Eleven

A few slow passing minutes later, someone broke through the line of trees and stood staring out at the lake. Kat moved ever so slightly to adjust her vision and saw him. Evra! She thought about jumping down since she knew who it was, but decided against it, and instead lay completely still, watching what Evra would do next.

Evra looked around, seeming to scope out the area, utterly unaware that he was being watched. When he seemed satisfied that he was alone, he began undressing, pulling his shirt over his head. He was wearing shorts already, and he left these on as he lay down on the ground.

Kat stared at him, puzzled at first, before realising that since he was a snake boy, he must be sunning himself. Kat had read up on snakes in the recent weeks to learn as much about everything as she could. They needed the sun and heat and vitamin D to survive.

Kat decided that it didn't seem likely that Evra would leave anytime soon. She mentally thanked the fact that she wasn't wearing shoes today and climbed noiselessly down the tree head first. Kat wasn't sure how she knew she could do certain things, such as climbing trees, jumping big heights or landing a huge jump, but she just knew.

Kat was only a few feet from Evra now and he still hadn't opened his eyes or realised she was there at all. She stood awkwardly for a moment, deciding on what to do.

"Evra," she called.

Evra yelped, shooting upright.

"What the hell? When did you get here?" Evra screeched, his hand clutched to his chest.

Kat couldn't help but smirk. "I've been here the whole time, in that tree." She motioned to where she'd been hidden.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people; I almost had a heart attack." Evra flung himself back onto the grass, closing his eyes.

Kat stood uncomfortably, not knowing what to do now. She hadn't spoken to Evra in so long, it felt strange. He had lied when he said they could still be friends, because they never had anything to do with each other anymore.

"Are you going to join me?" Evra asked, opening one eye to stare at Kat.

Kat sat down clumsily beside him, picking at the grass beneath her hands.

"You lied to me," Kat said softly, playing with a blade of grass between her fingers.

"What?" Evra sat upright.

"You told me we'd still be friends, but you haven't spoken to me at all since that day."

Evra sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "I- I didn't lie. I know I haven't spoken to you, but I've just been confused. I felt some things that I shouldn't have, not with the way things were, with how you were. It wasn't right, and I was just trying to do the right thing by you."

"I want you to be my friend," Kat said.

She thought about all the movies she had watched. In some of them, there was a knight in shining armour, a man that saved the woman's life in some way or another. That's how Kat felt about her and Evra. He had saved her life; he was her knight in shining armour. She wanted them to fall in love and live happily ever after.

But Kat didn't know the first thing about love. She didn't feel love when she was around Evra. She felt light headed and dizzy, her heart raced, her stomach did flips, her palms went sweaty. It felt like she had the flu or a stomach bug when she was around Evra. She never told anyone though because she didn't want people to think her or Evra was contagious.

"I do want to be your friend, Kat. And I'm gonna try harder. Starting now."

Evra lay back down and tapped the ground beside him, motioning for Kat to lie down too.

Kat's clothes were still dripping wet and they were getting uncomfortable. She looked at Evra and then slipped her long sleeve shirt over her head, then pulled the t-shirt from underneath off too. She was now sitting beside Evra in a pair of jeans and a midriff tank top.

Kat knew that she didn't need to feel self conscious or embarrassed about herself around Evra. She had never willingly shown someone her body like this before. No one had seen the black spots that started on her wrists, and then eventually became large rosettes on her upper arms, chest and back. Kat's skin was a golden tan colour, with the skin down her spine a darker orange.

Evra sat up again, and he ran his fingers over the biggest rosettes on Kat's back.

"They're beautiful," he whispered.

Kat pulled her knees up under her chin and hugged her legs to her chest.

"No they're not," she responded weakly.

"Yes," he said firmly, pulling her head around to look her in the eyes, "You are."

Kat's breath hitched and her heart thumped painfully in her chest. He had just said she was beautiful, not just the spots, Kat as a whole. Golden eyes stared into green, and then Kat couldn't resist, she pressed her lips to Evra's.

Kat had seen kissing in the movies her and Rebecca had watched, she'd seen open mouths, exchanging of saliva, tongues going crazy. But she wasn't entirely sure how that was going to work with her canines and Evra's 'fangs'. So instead she kept it simple and just left it at closed mouths, more would come when the time was right. Evra pulled away first.

"I can't, I can't, I just-" he started spluttering.

"Don't," Kat almost growled, "start going on about different meanings and not understanding and all that rubbish again. I know what I'm doing with you, and what it means." She paused, and when Evra made no comment she added, "Rebecca and I watched romantic movies."

Evra laughed at this. "Romantic movies? Cause we just look like two lead roles in a romantic chick flick."

Kat laughed too. "I'm sure the same general rules apply for freak romances."

The smile stayed on Evra's lips as he laid himself back down, pulling Kat down with him. She turned herself to snuggle into his side, and her head rested on his shoulder. Kat loved the feel of Evra's scales on her cheek, like velvet, and when he made the slightest movements she could feel the muscles sliding under them smoothly. Kat closed her eyes and let herself relax, losing herself in the moment with Evra and forgetting all her troubles.

"I thought you didn't purr," Evra said, pulling Kat from her half sleep state.

"What?" she said drowsily.

"You said the night we met that you didn't purr, but I'm pretty sure you were just purring." Evra's hand was tangled in Kat's hair, massaging her scalp.

Kat giggled. "Really?" she asked, not knowing herself if it were true, as she'd been in a daze.

"Not like a house cat, but definitely a purr. Only when you were breathing out too, not in," Evra described.

"Maybe I'm getting sick," Kat guessed, remembering her usual symptoms she exhibited when around Evra. She made a promise to herself to ask someone back at the Cirque to examine her, maybe Madame Truska.

"Or maybe you're just happy," Evra observed the smile on Kat's lips.

Kat thought for a moment before replying. "Yes, I'm happy when I'm with you Evra."

And it was true. Though Kat was happy at the Cirque, she had not felt truly happy without Evra. Now it was like she was so happy she could burst. The thing that she was missing for true happiness was Evra, and now it all fit perfectly.

The unlikely pair stayed wrapped in each other's arms for the rest of the afternoon, sometimes placing kisses on each other, and sometimes whispering sweet nothings. With his green scales, and her skin covered in spots, Kat was sure that to anyone else they looked like the two biggest disasters to walk God's earth. But to each other they were the most beautiful thing either had seen.

"Beautiful disasters," Kat whispered, closing her eyes and enjoying the sun's warmth.

"What?" Evra asked, not quite catching the meaning.

"Us," Kat replied simply. "We're beautiful disasters." Kat purred loudly in content.

"Yeah," Evra chuckled, kissing a spot on Kat's forehead, "I guess we are."