more doubts. She had him give her a tour of everything he had done and she was so impressed she just said over and over again, "It's incredible!" She was now more sure than ever that Isaac was some kind of engineering genius, and without any schooling even. She had taught him what she could of math and literature and such but she was no teacher, she gave Isaac all the credit for his intellect and ability.

It seemed like in no time at all they were out there, just as Isaac had wanted, in the middle of the ocean. The boat had enough power to run a GPS device and she somehow found it comforting that the satellites were still up there above earth orbiting around, and she wondered how many years before they stopped working?

Two weeks it took them to find the first island. It was far too tiny and had nothing to offer them, including no wildlife and hardly any trees. They moored only a day, long enough to feel solid ground again and clean out the boat. It only took three days to find the next island and it looked highly promising. While Isaac moored the boat Alice had the binoculars out, scanning what she could. There was a large forest on the island and they could hear birds there, which mean there was probably other wildlife too.

"Isaac." Alice called down to him. "I think I see buildings. I wonder if someone used to live here. Maybe I'm imagining things?" She leaned over the edge of the boat and tossed the binoculars to him.

Isaac was feeling really proud of himself and his boat that he had named Treeman. It was the final touch before they set off onto the sea, with a dozen of maps, atlases, and GPS machines, all fed from the batteries he collected and charged with the wind turbine. Yep, Isaac was feeling real proud. He even made sure to complete the role with a captain's hat and a pair of big round sunglasses. The first Island was a dud, but he marked a few trees with spray paint, using the date, his age, Alice's age, and the coordinates of the island.

The second island they found he was hesitant to leave the boat. He anchored it off shore a few miles, and they took the life boat to the island. Both of them armed and ready. They dragged the lifeboat up the shore and with a reluctant pout Isaac looked to the Treeman with a sense of longing. Longing to be back on the boat and not on this island. He'd worked real hard on that boat.

They headed out toward the building they saw on the Treeman, and they were quiet about it. Listening for anything, any steps, branches snapping, moaning, screaming, or - dare they hope - actual talking.

Alice patted him on the back when noticing his look back toward the boat, and she grinned to herself. "Zombies can't drive boats any more than they can swim, it'll be fine. Come on." Forty-five minutes later they were coming up on two rows of cabins, it was obviously a tourist spot where (rich) people could come and rough it for holidays. The whole world was rough now, she mused silently, it was funny people used to pay for it. It looked in disrepair but that didn't necessarily mean real people weren't still here.

"Maybe we'll find you a girlfriend," she teased him as they came up to the first cabin. Her pistols were both drawn as she eased up with her back to the wall and moved toward the door. She took in a breath and moved quickly, kicking it open as she moved inside with her guns pointed forward. It was empty, there was trash on the floor, the curtains were torn. It was like a thousand other houses they had entered. "Clear," she said, backing up and out the door again to turn to Isaac.

Isaac stared at the back of her head for a long time, wondering what she meant. Wasn't she his girlfriend? He worked this thought out for a long while as she cleared the house and when she returned he asked her. "You're my girlfriend, aren't you?" He looked over her face, she was a girl, they were friends. What a weird thing to say. Isaac may have heard the term when he was young but he had nothing to associate with it and while growing up on the run there really was no media exposure to that side of life. Romance, girlfriends, husbands and wives. He didn't understand what she meant, in those terms.

When Isaac asked his question, Alice was already moving toward the next cabin. She looked over her shoulder and winked at him and then continued to walk, but a few more steps and she stopped and looked at him again, then slowly turned to face him. "No... I'm your- well, adopted Mom, I guess. We're friends, and I love you." She had said it to him before, especially when he was younger and they had been together month after month. Alice had quickly come to love the smart, sweet little boy she had rescued.

She took a few steps closer to the teenager. They had lived together long enough that Alice could tell he wasn't joking around, but genuinely asking her. It was such a strange thing to realize that this young man had no point of reference for that sort of relationship, and Alice felt guilty for never having any kind of talk with him about it before. It just wasn't something that came up, when you were the only two living people that each other had seen for years. "A girlfriend is a woman that you're romantically interested in."

Romantically interested in. Isaac lowered his eyes and searched his memory for this concept, once again he was drawing blanks. But then he thought about his mom and dad. "Like a wife? Is that what you mean?" He hadn't thought about it, honestly he hasn't. It was starting to make him feel worried, did he need a wife? Why did he need a wife? Besides there was no one left, no one. He frowned and shook his head then huffed. "You're joking." He decided with a soft smile and gave her an expression, almost trying to convince her as much as he was trying to convince himself that there was nobody left in the world. He didn't want to start hoping again. Besides, he'd not hope for a wife, he'd hope for his parents.

He moved toward the next cabin with his gun out and smiling at the building. He would help clear this one. Later he'd look through the cabins more thoroughly. Scavenging anything worth taking.

Yes, she had been joking but now it seemed an exceptionally cruel joke and she felt bad for making it. Often Alice had lamented her own lack of companionship, often she would sneak away from Isaac at night to ease her own aching and wishing she had Carlos or Luther there to ease it for her. Isaac might never have that, would never go out to a dinner and movie with a girl his own age, never sneak out of a bedroom window to go meet her under the school bleachers.

Alice felt uneasy as they cleared the second cabin, and then the third, but her uneasiness had nothing to do with zombies. She suddenly hoped more than ever that they would find some living people, she hoped there would be a girl Isaac's age among them. She was quiet as they walked across the pathway to the opposing row of cabins and she let Isaac go in first again. She smelled it before she saw it, a zombie idling in the far corner, and it turned with a low moan as Isaac walked inside.

Isaac saw the zombie, though he didn't react right away, instead he watched it. Curious about it. It was weak, barely able to groan and the fingers on the zombie's hand moved with a twitch, then settled, it was to the point of wasting away. It was strange, thinking of a zombie dying out of hunger, but how long did it take? Years? Months? The skin was thin, gray, and there was only a few strands of long black hair. Isaac learned that hair grew even after someone died, and nails, though he didn't know how long. But that was a normal person's death, zombies, their hair and nails kept growing. He saw a zombie once with nails curled into its palms.

It smelled bad in here and he looked around to see the remains of soiled clothes and bones. He looked back to the zombie, it had clouded eyes and likely only knew they were here because of the fresh smell of flesh, breath, life. The zombie was slouched back against the corner, its shoulder looked dislocated and his arm was unnaturally turned around over his chest and the fingers kept twitching.

"Do you think they understand that they're in pain? Or do you think they don't feel at all?"

"They are beyond pain." She was convinced of this. "The purpose of pain is to alert the brain that the body is suffering damage, so that it can react appropriately to avoid that. It's a defensive mechanism. No undead I have ever seen reacts as if it wishes to protect its body from damage. All it knows is hunger, insatiable hunger."

Alice stepped forward and put her hand on Isaac's shoulder, and aimed her gun and shot the zombie in the middle of the forehead, ending it. She too had notice how emaciated it was. Her hopes of finding anyone alive on this island just went from close to zero, to absolute zero. She closed her eyes a moment and then turned and wrapped her arm around the young man and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Let's clear the rest, we can stay in the boat each night until we finish exploring the island. How does that sound?"

Isaac nodded, his arm went behind her back and held onto her hip as he stared at the zombie. Very little blood came from that fatal wound. "Do they hide together, maybe if we clear the houses, would they return? We can't let our guard down.. there's too many places they could hide, right?" Tactics she had taught him growing up and sometimes he repeated them to let her know that he still understood. One mistake could be all it took to kill him.

A week into their clearing of the island they found more zombies, but they weren't walking, the inbetweens were too weak. Which meant they hadn't fed in a long, long, time. There were also no necromorphs on the island, which he was glad for. Slashers, what he had ended up calling them, were incredibly far more dangerous and he wondered why that was, whether or not they had eaten something that made them stronger, that made them mutate into what they were. Through their journey, part of their search was answers. They wanted to know what happened, why, and how to prevent it. Though they were likely far past that stage.

Isaac had been searching through his third house and collected all the useful things in organized piles by the front door. He cleared the house of garbage, and remaining bodies and burned them in the middle of the street. It was near dinner time and he was an hour before he would meet Alice back on the shore. He liked bringing things back to the boat, having some supplies there in case they had to get up and go one day in a hurry.

In the room Isaac was looking through the drawers and he looked at the woman's underwear with a different sense of consciousness. Instead of thinking of them as just some lady's underwear, he thought of them as somebody's wife's underwear. Isaac folded them and closed the drawer. The house was not touched for years and there was an immense amount of dust inside of it, but inside cabinets, drawers, dressers, even closets dust was minimum to none. Isaac thought it'd be nice, at least, if they ever came back to their cabin and found that not all their items were ruined. But no one was coming. No one was alive. Isaac opened another drawer and moved around some socks and found a magazine and his eyes widened, his heart skipped a beat, and he groaned. The lady on the magazine was naked. Naked with a beautiful face, though she looked zombie skinny, he still thought she was pretty. Very pretty. For a long while he stared at her and read the words over the magazine cover a few times before he flipped it open. There were tons of photographs of naked women and Isaac could hardly swallow, could hardly breathe! He even sat himself down on the end of the dusty bed to stare at the pages, turning the pages one by one, looking at the women with an insane amount of interest. He'd never -ever- seen such pictures before, such beautiful women, besides Alice. Then he started to think about what he's seen of Alice. Of how she would tan on the boat in her bathing suit, Alice in a towel, Alice wet and swimming, Alice sleeping. All of this was coming to him so quickly and he felt a stir within his lower belly. A stir of arousal.

Isaac was ten minutes late and he felt bad about it, but he'd found another magazine, and another, and another. He had stuffed them in the bottom of his backpack and carried them off to the shore with him. They weren't supplies but he wanted to look at them again, those pretty women, their naked bodies, their breasts. When he found Alice he apologized for being late and told her he's sorry for making her worry. But his mind was far from eating, for from the shore, far from anything that wasn't women, naked woman, beautiful women, and Alice.

"I wasn't worried. ...too much." Alice grinned at him and leaned in to kiss his cheek before she moved back to where she had been standing next to the rope holding the little life boat to the ground so it wouldn't float off. She had a few things too, more canned goods and a rain coat.

She leaned over and untied the rope and tossed it into the boat before she moved to shove it off into the water and stepped with practiced balance into the end. Once Isaac was inside the boat and seated she took up the oars and pushed them off and began a steady rowing motion to take them back to Treeman. "What did you find in the houses? Anything useful?" She looked to his bag, which looked quite full.

Isaac nodded and stared at his bag before his eyes moved to Alice's chest, then to her lips, and then to her eyes. "Mm.. yeah, same stuff, canned foods, I found a small propane bottle, matches, first aid things.. but I didn't bring everything this time, uh.." the magazines took a big chunk of room. "I'll get the rest tomorrow.. but I brought some things.. too. Tonight." He was mumbling and felt awkward talking about what he brought. For some reason, he didn't want Alice to know what he'd found. He couldn't explain that reason either, or what he felt that way, they never had secrets. Did they?

He looked to the shore, licked his lips, then looked to Alice. "I saw some ducks today.." He wanted to move on with another subject. "I'd like to catch one.. and eat it. I don't know how to make it though.. good, I mean. There's recipe books though, I meant to bring it." But the magazines were priority. Though, he wasn't sure where he was going to hide them. He could hide them with his tools. She never touched his tools. Not that he never let her, just that she never needed to. Okay, tool chest it is.

"Duck used to be a bit of a delicacy, if I remember. Something about their livers. We can find some recipes, hopefully we have the spices for it. There were several homes with serviceable kitchens. We've gotten pretty good at using the little kitchen in your boat though."

Alice rowed steadily, her muscles were very developed and that had never changed. Her entire adult life she had either been in combat, or combat training, and the last half dozen years on the run fighting zombies only helped. She was proud of Isaac for taking it upon himself to keep physically fit; zombies were easy to outrun but unlike the undead humans did have only so much stamina. Being fit helped against other worse things than zombies, necromorphs and T-virus mutated animals. She was glad they hadn't found any of those on the island.

Soon enough they were tying the life boat to the much larger Treeman, and climbing up on board. Almost immediately, Alice pulled off her coat, her boots, and started removing her various holsters and harnesses to get more comfortable. She ran her fingers back through her hair and looked toward the island that looked much smaller from the miles they were out at sea now. Alice rubbed her hands down her hips and looked up at the sky.

"I think I have time for a swim before supper. Care to join me?" She felt dusty and sweaty after scouring the tourist resort all day and clearing out zombies. Something about burning zombies always made her itch for a bath too.

Isaac watched her silently, between pulling out some of the things from his backpack that were needed up on deck. He watched as she unstrapped herself from her various weapons, how her legs bent and her boots slid off with a very eye catching slide. How her hair moved with her. She was beautiful, he thought. Not like the girls in the magazine with all that stuff on their face and the things they wore to their wild hair and tanned bodies. Alice was naturally beautiful. He had enjoyed looking at her before, and often found comfort from staring at her, but it was different now. Now that he wanted to see more of her, to know her more, to know a woman.

Isaac slipped off his clothes, leaving himself in his boxers and put his clothes in the small basket they used for a hamper. "I bet there's a waterfall on the island.. I'd like to find it tomorrow." He had seen some women beneath a waterfall in the magazines and he wanted to see Alice beneath the fall of that pure clean water. "A resort place like this.. you know? Ducks.. delicacy.. waterfalls."

She laughed softly and nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea. Maybe a big swimming pool, a jacuzzi. God, can you imagine? With your brilliance I bet you could even get it working again." Alice shook her head and moved for the cabin door. "Our own little paradise. This was a good idea." Alice smiled up at him, giving him full credit for all of this of course, and wanting him to know that she was happy being here even if they hadn't found people. She regretted that for Isaac's sake, but she had been alone for so long now she supposed she was used to it. She felt lucky that she had Isaac, he was really all the company she needed not to go crazy.

Alice came back up from the cabin just a few minutes later, wearing one of several bikinis she owned. Alice had brought up a few towels and set them on the benches on the upper deck and she climbed up onto the boat railing and looked around for a few seconds, out of habit of being cautious always, before she dived off into the waters. It was cold and completely refreshing and she felt tension ease from her body immediately. She came up floating on her back and stared up at the dusky sky with a happy sigh.

Isaac scratched at his stomach while he watched her submerge from beneath deck. She was so fit, so beautiful, very toned, very nice. She had an amazing body, he thought, having those pictures in the magazine to compare her to. In fact, she'd probably blow all those women out of the water. He was openly staring at her breasts, then her butt as she moved down and dove beneath the water. He shook his head quickly and followed after her.

He didn't really do much swimming, but he did do a lot of staring up at the sky and floating on his back. He enjoyed the water around him, and the sound of her next to him. It was peaceful and relaxed him while he thought about Alice and wives. After a long time of not really engaging in conversation he spoke up. "One day, you're going to be my wife, aren't you?" He was asking her but he was still staring up at the darkening sky.

Alice had started treading water, after shaking her head and her shoulder length hair was plastered in wet locks along her cheeks and neck. She opened her mouth and looked over at him, at a loss for words for a few seconds. "A wife is a girlfriend that you decide to commit yourself to for life. A wife is a lifetime partner, more than just a romantic interest." She wasn't sure she was explaining this well because her and Isaac, weren't they already lifetime partners?

"Isaac..." Alice pushed some of her hair away from her face and swam a little closer to him, looking him over for a moment and feeling that dangerous sense she had for some time now. He was a good looking boy, he would be a very handsome man. And then what kind of trouble would she be in? Alone on an island with a good looking man. Isaac wasn't her son, he had never even called her mom before, but she was so much older and had known him since he was so young. It felt like it should be taboo.

When she realized she was losing herself to her own thoughts she gave a small smile and tried to focus back on what she needed to say to him. "Maybe it's time we talk about sex. I think most boys, before had this talk long before now but, I don't know, it just really never came up being as you never had a chance to start crushing on girls or anything. Do you want to talk about this?"

Sex was a word used various times through the magazines he'd looked through and he was basically quite certain he knew what it was. What it meant. "What do you mean crushing on girls?" He had this terrible image of physically crushing girls, did that mean sex hurt? It wouldn't hurt him if he's the one doing the crushing. Isaac looked over her face, the wet hair down her cheeks and again he could imagine seeing her in one of those magazines. He then thought about the girls in those magazines, they were all dead or turned by now.

A lifetime partner, they were already that. He smiled, feeling alright with that. "How can I be romantically interested in you?"

"Oh, Isaac." Alice grinned broadly and gave a nervous laugh, probably about the only time he would have ever seen her flustered or nervous. "It's been a very long time since a man has flirted with me. I don't know if you're meaning to or not but-"

God what was she even saying? Of course he wasn't. Was he? She didn't even know! She laughed again, at herself. "Let's- Let's get back on the boat I'm going to drown if you keep saying things like that." Alice bit her lip as she pushed off in the water and swam back for the boat, and she climbed up the back ladder. She took one of the towels and patted at her face, feeling how heated it was and she knew that he'd made her blush. There had been a time when she was very comfortable with anything a man might say to her, but she'd been in the Mom role for so long now. She felt a need course down through her, a longing and aching between her legs.

Alice was almost embarrassed to turn around and face Isaac but she did, watching him climb back up onto the boat and she looked his body over briefly. He just wore his boxers to swim in and they were clinging to his legs and... other things, so inappropriately. She looked away as she sat down on one of the benches and gave her hair a quick rub.

"Alright, how to explain this. Romantic means you're attracted to someone, crushing means you are attracted to someone too. It doesn't necessarily mean physically especially when you're young but physical attraction has a lot to do with it. It's hard to explain since you've only been around me for so long. But it's, you get this feeling when you look at them-" Alice stretched her legs out and stretched her bare toes.

"You don't want to look away. You notice the way their eyes blink, when they look up at you your heart flutters, you feel alive when you're around them, sometimes it's hard to breathe. They're all biological indicators of sexual attraction. When you're older it means you're looking for a partner, someone you can share your life with or- even just a night of passion I suppose. At its root it's about finding someone to procreate with, to have children with." Alice was rambling by that point and she took a deep breath and looked up at Isaac. "Does any of that make any sense?"

He had watched her climb up the ladder, his eyes at her rear, her center, how the bathing suit's bottoms pinched at her skin and clung tightly to her flesh. He joined her on the boat with a soft smile. She was very beautiful, not thought for the first time nor likely the last. He toweled himself off as she spoke then sat down, looking beside himself to her and watched as her eyes blinked, her lips move, the breath between her words. He knew what she was talking about and he nodded his head. "Yes, I know what you're talking about." He figured he was right. They would get married, some day. He smiled and looked across the boat to his abandoned backpack. Wouldn't they? Or maybe she didn't feel the same? Maybe she was looking for someone for herself, to marry. To be her sexual partner.

That thought brought a frown to his lips and he became unsure all over again.

He didn't ask anymore questions about it, instead he informed her he was going to get dressed and start some dinner.

Later that night he had snuck out onto the deck and pulled a magazine out to look at. He looked at it with a flashlight, being so dark, and he focused on the parts of the woman in the photograph and thought of Alice. Her parts, her womanly parts. It was interesting to him because through his self-taught skill of engineering and mechanical repairing he had heard the term female to male, parts, and he didn't really ever consider those terms humanized until now. And he knew exactly what his male part was for and what her female part was for. It made a lot of sense to him and he wasn't feeling insecure about it. Though he did feel upset that she had this unrealistic hope that they were going to find husbands and wives for themselves.

Alice woke sometime during the night and found a kink in her neck from sleeping on her arm, and she sat up and stretched only to see that Isaac wasn't on his bed. She instantly became worried, she couldn't help it, and decided to find him being as the bathroom door was open and it was obviously unoccupied. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders and looked quickly around the small cabin before she moved with bare, silent feet up to the deck.

She smiled as she peered around the corner at him, using a flashlight to read some magazines. Probably engineering magazines, she figured, and she was about to step forward and ask him what could possibly be so interesting at this time of night when she spotted the cover of the one he was looking at.

Her eyes widened and she pulled both lips between her teeth to stop from making any sound, though she was trying not to grin. She looked upward as she ducked back around and silently jogged down the steps and into the cabin once more. Alice covered her mouth with her hand but she couldn't stop her grinning.

Her little man, he was growing up. She felt over her stomach, pinching the thin fabric of her nightgown as she sat back down on her bed. That must have been why he was asking about wives, so he did know what attraction was, obviously he would be attracted to the girls in those magazines. Alice wanted to laugh at herself for thinking Isaac had been flirting with her. They were the last two people in the world as far as they were concerned, of course he would be curious about these things.

Alice frowned again, wondering what she could possibly do about this situation. It wasn't fair to him, Alice was the only woman for thousands of miles probably, but he also saw her as a mother figure. It was a little too complex and worrisome to think about tonight she decided, and she curled back up in her blanket to sleep.

The next morning she was up first, showered, dressed, and was making them breakfast when he stirred and began to sit up. Alice smiled over at him but didn't say anything. It wasn't until he came to sit down at the small table to eat that she spoke up. "Isaac, are you attracted to me?"

Isaac had finished looking at the magazine, then looked at it again, this time back to front. After he was done he did the same for the next two magazines and didn't go back to bed for another two hours. Simply staring and wondering, letting the pretty faces speak to him, he imagined what kind of girls they were and where they lived and if they were on television shows too back when there was television. Isaac was introduced to this world with no real understanding between the difference from the magazine he was looking at and the cooking ones, or home making ones, he thought maybe they all were interlinked somehow. He imagined one of the girls knowing how to cook, the other living in the house he'd liked in another magazine, or a character on Treeman, he let his imagination run wild before he concluded that they were all dead. Every one of them.

Morning came too soon and he took a while getting up. Though he knew Alice as cooking he just couldn't rouse. He smiled though at the plate of food she gave him. They had come across dozens and dozens of boxes of powdered eggs. Just add water. That's the kind of food for them. Just add water.

Her question had his head cocking and he stared at her for a moment, then let his eyes fall to her chest, then up to her lips. "Yes, I think you're very beautiful." He looked to her. "I see all the photos in these houses.." In those magazines… "And you're the prettiest.. still."