Population Control

Jason

Litost – a state of agony or humiliation caused by a sudden glimpse of one's own misery

0o0

"What if there are Rabids!" I called.

"I can deal with it." She turned a corner, going into one of the open shops and I sped up to catch up with her. There probably wasn't much I could have done with the gun without attracting more Rabids, however, I think it's the thought that counts.

Following behind we went into an open shop with the shelves half-cleared. Wanting to help, I went down an isle and found what she was looking for. Uncomfortably awkward, I grabbed the pink packet and called Camille over. Holding them out to her, she held in a laugh as she took it. At least I tried! "Thank you, Jase, but they're the small ones, and for daytime."

"What's the difference?" As soon as I asked I wished I didn't.

Camille looked up and down, picking a few packs up and examining the back, "Day time ones don't hold as much, and those are small enough as it is." Never in my life did I think I'd be learning about female sanitary products, but here we are. "Can you grab me a bottle of water?" Thankful for an escape, I walked over to the fridge and picked one up, having to dig into the back to get it. Seems like we weren't the only ones here. Maybe we could look in storage later when we all meet up again.

Not knowing what to do while Camille was in the bathroom, I whistled to myself and finally took enough time to focus on myself. More specifically, my appearance. God, I really need a haircut. And a real shower with my shampoo, conditioner, and face cream I normally applied after. She was taking ages, so I explored the area. Mostly, I pick up weird items like large glasses and cowboy hats. But I quickly put them back, not wanting to wear them.

"What are you doing?" Camille asked, smiling behind me. Right then, I had a toy fairy wand in my hand, flashing lights and twirling because I pressed the button.

Quickly throwing it back into the box, I turned to her and acted like nothing had happened. "Nothing." Just then, the stupid wand had to make a noise, but when Camille laughed all embarrassment was lifted away. Walking to me, she plucked a red cowboy hat off the hook and messed with her hair until she thought it looked good – it always did. "How do I look?" She asked, posing with hands on her hip.

"Like you're from the Wild West."

"I'm ready to wet my whistle." She replied, doing a horrible southern accent. She spun the spinney item holder and pulled off a pair of comically large, pink sunglasses shaped like stars. Without warning she pushed them onto the bridge of my nose and everything was tinted a dark yellow. "You look great."

"They aren't very effective." I squinted through them. Chuckling, she took them off me and leant over to place them back on the shelf. As she did, she got closer. So, so close we were almost touching.

And then we were. And we pulled away at the same time.