A wave swept over him, and shrieking, Rose stumbled away from the beach, swearing loudly. His clothes were ruined. Where were his shoes? He didn't remember anything about getting here. Anyway, where was he?
It was dark. He shivered and limped to a patch of shade underneath a palm tree and tried to remember what had happened. His teeth began to chatter with the cold, and he drew his sodden fur coat tighter around himself. He had been on a yacht last night, hadn't he? For a party? Wracking his brains, he dimly remembered drinking cocktails one after another as his friends cheered him on. Had someone pushed him off? Had he fallen?
Where the hell was he?
Rose leapt up, a sudden, horrible thought coming to him. They couldn't really have.... left him behind, had they?
"No." he told himself, clutching at his coat. "No, this is all just a - just a stupid prank. They couldn't have left me. They wouldn't have forgotten me."
Maybe they were watching him right this very moment. Rose straightened up, trying his hardest not to shiver. He'd go and find them, and once they got back home, he'd organize a week-long party. A party so opulent, so magnificent, that they'd feel sheepish and inferior and definitely sorry for what they had done to him. He'd get the best designers for his outfits, and the best food and drinks in the galaxy. And he'd invite them over, and be nice to them, because he was nice, and gracious, and wonderful, and they'd all feel sorry. And- and-
His leg snagged on a root, and Rose face-planted the ground with a little scream. No, he'd humiliate them! He'd crush them! He'd snub them and they'd crawl back to their home planets to die of shame in their ugly, tasteless dirt hovels! Those bastards! This was a horrible place. They were horrible for leaving him here! They were probably laughing at him right now!
Rose's lip began to quiver. Suppressing a sob, he pulled himself back on his feet, his knees weak with exhaustion, his eyes blurring with tears. Wiping them away left a trail of mud and grit across his cheek, but he didn't care anymore. He was going to find a way back home, no matter what!
A sudden chill ran down his spine. He'd wandered into a forest and tripped over a root. But it hadn't been a root. Heart racing, Rose turned his gaze to the giant beast camouflaged in the trees.
Time stood still. It bent its head down, and Rose felt the warm breaths of the beast ruffle his sodden hair as it snuffled around him curiously, soft brown eyes blinking. He was close enough to smell its strange, musty, reptile smell. It didn't seem to register that he was shaking like a leaf and instead stared soulfully at him, a strange rattle coming from the back of its throat.
Was it going to eat him? Rose's eyes widened, and he pressed his lips together in a tight line, not daring to make a sound. Well, it'd serve his friends right. a small voice whispered to him. They'd come back for him, and he'd be a pile of blood and gore and bones. And they'd feel sorry and cry like the idiots they were, to leave poor little me here in this hellish place.
Rose imagined his funeral. He would be dressed in white. Handsome, chivalrous Roscoe would be there, and he'd say to everyone how he had really loved him all along, and how sad he would be all his life without Rose to make him smile. Roscoe would be dressed in black. No, dark blue, it flattered his complexion more. And that bitch Parvati would turn green with envy and die of jealousy.... after his funeral, of course.
How beautiful he would look, his face pale and translucent, his eyes closed in an illusion of sleep! How brokenhearted they would be to lose him!
As if it had heard his inner thoughts, a rough tongue scraped across Rose's face, smearing his hair into a misshapen, gooey mess. And suddenly, he found himself racing through the forest, his mind blank with panic.
No, he wasn't ready to die! Not now! Not even if it would piss off Parvati! Not even for Roscoe! he thought to himself desperately, vaulting over a fallen bough. No, he'd live to survive another day! He'd show them all just how capable he was!
Rose glared at Eleanora, who was pristine except for a bit of sand on the skirt of her exquisite dress. Dressed like she was going off to the races, her hair curled and styled, and a little hat to top it off.
Hmph. How dare this gorgeous, elegant, beautiful young woman accost him while he was miserable and soaking wet and patronize him?
Who does she think she is? thought Rose furiously, resisting the urge to tackle her. Waltzing over to me and treating me like a little boy. I'm no child! I ought to tell her off.
And I will! decided Rose, drawing himself up as straight as he could. He'd give her the lecture of a lifetime!
An explosive sneeze put an end to this chain of thought, and everything he had been about to say flew away into oblivion. ARGH!
"I'm FINE!" Rose snarled, seeing the concern in her eyes. "And don't call me dear!"