fandomtownies | The Beach

It's been a slow day, but for once Kawalsky has taken it easy. The last few days have taken its toll on him and he realizes that now that he has a smaller body, he can't drink as much alcohol without the added effect of not feeling so good afterwards.

But he's feeling pretty good now and is more than ready to head on out and check out the beach. He steps out of his dorm room and pulls a cap down on his head, then looks up in time to see Veronica walking along. "Hey Veronica! Ready to go?" They had planned it for this morning, but things came up, so they rescheduled to an afternoon visit.

Veronica smiles.

"Absolutely."

***

They make it to the beach fairly quickly, chatting about inconsequential things. Veronica is in the best mood that she's been in since she arrived at this school.

"So did you do anything exciting today?"

"Not really," Kawalsky admits. "Food, TV, tried to figure out what channels we've got. No EPSN2." He looks glum for a moment, but remembers that Duo offered to hook them up and cheers up. "How 'bout you? You seem happier than last night. Don't blame you, since there's no bad 70s game shows on."

Veronica wonders how much she should share.

"Well, I found out the other day that one of my old friends is here. I kind of freaked at first, because I wasn't expecting it. But we talked today and everything is good."

"That's cool. Didn't expect to see my friends here either. They sure as hell weren't expecting to see me." It was hard to explain 'I've been dead for eight years and now I'm here' without scaring anyone off. But he was used to keeping things from people. Over twenty years in special ops allowed him the use of that skill. "How come you freaked?"

"Well..." Veronica fidgets and then figures what the hell, it can't be the weirdest thing going on at Fandom High.

"Lilly was murdered almost two years ago. I solved the case a few months ago and she was able to rest in peace, so to speak. She ended up deciding to finish high school."

Veronica watches Charlie's reaction, hoping he won't think she's insane.

"Oh." Charlie rubs at his neck. "Well yeah, I can see why you freaked." Murdered friends coming back to life? At least he wasn't the only one. "It's cool that you caught the bastard who did it." He looks out at the water as he speaks. "Technically, as far as my family knows, I'm dead too. But here I am. This place is pretty weird, huh?"

Veronica is so entranced with watching the waves that his words don't penetrate at first.

"Yeah, this place is def... wait... did you just say that you're technically dead, too?" Veronica gets nervous and wonders if Aaron did succeed in killing her in that freezer.

"Only technically," Charlie assures her. "Fully red-blooded and alive now." Technically, he wasn't supposed to talk about how he got here, not that he really knew all the details, but hell - this was another dimension almost and he was beginning to care less and less about the military code of justice. "Advanced technology resurrection cloning stuff. I don't understand it all, but I died. Now I'm not dead no more."

Veronica blinks as she takes in his words.

"So you died, but you're not dead anymore," she repeats. She lets out a long sigh. "That's good to hear. One of the first things Lilly asked me when we ran into each other was if I had died. I told her no. But when you said you were dead, I thought maybe Aaron had succeeded in killing me."

She stops to take a breath.

"And now I'm babbling. I'm sorry."

"S'okay, I was pretty freaked out about the whole dead thing too," Kawalsky reassures her. "But Liz isn't dead and has never died, pretty sure the same works for a lot of the folks here. Death just kinda works weird in some universes, like it's not permanent if you're lucky." Deciding that death isn't the most fun topic to be discussing, Charlie changes the subject. "But how 'bout this beach, huh? Pretty good to have. You reckon we can get a beach volleyball comp going?"

"This beach is not bad, considering its on the east coast. The beaches in California are so much better. Ever been?"

"Been to California, never made it to the beach. I was sta...I lived in Florida for a while. Military brat, moved around a lot." It was true, at least for a while. His Dad had been in the service for a couple of years. "Nice beaches in Florida."

"You really have to check out a California beach sometime. There's nothing like them in the world. Then again, I haven't traveled a lot either."

"Well hey, who needs to travel now that you're here? You got someone from nearly every part of the world.. and time zone.. and planet here anyway who could tell you all about it. And I guess they could take you home for Christmas if you wanted to check their place out too."

"That's very true. So if you want to check out a California beach, you're welcome to come for a visit with me sometime," she offers with a smile.

"Where are you from... um... where were you from, before you... you know, died?"

"Born in New York. Lived there til I was about six, then we started moving around when Dad enlisted. Then when he finished up, we moved back to New York. Before here I was in Colorado, though. S'where I met most of crowd I'm rooming with. Except Jack. Known him for years."

"Wow, you've moved a lot for someone so young."

Suddenly a thought strikes Veronica.

"You're probably not actually a teenager, are you? I mean, you might technically be a teenager, but your life experience is beyond that, isn't it?"

"What makes you think that?"

"I'm a detective," she says with a grin.

"Just the way you talk about all your moving and your friends and knowing Jack for years."

Charlie was seriously out of practice when it came to keeping his times straight. But then, he'd never had to worry about keeping his years worked out and concealed.

"You got me," he admitted. There was no fooling her, and it was easier owning up in case she went investigating the Colorado Refugees Group. It wasn't that he was afraid of what she would find, but of what the military would do to her, and to the rest of them, if a detective went investigating the SGC. "I used to be older. I'm figuring that was a past life. That's the only way I can wrap my head around it. We moved around until I was about 14, then went back to New York until I was 18. I met Jack when we were in the Air Force together. Colorado was my last assignment. That's where I, y'know..." 'Got the back of my head chopped off after being infested by an alien parasite that controlled my body,' he finished in his head.

Life was way too weird.

Veronica smiled at Charlie.

"Don't worry, I'm not the type to go around spreading stories, Charlie. Your secret is safe with me."

She looked out at the ocean and had a sudden flash of memory of homecoming.

"Hey, want to take our shoes off and wade?" She compromised because she didn't think an invitation to skinny dip would be appropriate at this stage of the friendship.

"Sure," Charlie grinned. He pulled off his shoes and wiggled his toes, since he hadn't bothered to wear socks. Socks and the beach didn't mix well. He placed his shoes next to Veronica's and followed her down to the water's edge.

Veronica wades in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the smell of the ocean.

She feels mischevious and splashes Charlie a little.

Charlie splashes Veronica back, wondering whether he can get away with dunking her in the water.

[ooc: good luck! i'll be heading to bed very shortly.]

The Beach

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