(Untitled)

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden had a penchant for taking in strays: the kitten who'd appeared in her home one day, the show dog who'd been left behind, the cheerleader she'd lied to for so long and a somewhat alarming number of hapless scientists. These last, at least, had been spread out over several years and she'd never actually brought them home to live with her

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[anewwaive]

Gideon wasn't much of a beach person - which was funny, really, considering where his hut was located. Regardless, he was taking a walk and just so happened to be on the beach, and there was the tiny yapping terror and Eden. He (unsurprisingly) completely ignored Mr. Muggles as he headed over to where Eden was standing.

"Your dog has to have the most annoying fucking bark ever," he commented, stopping a foot or so away from her so his sandals didn't get soaked in the tide. "Just in case you hadn't noticed."

[wishesandsmoke]

"Maybe that's why he likes you," Eden drawled, stopping with the waves dragging around her heels to look back at Gideon, smirking but fond. "You remind him so much of himself." It was a rare day he managed to annoy her, but then, that was her right as his best friend - to be as big a pain in the ass as she knew how.

[anewwaive]

"Funny," he said, rolling his eyes. If anyone else had said that, they would've gotten more than that kind of fucking response from him. Eden, though, Eden he was fine with. "You going in for a swim?"

Shit, he hadn't done that in a long time.

[wishesandsmoke]

"Uh huh," Eden said, slipping her hands up through her hair as she shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea. You coming in?" She could always wait a little longer if not. Good company usually beat running off alone anyway.

[lucked]

Claire wasn't sure how long Eden had been out in the water by the time she arrived, deliberately pushing her feet down further into the sand, feeling her toes curl into cooler depths. A few months ago, she might have called out to Eden, splashed right into the water to join the brunette, but although Claire's mood had started to climb up from the nadir she had reached shortly after arrival, she wasn't back to the constant state of effervescence yet. So she slowly approached until Mr. Muggles took notice and began to bark, darting over to the blonde and hopping back on his hind legs.

After staring down for a while, tempted to roll her eyes at the little things that never changed, Claire sighed and leaned down to pick up the dog, tucking him in her arms.

"You're trying to turn me into mom, aren't you?"

[wishesandsmoke]

It was Mr. Muggles' barking that caught her attention, just audible over the waves. Even unsure, at times, about where they stood with each other, Eden had long since outgrown the reticence of her childhood, and she started back to shore when she saw Claire there, waving as she came out of the water.

"I think he still likes you best," she said wryly. "He just puts up with me."

[lucked]

Despite the fact that every interaction between the two of them felt like they were trying to cover deeper concerns, pushing them to a corner, there was still a deep comfort which came from the fact that out of everyone on the island, Claire didn't have to hide who she was from Eden. There were, of course, certain things that she would keep to herself anyway, but having the option of letting all of the little doubts and insecurities out allayed them regardless of whether or not words were exchanged. As Eden approached, Claire returned the way with a smile, one that strengthened a little with each passing day.

"He likes me best because I always fed him the most out of everyone in the family," Claire replied with an arch of the eyebrow. "It was the easiest way to calm him down, even if mom freaked out whenever he went on the scale, afterward."

[wishesandsmoke]

"That explains it," Eden said, grinning, pushing her hands up through her hair. It had grown out considerably since her old life, but she still kept it relatively short, as much for comfort in the heat as because she liked it better on herself. "I always figured that was the only reason he tolerated me - because I brought home the food."

With Claire and Bennet both gone, there just hadn't been any other option, least of all Claude. Taking care of the dog was a poor substitute for the purpose Bennet had once promised her, but there was a surprising need in her to care for something, and no matter how many years went by, no matter how much she gave, she always felt she owed him just a little more.

[nerdinacape]

Grigg puttered. That was the only word that could be used to describe what he spent his time doing. Puttering. He would fiddle with gadgets, help with a bit of building, do some reading and some writing. More often than he would admit to, a nap would be taken and he would often go off to find someone to speak to. He had a list of those he preferred, but anyone would do.

Eden was never just anyone. Grinning when he saw her, he did his best to sneak up on her. Splashing into the water, he came to stand just behind her. "Guess who."

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden bit her lip and closed her eyes, pretending deep concentration. "Hmm," she said, "Rupert?" There was never much need for guessing with Grigg, at least not when it came to this. She leaned back against him just a little before she turned to him, grinning even as she clucked her tongue. "Ah, it's you. Well, I guess you'll do." There was no sign of anything like disappointment in her expression.

[nerdinacape]

Making an exaggerated face of pain he let out a long, low whistle. Grigg knew that she was only teasing and it was the fair sort of joking payback for his failed attempt at being stealthy.

"Oh, ouch," he shook his head slightly, the smile on his face betraying him. He had no hard feelings and he enjoyed simply having her near. "I'm glad that I could be of some service. Though if you want I could just go."

[wishesandsmoke]

"Oh, no, don't do that," said Eden, earnest even as she laughed, slipping her arms up over his shoulders. "Stay. What are you up to?" Her own afternoon was clear, and she couldn't help hoping his was, too, that he'd just stick around and give her another reason to be glad she was here. All her previous relationships having been such a failure, it still surprised her sometimes that things were going so well between them, but then, she'd never really dated someone like Grigg before.

[first_worde]

Rupert had done a somewhat less thorough job of carving a life for himself out on the island, save the fact that he was alive on the island, which all things considered was still an improvement over what he'd left behind. His house had spent the last year starting to look like one instead of some poorly arranged pieces of wood leaned together in a vague house-shape, and he had the magic lights and the cold air going1, and life was comfortable. With people finally starting to recognize the importance of sports, it was even almost pleasant at times. It had been a creeping feeling of half a year or more, though, that there could be more to it all. Every time he saw his younger brother carting Rupert's niece around, he got a weird, hunted sort of feeling

[wishesandsmoke]

Already pleased with the day, already smiling, Eden brightened when she saw him. "Rupert," she said warmly, reaching her hands out to him, "come on, come in, I'm going swimming." He probably had other plans, of course, but he had started toward her first, and by that token (not to mention that she was in that sort of good mood which seems like permission for anything), she didn't especially care.

[first_worde]

The invitation didn't do anything to make the unfamiliar and not particularly pleasant feeling go away, but he wasn't about to say no.

"Good thing I hadn't any plans," he replied, "I'd hate having to come up with an excuse for having missed them!" This wasn't exactly a lie- the sentiment was true, even if the excuse he would have given would have been 'a beautiful girl asked me to swim with her'. He reached back with one hand to pull his shirt up, then shrugged it off his shoulders and tossed it onto the sand.

[wishesandsmoke]

"Please," Eden said, flicking her hand to the side as she waited just at the edge of the water, "who has plans around here?" Time, friendship, the island's vast supply of attractive men and the possession of a boyfriend in no way diminished her ability to appreciate that, however you cut it, Rupert was basically gorgeous, though the old urge to act on it had been trained into submission over the years. Water playing around her ankles, she started edging backwards into the water. "The only people with anything like a schedule are the teachers and the kitchen crew."

[otherbeds]

On the island, as in "real life", Tooru was quite a bit of a stray himself. He didn't have friends, his family wasn't worth talking about, and after Matsuoka... well. Since he had no one and nothing to keep him occupied, standing around by the ocean seemed as good as standing around anywhere else.

He'd got a pair of bright pink rinestone flipflops out of the clothing box at one point and kicked them off carelessly once he reached the sand, hardly breaking stride in his trudge to the water's edge. There was already a woman out there and it gave him something to look at. If only there was beer.

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden was already up to her hips when she turned to glance back at the shore, mostly to check Mr Muggles was still okay and not completely freaking out (more than usual, anyway). Over the sound of the waves, she hadn't heard anyone else approaching. The man making his way toward the ocean wasn't anyone she recognized, and she wasn't comfortable intruding on someone's afternoon peace without invitation. All the same, she was a friendly girl and she instinctively offered a smile to the newcomer and a small, quick wave of greeting before, satisfied the show dog was just fine on his own, she continued wading out into the water.

[otherbeds]

Everyone Tooru had met so far seemed happy on this island. It made him even more disinclined to get involved. He'd got it fixed in his mind that they weren't like he was. Perhaps what he really needed was for someone to tear their way in past the apathy. He didn't expect that to happen, though. Rather than reveal the constant melancholy, Tooru smiles and waves back at Eden without moving to follow her. The shorts and t-shirt he's wearing are too big for him but he's not going to get them wet and then have to clean them - or go digging in the box and come up with even more ugly XXL clothes to replace them with.