the boardwalk ; sunday morning

[necroslacker]

The rain was nothing new. Sam came from the land of rain so showing up on the island for some skateboarding on a familiar boardwalk was almost comforting. It was making his hair damp and his shirt stick to his skin. His board was new, though, and he wanted to break it in somewhere quiet. He had the half pipe, sure, but it wasn't the same as this place.

And he'd gotten to the island before sharks started falling out of the sky so it was still relatively peaceful. That wouldn't last and then Sam would most likely end up freaking out but he was calm right now.

The board was skating smooth though and Sam had both feet on said board, rain in his face and eyes and he actually felt kinda good with that. He skated through a small puddle which meant water ended up on his battered shoes and Sam even laughed.

The shoes had been through worse.

[Open for pre-sharknado stuff for a bit!]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie had an umbrella even if her icon just had rain. It had felt like a morning to take a walk. She'd slept well, and wasn't feeling as bad as she had last night. But she'd still needed a litte walk on the rain.

She wasn't sure if she should have expected to see this familiar sight on the boardwalk. She still stopped to watch.

And kind of had to wonder whether Haley had ratted her out.

[necroslacker]

Haley hadn't ratted her out. This was just one of those funny coincidences so she could rest easy.

Sam didn't see her for the moment because his eyes were on the board and the wet ground beneath the wheels. He pumped his foot and got himself going on, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes as he did.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie wasn't about to call out to him, either. But she did get her feet moving in his general direction again, anyway.

Just slowly. She was on a walk, no need to walk briskly.

[necroslacker]

When Sam shook his hair out of his eyes, he caught sight of some movement and nearly toppled off his board only out of surprise.

He managed to catch himself but did end up off the board and nearly on his ass when he stopped focusing on the board and more on her.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie raised an eyebrow as she came closer. "You okay?"

[necroslacker]

"Just embarrassed," he said, cheeks pinking up at having nearly bit it in front of her. "I'm fine."

[whenshewasnice]

"Good." And she wouldn't have even laughed if he had fallen on his ass. She eyed him from under her umbrella. "Usual Seattle rain not up to your standards today?"

Conversational, not accusatory.

[necroslacker]

"Board's new," he said, picking it up and showing the bottom to her. "And the half pipe's not really good for trying it out. So, I came out here."

[whenshewasnice]

"Fancy," Natalie remarked, glancing the board over. "Very... you. And I guess this is as a good a place as any."

[necroslacker]

"You want me to leave or something?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't mean to impede or anything."

[whenshewasnice]

"I didn't mean that." She shook her head. "Just saying."

She didn't know how to make conversation with him.

[necroslacker]

"Uh huh." He almost felt like he shouldn't be here now despite her reassurances. "It's just a place to be."

[whenshewasnice]

"You get to be wherever you want," Natalie told him. Just in case. She'd just been in Seattle, she had no room to think otherwise. "Really, it's fine. It's as good a place as any. I only meant those exact words."

[necroslacker]

Sam nodded and brushed some more hair out of his eyes. "How are you?"

He could try.

[whenshewasnice]

Good because Natalie had felt close to babbling. And that was just weird and unfamiliar and not something she wanted.

"Okay, I guess," she said. "A little worried about Clint. Normal aside from that. You?"

[necroslacker]

"What's wrong with Clint?" Sam asked, bypassing the question about himself for the moment.

[whenshewasnice]

"Bailed the island a few days ago," she said, refraining from waving a hand like it wasn't important. "Left a message that sounded like he wasn't sure he was coming back. I should call him back."

Something had been holding her back from doing that, though.

[necroslacker]

"Ah. Maybe you should call him back," Sam suggested, shrugging. "He might answer."

[whenshewasnice]

"Maybe."

She shrugged.

"There's no rush."

[necroslacker]

"Okay."

Sam didn't really know what to say after that.

[whenshewasnice]

Neither did Natalie.

But the weather seemed to be getting a little worse, and she held on a bit more tightly to her umbrella.

"So how are you?" she asked, changing the subject. She thought it was smooth enough since she was just circling back to something he'd failed to answer.

[necroslacker]

Sam was brushing water off his forehead and hair out of his eyes a little more often now. He glanced up at the sky.

"Okay." He shrugged one shoulder. "Nothing new to really report."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie nodded. Maybe that was good, nothing to report. "The assistant thing is on," she volunteered after a moment. "I'm moving to Haiti once the term ends."

That sounded suddenly absurd, even to her own ears.

[necroslacker]

"Oh." Yeah, his heart clenched a little. Couldn't help it. "Well. Good for you."

It was about the extent of kind words he could offer about that.

[whenshewasnice]

It was good enough for Natalie. She hadn't exactly hoped for more. "Mm. And Peter will stay here so, I'll most likely visit often."

For lack of anything to add, she looked away, towards the sky over the water.

... And then she frowned.