Welcome to Gaia! ::

Zach was also on his way to the cafeteria, hoping to dodge in and out relatively quickly. He didn't want to see familiar faces, didn't want to be reminded of anything if he could help it. The less conversation, the better. He knew he couldn't hide in his duplex forever, but he'd try. Oh, he'd try. The solitary darkness had a distinct sort of appeal to some primal part of him anyhow.

It wasn't as though he were deep in thought, but rather in some thoughtless state. He took no immediate notice of Amaya even as he caught up to her, eyes gazing tiredly ahead and his mind barely taking note of the surroundings.

Speaking of familiar faces...

The movement of Amaya's head made him turn slightly, and the green scales immediately set off an alarm of sorts in his mind. The pattern of thought was reflected on his expression by a temporary look of surprise and the fanning of his frill. Hadn't he and she almost...? That really didn't help him with his search for inner simplicity. It had been an accident, a completely instinct driven one. Love and lust - more emotions for the chopping block. He couldn't let himself get emotional, not even happy, or he'd snap again and someone else would get hurt. And as for himself, he didn't even want to consider what would happen. Calm, emotionless, that was how he'd have to force himself to live.

"Hey Amaya," he greeted while walking, not sounding particularly enthusiastic, the frill settling back slowly along the sides of his neck. He hadn't kept looking any farther downward than her face, yet.

Zach stood outside for a moment, surprised, then placed a hand on the door to hold it open so she could go inside. It was pretty embarrassing to have a door held open for you by a teenage girl, so the gesture would have to be reversed. Had Amaya heard what had happened the other day, that quickly? Was this supposed to be pity? Maybe he was weak, but it wasn't like he had to be treated that way by everyone. Hell, Amaya was worse off than he was. He didn't want her pity.

As he slipped into the air-conditioned room, he glanced down at the iguana, full of his idle suspicions. He didn't really know what he was looking for, as he wasn't proficient at reading expressions off of animal faces. Admittedly he didn't have the self-control not to look elsewhere, and his eyes quickly looked over the rest of her. It couldn't have been more than a couple months since he'd seen her, but she looked... well, a bit round around the stomach. And green again, not flashy orange and yellow. But was bulging like that normal? He tore his eyes away as quickly as he could, trying to call up his emotionless façade again. Best not to say anything about it.

"You're green again," he offered, hoping what little shred of polite conversation they had could be steered somewhere that wasn't touchy.

"Huh. Ever find out why?" It wasn't like he genuinely had no guesses, but she'd know better than he would why she'd changed color. He tried not to look at the obvious bulge of her stomach, but he had to sneak a couple of glances at it only because of how bizarre it looked on her.

As she headed to the table, he went to grab something to eat. The usual - a slab of raw meat. His stomach could handle almost nothing else, as he'd discovered on several more adventurous occasions over the course of the past few months. To make up for it he did take a couple of vitamins with his meals to keep deficiency problems like scurvy at bay. The act of eating raw meat had become routine, hardly anything worth sparing a thought over. Even now, he didn't stop to consider it. After grabbing a cup of water as well, he turned around to figure out where he'd sit.

So Amaya was here, and they'd talked. Wandering over to a nice, secluded corner to sit and agonize was probably not a socially acceptable option. His tail swished in slight agitation. Though he had nothing against Amaya, the distraction was unwelcome. Nevertheless, the faster he scarfed down his food, the faster he'd be out and back in his duplex. He walked over and slid his tray down across from where she'd left her bag, not quite about to sit down yet.

"Ah. Yeah. Suppose the answer could be worse than the question." He knew the feeling. It had taken him till his first change to work up the courage to ask what animal he'd been fated to become, and the answer had only made things worse in the long run. He sat down slowly in a chair himself, one that was already turned around by some previous patron of the establishment.

It wouldn't do to keep talking. If he continued the conversation he'd eventually end up making mention of what was bothering him, and that was something he was better off avoiding. He hated to admit it, but he either wanted sympathy or silence. Other islanders didn't understand, had never been in anything like his position. People like Amaya stayed quiet and fell under the radar, or so it had always appeared to him. No constant run-ins with the higher-ups, no bloody fiascos, no death wishes. What a life. He ate as fast as he could manage without making a mess of the blood. It was tough to use utensils with his large left hand, but he tried anyhow.

"Well, good luck with your... uh..." he waved a hand in the general direction of her and her sack, not entirely sure what that or her sudden weight gain were about. He gave her one more curious glance before sweeping up his tray to take care of on his way out.