Shanzira and Gaius: C Support.

Written from Gaius' point of view.


Okay... I'm at the edge of camp, no one's following me, I ought be good. Now where's a bee–

"Ooh! Hiya, candy thief!"

THE HELL THAT'S SUNFLOWER. I twist around. Okay, keep a cool face, no problem. She's just, you know, sunny. "'Ello, Sunflower," okay that was nice and calm. I'm good. "Anything you need?"

She tilts her head like a little kid– Ooh, that sack on her shoulder. I can smell the sugar. "Where are ya goin'?"

Taking candy from a baby is not easy at all. Unfortunately, Sunflower's the kind of girl who blurs the line between babe and baby. Seriously... Hotter than hell, but she acts like a kid. It's like she just torments me with her appearance. A kid who's one of the hottest babes in camp, and she also has the most candy, apart from Princess. It is just not fair, but then, life's hard, then you die.

Anyway, she asked a question, I owe an answer. "Out to get honey, why?" I'm still glancing around for bees, mind. What if one landed on her? Damn, that'd really justify the nickname.

Her grin gets a little tight. Like, forced. She likes to act, and being good at improvising myself, I know when she's acting. "I was going to trade you my candy for some of your candy, but you can go and get honey now."

A trade? You mean she'd willingly let me have access to those bona-fide treats? I swear she has chocolates that look like rocks. She decided to pull a prank on me one day and handed me a bag full of real rocks instead of her chocolates. I damn near broke a tooth. Anyways, this just smells real fishy. "Something wrong?"

Okay, now I know something's up. She just went and froze. The only part of her that's moving are her eyes. They're following something behind me... Oh, a bee. I wave a hand in front of her face. "Hey. Sunflower! You okay?"

She slumps a minute later. "It's gone now. Thank Naga." Judging from her shivering, I'd say she was terrified.

... Terrified. I'm not one to judge, but... "You froze up because of a bee?"

"Yeah," she shudders. "I have a nasty fear of those things."

I just realized the bee just got away. Crap! Well, nothing I can do about it now. "Why? It's not like bee stings hurt that much." Oh, wow, that's a cold glare.

"I got a nasty one by a wasp when I was four." Holy crap, she sounds like a snake. "Yeah, that'll give you a phobia of them..."

This is kinda sad. "Jees, I know how bees can be a pain, but I've never met someone who's so scared of them. You want me to help with that?" Hey, she might even pay me in candy. This might be profitable after all!

"Please, no."

"Mmkay," I shrug. "Sure. But–"

"EYAAAAAHHH!"

CRIVENS THAT WAS LOUD! RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, TOO! Ugh... I rub my ears. I'm pretty sure what happened was a bee buzzed by her ear, and she freaked. "Well," I think my head's stopped throbbing, "you'd better go if you're so scared. I'll just follow this guy back to his hive..." I keep my eyes on the bee, buzzing around like nothing happened. Wow, I think I see people in camp coming over, too.

"Y-yeah," she turns around to leave and stumbles. "Oh, I think that's another anxiety attack."

It hurts to offer this, but she's a comrade. "You need me to carry you back?"

"No, no," she waves at me nonchalantly. "I can handle it, thanks for the offer..." Okay, she's definitely not fine, she just shivered, but if she's going to be stubborn, I'm not gonna insult her. "Thanks, bye..."

She's gone and I'm just standing here. "Wow." For a moment, I was struck speechless by how scared she was. "She really needs help with that." Oh, there's that bee again... An idea hits me. "I think I got the solution..."


Author's notes: One down, two to go.