(Untitled)

[theinsideman]

Desmond finally had a few sketches that he was pleased with (after months of redrawing and restarting and such), so he decided to take advantage of the situation and paint. He lugged all his shit down to the beach in a huge bag, eventually setting his easel up halfway between the jungle and the water. Far enough away to keep from getting wet, but

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[with_diamonds]

From as far away as she was, sitting on the sand with a book in her lap, what Lucy saw when she turned her head was so familiar that she had to do a double-take. Upon realizing, though, who it was -- namely, not Jude --, she pulled herself to her feet, adjusting her tank top as she slowly wandered over.

She knew how Jude had been about being interrupted while he was painting or drawing, so for a few moments, she just watched, keeping a slight distance so as not to be disrupting. Finally, when it seemed like an alright time to speak, she offered a weary smile; even with as long ago as everything had happened now, she still wasn't sleeping well enough. "Hey," she said quietly, rocking slightly forward, arms folded low over her chest. "That's - that's really good."

[theinsideman]

Desmond turned suddenly at the voice, having been so wrapped up in his painting that he hadn't even heard someone coming near him.

When he saw who it was, he smiled, ducking his head as he felt a blush rise on his cheeks.

"Hi, Lucy."

[He's totally painting his Lucy sketch, fyi. *evil*]

[with_diamonds]

It was nothing unusual for Lucy to see herself on a canvas, and so it didn't really faze her; the fact that it was such a different style from Jude's helped with that. She didn't like admitting it, but their breakup and the events leading up to it were still hard for her to think about, even with as much of a relief as it had been, and with Max's situation foremost in her mind.

"It's been a while," she pointed out idly, toying with the ends of her hair. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to wearing it so short. "How've you been?"

[theinsideman]

He smiled wryly at her and shrugged. "Hanging in there, I guess," he reasoned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You cut your hair," he noticed. It was lame, sure, but he wanted to at least try to redirect her attention away from his canvas. He felt kind of awkward getting caught working so intently on a piece that was of her. He wasn't sure why, though.

[with_diamonds]

Lucy let out almost a self-conscious laugh, fingers still curled in her short hair. "Yeah, yeah, I did," she replied. "A, um, friend of mine was talking about needing a haircut, so we decided to just cut each others'." That felt like forever ago, too, what would have been the day of the riot, back before everything had gone to hell -- it was just getting started. She shrugged, too, glancing from the canvas over to him. "Kind of weird to get used to. It was long for...forever, feels like."

[theinsideman]

"It looks nice," he assured, shifting his weight from one foot to the other awkwardly.

"What have you been up to other than becoming a hair stylist?" he teased, leaning in a bit closer.

[with_diamonds]

Raising her eyebrows, Lucy finally dropped her hand, rocking back on her heels as she glanced down briefly at the sand, a terse grin on her face. "You want the whole story, or just the highlights?" she asked, if only to prevent herself from getting too wrapped up in all that had gone on. "'Cause it's not exactly pleasant, if you know what I mean." The lingering circles around her eyes were evidence enough of that, she supposed.

[theinsideman]

"How about just the highlights?" he suggested, seeing that she was slightly uncomfortable just mentioning it.

"A brief overview, if you will." He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an expectant eyebrow at her.

[with_diamonds]

"Alright, then," Lucy replied with a short nod, biting her lower lip. "So, first my boyfriend cheated on me -- with one of my closest friends, no less, who told me about it the next day --, then I walked into my brother's hut to find his draft letter on the floor and him in bed with half a syringe of morphine next to him, and then broke up with said boyfriend." The story was one she was all too clearly used to repeating, and she tried to shrug it off, but it was still plenty apparent that she wasn't okay with any of it.

[theinsideman]

Desmond's eyes widened in surprise. If he'd been expecting anything, it certainly hadn't been something so...

"Wow. That's- Wow.." He ran a hand through his hand before gesturing uselessly with it. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to something like that.

[with_diamonds]

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Lucy said, forcing a bright tone. "Oh, oh, and then one of the people I was closest to on the entire island up and disappeared." As she shook her head, the grin quickly left her face, and she threw her arms out to her sides in a gesture of exasperation. "So, basically, the month of April just needs to fucking die."

[theinsideman]

Desmond blinked owlishly, then looked down at the sand, remembering how Gideon had reacted to Beth disappearing.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, knowing it made no difference if he was sorry or not but wanting to say it anyway so he didn't just stand there like a mute fool.

[with_diamonds]

Sighing heavily, Lucy raked one hand back through her hair, then lifted a shoulder. "Don't - don't worry about it," she said, sounding almost apologetic. "It's - I mean, okay, everything's a mess, but...I'll be fine. Really."

[theinsideman]

She seemed really down and he wasn't exactly sure how to cheer her up. They fell into an awkward sort of silence for a stretched moment and he sighed.

"So..."

[with_diamonds]

She couldn't help but feel bad for having laid what she did on the table, and when he spoke up again, she grinned awkwardly. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to just unload on you like that. It's just...this place is so screwed up, you know?"

[theinsideman]

Desmond shook his head, feeling guilty for making the situation even more awkward by not giving a response with any sort of substance.

"It's okay. It- It totally is, though." He half-smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders again. "Screwed up, I mean."