fandomtownies | The Beach, Monday afternoon

After classes were over (or roughly, it wasn't like he kept track like some kind of creeper), he put on his favorite Hawaiian shirt from the Shenanigans--the Hot Dog Bigfoots--and headed down to the beach.

In a little while, there were four fires roaring merrily: three on different grills with a variety of meats, one sequestered just for pork products, and one for vegetarian options. Steve'd even sourced some fresh ahi again and was feeling particularly pleased with himself about that.

The fourth fire was a cute little bonfire with neatly stacked rejected Shenanigan shirts placed a safe distance from it, along with buckets of water and sand for fire safety (and because McGarrett had 100 percent been a Boy Scout).

There were coolers of drinks including one of beer with a sign--"If you are from the HS and take a beer at a cop party, you're dumber than we thought and are v sad for you"--as the only disincentive.

Come on down, Fandom! Say goodbye to the summer. Eat food, drink beer, get rid of polyblend if that's your thing...

[OOC: Open to everyone!]

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"Last summer would have been different." Not quite so many things. Some bags would have been smaller. January would have been different as well.

"Hopefully we won't have to see them again." Stark knew better than to believe but sometimes it was good to have a little hope.

"Is that the sort of thing where if we say that enough the island comes up with something worse?" Steven asked. Which wasn't him dismissing how bad the bags were for some people, just him not wanting to know what could be worse.

"Sometimes I think it does listen," Stark said. "I've no proof either way. Some things come back and some don't. I haven't figured out why. Or what. The baggage has happened before. I don't think the fire has. I don't remember the cats. The days we have to tell the truth keep happening. But this summer was quiet, mostly. Which is odd. Usually something happens in the summer."

And the winter, and the spring.

"The cats weren't bad," Steven said, even if he hadn't personally interacted with them in a way that might have been visible in some sort of text based format, just to pick a random example. "But - oh! So was this week it? The thing that happens between semesters? Marc and I were warned about that. Only I thought it'd be a single thing. Sort of like the reunion but longer."

Not that Steven had wanted the reunion to go on longer. Very much the opposite, in fact.

"I think we earned a reprieve somehow," Stark said. Which was not at all ominous. "There's usually much more to it. Not just unrelated oddness for a few days. Last summer I was in a hole for weeks. With half the island it seemed like. And the first summer I was back there were the Nightmares."

Steven took all that in. "Right, have to start somewhere. Half the island was in a hole? For weeks?"

Edited 2022-09-06 03:01 (UTC)

"There were raccoons. Different raccoons than the ones still here. They were trapping us. Travis and the fire station fell in first. A lot of the rest of us followed later. And a lot of buildings. I don't recommend it."

"Buildings as well?" Steven asked. "Like a sort of sinkhole? How did it get fixed?"

"Little holes that got bigger and then closed after we fell in. There was...it was very strange. I was down there and I'm not sure what happened up here but someone made them open it again so we could get out. Some of the ships were down there. That's how I got out, once we could."

"Must've been terrifying," Steven said. The closest experience he had was briefly being stuck in a sarcophagus in the afterlife and for as short a period as that was he hadn't liked it at all. "Spaceships or the seafaring kind?"

"I don't like being trapped," Stark said. "I don't do well being trapped." For a number of reasons.

"Too many bad memories. And they were spaceships."

"It sounds horrible," Steven agreed. "I'm glad everyone got out - well maybe I'm assuming. Everyone did get out safely? I hope?"

"It was, mostly. I've spent too much time unable to make decisions for myself about whether or not to be somewhere," Stark said. "And there was no sunlight. No way out. Just...rock. It would have been worse alone. Much worse. But we did all get out."

"That sounds absolutely horrible," Steven said. "I'm sorry you went through it."

At all, and especially considering Stark's past.

"The nightmares came after?"

"The Nightmares were the first year I was back." The emphasis on the word was slight, but it was there. "Regular nightmares are...just a regular occurrence. Those were creatures making us remember our worst memories. They hid in the dark."

"That must've been horrible for you," Steven said. He reached to put a comforting hand on Stark's arm but stopped when he realized he didn't know if Stark wanted such a thing. "Others as well. Obviously. But I know you've memories you'd rather not be forced on you."

Stark didn't make any move to shy away from the touch. He wasn't that jumpy. Not today, anyway.

"I think we all do. But thank you. There are things I don't need to relive." Like that time he got executed. That had been a fun one to experience again.

Steven put his hand near Stark's shoulder and gave what he hoped was a comforting squeeze. "Imagine all the luggage on Monday's a good sign of that. Still. Can't say I'm sorry to have missed that one."

Though it did raise the question of how Konshu might feel about magically induced nightmares. Did dreams count as traveling in the night? If, as for random example, Steven was a version of himself which could be found in a two-dimensional, paper-based form? (A form for which the answer turned out to be yes, but that was immaterial to the current discussion.) Just one of those mysteries.

Stark gave a faint smile in return.

"I don't think anyone wants that to repeat. Once was more than enough. I have enough nightmares without Nightmares."

"I can imagine," Steven said. He grimaced. "Well, not like you, of course. But not knowing where reality ends and the nightmare starts. That sort of thing. Is it better now?"

The Beach, Monday afternoon

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