[Neil & Danny - Second island]

[plantfood]

The small pack on his back has water, food and sunscreen, enough of the first two to sustain him for a full week if necessary. It won't be, Mathias knows this, but even with all the work he's done on going into the jungle, he can't completely shake the fear that something terrible will happen. Something will keep him there, even if Neil and Danny get to leave and it's entirely irrational, but the extra food and water make him feel better. They calm the heavy pound of his heart.

Lucy knows where they're going and how long they'll be gone for, something else he's learned the hard way. In Mexico, no one had known where they were, but he's made sure that's covered here, and he's not worried about that. If they don't return by this evening, someone will come for them.

There's no reason to think they won't return. It's a simple trip to the second island. The restlessness that has been growing in Mathias for weeks has been almost overwhelming since Veronica's disappearance. Without her, he feels less grounded, scattered, like there's nothing to keep him from disappearing himself, though he knows that isn't true. He has Sam to look after, and it's because of her that he hasn't gone sooner.

Now, though, he's standing on the west beach with Danny and Neil, early morning sunlight turning the waves pink. There are two canoes in the sand, ready for them to push off and he doesn't feel good. There's not even the smallest part of him that feels close to good, but he doesn't feel terrible either. And that's something.

"Who wants to row on their own?" he asks with a small smile, gesturing at the two canoes.

Comments

[little_moons]

It's not that I don't know what I'm doin' here, but I can't help feelin' out of place. I can't help that small part of me that feels like it's done wrong. I've run out on Tom so many fuckin' times, a handful of hours here and there, nights with no word, I'm not sure I oughta be leavin' him with the girls yet again. But it's just a day trip, and I can't deny needin' a break. I can't deny that Veronica Mars is gone, one of the first people I met on this fuckin' rock, and it feels like maybe I oughta be here, with Mathias, while he gets his head back on straight.

"You two wanna cozy up in one, I don't wanna get between you," I smirk, shifting the weight of my backpack and squinting out over the ocean toward the other island.

[haolehothead]

Danny snorts at that, giving Mathias a bemused smirk. "Hey, he wants to do the work on his own, I'm not gonna risk the pulled muscle," he says, though he's in decent shape. Steve won't let him be lazy, which is just one more reason why Danny should have kicked harder when he got forcibly moved in.

He's got a Steve-packed backpack, so he's sure he'll find grenades and a copy of Sexy Eyes in there. God help him, it really probably does have a weapon and a sandwich with a note, too. "C'mon, let's get the physical activity part of this done with."

[plantfood]

Mathias smiles at Neil's comment, though it doesn't last long before it disappears. He appreciates them both having come out here with him, knowing he's taking them away from their lives, that he's taking Neil away from Tom and the twins. A part of him thinks he should have gone alone rather than disrupting their lives, but he doesn't know if he would be able to do that. So they're here with him, and he appreciates it. It makes it easier to forget that he shouldn't be leaving Sam just yet.

"That sounds fine," he says, starting toward the canoes and shifting his pack, sliding it off his back and into the bottom of the boat. "I can push you both off, if you want." He doesn't mind getting wet, he never has.

[little_moons]

I'm gonna regret this. It's a long fucking way out to that goddamn island and I'm no champion fuckin' rower, but... whatever.

Tossing my pack into one of the canoes and climbing aboard. "Wasn't there a boat with a goddamn motor we could've used?"

[haolehothead]

"It's hiking in the great natural outdoors." Sometimes, Danny's default setting is complaining and nature tends to bring that out of him. He's wearing dark denims and a white t-shirt, which is not exactly great hiking gear either, but it'll do. "Everything has to be that much harder," he says as he climbs into the front of one canoe.

[plantfood]

"If I'd had more time, I could have built one," Mathias answers, which is true, though not something he'd thought of. Now that Neil mentions it, he wishes he would have. A nice surprise for someone who'd wanted to use the canoe after they were done.

Pushing Neil's canoe off the sand and into the water first, Mathias then returns to the other and, making sure Danny is seated, pushes theirs into the ocean as well. His shoes get wet, but they'll dry, and he hops in before their too soaked. "But it would not have helped with the hiking."

[little_moons]

Laughing, I grab the oars, rowing out away from the shallows so I don't get pushed back onto the sand by the tide.

"If I end up rowin' around in fuckin' circles, you're gonna have to come rescue me," I say, grinning back at them over my shoulder while they push off into the water.

[haolehothead]

"Hey, I'll personally see you back to safety," Danny swears up and down, doing a whole goddamn hand to his heart thing as if that's ever really meant anything. "Last thing we need is to keep circling around the goddamn same place. I mean, at some point, the sharks are gonna catch wind that we're easy dumbfuck prey."

[plantfood]

Mathias laughs at that, genuinely laughs and for the first time he thinks maybe this might not be just about trying to deal with his grief. All his life, he's dealt with things on his own, pressed them down, kept them silent, and this doesn't have to be any different. If he allows himself, he can actually have a good time here.

As soon as he thinks it, he feels a little guilty, but he thinks he'll always feel guilty about feeling good.

Taking an oar and beginning to row out toward Neil, he says, "Let's go, then. I don't want to be shark bait."

[little_moons]

"Shit, man. I forgot the sharks. This was the best fuckin' idea ever," I laugh, putting some weight behind the next stroke and actually feeling a little proud when the boat moves ahead smoothly.

"Now I get why you brought this other guy along," I say to Mathias, grinning back at them both over my shoulder, "You needed somebody to save my fuckin' ass whenever I do somethin' stupid."

[haolehothead]

"I've got a batshit partner back home and here, I know how to deal with people making insane decisions with aplomb," Danny emphasizes with his hands before grasping at the oars again, really getting in a good workout with every pull. "Sad to say, when it involves sharks, even."

[plantfood]

Shaking his head, Mathias smiles down at his hands as they push and pull the oar. "As long as we're not flopping around in the water, I think we might be okay," As much as he enjoys swimming and as often as he's gone diving here, he's never actually encountered a shark and he doesn't think he wants to start any time soon.

"It isn't too far," he adds, pointing toward the second island. "We're nearly there."

[little_moons]

Laughing, I settle into the rhythm of it, the dull, almost pleasant burn in my muscles, the slosh of the water against the boat. It's calming, and he's right, it doesn't seem like too much distance at all.

"It's kinda weird I've never been here," I admit. After years of it just sitting out there in the ocean, and I've been fine with sticking to my island. If he hadn't asked me a long, there's a chance I might've never been out this far.

[haolehothead]

"Am I walking into some kind of Myst situation here?" Danny asks warily. "Is this a rite of passage that people take right before they get brutally murdered?" he demands before rowing just a little harder. "Mattie, if this is the case, we're no longer friends."

[plantfood]

At the nickname, Mathias just shakes his head, already resigned to it, knowing nothing he says or does will stop Danny from using it. The more he protests, he thinks, the more often he'll hear it. "I doubt it," he says in response. Like Neil, he's never been out here, so he doesn't know what they'll find, but he thinks if it were at all dangerous, they would have been told.

"I've never been out here either," he admits. "But if there's something left to explore, I'd like to do it." Even if it's already been explored by someone else.

[little_moons]

"Tom comes out here for ITF trainin' and shit. I figure he'd have put up more of a fuss if he thought I was gonna end up gettin' my ass killed," I point out, putting my back into it to keep up with 'em. It's not like they're speedin' along or anything, but the extra man really would've helped.

"I mean, unless he's tryin' to get rid of me for the fuckin' insurance money."

[haolehothead]

"Are you kidding me? This is where they come?" Danny asks with incredulity, considering that he's been sending Steve off for his little field-trips with ITF because Danny doesn't need to babysit them. And apparently it's a bunch of camping trips? Danny's gonna need to make sure they're really wearing Steve out.

--lest someone end up dangling off a roof.

"And how much insurance money you got on you?" Danny jokes. "I'm just asking, you know, in case I'm desperate."

[plantfood]

"I'm sure it is enough to buy you all the island mansions," Mathias deadpans as the bottom of the canoe starts to scrape along the sand. "Right, Neil? All the island mansions." Of which, of course, there are none, and he gives Danny a faint grin before standing and getting out of the canoe. His shoes are soaked again, but he grabs the front of Danny's canoe, pulling him into the sand, then does the same for Neil, until both canoes are resting on the beach.

"We'll need to pull them up further," he says, pointing toward the trees. "So they're still here when we need to return."

[little_moons]

"It's not the only place they go, but yeah," I tell Danny, coughing out a laugh and flashing Mathias a grin. "Oh yeah, Mathias here is rollin' in it. Richest asshole on the island."

Climbing out of the canoe, I head toward the front to drag mine inland. That'd be fun to fuckin' explain to the rescue team. Sorry we didn't come home, we lost our fuckin' boats.

[haolehothead]

"He's gotta be, what with the air-cooling business," Danny adds with a smirk, helping to get their canoe a little further up the sand, groaning and complaining the whole way -- like he didn't actually keep in shape, at least to play baseball. "One day, one of these days, I'm gonna make you figure out how to wire me television," he warns Mathias. "One day, Mattie."

[plantfood]

"I'm sure there will be many fascinating island programs to watch," Mathias answers, deadpan, although it isn't entirely possible. He knows Neil is at least partially in charge of the island radio and while people would need to film and broadcast the shows from the Compound, it might be possible with some work.

He points toward the wreckage of a boat and says, "What about there? We can start in that direction and work toward anything interesting we might see." He's been told the boat is the one from the film Jaws and that is something he'd like to see for himself.

[little_moons]

"Hey, we've already got a TV wired at our place. It'll only play videos and games, but we're already halfway there."

The fact that the TV belonged to Mike still stings, a little. I won't think about it for days, then it'll just hit me. Like his empty side of the bed, or his trunk, or the clothes left behind in the hut.

"Whatever, man. You're the boss," I say to Mathias when he points off down the beach.

[haolehothead]

Danny glances Neil's way with a look that says he's hurting for it and he makes a small sound that corroborates that fact. "Fuck, why aren't we better friends? I miss sports, don't care what year they're played, I miss a good game on television with food on the grill and a drink in hand."

[plantfood]

"Apparently you need to start having football parties," Mathias says to Neil, slinging his pack onto his shoulders and kicking as much water off his shoes as he can. Again, they'll dry in the sun, he isn't concerned with the fact that they're wet. And they aren't particularly far from civilization. If he ends up with a blister, he'll survive.

Setting off across the sand, he takes in the island around him, wondering where it came from. "No one knew this was here, right? At first. It wasn't common knowledge."

[little_moons]

"Yeah, I'd been here... I dunno, a few years 'fore they found it," I say, following along behind.

"I guess everybody assumes it's always been here, but as far as I know, it just... appeared, same as the rec center or whatever."