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Ket lay on his sleeping bag with his arms folded behind his head, hands underneath his pillow. His foot tapped against the darkness, to the beat of the drums he heard not too far away. The partyers were much more festive tonight, probably because more people had arrived. He was happy to miss out on it all; too much noise and commotion. He liked it here, in the tent where it was quiet. There was just one thing missing...

The sound of the zipper alerted him. He sat up, and it tugged and tugged. Behind the door came a huff of frustration.

"Stupid..." Came a whispered huff.

Ket slinked forward, on hands and knees, and went to the zipper. He felt around it, and found that the door-flap had gotten caught in the path. He pulled it free, and the zipper finally followed through.

"Gah!" Emeral gasped, when from the dark void two gleaming, yellow eyes glared at her. "What the heck, you weirdo," she exhaled, pushing past him.

"Weirdo? What makes you say that."

"Nothing just," she made her way to her sleeping bag, "You were waiting right there."

"No," he said, "I was waiting but I was lying down." He followed her, making for his own sleeping bag. "I heard you had trouble with the zipper; it was caught. I uncaught it and you opened it up."

He sat beside her, a bit of distance between them.

She was lying down, tired. She closed her eyes for a few moments, letting her muscles unwind. When she opened them again, the glowing eyes were watching her.

"What?" She questioned.

"What-what?" He asked back.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" The eyes looked down at his hands. "It's kinda creepy."

"Oh..."

It sounded like he'd gotten punched in the gut.

"You just looked really tired," he stated, voice returning to normal.

"Finally noticed, huh?" She grumbled. "I've been tired all day."

He sighed, "Yeah, me too. But I had fun."

"I'm glad," she said with a voice that didn't quite match her words.

"How about you?" He asked, odd voice unnoticed. "You got to make your sandcastle."

"Sure," she replied, dully. Another moment or two went by in quiet. She sensed it, and opened her eyes. Yup, his were staring at her creepily in the darkness. As soon as she saw it, though, he looked away.

"Sorry," he said, a little dismayed. "Anyway...I guess I'm gonna get some sleep. Now that I know how to make them, think about one you want to make tomorrow, okay?"

Emeral felt a pang of sadness stab in her like a tetanus shot. "...Kay," she said softly. She heard him rustle on his sleeping bag, fluffing his pillow and then at last calming down. The night outside was nothing like that, though. She could hear teenagers and adults alike all having fun and dancing, or doing whatever it was they did at parties.

She took in a big breath, and let it out slowly. Not a thought entered her mind. She didn't really like the things she had thought all day. Maybe he was right, maybe she was just way tired. And...he was also right about the sand castle. They had finished it, made lots of little details on it and everything. James even went and got some army soldiers he had and set them to defend it.

Her cheeks burned and her stomach bubbled. She touched it tenderly, feeling extremely sick all of a sudden. She looked over to Ket, watching him. He was facing away from her. The sickness faded after a minute or so. It was probably the quesadillas her mom made. She thought hers tasted a little bit gummy.

Just then, Ket abruptly sat up. He shook his head and arms a little, and hunched over for a second. With a few calming breaths, he righted himself and then his back seemed to grow.

Emeral watched as he shed his shirt like a snake sheds its skin. He used it to rub his face, like he was wiping off sweat after a hard workout. He balled it up, and set it to his left, between him and the wall.

"S--" Emeral started before she could stop herself. Ket glanced at her. "...Something wrong?" She asked, her voice deeply concerned.

"Just hot," he replied. "Don't worry about it; try and sleep." He returned to lying down, his bare shoulders a fine outline to the tigress behind him. "G'night."

She watched for a moment before she finally whispered. "Good night," and peeled her eyes away from him. Somehow she realized it didn't feel right. She had just snapped at him for watching her, so she shouldn't really be watching him like that. But he once again used that infamous phrase that meant exactly the opposite of what he said. Didn't he realize by now, that if he told her not to worry that was the only thing she could do?

But at least this time she knew exactly what it was. She could sum it up in one word: Waves.

Maybe if she held him he would sleep better. But he wouldn't do that; he didn't seem to like being close like that. If they ever did get close, usually she was the held one. But somehow she got the feeling he didn't want to get close at all right now.

Was he embarrassed? He didn't have to be... she never got motion-sick but Lyza did sometimes. Suddenly a surge of the worry he told her not feel thickened her blood. What if he was terrified of the ocean when they went swimming? What if he was trying to be macho and hide his fear?

How annoying! He was right next to her but it was like he was a zillion miles away. And she couldn't ask him, he'd get mad at her.

She quickly rolled ninety-degrees away from Ket to lie on her side, huffing angrily.

"Are you okay?"

Her breath caught. "Uh..." She coughed, prentending like she just had a fit. "Yeah, just the salty air." Salty air which appeared to sap everything but curtness from her throat. The conversation stopped there. He apparently wasn't worried or anything. Good for him. Let him toss around in his stupid waves, she didn't care.

...At least, not much...