(Untitled)

[hereand_now]

Wolf has found the big bouncy thing near the Compound.

Now that he's here, he wishes he would have found it earlier, because it's the very best thing on the island. Besides the good people, of course, and maybe the cows. They're all pretty great, but this is fun. This is the most fun he's had since Jack and that nice man let him ride in the back

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[findherwayback]

Even though she hadn't been a Hunter in nearly a year, the instincts that came from years of being on the run hadn't faded. She heard the howl long before she saw the source of it. The sound was enough to cause her to change the direction she was headed, shifting towards the noise rather than stay on course.

Stepping out from the treeline, she saw that it wasn't some sort of animal (a fact that had been clear as she got closer). No, it was coming from a guy on the trampoline. Stopping a few feet away, a slight smile cracked across her features.

"Having fun?"

[hereand_now]

"Yes!" Wolf shouts at the top of a jump, twisting in mid-air toward the sound of the girl's voice. There she is, by the trees and he waves at her as he starts to come down, letting his shoulder drop so that he does a sort of somersault on the bouncy fabric, rolling to a stop near the edge. It's not as graceful as it might have once been, but he executes it casually, as if it takes almost no effort.

"Yes," he says again, out of breath, but grinning. "I never ever saw something like this at home, not ever. This island has some of the best things." Things that might have been in Jack's world, sure, but they aren't things he'd seen on the other side. Most of Jack's world had been bad; bad smells, bad men, bad places, but if there are things like this over there, he knows there has to be some good.

[findherwayback]

Returning his wave with a slightly hesitant one of her own, Thalia wondered what sort of place this guy would've come from that didn't have a trampoline. Not every place back home might have had one, but she was pretty certain that even those who had never been on one could recognise it.

Approaching closer, she gave him a slight smile. "It has its moments. But really, no trampolines where you came from? That's kind of sad."

[hereand_now]

"I know," he agrees, sitting on the edge of the bouncy thing, his legs dangling over the edge. "I wish I would've had one of these. I would've bounced on it every single day if I'd had one."

He pauses, smiling. "I'm Wolf! What's your name?"

[findherwayback]

"That would be cool. You might get a little sick of it after awhile, don't you think?" Thalia knew that if she had been up there instead of him, she'd have kept her bounces relatively low. The idea of going too far into the sky, of being so far from the ground made her queasy just to think of it.

Yeah, no. Definitely staying put. "Thalia. Nice to meet you, Wolf. And your mad trampoline skills."

[hereand_now]

"No," Wolf answers simply, because he can't imagine ever getting tired of something as perfectly joyful as this. He doesn't even understand how someone else might not like it, but he doesn't push.

"Thalia," he repeats. "It's nice to meet you, too!"

[findherwayback]

His enthusiasm was contagious. Before she could really help herself, a grin split across Thalia's face. What was the harm? Too many bad things had been going on lately that smiling so easily felt like she was making less of them.

No. It was just a nice break. "Have you been here long? On the island, not the trampoline."

[hereand_now]

"Not too long," Wolf says, although he can't remember how long it's been exactly. Two full cycles of the moon, for sure, because she's gotten big and fat twice now and neither time he went with her, but he thinks she was very big when he got here, too.

"Two moons," he settles on saying finally. "Almost two full moons."

[findherwayback]

There was something about keeping time with the moon that struck a chord with Thalia. That had been how she had kept time during her tenure with the Hunters. There was only ever the moon and moonlight for them, the time of day when Artemis was at her strongest. That didn't mean that they hadn't gone out in daylight, but it was easier travelling by moonlight.

"Not that long," she agreed with a slight nod of her head. "I've been here for almost fourteen moons."

[hereand_now]

"Way longer than me!" Wolf says, but he's not surprised. There are lots of people here who have been here longer and lots that seem as though they'll never leave. Eventually, he knows he'll go home. He isn't trying to find a way to get back, but he knows it will happen sooner or later. Some people seem happy to be here.

"Do you like it here?" he asks. "Do you ever want to go home?"

[findherwayback]

"I do, but sometimes I miss home."

Her definition of home had changed so much over the years, that Thalia sometimes had a hard time putting a finger on what it was. Or where it was. Home was supposed to be a place, but she was fairly certain that her idea of it had become a frame of mind more than anything else. A way of being free.

Shrugging, she shaded her eyes as she looked up at him. "I think that's normal."