nexus_crossings | Roller Coaster Ride

Roller Coaster Ride

In the past, he needed naught more than a towel, an umbrella, and a cooler with some water and food to have a passable day at the seaside. Now he needed enough for a small picnic. and the means to carry it all. A wagon with a hood sat neatly in the sand with a cooler seated in its shade. It flanked a a great blanket with a checkerboard pattern domed by an equally monochrome umbrella. Three chairs kept the blanket from running off with some wayward wind.

Out along the shore was a somewhat gaunt individual with two white scarves wrapped around his head. One covered the majority of his scalp not unlike a small turban, and the second pulled across the top half of his face as a mask. His dark shirt and swimming trunks contrasted with the paleness of his skin, making him seem possibly a touch paler than he actually is. He walked through the shallows, tugging a bodyboard by a wrist strap. Upon this board were two companions: The meowstic Francour and the calico catwing Yaga. While Francour was excited and chirping as Mantis pulled the board around, Yaga merely yawned and occasionally darted a paw at the water as if to test it.

"See? It's only salt water." Mantis tugged at the cloth mask going over his eyes. It had been a long while since he had been to sea of any land, and everyone needed some time off.

A worried chirp made him pause, and he picked Francour up. The pokemon cling to his shirt and made several more concerned remarks in his own language. The chirping grew louder as Mantis sat in the water closest to the shore, letting Francour get his feet wet. Yaga meowed as the bodyboard touched the sand and hopped off entirely o retreat back to their shaded sanctuary.

"I know it's a lot of water, but you don't need to be afraid. Why does this scare you so much when you like baths?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dean hadn't got a number before he noped out of their last conversation, and in all honesty he'd been avoiding the guy at least a little bit. But he knew that he should at least find and apologise to the guy for leaving him to pick up the bill. But, again, he'd been avoiding that too. He'd also been busy with the everything that had been his life recently. Since Taylor's whole wish thing, he'd made it a point to check the beach a couple of times a day, usually while running errands, until things had calmed a bit. It also helped soothe him a bit more than he cared to admit, taking the time out of the apartment just to walk along the beach for a bit or to run errands.... generally taking time out.

It just so happened to be today's beach check/walk time, when he spots the two weird cat things and Mantis. He has half a mind to just turn around and walk away, but... he needs to trust that lessons were learned from last time. At least the question gives him somewhat of an easy in. "Why do kids hate baths when they like swimming? Same shoe, other foot, right?"

Mantis can sense Dean's presence, but knows to mind his manners and stay out of the man's head after last time. The comment gives him pause and Dean will be able to see the purse of his lips, the furrow of his brow, and then the solemn nod he gives to the meowstic.

"How about shell and rock hunting, then?" Francour trills even louder and wiggles to get off his lap and run to the wagon. "If you can believe it, he was more needy when I first got him. And smaller."

The bodyboard coasts to a rest next to Mantis, gently tapping against him with the tide.

He's watching the Meowstic with a little confusion, but he's putting the weird thing down to one of those other world things and not questioning it. There's a lot of not questioning it these days that's been happening, and it's almost equally as freeing as it is edge-setting. "Really? How long have you had him?"

This is totally not him stalling.

Mantis finally gets up from the water, lifting the board with his powers so he can carry it. He turns to the wagon and watches Francour digging around and tip out a plastic bucket. The prize is readily pulled along back to the wet sand to start up on the hunt.

"It's been...almost a year now? He's smart, in his own way, and he's a psychic like me." Mantis gestures to his blanket set-up. "You can sit there if the heat gets too much. We're going to be here all day."

"That's a fair-ass time." He stares at the cat-creature, trying to decide whether that's both a fact he's surprised about and whether he likes or not. The answer is yes for one, no for the other and Dean's not 100% sure which way around that goes. So he just gives a one-armed shrug with a small lip-quirk. "Suppose it's kinda like a pet with benefits, yeah? Maybe I should look into something for Zack... probably a bit more mundane, though."

Definitely not anything psychic. There's a bit too much in that household with just him, let alone Zack as well, for anything psychic probably.

He nods, staying where he is for now but grateful for the offer. "Enjoying the sun at the minute, to be honest. Thanks for the offer, I know we didn't exactly get off on the best foot." The tone is somewhat apologetic, as much as it was kind of your fault as well.

"I spent more time than that in the Soviet Union and even more time than that watching the living world go by. A year is a long time, but so is a decade."

Francour runs up to the two men with his pail and looks between Mantis and Dean excitedly. He holds up the bucket to show Dean and trills again. Then he does a little spin and goes off on the wet sand to start his hunt.

"I spent almost my whole life a stranger and an outcast wherever I ended up. The only reason I'm holding this bodyboard is because someone showed me kindness when I fled the Union. I was in Hawaii for a while chasing down some serial killer. Someone from one of the affected families taught me how not to drown out there." Mantis shrugs. "I keep telling myself I need to relearn kindness."

Dean's contemplating the truth of that as Francour comes to show him the pail. Despite himself, he's looking in it, chuckling at the little spin. Weird but cute, although he shakes his head a little. "A decade, huh? Yeah, that's a while." To be fair, when you're not sure whether you're gonna survive the next job, or wondering how long it's gonna be when you already know the ending, weeks and months can feel like both forever and no time at all. Perspective? Time is relative bullshit? All of the above?

That kind of hits home a little closer than Mantis probably intended, between the stranger and outcast, someone teaching you how to stay afloat, and relearning kindness - although it wasn't so much kindness on his side, but close enough to resonate with him. To the point he's almost a little suspicious that he may have seen more than Dean thought but he forces himself away from that line of thinking, although approaching with some caution he's careful not to let show too much. "'Salways a good start, I think. It's harder than it sounds though, right?"

Francour has already been warned against using his own telepathy to say hello, but that doesn't mean he lacks in a way to communicate that he's a pokemon on a mission. He splashes in the shallowest waters that make it to shore and chases after tumbling rocks and shells. "It helps when you have company on the other side. I have two...very special people there. Time loses it's meaning, but you're not bored."

Mantis walks a little further along into the water than Francour does. He turns back and smirks briefly. "Much harder. I have a lot of smoke damage from my nose to my lungs, so I always had to take it slow from about eight or so. You'd be amazed how much your perspective on food changes when you lose part of your ability to taste and smell. My food is legend with a man here named Ben Solo."

Dean's kicked his boots off by the blanket, wanting to feel the sand in his toes and the waves (and totally not looking for shells as he stands in the shallows or digging the one he notices out with a toe almost distractedly, in a way that suggests his brain hasn't even really clicked as to what he's doing, for Francour. Totally not.) around his feet as he continues the conversation. As long as the conversation is being distracted from himself, he's a happy duck. The statement isn't hard to work out too much, having been on the other side several times, drawing Dean's full attention. "...Oh. I'm sorry." Because, really, what can you say to that? And then there's a pause, and he frowns a little bit. "Wait. Does that mean you can turn up even after death here?"

He means, he's met Steve but hadn't asked too many questions about the in and out seeing as he'd already stuck his foot in it deep enough and it had been made to sound like it was a post-getting here thing... but he'd also made assumptions. Hmm.

"Ben's awesome. Kinda reminds me of my brother, a bit. Good guy, really, if a bit unsure of himself by what I've seen - made sure I wasn't gonna get my ass handed to me or accidentally kick off interstellar war on my first few days here, at least." Dean shrugs a little. Smoke damage sucks, they'd been lucky not one of the family had ended up worse. "Lotta things can change your perspective on food to be fair. Though, not gonna lie I'm kinda curious. If you're missing part of your ability to taste, how'd you still make it taste good?"

On the nose? Maybe. But he's curious and it doesn't seem like something that Mantis'd mind being delicate about as he brought it up. But then, Dean can sometimes miss the mark a bit on these social cues, and this is why he leaves talking to people to Sam.

The waves are rolling over Mantis’s ankles now. He’s staring out at the horizon and inhaling deeply through his nose. There was an adjustment period to being flesh and blood again, but the rewards spoke for themselves. His gaze followed as a particularly large wave crashed along the shore, tumbling further up than the previous ones. “I did. So did a couple of others I’ve met here.” He kneels down and dips his hand in the water as it recedes again. “Good… There’s a breeze coming. You might want to get closer to the blanket if you don’t want your pants to get wet.”

Mantis turns to Francour and clicks his tongue. “Keep Dean safe. He’s like Ben, so he needs looking after.” A much more sincere smile comes across his face when his orders are met with a tiny salute. “Ben eats all my damn food. There’s a black hole in both our stomachs, but he can fill his more easily. I get to try spice and flavor combinations I usually don’t with him since he doesn’t care what he eats as long as it exists. Spice racks can make up for any lack of smell and taste.”

He gives his own little salute to Dean. “Keep an eye on Francour for me? I’m going to try and catch some waves.”

Francour, in the meanwhile, catches up to that stone that Dean found. He holds it up to the sun and trills merrily before putting it in the pail. Then he runs up to the man and tugs on his leg. Again, new friend! Your toes are his new tool for uncovering the mysteries of the deep.

"...Huh." After a moment, Dean just nods - both in response to the statement about his pants and the statement about people coming in after death. It both sucks but also gives a little hope that maybe some wrongs can be righted. Or, at least, apologised for. Of course, them coming in before death at all, kinda like Balthazar, would be preferable obviously. Dean chuckles.
"Blanket it is. And if it makes you feel any better, I'm living with someone who literally doesn't have a stomach to fill. Damn food bill has gone up at least four times the usual amount."

Dean curves an eyebrow at Francour being told he needs looking after, but then it clicks what's going on as he's about to reply and he nods at Mantis when the request is made. "Sure. I'll keep an eye on him for you." He's already looking down at the little thing as it tugs on his leg, even as he answers, before realising what he'd done. He gives a small chuckle, as he shakes his head at him. He's definitely amused. "Really? I ain't doing all the hard work for you. Your turn to look."

Yeah, just go do your thing. He's clearly got this.

Mantis offers a final wave as he glides along the water and out past the shallows. After a moment, he is lost among the waves and riding along easily, even as the waves pick up in size. It's a calm life out in the water. You just float along and enjoy the ride.

On the sand, Francour makes a slightly disappointed noise and then looks about him. He circles around Dean and eventually spies a lumpy shape in the shifting grains as the water recedes again. His pail is set down carefully as he picks up a larger rock that is mostly grey-ish brown, but with a distinct streak of white from a different deposit. A careful dip in the water rinses it off and he puts it in the pail.

Francour looks up at Dean and smiles. He can find rocks, too! He reaches up with one little paw to try and lead Dean along with the rock hunt.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Roller Coaster Ride

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject