Logs:Between the pauses / awkward questions and fake laughs / another rock falls.

Between the pauses / awkward questions and fake laughs / another rock falls.
Dramatis Personae Natsumi, Tok
In Absentia Jax	2024-07-10 “Wanna see’em?”
Location <XAV> Lake - Xs Grounds
Bright, bright, bright; the lake glitters wide and expansive here, stretching off into the distance. Sunlight, moonlight, starlight, it catches them all. Lapping at the rocky shore, its deep waters are frigid in winter and cool even in summer. A stone pier stretches out a ways into the water, wide and smooth, though often icy in winter. The water teems with life nevertheless, home to myriad species of fish that provide for ample fishing or just lazy watching on a slow summer day, for those who want to take a boat from the boathouse out to the center of the lake, or perhaps lounge on the pier and try their luck. It’s a hot, humid, summer Wednesday, the only reprieve from the heat being the soft breeze that occasionally blows through and the clouds that periodically disperse the suns rays. Tok is standing about a foot deep in the water, their sneakers and socks haphazardly abandoned nearby on the shore next to a notebook from the class they’d finished, an incomplete math worksheet sticking out in lieu of a folder. Despite the fact that their baggy green cargo shorts are rolled up half way, the ends of them still have managed to get wet, along with large spots of water on their faded tank top. Their tail is sticking straight up to avoid getting wet, but its idle waving is not helping with it staying that way. They wade slowly through, and stick a clawed hand in, drawing out some rocks that caught their eye. They’re in the middle of admiring the rocks’ subtle glittering in the sun when they suddenly startle and yelp, splashing up some water as they quickly move away from whatever fish they felt brush up against their foot. Natsumi has been kind of slowly meandering towards the boathouse. She's got a large and very bright multicolored many-pocketed bag held in one hand, a phone in her other, and looks dressed for a day in the sun -- fluttery loose yellow blouse open over denim short-alls, a dark tankini top decorated with cherries, jelly slide sandals also with a cherry motif. Her accessories are similarly cheerful-bright -- oversized smiling-sun ring on a finger, mismatched bead earrings. large red sunglasses shading her eyes. The sunglasses make her expression a little opaque as Tok yelps, but the sound brings her steps to a brief hitch. She pauses, head tilting as she scrutinizes first the water and then the teen in the water. She's a little slower about continuing forward, calling out when she's still a respectable distance away: "Are, uh, you okay?" “Somethin’ touched my foot!” Tok responds without looking up, and despite their reaction they sound more excited about this fact than upset. They’re already bending over at the waist to try and spot it in the water, but quickly give up with a huff. When they hinge back up, some drops of water are hanging off their hair which sticks out even more than usual in the humidity. Their dark eyes squint at Natsumi, and they bring a hand up above their eyes to shade against the light reflecting off the lake water. “I lost it.” They announce disappointed, as if this might also be something she was concerned about. They begin to trudge closer towards the shore, “Didn’t lose my rocks though! Found some cool ones.” They carefully hold up the rocks they still have cupped in their hand, one still manages to topple out of the pile with a plonk, “Wanna see’em?” "See -- the rocks?" Natsumi sounds a little puzzled about this offer. She hitches her bag a little up on her shoulder, brows pinching behind her large glasses. "N--" she starts automatically, but then gets halfway to reconsidering with a tentative, "What are they -- for?" Tok trudges the rest of the way out of the water, and they shake out their tail, which they managed to keep somewhat dry. “For? Uh, to look at, I guess?” They mirror her puzzled tone, “Guess I could skip the ones I don’t like as much on the water.” They offer with a shrug. They fish a particular rock out of the pile as they continue to wander closer towards her, it’s about as dull grey as the rest of them, “This one’s cool. If you hold it at the right angle it looks like it’s got glitter in it.” They offer it out towards her to take a look. Natsumi takes a reflexive step back when Tok shakes out their tail -- her polite smile doesn't leave but it does tighten just a little, head turning minutely to track the droplets scattering in the shake. "Oh! Uh --" Her brow is still creased. She leans just a hair forward to suggest she is taking a look (a brief look) at the rock, and then steps back again without touching it. "Yeah, it looks -- very -- rocklike." And then, after a brief and awkward pause, the somewhat dutiful addition: "Very cool. Were you just here to collect -- plain rocks?" Tok seems satisfied with her reaction, and puts the rock back into the pile, “Well I was working on some homework but then I figured I’d come out here to work on it instead cause the lights were too loud inside—But then I saw some of these in the water-” they shake the rocks a little in their hand, “And I uh..got a little carried away.” Their eyes do a quick scan of her clothes, “Cool sunglasses by the way, they make you look like you’re from a movie or something. What’re you out here for?” "The lights were too loud?" Natsumi's puzzled expression is continuing. She tilts her head back, glancing briefly up at the sky as if expecting the sun to begin screeching at any moment. When it doesn't, she tips her face back down. After a moment of hesitation she gestures to the boathouse. "I was just going to go to the boathouse. I have homework, too, but it's nicer to do out here." “Yeah yeah, sometimes I can hear them buzzing?” Tok gestures vaguely near their ear, “Drives me nuts. Well, not as much as the homework I guess- but combined? Forget about it.” They ramble. They twist at her gesture to look over towards the boathouse, “Oh that does seem nice.” They bend down to pick up their stuff, “What class is it for? Mine’s that intro math class. Maybe uh-” they hesitate, shaking some sand off the notebook, “Can I join? I won’t distract you—promise.” "Oh, um, it's just -- for art. One of Mr. Jax's." Natsumi is slipping her phone back into her pocket and wiggling her polished toes against the textured jelly bed of her sandals. "He's really good, like, really really good but I kind of suck." She's saying this with a small self-conscious laugh, her nose crinkling up. "I'm -- not really sure I'd actually get any drawing done with someone there it'd be so embarrassing. Kinda why my plan was to hide out in the middle of the lake where only the birds are gonna witness the ten thousand drafts I crumple up." She glances to the boathouse and then to Tok, head tilting small and curious. "Do you sail?" Tok tucks their notebook under their arm and a smile tugs at the corner of their mouth, some of their pointed teeth poking through, “Ohhh yeah, I get it. Mr. Jax seems good at everything- Y’know he has a giant dragonfly? It’s so cool, you should see her sometime.” Their tail idly wraps around their waist as they ramble, and they run their sharp fingertips through the fur of it. They quickly jump back on topic, “I’m no artist so I wouldn’t judge, but I get it. I think some birds have a good memory though, so they might remember those drafts for a long time.” They joke. They look over at the boats, “And uh…yeah totally! Why, do you sail?” They ask curiously. "I don't think anyone's good at everything," Natsumi replies with a small laugh. "He's not great at, uh," after a moment's thought she reconsiders whatever she was going to say here and instead says: "Hunting, probably? Anyway I've seen the dragonfly!" This comes quick and a little defensive. "And yeah," as if this is explanation enough about the sailing, "I'm from Hawai'i. Where were you before this?" Tok’s eyebrows scrunch together as they consider, “Hunting? Yeah I guess, he seems to like animals a whole bunch—or at least horses. And dragonflies.” They grin, “Isn’t Sugar is so cool. I had no idea she was even there until a few days ago.” Their ears twitch upwards in interest, “Before this? Uh…” they tug on the fur on the end of their tail, and their eyes look upwards and dart around, as if they’re tracking an imaginary map in the sky, “…Connecticut. Not for long though, I’ve done a lot of traveling.” They tilt their head, “I’ve never seen Hawai’i though. Which island were you from?“ "I mean she was like -- all over the news when he went all superhero at the torture camps. Literally swooping down from the heavens to --" Natsumi mimes brandishing a sword. "So many people think he was riding a legit dragon, it's wild. And even wilder to meet him and he's so..." She just trails off here, lightly pressing her teeth down against her lip and doesn't finish that thought. She does brighten, though, at done a lot of traveling -- the look she gives Tok is both curious and startled. "Do you, uh, know the different islands? Where've you been, I used to travel a lot, too. Kinda weird but I never really got out to New York until coming here." Tok is nodding along excitedly at her miming the sword, “I mean—she is huge!” They spread their hands out, “All she needs to do is breathe fire and she’s essentially a legit dragon.” They grin, “I didn’t know she’d be just—in the stables.” At Natsumi’s questions, They stare at her for a pause, before answering, “A bit? Not like—all hundred of them. But, the big ones.” They’ve stopped tugging at the fur on their tail and moved on to rolling one of the rocks they collected around in their hand, “I’ve been here a couple times before? But I was really little for those. Pretty much most of the states with the bigger cities.” They explain. “This is my first time here alone, so honestly it’s kinda like my first time here too! We can be uh- newbies together! Or whatever.” They wave a hand, “Where’s the coolest place you’ve been?” "Most of the -- oh, right. Why, what did your parents do?" Natsumi shifts her bag from one shoulder to the other, shifting her weight, too, to accommodate this change. Her smile goes just a little crooked, nose wrinkling up. "I feel like part of the whole New York thing is that a lot of people are newbies here all the time. And maybe a little moreso even at, like, mutie Camp Half-Blood. I think I've met way more people who aren't from around here than who are." Tok is narrowing their eyes now, only slightly, and their grin slides into a half grin. “Heh…I loved those books.” They say, but it’s distracted. Their eyes dart momentarily to the sides of her head, as if looking for something, before settling back to glancing between her and the rock in their palm. “What do your parents do?” They ask, curiously, instead of answering her question. "Oh, they're in hospitality." Natsumi's answer is a little abstracted, but after this she smiles -- quicker, brighter. "Aren't those books great?" It's a bright chirrup, and then she's glancing again at the sky. "Oh, gosh, I really should get started on my work, I don't want to get all the way out there just to have it be dark. Uh -- have fun with your, um, rocks." She's shifting her grip on her bag again, and hastening away toward the boathouse. Tok blinks, surprised, “Oh! Uh- thanks! Good luck with your art stuff.” They say, and offer a quick wave as she walks away. Their hand hangs in the air for too long, before dropping down to their side to pull absently at the fur on their tail. They look down at their newly acquired rock collection, and begin, one by one, skipping them across the quiet lake water.