The Beach - Monday at 'whyyyyy' o'clock in the morning.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan went for a run to clear his head. He'd been pouring over data until his eyes had crossed. Liara had sent another email as well. Time to run and let his brain run the background processes some more.

Friday was going to come all too soon. He'd already started packing. He had stopped shaving to let the scruff develop and partly the running was to keep himself from scratching his face off. Two day stubble was the worst.

He was also worried on several fronts, about several people in several realities, and he knew that if he sat at home it would just cycle into a big stew inside his head. Like if it couldn't actively think about the bigger problem, his mind would obsessively think about much smaller ones in the same data-chewing manner. It was what it did. It was a pattern he was trying to change.

So he ran along the beach. It was mostly pebbles in this area but that was what he wanted. Things shifting underfoot, no certain balance. Having to correct the motion of his body instantly with every step he took to find stability, stay upright, continue the forward momentum.

That could be said about a lot of things he was doing, really, but right now.. he was running. Not letting his mind think about anything in the forefront. Background processes doing their thing. Endorphins keying up to do their thing.

It was oddly peaceful. The sun hadn't risen yet but there was enough light reflecting off the water that he could see just fine.

[Open. Hernando's thread canonically last.]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Kaidan wasn't the only one on the island with an early morning jogging habit. Jono probably didn't even need to - hell if he knew how his body actually worked at the best of times - but that had never really stopped him from getting out for his morning run, at least when he was in his right mind.

He was doing far better these days than he had in the wake of the woods. Jogging had begun to be a regular thing again, flames out and all. His usual route tended to take him through the park, past the school grounds, into the preserve...

He avoided the preserve these days. Today, he was sticking to the beach.

//Morning, mate.//

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan usually ran through the park but, yeah, trees were still kind of a nope. Better now than a month ago, still enough anxiety that he didn't willingly spend his free time under them.

"'Morning, Jono. How've you been? Haven't seen you around in awhile," Kaidan greeted, keeping pace so they could run together.

[furnaceface]

//Not too many complaints these days,// Jono replied, shrugging faintly as he ran. //Little more put-together upstairs than I have been, I suppose.//

There had been a few days in the wake of the woods where he wasn't so sure he ever would be.

//Starting to get back into the swing of living. Yourself?//

[spectre_alenko]

"Aiming for the same," Kaidan said. He lifted a shoulder as he ran. "Went and got professional help for that whole putting things back together part. It helped. The rest just needs time."

"Life seems to be dragging me back into the swing of things kicking and screaming," he added a minute later. "Stuff back home, nothing here. Though it's been quiet for like two weeks now so I'm just sort of.. waiting for the shoe to drop, you know?"

Didn't trust weekends. Didn't trust the island.

[furnaceface]

Jono looked vaguely amused at that, though there wasn't really any mirth in it.

//Been living here off and on since I was eighteen, mate. Believe me, I know.// And the only place worse than Fandom for it was back home. //I'd say I could use some things back home, but when that happens, usually the first casualties are children.//

So... no thanks.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan's face went a little bleak. "Yeah. My system's recovering from a war. Lots of displaced people. Kids. It's created a problem."

It had created a market. One Kaidan spent considerable time disrupting. With prejudice.

"And now a pain in my ass from a few years ago has surfaced. I suppose it was too much to hope he'd been on a casualty list. I swear that man's like a cockroach."

[firstofitskind]

"Jono, hey," Liam greeted. Yes, they'd only spoken a grand total of maybe twice, but the psionic flame was hard to forget.

... Actually the psionic everything was hard to forget, buzzing at the back of Liam's head like an overly dramatic strings section.

[furnaceface]

At least the feeling was weirdly mutual? Though Liam at least had the benefit of not being on fire.

Lucky bastard.

//Morning,// Jono greeted, giving Liam a nod. //Busy morning for joggers, it would seem?//

Were all their routes really all that different every morning?

[firstofitskind]

"Seems so," Liam agreed. "Though it's a small island, makes sense we'd all cross paths eventually." Especially given that they seemed to be the needs-little-to-no-sleep crew right here.

[furnaceface]

Sleep was overrated, and for people who were baseline human, or at least not insomniacs, clearly.

//True enough,// Jono allowed. //In any rate, at least th'company isn't terrible thus far.//

[firstofitskind]

When you only needed a couple hours of sleep a night on average, you found other ways to fill the time.

Running was one of those ways.

So here he was, on the beach, and it looked like he wasn't the only one who'd decided physical activity was the way to go, this morning.

"What a shock, seeing you out here," he deadpanned as he sidled up to Kaidan.

[spectre_alenko]

"Oh shit, it's the sheriff - run!" Kaidan deadpanned right back. Then he grinned at his friend. "How're you doing, Liam?"

[firstofitskind]

"I can't complain," Liam admitted. "The Troopers haven't inadvertently destroyed part of the station with 'renovations' in a while, the raccoons actually got their alcohol operation compliant with health and safety codes..."

Truth be told, a little bit of boredom at the routine was starting to creep in, but even that was novel in its own way.

[spectre_alenko]

"The raccoons got a liquor license?" Kaidan boggled for a minute. "..How?"

[firstofitskind]

"The internet," Liam said. "I mean, I'm the one who did the actual inspection," because the Liquor Licensing Board didn't come all the way out to Fandom. "But they did fulfill all the requirements."

[2_old_for_this]

Peter...wandered, more than he actually ran. But at this time of...night? morning?...it was odd to see someone else out, so he waved at Kaidan as he passed and met his pace so they could say hello without making him stop.

"How have you been?"

[spectre_alenko]

"Hey Peter," Kaidan greeted. He strangled the automatic 'I'm fine'. He was doing better with that. "Doing better. How are you?"

He smiled a little, "I met Eric Northman on Saturday. I saw you got paired with him too. How'd that go?"

[2_old_for_this]

"I'm doing good," Peter said, shrugging. Which was more or less true.

"Eric? I hadn't met him before, either. Our worlds seem pretty different, but we got along okay hopefully. Why?"

[spectre_alenko]

"He seemed ok in my round too," Kaidan agreed, then smiled a little, "At the end of it, he kind of did the 'Surprise! Fangs!' thing. I guess there's a vampire club down in Louisiana."

[2_old_for_this]

Peter nodded. "He said. Apparently his world has a lot of politics involved with being a vampire."

[hernando_fuentes]

100 comments already? Jesus, Z.

Hernando was dressed for exercise in sweats and a t-shirt. He met up with Kaidan on the beach near the shop at an hour of morning that wasn't, quite, morning.

"Hello, my friend," he said, "You are well?"

[spectre_alenko]

Not ALL me!

"I'm good," Kaidan agreed, "How was your date?"

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando returned a slow, lazy and utterly shameless smile. "It went," he purred, "very well. We went to the aquarium. I got to kiss him under fish!"

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan burst out laughing at how that was phrased. "I mean, good? Better than in a fish? Though I put nothing past either of you."

He really didn't.

He'd met them.

"Glad it went well."

[hernando_fuentes]

"Oh, there was a moment inside a giant skeleton of a whale as well," Hernando replied easily, "but they are not fish so it does not count."

Kaidan, you asked.

He glanced over at his friend while running easily at his side. "Have you plans for Christmas yet?"