(Untitled)

[sommer_tobi]

He didn't know what compelled him to try. It wasn't really bravery or a sudden spark of courage or anything like that. Maybe it was a need to make things right again, to fix whatever it was that had come between the two of them, a need to prove that he could be as good as Sandra. Whatever that meant

Comments

[jdick]

After dealing with Beth, Joe had decided to walk along the beach, wanting to leave all that shit behind, wanting to get in some time alone, have a bit of solitude, but it just figured that that wasn't going to happen. There was some kid in the water calling out to him and he lifted his gaze, squinting at him.

"Hello?" he called back dryly, not looking all that impressed. Not that it was the kid's fault he was disrupting Joe, he looked like he was kind of new.

[sommer_tobi]

There was something in the man's tone that didn't settle too well with Tobi and his frown deepened, his step faltering as he continued toward shore. Later, he may reason that his apprehension had a lot to do with suddenly having no clue where he was, but in that moment, there wasn't too much room for logic.

"Hallo?" he repeated, trying to make his voice sound a little more sure. "Was ist dieses?"

[jdick]

The accent reminded Joe of the kid he'd greeted not too long ago, the kid he'd met when he'd been all fucked up from the magic. 'Course, that didn't really mean anything.

"An island," Joe offered. And why the fuck did he get stuck greeting people? "Are you new?"

[sommer_tobi]

"New?" Tobi repeated, seemingly mulling over the word, translating and figuring it all out, his brows creased as he stopped in the water, waves around his waist. New where? To what? And what did the man mean by island?

His frown deepened, mind whirling with possibilities and explanations, none of which really made much sense. "Wo bin--" he stopped himself with a stutter and tried again. "Where am I?"

[jdick]

"You're on an island," Joe explained, gesturing for the kid to come closer so that at least they could talk with him out of the water. "You used to be somewhere else and then you closed your eyes or turned around or something and now you're here on the island. It's fucking weird, I know, but that's what's happened to all of us who're here."

[sommer_tobi]

The man was talking a little faster than Tobi could keep up with and he found himself trying hard to keep up. He'd been out of school for almost a month now and he was feeling it.

"Urm," he hesitated, his mind searching for the right words, though he continued walking again, his steps slow and wary. "Germany," he stated, "I was Kampieren. Camp. Camping?"

[jdick]

"You're not in Germany anymore," Joe told him, standing on the shore and waiting for the kid to join him. "You're not anywhere that has a real name. You're on an island and we don't know where it is and we can't get off."

And that was it. Joe probably wasn't the best person to be greeting the new kid, but he might've been one of the most upfront.

[sommer_tobi]

That didn't make sense. Tobi paused again, the water only coming up to around his shins as he tried to work over what the man had said, certain that he'd mis-translated some of it. A place with no name? A place he couldn't leave?

The panic once again rose in his chest and he turned quickly, looking out across the water, hoping to see the dock or Achim or even the Queerschlag team, see anything he might recognize.

But, there was nothing but water. Blue and sparkling, clear in a way Tobi had never seen before.

When he looked at the man again, he was shaking his head and he brought up an arm to wipe some of the water off his cheek. "No," he said, his voice a forced calm. "No. Is not possible."

[jdick]

"That's what I thought," Joe said dryly, his hand unconsciously running through his hair, fingers brushing his left temple without even thinking about it. He'd been dead, he'd shot himself in the head, so it seemed even less possible for him, but here he was. On an island. Going on nineteen months now.

"I know it's fucking weird, but it's real. It's possible."

[sommer_tobi]

"How?" Tobi asked, his panic almost turning into anger. He watched the man intently, his eyes almost pleading, hoping this was just an incredibly vivid dream he could wake up from or a hugely elaborate practical joke. Though, he doubted that even Schorshi could come up with something like this, much less actually pull it off. "How can I leave? I need to return!"

[jdick]

"I'm sorry, man," Joe said sincerely, feeling a rush of sympathy for the kid. This place wasn't easy for anyone and Joe knew that all too well recently.

"You can't leave. You can't go back. You're here now and it's for good." Until the Island decided it was done with him which might be mere months or it might be years.

[sommer_tobi]

Shaking his head, Tobi took a step back, going deeper into the water, as though maybe if just went back the way he'd come, he'd end up home again. Nothing the man said made any sense even if Tobi was sure he understood the English. He wasn't supposed to be here, he was supposed to be at camp, he had a regatta in only a couple days. His team was counting on him.

"I must," he said, though his voice was shaking again. "Please. I need to go back."

[jdick]

"C'mon, kid, c'mere," Joe said with a sigh, taking a step back and then gesturing. "You go back into the water and try to swim home, you're just gonna fucking drown and that sure as shit isn't a good idea."

And there wasn't any way for Joe to make it make more sense, but he tried again. "You're on an island and there is no way home. I know it's shit, but it's true."

[sommer_tobi]

Shit. Tobi knew that word. That'd been one of the first he'd learned and there was something oddly comforting about hearing it. Because it was shit and it still made absolutely no sense.

He hesitated in the water, though, still watching the guy warily before taking his advice and walking out again, though he kept his distance.

"What am I to do?" he asked, still trying to find his English vocabulary buried somewhere under the confusion and fear. "Where do I go?"

[jdick]

"I can show you. There's a building here where a lot of people crash," Joe tried to explain. "And I'm not gonna hurt you." It was pretty obvious that the kid was keeping his distance for a reason.

"I'm Joe. I've been here a long time and I can show you were to go, okay?"

[sommer_tobi]

There was something about the man -- Joe, apparently, if he'd heard that right -- that seemed menacing, so Tobi wasn't completely convinced right away. The man was bigger than him, stronger, too. Tobi may be able to outrun him, but not without shoes on, probably.

"Crash," he repeated, knowing the word, but not really understanding it in this instance. Crash was a violent word, it happened with cars and airplanes and bikes; it didn't at all sound like where he wanted to go. "There are more people here?"