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 Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:46 am
Life on the island, dare he suggest it, was dull. Days were quickly becoming routine and monotonous. Wake up, coax Natsumi out of the duplex, wander the riverbank for breakfast, and retreat to the beach for the rest of the day. Occasionally, if he was in an exceptionally good mood, he might amuse himself with scaling trees in the jungle or even venturing out towards the mountain to attempt a climb, but those days were few and far between.
Today was not one of them. Today was a lazy, sit around and do nothing day. Today he had had an exceptionally large breakfast, and was presently stretched out between two sand dunes well away from the water to relax and digest. Eventually he would have to wake up and cool off in the water, but for now... For now, the sun was good, naps were good, and, despite this day seeming no different from the one before, he was happy.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:57 am
After her run-in with Freddie the day before, Rachel wasn't eager to run into anyone else. It was hard enough to deal with this situation without having people messing with your head. When she woke up late that morning, she ran over to the cafeteria, and pleased to see no one there, quickly grabbed an apple and left, before anyone could wander in on her.
Rachel slowly wandered around the outskirts of the village, taking small bites of her apple, before deciding to head towards the beach. She'd been here a while and still hadn't explored it and she thought that perhaps the soothing sound of the waves would ease her raw nerves. However, she still hoped that she wouldn't run in to anyone...particularly if they were going to treat her like Freddie had.
When she reached the beach, she took off her sandals and held them in one hand, before walking into the surf, letting the water roll over her feet. She walked slowly towards a set of dunes a ways off, looking for any interesting shells or sea creatures.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:12 am
There was one negative side to scales that Thom had noticed thus far, and that was that they overheated like no tomorrow, especially as they were black. And while normally it was a tolerable thing, and even a nice thing when the cobra piped in, it also had a tendancy to bring back memories of when he was trapped in the labs and could no cool down. As his body temperature rose, dreams turned to nightmares, and it wasn't long before Thom jumped awake.
Gasping down a lungful of air, he quickly sat up, staring around to reestablish his settings. Once he had reassured himself that he wasn't in the labs, he let himself relax, lifting a hand to cover his eyes. It was only a dream. Only a dream. He needed to cool off. He snatched his cane up from the sand and, with some effort, climbed to his feet, staring for the sand and pausing almost immediately when he noticed the girl approaching from straight ahead. "Ah.. 'Ello, then."
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:21 am
Rachel hadn't seen Thom get up, as she had been looking at the ground for anything interesting. She jumped slightly at the voice and took a step backwards when she saw who it had come from. He was obviously another one of the people turning into an animal...but was that a snake he was turning into?
"Um...hi," Rachel replied, nervously studying him.
"How're you?" she asked tenatively, hoping this guy was infinately nicer than the one she had met yesterday.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:34 am
"Coping," he replied shortly, eyeing the girl curiously for any changes. She was perhaps a bit thinner than was necessary, but he doubted that was the labs doing. A normie, then. How lovely. But she hadn't run screaming at the sight of him, nor did she seem particularly startled by his appearance, if a bit wary, so it was safe to assume she already knew what was going on.
The knowledge that he wouldn't have to convince her that she was turning into an animal was enough to let Thom relax. He offered a smile, nodding past her towards the waves. "Bit over'eated, t' be 'onest. Just 'eadin' down to th' water. Care t' join me?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:49 am
"Coping..." Rachel repeated, a bit bitterly. She tried to smile back at him, shuffling her feet a bit. "That sounds about right...though I don't know how well I'm doing with that...It's hard to come to terms with all of this..."
Rachel hesitated a second at the invitation to join him by the water. She had come down here hoping to avoid people, but he seemed nice enough. Shrugging her shoulders after a moment, she nodded and took a step towards the water.
"Sure...ok. The water is nice right now," she said, giving him a more genuine smile this time.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:58 am
"Lovely." And after stepping to her side, he walked with her down to the waves, remaining silent for the time being. Upon reaching the surf, he discarded his cane out of reach of the water and, between his tail and right leg, somewhat awkwardly waded into the waves. However, once they had reached about mid thigh, he simply dove in, swimming a short distance away before resurfacing and lazily making his way back towards her.
"Much better," he greeted with a more enthusiastic grin, already feeling better for the cool water on his scales. "Now, where were we...? Don't try t' force yourself to accept it. You'll only confuse yourself. Give it time, it'll come. There's really no other option..." He shrugged, pausing briefly, then caught himself. "'Pologies, I'm Thom. Thom Brinley."
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:14 pm
Rachel couldn't help but laugh as he dove into the water and came back grinning...maybe she should have brought her suit from her duplex and could have gone swimming too. She pushed that thought aside after a moment though, inwardly cringing at how bad she thought she looked in a swimsuit. And besides, she hadn't know she'd run into anyone out here.
"Thanks Thom, I'll try," she said when he was finished speaking. "I'm Rachel Collison." She gave him an apprasing look, before deciding to comment on his accent that had become readily apparent in the past few minutes.
"So where are you from? England?" she asked curiously, wondering if he might have some interesting folk tales to share with her or something.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:31 pm
"A pleasure to meet you, Rachel," he replied with a polite nod, swimming in closer to the beach so they could talk properly once her realized she wasn't going to swim. She was so young... A lot of the newer islanders he had seen were, he realized. Or was he getting older? How long had he really been on this island? Day after day after day... He shook his head clear of these thoughts, sitting on the sand where the water to about to his shoulders to chat.
"Mmhmm. 'Ad a flat outside of London, though I wasn't often 'ome. I'm afraid I can't place your accent?" Keep the conversation going. It left fewer holes to dwell about the past in.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:44 pm
"Oh, traveled a lot, did you?" she asked in response to his comment about not being home much.
"And I was born and raised most of my life in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. But my parents and I moved to the states a couple years ago. The only time I ever really got to travel was when my team would go to competitions in other cities...." she shrugged, her expression wistful as she thought about home and her gymnastics.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:55 pm
Thom nodded, smile fading slightly as his focus was pulled back to the past. Fond memories, certainly, but there was no going back anymore. It wasn't something he liked to think about. "I played football for England. Th' team would travel often f' matches and such. An' in off time, Aar... I would travel with a friend of mine for various other activies. Mountain climbin' an' such. Just hobbies."
"Ahh, that's why." He nodded once more, then quirked a brow, interest piqued by her words. "Team?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:08 pm
Football and mountain climbing, huh? She knew she meant what she called soccer, and was impressed that he played for the country's team, knowing how big the sport was over there. One of her older brothers had played soccer and followed the professional teams rather faithfully, so some of the knowledge had rubbed off on Rachel before he went away to collage.
"My brother played football - soccer - in high school. He stopped playing on a team when he went off to university, however." She had been sure to add the soccer bit so that he knew she wasn't confusing American football with European football.
Rachel gave him a wry smile when he asked about her team. "Yeah...I did gymnastics competatively before I came here; mainly floor routine and beam. I wasn't that great...but I really loved it. I was always afraid I was going to get kicked off the team after we moved to the states though.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:24 pm
Aha, she knew what he was talking about and had a relative who played. Points to the girl! "S'a pity 'e quit. It's much more excitin' once you reach university level." And it had been! More teams, more competition, and more chances to be recognized for play later on--which was exactly what had happened to him.
"Gymnastics? Really?" He was genuinely impressed. It was a challenging sport, he knew. She had the size going for her, too... Though she seemed a bit frail to have any real success with it, based on her appearance. "It doesn't matter 'ow good you were if you enjoyed what you were doin'," he replied with a smile, knowing all too well how she had felt. "We've another gymnist on the island. A very good friend of mine, her name's Natsumi. I'm not sure if you've met 'er?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:36 pm
"Yeah...I think he knew he wouldn't play professionally though, and so wanted to concentrate more on his studies." She shrugged. "I didn't talk to him much after he left for school."
"Another gymnast?" Rachel rasied a surprised eyebrow. "No, I haven't met her. Natsumi you say? I'll have to keep an eye out for her. What's she look like?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:47 pm
That made sense, Thom agreed with a nod. He regretted at times that he hadn't put more effort into his studies, but he really hadn't needed to. He knew enough, and that was plenty, and even if life had continued as normal, he would have had plenty of money to support him for the rest of his life after retiring from the team. Studies hadn't exactly been an issue.
"Natsumi's..." Oh, was he blushing? If he was, it wouldn't be noticable between the distance and his scales, he assured himself. How did one describe Natsumi? "She's...asian?" he attempted rather lamely, then shrugged. "A bit shorter than you, but a few years older, I'd say. Black hair, brown eyes, thin... An' if all else fails, watch for th' pink-ish scales." He chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "She's shy, but very nice. Can't 'elp but like 'er."
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