elijahbell

[elijahbell]

FMK: Darcy, Adarsh, Tej

I'd marry Darcy, she already knows that I'd wander off from time to time, and we would have the most magnamious divorce. I'd have sex with Adarsh, I enjoy talking to him but unfortunately, we do not know each other well enough to propose. That means I would have to kill Tej, which I hope he is not taking personally.

[elijahbell]

"Mh. That would be a plan. I have to admit, I do like the way you're thinking." Elijah had seen the black building rising above the treeline, and it seemed it'd been not just him who'd accepted it as some kind of command center. "I do believe they're trying to keep us docile. We're fed and clothed, so of course, we'd be biting the hand that feeds us if we did rebel." Elijah shrugged, smile coming back to his lips to replace his thoughtful expression. "Sometimes, you have to wait and see, don't you?"

Not that Elijah was planning to do much waiting. He'd never been good at that. But there was enough down here on the ground he could look at and explore. People to talk to. It was like being in the open sea, you could try to swim but often enough, it was good to let yourself float and take stock of where you were. Or well, stay in the confines of the maze to look for an exit, instead of hauling yourself over every wall you saw.

They had time, after all. "I think we have everything, then. I can make a pretty decent meal out of this." His arms laden, Elijah turned to his newly chosen companion. Adarsh might not remember much, and maybe the food would help him regain some sense of what'd happened, or maybe it wouldn't at all. At least both of them would have full bellies. "Let's see if the bungalow kitchens work as well as they look. Shall we?"

Adarsh couldn’t explain the gratefulness he felt at the mention of ‘sin carne’. He wondered if he ate meat, or if his avoidance of it had something to do with the fact that in general he wasn’t eating a whole lot. Avoiding food because of the nausea he felt repeatedly. Maybe making some food would make him hungry enough to eat it. “Do you cook a lot?” he asked, as he followed Elijah through the shelves, scanning the place for some kind of bag to put everything in. He could carry more that way, though he figured not everything they were packing was for the Chili. 

“A reality show?” He could imagine some scenes from those, but nothing big, nothing that told him he’d ever watched any of it. There was some instant judgement for people who participated in those kinds of things, but he had let go of that quickly because there was a chance he was in one right now. Darcy’s theory bubbled back: that maybe he’d volunteered for this, that losing his memory was part of the experiment - or entertainment. And if that was so, he still wanted to punch that version of himself for it. “That… nobody signed up for, I take it. Could be highly illegal.” Could be… probably was. He felt sick again. “I don’t know which I find worse. But it has to be either, right? Or we’re all dead and this is some new kind of paradise.” 

He didn’t know where Elijah was going with his talk about prison and meal plans. He could make the link with what they had going on, though they didn’t need to buy groceries… hopefully. He had nothing on him that was worth anything. He did wonder if Elijah knew, somehow, by looking at him. Adarsh wasn’t eating well, he didn’t want to. He tried though. “So… everything is to keep us from rebelling? Should we fight it and storm the tower?” He did really want to punch something, or someone. At this point, he’d settle for a tv executive or a scientist. 

[elijahbell]

When Lokni talked about horseback traveling, Elijah couldn't help but imagine him in the saddle, lasso, cowboy hat and cowhide boots, the whole inventory. A true and proper farmboy. Elijah himself had grown up in suburbia, so aside from the rolling fields when he was driving a city over, farms had never been much on his radar until he left his home. "So far, we seem to be having good chances at survival. If you do find a way off the island, let me know, though. As much as I enjoy island retreats, I would eventually like to leave."

Lokni remained as curious as ever. Elijah wondered if some of it was practical too. Most of the farmers he'd met (which were not too many, surprisingly) had been realistic fellows, probably because they had to be since their livelihood depended on the very earth itself. Maybe Lokni was gathering information just as Elijah had when he'd first come here. Points for survival. "It is a lot of islands. It looks rather small on a map, but the main islands are bigger than many European countries. And many of the states as well. It's very similar to here, actually. Except for the humidity. I sometimes woke up in my hotel and everything was wet because of it. With the free food, perhaps I should consider the island an improvement."

Then, the questions turned more personal. So it probably wasn't all practical interest. Elijah's eyes trailed up to the dripping ceiling. "Bigger, most definitely. The world seemed smaller when I wasn't traveling. It sounds paradoxical, doesn't it?" He chuckled, half-lost in thought. "Getting out of where I lived most of my life, it helped me see a lot of the world, and it made me realize just how much there is I haven't seen that I want to. I'm curious. Have you felt like that, Lokni?" Elijah turned his attention onto his companion, eyes interested. "That the world was just a bit too small to properly contain you?"

That had gotten quite philosophical. And a tad more personal than Elijah had intended for it to be, on his part. Shaking himself off mentally, he breathed out. "Now you're putting me a bit on the spot, I must admit. Though I'm nothing if not good at improvising. There was something, one time I was kayaking down the Colorado riv-" Before Elijah could continue, something rang out. A shriek, shrill and piercing, and not entirely human. For a moment, Elijah thought it might be the boat, it's bolts and hinges and edges struggling to keep itself together, the damage that'd sunk it in the first place now claiming it fully.

Then it ebbed, became a sound that a person (or something else) could've made. "That's new." Elijah commented, looking around, trying to spie a source. "Can't say I've heard that on a ship before. Where do you think it's coming from?" Thumping. Not against the walls. More like the sound a frog made when it jumped into water. Just bigger, a steady rhythm that came closer; right out of the direction they'd come from. Elijah felt a shiver go up his back, not quite comfortable but not entirely uncomfortable either. He remembered Zaid, dragged down into the bowels of the ship. The voice in the storage room. Another ghost? Or something else?

"Do you believe it's friendly?"

Nodding affirmatively, Lokni replied, "born and raised. Lived on a Buena Vista rez with my family until I was 'bout fifteen, then we headed up to Oregon for work. There were... multiple reasons for leaving, but it was mostly for economical ones. Not much traveling done, unless we're talking horseback, I've spent hundreds of hours in the saddle." A subtle smile played on Lokni's lips at the tour suggestion. "Maybe, if we find a way off this godforsaken island. Gotta' survive until then." "It sounds like a big country, if I remember correctly, it's a lot of islands, right? Is the weather similar to this place so far?" Lokni hoped that he wasn't making a bunch of sweeping generalizations, but his scope of the world was shamefully small. He was doing his best to make connections to what he had even the slightest frame of reference for. Despite this, Elijah's warm demeanor and gaze made Lokni feel more open to speaking. Traveling for work was a concept that Lokni had a difficult time wrapping his head around. How could someone make money by doing that? Wasn't traveling expensive? Even his smaller treks up north into Canada had burned a hole in his already worn pocket. "Does the world feel smaller now that you've been to so many places? Or bigger? Ever get homesick?" Lokni had the opposite problem most of the time; cabin fever. Every so often, snowstorms would blow in during the midst of winter, effectively confining those in the area to their homes until things thawed out. Those days had been the darkest for Lokni, staring at the same four walls, the ice filtering any light that did stream through the windows in a frozen tint of blue. Elijah's mention of stories caused Lokni's eyebrows to rise in curiosity. "Do you have a favorite story to share?" He asked as he shouldered open a cabin door, eager to see if there was anything salvageable inside.

[elijahbell]

"Most definitely the polar lights. I saw them before in Canada, but it's one of the sights you never really get used to, in the best way. They're stunning. If you'd wanted, I would've taken you up there for a vacation, and shown them to you." Any traveling they'd have done together would've been as fleeting as his stay in town. People were as permament as places for him, most of the time. She knew that, because he'd told her that he'd be leaving on his own at the start of it. It was only fair.

"A life is only boring and monotonous if you consider it to boring and monotonous yourself." Elijah listened to her, enjoying the moment of catch-up. He could imagine her, still working in the diner, sprawled out on her couch, living her hopefully content small-town life. It was good to know her life had gone on as usual after he'd left.

"A marathon?" Elijah's brows quirked up with curiosity at that. That was new. And on a run before she'd woken up here? It vaguely reminded him of a story he'd heard, where somebody had been swimming, before suddenly finding themselves on the ship. It was as if nobody remembered anything specific, as if they'd just been following their daily lives and then, suddenly, woken up on the island. Like a switch being flipped off, or on.

"I was drinking before. I was at a bar, chatting with a tourist group from Spain, actually. And I started feeling a bit queasy. One of the effects of old age I'm afraid, the body doesn't take the partying as well as it used to. I went outside, to get a bit of fresh sea air into my lungs and, poof-" Elijah balled his fingers into a fist and then spread them out. "I wake up on the ship, with a rather bad hangover."

And some time had to have passed for that to happen. Hangovers didn't just develop out of thin air. Elijah breathed out, just as the water started bubbling. "Ah. Looks like it's time for some tea." Elijah smiled. A good cuppa, and a chance to catch up? For now, that could make him content. Already the calming scent of chamomile tea rose as he filled up their mugs with steaming water. "I hope you don't have anything planned for today. Because I believe we really have some catching up to do. And that might take a while."

// END //

"Well, that's unfortunately, but hopefully it'll pass sooner rather than later. And I'm going to be honest, it gives me a lot of comfort, knowing she is here. Knowing that there is a doctor among all of us. Hopefully if anything is thrown at us, she can handle it." Of course, Akhila wouldn't be able to make miracles, but in Darcy's mind, she already filed the woman away as being able to help with practically anything.

"I ran into her back on the ship, we helped this woman who was stuck on a ledge on the side of the ship - fractured or broken her ankle, it was not something I thought I would do, if I'm being honest. Then again, none of us actually thought we'd be here."

Darcy tilted her head as she momentarily looked up at Elijah. "You'll live, I've demanded much harder things from you before," she couldn't help the words, the teasing in her tone. It came almost instinctively, just like the way the two of them moved in the kitchen - unfamiliar place, familiar dance between the two of them, even if their time together was brief.

Darcy felt comfortable around the island already, her belief that she knew what was happening made things so much easier and better for her than it was for probably most other people, still, having Elijah there, somebody she knew in the simulation, gave her a kind of comfort she didn't know she needed, and yet she welcomed it anyway.

And when he started telling her where he's been, she forgot about the tea, forgot about everything else for a few moments and just listened. Elijah talked so warmly, so casually about his life, it was a joy to listen to - and yet, even if it was all in the simulation, Darcy felt ting of 'wish it could have been me' that sometimes hit her in the past, too. Wish she could just pick up and go wherever she wanted to, whatever she got into her mind. "Your life still fascinates me and I would love to know every little detail, every sunrise and sunset. But I'll start with this - what was your favorite out of everything you saw after you left my town?" A small little town "hidden" in the middle of nowhere, sometimes Darcy wondered just how Elijah even ended up in her town, in her life, even if momentarily.

She pushed herself up onto the counter while the water was boiling. "My life before all of this has been a lot more boring, a lot more monotonous, than what you got." Hospital. Beeping. Her eyes. "Things have pretty much just been going on the same as you've seen during the time you've been there."

Lies, her brain screamed as her eyes flashed before her, but she didn't want to talk about the last bit she remembered, not with Elijah, for several reasons - she didn't even want to think about it, it didn't matter cause it wasn't real, and if she told him, if she told somebody who actually knew him, it would feel more real and that was the last thing she wanted. She just wanted to stop feeling the pain.

"But I did sign up for a marathon not too long before we woke up here," she added. "I was on a run, actually, as far as I can remember last. And then surprise, cruise ship time. You know, sometimes I wondered what these cruises must be like - not that I ever thought I'd get to be one. Definitely not how I imagined," she chuckled slightly. "Just out of curiosity, do you actually drink in your last memory before waking up? Or were you doing something else before it all went to black?"

[elijahbell]

"Well, good question." Elijah furrowed his brows as he thought about it. "Intuition, perhaps. I already thought about leaving it behind somewhere, which gave me a rather strange feeling. A sense that I shouldn't. And I'm most definitely not a queasy person, but the thought of breaking it, well, it made me feel like my lunch wasn't as securely in my stomach as I thought it was."

This man, Tej as he introduced himself, certainly didn't mind the topic change. So he hadn't been there. It'd felt like almost everyone on the island had witnessed what'd happened to her, that it was easy to forget that some hadn't. Even though everybody had heard the news by this point.

"You really tried breaking it?" Elijah's brows shot up with interest at that. He obviously hadn't tried it himself, like some sixth sense had kept him from it. Were people affected differently? They all looked different, like Tej had noted. Elijah had been able to take his off for a while without feeling too much discomfort, while others couldn't bear it and kept it on all the same.

"You felt pain? That's fascinating." Elijah was intrigued by this point. "It's like there's a connection between the bracelet and the person who wears them. It would also eplain why I felt discomfort at the thought of leaving it behind. Or why you won't be able to take your bracelet off for too long. I have to say, I'm impressed you tried it. And that it didn't break it. I didn't think gemstones were that sturdy. But then again, none of this is natural, is it?"

Elijah shook himself off - half of what he'd said had been in thought to himself. It did give him some new perspective on the rather pretty man standing in front of him, though. Daring, most definitely. "You're not the type to easily scare, are you? And I realize that sounded stranger than intended." Elijah chuckled. "I just mean you seem quite at ease. Most people are still struggling to settle down, but you almost seem like you belong here. Or perhaps I'm entirely wrong, and you're an incredible actor."

Without the knowledge of what Elijah thought, the choice of words did make Tej feel as though this stranger had been dispatched on his behalf. Perched high on their steed, in all his handsome and stately glory. Wrists crossed and rested on the horn of a saddle to deliver... well, sadly, to deliver absolutely nothing. Tej frowned with dark brows cinched tight together. "Hm, would've thought by now we'd know something more."

The smallest of breadcrumbs left behind. A peeling piece of wallpaper to tug back and see what was beneath. Anything, yet they had nothing.

The message-less messenger held up their wrist to show the crystal. The stone blended almost seamlessly with the white bracelet, so Tej stepped in closer to examine. Only then did he see a flip and flash of blue. "I haven't seen one like this," Tej murmured before stepping back to show his own. "They're all different, yeah. Haven't heard of two being the same." A pause as eyes finally broke from the gem. "What makes you think that, about damaging it?"

Tej didn't flinch at the gruesome topic change. The she evident as the eerie rubbery rings around their wrists. "I wasn't there when it happened. Good question though. Someone's gotta remember."

The other man bounced back quick enough. Elijah. "Nah, not doing a poll of every passing stranger. And I'm Tej." A nod, a lopsided grin, and then he carried on. "Mhm, I tried." Perhaps due to his nature. Disassembling, deconstructing. By hammer, crowbar, dropping from a second floor window. Using sheer brute strength of a stomp or his bare hands. All in order to create something new.

The bracelet though. "I tried to smash it with some weights I found in the ship's gym." A hand rose up to collar his own neck before it slipped down over his sternum. "Felt really weird." Really fucking weird. "Sounds mental but, it was like I felt a pain too." A strange sensation Tej wasn't keen to say out loud. "It didn't do a thing to the bracelet. Not even a scuff." A beat. "It did break off pieces of the weight." And smashed the hell out of a finger.

[elijahbell]

Elijah smiled warmly when that door opened up just enough, and familiar face appeared in the gap. With how overgrown the house was, Elijah had almost expected not to be let in at all. Judging by the thick vines wrapping it up almost like a cocoon, it looked as if something (or rather everything) was being kept out. Which was precisely the reason he'd shown up on their doorstep with his cans of soup and the offer to cook something together.

"No need to apologize at all. I'm a mere intruder into your home, who am I to judge how you decorate?" Elijah responded in an amused tone as his eyes trailed around the inside. The plants hadn't just spread on the outside walls of their domicile, though it looked more contained on the inside. Ivy covered the windows, vines snaked up the inside of the door as if ready to slam it shut. Faint trails of ash on the floor. Elijah resisted the urge to run his fingers along them, to see how they'd react.

"I'm a southener, good food's in our blood. I didn't always have a kitchen when I was traveling but when I did, I took full advantage of that. And it just so happens that these bungalows did come with kitchens. And a warehouse full of ingredients." The layout was the same, and Elijah spread out what he'd brought out on the kitchen counter. Ready-made soup, vegetables and whatever spices he could find. Arranging them neatly, he turned back around.

"So, you've chosen a home. And I assume this new interior decoration is also of your making." He held up his own wrist, for now the bracelet on it. His own stone was sending rainbow flecks of light across the walls. "It seems I'm not the only one who has gained something, after what happened at the feast."

The overgrowth consumed the outside walls of the bungalow. Vines and their swinging arterial-loops sprouted thick, green leaves, papyrus to the touch. A burst of floral scents, amalgamating from the sweetness of random honeysuckle to the odd undertones of hummingbird bush ( and, perhaps they would realise later, all of these plants, which protected the bungalow, were ones Hye-Jin had seen, at various points, during their own travels ) emitted through the area. The rapping on the front door brought about an unexpected reaction. The ivy dangling against the windows, shrivelling tighter, as though attempting to shrink the building out of view. Hide it entirely. Three strands, entwined as threads do, snaked across the door and its handle. Some kind of botanical lock-out, really. Within the bungalow, Hye-Jin themself sat upon the edge of the mattress. Bedsheets taken from the stores in the warehouse, canary yellow, reminding them of Adarsh's shoe offering. Now, this was an offer: but from the other side, from a familiar and warm-toned voice.

"... Elijah?" They cleared their throat. Jungle kudzu dripped across the internal white ceiling, staining it green. She brushed the tendrils away from her cheeks, frowning as if reprimanding children, and as she calmed, releasing hands from her ankles, and her ankles, attached to sore legs, brought feet down to the floor, the kudzu receded. Like a lush curtain parting as she strode towards the door. Pink-flowered strand of a plant acted as one of those chains in apartment buildings. When she opened the door to peer out, the vine stretched as the chain would, providing only a sliver of viewpoint.

Gaze dropped to the soup cans in question. "I remember." That was before. That was before this weight on my wrist reminded me of being dragged under. "I do want to apologise about the. Ah, the mess." Is that what they were opting to call it? "If you'd like to come in."

They 'unhook' the flower chain themself. It turned to ash the moment they touch it, and they glance away entirely from it, pulling the door open for Elijah to enter. They have outfitted the bungalow rather modestly, despite the clear expense of the silken overdress ( which they had worn their first jaunt along the shoreline, hat upon the same hook ) painting money in a place where there was none. "I'm intrigued. I knew you enjoyed food, but not that you enjoyed making it entirely your own."

[elijahbell]

"Coffee and a walk? You spoil me." Elijah sighed, feeling more at peace as he breathed in that fresh (as fresh as instant coffee could be) smell. He'd been glad when Darcy had invited him over to come on a walk. Not that he hadn't done a lot of walking on his own already, but there was a difference between his island explorations, and a stroll together. As high-strung and as curious as he was, sometimes he simply enjoyed some time with pleasant company without the exploring some cave or following a haunting.

Though at the moment, the hauntings seemed to follow him.

"You know me, Darcy. I thrive wherever I am." Elijah chuckled softly. "I've been settling in well. With my own bungalow and all. Perhaps a tad bit sleep deprived, as it is. I believed it helped that I'd been traveling for a while before this, and that this island has plenty of opportunity to satisfy the explorers wanderlust." He blew on his coffee, watching the steam rise and dissipate into the air. It wouldn't stay like that. It never stayed like that, if he was in one place for too long. At some point, there'd be that itch, at the base of his skull below the skin. The dull grays he hadn't noticed before seeping in. But he still had time.

"I have actually. It's strange, isn't it? With how we got here, you'd expect that everybody would be a stranger. As if it wasn't a coincidence. I know Hye-jin, if you've met them. I'm sure you've seen their bungalow at least. The one with the rather impressive assortment of quickly growing plants. And you, of course. A sizeable number." Elijah turned his gaze to her, warm. "You know I do enjoy talking about other people as much as I like talking about myself right? How have you been holding up? Is there anybody you know? Or perhaps..." There was an amused glimmer flickering in Elijah's dark eyes. "... somebody interesting you've met?"

Everybody had started making connections on the island. As if the storm had started to settle, leaving only some winds in it's wake. Even an island meeting! They were a true and proper group of survivors now, weren't they? Making amends and structures. As if they were all settling in for the long life.

Darcy's question pulled Elijah out of his thoughts, making his eyebrows quirk up. "Now that's an interesting question. And an oddly specific one." Elijah huffed out a breath, then took a sip from his coffee. It was barely cool enough to drink, and he could feel it almost scalding his tongue as his eyes trailed their surroundings, as if looking for something. There was a hunch, or the beginning of one. A little spark. "Did you develop a taste for the strange and mysterious? Or is there any other particular reason you're asking me for strange stories?"

status: closed with @elijahbell where: nice lil walk on the beach

"We could only do tea the last time, so I figured you'd enjoy this," Darcy said with a smile as she handed over a mug of coffee to Elijah, her own in her other hand. Actual mugs, since they didn't have to go cups, but they could both handle walking with a mug in hand. They agreed to meet up, and she figured she'd surprise him for they walk. (Not that he couldn't have gotten himself coffee, but still.)

"How are you doing? Have you settled in yet? Found a bungalow and everything?" She wondered just what this would be like for Elijah? Somebody who was a free spirit, who fed off of going to new places, meeting new people, never sitting still for too long in one place, now being forced to do the exact opposite of how he lived his life, how he loved it. Even if it was in the simulation, it would be something he held onto, Darcy was sure. It wasn't the result of the simulation, it was due to who he was as a person. But it would certainly make things harder to make it here.

She took a sip of her own mug and then asked cause she was curious and had to know, "Have you met anyone else here whom you've known before we all woke up here?" And then after glancing over at him as they walked, another question, "Has anything weird or strange been happening to you too, since we arrived?"

[elijahbell]

"What does a lady think about it?" Elijah asked amused in turn as he watched her, all focused and methodical, while she glued his skin back together. He wondered if that is what her other patients had seen in the hospital. Well, probably not, since she was a surgeon and anybody would have been way down under if she'd been stitching them back up. He still liked watching her work, though. "The beds in the bungalows are actually quite comfortable. I've slept in harder and worse places. I can recommend a night in them, if you feel like it. It's not like you'll have to chose one permanently. You could see it as staying in a hotel, if you're not intent on making one your home."

He still remembered what she's said in their last conversation. Admittedly, it would be a hard story to forget, about her divorce. Sometimes lives together didn't work out, and some people used the opportunity to go out into the world. Others just missed a home they wouldn't be able to return to, physically and psychologically. He wondered which side she was on.

"Glad to hear I'm not alone in my insomniac ways. I can't say I wish you're sleeping badly, but knowing I'm not the only one awake at three a.m. does have something comforting about it. Sometimes, when I couldn't sleep and I could, I would head out of wherever I was staying. One of the reasons I liked being in the cities. There was always something going on. Here- not so much." That didn't quite answer the question underlying her words, though. Why he was awake. This time, the reason was quite different than his thoughts buzzing around in his brain.

Well, he was never one to hold his tongue. Not anymore, anyway. "I've been seeing ghosts." He offered a smile, half-apologetic because it really sounded ludicrous. But then again, this entire place sounded like something out of a novel he'd read on a long train-ride. "Not metaphorically. Literally. They keep appearing at times I don't expect them to. Then again, I suppose there is never a time where you'd expect a specter to appear. And unfortunately, they're not the quiet kind either. It's been rather hard to ignore when one of them appears at the foot of my bed, flickering and talking. It's an eerie sight. So, it's been unfortunately keeping me from my well-deserved sleep."

“I take pride in my work.” Akhila told him, as if that was any better explanation as to why she was sleeping in this sterile environment. It didn’t have any of the run-down charm of her local hospital. Nor was it plush comfort of the private one she managed. It hadn’t felt like an oddity sleeping here. It was a temporary arrangement after all. Why find a bungalow to sleep in, when the sofa was just fine here? Akhila huffed a laugh. “Well…you weren’t barking up entirely the wrong tree. I don’t tend to use it all that much, but there is such a thing as surgical glue.” She dabbed, being as gentle as she could muster to clean the blood away. It really wasn’t as deep as she’d feared.

Akhila ran her tongue over her lips, Elijah seemed quick to a witty response. He was being rather distracting. She did have good news for him, stitches were not a necessity, she was confident enough to use steri-strips. Perhaps a touch of surgical, not super, glue. She canted her head down to him, pausing her task of ripping open a fresh pack of steri-strips. Bad craftsmanship. Akhila didn’t question it. She knew nought about the construction of crockery. It seemed accident enough.

She ever so gently began the process of holding his hand still, and suturing with the non-invasive strips. “Between wanting to hold my hand, and telling me about the beds down south what’s a lady to think.” Akhila teased, though her mirth didn’t change much in the way of her focus. It was a slow ordeal, half a strip down, pinching the skin gently, and applying the other half. “I sleep better after a martini and I’ve not found the bar yet.” Akhila revelled in the repartee. 

All she needed to do now, was repeat the steri-strip application until the entire wound was covered with around a few millimetres in-between each. “Have you not found somewhere comfortable to rest? I can assure you a night on a sofa here would have you daydreaming of a plush bed. I can’t imagine the beds in the ward are anymore comfortable.” Not that she had any desire to sleep there either. She wouldn’t recommend it to Elijah either. 

[elijahbell]

what's wrong with you?

:))))

it's fine. everything is fine. everything is exactly where it's supposed to be, and you're doing exactly what's expected on you. everything is perfect. so. please, tell me. i'm curious. what is wrong with you ?

[elijahbell]

"I met him. He was the one I eventually left the ship with. Though I did not expect him to be the type to desecrate a corpse. If it counts as a corpse. Or desecration." With some difficulty, that had, admittedly, provided some theory fodder about what had just happened in the time between their regular life and waking up in this new one. Perhaps there'd been a near death experience for all of them. Or maybe they'd died and this was some form of afterlife. Hadn't there been a passage in the bible about Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt for seeing something she shouldn't have?

"Oh, I wear it. From time to time. I was just never one for jewelry, and the stone is not very complimentary to my eyes, I'm afraid." Elijah joked, though his eyes, fixed on the intricate green swirls betrayed interest. For Elijah, it had just been that one time it'd felt strange - before Maria had died, when it'd started burning. Not like fire, but like a pocketwarmer that'd been pressed to the same spot for too long. A strange feeling that'd spread through his bloodstream, and had almost made him pull it right back off, if it hadn't stopped in that moment. And he hadn't felt it again since. It seemed to be different for Zaid.

The tone in the other man's voice made Elijah perk up from his thoughts, eyes fixing back up on the other man's face. "We can be mungs together then. I ate the food too, the fae would have been delighted. And my bungalow is back there. Perhaps, you could visit. Though, it isn't much, I haven't decorated."

Elijah's interested gaze now rested on Zaid, taking the other man in. There was meaning behind those words, beside the sense of frustration at having fallen into line for whatever this island was. "We'll have to live here, for the time being. Whether we like it or not." Elijah pushed his hands in his pockets, shrugging easily, same breezy smile playing on his lips. "There is nothing wrong with taking what is offered, especially when you need it. And looking at us right now, we do need it. Come on-"

Elijah inclined his head with a smile. "Let's find you a place. Did anything catch your fancy yet? Any preference for neighbors? I believe I'm still missing one to my right."

"No - only once for the jinn," Zaid said, holding up his index finger, then his second finger. "Twice for the ocean whirlpool. If I'd encountered two bloody jinn...right, well there's got to be an explanation for all of it, isn't there." Perhaps, but so far no explanations made sense, not for any of it. Starting from how they got on the Odyessy in the first place.

But it sounded better, if one sounded rational and calm. Zaid always took that route (at least, in front of relative strangers and acquaintances. And almost anyone who wasn't Tej). A slight grin, and a friendly once-over of Elijah. "Bruv, I'd reckon you're everyone's type. Modesty and all."

Zaid nodded, taking in Elijah's general assessment. "Gael - you know him? Muttering bloke, wears a messenger bag like an extra limb - he's collected some of Maria's erm, salt. Not sure if it was to bury it or experiment on it if I'm honest." And could Zaid blame Gael for either choice? Not at all; Zaid was curious too, but his affectated morality had won over. "I told him to bury it. Poor Maria."

Zaid eyed Elijah's naked wrists, before his hands slipped into his pocket. He motioned with a lax hand. "You took your bracelet off in the Odyssey," Zaid recalled when they'd met in front of Hermés. "You mean...you haven't put it back on since?" Zaid took his own off as well - but immediately it felt like he'd just slice his finger open, or like one eye turned blurry. It was a strange enough feeling that Zaid slapped the bracelet back on. The minor distress went away immediately.

"I dunno mate. It...it steadies me. I suppose I'm a proper mung for not minding it so much. But then I was likely a proper mung for eating the feast - and now here I am trying to pick out a bloody place of my own, of all things. Pretty conformist, innit."

Zaid's tone was rueful, but not entirely regretful.

[elijahbell]

Not adept. Assigned. Elijah hadn't known Parker for very long, but the way he talked seemed... precise, if anything. Specific words chosen exactly to convey a very certain meaning. Had somebody forced him to play the game and assign him a side, only for that side to continously lose? Either that was a case of really bad luck, or something else had been at play.

For now, though, Elijah's eyes were fixed on the coin, flipping up into the air as it spun around it's own axis. It could've only been a second at most that it spent in the air, suspended above them before it began it's sharp descent - and just a heartbeat later, a sharp whistling sound, a rush of air clipping his neck, and gone it was.

"Well." Elijah whistled, surprised and, obviously, intrigued. "Would you look at that." Digging with the heel of his boot among the dead leaves in the ground, to make sure, revealed no sliver of silver. Turning around, he initially couldn't find it back there either, but then he saw it - a small imprint in the tree bark, juuuust big enough to fit a coin in, and, right below there, resting on one of the gnarled tree rots, it rested.

"Heads." Elijah confirmed after he walked over. "Another confession, I did doubt it. But you might not indeed have a lot of luck in this game." A coincidence, maybe. Though it left him with questions. "So, you don't just attract metal, you can also repel it. And I assume you can't do it at will." But something had to cause that shift, right? ... Emotions, maybe? Had the sense that he'd loose anyway caused frustration? "Has it happened before? You attracting or repelling anything?"

Parker gave a mild, subtle shake of his head. "You weren't, and I'm no mind reader. It's understandable to think otherwise; you aren't the only person inconvenienced by this development." It'd happened a couple of times now, and fortunately everyone he interacted with seemed to believe him. He admitted that he had difficulty understanding the value or desire to steal sentimental things from other people on an island, and where money didn't seem to hold value.

He supposed he'd rather people think he was stealing things like jewelry and watches than things of objective value like food or supplies, though. ...Then again, he actually preferred if no one thought he was a thief to begin with. Elijah seemed good-natured though, and didn't let this minour hitch in their interaction keep a smile off his face for long. Parker was reminded of something he watched as a child, but the specificity of what his memory was referencing wasn't clear enough for him to dwell on it for long.

What he did think about, though, was Elijah's suggestion of 'human magnetism'. His first thought was to say that it couldn't be as he'd yet to attract any humans without something of theirs being attracted to him first... so perhaps, it wasn't entirely incorrect, for better or for worse. His second thought recalled an instance earlier that day where he had temporarily removed the gaudy white band from around his wrist to let his skin dry and cool off, only for it to cling to his upper arm, flattening itself as it hugged his bicep.

Whatever was happening didn't seem to only affect metal, which he'd never heard of before in his admittedly limited upraising.

The third and most impressionable one that stiffened him up instinctively when Elijah had procured a coin from his pocket, was that he had notoriously poor luck when it came to coin flips. Blue eyes, widened slightly with with almost childish concern, followed the silver item as it was sent spinning in the air. "If this is a game, I'm... not adept at it." He admitted, keeping his gaze on the coin. "I'm always assigned tails." Parker knew what coins looked like, of course, but he never understood how his father always seemed to get heads. Parker always lost.

"Maybe next time, kiddo. Get over here. Now."

[elijahbell]

"Lou or Lokni, no misters and sirs. Understood." Elijah bowed his head in agreement. The initial tension of their meeting had, by this point, dissipated, leaving Lokni looking much more relaxed with his unexpected company. Perhaps it was the sense of safety - after all, if they had to face off against something, they would be able to handle it together.

Then again, it hadn't exactly helped him and Zaid.

And then again, Zaid had been fine, and so had he. And if anyone was to worry, Elijah wouldn't be the one. Especially when there was good company to be had. "Ah, west coast born and raised?" Elijah asked, raising his eyebrows curiously. "And I guess you haven't had the chance to travel down deep south just yet? Savannah-" He continued, thoughtfully. He'd been there, once, a whole lot of years ago. "Savannah's beautiful. "The historical district is a sight. Forsyth park, especially. Not sure if it's the most beautiful, though." An amused smile tugged on his lips. "It depends on what you like. Perhaps, once we get off the island, I might be able to show you a bit of it. Or at least, give some recommendations, as is my duty of southern hospitality."

One thing was for sure, Lokni was curious. A continuous flow of questions, as if he needed to utilize their expeditions into the bowels of the ship to it's fullest. And not just the polite, trying-to-make-conversation-questions - there was a gleam in Lokni's eyes, something in that delighted smile of his, that Elijah very well recognized. "South of it. And that's a hard question to answer. It's a big country, after all." Elijah sucked his tongue against his teeth. He'd stopped feeling the cold seeping against his skin since then. "It's warm. The beaches are pictureesque, though rather full if you go into the tourist areas. Which I did, a mistake on my part. And I didn't get to see much of it. I would go back again, though, so that has to mean something."

The conversation turned back around, to the matter of Lokni himself. "A ranchhand?" Now, that was interesting. "Don't undersell yourself. A ranchhand likely already makes you more adept at survival than someone like me. Though, I do know some about it. You pick up on it in my line of work." Mirroring the words right back, Elijah grinned at his newly found partner in crime. "I travel. Across the US first, then across Europe, and Asia, and parts of Africa. Wherever I feel like going. It's freeing, really. And it gives me some good stories to tell."

And if his sense for a good, interesting story proved him right, there was something there with Lokni. "I think you understand the urge to leave where you used to live for something else. Or is there a different reason for why you moved from Cali up to Oregon?"

Elijah's grip was firm and warm, a striking contrast to the temperature of the brackish water. Upon a closer glance, Lokni could see that his eyes were welcoming and held notes of sincerity. "'Partners in crime,'" Lokni echoed, "I can drink to that." He replied, pretending to raise an invisible glass. Ironically enough, Lokni hadn't ever drunk alcohol before, but it was the sentiment that counted, right? "I'm plenty fine with no 'sirs' or 'misters,' if that's what you prefer. It's a force of habit, in my line of work." Lokni grinned, "if you call me 'mister,' it'll make me feel a little too close to the grave for my liking, but I'll answer to most things. Some call me 'Lou,' so I'll answer to that too." Georgia, Lokni mentally noted before clearing his throat, "I've never been to Georgia before, I was born in California, and up until all of this, lived in Oregon, so it's kinda' far- but I saw in a magazine once that Savannah, Georgia is one of the most beautiful places in The States." It was true, he had read it in one of those magazines that his mother had left on the coffee table in her little camper. He thought after all these years she would've gotten new ones, the issues of National Geographic kept piling up, and yet, there were some that never waxed nor waned. Heirlooms of a past time, unreachable, for the hands of the clock could not be pushed forward or spun back- a fact that Lokni felt keenly aware of in his own unremarkable life. As they treaded through the dark waters, Lokni couldn't help himself, curious for a glimpse of a world he didn't and probably wouldn't ever know, "you said you got here from Indonesia, right? What's Indonesia like? What side of the equator is that on again?" Lokni suddenly felt like he was a little kid in school again. All questions. Little understanding. Somethings never change, he guessed. The thought of far-off shores and different customs, people, and weather patterns really fascinated him. Lokni couldn't help himself, a boyish grin overtaking his features. In regards to his knife, Lokni smiled softly, "I'm not nearly as prepared as I would have liked to have been. If I had, I would've at least brought another bottle of Hog's Breath seasoning with me- that and my gun." Lokni sighed, "I wouldn't say it was chance or luck. I'm not really sure what it is, to be honest. I'm by no means a survivalist, just a ranchhand trying to get by, like many of us working class are in America. What about you? What did you do for a living before you woke up here?" Lokni inquired, gesturing broadly to the ship walls on either side of them.

[elijahbell]

What kind of cookie are you?

Shortbread

You got a good head on your shoulders, kid. You're a hard worker, in your own quiet way, and I know you can keep your mouth shut when it really matters. It'd be a waste if something got you. Keep your eyes peeled, shortbread cookie. You'll survive this.

[elijahbell]

[elijahbell]

"Who knows? Maybe I might. If I ever acquire any treasure I can share, and you keep talking to me." A treasure - that was a high ask. When you were traveling so much, you couldn't really afford to have much because, at the end, everything had to come with you, packed into a backpack, or be left behind. Elijah had never been bothered by that - he didn't mind putting the books he couldn't take with him into libraries or giving away clothes that didn't fit. There were very few things that accompanied him for longer than a couple of years.

Thoughtlessly, Elijah trailed his fingers along the smooth surface of his watch. No time for contemplation really, because Apollo seemed to take on the idea with eagerness. "Good thing there are no modeling agents to watch us right now. Perhaps they need a dip in the water themselves."

Now, this was more like it though. That smile certainly suited Apollo well, almost boy-ish in quality, as if they were two friends who'd snuck away on an adventure. He'd seen the same smile on one of his friends lips when they'd snuck down to the old railway tracks to flatten some pennies and play on the tracks, even though their parents said no.

"Sounds like a fair deal I can get behind. I'll stay clothed in solidarity." Elijah had already risen to his feet, shouldering off his light overcoat and kicking off his boots into the sand. Then- "Race you." Elijah grinned before making a dash for the ocean, ready to feel the water pressure to send him sprawling out the moment he got in to his knees.

He smirked at Elijah's mythological knowledge, a compliment coated inside- it wasn't the first time he had heard it, but it was almost relieving to see some things remained, no matter how other things changed. And no, his father definitely wasn't Zeus, even though he probably did consider himself an almighty leader of gods. "Greeks don't name children after Zeus," he said instead of unpacking all that, "but they do name a lot of dogs after him. No idea where that double standard comes from."

"You wouldn't share your treasure with me?" Apollo asked, the easy back and forth coming naturally to him. For a while, he chose to ignore the knowledge of what the man across from him was seeing, to what he could see with his own two (one?) eyes if he looked down at his reflection on the water. "And here I thought we were becoming friends." He didn't comment on his running away remark- it felt suffocating to think of how impossible that felt, even here in the open air.

His suggestion did strike a cord- he used to love swimming, spending whole careless summer weeks on his yacht, dropping his anchor in the middle of the Aegean, diving from the highest deck and then lying on the bow to dry with a glass of wine. But back then it was just simple enjoyment, taken for granted. Back then, the god of the sun could not get burned. "I had a really dramatic model agent back in the day," he reminisced of what felt like a hundred years ago, "who I think would shed actual tears if I said I would go swimming with my clothes on." He leaned down and dipped his fingers in the water, almost expecting them to sizzle. They didn't- even though lukewarm, it felt cool against his skin, in a rather comforting and grounding sense.

"You jump, I jump?" he asked, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

[elijahbell]

The Obsidian beach was best in the morning. When the sun hadn't warmed up the sand to the point that it was painful to walk on it, but you could just feel the warmth radiating pleasantly against your skin if you touched it. Between the still somewhat cool and damp morning air above, and the warm sand below, this place really inviting anyone to stay and relax.

Which was why Elijah had sprawled himself on the shore, near the forest edge in the shadows of the trees. He'd never been one for meditation. Or really, sitting still in general. The mere thought of staying unmoving for that long without doing anything other than 'empty your mind' made him restless. 'Empty your mind' - was that even possible? Just have nothing going on up there at all? His own thoughts always seemed to be racing, working on one problem or another, spinning around something he'd seen, a place he wanted to visit, a person he'd met.

Even now, lazily trailing his fingers through the sand, halfway dozing, he was thinking. The tower at the moment, mostly. It's smooth surface with no discernible way in, and the contradicting shadows occasionally sliding by at the top. There was something... unsettling about it. Unsettling in the way he liked it. He'd been so deep into thinking that he only noticed someone coming up to him when a shadow fell over him.

"Oh lunch? It's that late already? Jesus, I must have been nodding off. I came here in the morning." Elijah pushed himself into a sitting position, now able to take stock of who had approached him. A pretty young person, holding out, by their own words, a lunch box. "I'll take one. Any particular reason for that act of kindness, or am I just a lucky guy?"

CLOSED STARTER for @elijahbell location: THE OBSIDIAN BEACH timestamp: DAY 8 AFTER MARIEXPLOSION

Baskar set out to do what they did best: help as many people as possible, get to know as many people as possible, and be as useful as possible. But now there was an added happiness because for the first time in a long time: they didn’t think they’d be found out and then had to move again. They didn’t think their father was going to take them away. 

Sure, they had actual ghosts haunting them now, and they were jumpy and scared all the time when they heard the voices. But it was a small trade for being rid of their father. Because everyone around them had always said they were imagining their father, but they knew he was real, not a ghost, but real. They’d gladly trade that in for ghosts any time. 

They were carrying a bag filled with hand-made lunch-boxes, handing out lunch to people who might not be thinking about such a thing like food right now. Good thing that some of the jobs they’d held over the years were in the food industry. They were certain that everyone could appreciate a good home-made lunch filled with whatever they could find. No two lunch boxes were the same. 

“Hi, hey there, uhm, I’m just… walking around and uhm… giving people lunch, have you had lunch? Are you hungry?” he asked the first person he’d seen since trading the camp for the Obsidian beach. He scratched behind the construction headphones, the only way to keep the voices and the sounds out. His accent was rough, the Bristolian never having left him.

[elijahbell]

Elijah was, honestly, finding Alex' tendency to roll with the punches delightful. Whatever was thrown at him, he seemed to have an answer, and an unexpected one at that. As if it'd take quite a bit to throw him off the course he'd set for himself, or probably hadn't even set at all - after all, no way to stray off a road if you weren't following it to begin with.

"Mh. That's one way to look at it. And, if I'm listening to my gut feeling, it's the right one." That comment had changed the tone, the other man shifting from a bubbly cheeriness to a more thoughtful mood. As if Alex had been thinking on it before. Well, he probably had given his profession - both as a survivalist, and as an actor. After all, bad faith actors and unpleasant personell existed everywhere, didn't it?

There was the switch, back to a more light-hearted tone, though the previous conversation still lingered, a small drop of color in a pond enough to tint it just a little. "That is going to be the interesting part. Seeing who joins up with who, and who you're going to partner with. Well-" They'd reached the edge of the little forest now, giving a wide view of the field of bungalows, looking much less ruinous than Elijah had expected them. He turned to his companion. "I would enjoy cohabitating with you, at any point. I do bring some excellent qualities to the table. For example- I'm a talented talker."

Elijah smiled, though it was halfway to a grin. "If you feel like visiting my house at any point. The door is open. I might stop by yours. Until then."

// END //

"I think the third date is exactly the right time. Second base and freebase." Alex laughed lightly, and then sobered for a moment to clarify, "--not that I was big into freebasing. I tried it once at a GQ thing with Glen Powell and thank god he knew what he was doing because I sure didn't. Aaaanyway he had this watch that he'd gotten when he was working on The Expendables 3 that had a fake face and you could store coke inside it." Alex waggled his eyebrows, tapping the side of his nose. "Gotta have your candy for when you need it, I guess."

Elijah was back to actual useful thoughts, though, so Alex left behind thoughts of afterparties and attended to the new thought, the prospect of swapping bracelets around. "I feel like," Alex said, uncharacteristically sober for a moment, "gut feelings are something we should pay attention to in this place. We have them for a reason, after all, and this is exactly the sort of context we evolved them for, right? Being somewhere that our survival depends on what our instincts tell us."

He didn't want to dwell on that too long, though, so when the conversation with Elijah presented a distinct opportunity to switch back into more light-hearted stuff, Alex bobbed along with the surf. "Total strangers all getting to know each other and make connections," Alex said, with a slight toss of his head, a lift of his shoulder. "I'm looking forward to the part where we decide who we want to cohabitate with."