Moonbathing

 Here's the scene I brought last time.


    A shadow stumbled across the kitchen and into the living room, accompanied by the sound of bare feet sticking to the tile floor. Zero jerked from his half-sleep, gripping the arms of the armchair as if he had just been thrown into it. His eyes snapped to the shadowy figure, recognizing the short spiked hair and wide build as Rusk's. Relieved, Zero silently watched him amble into the middle of the floor while he rubbed his eyes and yawned broadly.
    “Can't sleep?”
    Rusk jumped, but as the surprise faded, it left him looking more fatigued. “Goddess, Zero. Don't you ever go to bed?”
    Zero smiled to himself in the darkness. “Only when I feel like having nightmares.”
    “You're a strange one.”
    “Don't you ever have nightmares?”
    Rusk shook his head and gazed toward the window. It was covered by blinds, but he stared narrow-eyed at it as if he were watching something bright outside. “I don't get nightmares. Real life is weird enough, man.” He walked toward the window and lifted a slat, peering through to the night outside. A crooked smile pressed itself onto his lips. “Speaking of weird, what the hell is Astra doing on the lawn?” His eyes narrowed even further. “And is she... naked?”
    Zero closed his eyes as Rusk gave a short laugh. He had hoped no one would find out about this, at least for a while. Astra's unusual habits, especially those involving nudity, had been hard enough for him to get used to over the years, but at least he had learned the decency to look away. That wasn't something Rusk seemed to have. Knowing him, this discovery would only worsen the current situation. “Stop staring, Rusk.”
    “You said you guys aren't related, right?” he asked. “Because I hope you don't mind me saying that she is fine. I wonder what it would take for me to—”
    His temper flaring, Zero stepped to the window and snapped the blinds shut. Rusk stepped back, his hands up. “Woah, chill out!”
    “I told you to stop it,” Zero said. “Do not talk about her like that.”
    “So what, is she your girlfriend? I thought there wasn't anything going on between you guys! How am I supposed to know if she's fair game?”
    “Astra is nobody's 'fair game,' Rusk!” Zero shouted. “If you understood her at all, you would know that.”
    Rusk laughed. “Do you understand her? Does anybody? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great, but what kind of person decides to lay out in the back yard completely naked at two in the morning?”
    Zero wanted to tell him that she called it moonbathing and, as the logical opposite of sunbathing, it was supposed to get rid of the tan she had picked up at camp, but he knew it would only make him laugh and possibly want her more. He wondered why he was even bothering to defend her in the first place. She knew she would attract this kind of attention. In fact, it was probably what she wanted. But that didn't change the fact that it deeply bothered him to see Rusk's sideways smile and the faraway gleam in his eye. He knew all too well what Rusk was thinking about, because Zero had already imagined everything there was to imagine, and those were his fantasies, his unobtainable dreams, and they were the only things that kept him going back to sleep in hopes of finding something other than a nightmare.
    But how could he explain this to a person like Rusk? He wondered if it was even possible.
    At length, Zero sighed. “Fine. You want to impress her?”
    Rusk grinned. “Very much.”
    “Then shock her.”
    The grin faded. “What? Like, surprise her?”
    “No, I mean static electricity,” Zero said, stepping away from the window and drawing Rusk's attention with him. “Rub your socks on the carpet and touch her arm. She loves it.”
    “What kind of person likes getting shocked?” Rusk asked.
    Zero smiled. “The same kind of person who would lay out in the back yard completely naked at two in the morning.”
    It took a moment for Rusk's brain to process the reference, but once it had, he shrugged. “Alright, fair enough.” He roughly patted Zero's upper arm twice, nearly knocking the slight boy over. “You're the man, Zero. Weird, but the man.” He turned and left the way he had come, only this time with more energy in his stride.
    When Zero was sure Rusk wasn't coming back, he looked at the window and fought against an urge to look through the blinds, like he had done so many times before. Tonight, however, he was going to be strong. He sat back down in the armchair and faced away, hoping that sleep would be back to take him soon.

    The next morning, as Melina and Zidaiku were busy cooking pancakes, Astra's door squeaked open and she came out wearing her usual baggy shirt and lounge pants. She crossed the floor as she loosely tied her hair back and settled on a bar stool, the usual empty morning expression plastered to her face. Zero watched from the living room. As expected, Rusk crashed up the stairs a moment later, failing to repress a silly grin. There was a small expanse of carpet between him and the tiled floor of the kitchen, so he dragged his stocking feet as he approached. Hearing the sound, Astra's head swiveled around, stopping Rusk in his tracks. He grinned sheepishly, even throwing in a casual wave. She glanced down at his feet, then back up at his face, gave him a final look of suspicion, and turned away. When the coast was clear, he continued, this time taking care to be quiet. He reached the tile floor and tiptoed to where Astra was sitting, finally managing to control his smile.
    “If you want me to wish you a good morning,” she said flatly and without turning around, “give up now.”
    His grin broke through momentarily. “Didn't you get a good sleep last night?”
    A stray tuft of hair floated across her face and she blew it away. “Not really.”
    “That's too bad,” he continued, glancing meaningfully toward Zero. Zero smiled and gave his best attempt at an encouraging thumbs-up. Like the static on Rusk's socks, the anticipation was building. This ought to be good, he thought.
    “Maybe this will make your morning better.” Rusk's finger reached out into the air between them, drifting toward Astra's upper arm. Astra, suspecting nothing, continued staring ahead until Rusk's finger was a fraction of an inch from her and a white spark snapped between them.
    Astra's back snapped upright, her eyes wide. Rusk stepped back, now giving his grin full control of his face. He probably expected her to run over to the carpet and prepare a counter-shock to begin a flirtatious game. Instead, in one fluid motion, Astra spun around on the stool, using every bit of her momentum to land a solid roundhouse punch to Rusk's jaw. He dropped to the floor, his bulky frame shaking the entire kitchen and causing Melina to spill a cup of pancake mix. Astra shook out her fist and looked down at the unfortunate boy lying unconscious on the floor. With a nasty hiss that Zero had only heard her use in the most infuriating circumstances, she said, “I. Hate. Static.”
    Zero smiled and leaned back in the armchair. That should keep him at bay for a while.

Hey, everybody. Sorry about the mess last week, and also sorry for the late notice, but there WILL be a meeting tonight, at Rachel's house. If you can, bring some of your favorite books to talk about. See you at 7!