(no subject)

[plantfood]

It's only Hal with him on the beach today; the other dogs tend to stick close to Sam and Sam is with Lucy, but Hal, somehow, she's become his dog. He never knew her previous owner, knows only that he and River were close, and that, at least, makes him think that, whoever he was, he must have been a good guy. But he doesn't know what he was like, doesn't know what it is about him that makes Hal want to stay by his side most of the time, but he finds he doesn't mind. Before the island he was certainly not a dog person, preferring the company of his small cat, but things change.

The island changes things.

It's early evening, the sun is still at least a half hour from dipping behind the trees and Mathias doesn't want to move from this spot. He's gone for a dive, his scuba equipment is sitting on the sand beside him and he's still dripping, but he makes no move to reach for his towel. Sometimes, he knows, awful things happen to the people here. They lose their loved ones and people die, the island isn't a safe haven from that, but at this moment, he's happy to be here. He's happy to be alive.

There are plants in the hut he shares with Lucy and Sam, only two, one in the main room and one in his bedroom, but they're there. Even a few months ago he might have had trouble sleeping with them there, but no longer. Back home, he's dead. Acceptance of that has been a long time coming, but he thinks it's finally here. He's dead. Henrich is dead. Stacy is dead.

But not now and not here.

Smiling faintly, he reaches over and strokes Hal's fur, then lifts his hand to wave to the figure coming down the beach toward him.

Comments

[justsookie]

"I think I'm just sure of the fact that I've got standards," Sookie counters in turn, although she reaches out with her hand to squeeze his shoulder, a friendly gesture. It's a big surprising that they're able to fall into something like this easily, a friendship that still gives Sookie moments of hesitation, wondering if it'd be at all possible to find more with Mathias. A part of her thinks so, in another world, in another time, but she's not about to stray from the strong efforts she and Mitchell have made to help their relationship work.

Still, it's impossible for her not to think the best of Mathias in that same fell swoop. And impossible not to be of the opinion that the other women on the island whose gazes have passed him by truly don't know what they're missing out on.

"You're a catch. That's all," she shrugs. "But I'll stop waxing poetic about it, since I'm sure that'll just lead to an endless back and forth that neither of us can ever see to its end."

[plantfood]

At that, he laughs, because it's likely true. No matter what Sookie says, no matter what anyone says, really, he isn't necessarily going to believe that he's anything special. Veronica made him believe that once, she did, but now that's gone and he isn't sure that sort of thing happens very often.

He isn't sure he's ever going to find something like that again.

"I'm something," he agrees, but he's smiling as he says it, then he peers into the box as they approach. On top, there's nothing but bright orange material, most of it some kind of netting, it looks like.

[justsookie]

"I can't tell whether or not I want you realize the full extent of how remarkable you are, or if I prefer this humility that keeps the rest of us modest," Sookie remarks, briefly brushing by his side and bumping his shoulder with her own— or the middle of his upper arm, at least. "'Cause sometimes, when people realize how strong they are, they start wavin' it all over the place, and I like you just the way you are. You deserve to have more confidence, though."

Cringing slightly at the bright orange that peers through the cracks in the cardboard, Sookie laughs, shaking her head.

"I guess I gotta get ready to look like a construction cone."

[plantfood]

"To be honest, I'm not sure this will help you with diving," Mathias says, reaching in to pull out a fluffy crinoline skirt in that horrible shade of orange. Everything he touches seems to be orange and made of uncomfortable, scratchy material. This seems to be the sort of thing they may require quite a bit of patience to pull off and it won't be the first time Mathias spends most of his day at the box's side, trying to coax it into giving him something worthwhile.

"At least everyone will know you're out there. Although the fish might see you coming and hide," he says, grinning as he turns it over in his hands. "We will need to find something better than this."

[justsookie]

Sookie lets out a bright laugh when the skirt emerges, and it's all she's needed lately, it's all she's wanted— to laugh with friends, in a way that almost has her forgetting that troubles existed at all. Fondly, she reaches for the skirt and pinning it up against her hips, twirling in the room to get a feel for how it might hang on her body were she actually to wear it around.

Honestly, she's tempted.

"If we need, I can sit by the box and try to coax it. I think it likes taunting you," Sookie points out, hands still on her hips as she laughs, then folding the skirt more fully in her arms. "I think I'll be keeping this, either way. You never know when a color like this might come in handy."

[plantfood]

"It's good to me when I'm patient," Mathias says. Usually he's content with being patient, with waiting until something right comes along, but lately he's been feeling restless. Perhaps it's something that the box can pick up on, if the box is, in fact, capable of doing anything like that.

"And, yes, you might need that skirt if we're ever in danger of running out of... what did you call them? Construction cones?" He's never heard that expression exactly, but he knows it's mostly due to English being his second language. If pressed, he would have no idea what to refer to those cones as in English and so he'll gladly defer to Sookie's knowledge there. "For all of the highways we have built and all the construction that gets done around this place."

[justsookie]

"Yes! Exactly. Construction cones," Sookie nods fervently, giggling up a storm at the thought of having to perch by the side of a road as the islanders work to build it. No doubt that her brother would be on the construction team, too, and what might start out as cheering him on would probably inevitably end in her darting all over the place, trying to make sure he was properly hydrated, not suffering from heat stroke. In other words, she isn't likely to make a great cone or standing barrier of any sort.

"Although I don't know if I'd be the most patient person for the job. Or, heck, I'm not sure I'd be the most patient with waiting by the clothes box if it wasn't half as kind to me," Sookie considers, tilting her head and giving it a curious glance.

[plantfood]

"I have had to be patient or I would spend all my days dressed in shirts with offensive expressions and pictures of women with large breasts," Mathias answers with a sigh. And although it's a little funny, he's also telling the truth. The box makes him work for his clothes, choosing usually to give him things that he would never think to wear. He suspects it would be less offensive to go naked than to wear some of the things it's tried to give him.

He crouches by the side of the box again and looks into it for a moment. As always, it seems like the materials change. Never obviously, just here and there, until he can reach in and push past some of the orange to a wet suit that's been hidden beneath. It's not particularly attractive either, that same orange runs in stripes down the arms and legs, but it looks to be about Sookie's size.

[justsookie]

Sookie snorts at the thought, squinting her eyes in Mathias' direction as she tries to picture him wearing anything half as obscene, and can't quite seem to put the image together. He's too kind, too shy besides, although he's certainly had his moments of being forward as well— her cheeks color slightly at the thought, but it's just something she'll have to work through now that they're friends. It'll work, she thinks. They can manage to share that kind of history and be, well. Just friends.

God, she hopes they can manage that.

"Guess that leaves me out of the running," she quips with a snort, before her eyes widen at the sight of the suit. "Well, hey! That looks like it could work...? Maybe?"

[plantfood]

"It will do the job," he says, offering the wet suit to her with a teasing sort of smile. "And it seems that you will also be able to be a construction cone at the same time, so we don't have to sacrifice one for the other." The important thing is that it looks to be her size, so at least it isn't trying to give them something way too large or too small in an attempt to get their hopes up.

"It looks to be the right size. You'll be uncomfortable the first time you put it on," he says. There's no getting around it. Putting a wet suit on for the first time is often an awkward experience, given how tight they are, how difficult they can be to get into. "You can wear your bathing suit and go into the water first. That usually makes it a bit easier."

[justsookie]

Sookie flinches at the warning, because with Mathias being as soft-spoken as he is, she can't even begin to imagine what 'uncomfortable' is supposed to mean. Reaching a curious hand out to touch the material, Sookie can't help the laugh that escapes her, because there's something undeniably rubbery about it. Almost leathery, in its way.

"Oh lord, Mathias, how awful is this going to be? Be honest with me," she replies breathlessly, shaking her head as a high flush rises to her cheeks. "I have to get into the water first to prepare myself for this? Now I'm starting to have second thoughts."

[plantfood]

"It... can be very uncomfortable at first," he answers, trying not to grin. It's really not funny, he knows how uncomfortable it can be, he remembers the first time he put one on himself very clearly, how hilarious Henrich thought it was. "They're very tight and the material is..." He trails off, gesturing absently as he tries to think of the right word.

"It can pull on your skin. Make it hurt a little," he says finally. "This is why it's sometimes easier to go into the water once you have your feet in. It makes it a easier to pull over your skin." Smiling again, Mathias shrugs almost helplessly. "But it is uncomfortable at first. You will get used to it quickly, I promise."

[justsookie]

Curiously, Sookie tugs the suit over, narrowing her eyes skeptically in Mathias' direction before she rubs the suit against itself and feels the surface shudder against itself. It's not entirely unlike the feel of rubber, in a strange way, although not as abrasive or rough on the skin, and the thought makes her double over with laughter as she tries to imagine just how strange it'll be to shimmy into that suit.

"I'll... take your word for it for now," she snorts, playing with the material again and idly stuffing her hand into one of the sleeves, feeling it tug on the skin of her arm. "Yeah, definitely not something to be testing out right here."

[plantfood]

"Not unless you want an audience," Mathias says with a laugh. "Because the first time I tried to get into one, there was much cursing. My brother thought it was very funny." And he's sure in a place as crowded as the Compound something like that will draw more than a few spectators.

"But at least we've found you something. That means you'll actually be able to dive without getting too cold, which means you can stay in the water longer. It's easier to learn that way and it's more fun, really." He's excited to teach her, he's always excited to teach anyone to dive, but especially Sookie.

[justsookie]

"As much as I used to love the idea of being a star, I'm not sure that's the kind of audience I want to be entertaining," Sookie laughs, folding the wet suit as well as she can in a square of cloth pressed to her lap. "So I guess I'll hold off until we have the privacy of the water."

Pressing her lips together in a grin, Sookie perked up, shifting on his knees. "Maybe we can pick a regular day to meet for the lessons. That way I have an excuse to hold myself back from simply picking up more shifts at the Winchester."

[plantfood]

"Absolutely. Any day should work for me. My time in the psych office is only part-time and I can get Lucy or Karen to watch Sam." Both women are usually happy to take her for a few hours if Mathias needs some time off or if he has plans. Usually, any plans he makes involve Sam, but he's glad to have something else to do. Something besides work.

"So pick a day," he says with a grin. "And then I can let Lucy know and work something out with her. It's all up to you. My schedule is flexible. Though I suppose most island schedules are pretty flexible." He can't imagine there's anything who follows such a rigid set of guidelines here, not when everything else is so easy and laidback.

[justsookie]

"Thursdays," Sookie decides without pause, her lips curving into a slight and mischievous grin. "Let's go with Thursdays. 'Cause it's late enough in the week that all you want is something nice to get you through the rest, but it's also not the weekend in case, y'know, family comes a-knockin' with a desire for a weekend trip. Thursdays will give us something to look forward to. And that way I don't have to do finagling to switch my shift at the Winchester."

She crosses her arms with a slight laugh, thinking about her own schedule when she was on the Council— no small amount of appointments in every day, Sookie reminds herself with a fond look.

"And speak for yourself, Mathias," she jokes. "I can say for a fact that Hermione Granger keeps herself crazily busy. Not that I ever knew her that well, but we were on the Council together, and she was... something else."

[plantfood]

"But she is different," Mathias says with a laugh. "She is the type of person who flourishes under pressure like that. At least, that is what I assume from what little I've read of those books." It's something he tries to avoid talking about most of the time, but there are situations where it's too difficult and this is one of them. He doesn't know a single person in his time period who hasn't at least heard of Harry Potter. It's part of why he doesn't socialize with them, he thinks. Nothing against them as people, he's sure they're lovely, but he'd always be worried, he thinks. Always wondering if he's about to say the wrong thing.

"Thursdays," he agrees, smiling. "I think that's a good day. I'll talk to Lucy, get something arranged for Sam. The first day might just be getting you into the wetsuit," he teases. There's much more to it than just that, teaching her about the regulator, how to clear her mask, how to retrieve the mouth piece if it drops out, but he's just glad for something to do. Glad for the chance to do something with her.