AU

[awickedtime]

The beach is still a novelty. Even if Greendale hadn't been landlocked, it's pocket climate wouldn't necessarily have loaned itself to lying out on sandy beaches. Not that Nick would have had time; recently, at least, his life at the Academy had exploded and he had barely had time to stop and think, let alone enjoy himself.

The less said about what came after the academy, the better.

Nick lives on a blanket on the sand, one arm pillowed under his head, shades on, and a book propped up on his chest. He's reading some mortal's idea of magic, and, honestly, it's laughable, but at least it's entertaining. On his ribs there's an angry red scar, that no amount of magic seems to be able to get to fade. Not yet, anyway. They'll keep trying.

For now, though, there's sun, and the sound of the sea.
Nick Scratch finds himself more or less content.

Comments

[swerved]

The first summer she spent here, Kat hadn't really been able to go out to the beach at all, still in her hospital-issued wheelchair and a heavy full leg cast, though she had a few nice evenings on the more accessible boardwalk. Everything has been a bit of an upwards climb since then — coming out here in the first place, shaking off a probably pointless self-consciousness enough to dress for the weather. She's never been modest about her body, but the same can't be said for the surgical scars on her knee, something she's been gradually grappling with.

Quietly, she's a little proud of the fact that she barely thinks twice about it now, wearing jean shorts and a halter top, and only a bit unsteady as she navigates across the sand. She probably won't go in the water, but she's a phone full of good music and her headphones, a book in her bag, and lunch she picked up on the way here, which it'll be worth fending off seagulls for. Weird as this place can so often be, it all feels kind of astonishingly normal in the best sort of way.

Glancing over at the person nearest her, she debates whether or not to say anything, then decides fuck it. "Hey, do you want some fries? They gave me way more than I can eat."

[awickedtime]

It takes Nick a moment to realise that it's him that she's speaking to. He lifts his head, nudging his shades up onto his forehead with one finger and giving her a slightly crooked smile.

"Never knowingly turned down fries," he says. "I'd love some."

[swerved]

"Great," Kat says with a grin. If it's a little weird to be offering to share food with a stranger, she can't really bring herself to care. She really does have more than she'll be able to eat, and it's better to strike up a conversation and offer them to someone else than wind up having to throw them out. Shifting closer to the edge of her towel to lessen the distance between them, she holds out the styrofoam takeout container. "I just picked these up on the way over here."

[awickedtime]

Nick sits up, reaching to take the container from her with a brief smile of thanks.

"They're delicious," he says, chewing on one. "My name's Nicholas. Nick. Thanks for the lunch."

[swerved]

"No problem," she replies with a quick, easy smile of her own. "I'm Katherine. Kat." It's an unintentional echo of his phrasing, but Marcus is pretty much the only person who calls her by her full name. "Are you from here, Nick, or somewhere else?"

[awickedtime]

"I am not from here," says Nick, looking out at the sea and thinking, not for the first time, the the colours here just feel brighter than they ever did in Greendale. "But I've been here for long enough to get used to it. What about you?"

[swerved]

"I'm from Chicago," Kat answers, "but I think I'm about as used to it now as you can get, yeah." It's the absence of her family that is and probably always will be a tougher pill to swallow, but she doesn't think that's something she needs to share with a stranger. It's enough, knowing they're both not from here but both not painfully new, too. "I guess it's been a couple years now? Shit, that's weird."

[awickedtime]

"Greendale, New York," says Nick. He's never been to Chicago, but he does know that there's several healthy covens there. "I bet it is. It's only been a couple of months for me, and I still think it's weird..."

[swerved]

"Yeah, that's gonna last for a while," Kat says with a nod. "Even times like this, when it's... not normal, but as close as it gets." Things tend to come in waves around here, utterly fucking crazy for a while and a stretch of calm. Right now, stretched out on the beach and eating junk food, there's nothing particularly strange about it, except that ocean goes nowhere and they're all still stuck here, all here in the first place.

[awickedtime]

"Greendale had it's moments," says Nick, popping another fry into his mouth. "Things didn't always feel normal there, either." He thinks that was probably more to do with the Church of Night than anything else, but that's a theory that will probably never get proved now."

[swerved]

"Yeah," Kat says, huffing out a laugh. Chicago wound up not being all that normal either, as it turned out, with its weird demonic shit, more than just the one that was out to get her mother. Maybe things are just fucked up everywhere. At least it's made Darrow's oddness a little easier to swallow. "Things had gotten pretty far from normal around the time I got here. I guess that helped."