The Beach, Thursday Evening

[newroutines]

Mike had given some bullshit excuse as to why he wasn't attending the Hale Thanksgiving thing. Any made-up reason to be too busy was better than saying last weekend had messed him up so badly he didn't want to deal with the holiday at all in any way.

It was too cold to be sitting on the beach with a beer, but Mike was doing so anyway. This was his Thanksgiving. Or his mourning time for something long gone. Whatever it was, it was private. He'd been keeping a tight lock on everything since he'd woken up on Monday, and he had every intention to keep on doing that.

God, he missed Tampa right about now.

[ooc: Mostly establishy, but can be open!]

Comments

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Allie had mostly been keeping to herself every since she'd gotten back from checking up on Kaidan. But despite her love of books, there was only so long she could sit in her apartment reading before feeling the need to move.

Her random circuit of the island eventually brought her to beach. Given the cold, she was surprised to find someone already there.

"Hey."

[newroutines]

Well, shit.

Mike hastily rubbed the back of his hand across one eye as he looked up. His smile was... a little forced.

"Hey," he said. "Wasn't expecting anyone else to be here."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"I'm on the equivalent of my morning run," Allie explained as she made her way over. "How come you're not out stuffing yourself with turkey? I thought that's what everyone did today."

[newroutines]

"Guess I forgot to get a turkey this year," Mike tried, wryly. "Oh well. 'S cool, I have an, uh, a beer."

Nice job, man.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

After pulling her sword off her back, Allie lowered herself down to sit on the sand next to him. Wanted or not, looks like you had company for a while Mike.

"Hey whatever makes you happy," she shrugged. Or not. Because he just seemed off for some reason. "Is everything okay?"

[newroutines]

"Everything's cool." Said the man sitting alone on a beach with a beer, on Thanksgiving. Yeah, he knew how it looked. He was still going to try. Even if his smile was milder and more forced than usual. "Don't worry about it. It's –- yeah. Everything's fine."

Ish.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Fine," Allie repeated, her eyebrow raised in a way that clearly said how dumb do you think I am? "That's why you're out here, alone, in the cold and dark with a beer?"

Not that Allie really had much room to talk considering her holiday plans included skulking about the island on her own for a few hours, but hopefully Mike wouldn't realize that.

[newroutines]

"You're out here alone, with a sword."

He'd realized that much.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but I do this every night," she pointed out. "And I have the sword because I feel naked without it. Old habits and all that."

[newroutines]

Mike offered up a shrug. "Well, how do you know this isn't something I do a lot?"

Probably by how he didn't. But.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Because I probably would have stumbled across you at least once before, but I never have." How's that logic sound. "And it's not that big of an island."

[newroutines]

He shrugged again, and sighed. "Well, anyway, everything's fine," he repeated. "I just needed a little bit of fresh air, it's all. Like... Breathing space. Derek's with Stiles and Cora and whoever, but I wanted to see the outside world for a while, too."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Uh-huh." Allie didn't really believe him, but at the same time, she understood not wanting to talk about it. She wasn't going to push. But maybe she'd provide an opportunity. "So do you have any plans for after you've seen the outside world? It's pretty cold out."

[newroutines]

Mike was apparently really, really big on shrugging right now. Because he did it again now, before taking another swig from his bottle.

"Figure I'll go back to the house, have a few more beers, and then hit the sack."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"That's one way to spend the night." If you were moping and miserable. "Interested in a possibly more entertaining option?"

[newroutines]

"Depends," he said, but at least he looked up. "What is it?"

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Don't look so excited," Allie teased. "It's nothing too outrageous. But Nick convinced me that there was life beyond books. That I should be checking out movies instead. So I have a TV, a streaming Blu-ray player and a Netflix subscription. The problem is, I have no idea where to start. Want to help me figure it out?"

[newroutines]

He sighed.

But, yeah. He probably needed to at least pretend to not be such a fucking sad sack. So he nodded. "Yeah, okay."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

She replied with a sigh of her own as she nudged her elbow at him. "I know. It's such a hardship spending time with me."

[newroutines]

Now that one got a sheepish cough of a chuckle out of Mike. He shook his head.

"I know, I'm sorry." He scracthed the back of his head with his free hand. "Just going through something I'm... not very good at dealing with 's all. Sorry."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Considering I usually hit things when I'm trying to work through stuff, I really can't say anything about your coping methods," Allie shrugged. "Whatever works for you. But I have learned sometimes it does help to talk it out. Kitty's listened to me often enough."