{ open } all my troubles on a burning pile

[gleans]

Who: Galen Howard and YOU!
What: Wandering on the beach, smoking, throwing rocks!
When: Day 30, afternoon.
Where: The edge of the water, near houses 20, 9, and the lighthouse.

It's easy for Galen to feel like he's trapped in a movie, when he's alone. After arriving in a strange place, encountering all kinds of impossible things, and to top it all off, being told that he may end up going insane at the hands of a living nightmare, it's hard to feel like this is real life. But there's really a God here, there's really a sweet doctor who turns into an angry green monster, and he's really become good friends with a woman who works regularly with the supernatural. It's almost strange to think that just a few weeks ago, he was working early radio, spending long hours in writing sessions, going on dates with his non-traumatized boyfriend -- it all seems so damn normal, in comparison.

He doesn't like being alone, but sometimes he needs it. He isn't far, at least; Galen has nicked one of Jesse's remaining cigarettes and has wandered out to the beach, not too close to the lighthouse -- and not too close to the water's edge, either. After the boxes, he really doesn't trust this open expanse between land and God-knows-where, no matter how soothing and home-like it sounds.

Galen crouches, digging where the sand and the snow meet for a rock of the right size and shape. When he finds it, he rolls it over in his hand a few times, then winds back and throws it -- he freezes for a second, arm midair, one foot kicking slightly up off the sand, as he watches the rock go; it drops with a deep plunk several yards off-shore, swallowed by the roll of the waves. He repeats this action with another rock, cigarette pinched firmly between his lips, humming something unrecognizable quietly under his breath.

Comments

[laevisilaufeyson]

At times, when the heights grow tiresome and the warmth inside the lighthouse oppressive, Loki walks. It's an abhorrently human pastime, walking and thinking, as though one needs must facilitate the other, as though reminiscence is desirable and not merely the opening of a door onto a cruel and unpleasant landscape, as though there's enough ground on the Earth to walk to help one think all the things that need thinking, or so much as remember all the things held within an ancient head. As though he couldn't manage all of that just as well whilst standing in one place.

Still, he walks, and the chill in the salt air is in its own way comforting.

Generally, though, generally the paths he walks are empty, the open solitude of them a balm to a weary and irritable soul. Generally. Not today.

A suckling child sets his feet along the same path to the same sea and throws stones at that great, impassive beast, and Loki watches. Appropriate, maybe; allegorical, perhaps; a thousand years from now he could tell the tale of a lone young man building himself a sea wall stone by stone, throwing them with a curse into the face of an impassive enemy, up, up. And the sea wore it down, he'd say, because the sea always does. Time always does. Swallows even the young and invincible up and doesn't even have the decency to spit them out again.

There's a dismal thought. Loki slips down to the beach to scoop up a stone of his own, a large and heavy thing, and fling it out to sea. The splash should be satisfying. The boy's startlement might be more so.

[gleans]

The realization that he isn't alone does startle him; it's the sight of the second stone just before it crashes into the surf that makes him falter with the rock in his hand, turn on his heel, and look towards the source. Who could have thrown that?

He doesn't recognize the stranger, and there's just... something about him, but to avoid being rude, he lifts a hand in greeting anyway, offers a small smile. He'd say hello, but the surf is just loud enough that at this distance, there isn't really any point.

[laevisilaufeyson]

Loki scoops up another stone and wanders slowly closer, tossing it lightly from hand to hand – much more lightly than he ought to be able, given its size. A wave and a smile; how utterly droll, how very trusting. His own smile isn't quite so courteous. It isn't even warm, something else, something icy and perhaps a little predatory – but that's a lie, a jest. He doesn't really feel like smashing any skulls in today.

Doesn't mean he can't imply, though, with the smile and the slow, steady, constant passing of the stone from hand to hand.

“You can do that all you like,” Loki says once he's within earshot. “The sea won't hear you.”

His head turns, eyes travelling impassively over the landscape before turning back to Galen. “Nor will anyone else, I expect.”

[gleans]

Galen pauses in what he's doing as Loki comes closer, a little unsettled by that cold smile. He isn't sure he's ever seen anyone look at him that way, and though it doesn't show on his face, it chills him a little.

He looks away, but after a short second, decides that's probably a bad idea -- his eyes dart back to Loki, and he puts his cigarette out on the stone in his hand, listening. Did he just...?

Galen laughs flatly, eyeing the somewhat large stone passing between Loki's hands. "Uh, excuse me?"

[laevisilaufeyson]

“You heard me.” It's beyond obvious that he did; that altogether too amusing shiftiness says everything Loki needs to know. Words. It always thrills him. Mere words, harmless vibrations of air particles, and yet here: a tangible result. A physical response. It's more magic than the magic he knows, a contradiction of the laws of thermodynamics – as he knows them, and admittedly he doesn't know them terribly well.

Still. One rarely gets something from almost nothing at all. It's all so very delicious.

“Isolating yourself from all your friends wasn't terribly clever of you, was it? Alone in a strange place... dangerous, by all accounts. Full of monsters.” He tosses the rock up, up, and catches it again. “You must be very brave. Or very foolhardy. They are so often the same thing.”

His smile widens and he gives the stone another easy flip before turning away to launch it out to sea with a sharp flick of the wrist.

“One never does know what one might meet, out wandering alone. Or whom.”

[gleans]

For the second it can spare, Galen's mind flashes back to that thought of feeling like he's trapped in a movie; this kind of scene is far too familiar, and for that reason, he wants to believe that all signs aren't pointing to the outcome he's thinking of. But this man doesn't exactly have an air of joking around about him, not like Ghoul did.

He takes a step back as Loki gets closer, and his heart skips a beat when that rock is about to be thrown -- but no, it's not coming for his head, it's flying into the water, far too lightly for a stone of that size, making him wonder again who this guy is. Still, Galen's hand jumps to the wrist with the communicator, eyes not leaving the stranger.

"Is that a threat?" He asks, still straddling that line between brave and foolhardy. "Cuz I'm one button press away from having the whole town tuned in. I'm not as isolated as you think."

[laevisilaufeyson]

“If it were a threat, what good do you really think tuning them in would do you?” Loki asks, eyebrows raised in polite curiosity. “Not everyone minds tarnishing their reputation.”

And there's nobody among them, even those who can jump through spacetime with a single thought, who could stop him before he could kill this little boy if he really wanted to. Not a one. “Some of us don't have much left to tarnish.”

His smile widens and he presses a hand to his chest, giving a shallow little bow. “Something to think on, the next time you decide to go wandering alone. Unless you think the meagre reward to be had in exposing an attacker would be worth your life.”

Loki looks Galen over, his gaze witheringly impassive. “Or you're hiding something truly impressive underneath that unassuming exterior... which I doubt.”

[gleans]

There aren't a great many things that easily anger Galen, but being treated like a mouse being toyed with by a cat is one of them -- and that's exactly how he feels, as soon as it seems that Loki actually doesn't intend to hurt him. Yet, anyway. He feels small, humiliated, but it's the start of anger that shows on his face as he bites his tongue, shifts slightly where he's standing.

"Maybe it would." His hand drops from his wrist, eyes defiant. "And if I am? Would getting your kicks be worth your life? Since I'm gonna assume you're experienced with this kind of thing."

[laevisilaufeyson]

Oh, posturing now. Loki has to laugh, he can't not, because– “Anyone out to kill me would have to be extraordinarily ambitious.”

How ridiculous, how utterly ridiculous the mere idea is; no. Loki survives. Loki survives because Loki is needed, and Loki survives because survival is pain. Pain is his lot. Thus has the thread of his life been woven.

“I know the day of my death, and it will not come at the hands of you or yours, child. But if that's how things are, then show me.” His hands dart out to grab fistfuls of Galen's shirt near the shoulder, yanking him in and up. Close. Very close.

“Well?” He braces Galen's weight against his forearms and lifts, arching his back to bring the shorter man's feet well off the ground. “Let's play. Your strength against mine. Your power against mine.”

[tooghoulforschool]

Fun Ghoul can be quiet when he wants to be. He's quieter than the other Joys around here by far. Hard not to be with the sound of the waves swallowing up footsteps in sand.

But sneaking up on a guy armed with rocks that already doesn't like you much? Not such a good plan. Even if he does have the advantage of looking like someone that could throw the guy off guard for a sec. He's not cruel, not unnecessarily so, and he alerts Galen of his presence when he gets about six feet away.

"You're doin' that all wrong, Howard." Hands up, moving cautious, he doesn't mean any harm.

[gleans]

First, he thinks the voice is Jesse's, which probably unfairly sours his reaction when he realizes that it isn't. Galen doesn't leave, though, doesn't react rudely, but he doesn't give Ghoul the warmest reception ever. Whatever, it's already cold out.

"Yeah?" He pulls the cigarette out from between his lips, knocks his chin up slightly. "Looks like it's getting the job done to me."

[tooghoulforschool]

"Nah, man, way more satisfyin' this way." He takes a step forward, slow and deliberate. Watching Galen's reaction. Seems safe enough, not that he wouldn't finish anything Galen started.

Another few steps, hands down and body more relaxed, until he finds what he's looking for on the beach. "Perfection." He hunches over, grabbing a smooth, flat rock shaped like an oval. Rounder is better, but this will do. He smirks at Galen before winding up like a pitcher at the mound and chucking that rock side-long out at the water.

It skips three times before disappearing below the surface and the smile left behind is insufferably smug. "That's how it's done."

[gleans]

Galen watches, and he can't help it; he smiles a little, even if it's in a this guy kind of way. Showoff. But at least he isn't starting shit.

He leans over for another rock, flicking his ash away with his other hand. "Yeah, sure, but I wasn't going for skips, I was going for distance." He finds a suitable rock, winds up, and throws it as far as he can -- it goes pretty far, the splash not even audible from where they're standing.

[tooghoulforschool]

"Flexin' those muscles, huh? Didn't think you even had any." Now who's the showoff? Alright, it's a little impressive. He can't exactly think of too many real-world applications for throwing rocks really far, but beaning an enemy from a distance is probably more effective than skipping a rock off their face.

Except now he's just been outdone. And now it's a contest. Ghoul nudges the sand with the toe of his boot, searching for another rock.

"But you're not out here just to throw rocks, are ya? Somethin' up?" Not that he cares. He just wants to make sure the next time he sees Jesse, he doesn't have to put up with second-hand bitching ruining the entire meet up. And it's not like he has anything better to do.

[gleans]

Galen snorts, but pays the comment no mind, already looking for another rock. His shoulder is starting to get a little sore, now, and that also bothers him; getting thrown off his axis like this is taking a physical toll, too, not that he'd been doing a hell of a lot since tour, anyway.

He picks up a rock, butts his cigarette out on it, and glances up at Ghoul. He's dying to know what he and Jesse talked about; all he knows is that they supposedly got along, which is something. Maybe he's not so bad.

"Nah," he says with a shrug, rolling the stone over in his hand. "Just a little homesick. Or -- suffering workaholic withdrawals, one or the other." A little smirk; he's joking.

[tooghoulforschool]

"Don't think takin' it out on the water's gonna fix much of that homesickness, sweetie." His tone isn't malicious, just playful. And Galen's not the only one feeling like that.

Ghoul grabs the biggest rock he can find, it's about the size of a small melon, and chucks it hard. Doesn't go half as far as Galen's but it makes a big splash and that's apparently good enough for him. He turns back to look at Party's doppelganger, running a hand through his hair and letting his expression settle somewhere between a smirk and a frown.

"... Me too." Both options. No joking. He's getting restless. There's only so much around here you can tinker with that won't send you drooling into the carpet for a few hours. And while he might not miss the desert, there are two incredibly important pieces missing to be able to call this place home. Home is still back there. Home might be lying dead in the dirt with no one to bring them back.

"'M not allowed to mess with you, so you don't have to worry 'bout that. We're okay, Howard." For now.

[gleans]

After Ghoul's rock lands, Galen winds back and throws his. It wobbles through the air and pings through the crest of a wave, and he almost laughs, looking back over at Ghoul.

"Well -- good. Cool. I mean, the party thing was a dick move, but I can forgive." Mostly. Galen can be good at holding grudges, but Ghoul seems to be trying, here. He can give him a chance. "And if Jesse Finch can tell me that the guy with his face is pretty okay, I should probably believe him. So. Yeah, we're okay."

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby doesn't make a habit of approaching men lately. It's not that she's scared of them. She's scared for them. It's the men in her life who seem to get hurt and why add to that? Other women seem to make safer friends. Still, there's something in that flirty demeanor she'd built up around herself that she misses.

Maybe she can start slow by just talking to more people. At least, that's what she tells herself when she notices Galen throwing rocks.

"Hi." She smiles at him.

[gleans]

Galen only jolts a little when he hears the voice behind him, but it's hardly noticeable; it just gives him a little bit of a start as he sends the rock in his hand out into the water. He doesn't wait for it to splash before he turns around, and seeing that it's someone friendly, he smiles back.

"Hey! I'm not -- bothering anyone's beach, am I?"

[hark_and_hush]

"Well, it's not my beach, so don't let me stop you." She sits on a large rock, grin growing wider. "I'm Ruby, by the way."

It's just a new person. Nothing to be worried about. She tells herself that over and over again. She's got her cloak now. She's not going to hurt anyone.

[gleans]

Galen reaches over to pick up another rock, still facing her, and lightly tosses it from hand to hand. "Galen, nice to meet you. Out for a walk?"

[hark_and_hush]

"Exploring my new home away from home away from home." She hadn't realized how much she'd miss Storybrook until it was gone. Or maybe she just misses the people. "How long have you been here?"

[gleans]

"Uhh... shit. A month, almost?" Jesus, where did the time go? He pauses in his rock-tossing. "It's... I can think of worse places to be stuck, I guess. Did you just get here?"

[hark_and_hush]

"About a week ago, but it's not the first time I've been in a... strange situation." Though the last time, she hadn't remembered what had been happening for most of it. This is still pretty weird and she can't help feeling alone here without any of her friends.

"If there's a way out, I'll find it eventually."

[gleans]

"I hope somebody does," he says as he turns around again to throw the rock out into the waves. "It's almost weird knowing I have a normal life back home, y'know? And shit, do I miss it."