The beach, Monday morning

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

After stopping in the Third Floor Common Room for muffins and glomping, Dinah had to take off or jump out of her skin. Sunlight. Beach. Nothing to be afraid of. It was awesome.

And it kept her from thinking about stuff she'd told Tony. She was not in denial. Just, maybe, avoidance. For a little while. 'Til she had some distance.

Running was good for that.

[open as beaches are]

Comments

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda was not hungover. She was in fact, still drunk from last night.

She danced in the surf, singing The Highwayman, possibly unaware of just where she was.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Leda." Dinah slowed down a little to watch her dance. Wondered if she'd been in the other world, or here. If she'd been there, if she'd been vampire or human. "Celebrating?"

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"Hi! Isn't the world wooooooooooonderful?" She followed with a bit of poetry about the sea and the sun. That the Mun doesn't know enough poetry to actually write

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah smiled at Leda, not up for laughing, and besides. She kind of got it. "Yeah. It really, really is. Sea and sun and all." She walked into the surf a bit, then smiled at Leda. "Glad to be back, hunh."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

In her current state, Leda was not capable of being unhappy. "I am. I'm here, I'm alive, my friends are alive, most of them, and you know I've never even gotten my feet wet here on the beach before?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"That's really a shame," Dinah said, smile widening just a fraction. "Glad you're fixing it." She looked up at the sun, and closed her eyes. "Huge relief."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda twirled, and lost her balance, falling into the shallow water with a shriek. She giggled uncontrollably.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah watched her a moment longer, and shook her head. "Need some help?"

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"I think so ys." she said after a failed attempt to rise.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Shaking her head, Dinah held out one hand, and gave Leda a little push upward with her TK. "Easy does it."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"Woo." she gasped, coming to her feet. "Tha' wz fun."

[puppy_fair]

Zack couldn't sleep yet. He'd gone to class, which was fine and well, and he had said that he'd go and get some rest, but... Well.

Best laid plans, and all that. He was tired as heck, but the sun was out and he was restless. He'd sleep when he was dead, or something.

And so, there was a Zack out for a walk, up to his knees in the surf, because otherwise? He'd probably just fall asleep standing up. Silly puppy.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah spotted Zack, and even the memory of Other-Zack and Other-Dinah didn't keep her from wading in to him. "Zack. Zack. Zack."

[puppy_fair]

"Diiiiinaaaah." Sleepy puppy was incoming with a hug in mind, yes.

He was probably going to be needing a lot of those this week. He figured that anyone else he'd seen on the other side was probably going to be in need of one, too. It worked nicely like that.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Zack!" See how articulate they were? Glomp!

Dinah held onto Zack and was content with just hanging on for a bit, then mumbled, "I love sunshine. And friends." Not deep, but oh well. Yay Zack and boy-sweat smell and not talking about wanting to eat people for fun and family.

[puppy_fair]

They were so articulate. So, soooo articulate.

"Sunshine and friends and solid food," Zack agreed, remembering the sandwich that Kate had given him when he'd woken up. It was arguably the best sandwich that he'd eaten in his entire life.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"I know!" Muffins and ice cream! And maybe pasta later. Nothing red, though. "Ice cream! And juice!" Juice was a miracle. "And hugs." Dinah squeezed him harder. "That aren't creepy. Yay." She sighed. No way to ask, you okay? This was better than okay anyway, even if okay wasn't all right.

Dinah totally knew what that ramble meant inside her head.

[puppy_fair]

Zack always went for the direct route and asked outright if people were okay. But then, Zack was ... tactful like that? He was Zack.

"Hugs that aren't creepy are totally the best kind." Squeeeze. "And cookies. Everybody ever is going to get cookies. I said so."

He did. He totally did.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"They do, they so do get cookies. Especially the research peoples." Dinah pulled back a little to look at Zack and appreciate that he wasn't fangy freaky, and said, "We should make some. Or buy lots and lots. And give them to people who were there with us, too. They need 'em." She reached up to pat Zack's hair solemnly. "I'm so glad you're you. You-- you had somewhere to stay? That wasn't with the crazy bitey people?"

[puppy_fair]

"I've already given Deadpool and Mr. Rogers some, in class," Zack shared. Because, cookies for all. Seriously. "And yeah, I... Arthur found me, and took me back to the dorms, there. I spent the rest of the time in a room, but at least I wasn't out being all..."

He lifted his hands and made little 'grr, arrgh' motions with them.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"That's good. I was too scared to go near there." Dinah looked down, then up at Zack, 'cause he'd get it. "I thought I might hurt somebody." She sighed. "Karla donated blood. In a cup!" she added. Because the other thing was so not something she could talk about. "And a straw. So. Yeah. Yay Arthur."

[puppy_fair]

"Yay Arthur," Zack agreed. "And Karla. And Deadpool."

Who hadn't had benefit of cup or straw, but he had been kind enough to donate blood.

He made a face.

"I ate a duck."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Eeeugh." Dinah blinked, then said apologetically, "Sorry. I just. That can't have been fun. Even as a vampire." She paused. "Although maybe better than eating a teal deer."

She was so glad she hadn't had to do that. Except how what she'd done had been... yeah.

[puppy_fair]

"A duck or a deer are both... You know. Animals. It was better than..." He winced, and then shrugged, and gave his head a shake. "That other Leto tried to make me kill a kid."

When Zack was tired, his brain-to-mouth filter was pretty much nonexistent. It was showing, now.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah's face fell, and she stuck her toes in the sand, nodding. "He was pretty horrible. He told me you took off with her, and wouldn't share. I didn't want to believe it, so I didn't think about it." She swallowed, then softly, "He tried to bite Karla. So we killed him."

[puppy_fair]

Zack looked down at the water and nodded a little, too.

"Except, that wasn't Leto. Not really. It was the monster. He just... He looked like Leto. That's all." A pause, and then he glanced up again. "The little girl is safe. I think Francine has her. That other Francine, I mean."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"I know. Real Leto was in the Common Room, earlier. We talked. I kind of melted down on him." She shook her head, and then rested her head on Zack's chest, arms around his middle. "But it was scary and intense and just crazy, and even if it had been some guy I didn't know, it would be awful. That it was Leto..." She sighed jaggedly. "I'm glad the little girl is safe. Francine, any Francine, would take good care of her." She turned her head to look up at him. "I met other people we knew, all twisted and messed up, and I was ready to do anything to get out of there. Burning up was a relief."

[puppy_fair]

"A stake," Zack shared. Since they were talking about what their own personal relief was. "I think... The rest is easier to swallow, so long as you think about how many people are free now. It was dirty and hard and one long nightmare, but sometimes that's the price of freedom."

He rested a hand on the back of her head and sighed softly, shutting his eyes.

Long week.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah sighed and closed her eyes too.

Really long. It felt like they'd been there longer than 48 hours, with all the dreams they couldn't control or escape for days before that. The thought of Other Karla happy with Other Ben helped. Other Francine with a little girl. Maybe Other Arthur could go home now. All the crazy, angry, broken monsters gone.

In the meantime, there was sunlight, and surf, and friends who didn't need apologies for random extended hugging.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"Hi!" Leda waved happily. And a bit drunkenly.