Young Writers Society

Whoop, Lasan had been leaning a little too close to the crate, if something shaking inside of his coat was any indicator. He pulled back, setting the last of the bags down.

"I hope this storm ends," Lasan said with a sigh, looking back at Ryder. "Because I don't really want to be stuck in a place like this."

"Same," Ryder agreed. He put the food back and say down in front of the fire, not sure what else was left to do in the meantime. "I don't like being underground."

Lasan hesitated. Part of him wanted to keep looking through the crates, but he decided it'd be more polite to sit down by the fire next to Ryder. So he did, setting his hat on the ground between them.

"Yeah," Lasan said, staring at the flames. "It's less the underground part and more the metal part, but I'm guessing you come from a different place than I do?"

"Yeah," Ryder confirmed, following his gaze and staring at he flames. "I've never met someone like you before, and I've met all kinds of people."

"I, didn't mean like that, but I guess that makes sense," Lasan said, grabbing his tail and resting his chin on it. "My species isn't really known for wandering around the world - I was kind of an exception, in that sense."

"I guess we have even more in common," Ryder said, smiling. "My family was never much for traveling."

He faltered, realizing that he was momentarily forgetting Ryder's life and slipping into his actual past. He gave him a slightly less genuine smile and tried to compensate. "My first family, that is. My second one loved traveling - we always seemed to be going on some adventure together."

The smile faded, and his look grew distant.

"Those...Those were good times," he softly said.

"They really were," Lasan said. He paused. "Not the war part, but, having so many people to talk to and work with and see the world with. It was a lot more exciting than how my dad ran things - not that that's saying a whole lot. And sure, it was dangerous and rough and terrifying, but I learned far more about the world and my purpose in it than I would've if I had stayed home. It's how I met my boyfriend, even."

"Yeah," he said. "I did, too."

Even though he often tried his best to keep his memories private, the combination of their similarities and the comfort of the fire made him impulsively decide to talk about his true family.

"My sister was always the one who came up with the ideas for where to go," he said, a nostalgic look flickering across his face. "It was always a stupid, impulsive plan, and I always agreed to it. We had to beg our brother to go along with whatever new adventure she had concocted, but he always relented in the end."

"I would love to have siblings like that," Lasan said. He frowned. "My stepsiblings thought I was a big idiot. They'd always make fun of my weight and not let me play games with them and run to their mom when I said or did anything they took as a threat. I-"

Lasan froze, hearing a stifled yawn that he knew he couldn't pass off as his own. And, as quiet as it was, Ryder could easily hear the end of it breaking through Lasan's silence. Whoops. It really was too comfortable a fire.

...He really was like him.

Hearing Lasan talk about his step-siblings made him think of his own brother, and how little he had cared for his family. But before he could come up with something to say that showed he understood without ignoring the person Ryder Salvai was supposed to be, Lasan yawned.

"The fire is pretty comfortable," he said, giving Lasan another small smile. "If you want to sleep, I don't mind staying up to see when the storm ends."

"Oh, um, uh," Lasan said. How had Ryder not noticed the yawn wasn't Lasan's? How come Ryder believed him? Eugh. Ryder was too honest and too nice of a person for Lasan to be lying to.

Slipping off his boots, Lasan stretched. "Nah, I heat up too easily? And it makes me sluggish?" Not a lie - it wasn't the truth either, but it'd work.

His reply made him pause as he looked back into the fire.

Ryder turned to Lasan again, studying him carefully. His instincts were kicking in - something was off. He could have passed off the response as Lasan being awkward, but his gut was telling him that it was something more than that.

...Now that he thought about it, was that really Lasan's yawn?

He had nothing to compare the yawn to, and he had unfortunately been too focused on the fire and on the past to see if the sound had come from Lasan's mouth.

Since he had no way to turn back the clock, there was only one way to solve the mystery: get Lasan to yawn, since he didn't want to talk about whoever might have been in the room. He temporarily pushed back the paranoia; if his guess was proved correct, he could worry about why Lasan was hiding someone.

He gave a big stretch and began to lay back, giving a loud and very noticeable yawn as he did so.

"Maybe it's a good thing you don't want to sleep," Ryder said. "Now that I think about it, the idea of a nap is sounding all the more like a good idea."

Wrapping his arms around his coat, Lasan nodded. "Yeah, I didn't sleep all that long ago," he said, hoping he could drown out the very faint yawn. He set a paw against the floor and leaned on it, facing away from Ryder so that he wouldn't see something moving in the coat. "You can take a nap if you'd like."

His attempt to make Lasan yawn had failed, but it had served its ultimate purpose - he had discovered that there was another person making the yawns. The yawns didn't sound like they were coming from the crates; the source seemed to be near Lasan.

...Which mean whoever they were was probably underneath his coat.

But he was supposed to be feigning exhaustion, so he could either confront Lasan and the other person present or hope they did something more revealing while he was "asleep".

...And, of course, both situations would go horribly thanks to the lack of a weapon. Improvisation was going to be his best friend if things got dangerous.

"Thanks," Ryder said, closing his eyes and shifting as he presumably tried to get into a more comfortable position. He was really trying to get into one that would make getting up easier, but he knew it was a convincing act.

He pretended to be asleep, the adrenaline coursing through his veins preventing him from actually resting.

Lasan waited a few minutes before he unbuttoned the top button of his coat and peeked inside. It wasn't like he distrusted Ryder; the man had been, by all accounts, nice to talk to. He didn't think Ryder was dishonest or manipulative (though Lasan had been wrong before). Lasan just had no idea if Ryder was one of those people who slept like a rock or not. Better not to take any chances.

"Hey," Lasan whispered, snout poking at the figure curled up in his coat.

"Hey. Could've given me some room to breathe, y'know."

Lasan huffed. "I didn't expect you to start yawning."

"It's a cozy fire! You're very warm, and your scales are pretty smooth, so don't blame me for this!"

Shaking his head, the lizard said, "Of all the times we could've been kicked to some other world, whatever did this just had to pick one of the worst ones."

"And we were sleeping, so it's not like we could've done anything about it."

"Exactly!" said Lasan. He paused. "Should we tell him?"

"...Why?"

Lasan glanced over at Ryder. "I like him. I think he deserves to know the truth."

"...Maybe when he wakes up."

Nodding, Lasan kissed the figure on the forehead, buttoned his coat back up, and went back to staring at the fire.