had him two days and he got drowned away from me

[hightail]

For the most part, Kate doesn't actively try to avoid Sawyer - except for when she does - but that doesn't make her inclined to frequent all the same haunts as he. This month, it's different, what worries typically keep her restrained to more secluded areas of the island now replaced with thoughts of Rapture and the dangers that lie below. They've

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[little_moons]

It's not like I keep tabs on everyone. Even my closest friends, I don't always know where they are, day to day. They know where to find me, and for the most part, unless there's something going on, I sit back and wait for them to come looking for me. That's just how I've always been.

But I've noticed her around, more than usual. We say hello, and she moves on, and it's probably a coincidence, but I've just... noticed her there.

"Hey," I say, smiling crookedly. These last few days, I've managed to go through the motions without much trouble. Hopefully, that'll last.

[hightail]

They lead separate lives, Kate and Sawyer, here more than ever before. Unlike the other island, they have the luxury of some privacy, of developing different circles of trust (or something like it) without becoming inexplicably and irrevocably entangled in each others' business. That doesn't make Kate any less aware of his presence, but she typically does him a favor by keeping shy of those circles, letting him have his people, letting him live in something that from afar might begin to resemble relative peace.

Neil is different, if only because he's been around so long, because he's so around in general and almost impossible to avoid. Anyway, he's done nothing to make her want to avoid him in the first place.

"How's it going? Has it been quiet around here, what with everything going on down below?"

[little_moons]

"I guess. I dunno, I been kinda... distracted," I admit with a cough of humorless laughter, scratching mindlessly at the mostly healed cut on my brow.

"Tom, my husband? He uh... He disappeared a few days back, so to be honest, somebody could've dropped a fuckin' bomb on the compound and I probably wouldn't have noticed." And I'm not telling her to get sympathy or whatever. It just feels strange, keeping it secret.

"You lookin' for Sawyer?"

[hightail]

Lowering her head as if to acknowledge his loss, Kate brushes a hand through her hair, taking her time before returning to eye level. "I've been there. I'm sorry," she says, her voice low. It's a rare bout of honesty, one she doesn't mind considering that he's been honest with her, he deserves as much in return, and at any rate, she hasn't given any details. By the same token, she doesn't see any point in beating around the bush when it's obvious why she's been hanging around with such frequency of late. "You seen him around?"