Part 5
We won! Getting rid of Lucy was the right choice. It brought our team together. We are going to win from here on out.
Henry, Television Executive
The Riau tribe wins the immunity challenge.
Balancing dishes on a small platform turns out to be a skill of Lucinda's and ninety-seven minutes into the second immunity challenge Katie knocks over her precariously balanced chinaware and Jeff Probst declares Lucinda- and the Riau tribe- the winners.
"And that's how you do it!" Casey shouts, as if he wasn't the second person out of the challenge.
Lucinda is sweaty when Luke hugs her in congratulations. "It's all in the wrists my dear," she says with a light laugh and a flick of her hand.
Brian pulls her into a hug and even gives her a peck on the forehead. He's got his arm around her- Maybe she's really his wife? Luke thinks- when Jeff Probst says, "Alright Riau tribe, it's that time again. Choose who's going to Exile Island."
There's no real decision making to be had, because they all decided (surprisingly, with very little prompting from Luke) that they would choose Reid again if they won the challenge.
"No use giving another tribe member the advantage," Molly had said.
"The fewer people to Exile Island the better," Ali added.
"He'll probably choose you again if we choose him," Noah told Luke with sympathetic eyes.
"We're sending Reid to Exile Island," Casey tells the Survivor host.
Reid doesn't look surprised. He just steps forward, and before Jeff Probst can ask, he says, "I choose Luke."
The words send a strange flutter through Luke's stomach. It's a bit like nervousness, or possibly excitement. Which is stupid, Luke tells himself as he walks over to join Reid. He knew the man would choose him. That's their plan. Get sent to Exile Island so no one else can realize the idol has been found or discover the information. It's not as if he actually wants to be there with me. Luke doubts Reid really wants to be there with anyone. Despite the minute friendliness the man showed last time they were exiled, Luke gets the feeling that Dr. Reid is a loner. With his attitude, I can't imagine he has many friends.
He and Reid stand next to one another, silently watching as their teammates begin the trek back to their respective camps. They don't talk as the motorboat ships them to the desolate island that Luke hates so much. They don't talk until the boat is disappearing behind the horizon and he and Reid are alone. Well, he, Reid and the small Survivor production crew.
Reid sets his bag down next to the failed fire pit they made last time, Luke opens his mouth to make some lame ice-breaking joke, and Reid snaps, "You didn't tell anyone about the idol or information did you?" The implication that Luke's stupid enough to have done so is clear in the neurosurgeon's voice.
"No!" Luke declares. "Why would I do that?"
Reid shoots him a look over his shoulder and grabs the tube hanging from the Exile Island post. "I don't know. I figured someone would have guilted you into it."
Luke's mind flashes to Noah's puppy-dog eyes and is suddenly glad of his already reddened skin. "I'm not a saint. I have lied before," he snaps.
"No, really?" Reid says as he skims over the parchment from inside the tube.
Suddenly, Luke is curious. He steps closer until he's leaning over Reid's shoulder. "It's the same right?" The words repeat the same message as last time.
Reid twists his head, and his cheek almost brushes against Luke's nose. Hot breath sweeps across Luke's skin. Time stretches out like taffy, thick and sweet. Something heavy and dark heats Reid's eyes, and for one second Luke swears the man is going to lean forward and press his lips against Luke's. Then Reid's body jerks back and the man practically growls, "Do you mind?"
The moment shatters and Luke stumbles backwards as if he's been pushed. Luke lets loose a stuttering laugh and says, "I guess we have an evening to ourselves, since we already found the idol and information clue." It's not really funny, in fact, Luke really wants to run away and hide his head in his hands, but there's nowhere to go and he's supposed to be an adult. Adults don't run away. Right?
Reid's mouth coils into a sneering pout and Luke knows he's about to be the center of a joke. However, the man surprises him by trudging past Luke and saying, "I'll try to start a fire. You go do your impression of Flipper and catch us some dinner." He flaps his hand towards the water, like he has no idea how Luke can possible swim the way he does.
Relief crashes through Luke. "You do realize that swimming and fishing aren't the same skill?" But he is already peeling off his shirt and heading towards the ocean. I don't know if I can fish without any fishing gear, but I can damn well try, Luke tells himself.
"Mmmm-hmmm," Reid mumbles, but his attention is already focused on using the dry bush and thin sticks to try to start the fire. So Luke sighs and wades into the water.
Without a watch it's difficult to judge time, but by the slowly dipping sun, Luke suspects it's more than an hour or two before he gets anything worth eating. It takes at least thirty minutes for him to figure out that he's not going to catch any fish with his bare hands. Faith and Natalie are going to laugh their heads off if they show me trying doing this. After doing nothing but scare away any swimming thing in his immediate vicinity and splashing himself repeatedly, Luke gives up on fishing. He's about to give up on the food-from-the-sea thing completely when he accidentally steps on a conch shell.
"Oww!" he grunts as the spiked part of the shell pokes his through the sole of his shoe. Then he laughs and reaches down to scoop up the shell. "Hello there," he says to the conch. He swims to shore and drops the conch on the beach then swims back out. The salt water stings his eyes, but he keeps them open anyway as he dives back down and finds another conch, and amazingly, a three legged crab. He got into a fight with something, Luke thinks and he paddles back to shore. Unfortunate for him, lucky for me.
Water still dripping from him, Luke jogs victoriously back to Reid. Somehow the man's started a fire. "Alright!" Luke cries out. "Fire and food!" Reid looks up from where he's tending to his small fire. A pile of medium sized sticks sits next to it, and Reid is feeding them to flames one by one.
Without prompting Luke shows off his catches. Reid bursts his bubble by saying, "Well, you caught it, do you know how to cook it?"
Luke looks from crab to conches and thinks, damn. Aloud, he says, "How hard can it be?" Apparently really hard. Eventually, he hands one conch to Reid while he tries ineffectively to pull the thing out with his fingers.
"We need something sharp," Reid says.
"Aren't you supposed to be good with your hands?" Luke snaps. He's hungry. Stupid thing is taunting me. Which, of course, is a stupid thought because by that time the conch has been out of the water for at least twenty minutes and is obviously dead. He stares at Reid's fingers. He can't help but notice how long and thin they are. There's a patch of dry skin near the knuckles of his left hand and conch guts squished between his forefinger and thumb. Very attractive, Luke snorts to himself.
"Hand me one of those sticks," Luke says.
Reid shoots him a narrowed eyed look. "Get one of your own sticks. I gathered these myself."
Seriously? "Do you want to eat or not?"
Reid hands over a stick. Luke uses the sharper end to dig out the conch. It takes a few tries, but finally, finally, the thing slides out. He hands the empty shell to the other man and takes the other one from Reid's hands. Then, he skewers both conches on the stick and holds the stick over the fire. He really doesn't know how to cook a crab other than boiling it in water, and since they have no pot, Luke just picks up the dead thing and lays it on the edge of the hot flames.
While he cooks, Reid gathers a few coconuts and breaks them open overtop a sharp rock. He's stronger than he looks. Luke watches how the muscles under Reid's shoulders tighten as he raises the coconut and smashes it down. It's not in the least bit sexy. Not at all. What? Luke tells himself, Just because he's an asshole doesn't mean he can't have a hot body. The two are not related in the slightest.
Luke's arm begins to ache so when Reid comes back and asks, "Are they done yet?"
Luke pulls the stick from the fire, blows on the blackened flesh of the conch and says, "Yep." He's not really sure how to tell if a conch is cooked or not, but he figures they're good enough and takes comfort in the fact that if he gets food poisoning as least Reid will too.
Reid holds out his hand like a waiting school boy then murmurs, "Shit," when Luke shakes off one of the conchs. "It's hot," Reid says like Luke isn't aware, and bounces the meat from one hand to the other.
It's quiet while they eat, first the conch then small pieces of crab. Reid licks his fingers and lips when it's all gone. He gives his stomach a little pat, which Luke finds strangely endearing. Who knew the way to Reid's heart was food?
"That was good," Reid says and gulps down half of his coconut milk.
The words make Luke smile. "Well, it's not fine dining, but it's pretty good by Survivor standards."
Reid stretches his arms above his head and says, "It's better than what we've had at our camp. None of us are great hunters."
"I've noticed none of you seem to get along."
"Let's just say that we argue more than anything else." The neurosurgeon leans forward and adds a few more sticks to the fire. The flames spark upward.
"Yeah, I can't imagine why that is," Luke says sardonically.
Reid ignores him, rolls his shoulders back and says, "Okay, dinner's done. Let's talk strategy."
And it's been so peaceful, Luke thinks. He settles into the sand next to Reid, legs stretched out and rests on his elbows. "Okay, let's talk strategy."
###
This is f****** crazy! They're all going to regret voting me out! They should have voted out that bastard, Reid. He's manipulating them all.
Dusty, CEO
Luke's happy to see his partner in crime is still standing when the Bangka tribe walks into the third reward challenge. He's really surprised to see that Dusty, Mr. Athletic, has been voted out. I can't believe Reid convinced them to send Dusty home. He looks over at his teammates' reactions then thinks, I can't believe that I convinced them that we still didn't find the idol. Truthfully, it hadn't been that difficult. Luke just explained that he didn't try too hard to find the idol because he was busy keeping an eye on Reid. I guess it's a good thing I seem so trustworthy. He still felt a little guilty that he lied. Especially to Noah and Casey.
"Boys till the end," Casey had said and the three of them exchanged fist bumps.
Besides, it's not like I pledged my allegiance to Reid until the final three. Just until after the merge. Damian's voice whispered in his mind, It's always a good idea to leave all your doors open, Luke. Just play it by ear.
The reward challenge ends up being a giant puzzle with the pieces being six foot cubes. They have to swim out and get the pieces, bring them back, then put the puzzle together to spell their tribe's name. Ali and Noah end up sitting out, but with Maddie, Luke, Casey and Molly swimming for the pieces and Brian and Lucinda guiding the puzzle, they win before the Bangka tribe has done more than put three pieces together. Luke feels high from the victory, and he feels even better when Jeff hands over the three baskets full of breads and deli meats.
Strong from the food and victory, the Riau tribe wins the next challenge as well.
"Riau tribe wins immunity AGAIN!" Probst shouts.
"Reid," Molly says with a grin on her face.
"Luke," Reid says, scowl firmly in place.
"They're never going to believe that we didn't find the idol after three times here," Luke says the moment they're on Exile Island. Their little fire pit and that horrid black, crossbones flag is starting to feel scarily like home.
"Go and get me some food," Reid says, then grabs his two fire-starting sticks.
"We need to think of something to tell them," Luke says around a mouthful of clam.
Reid sucks the juice off his fingers and replies, "Let's tell them about people knowing each other."
"What? That's stupid!"
"No, we keep the idol to ourselves. Distract them with the information."
Luke doesn't like the idea, but Reid's convincing, so when he gets back the next morning, he tells everyone, "There's no idol."
"What?" Molly says.
Everyone leans into the circle, trying to get closer to Luke, to catch his every word. He looks around, meeting every pair of eyes. "The clues didn't lead to an idol. They led to information."
"What do you mean?" Noah asks. He's sitting to Luke's right. His hands are clasped together and resting atop his thighs. His knee is touching Luke's.
Luke takes a deep breath. "At the end of all the clues- at the end of the hunt- was a piece of paper with information." He closes his eyes, as if searching for strength, then opens them again. "There are two sets of people who know each other, who are somehow related, in this season."
There's a few seconds of processing, then he's barraged with questions.
"What?"
"You mean people are like married or something?"
"People know each other?"
Luke raises his hands. "I only know what the clue said. And it said that there are two pairs of people who have relations outside of this show. The best I can figure, that can mean married, siblings, or even friends."
"Do you know who it is?" Maddie asks. Her face has lost its color.
"No." He shakes his head. "But Reid and I spent the night speculating."
"So Reid knows too?" Noah asks. The question seems accusing.
"I didn't have any choice in the matter," Luke defends. "It was impossible to find the clues without him following. He was there when I found the information." Noah doesn't say anything, so Luke redirects the conversation. "We don't know if the pairs were put on the same team, or if they were split. But, Reid thinks that Bob and Kim on his team are married." And I think Brian is related to someone too, but Luke doesn't say this aloud. "We couldn't figure out anyone else, which led us to believe that the other pair is split between the teams." He lets that information soak.
"So, like, one of us knows someone?" Ali says incredulously. She shakes her head. "I don't know Luke, maybe both pairs are on Reid's team."
I hope so, he thinks, but he doubts it.
"Well it's not me," Casey says. "I'm doing this on my own."
That sets off a round of denials. "Well, that was lovely," Lucinda says and Casey gives her an obvious sideways look. The silence is cutting.
"So much for our happy tribe," Maddie says sadly.
Molly is the first to break. "I'm going to gather firewood," she says and heads off into the trees.
Noah nudges his knee. "Want to go fishing?"
Luke nods. "Sure." Because sitting here is a ball of fun. They take the fishing gear and head out into the water. When Luke looks back over his shoulder Maddie and Ali are the only ones still sitting hear the fire. Everyone else has scattered.
"Who do you think it is?" Noah asks when they're far enough off shore not to be overheard.
The water swirls around him, churned by his moving flippers. "Truthfully? I think it's Brian."
Noah's eyebrows bend together. "I don't know. He doesn't seem overly friendly to anyone." He pauses, "Well, to anyone but you."
"He's acted strange from the beginning," Luke explains. "I didn't really know what to make of it. I always thought he was hiding something, and with this information coming to light, it makes sense that it's him."
"But him and who?"
Luke shrugs. "I don't know. At first I thought it might be Lucinda, but they don't seem close enough to be married or anything."
"I guess it could be someone from the other tribe," Noah concedes.
"Yeah," Luke replies.
It's quiet for a moment. "It's not you is it?"
The question takes him by surprise, though really it shouldn't have. "No. It's not me. I'm in this alone."
Tension goes out of Noah's back. "It's not me either," he says, though Luke didn't ask. Then he smiles and adds, "And you're not in this alone. You've got me."
Warm tingles shudder across his body. Luke meets the other boy's eyes and smiles back. "Thanks Noah."
Noah lets out a little laugh. "No problem." His arms move in the water, keeping him afloat. "I guess we'll find out who knows who as things go along."
"Yeah, it'll come out eventually." All things do. Luke thinks of the idol in Reid's possession. He swallows down the lump in his throat. All things do. "Come on. Let's catch some dinner."