The afternoon sun is hot on Cameron's shoulders as he makes his way down the beach from the boathouse. He's been putting in a little time every day on bringing those skiffs he found up to his standards. When he's honest with himself, he knows he could have had them seaworthy long ago - they weren't too badly off when he found them, just disused - but the work seems to matter more when he has no one to take them out with.
His eyes are near closed from the glare of the sun, and he's starting to wish he'd thought to find some sunglasses or something when he catches a flash of crimson ahead. It takes a split second glance before he's off and running, knowing what his mind hasn't had time to process yet. There's no pausing for doubt, there's no doubt period. "Ty!"
"Yeah, and I've been having so much fun doing that all by myself for four months," Cameron says darkly, "in a place where the only people from back around home are him, his CFO and his ex-girlfriend. Not that - she's very nice, the girl he blogged about, Erica, but that's not the point." Up until not that long ago, though, Ty's right, that's about all he could do here. Now he has a purpose at least, something to do with himself, and he isn't in it alone. They've always done better teamed up together than on their own.
"Look," he sighs, "let me just show you around." They can figure out what to do later, not least because Cameron isn't yet prepared to mention Zuckerberg's apology.
Tyler opens his mouth, ready to speak up, ready to protest that he's really not in the mood for this conversation to be over any time soon, but it's not going to do him any good to perpetuate things right now, not as he tries to put the rest of their situation into perspective. Besides, they've really only put the topic on pause for the moment, and he can accept that, stepping in to stand alongside his brother with a quick nod and a smile that remarkably isn't forced.
"Yeah, alright," he agrees, reaching over to clap Cam on the shoulder once, dropping his hand and looking him over. "What were you doing out here, anyway?"
They'll have to deal with it later, and truthfully, Cameron wouldn't have it any other way, because stressful though it all is, he knows better than to think it's a problem that can sit forever. He's made that mistake before, trying to handle all this in other ways, and their options here are too limited as is. Ty won't just keep quiet, and that's fine. But the last thing he wants is for Zuckerberg to mar the best thing that's happened to him in months. It can wait
( ... )
Tyler can't stifle the grin that breaks through, genuine amusement at his brother's choice of words, and he falls into step alongside his brother, not having to worry about shortening any stride when their legs are exactly the same length, covering the same amount of distance in an identical span of time. He'd always felt somewhat sorry for Div, having to take two steps to every one of theirs, but if he'd had a problem with keeping up with them, he'd never voiced it out loud. "Seaworthy? What, I'm gone for four months and you're talking seaworthy
( ... )
"And hell's what I need to get back in shape," Cameron points out. He knows he can't push himself nearly as far as he'd like as fast as he'd like, but he still aims to be out on the water as soon as he can be, even if it means the ocean. He still echoes Ty's grin, knowing how odd it has to sound from him. They make do with what they can get, though, and then improve upon it, which has been his aim for a while now, even without a partner to row with. It's just a lot easier to stay the course when he knows he won't be rowing on his own. It would have made decent conditioning, but it's far from being real practice without another person in the boat.
"Unfortunately there isn't really anywhere else to practice around here. The biggest body of water inland is a stream or the pool from a waterfall. But there's a second island a few miles out. No one lives there, but I figure it's a good practice stretch. If you're up for it."
"You said it," Tyler replies, gently reaching over to swat his brother in the stomach, not hard enough to constitute a full punch but more under the guise of checking to see if he's got the muscle mass to withstand it. "Don't start going all soft on me now, Cam," he adds, with a quiet chuckle. It's easier to navigate in his shoes once they get to the boardwalk path, though some of the boards could definitely use replacing and a few are even missing in certain places, but he simply lengthens his stride in order to step over any gaps.
"Well, if you need any more help on those boats - between the two of us, we'll only be getting back on the water more quickly," he points out. "So, what, you're thinking to the second island and back? Seems like a good enough stretch for us to determine whether or not we're ready to get our asses kicked."
After Henley - and four months has done very little to soften the blow of defeat - Cameron's intent on that not being the case in the least. "That's what I was thinking," he agrees. "Not that there's anyone around here to test ourselves against. There's pretty much nothing in the way of sports period." It's not like he doesn't understand, since it has to be frustrating to organize teams only to have large portions of them going missing routinely, but he would have liked some kind of physical outlet to occupy his time other than cardio class and the training he routinely puts himself through, the best approximation of home he can manage without a tank or much in the way of equipment. The sooner they're out on the water, the better.
"It's a pretty weird place, I gotta tell you. Barely even a barter system. It's almost purely run on volunteer work, and somehow that's sustained a community for roughly six years."
The sting of Henley still lingers pretty strongly in Tyler's mind, but this place feels like the perfect location to pursue some recovery time out there in the water. He isn't going to sit and reflect on what they could've done, what they might've done better - and besides, their loss can't be completely chalked up to self-analysis. While he and Cam are a team in itself, their losing was spread out fairly evenly across the board, and he has to base it on everyone as a whole unit. The rest of the team isn't here - his brother would've mentioned it if they were - and so now, all they can do is move forward, enjoy rowing for the sake of rowing, pursue the sport in its simplest form without the concern of competition.
"It looks like this place has a lot of natural sources to make use of," he notes. "And, what, the rest of this is just constructed by people over time?"
"Except for the Compound up ahead," Cameron says. It's not quite in sight yet, but they're not terribly far off, at least, which makes this a good time to try and explain it, though 'try' is the operative word when it comes to anything about the island. "Apparently the people who first showed up around here about six years ago found it just sitting there in the jungle, all concrete with running water, electricity, the works. Everything else just seems to have... sprung up around it as needed."
The people around here have some strange priorities, so far as he's concerned, but they've also done an admirable job of working with what they have, he has to give them that. It's hard enough being dropped here out of nowhere without having had to make everything from the ground up.
His eyes are near closed from the glare of the sun, and he's starting to wish he'd thought to find some sunglasses or something when he catches a flash of crimson ahead. It takes a split second glance before he's off and running, knowing what his mind hasn't had time to process yet. There's no pausing for doubt, there's no doubt period. "Ty!"
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"Look," he sighs, "let me just show you around." They can figure out what to do later, not least because Cameron isn't yet prepared to mention Zuckerberg's apology.
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"Yeah, alright," he agrees, reaching over to clap Cam on the shoulder once, dropping his hand and looking him over. "What were you doing out here, anyway?"
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"Unfortunately there isn't really anywhere else to practice around here. The biggest body of water inland is a stream or the pool from a waterfall. But there's a second island a few miles out. No one lives there, but I figure it's a good practice stretch. If you're up for it."
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"Well, if you need any more help on those boats - between the two of us, we'll only be getting back on the water more quickly," he points out. "So, what, you're thinking to the second island and back? Seems like a good enough stretch for us to determine whether or not we're ready to get our asses kicked."
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"It's a pretty weird place, I gotta tell you. Barely even a barter system. It's almost purely run on volunteer work, and somehow that's sustained a community for roughly six years."
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"It looks like this place has a lot of natural sources to make use of," he notes. "And, what, the rest of this is just constructed by people over time?"
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The people around here have some strange priorities, so far as he's concerned, but they've also done an admirable job of working with what they have, he has to give them that. It's hard enough being dropped here out of nowhere without having had to make everything from the ground up.
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