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 Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:06 am
"Is Maine near Canada?" Nash asked. He had, admittedly, next to no knowledge of American geography, fingers moving around the laces to make sure they were all tied properly. "Oh, jeez, don't even get me started on hockey, everyone's obsessed with it where I'm from, especially over in Toronto. I'm from Vancouver, but it's like, a thing in Canada to be obsessive."
He managed to finish the last knot then realized Melvin had already stood and was offering him his hand. Nash gave it only a momentary glance before accepting, hauling himself up and wobbling a bit on unsteady feet.
"As a kid? I got into fights a lot," he said with a laugh. "And I liked exploring and s**t. What about you?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 10:55 am
"Yeah. It kinda shoves itself into Canada. It's near Quebec hugging eastern border and the ocean." He informed, not pausing to ask why Nash didn't know. If he had been quizzed on Canada's locations, he would have been just as lost.
Taking Nash's hand, he didn't release it once he hauled Nash up and walked with him side by side to the rink gate.
"I used to play hockey but I stopped a lot of activities once I started seeing shadows. I studied a lot in my room and went out only when it was light out. I eventually started the swim team. Our family was very outdoorsy, so fishing, swimming, and boating was always things we did. I used to like exploring as a kid, but stopped after I got hurt after falling through some floorboards."
He opened the rink, and stepped out, steadying himself as he waited for Nash.
"I used to get beat up too a lot, but just took it. Same school and eventually the same kids got bored when I didn't react."
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:52 pm
His instinct was to tug his hand away - and he almost did, Nash resisting the urge, barely, as Melvin led them over to the gate. He could feel that unpleasant uncertainty coiling low in the pit of his stomach; the gnawing sensation that something wasn't quite right.
He didn't want to think of it.
"So, what you're telling me, is that you were always a swim nerd," said Nash with a laugh, wobbling out onto the ice. It had been a long time, but he was at least in shape, Nash grabbing onto the wall to balance himself.
After a moment, he said, "I did, too. Kids are shitty."
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:52 pm
"Always. I have lots of memory with water. It makes me feel at home. I have a lot of memories with water. I liked the pools because it was always lit up in the water and above. No shadows and I never once saw a monster in the water. The locker rooms were a different issue sometimes."
Melvin did a few test turns and felt rather confident that, despite not having skated all year, he still had the muscle memory. Slowly moving over, he offered his hands. "Can only hope the didn't become shitty adults to have shittier kids, but not our problem anymore. We're dead. We're the 007s of the world now."
"Cling to me. I'm warmer than a wall." He teased.
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 8:34 pm
Nash did not have the same connection with anything, really, that Melvin had with water. Maybe tattoos, but those didn't really count. "Locker rooms are full of jacks and shitbags," he seat, shuffling his feet forward experimentally. "At least, mine always were."
He still remembered the way they had held him down, bruising fingers and taunting laughs, lipstick smeared across his face. Nash reached out and took hold of Melvin's outstretched hands, slowly starting to figure out a rhythm to move his feet.
"Yeah, well," he said. "If I fall and break something, I'm blaming you."
But he was getting the hang of it.
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Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:14 am
"Just fall on me. I'll break your fall." He offered with a smile. As Nash slowly moved out, Melvin lightly gripped his hands so that Nash could move on his own without Melvin tripping him up but be there incase he lost balance.
"Where did you explore as a kid? Did you ever find anything cool?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:06 pm
He moved his feet, trying to find that rhythm, which was easier now, his balance kept. Nash gave a shrug that almost ruined this, and hastily skated forward a few inches, letting out a snort of laughter, hair falling around his face.
"Everywhere. October and I used to pretend we were pirates," he said, as someone whisked expertly past them, a rush of displaced air brushing over his face. "We used to go into the woods a lot, but we never really found anything."
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Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 7:27 am
He laughed. "We did pirates too." It wasn't surprising since they lived in a coastal town. "There was a old mud-logged boat at the beach. Rusted piece of junk but you could stand on it. We would take turns on who woukd be captain, Chris, Sophie, and I." He skated slowly alongside Nash, more confident and at ease on the skates.
"I used to like playing with action figures. I spent a lot of time in my room once it would get dark. Could make them do things I couldn't. That and watched a lot of movies "
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Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:42 pm
"Did you have a captain name?" Nash asked, moving one of his hands to grip Melvin's shoulder to keep from overbalancing still. "Everyone has to have had a captain name, it's very important."
One of his feet skidded just a little, and his grip tightened to keep from toppling. "October was the movie watcher, I was the go getter," said Nash. "I liked going out and doing s**t, like adventuring, and pirating, and riding my bike. And crashing it a lot, that also happened. I had a bunch of action figures too, though."
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Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:16 am
Melvin smiked, embarrassed as he thought about it. "Octo-beard. I ..was a captain that fused with an octopus. We all picked animals. Chris was a Shark Jaw and my sister was a Sea Queen Piranha."
"What was yours and October's?"
"I had a lot of X-men figures and Star Trek toys. Really liked the shows. It was comforting to think of yourself as a mutant or the possibilities of something other-worldly instead of a basket case as a kid."
He let a habd slid against Nash's back to help him steady himself, wanting to hold his hand but not wanting to take away his balance. He glanced at a passing couple close together and holding each other's mittens, lightly laughing.
"Any bad accidents as a kid on that bike?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:32 am
Nash gave Melvin a smirk. " ' Octo-beard?' Talk about your edgelord kid. That's pretty cool, though, I was Captain Monster because I was unoriginal and thought it sounded badass and all that. I forgot what October was, though, I think it was Admiral Awesome."
It was strange, thinking about their past. Almost like the good times had happened to someone else, someone who was not him and his brother, monster hunters on a hidden island in the middle of the ocean. Nash felt Melvin's hand against his back, another strange twist of his stomach at the proximity, disquieting and unsettling.
"Yeah, I broke my arm when I was like nine. Had a cast for six weeks, my mom was so mad." Nash flicked a gaze towards Melvin.
"What do you mean by 'basket case?' "
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 8:46 am
He frowned a bit. "Like loony. Crazy. A nut. Like your parents must have dropped you on your head or some shrink saying you have chemical inbalances and it's not your fault so much that it feels like they are lying. Everyone can play pretend. Every kid can annouce they're playing a game and see everyone play along as you point at what you really see and for once see them react if you scream monster than just out of the blue."
He moved to grab Nash's hand."You ever been on a boat?" He said, perking up and not hiding his quick removal of the previous conversation.
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Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2017 7:39 pm
Nash glanced over at Melvin. "Seriously? That's super shitty."
But it was clear that Melvin didn't want to talk about that, the abrupt topic change not coming quite as smoothly as he may have hoped. Nash's gaze flickered to their shared hands, but didn't tug his way, instead allowing himself to be pulled forward, skating side by side with Melvin.
"Nope. My parents weren't big on like...boats. Or anything normal, for that matter. We made rafts for creeks as kids, but nothing more than like, a bunch of sticks stuck together."
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 6:54 am
"Guess it's redundant to say I like water, but always found a peace with it most of the times. Did or do you have a place like that... " He wondered a lot about Nash's family but didn't see a good ooening to dig into it more
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 8:46 am
He slid his feet forward a few strides, felt himself start to wobble, and caught himself before it became enough to topple over. "Not redundant, it's nice you have a place like that. October and I used to build forts and s**t in the woods, though."
Nash shrugged. "I didn't really have much of a peace place, or whatever. Maybe the treehouse we had, but it fell apart pretty easily. My parents weren't exactly the most helpful of parents, they didn't know how to build anything or whatever. They weren't what you call conventional in any sense of the word."
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