Mistake!

Abigail's cheeks turned a violent pink and she said, "I..If..you want to.." She told herself that this wasabi in the name of teaching and that it meant nothing,

Abigail's cheeks turned a violent pink and she said, "I..If..you want to.." She told herself that this wasabi in the name of teaching and that it meant nothing,

Fumbling with his hands, he sat up a little straighter and took a breath. Carefully he brought his lips closer and gave a small peck on the forehead, copying the manner she had done before.

"Better?" He asked, as if he was still on the same hook of pleasing her as he was last night. Really, Oliver didn't know any other confirmation words for such an action. What did one say after kissing another?

She laughed and said, "You can't mess up a kiss, Oliver, but that kiss was more than satisfactory." Abigail took his hand in hers and looked in his eyes saying, "You are more intelligent than you know. I am very proud of you." She wasnt sure why she said it, but she just wanted to see him smile again.

He grinned. Abigail was certainly turning him into something quite affectionate. "I am glad," he said with a pleasant sigh.

Oliver wasn't sure what to do with himself after that. He fumbled with his hands some more, looking to the woman for some sort of exit strategy. He'd really wanted to kiss her again. Though that was probably out of the question for their lesson.

"Ask me questions again," He spurted a bit too quickly, "I ask you too." The statement was more of an exit strategy for that moment. What was he going to do if he was blushing right and left? Start babbling. That's what.

She laughed, knowing that he was simply trying to escape the awkward situation. She looked at the setting sun and decided she should leave anyways. She had an early morning tomorrow, a boat was coming in to deliver her some supplies she hadn't been able to bring with her.

"Oliver, I have to leave soon, and I won't be able to see you for two days. In fact, stay scarce because I am not sure how the people that will be here for a few hours tomorrow will react to you," she said in a worried tone, afraid that he wouldn't understand and he'd get himself killed or captured by the sailors delivering her things.

"Down," he said quietly, opening his arms to take her to the jungle floor.

He would stay hidden, but he wouldn't stay scarce. Oliver would hide out near the coast, probably stay in his old camp until the two days were up. The ravenette made no expression as if he understood or disagreed with this. Wrapping his left arm around her, he felt his way down to the edge of the branch and got the two of them down.

"Be careful," he warned, wary of the interaction between people along with her being in the jungle alone.

"You too," she said, this time when she hugged him it was a long lasting embrace. She didn't want to leave. She really didn't, but she had to get her things tomorrow. She pulled away reluctantly and waved her goodbye before beginning the journey back to her campsite.

"You too," she said, this time when she hugged him it was a long lasting embrace. She didn't want to leave. She really didn't, but she had to get her things tomorrow. She pulled away reluctantly and waved her goodbye before beginning the journey back to her campsite.

Oliver returned Abigail's wave, watching her back turn against him as she went back to what was her home for the night. The tall jungle man stood quietly as the sun gradually began to cause the shadows to grow and embrace him. When he was positive he could see her no longer, the ravenette turned and began his trek back as well. However, he did not look up once to climb. His path was traveled on foot. Once he had reached the end of the clearing that went up to the green canopy, the dark man pushed onward through a thick fence of vines and intertwining branches.

Thick brambles once left untouched tackled his unprotected face, leaving cuts caused by long red thorns. Oliver's long hair caught in their grasp, causing the man to yank himself free a number of times. This part of the jungle he was still quite unfamiliar with--though he knew exactly why he had to go through it. With a final pull from the vines, Oliver felt a release from the trees. Tumbling into the clearing, he looked at what was placed in front of him. Pushed back into the trees were two unopened crates. A piece of weathered canvas draped over them that was weighed down by two heavy rocks. At one point, this had been a makeshift tent for a little boy. The man crawled under it, his fingers touching on a smashed-open, once water-tight briefcase. Oliver opened it, inspected the documents inside to be certain that they still looked in-tact, and closed it again with a content sigh.

Through the trees, he saw an expanse of sand and listened to the hush of the sea in the distance. An excitement and fear bubbled in his chest. More things were coming. More people to look at. Were these people going to be like Abigail--delicate and maternal--or were they going to be like the silverbacks--territorial and easily angered? He considered moving to look at boat that was or would be soon on the horizon, but he remembered the blonde woman's warning and stayed in hiding.

Dawn was breaking when a large ship pierced the horizon and blew its mighty horn. It took approximately 45 minutes for the ship to reach shore, but when it dropped anchor several large men holding crates piled off of it and started to haphazardly throw Abigail's things onto the beach.

The blonde struggled to gather her things and check that they were not broken, huffing a few curses at the men in the mean time.

One man, who was particularly burly approached the young woman and said, "Miss Hardt, is it not? My name is John Clayton and a few of my boys and I wanted to know if you would mind sharing your camp for a week or two while we hunt for ivory."

Abigail nearly snorted and replied. "Mr.Clayton. I apologize for the inconvience but my camp does not have enough room for poachers."

The man looked a little taken aback before her grabbed her wrist and pulled her flush against his body whispering, "I assure you, there will be something in it for you."

She pushed away from him and said, "Have a nice day, Mr.Clayton." before going back to arrange her new supplies.

The horn of the ship was enough for Oliver to entirely forget Abigail's warning. With much ease, the young man hoisted himself into the nearest tree and scrambled closer to the coast to watch these other men unload heavy crates of the woman's things onto shore. They were expertly tossed to land, but the precious belongings were not gracefully unloaded. The blonde unleashed a huff of words the ravenette was certainly unfamiliar with as she inspected the crates for broken goods.

All the men coming onto the beach were bigger than he in terms of weight--though Oliver was positive he surpassed them all in height. That was until one approached Abigail. He was larger than Oliver in both height and weight, and certainly knew his way of communication. He asked her something--another word the jungle man was not familiar with--and the small blonde had said more about the subject. Being that he could only pick up few words to begin with, Oliver could only go on tone of voice to see what the two were saying.

Suddenly, this man grabbed her arm, pulling Abigail to him in an overly dominant way. Oliver made a dart forward to protect her--but before he could do anything about it, she had pushed him away.

The jungle man was very close to giving up and coming to her side. If this man pushed at her any further, the ravenette would be down there in a second.

The man followed her around for a while talking to her, and pestering her. For the most part Abigail ignored him until he shot his large rifle in to the thick jungle. She ran to him and grabbed the barrell screaming, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

The man looked at her and explained that he had seen something in the thick greenery.

"A week I have been here and haven't been harmed Mr.Clayton. I think it's best if you go wait on the ship," she growled in a display of anger that wasn't common place for the petite woman. The man stated at her in disbelief.

Clayton was not a bad shot. Not at all. Bark exploded very closely to the young man's head caused by the bullet. Heart hammering in his chest, he scurried backwards quickly and slipped on the smooth bark. The large man crashed onto the jungle floor and scrambled to his feet, taking a breath and hurrying back into the trees. He had not done this out of fear, but rather the fact he was only trying to stay hidden like the blonde had told him.

The blonde heard the thud and resisted the urge to run right at that moment. She shooed the men away, insisting that she didn't need anymore help.

When the big man finally retreated to the boat along with the other men Abigail rushed to where she'd heard the thud, terrified that Clayton had hit something or worse...Oliver. The captain had told her they were making port at a nearby village to rest for a week and gave her their radio frequency if she needed anythin before then. The boats horn sounded again as it pulled away from shore.

"Hello?" she called.

"...Hello..." His voice responded sheepishly. He was a bit afraid to admit that yes, he had come out to see her. And yes, he had been watching these men antagonize her.

As the horn sounded, he rustled himself away from the brambles, pulling his hair loose from the snarls and stood before her as apologetic as a little boy with his hand stuck in the cookie jar.

She couldn't be mad at him she tried so hard to discipline him in someway but she just couldn't herself to do it.

"You could have gotten hurt," she said gently, getting on her tip toes to wipe some blood off of his face that the thorns had drawn.

Oliver felt bad but there was no way he was going to stay hidden from that. Didn't she understand that he had needed to see that ship on the horizon? To see the other people? The ravenette knew it was his job to stay away, but it wasn't so easy for someone who had been secluded so long to give up on the possibility of seeing someone like him. Yes, there was Abigail, but she was female. This Clayton fellow and his crew--they were all men. Oliver needed something to compare himself to.

"...I am sorry..." Oliver said slowly, his mouth turning downwards at the bitterness of the words. "He looked," stumbling for a word, the jungle man picked one that seemed fitting, "Bad."

"Dont be sorry, I just..I don't want anyone to hurt you. Other people..I'm not so sure they would understand and accept you," she explained, picking a few stray sticks out of his hair. "Especially those...monsters.." she said shaking her head. The thought of someone killing an animal for profit made bile rise in her throat.

"I want to..." He once more felt too dependent on her, unable to do what she needed him to do. It pained him to be unable to stand beside her and protect her from someone like Clayton. "I want to...be accept-ed." Oliver wanted into her world. He wished desperately to communicate. If he met other people, he had wanted to stay with her without being shunned like an animal.

"Look at me," she demanded. Once she had his attention she says, "Dont you ever feel like you aren't good enough or are in someway failing at what a man should be able to accomplish. Most men would die out here if they were forced to fend for themselves. You didn't. Humans are close minded creatures Oliver. It is in no way your fault if they shun you."

He had looked at her seriously while she spoke but when she finished he gave a disagreeing huff to say the point had been made but it hadn't made him feel any better. Of course he'd survived. He'd given up his humanity to continue to function. Even Abigail had put up her hand to shield her eyes when she saw he'd been naked. He had wanted to get through whatever the barrier was. It was breaking down slowly--but how slow was it going to continue, and what if he never got out of it?

"I do not want that," he said, frustrated. Oliver didn't like the idea of being shunned. He didn't want to continue like that. "I'm hu-man too!" It didn't make sense for humans to be content with being shunned by other humans.

She scrunched her face up in an emotion similar to anger but not quite and said, "I know Oliver and I am trying, but even if I can turn you into something of a man and teach you everything about my culture will you leave this island? Will you come with me, back to London? You're right you are human and you deserve to be with other humans, but it is not going to be easy and the more frustrated you become the harder it will be. I was trying to protect you from people who won't understand you! You're not ready for that yet. You're not ready to face judgmental asses who tote around guns to look big and bad. You could have gotten hurt! Or worse killed! How close did that bullet come to hitting you, huh? Pretty damn close didn't it? If you come back to London with me in a month you'll have plenty of time to observe men just like Claytonbut I truly hope you got your fill of jackass from him!"

She threw her hands up in the air and stomped away. She didn't mean to take her frustration out on Oliver, but she couldn't make him understand that it wasn't his animal like nature she was worried about.

She had never mentioned returning to London with him before. He had not known that was ever her intention. In all honesty, he had believed Abigail was going to leave him behind. Oliver had thought himself a lost cause--that's why he was begging for lessons. To communicate. To tell Abigail that he had wanted to stay with her. To go wherever she was planning on going next.

He really had no clue where she was stomping off to but the jungle man raced after her, the sand causing him to stumble to catch up. "I'm sorry!" The dark man called, the sprint turning to a jog as he finally got to her heels. He was breathing heavy, but not losing pace. "I want..." Oliver panted. "To go...to London." Dashing in front of her, he held his arms out like a wall.

"I want Abigail happy. I want Abigail safe." Oliver's ink-colored eyes turned sorrowful, his expression going extremely apologetic. "He was bad. I am not bad. He grabbed Abigail."

In a way, he was admitting his jealousy. He hadn't liked Clayton touching her in the first place. Second, he had only gotten closer to make sure that from that touch she wasn't in danger. If she hadn't been grabbed, Oliver would have stayed back in the jungle. He had not found himself in any danger until the bullet had fired. The bullet had fired because of his wide movements to go protect her.