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The Beach, Monday Afternoon

Will had spent most of the weekend locked up in his room, emailing back and forth with Ajay. The summer session was rapidly ending here and there, it was actually approaching so Will knew that he'd have to get home soon even if the headmaster wasn't going to extend an invite. Mr. Hobbes wasn't here, he was there and Will didn't want to keep idle any longer.

They'd hatched a plan or two, one that involved everyone and one that involved everyone but Brooke since no one knew what was even going on with her right now. It kind of made Will sad to lose contact with her but he wasn't sure what else he could do.

Today, he'd taken his daily run and ended up on the beach. It was too chilly to go for a swim but that didn't stop Will from kicking off his shoes and rolling his pants up so he could wade in. The chill shot through his limbs and made him shiver. But, he was definitely awake now. Once he got to about calf deep, he turned around and faced the sand and the shore again.

Seemed like a good time to practice a few things so Will brought up his grid, scanning the beach for any warm spots or signs of life. Right now, it looked empty. He kept the grid up while he used his telekinesis to focus on single grains of sand with his mind. He pictured them and then lifted them, concentrating hard to make sure he got the exact grain that he wanted. Soon enough, he was sweating but he kept going.

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Celia had felt cooped up this morning, particularly after her usually-outdoors class had met inside, and was out now for a walk on the beach. It was a little cooler than she would have necessarily preferred, and she was about to turn back when she spotted a familiar figure out there.

She was quiet in her approach, pulling her skirts up a little with her magic so as not to get them too sandy, and waited until she was fairly sure she wouldn't break his concentration before offering a quiet, "Impressive."

She really meant it, too. That kind of concentration was exactly the skill that she took the most pride in, personally.

"But kind of dumb," he said, panting a bit and letting a few grains drop down. He reached down and splashed some water on his face. "I should work up to that."

He splashed some more water on his face and into his water before giving her a wave. A little delayed but still there.

"Afternoon."

"It's not dumb," Celia said, returning the wave. "And hello. That sort of precision work is exactly what I practice most often, and it'll help you overall. I mean, probably. It has for me, anyway. It's a lot harder to lift a specific grain of sand than an elephant, for a lot of people. It'll help."

She shrugged. "How've you been?"

"Not horrible," he said, wading back up onto the sand now that he'd cooled down and wasn't panting like a winded dummy anymore. "Busy at times, bored at others. How are you?"

"The same, though I'm finding the summer session is leaving me with more time to fill on my own than the regular school year," Celia said, neatly taking a seat in the sand. She paused, thoughtful, and added, "It might help that we haven't been switched with alternate versions of ourselves or anything. Yet."

"Well, now that's going to happen tomorrow," Will quipped, sitting down across from her and smiling a bit. "That or it's going to rain honey coated toads and make a huge mess of things. I don't really know which one would be the better option, honestly."

"Me neither, but now at least I know who to blame if honey-coated toads show up," Celia noted thoughtfully. "Not that I'd know what to do about them other than find an umbrella and fashion together some sort of habitat for any I might end up with in my pockets or something."

"If honey coated toads show up, I might take a trip to the mainland just to avoid word spreading that I'd caused it," Will joked, picking up some sand and letting it slip through his fingers. "Maybe I'd even stay there and get myself a new identity and a new life."

Probably exaggerating there.

"The return of Bill West," Celia said with a sage nod, arching her brows. "And his devious deeds. Just lying in wait for honey-coated toads to come and allow his time to shine, huh?"

"I might choose another name," he said thoughtfully. "Bill West has some weird memories attached to it. Maybe...Dill West. So, I'll just sound like a pickle instead. No one'll bother me then."

"Phil West," Celia suggested lightly. "You could be an accountant or something equally fascinating with that name."

"I'm not very good with numbers," Will admitted, shrugging. "That was more my dad's area of expertise. He had the science mind. I have the...I don't know yet mind. Haven't really figured it out."

"Then you might find something just as boring for Phil West, but less to do with sums," Celia decided. "Sometimes I like to think about that, you know? If I had my choices, I think I'd lead a very dull life. Not necessarily under an assumed name, though. Nothing really rhymes properly with Celia."

"Delia," Will pointed out, shrugging. "That's all I can think of, though. And while your life might be dull, I don't think even another version of you would be. But, I think you could make something as dull as..."

He tried to think of something extremely dull and found it hard for the moment. "Oh, something as dull as grocery shopping exciting. Even if you were Delia and you wore huge hats to disguise yourself for fear of being discovered."

Celia smiled, tilting her head in thought. "I already wear huge hats," she said pensively. "I might need to adopt a sort of balaclava-inspired costume if I really wanted to go undercover as Delia."

Or, you know, use that whole appearance-altering power of hers.

"But thank you. I like to think that even if either of us decided to live an alternate life, we'd still be as interesting as we are now. Even if I were a professional grocery shopper." She made a face. "I was more thinking...librarian, or something. Maybe an astronomer."

Edited 2014-06-02 20:32 (UTC)

"You like the stars?" Will asked, raising his eyebrows. "I don't think I knew that. Or if I did, I forgot. That's probably a lot more interesting than professional grocery shopper. Most people would prefer to see the world through a telescope instead of picking out the best cartons of milk."

"I love the sky," Celia admitted, a little shyly. "A lot more than grocery shopping, that's for sure. There's just so much we don't know, even in this time. I like the idea that there's a little bit of mystery left in the universe, and we might never know. But still! It's a lot more dull than professional illusionist, or...warrior for the side of good," she added, raising her brows at him. "I'd take something a few steps down from our personal levels of interesting."

"Warrior for the side of good? You make me sound...like more than I am," Will remarked with a shake of his head. He dug his fingers into the sand and shrugged.

"You know, if it was my choice, I'd choose to live quietly in a place like Ojai or somewhere in Maine," he told her quietly. "I'd like to be the guy that goes out onto his porch at night and looks at those stars and wonders what's up there. Maybe I'd count those stars to be able to sleep at night and wonder if someone else was going to sleep on a star far away just like I was. I wish I was just that guy, you know?"

"Exactly," Celia agreed softly. "As much as I love being able to do what I can do, there are times -- plenty of them -- when I wish I could shed the associated responsibility and just...sit on a porch and look at the stars. Out in the country, too. You can't really see them in cities, not but a few. I've only ever really been able to get a good look at the sky when we've been stopped at train stations between Paris and Moscow, that sort of thing. It'd be nice to live somewhere where I could, to set down some roots somewhere. Though I am admittedly getting very attached to this island." She smiled, tracing a finger in the sand. "I've lived here longer than almost anywhere else."

"I think we're getting pretty close to my record too," he said with a quiet chuckle. He traced his name in the sand and then brushed it away with his palm.

"This place took some getting used to and I'm still not sure I'm adjusted but that's just because things can be so strange here so often," he told her, shrugging. "But, I do like this. I like being able to come down to the beach and sit for hours and watch the sun rise and the tide come in. It'll be even better when it's warm and we can swim. I can't wait for that."

"Maybe you can't," Celia teased, shaking her head. "I'll keep my nice, cool spring mornings as long as I can. Warm weather is less delightful when you have long hair and petticoats to fuss with. Maybe I'll just shave my head this year and be done with it."

She probably wouldn't. But it also probably wouldn't matter if she did.

"I don't think you can adjust to this place," she added, thoughtfully. "I know people who have been here for years who still don't quite know what to expect, always."

"You don't want to swim?" he asked, tilting his head. "See, that's what would help you out with hot summer mornings. That's what I like to do, at least. When the sun is just rising and the heat of the day hasn't peaked, you go to a pool or a lake or a beach and you swim. It's just you and the water and your thoughts."

Which could sometimes be bad.

"Those are the kind of things I do to adjust," he continued. "Gives the place a little familiarity. You should actually take a trip to the roof. It's the best place to see the stars, I've found. Puts you closer to them then sitting in your room."

"I'm a bad swimmer," Celia said, shaking her head. "I'd spend the whole time trying not to drown. No, the things I do to adjust here are...just familiar things. I practice my magic. I look at the stars. I read. Sometimes things are constant, and it doesn't matter what century you're in or what insane thing happened to you that day. Do you know what I mean?"

"Well, if you ever do want to swim, let me know," Will told her, smiling. "I'd make sure you didn't drown. I have my magical ways."

He wiggled his fingers at her before dropping it back down to the sand. "How is your magic going, by the way? Last time we talked, you were going to start looking for something, right?"

"Nothing's quite turned up yet," Celia admitted, giving those wiggling fingers a dubious look. "I've been researching but everything's a bit above my skill level." Which embarrassed her, honestly. "How are...things at home? Aren't you due to go back and save the world any day now?"

She said it lightly, but she was still concerned.

"Trying to get rid of me?" Will asked jokingly. But, he shrugged in answer to her question. "Soon enough. The headmaster hasn't invited me back but I think I'm just gonna go back soon anyway, just to see what's going on. My friends say their summer session is about to start."

"I just want to know when to start worrying," Celia admitted quietly. "Do you think you'll be able to come back here? Or at least stay in touch?"

She'd figure out email, if she had to.

"Oh no, don't worry," he said, shaking his head and trying to reassure her with a smile. "I'll be okay. And I want to come back. I've got friends here and friends there but I want to come back. I'd miss people. I'd miss you."

Celia nodded, staying quiet for a moment. "I'd miss you too," she said, carefully. "You've been a good friend. But -- seriously, you're saying I shouldn't worry? Everything you've described sounds so...dire."

Edited 2014-06-03 14:59 (UTC)

"You shouldn't worry," Will said, shaking his head. "It's more uncertain than dire. There's a lot we don't know and it honestly could turn out okay."

He didn't think it'd turn out okay for awhile but he could still say that.

"You have your own things to worry about," Will told her, shaking his head. "I don't want you to take away from that. I've got people to help, you're on your own. That's more important."

"It's not mutually exclusive," Celia said with a small smile. "I can fret about you and still try to break my stupid binding at the same time, you know. But promise me you'll keep me posted? If I can help...well, the offer is still there. Always will be."

"As much as I can, yeah," Will said, nodding. "I don't know too much about the situation back home just yet. And I don't even know when I'm going either. The last time I was there was when my parents died and then I was sent here to be safe. I don't know if it's safe to go back just yet."

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The Beach, Monday Afternoon

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