[Billy]

[noonelaughed]

So, Chris likes snow just as much as the next person. He'd fucking loved it when it first showed up, because they never get this much in Bristol, and whenever they do, it's not like this at all. It goes along with all the other weird shit he's heard happens on the island, though Chris couldn't help but think that this particular weird bit is

Comments

[halfscarlet]

Alexis was just about one of the few people Billy really spent time with lately, and even found himself trudging through the snow to visit. The snow wasn't so bad, when he reminded himself to enjoy it -- in New York, most snow was dirty sludge before he even made it to the sidewalk.

He'd tried taking the tiny train back, but it felt a little too silly to take all the way back to the compound. Maybe that had been a bad idea, because coming up to someone having a staring contest at a moose was just strange. And Billy was familiar was strange.

"This is happening, right?"

[noonelaughed]

"I dunno, mate," Chris says, eyes wide, still not entirely sure he should take his eyes off the animal. He's immediately reminded of when he'd found his toad, Anwar, though there's little chance he's going to take this one back to his hut and keep it as his own.

He doesn't even know what moose eat, after all.

"But you see it too, so I s'pose it's gotta actually be real."

[halfscarlet]

"Yeah," Billy exhaled, stepping closer to get a good look, but still standing a few feet further back than the other kid. "I heard there were new animals and all, but...wow."

[noonelaughed]

"I don't even think I've even seen a fuckin' moose before, much less had one starin' at me," Chris says, and the moose snorts. Chris wonders whether or not it means 'cheers', 'fuck off' or if it's just something moose do because they're moose.

Fuck if Chris knows.

[halfscarlet]

"I don't know if moose eat people," Billy said, inching back when it snorted, "but you might wanna get away from it. Or try to make it go away."

He was pretty sure moose were vegetarians, but didn't know enough about them to decide one way or another. All Billy was sure of was that he didn't want to be trampled and/or eaten by a moose.

[noonelaughed]

"Maybe the ones here eat people, though," Chris says, and though he doesn't completely believe it, that doesn't mean it's impossible. They're standing on a snow-covered tropical island, after all. Still, he backs away a step, then another, and when the moose doesn't follow or anything, feels confident enough to maybe try shooing it away.

"Hey! Fuck off, yeah?" He shouts at it, waving his arms a bit.

[halfscarlet]

Billy just watches from his safe distance, shoving his gloved hands further into the obnoxiously red coat he's wearing. (He'd felt a kinship with it for obvious reasons.)

"That's...probably not gonna work," he said, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

[noonelaughed]

"For all you know, it speaks English," Chris says, not about to dismiss the possibility right away. He's learned after just a month or so on the island that it's best not to dismiss anything, really. Remembering this sends his mind racing for a moment.

"Or maybe it speaks English and eats people. Maybe it was a person before now."

[halfscarlet]

Billy opens his mouth to refute that, but considering everything they do and don't know about the island, he can't, in good conscience, do so.

"Then...we should probably get out of here before it decides either way," he suggests, starting to back away.

[noonelaughed]

Chris very nearly agrees, and almost turns to head in the other direction, behind the other bloke, but then suddenly changes his mind.

"But if it was a person," Chris says, "then we should probably help him out or something." Chris had thought it was acting fucking weird for a moose.

Though admittedly, he didn't know what moose were supposed to act like.

[halfscarlet]

"How?" Billy asks, incredulous, voice going up half an octave. "It's not like we can magic a person out of being a moose, if that's even the case. What if it's just a moose and we're bothering it just by standing here?"

[noonelaughed]

Chris doesn't know. He sort of figures it'll give them a sign. Or, for all he knows, that weird snort earlier was the sign.

"If it's just a moose, then what the fuck's it got going on besides this?" Chris asks, "You're talkin' like it's got somewhere to be and we're holdin' it up or something."

[halfscarlet]

"It probably has moose kids or something," Billy says, wondering how on Earth (or wherever they are) he's found himself a part of such a ridiculous conversation concerning the habits of a moose.

Granted, he'd probably talked about weirder things with Tommy or Teddy, but still. Still.

"Or it's looking for something to eat."

[noonelaughed]

"Yeah right," Chris says, tone skeptical, "so it's gotta get home by seven for supper."

Moose kids or not, he doubted it was in any kind of a rush. Still, he began to search his pockets for something edible, only coming up with a few joints he'd rolled earlier. Somehow, he doesn't think they'll be of much help.

[halfscarlet]

"Exactly," Billy says. Might as well embrace the crazy.

When the kid starts rooting through his pockets, Billy tugs his own messenger bag off his shoulder and starts rooting through it, searching for any snacks he might have left. "I've got half a beef sandwich," he offers, holding it up. "Think that'll work?"

[noonelaughed]

"S'better than what I've got to offer," Chris says, and opens his palm, holding out the two joints for a moment before putting them back in his pocket. Any other time, he'd ask the other guy if he wants one, just because, but he's worried about it becoming scarce, what with the snow all month.

"I say you give it a go."