Going for walks down the beach wasn't exactly a productive way for Capa to spend his time, not when he still had so much work to complete before he could figure out the right calculation that would get him home, but every so often he couldn't help himself. With the warmth of the sun on his face, he had to give into it now and then, he had to enjoy what he'd been deprived of his whole life, if only to appreciate why he had to get back. If he didn't, this would never happen. No sun, no warmth, no life.
Smiling when he saw Alice, Capa lifted a hand to wave at her. He hadn't been on the island long, but he knew he appreciated Alice's somewhat abrupt nature. At times she reminded him of Mace, although he'd never admit to missing that bastard.
Sometimes, this island was really fucking cruel. Capa was another example. Alice liked the guy, but sometimes she had trouble remembering he wasn't Jim. Then there was the painful reminder of John, who'd saved his life doing a typically stupid John thing.
But she waved back anyway. This wasn't going to be the first painful reminder, or the last. She needed to deal with it.
She was heading in Capa's direction, and as much as she didn't want to talk to anybody - ever again - she forced herself to mutter a "Hello," when she was within earshot.
"Hi," Capa replied, coming to a slow stop as he neared Alice, his hands pushed into the pockets of his pants. Even since his discussion with Adrian about clothes, he couldn't find a good reason to wear anything other than the standard issue pants and t-shirts the box continued to dole out like he was some kind of prisoner. He didn't really mind.
"How are you?" he asked, knowing it was the polite thing to say.
Alice shrugged. "Okay," she lied. "You? Settling in okay?"
She'd wondered what had happened to him before he'd showed up, but hadn't gotten around to asking for details. If it was anything like the circumstances of her arrival, though, she knew he wouldn't want to give them. And she'd had other things to think about.
The corner of his mouth lifted into something that was almost a smile before he nodded. "I moved out of the Compound. It was too crowded." There had been too many people nearly always leaning over his shoulder, checking on him, trying to make sure he was okay or feeling better or adjusting, and while he understood their concern, it had been too much.
The stitches had come out of his chest, leaning behind a pink and puckered scar and he was suddenly glad he hadn't decided to take off his shirt to enjoy the sun as he often did. Self-consciously, he pressed his hand to the centre of his shirt and smiled again. "I'm feeling better, anyway," he offered.
"It's a zoo," Alice said, of the Compound. She used to get the feeling that the whole island was a zoo, some kind of sick experiment of Umbrella's. She didn't think Umbrella was behind it any more, but the experiment part still felt like a possibility. Especially now.
"You look better," she added. "And at least it's not fucking snowing any more." Small consolation.
"It's nice to see the sun," Capa agreed, tipping his head back a little and looking up into the sky. He'd spent so long without it that he couldn't possibly begin to take it for granted yet. It was a surprise nearly every day to wake up and find it still big and full and warm in the sky.
"I heard about your friend," he offered a moment later, still looking up, as if he could alleviate some of the awkwardness simply by not looking at Alice.
"Yeah," he agreed, because that was a succinct and incredibly accurate description of life in general, he felt. No matter what any one person did, the shit was heaped on top of them until they died.
"So what do people here do when shit happens?" he asked, finally looking back at Alice. "Back home we used to just get drunk." He hadn't been drunk in a long time, not because bad stuff had stopped happening, but because he'd started to deal with it by burying himself in work.
"That's a favorite," Alice said, almost looking amused. The first time she and John had kissed, they'd been getting drunk together. She frowned and looked away again.
"Good alcohol's not that easy to come by here," she said. "And trust me, you don't want to try the palm wine shit."
"I went without for sixteen months in space," Capa answered with a wry smile. "I'm not sure I even remember what good beer tastes like."
Not that he was in any rush to get himself drunk. Too often, when people got drunk they ended up in situations they wouldn't normally find themselves in and while he wasn't against a drink or two, he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten truly drunk.
"Or a drunk physicist," Capa answered, because he hasn't been an astronaut. His training had been quick and dirty, enough to get him by without dying and enough to make sure he didn't go insane out there. "Especially not when he was the only person on board who had control over a big nuclear bomb."
"I'm almost afraid to ask," Alice said, raising her eyebrows a little. Clearly Capa's story was more interesting than she'd thought. It might not involve the undead, but it sounded like he'd been through some heavy-duty shit.
Asking about it might just distract her from hers. She hoped.
"Almost?" Capa repeated with another twist of a smile before he lifted his thin shoulders in a shrug. "The world was in a solar winter. The sun was dying. I designed a bomb to reignite the star, but I was too young to go on the first mission. It failed. They sent me on the second."
Alice glanced up as if afraid the sun might go supernova just from Capa's story, but nope. It looked normal. She directed her gaze back to him with a curious look.
"Did the second fail?" There wasn't a hint of skepticism in her voice. She'd heard weirder tales. Hers, for a start.
Smiling when he saw Alice, Capa lifted a hand to wave at her. He hadn't been on the island long, but he knew he appreciated Alice's somewhat abrupt nature. At times she reminded him of Mace, although he'd never admit to missing that bastard.
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But she waved back anyway. This wasn't going to be the first painful reminder, or the last. She needed to deal with it.
She was heading in Capa's direction, and as much as she didn't want to talk to anybody - ever again - she forced herself to mutter a "Hello," when she was within earshot.
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"How are you?" he asked, knowing it was the polite thing to say.
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She'd wondered what had happened to him before he'd showed up, but hadn't gotten around to asking for details. If it was anything like the circumstances of her arrival, though, she knew he wouldn't want to give them. And she'd had other things to think about.
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The stitches had come out of his chest, leaning behind a pink and puckered scar and he was suddenly glad he hadn't decided to take off his shirt to enjoy the sun as he often did. Self-consciously, he pressed his hand to the centre of his shirt and smiled again. "I'm feeling better, anyway," he offered.
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"You look better," she added. "And at least it's not fucking snowing any more." Small consolation.
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"I heard about your friend," he offered a moment later, still looking up, as if he could alleviate some of the awkwardness simply by not looking at Alice.
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"Yeah," she said simply. "Shit happens."
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"So what do people here do when shit happens?" he asked, finally looking back at Alice. "Back home we used to just get drunk." He hadn't been drunk in a long time, not because bad stuff had stopped happening, but because he'd started to deal with it by burying himself in work.
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"Good alcohol's not that easy to come by here," she said. "And trust me, you don't want to try the palm wine shit."
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Not that he was in any rush to get himself drunk. Too often, when people got drunk they ended up in situations they wouldn't normally find themselves in and while he wasn't against a drink or two, he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten truly drunk.
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"I guess you wouldn't want drunk astronauts," she said.
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Asking about it might just distract her from hers. She hoped.
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"Did the second fail?" There wasn't a hint of skepticism in her voice. She'd heard weirder tales. Hers, for a start.
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