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Zach had to admit that the antics of the two women as they fawned over Rex were somewhat predictable. They were girls, after all. Ignoring the reminding weight in his shirt pocket, he smirked at what they were saying. It was so... human.

So why the hell didn't he feel like one any more?

Fiona left before he could tell her he doubted he'd be there, to help or to hang out. Parties weren't enjoyable for him, even when he had been scale-free. Now that he was even more warped in appearance, it would be close to unbearable. He didn't feel right in his own skin. The reflection he'd seen in the river was still fresh in his thoughts, helping to keep him in constant turmoil over what he was really becoming.

He was snapped out of his idle thinking when the chittering conversation was ended and Rex had pointedly spoken his name. The sunglasses just couldn't seem to stay perched on his nose, so he pushed them back where they should have been and glanced at Rex. His voice had gone a little hollow again. "Oh. Oh, sure, I guess. I don't think there's a lot I could do, though..." He shrugged his shoulders, emphasizing his point without another word on the subject.

Zach's tail curled a little as a thought struck him. "Um, Nita... if you don't mind me asking, when did you get here?"

Rex made his final wave to Fiona, "Bye! It was nice meeting you!" Finally there was somehting to look forward to...

Rex wasn't surprised by Zach's uninterest. For some reason he always seemed awkward and insociable around people, Rex on the other hand adored having company and going out for the occasion drink. Nothing too wild, though. He simply nodded his head at Zach's state ment and let him continue on his ways, maybe he'd change over time.

"A week ago? Wow, has everything settled in for you yet? Like, are you.. at peace with th'island?" Rex remembered his conversation with the boy, Alec, who also arrived here recently, though he didn't know an exact date. He merely shrugged it off as ssome odd coincidence.

"At peace?" Nita laughed nervously. "Not... really. I'm trying not to think about it too much. I was supposed to be away for a couple of months anyway. 'Studying abroad,' they told me." She shrugged and dug her toes into the sand.

"I do think Fiona has the right idea. There's no point in moping around all day, and the people I've met so far have been pretty nice." Nita winced at Zach's final pronouncement. She'd been suicidal before... not recently, but such statements tended to weigh on her. Nita bit her lip and made a noncommittal sort of "hnn."

"I suppose... but I'm finding less and less to be happy about, personally. Very optimistic though, I hope it works for you." The object in his shirt pocket was still quite heavy in his thoughts. Zach shifted a foot out of the sand, his long toes looking strangely off. His head dropped back to its usual angle and he cast his eyes toward Nita for a moment. After a brief pause, he gave an wordless grunt and looked back at Rex.

Zach grabbed the side of his sunglasses and neatly pulled them off, blinking the bright sunlight out of his starkly yellow eyes. There seemed to be little emotion in them at the moment, amplified by the odd color. "Just a setback?" he asked incredulously. Rex's easygoing attitude had grated on him before, but never like this. Just hearing the predicament they were in spoken of as nothing but a little problem seemed insane. He thrust Nita's presence out of his mind as he focused his words on the lion-man alone.

"You are becoming a lion. I'm becoming a... god knows what, some giant lizard. And... I've lost control of myself around several islander who I have nothing against, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with turning red and scaly. It's horrible. I don't know if it's happened to you, maybe it never will. But there's a few people I almost killed here, and to them, I don't think this is just a little setback in their lives. It sure as hell isn't for me."

Rex simply watched in awe as Zach suddenly turned on him. His big blue eyes welled with anger at the sudden change in attitude, he stood with a shoulder in front of Nita protectively. This was going to be a new side of Rex, he rarely got angry, but Zach tugged at a new thread. "Zachary, what is your problem?! I haven't done anything other than be kind to you since the first time I met you, what do you have against me?! Don't think that I can't see it in you."

Rex's chest welled and suddenly the buff man appeared a considerable big larger. "I honestly can't figure it out, you're always such a negative person! I've been happy, cheerful and accepting to you for as long as I've known you, but whenever you're around things just get dark!" His voice was deep and stern, tail stiffened like a pole and the hair on the back of his neck was on end. "We're never getting off this island, we're never going to be human again and we're never going get to see people on the mainland again, EVER! Accept it!" His voice roared with a low rumble as he spoke and his hands were clenched in tight fists, Rex's claws digging into his palms painfully.

"Don't think that I'm some delusional pretty boy who is oblivious to everything thats going on, I've heard that steriotype too many times back in school. I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE! You don't think I want to stop it?!" He paused, breathing heavily as the anger pulsed through his veins. Rex wanted to scream, yell, roar. He wanted to lash out fiercely and strike Zach hard, sink his fangs into the man's red scales.

WHAT AM I DOING?! "GggggrAHH!" Rex moaned loudly, clutching his wild hair with padded hands. The human mind began to kick back into gear. He breathed deep, strong and long breaths, slowly but surely getting back in control. He paced a few breathes back and forth (though still guarding Nita), then dropped his hands limply to his sides, breathed once more and continued in a soft, pleading tone. "Zach... I'm sorry, if I could do anything to change all of this," Rex tossed a hand in the lab's general direction, "I would... but I can't, and I know that." He was panting, eyes slowly getting more and more watery, Rex's emotions were on his fingertips. He felt like just breaking down... where was Julie... she wouldn't like to see him like this...

He continued to repeat the words over and over in a quavered voice, "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry..."

Nita stayed well behind Rex, furious at herself for being such a wimp, but frankly, she was terrified. What were these men doing? How could they suddenly act like such animals? She was barely listening to their angry words, but the meaning was clear enough.

She shook when Rex's voice approached a roar, wanting to flee, wanting to crawl into a whole and turn invisible. And then he broke down. She moved to place a comforting hand on his arm, but jumped back again when Zach growled.
"Neither of us are even halfway to what people like... like Cassidy, or Pyroth, are, but you can sure as hell bet that's what's in store for all of us."

Cassidy. She may be far more changed, but she had acted so civilized, so human, so much more so than both Rex and Zach were acting at the moment. She considered screaming something to that effect at Zach, hoping he'd just shut up and leave.

And he did. Wheezing and seeming somehow broken, Zach walked away, leaving Nita holding back tears and feeling vaguely sick to her stomach.

Nita's jaw dropped as Rex plummeted to the ground. She crossed herself automatically when he finished his prayer and wiped a few tears from her own eyes. A lump in her throat made it difficult to breathe. She balled her hands into fists, furious and confused.

"It's.. it's okay," she whispered. The guy seriously looked like he needed a hug. And even though she was still a bit afraid of him, she needed one too. Nita folded herself against his chest, not even noticing or caring that he wasn't wearing a shirt, and wept silently. Huge tears ran down her cheeks and her whole face turned blotchy and pink, but just at that moment, she really didn't care.