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Cocktails and Pina Coladas

He listened quietly, patiently as Melvin spoke, but he really couldn't say that he related at all to the sentiments the other man was lamenting. Sure, he thought about his mother from time to time, occasionally his father as well, but he didn't have the big family Melvin had had, and he certainly didn't have any connections to his peers in college, not like he did on Deus.

"I think it all depends on the person." Not an argument against Melvin's logic, but a reminder that they all had different experiences that had molded their lives.

He blinked at the suggestion, lifting pale eyes from the ice in his glass as he lowered it, and the turning his head to look out at the beach and the dark waves rolling up on the pale sand. "Sure, if you want to."


Sharktank

Zeke was certainly a fair bit calmer than his companion in fact, he didn't look nervous at all. Excited, more like, though contained.

As the captain gave the signal for them to head into the water he gave Melvin a soft elbow in the side before putting his mouth piece in and slipping off the edge of the boot, sinking down to the sandy bottom.

Sharktank

Wide blue eyes had Zeke reaching over to lay a reassuring hand on Melvin's shoulder, fingers squeezing gently before he took his hand back to loop fingers loosely. Around the wide circle the group was using to stay together.

There were sharks already, a few that circled warily around them well out of reach, but as the second guide reached the sandy ocean floor and opened the lid of what was essentially chum, they started to edge closer.

Depths

Eyes rolled up to the moon, Zeke didn't realize Melvin had looked back his way, not immediately. It took a second or two to feel the other man's regard, to bring his attention back down to the beach, and now the cove. It was a quiet, secluded little place, and the soft ripples on the surface of the water almost glowed in the moonlight.

He watched as Melvin removed his glasses and then his shirt, and after a second did the same, folding it once over his arm before bending to set it on the sand.

Depths

The question pulled Zeke's attention up again, and he watched as Melvin turned to walk down to the shore and straight out into the water, features thoughtful for a long moment as he chewed on an answer, following slowly behind. "Well that depends entirely on the context of the situation."

The air around them wasn't quite as warm as it had been. Not cold, but cooler, and it made the water seem warmer by contrast. Pleasant as it lapped up over his shins, his thighs, up along his waist. "What am I trusting you to do, or not do?" In all honesty the answer was mostly yes, but Melvin was notorious for asking questions, and every once in a while Zeke liked to turn the game back on him.

Shark tank

Melvin might still have been nervous, but Zeke seemed perfectly content, if not down right gleeful. He watched the sharks with bright, appreciative eyes, and even reached out to stroke fingers along the sandpaper like skin of one as it passed close by them

Arrangements

Damp, with an armload of clothing, Zeke lead the way off the elevator and along the hall towards their shared room, but he paused as he reached it, stepping to the side to make way for Melvin. He had the Key.

Depths

Zeke snorted at that, wading further in until the water was high around his chest, then kicked off the bottom to drift closer to Melvin. "You could try," he conceded with a note of self confidence born not just from the belief that the other man wouldn't, but the awareness of his own ability to prevent it.

"It's those sorts of comments that'll make people wonder, though." An auburn brow lifted inquisitively. "Do you want people to wonder?"

Shark tank

Another shark slid through the water in front of them, a sleek little nurse shark, and Zeke shifted his hand to trail fingers along it's side, flashing Melvin a smile as he noticed he too had a hand out.

Arrangement

"You know the one thing I always disliked about salt water?" It was said with a small yawn as headed for the balcony to shake out his clothes one last time, just to make sure all the sand was gone before he packed them away. "The salt clinging to your skin afterwards."

Depths

"Do I wonder if you'll snap one day and try to drown me?" He wondered. About the lingering effects of Lawrence's influence, and about what had happened before then that had opened the gate for that influence to seep inside.


Shark tank

The sharks continued to swim around them, and by now a few of the bigger fix had joined them. Circling lazily, one even slipped through the narrow gap between them.

They lingered down there for a while, but soon enough they were signalling for them to head up to the boat again.


Arrangement

"It's not the smell that bothers me, it's the film it leaves on the skin. It just feels unclean." His own clothes joined Melvins.

Depth

Zeke turned in the water, giving Melvin his full attention now. "I didn't," he admitted, brows arching. "Should I?" He still didn't seem nervous, but then, he was still pretty confident in his ability to keep someone smaller than him from drowning him.

Well, assuming he didn't get knocked out.


Arrangement

"I do know what you mean, and agree up to a point." He shrugged as he headed back inside. "And the point is feeling the residue." Post rinse, and he'd feel just dandy.

With a thoughtful hum he went for the bathroom to investigate. "Well, s**t." There were indeed windows that could be pushed open, and they did indeed open out to a lovely view of the moon drenched ocean. "They do indeed."

Pausing, he glanced back. "I don't need to take a bath, if you didn't feel like waiting." He didn't usually go for baths anyways, preferring the easy of showers.

Depths

Zeke snorted, but there wasn't much amusement behind it anymore. Instead he was starting to sound annoyed. "Swimming, possibly fooling around, even talking. For ******** sake Melvin, we're friends. Why should I have been suspicious of your intentions?"

Either he wanted to be trusted or he didn't, but Zeke was getting tired of the back and forth.

"But even if I had been," he continued pointedly, pale eyes narrowing slightly. "I'm not exactly helpless in the water, not even against you."

Arrangements

He could have pointed out the shower and that the both of them could have washed up at the same time, but if Melvin enjoyed the salt on his skin maybe he wasn't planning on washing up for a while.

Drawing n a long breath through his nose Zeke plucked up one of the thick, folded towels on the rack over the tank of the toilet and set it on the edge of the tub. Sitting beside it, he leaned over to turn the water on. "You think they have anything good in the mini bar?"