leave the light on when i'm coming home to you

[kindofbroken]

It's nice out. This, in itself, is not unusual. In fact, to start as such is probably misleading, as there's nothing particularly unusual about one of the small scenes going on at the beach at all.

The scene in question is this: Charlie Crews is seated on the flattest of one of the outcrops of rocks that grace the beach, in a slightly modified

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[fears_nothing]

If he knew nothing, Niko knew meditation. He'd come to it as a young man, angry and scared that he might lose his brother to any number of things, and the simple focus on his body and his breathing helped center him and helped to ease those feelings of worry. Later, it helped him hone his focus for other pursuits, from both study to swordplay, and now it seemed that zen was some sort of sixth sense.

He didn't want to interrupt Crews while he meditated; it was hard enough to achieve zen in the hectic day to day and he didn't want to ruin it for the man, but after watching for a few beats he cleared his throat.

"If you'd like a partner, we could do tai chi."

Blunt, perhaps, but he'd met the man before.

[kindofbroken]

Slowly, Crews' eyes blinked open, another moment passing before his gaze found Niko. Much like Niko, zen was the way that he kept a handle on himself. It kept him in the moment, as he'd so often told Reese. It kept him here.

Just as slowly, a smile spread across his face, something very alert flickering about in his eyes.

"I've never done tai chi before," he remarked brightly. "I've seen people doing it. Mostly back home. In the parks, things like that. If you wouldn't mind teaching me, I’d love to."

[fears_nothing]

"It helps give you a tangible focus," Niko explained, settling nearby. "Like prayer beads, only more in motion. Some don't care for it, feel like the physical aspect only takes them out of the zen state, but I've found it makes it easier for me to hold my concentration."

He smiled, just a ghost of it touching his lips before it faded. "I'm glad there's someone else here who practices."

[kindofbroken]

"It's helped me out of a lot of tight corners," Crews said mildly, watching Niko intently - not out of any apprehension but curiosity as to the upcoming tai chi lesson. "I've never tried the tangible route, so to speak. It's always been just - reciting things to myself. Proverbs, stuff like that. Words. They help me stay in the moment. Remind me I need to be in the moment. Sometimes I get a little distracted."

[fear_no_words]

Charlie Crews fascinated Uhura a little bit. Not just because he so resembled Bill, but because their brief conversation of a year ago still hung around in her memory.

(God, had it been a year ago? She pushed the thought out of her head as it annoyed her too much.)

She suspected there was more to him than met the eye. Whether that was good or bad, worth the interest or not, Uhura couldn't know. But the puzzle was enough to draw her near. It was rude, she thought, to interrupt someone obviously in the middle of meditation, but she could wait -- for a little while anyway -- and the dog was cute. She offered out her hand to make friends and see if she couldn't grab herself a seat.

[kindofbroken]

Happily, Sarah sniffed at the proffered hand, then bumping her nose against Uhura's palm as her ears perked up (along with the rest of her whole frame). For the most part, she had free reign, but she'd stayed close to Crews ever since Reese's disappearance. She was a friendly dog on principle, but new acquaintances were always a bit of a treat.

Picking up on the noises of a happy dog, Crews opened his eyes, smiling brightly as he recognized Uhura.

"Long time no see," he said, not yet budging from his spot.

[fear_no_words]

Crouching down to give the friendly dog a good scratch behind the ears, Uhura tilted her head up to shoot a smile in Charlie's direction when she heard his voice.

"It's a big island," she answered lightly. It was and it wasn't. Sometimes it felt like they had all the space in the world and others like she ran into the same people five times a day. But it was enough to keep people apart.

"I didn't want to interrupt you. I didn't, did I?"

[kindofbroken]

"Not at all," Crews replied, voice bright. Despite how long he'd been around, there were only a few people he'd ever talked to more than once. It was partially his fault, having fallen back to a hermit-like existence upon Reese's disappearance, and partially because, as she said, it was a big island.

"I'm in the moment," he added decisively. "And that's what I was trying for, anyway. How are you?"

[dinnerfor1_girl]

Sally has to lean in fully in order to get his attention, or so it seems. "Earth to Charlie," Sally said, waving her hands in front of him. "I need a volunteer again." She had never been a fan of yoga, not really. Anything that made you that calm was suspect when it wasn't related to alcohol, after all. She tapped lightly at his head, just in case he was going to ignore her.

[kindofbroken]

Crews seemed to come to life in the space of a single moment, letting out a short, abrupt laugh as he straightened up, eyes popping open and tracking the movements of her hands. He wasn't a stranger to changing attitudes in the blink of an eye, as might have been a little too apparent from his reaction. "Taking another crack at my complexion?" he asked, squinting briefly. "If you need a volunteer, I'm your man."

[dinnerfor1_girl]

"Not your face, this time," Sally said, and let her gaze track down from his pores (which were looking actually very healthy) down, and down, and then down until her gaze latched on his fingernails and she let them rest there pointedly, coaxing him to take a hint.

[kindofbroken]

A beat passed before his gaze followed hers, a smile quick to his features when he figured out what she meant.

"Manicure?" he guessed, cocking his head to one side. "I don't bite my nails. That's a good thing, right? I don't bite my cuticles, either. I used to, when I was a kid. I gradually just learned not to. No pepper, or anything like that."

[abbysciuto]

Relaxation was a good thing, especially before an afternoon that would be teaching shortly followed by dinner-making and therefore not really all that quiet, unlike most of the days in the lab.

She'd gone down to the beach to get more shells so that her relaxation also had a purpose, although that might actually be a contradiction in terms. She wouldn't have disturbed Charlie except that there was a really nice big shell six inches from him and it would probably startle him if she just grabbed it. From all the prison tattoos, he wasn't someone she thought she should startle.

She quietly settled on a rock near him and waited. She was happy to sit until he reached a point when he could leave his meditation state without abruptness. She had time.

[kindofbroken]

The prison tattoos that Charlie Crews sported (both on his back, inked across his shoulderblades) weren't things that he particularly liked to show off, but things that he knew people on the island had seen. It had been unavoidable, particularly given how much he enjoyed swimming.

He registered the sound of someone approaching - zen helped his focus - although he didn't move until Cat began to snuffle, perking up at Abby's presence. Carefully, he unfolded his legs, turning so that he faced her, friendly smile quickly on his features.

"Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom."

[abbysciuto]

Abby chuckled at Cat's sniffing and Charlie's unconventional greeting. She reached down to let Cat smell her hands then scritched the dog's ears.

"The path of the enlightened one leaves no track- it is like the path of birds in the sky," she quoted in response, since she still had a collection of Zen sayings in her head from that time she'd been stuck in his body. Well, not this particular iteration of him, but the previous one.

[kindofbroken]

Cat barked happily, tail thumping on the sand. Crews, for his part, laughed on an exhale. He enjoyed the fact that she simply went with what he said, as opposed to being stumped, as most others were. Conversation seemed less stilted, that way.

"How've you been?" he asked, reverting to a more normal conversation pattern. It had been a while since he'd last seen her, so he figured it was worth asking.

[endlessdel]

She puts her hands on his shoulders first. Then she slides her hands around his chest. Then she presses her body agains his back. And then she is hugging him. She wants to anchor him before he floats off, leaves her for a higher plane because he is hers even if he isn't her brother.

"Stop trying to leave me Charlie," Del whispers. "Or I will flap my wings and then there will be a hurricane."

[kindofbroken]

"I'm not leaving," he murmurs, keeping his eyes closed. He concentrates on every other sense he has, concentrates on staying in the moment. (Sometimes he wishes that he were. Sometimes he wishes that he could. Sometimes he wants to be anywhere but here. Anywhere but here or Pelican Bay.)

"Flap your wings and make a hurricane. Like the butterfly on the other side of the earth."

[endlessdel]

"You're drifting to somewhere else. The calm place, the heart of the storm where all is still. Tempus Frangit Charlie," Delirium said smiling sadly. If there was anyone who knew that place it was her. It was at the heart of her realm after all. She was the calm and she was the storm just like her sister was both life and Death. "My wings are clipped but I would destroy the world for you and mine. I used to flap and millions of people would feel it."

[kindofbroken]

"I try, sometimes," he admitted, voice quiet. "But in the end, I'm still here." He straightened up, staring out at the sea. He was here, in this moment, on this island, in this body. (He was in the past, in a jail cell, in a house full of people he hadn't killed, in a car with a dead man, in an orchard with the one.)

"I'm still here."