fandomtownies | Around the Island- Early Wednesday Morning

While out and about on his beach runs, Dwight may have noticed a particularly quick streak of red out in the water as Sidon pursued his own version of the ubiquitous morning circle around the island. His course was just a lot wider and significantly more wet (and did require a nice little arc over the causeway whenever he tried to go for a true ring-around-the-island). But in spotting someone else taking advantage of these glorious early hours to squeeze in a bit of exercise, Sidon rerouted to make for the shore, racing forward to launch himself smoothly out of the depths and onto the sand, where he then picked up a much less familiar jog to go join Dwight and attempt to keep pace.

"Good morning, Dwight!" he greeted cheerfully. "And what a marvelous morning it is! It does my heart good to see I'm not the only one who has sought to enjoy it for its clear merits in being excellent for a workout!"

Dwight halted for a moment and slowed his pace, partly from the sudden surprise of Sidon's typical but still often unexpected appearance, and partly out of consideration for the much more challenging task now at hand.

"Ah Sidon, good day," Dwight said in return. "Glad to see you too are taking advantage of the warmer weather now that it is here." Dwight slowed down a little more before coming to a stop for a moment to catch his breath. "How have things been? It's been a while since we spoke."

Ah, see, now, Sidon was an ace in the water, but it was on land where he had a bit more trouble, so running was never quite something he'd been terribly good at. He did have the advantage of the fact that, even though his legs were proportionally quite short compared to the rest of him, the overall height of him still put him at an advantage there over most people. But Dwight would definitely have a leg up on that one!

He chuckled a little, though, as the pace slowed to a crawl, then a stop, bouncing his weight a little between his feet as he followed suit but wanted to keep that constant string of energy and momentum going. "Things have been well!" he answered. "Thank you for asking! A few spots of trouble with some rowdy lizalfos back home here and there, but other than that, things seem relatively peaceful. And what timing for that, as well! If I'm going to be spending more time here on our fair island, I'm glad it can be during a burgeoning season that I greatly enjoy. There's nothing quite like a summer on Fandom Island! And how about you, my good friend? I do hope that things have been going quite spectacularly for you as well!"

"Eh, been going ok for the most part. Got a few personal things to sort through. Family issues and what not, but nothing as exciting as lizalfos or anything like that" Dwight said with a smirk. "But yes, it is perfect weather for spending time outdoors. I am quite glad the cold weather is behind us to be honest."

Even as a long time Havenite and from Maine, the cold weather was still not his favorite and Dwight much preferred warmer weather. It was easier to work out and enjoy yourself when you didn't have layers of clothes and piles of snow to worry about. Piles of warm sand was much better really!

Edited 2022-06-22 13:35 (UTC)

"Ahhh, but it will be back before we know it!" Sidon remarked, always a bit too aware on how...untenable winters here could be for someone such as himself. "Which is all the more reason to make the most of it while we can! I have been getting in some of the most incredible swimming these last few weeks, truly! I am terribly sorry to hear that you've been having some familial troubles, though. Hopefully, they have been cleared up, or at least simmered to a point where they may not cause such direct distress."

"Simmered down enough for the time being to hopefully not be too distracting. Nothing a good run can't help with" Dwight added with a small grin. "And thankfully its not like there's anyone to track me down and search me out here in Fandom so, makes for a nice little safe haven." Although that might not be as good a thing as Dwight initially thought.

"Should I take extra precaution, then," Sidon wondered, with a curious tilt of his head, "in the event that anyone does come looking around for you? I should hate to discover that I had inadvertently lead those you might prefer to avoid straight to your very doorstep!"

"Ah might be best if you did, to be honest," Dwight admitted with a slight nod. "Really got no one to come around looking for me so, can't really see anyone coming around for a friendly house call... especially not the old man." And at that thought Dwight felt a sudden panicked and sickening feeling at imagining Tavin coming to Fandom.

Edited 2022-06-22 17:08 (UTC)

"I shall keep that in mind, then," Sidon said, with a grave and dedicated nod of assurance, "and be most diligent in my endeavours when it comes to such potential for unexpected visitors! Still, it is rather disappointing to hear, that you and yours might not be getting along all too well."

"That is appreciated, good Prince Sidon" Dwight said with a slight nod of his head. "And as far as not getting along, it is sadly par for the course with the Hendrickson family. At least what is left of it."

"Ahh, and unfortunately," Sidon shook his own head a little sadly, "such diminishing numbers mean fewer chances for redemption and making amends! I suppose that is something I have often taken for granted, that my own relationship with my father, while sometimes a bit uncertain, has always held strong. And when that tension does begin to arise, it does us both very well go remember that, these days, we only have but each other anymore.

"And the Zora people, as well," he added a moment later, "of course."

"You are a lucky one for sure" Dwight said with a small smile. "Your father sounds like a very smart man... errr... Zora. It's good to have someone you can confide in, even in the hard times. But I fear the numbers have gotten too small for that to be possible for me."

Dwight realized he had been kicking at the sand a bit wit the toe of his shoe without realizing it as he spoke.

"The only ones left of the Hendrickson line on my side is myself and the aforementioned father-like figure. And reconciliation does not seem to be a possibility at this stage," he added somewhat sadly.

"Ahhh," said Sidon, with a tone infused with sympathy, "then that surely does make it all the more a shame! But I wouldn't be quite so quick to abandon that particular hope! It seems you're still quite young, Dwight!" His grin went a little toothy. "Even for a human! You never know what may happen given enough time!"

But that burst of encouragement softened again.

"May I ask," he implored gently, "after what the nature of this unfortunate rift may have been?"

Ah there it was... the question and conversation Dwight wasn't sure he was ready to have. All the same, he found his mouth opening and the words coming out.

"Not sure how familiar you are with Duke and the place we both are from, Haven. Essentially it is a town where many people have powers and special abilities that often follow family lines. Some call them a curse, many of us refer to them as Troubles. There are many kinds of Troubles but most are such that those with them have little to no control over them. I know at least one person whose emotions affect the weather. There's another person in Haven who cannot feel any sensation of touch or pain. And another who's very touch can cause intense pain to anyone she touches."

Dwight paused for a moment and took a slow deep breath before continuing.

"The Hendrickson family has out own Trouble. We are bullet magnets, essentially attracting any bullet fired near us to change course and head right for us. The issue is, my old man knew about the trouble in our family and never told me, even when I joined the military and went overseas to fight. My Trouble activated and I nearly died. And now after more than five years, turns out he basically thinks I deserve the trouble and that I should have died all those years ago."

Dwight glanced up at Sidon and gave a cold grim laugh. "So yeah... pretty sure there is no mending this bridge. Think it is well and fully burned at this point."

Sidon listened quietly as Dwight spoke and, when he was quite certain he was finished, went to set a comforting hand on his shoulder, if he'd have it, with a soft, gentle smile down at him.

"Thank you for sharing with me," he said quietly. "What an abhorrent thing to keep hidden from one's own flesh and blood; it's tragically easy to see that one who could do such things can not truly know the measure of a man. But I suppose the thing to remember, with burned bridges, is that they mean we cannot go back the way we came, but instead, we must move forward and blaze for ourselves new paths, and instead look forward to the grand things that may lie ahead."

Edited 2022-06-22 21:50 (UTC)

Dwight nodded in agreement. "Spoken like someone much wiser and more level headed than I am" he said with a slight self-judging laugh. "But it is what I am attempting to shoot for all the same."

And to that, Sidon let out a laugh of his own, big and bright and appreciative, with that hand now patting Dwight's shoulder. "That may be," he declared, sounding delighted, "the first time anyone has ever called me wiser and level headed." He lifted his hand to shake a warning finger at Dwight. "I may have to remember that the next time anyone attempts to reprimand me for being too bold and brash! But I do know...." And here he softened a little again, though the smile was still there, just more...tempered, more reserved. "You humans have lives so short, that you really cannot be wasting it concerning yourself with things like that. Us Zora are natural architects, you know, so you'll have to trust me as an expert when I say that some bridges actually must be burned, so that bigger, better, stronger bridges may be built in their stead."

"Thank you my friend, Sidon. I appreciate the pep talk," Dwight said sincerely with a smile.

Rosa watched him with a faint smirk from her perch on some nearby rocks, her sketchpad on her knees.

"Look at you being all . . . fit and crap."

[Work is dumb and slowplay is love!]

Dwight stopped for a moment at the voice catching him off guard. He gave a wave to Rosa as he slowed down and walked over.

"Eh, keeps me out of trouble," he said with a slight laugh, wishing that statement was even half true.

(same here on both fronts!)

"I'd say 'well that's no fun', but my idea of fun being trouble is something I'm, like, actively trying to grow out of." She shrugged with a faint smirk. "Hi. I'm Rosa."

"Rosa, nice to meet you," he said with a return smile. "I'm Dwight. I don't think we have had the pleasure of meeting yet. Either that or my memory is getting bad in my old age" he added with a slight laugh.

"I spend a lot of time in Baltimore," Rosa said. "Which doesn't mean you're not going senile, just that not knowing me isn't a sign of it."

"Ah that would explain it" Dwight said a nod. "The mainland is quite nice isn't it? I admit I'm usually only off the island for business related trips and such, so haven't had a lot of time to explore Baltimore as much as I would like."

"It's a nice town," Rosa said. "I go to school there, but it's . . . kind of a lot on a permanent basis, you know? I grew up in the middle of nowhere, I'm used to a bit more quiet. So I got a place here instead of the dorms."

Dwight gave a slow nod. He understood that all too well.

"I totally understand the not wanting to be around all the hustle and bustle all the time and have some space to yourself. That's part of the reason I came here to Fandom in the first place."

"Yeah? I didn't even know this place existed." Rosa shook her head. "Of course, I'm from New Mexico, so I probably wouldn't even know Baltimore existed if it weren't for the Counting Crows."

Dwight thought for a moment then snapped his fingers. "Ah, music group right?"

"Ouch," Rosa said, pressing her hand to her chest. "Only maybe one of the greatest vaguely country-inspired bands to come out of San Francisco!" She shook her head with a rueful smile. "They're one of my favorite bands. But I've been told my love for 90s alt-rock makes me deeply weird."

It was actually one of the least weird things about her these days, but that was fine.

Apologies Rosa, Dwight was more of the Neil Diamond, CCR, and Simon and Garfunkel type of guy. It was a generational gap thing. Couldn't really be helped.

"Hey 90's music is awesome" Dwight said with a smirk. Neverminded that to him 90's-00's was still pretty 'new" as far as his musical tastes went for the most part.

Whereas Rosa considered herself a connoisseur of classic rock because her favorite bands were Counting Crows and Third Eye Blind.

"Yes!" Rosa said approvingly. "Yes it is." She tilted her head, squinting up at her. "Hey, weird question: can I draw you?"

"Sure" Dwight said after a moment pause, not at all expecting a question like that. But he took note of the sketchbook and gave Rosa a slight smile. "Want a specific pose?"

“Nah, just be you,” Rosa said, and started sketching. “You’ve got this cool kinda Lucha Libre energy, and these beakless puppy-bird things are kind of creeping me out.”

Sorry, porgs.

Dwight took a look at the couple Porgs around them, and one brave one in particular that seemed to have taken an interest in him as well.

"I've admittedly never seen them this close up before" he said with a somewhat crooked grin. "They are a confusing mix of cute and terrifying at the same time aren't they?"

“Desert girl here,” Rosa said. “Weird animals aren’t, like, new? But these guys are real weird. Like nothing I’ve ever heard before.”

Wait.

“Um. Heard of. It’s not like I can tell their molecules don’t match anything on earth or anything, ha ha. . . .”

Good cover, hon.

“Oh my god that was awkward. It’s not like you all don’t already know about aliens.”

Oh you had no idea how crazy Dwight was used to!

"Alien huh?" Dwight said with a glance at Rosa, trying to get a peek at the sketchpad. "Would you believe me if I said that was not even the craziest thing I had heard of or seen, even before coming here to the island too!?"

Edited 2022-06-23 04:01 (UTC)

“I’m not an alien,” Rosa said, channeling some of her nervous energy into her drawing, not noticing him peeking.

He’d see the start of a remarkably lifelike sketch of himself—as a Mexican wrestler.

“I am an ordinary Earth girl. Or, you know, a crazy Earth girl who just happens to be a little alien-adjacent.”

She registered suddenly that he’d kept talking. “I would absolutely believe that. Especially if you offer details.”

Edited 2022-06-23 04:09 (UTC)

And that was a very nice looking sketch so far... interesting it was going the wrestling route cuz Dwight had done wrestling in high school and some at boot camps. Just not Lucha libre style.

"Alien-adjacent... that is an interesting way to put it" Dwight said with a grin. " And for my relation to the odd... Well, Haven, the town I am from is a place where many people have powers and special abilities. We tend to call them Troubles. There are many kinds of Troubles but most things people have little to no control over them. I know at least one person whose emotions affect the weather. I've heard there are people who can enter people's dreams. There's another person in Haven who cannot feel any sensation of touch or pain. And another who's very touch can cause intense pain to anyone she touches."

Dwight paused for a moment before continuing.

"I have my own Trouble. I am a bullet magnet, essentially attracting any bullet fired near me to change course and head right for me. Used to run around Haven with a flack vest on at all times."

Edited 2022-06-23 14:02 (UTC)

"Um, holy shit," Rosa said, eyes wide. "That sucks so much ass. You'd be dead in a hot minute in Roswell, even as a white guy. There have been way too many guns there lately."

All because the racist pieces of shit blamed Rosa for the deaths caused by a rogue evil alien. Ugh.

"So, um." She took a deep breath and let out a little chuckle. "Wow, I haven't really told anyone here this, yet, but I feel like that story requires some kind of crazy emotional reveal in return. I, uh. Kind of. Died?" She took a breath, then barreled on at high speed. "Not kind of, actually. I was fully, totally dead. For ten years. But someone stuck my body in this alien stasis pod thing all that time and so now I kind of. Have some extra . . . alien-y bits. In my blood or whatever. Mostly just enough to make me blow literal electrical fuses when I get too upset, which means I've gone through so many phones since I came back. And, um. I also can kind of hear the resonant frequencies of everything around me. Hence the whole 'these bird things are not of this Earth' thing."

"Ok yeah... wow... that" Dwight took a moment or two to process all that and put together a coherent sentence after that.

"First, I can't imagine going through something like that. I'm sorry you went through it. And second, don't worry your secret is safe with me. I've spent years keeping an entire town of Troubled people from getting found out by the government and the media. You got nothing to worry about" he said, giving Rosa a reassuring smile.

"The whole electric sensitivity and resonance thing does sound like the sort of thing we would see back in Haven though" he said after a few minutes. "I know there are several electrical based Troubles. And some people's Troubles make them more sensitive to certain senses and sensations."

"Or not sensitive to them?" Rosa asked with a faint smirk. "Like that guy you said can't feel anything?"

She shook her head."It's cool, though. It's not actually, like. A deep dark secret or anything, I just don't really like saying it out loud to people who don't already know?" Mostly because they tended to give her sympathetic looks like he had and she didn't know how to handle them. "But yeah, I'm in loads of therapy with my recovery anyway, and I even have a priest who's 'in the know' now back home, so I'm good. Other than, you know, getting slightly freaked out by what I can really only conclude must be space birds."

"Always good to have a support group, no matter how small it might be." Said the man who was currently working through things pretty much on his own- just as he always had.

"And I think anyone would be hard pressed to not be at least a little freaked out by these things" Dwight said giving another glance to the Porg still eyeing him curiously. "Sixth sense tingling or not," he added with a slight smirk of his own.

Dwight. Dwight. Rosa would so get preachy NA on your ass if she knew you were trying to go it alone with all the shit you had to deal with.

"Hearing is technically one of the five," she pointed out instead, a laugh in her voice. "But, uh. Yeah."

It was a Haven thing... and a military thing... and a personal Dwight thing... so yeah. It was definitely a trend for him in any case.

"Ah yeah, got me there" he replied with a smirk. "Though I think hyper sense of any kind could count as a sixth sense. But, in any case, you seem to have it under control, which is a good thing of course."

"I do," Rosa said, pride pulling her up a little straighter in her seat. "And that, uh. Wasn't easy, let me tell you. I would love to never have to have anyone try to talk to me about 'alien puberty' ever again."

Sorry Isobel and Michael.

"Oooof yeah... can only image that was, unpleasant" Dwight said. "But you survived" he said quickly changing the subject. "And you said you are a student? What are taking? If you don't mind my asking?"

“I’m at MICA? The Maryland Institute College of Art. My focus is on murals and public art but I paint and draw on, like. Everything.”

"Should have known with the sketchbook and all. That's really cool. There's always been rumors or stories that some people in Haven have Troubles that bring things they draw or read to life, to some extent" Dwight said. "I've never known anyone personally with a Trouble like that, but I imagine it would bring a whole new layer of considerations as far as career or hobbies go."

"Wow, that would be. . . ." Rosa trailed off, her face going on a bit of an adventure as she considered it. ". . . Terrible. I draw way too much about death for it to be anything good."

Around the Island- Early Wednesday Morning

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