Knight on the Reefs: A Tale of Junayd's heroism

[Alain]

"So are you going to let me in on the secret stash?" Junayd asked. Alain looked over at the literature teacher. The man had a passion for poetry that was in keeping with his Persian heritage but he was a bit annoying and Alain usually avoided his company. But he didn't want to actually say that and, for once, his mind was coming up blank when he tried to think of an excuse for why he had something else to do that night.

"Um," he said, straightening up from his former position leaning over a broken microwave. "I, yeah sure," he said, feeling a sinking feeling in his chest. Junayd smiled and held up his hand to give him a high five. He seemed to be under the impression that all americans went around high fiving each other all the time. Alain blamed Saved By the Bell.

"Boy's night uh," Junayd said with a large smile just as Alain saw the newest teacher enter the room designated as the teacher's lounge.

"Well actually," Alain said, stepping around Junayd with some difficulty because of Junayd's ignorance of the concept of personal space, "I was going to invite Suji."

Junayd gave him a look of disgust for wanting to invite a female to what should obviously be a boy's night but Alain just smiled at him before putting himself into Suji's path.

"Hey Suji," he said before she actually ran into him. "Are you interested in tasting some home brewed beer tonight?"

[Suji]

Suji was dropping off lesson plans. Or rather, she'd come in to see if Alain was around and if he wanted to talk about a particular student's paper that she'd recently graded. But, upon seeing that Junayd was in the room (and that he was practically cornering their science teacher), Suji immediately course corrected. Yep, just dropping off lesson plans.

She turned and bee-lined for the exit, but she wasn't quick enough. Alain stepped in front of her, and she'd been so determined to escape that she'd nearly barreled into him. She looked up at Alain -- way up, from this close -- and seemed to weigh the situation. One on hand, Alain was pretty much begging for a rescue, or at least a barrier between him and Junayd. On the other, the literature teacher was almost the definition of the term insufferable.

Junayd had always acted awkwardly towards Suji. Not that he wasn't awkward towards everyone, but it was especially so with her. She was their age, new, and as far as anyone could tell, unattached. He went through phases of hitting on her and seeming to despise her (mostly for not reciprocating, she imagined). Maybe if she hadn't been so deep into dealing with her own personal problems, she could have found some easy, gentle way to let him down. As it was, she could barely take care of her own emotions, let alone mind someone else's. Especially someone as annoying as he was.

One time he'd even recited her a poem. From then on, Suji had avoided the guy like the plague. Hell, worse than the plague, seeing as she could morph that away. Junayd, however, was not so easy to get rid of.

Still, Alain looked desperate. And he'd owe her. And she would never let him forget it.

"That depends," Suji responded, smiling just a hint out of the corner of her mouth. "Who brewed it?" From her tone of voice it was clear that it was a trick question: he was going to be made fun of however he answered it. At the same time, however, it was a concession. She would be a part of whatever tragedy of a social interaction was about to unfold.

[Alain]

"This poor son of a brew master," Alain responded automatically, relief on his face as he began to hope that she'd actually stay and serve as some sort of barrier between him and Junayd.

"It's the best beer around," Junayd chipped in, coming up behind them. He seemed to have decided that since boy's night was off the table he would try to dominate the evening by demonstrating his impressive store of knowledge. Alain looked at him with a carefully blank look.

"Actually it's the only beer around," Alain felt the need to say. "But I'm not bad at the art and, if you don't like it, feel free to give it back to me. My dad always said vomit was simply an incentive to do better the next time."

[Suji]

Whereas standing very close to Alain hadn't seemed like such a problem (if anything, it was a little funny, because he was so damned tall), Suji immediately stepped back when Junayd stepped into the same bubble of physical space. Luckily, the Persian man didn't seem to notice. Social graces tended to be a lost cause.

"Sure, why not." Suji answered neutrally, though her eyes flicked over to Alain's in a glance that said, There are a dozen reasons why not and they are all standing next to you. "Beer though, that's interesting. I've barely even had soda since..." She shrugged, knowing they'd know when. "I have seen and sampled a few pretty shoddy vodka distilleries in my time, though." She thought back to the free human camp she and Luce had visited.

Which really made her wish Luce was here. Where Suji didn't want to rock the boat by completely alienating Junayd, she had a feeling Luce would have been able to get rid of him, one way or another. "So booze is your recreational hobby?"

Alain looked like he was prepared to say something, but Junayd cut in, throwing an arm around his shoulder. Which was something of a feat, given that Alain's shoulders were practically on eye-level with Junayd. "Yeah, but you know, you never really see this guy drunk, right? I tell him he needs to have more fun, but he's all work!" Suji raised her eyebrows, trying to look interested but actually wincing a little. She wouldn't really blame anyone for not wanting to have "fun" with Junayd.

[Alain]

Alain just gave Suji a lopsided and half-hearted grin that actually looked like a wince more than anything when Junayd gave him a "friendly" shake. "Yeah, I'm a bore most days."

"You are man. I don't know why I'm friends with you, right?" Junayd said with a large smile towards Suji as he tried to bond with her over their mutual suffering. "I've got the perfect place though. Meet me at the Big Coconut with the brew." The Big Coconut would have been an obscure reference anywhere else but here everyone knew what he meant. Long before Alain had arrived someone had taken a large coconut and made a clown head out of it. It was stuck on a stick at the entrance to the school and it had become tradition to knock on it as you entered and left the area. He wasn't really sure why but he found the tradition harmless and oddly comforting. A sign of normalcy among all of this chaos.

"Alright," Alain said and Junayd smiled and held up a hand to high five. Alain suppressed a sigh and just high fived him to make him happy. Junayd turned and left the break room, confident he'd see his two "friends" later. "Would we be evil people if we ditched him?" Alain asked out loud after watching him leave.

[Suji]

Suji wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry about the situation, but she found herself biting the inside of her bottom lip to keep from doing either. Alain's dry but placating remarks were almost enough to send her over, but she just bit down harder. When they high-fived, Suji briefly closed her eyes to hold on to her composure. As he waved goodbye, Suji just nodded, afraid to attempt to do anything else. She didn't so much as breathe until she was sure Junayd was out of earshot.

"Would we be evil people if we ditched him?"

"I've done worse," Suji offered hopefully. Yes, if Suji Clarke was going to Hell, it would certainly not be for snubbing this literature teacher. "But it'd be kind of cruel." Definitely not the biggest stain on her conscience, but even so, she didn't need to add to what was already there. "We should go, and bail early. That's probably the right amount of friendliness and sanity-saving."

After a pause, Suji tilted her head, staring out the window set into the door which Junayd had just walked through. "Then again, in this case, I think I could be tempted into sinning against my fellow human being."

[Alain]

Alain's eyes darkened at the thought of all the other things he had to be guilty for but he wasn't looking in Suji's direction and he managed to shake it off before looking back at her. "Well we must resist temptation I suppose and indulge in beer instead. It's what the J-man would want from us."

Besides, Suji's comments had reminded him that he was in no position to judge Junayd. People like Junayd actually had a right to be here. He was a poet and a man of peace, while Alain was just hiding out because a powerful rebel leader had sway here. If all he had to do was share his beer and a bit of his company to make the man feel happier didn't he owe the world that?

"I can show you what I've got and maybe, between us, we can pick out something for tonight. I have about 10 different brews I'm trying out right now," he said as he walked towards the fridge. "Do you see any cups?" He asked as he bent opened the fridge.

[Suji]

Suji glanced over at him with an eyebrow raised. "Call him J-man to his face at your own risk. He already seems to think you two are best buddies. You'll practically be proposing."

She watched him walk to the refrigerator. "Ten?" She asked incredulously. "You're pretty dedicated to this, aren't you? I don't think I could even name ten different beer brands." Then again, the overt war had begun well before she'd turned twenty-one, which meant little experience surveying all the beers in a liquor store. Her parents had been bigger fans of good wines and gin and tonics.

Suji began to look for cups. Leaning on her toes to open top cabinets, she searched through a few of them. Mostly they held books and writing supplies, or snacks that someone thought they'd hidden. Eventually, however, she managed to find some real dishware. Or at least, as real as the brightly colored, hard-plastic cups could be. Making a face, Suji dragged out three of them, and went to rinse of their dust in the sink.

When she was finished, she turned back to him. "Your choice is between pink, yellow, and green," she told him, holding up the florescent cups. "Only it's really pink or yellow, because I'm taking green." Suji put that one back on the counter as if to make a point, and held up the pink and yellow ones in either hand.

[Alain]

Alain had been about to reach for the green when Suji took it away as an option. "I've always loved pink," he said, quickly moving his hand to the next cup over. "Real men love pink," he said, putting the cup down next to the five bottles he'd taken out. He'd stared at his choices and decided half of them weren't really ready for public consumption yet so he'd taken out these five.

He waved towards them. "It's easy to experiment with different brews here. There are so many fruits that I can keep adding in new flavors. I wish I had a bit more access to different grains though. I want to try some of these fruits with wheat based beers." His voice had begun to take on the muttering tone of a man immersed in thought about a hobby. He shook it off and looked back at Suji.

"Anyway, here," he opened one of the bottles and poured a sample in Suji's cup. "I'll bring up extras of whichever you like best."

[Suji]

Suji smiled internally when he took the pink one, and half-wondered if it was an attempt to spare Junayd. In any case, it wasn't really as if any of the colors were better than the others. They came in distinctly highlight-like shades, and she wouldn't be surprised if they practically glowed in the dark.

She looked at the sample he'd poured for her, and peered into her cup as if she wasn't sure what she'd find. The last time she'd drank homemade alcohol, well, the night had gotten a little out of hand. Granted, that'd been much stronger stuff. Still, she didn't think her wariness was too uncalled for. She looked up at him as she tilted the cup back, tasting the beer.

Suji wasn't even aware that she'd been bracing herself until she tasted it, and relaxed straight away. It wasn't bad. It was much fruitier than she might have expected from a beer, and the carbonation made it almost like soda. If anything, it was a bit too sweet for her tastes. It wasn't nearly the horror she'd been preparing herself for. "Wow," she said, smiling with genuine surprise. "This is pretty good! Almost like, what was it, Fresca? Fanta?" She tried to remember the names of sodas, and for a moment they failed her. "Let's try a less sweet one, though. We'll have bugs all over us with this one."

Drinking the rest of the bit Alain had given her, Suji held out her cup again. She was much more eager this time around.

[Alain]

"Hmm," Alain said as he considered his choices. He put the cap back on the bottle he'd poured from and put it back in the fridge along with two of the other bottles he'd taken out.

"Try this one," he said, opening a bottle and pouring a small sample into Suij's cup. "Still fruity but this fruit is not as sweet. I'm actually not sure what it's called but I haven't died of food poisoning yet so I figure it's ok."

[Suji]

Dutifully, Suji tried the next version. It fit Alain's description pretty well: part of her still felt like beer should be less sweet and more bitter, but she figured that had a lot to do with the climate and available resources. Besides, it was still very good. "I think this is our winner," she said, tilting her cup towards him to emphasize.

"Which one do you like the best?" She asked, before drinking the rest of her sample. She rinsed it out, and then collected the three cups, stacking them. After looking around the room for a moment, Suji located a wicker basket. It was currently holding three rapidly browning bananas, which she took out and laid on the table. She brought it back over to Alain.

"Whenever you're ready to go rendevouz with our colleague," she sad, holding the basket up so he could place bottles in it. "I hear he knows more than a handful of Shakespeare's plays by heart. Maybe we'll have a show on our hands."

[Alain]

"Number 4 it is then," Alain said, putting the bottle in the basket Suji had managed to find. He put the other bottles back and pulled out more bottles that had pieces of tape with a 4 drawn on them. He smiled as she asked him about his own favorite.

"I like all of the finished ones. I don't really think of something as finished unless it tastes good to me. But," he gave the question some thought. "Maybe number 2. It was one of my earliest but something about its unfinished rough quality feels good to me. I don't actually think it tastes that good but it tastes like hard work..." he trailed off with a wince at the really bad explanation, a little bit afraid of how that must have sounded.

"I don't think any of that made much sense. Maybe Juayd's poetry will be better."

[Suji]

"It's okay," Suji said, appreciative of the genuine answer. "It's practically your baby then. You're allowed to like it even if it isn't your masterpiece." The bottles clinked in the basket, and Suji headed for the door. "As for Junayd's poetry..." Suji trailed off, before glancing back at him. "Let's just say, from first-hand experience, we might need to hit some of the harder stuff if we want to get through that."

The night outside was what she'd come to expect from this place: warm and alive with the sounds of frogs and crickets and other nocturnal animals. Behind her, Alain locked the door. She waited, in no rush to meet their fellow teacher. The sky was cloudier than normal, and the moon wasn't far from New, so the area was darker than usual. For a moment Suji wondered what it would be like to peruse the stretch of beach as her tiny owl, to lose herself in the hum of the night. Or for that matter, to slink into the warm water and become an ancient monster, something completely unconcerned with anything but a long, un-hungry survival. It was the first time morphing had been tempting in quite some time.

Alain turned back to her, and they began walking. She felt the basket lift from her hand and before she knew what had happened, let alone protest, he'd taken it to carry himself. It'd been somewhat heavy, as liquid tended to be, but nothing unbearable. Without a word he switched it to his other hand, so that there wasn't a chance for her to try to snag it back. It happened so smoothly, and he make so little fuss over it, that Suji just accepted it and continued walking.

It wasn't a long trip to the Big Coconut. Junayd wasn't very far off, staring out at the ocean in the distance with something like wonder. From here, he looked serene and peaceful; for a moment you could catch a glimpse of the poet under all that neurosis. Suji let her knuckles brief tap the coconut. Superstition didn't really hold much weight with her, but it was just a thing that people did here, so she did it too. Junayd must have heard them, because he turned, and within a moment was back to his jittery self.

[Alain]

Alain knocked on The Coconut as he passed by, the hard, hairy shell of the fruit tickling his knuckles. Junayd had turned when he'd heard Suji's knock and he walked over to them now with a large smile.

"Check out what I snagged from storage," Junayd said, opening his hands and allowing a net to fall to the ground like a thin curtain. "I always knew it would come in handy uh." Junayd was nodding and trying to get them to join in on his feeling of sneaky accomplishment and Alain found himself nodding along because, for once, Junayd was right. Tropical nights were as close to paradise as he figured he was going to get but they had one major draw back. Bugs.

"Nice find Junayd," Alain said, using his full name, taking Suji's warning to heart. "Did you have a place in mind?"

Junayd gathered up the net and looked around the compound. "Well I actually have this boat. I'm a great sailor you know, so I got this boat and we can go there."

"Sounds good," Alain said, motioning for Junayd to lead the way. The docks weren't all that far from where they were. They walked past rows and rows of the improvised fishing fleet vessels before stopping near a small ship on the end. It wasn't a bad vessel and Alain had to conclude it was sea worthy since it was bobbing serenely out here. "Nice Junayd. What's her name?" Alain asked out of politeness.

"Tear drop," Junayd responded quickly and tried to move his body in between Alain and the side of the boat. But Alain had spotted the name before he'd done so. Tear Drop was indeed painted onto the side of the ship. But, underneath it, it read Suji and it looked like attempts had been made to cross out Tear Drop. Alain hoped Suji hadn't seen.