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Oz had slept terribly. The events of the day, plus the very mentally straining party last night, had finally caught up with him as he returned to his duplex. And despite practically collapsing into his bed after stripping off, he tossed and turned fitfully, tormented by subconcious dreams that left him with an uneasy feeling upon waking this morning. Not to mention a really sore neck too.

Unable even to fully comprehend his surroundings upon waking, he quickly dressed into some jeans a t-shirt, throwing on his jacket, expecting it to be cold on the 1st November, and decided a morning walk would do him some good.

The weather, however, was far from cold and Oz even had to unzip his jacket slightly to accommodate what he'd only ever experienced as rare spring weather back home. He picked his way between the rings of duplexes, just lazily making note of numbers since every duplex looked the same. Flashes of faces and snippets of un-nerving conversation kept coming back to him throughout his walk.

The sound of Sayuri's voice had to work its way through tinny hearing and a thick skull, but Oz just about heard her. He looked around, then behind him and saw her coming towards him, wearing a beautiful kimono. He'd only ever seen traditional regalia like that in books. It was certainly more stunning in real life.

"Good morning Miss Sayuri," he greeted her with a smile.

Oz had a lot less flesh to oogle this morning, although in his mind, she kept switching between her cover-all kimono and her very revealing costume last night. A cheeky smirk crept across his ugly mug every now and then, disappearing almost as fast as it appeared for fear of being caught thinking naughty thoughts.

"I'm fairly OK this morning, didn't sleep too well because of some freaky nightmares," he chuckled. "Maybe it was a good thing you didn't come with the rest of us last night."

Oz's expression dimmed slightly here, as he recalled how truly upset and terrified some of the other Islanders had been. He made the assumption that Sayuri, being the delicate flower she appeared to be, might have been as equally scared of the werewolf puppet too.

Oz had not witnessed Billy's lecherous advances on her, but probably would have charged in to wedge himself inbetween the scantily clad damsel and the octupus if he had. Which is ironic really, consideirng hiw own wandering eyes that night.

"I'm not surprised. I'm glad to see you're dressed a bit warmer today," he laughed softly, reaching a hand out to gently feel one of the kimono sleeves. "Its very beautiful."

Sayuri's comment about his size took him by surprise a little. Was it a compliment? It must have been if it was making his cheeks feel warm. It was time to exaggerate things a bit...

"Ah, I wasn't scared," he smiled broadly. "A pillar of strength."

"Of course I will Miss Sayuri," he smiled down to her, then struck a pose reminiscent of a body-builder when they flex their muscles.

It was all male bravado, and even if Sayuri wouldn't understand even half the things Oz did or said, he was having fun with this harmless flirting. It was nice to meet someone who didn't instantly judge him because of his scars and gargoyle-ish appaerance too.

"And a walk sounds great. You can show a new guy where everything is. It all looks very different in the daylight," he half-smiled.

Oz recalled his over-zealous behaviour last night, taking Sayuri's arm with more thought and care. He slowed down his strides too, so that he wasn't practically dragging her. This felt kind of nice - walking with a girl in arm. It brought a gentle smile to his face.

"Oh, the jungle looks cool. I can't wait to go exploring in there," he said enthusiastically, even if he did have a few doubts after the 'Halloween Trail' from last night. Surely, they wouldn't have set up more stuff like that around the Island...?

"There's a beach?" the prospect of maybe catching a tan while he was here was certainly worth smiling about. "Oh, did you meet up with any of your friends last night?"

"Hehe, yeah I can imagine," he said, looking Sayuri up and down, noticing just how awkwardly long those robes were. Even when she held them slightly lifted, they just seemed to swamp her form.

There was a lake too? Damn, this Island was bigger than he thought. And on that same thought, he should have realised an Island would have a beach. Duh! Maybe there'd be water-sports or something, although it was a little fanciful to think a rehab centre would want to pamper they're patients. Ick. Patients. He hated that word, and hated to think he was a patient, as though he was diseased. If only he knew what he really was on this Island.

Awww, thats sweet. She thinks I'm a friend! Get in there!

He was happy for Sayuri to set the pace and lead the way, quite looking forward to a walk on the beach, as if it was some kind of date.

"Emerwyn? She was the deer-lady, right?"

Oz listened to her, wincing at her demonstration of how big the okobo were. He'd had heels that big thrust into his crotch before, so they could be painful for guys too. He chuckled and shook his head lightly, wondering just why women universally liked to suffer for fashion. Or maybe tradition in Sayuri's case.

Oz stopped when she stopped and followed her line of sight to the patch of jungle just ahead.There seemed to be a dirt path, albeit not a very wide one, but big enough for two. It looked like Oz would get his first taste of the jungle today.

"Well considering your history with jungles, do you want me to carry you?" he looked down to Sayuri, smiling.