4: Wounded Pride

     "So what do you think?"

     I stand here and debate my answer. On the one hand, I'm fecking livid with the other two members of the 'family' and want to tell Yadira exactly what I think, but on the other, I don't want to hurt her feelings when she's obviously so proud of herself.
     "What is it?" She watches me, her smile sinking. "It's... kinda like what you did at the beach, isn't it?"
     "What I did at the beach is supposed to be temporary."
     She swallows, probably trying to hide the hurt. "Well, uh, like I said, it, um, works for the warmer months."
     She deserves better than this! She deserves to live in a fucking palace, not this shithole. I walk over to inspect some of the items in her assembled little hovel.

     "Is there a reason you've held on to this crap?" I gesture to the broken TVs, the rotting mattresses, the broken chairs and table, and the worthless what-was-once-a-microwave.
     "I thought I might turn them into something useful. Sama wanted to throw them in a garbage pile, but I hoped there might be something that could be used." Fuck. She's definitely hurt.
     "Maybe. But that doesn't mean you keep them in your... 'house.'"
     She lets out a puff of air. "Look, I know I'm not a builder, but I thought you might at least appreciate my efforts because I did it all ON MY OWN." She gestures to a random assortment of wooden planks. "I was going to try and build a wall, but I don't know how." She folds her arms and turns away from me.
     "Yadira, I'm sorry. I just can't believe--"
     "Just go."
     "But you've done a great job with the lean-tos."
     "The part I care the least about. You didn't even notice the canopy right over your head."
     I look up, my heart sinking. "Uh, yeah. That would be really nice in a garden."
     She walks over and blows out her candle. "Goodnight, Rohan. See you tomorrow." She climbs under her covers, effectively dismissing me.
     Fuck.

**********************************

Asa

     After supper, Yadira walks out with the blond barbarian, and I take that opportunity to tell Sama exactly what I think.

     "I can't STAND him!" He's going to ruin everything! I had it all planned out, and it included Yadira and I spending our lives together AS A COUPLE. I was just waiting for some tiny hint she might be ready for that. I was gonna play it cool, maybe even having a kind of fling-thing with Sama. After all I WAS the only dude. As far as we knew at the time, the continuation of the human race was up to us. This Rohan bastard has blown that notion away like an ash sculpture in a strong wind.

     She gives me a look like she knows exactly what I'm also not saying. "I'm sorry if he ruined your little fantasy of being the last surviving man in the world."

     She thinks she's so smart. "No, you're NOT sorry. I think you LIKE him."

     Deliberately mistaking my meaning, she replies, "Yes. I believe he's a nice addition to the family, and I think he'll help us a lot. In MANY areas."

     I glare at her and get the leftovers, intending to put them away.

     Of course, the refrigerator doesn't work like it was meant to, but we compressed blocks of snow to pack it with ice. It's like a huge cooler. The ice won't last forever, but it'll get through spring unless we have a particularly warm temperature spike.

     Sama keeps going, "And he seems QUITE TAKEN with Yadira, don't you think?"

     That's fine, Sama. Just pour salt in my wounded pride. "Fuck off."

     She laughs while I leave her house.

     As I walk to my house, I see the blond brute walking back toward the beach with his shoulders slumped and his gait more loping than anything. To put it mildly, he looks down. I happily ponder what could've caused that.

*************************************

Rohan

     The next day, I assemble another garment, being sure to have something come up between my legs so that I don't flash everyone again.

    The morning is a bit chillier than it was yesterday, so I find a sort of upright fire pit and light it. No one else is up yet. I take this time to think now that my head is a little clearer.

    I'm not going to build near the beach. No, I'm going to build RIGHT HERE. Right here where I stand. There are even more building materials, bricks, here since it looks like this was a bigger settlement. And this is right next to Yadira.

    It takes almost a month to build my one-room house. During the building, I teach the other three what to do to get the best from the bricks, how to mix mortar, and how to lay them for maximum durability. Pretty early on, Sama abandons our work to fix some holes in the walls of her first floor.

    The biggest surprise is how I develop an almost-friendship with the man-child Asa. I say that, but the friendship would only exist if Yadira wasn't in the nearby vicinity.

     "Hey, Yadira, wake up." She's taken to sleeping some during the day, especially since we finished the house. I'm glad it's finished before the heat of summer. "I got all my furniture moved in and then some. Wanna see?" Please?
     She makes a kind of mumble/groaning noise before saying, "Okay."

     I'm practically bouncing in my excitement, and she giggles at me.

    I consider my biggest accomplishment being the inclusion of the windows. I managed to get together enough glass to fix some broken ones I'd found at the other homestead.
    "This is really amazing!" She walks in and looks at everything. She hadn't seen it with all the furniture, especially the heavier pieces which Asa helped me with this morning--as I vowed to work on his house next. It should be that I work on Yadira's next, but I have other hopes.

     "You really like it?" I want to touch her face, her hair, everything. Over the last month, I've had opportunities, especially when teaching her to lay bricks, but sometimes, she's so childlike that it feels wrong. So instead, I just continue to admire the young goddess... and fantasize entirely too much.
     "Yes! Of course I do. Is there anything you can't do?"
     Yes. Plenty. Gods, I should just grab her face and plant one on her. Does she even realize?
     I take a deep breath. This glorified loincloth isn't the best at hiding when something comes up. To reply to her question, I merely chuckle. "Let's have a seat." I quickly make my way over to the couch. It'd be best to remain seated for now.

     I have a small fire lit (using the same fire pit I'd used when I decided to build here), and the light from it makes her skin glow just like it did the night I met her, when I was convinced she was a goddess.
     Ask her to move in. Just do it. No, I have to build up to it. I should kiss her first. "I'm glad you like it." Because I really did it for you. If it were just me, I wouldn't have made it this big. It's still an incredibly simple building. It has no kitchen, no bathroom, not even a sink. I keep a bucket of water on the wall--mostly in case the fireplace gets out of hand. Sama still cooks for everyone, even though she's moved her cookstove outside. It had no exhaust, and she'd covered the hole in the wall she'd once used for that purpose. So I don't need a kitchen.
    "It's so real." She giggles. "That sounds funny." Another giggle. "It's just you turned a bunch of bricks into this, with a roof and everything."
    I'm not thinking clearly. That has to be the reason I scoot over and start speaking quietly into her ear.

     "There's room for two... if you want." WHAT THE FUCK, ROHAN?! Just jump right into it? My hands start sweating like a pre-teen's.
     She giggles.

     "That tickles."
     I don't know whether I should scream or collapse with relief. Sure, I don't have THAT much experience with women. With the tribe it was typically 'get with this one' if there wasn't a love match, just to further the next generation. I'm not a virgin, but, to my knowledge, I didn't sire any offspring either. I simply don't have that much experience with flirting; there hasn't been anyone special.
    Until now... as I act like a pathetic git of a fifteen-year-old.
    Who apparently doesn't know when to quit. "Oh yeah?" I lean in, practically falling over on top of her as she giggles, trying to escape. I talk into her ear again, "You mean like this?"
    She pushes me back, and I go ahead and let her, "Rohan, quit it."

     "But it's fun making you giggle like that." Maybe my acting like a man-child who doesn't know what he's doing is actually better for her. I can still count it as a win if I'm making her smile like that. Sure, she totally either didn't get it or is completely ignoring the fact that I asked her to move in with me.
    "Well, you're funny when you're not acting all serious and stuff." She does something goofy with her voice, making it go a little lower, when she says 'serious.'
    As I speak, the door behind us opens. "Well, I'm not serious ALL the time."

     "Rohan, could I speak to you a moment?" It's Sama, who apparently doesn't know how to knock.
     Fuck. What does she want now?