moonstruck.

– “Raul, do you want to go up to the roof and look at the stars?”

@wclfscng

“Some,” he says, absentmindedly ripping up the leaf in his hands. “Mostly grass, though. And if you went a bit further north of me, you could see mountains.” Jonah releases the bits of foliage from his hand and lets them float down to his feet, before gesturing out in front of them, as though they were back in Utah. “I went driving around them once, just when I just needed to get out. Have you ever had a day like that? When you just need to leave?”

The blonde’s face contorts into a picture of puzzlement, and he turns his head to face the boy behind him. “What do you mean? How is that possible?” This is so far removed from anything else he’s ever heard about the Real World. Something doesn’t add up. “Were you not allowed to use guns? Or knives?” At the mention of teeth, he pokes his finger on a few of his own pearly whites. Definitely not sharp enough to kill. “You can do that? But why would you want to?” There’s a pause. He forgets his confusion for a moment, exchanges it for a look of sympathy, and returns his fingers to his side. “You don’t have a family? No mother, brother, sister, anyone?”

    he frowns, trying to imagine a landscape without any trees, but it just doesn’t seem right to him. it’s too open and makes him feel like he would be too vulnerable to enjoy life there, but he thinks it’s probably not the best idea to say something negative about Jonah’s home, so he keeps his opinion mostly to himself. “sounds... strange,” he says, watching as the shredded bits of leaf fall from the other boy’s hands and onto the ground. “...yes, i think?” he doesn’t know exactly what he means by driving ( another word he knows he’s forgotten ) but he can sympathize with needing to get away. only, the only chance he’s gotten since he was saved is out in the woodlands beyond the school; even then, going too far gets him in trouble. “can’t go far. they get mad...”

– “Super fishy,” Rowan chuckles, though his focus has entirely left the crab and has turned to Raul. The boy standing so close to him is so endearing, so sweet, so different… He makes Rowan feel stable and whole, which he’s not familiar with whatsoever. “Remembering is definitely hard, but it’s necessary. Guess we’ll both get better at it eventually. It’s nice, I promise,” he chuckles softly, kissing Raul’s cheek gently at the sight of his motions as he imitated the crab. Rowan carefully pushes their hands together so that the crab can crawl safely from his cupped palms to Raul’s. 

    he sniffs at the crab again, unsure of what to make of the hard-shelled creature. it’s like nothing he’s ever seen before, and so alien to him it might as well have come from the moon. “yes. very hard,” he agrees somewhat solemnly, nodding. “but--but getting better. will remember more.” his social worker claims that they’re pleased with his work, but he knows that they ( and the rest of his team ) can get frustrated with his memory at times. everyone does, especially when it makes communication difficult for him. everyone but Rowan, that is. he perks up slightly as Rowan pecks at his cheek, almost forgetting the crab entirely until it scuttles into his hands, clicking its claws softly. “feels... pokey,” he mumbles, staring at it intently again.

sometimes freya feels a bit like a parrot ;; gaia told her about the birds that say what people say, repeating words over and over without any meaning or thoughts. she knows the word fashion and knows that it means something in regards to clothes, but it doesn’t have any meaning for her. it’s just another one of those empty things she says like a featherless bird pretending it can fly if it says the word enough. “this way,” she says as she begins to walk, her excitement matching his, especially when he doesn’t say anything cruel about her lack of desire to be in the water alone. “i think there’s animals there too. i saw little things moving.”

    he quickly falls into step beside her, resisting the urge to charge ahead. he’s not usually good at being patient, no matter how many times his social worker lectures him, but he’s trying his best and he thinks he can get the job done. at the very least, he manages to keep himself propped up on two legs -- isn’t that more important? maybe it’s just because the sand feels strange on his feet, but all the same he thinks he’s doing a relatively good job at passing for one of them. “animals?” he asks, throwing a quizzical glance in her direction. “like... fish?” he doesn’t know anything else that lives in water, other than the occasional bug. “or--or... shark?”

     she’s PATIENT with him, as she helps him fill the bucket with sand. ( usually, she would go pretty fast, scooping and lobbing chunks of sand into the bucket until it was FULL — but for some reason she thinks that will scare him. ) “ yeah, you do! you’re doing a great job, ” she encourages, sending him a BRIGHT beam ;; halting her help. “ you can do the rest, ” she says softly. something seems off about his statement, but mai doesn’t push. “ so… what’s your name? i’m MAI KWON. ” —and it’s not something just to fill the silence, she’s genuinely curious.

    her encouragement makes him feel better about how he’s doing, and he continues to pack sand into the steadily-filling bucket with what’s almost a smile on his face. it’s not perfect, barely noticeable, but it’s also the most expression he’s shown all day. so far, this is the only part of leaving plath he’s actually enjoyed, his frequent forest-bound trips aside. “okay,” he says as she sits back to let him finish, filling up the rest of the bucket and packing it down as much as he can. “just... flip now, yes?” he sends another glance in her direction as she introduces herself, offering a sand-caked hand like he’s seen others do. “i’m Raul. it’s--it’s nice to meet you, Mai Kwon.” he thinks he means it this time, too. she’s nicer than most people he’s met.

“Yes…” She stepped closer to the boy. “They are massive… they have eight thousand teeth and can bite your body in half in one try. Shredding all your insides so you look like wet string.”

    it’s not exactly the answer he expects. “lot of teeth...” he has to wonder why anyone goes near the ocean at all if things like that live in it. “kill... kill often?” he glances over and out into the horizon. he doesn’t see anyone panicking -- at least, so far. 

antonio observes him for a moment, amused blue eyes drifting to the washed up jelly fish. there’s something in the boy that reminds him of an actual puppy. “i’m antonio.” he answers, head tilting to the side. “you shouldn’t touch that cucciolo,” he adds after a beat, sitting cross legged in the sand next to Raul. “at least not the stringy part- it’s dangerous.” the blonde isn’t quite sure why he points that out- with anyone else he’d go ahead and let them touch it, but there’s something almost helpless about the boy. “but feel free to poke it with a stick cucciolo- it’s safer.”

    he nods once to acknowledge Antonio’s introduction, his eyes quickly sliding away from his face and back to the beached animal. he still doesn’t know what it is, but it’s strange enough to have him curious. he’s never seen anything like it. even spiders don’t come close. “--why?” he asks, twisting back to face the other student, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. “what--what... um, dangerous about it?” it certainly doesn’t look like much; almost like a shredded plastic bag. “looks...” he trails off, sighing when he realizes he can’t articulate his thoughts, “...fine?” even so, he picks up a nearby stick and jabs at the jellyfish, which doesn’t react to his prodding. 

        her eyes flicker on his form, only momentarily. “ —i’ll help, ” she says ever so SOFTLY, sending a smile his way. she scoops the wet sand into the bucket gently, her eyes on the task as she continues to speak. “ you’re doing FINE. the idea is to pack the sand tight together so it can’t fall apart. does that make sense? “ she smiles up at him. “ it’s sorta like … snow men. except with sand. ” 

    he returns her smile with a poor attempt of one of his own, grateful for the assistance. he’s not very good with his hands ( at least, not as they want him to be ) and grasping and packing things down isn’t as easy for him as it is for others. even so, with guidance he does his best, and with her helping him along he seems to begin to get the hang of it. “yes... i think--i think i get it.” he packs down another mound into the bucket, trying to make sure it isn’t going to fall apart. “like--like this... right?” he shoots her a glance as she mentions something unfamiliar, but instead of admitting that he doesn’t understand her, he nods as if he does. “...yes. like... like the, um... snow... man.”

freya shrugs, nearly as baffled as him by the concept of high heels. sure, she wore shoes and that put her a step ahead of him ( no pun intended ) but they were purely a practical thing to her; when resources were scarce back at her home, some people were known to leave spikes or traps on the ground, things that could have injured or even killed her if she didn’t have protection. “fashion is a thing. there’s a girl that tried to explain it to me, but i don’t…get it.” not for a lack of trying on both sides. “yes. we should go away from people. there’s shallow water i saw earlier but i don’t want to go alone.”

    his face screws up in confusion, the new word not making much sense to him. given that she doesn’t seem to understand it either, he refrains from questioning it... this time. “me neither,” he says instead, reluctant to admit that he’s more clueless than she is. that’s just fodder for him to be called stupid again -- or worse, to be treated as a child. he perks up as she mentions something about shallower water ( it seems safer than the ocean itself ) and he nods vigorously, eager to get away from the rest of their classmates. “yes. i’ll--i’ll come with you. where the water?” he bounces slightly on the balls of his feet, clearly excited for an adventure that doesn’t involve drowning.

– Rowan just grins brightly as he watches Raul examine the small creature in his hands, all the while being careful to avoid getting pinched by it. He loves watching Raul learn about new things, though, he just loves being around Raul, it’s simple, it’s good, it’s just… Right. “Yeah, he does smell kinda weird,” he nods in agreement. “Mhm, the shell is supposed to protect it from getting hurt real bad which is why it’s like a rock. At least, I think that’s the reason, I’m not entirely sure and I’m also not too good at remembering animal facts. Do you want to hold him?”

    “fishy,” he says, watching as the crab waves a claw at him. he thinks it’s defensive, but since this is his first time meeting such an animal, he can’t be certain. maybe it’s the same gestures humans use to greet each other? just in case, he waves a finger back. “oh, okay.” it makes enough sense that it needs protection; he knows how harsh the wilds can be. the sea isn’t his territory, but he’s sure there are predators abound, even if he doesn’t know what they are. “i’m... not good at remembering, either. hard.” he brightens up a bit at the offer, holding his hands together to make room for the crab. “yes. it’s--it’s nice, yes? won’t... um--” he makes a little pinching motion with his hands, trying to emulate the crab.

she frowns for a moment, struggling with how to explain the absurdity of high heels. “they’re shoes where the back is…high? sometimes thin too.” her gaze flickers around, landing on a woman wearing wedge sandals. “like those,” freya says, pointing to the shoes. at raul’s reaction, however, a flash of panic moves across her and she glances around again, but this time it’s as if she’s looking for threats. “don’t look so soft. you don’t need them. they’re bad. we’re better.”

    he frowns. “why... the back high?” he asks, clearly confused by the concept. he doesn’t wear shoes himself ( they’re too physically uncomfortable, with how his tendons have developed ) but they’ve always seemed strange to him. they make too much noise, and now they seem hard to balance in, too. “looks--looks un...comfortable.” he shrugs noncommittally, not sure he believes that they’re better. sure, he likes his way of life and thinks these creatures confuse him, but he’s never thought of superiority and inferiority until it was shoved into his face. “i guess...” he finally mumbles, looking back out toward the beach. “want... do something else?”

@wclfscng

his bright eyes flicker to the other curiously and antonio takes a drag from his cigarette before stepping closer. “so,” he drawls slowly, features shifting into a blank slate. “you’re the wolf boy?”  for once he doesn’t sound as though he’s trying to start a fight- rather his voice is filled with the curiosity that his eyes betray despite his usual guarded expression. he takes a final drag before throwing the cigarette down onto the mound of sand to his left. “your name is raul, right?” a stream of smoke filters through his lips as he speaks and he almost grins as his eyes track the movement of the grey cloud.

    he’s examining what seems to be a washed up jellyfish when Antonio approaches him, sat down on his haunches and bent over close enough to get a good look. he’s just about to poke at its far, far too many ‘strings’ when a voice startles him, and he eyes snap over toward the stranger with a slightly guilty expression on his face... and not just because of the jellyfish. “um... yes. i’m--i’m Raul,” he admits, his gaze flitting between Antonio and the sand by his feet. “but--but i...” he trails off, sighing. he knows his social worker would want him to deny everything, but every time he tries he ends up feeling wrong. “yes. i... am wolf. who are you?” 

– Rowan lifts his hands so that they’re cupped between him and Raul holding the little sand crab. “It’s this thing, it’s got a hard shell on the outside and little pinchy claws,” he explains softly before looking up to Raul. “Isn’t he cool?”

    he leans in to get a better look at the crab, sniffing at it -- and immediately crinkling up his nose. it smells like salt and fish and it’s not exactly pleasant. “smell weird,” he complains softly, but reaches out to poke at its shell all the same, careful to avoid its pincers. “looks... nice, though? feels like--like a... like a rock.”

        there’s a smile on her LIPS ;; his actions are so pure, almost like that of a CHILD. “ uhm, yeah. the sand stays, cause the water holds it together, like … “ she snaps her fingers, trying to think of the word, “ jeopchakjje —- aa! glue! “ she cries out SOFTLY, before looking at the OTHER. “ mhm. you just pile the wet sand in there and TURN it over, ” she holds out the bucket to him, “ do you need my help ? “

    he nods, listening wide-eyed to an explanation he really only half understands. words have never been easy for him, and even the simplest of concepts can go in one ear and out the other before he can grasp the information. “like... glue,” he repeats softly ( more to himself ) as he dumps a fistful of wet sand into the bucket. it doesn’t look like it will stick, but he trusts her. “um--” he breaks off, glancing over at her. “y--yes, please? is... that okay?”

               “ i have seen photo. “ guanyu admitted, staring up (up up up) at his friend. “ have you seen shark before? “ he asked curiously. he had not gone to the beach frequently while he lived in china, and even then, he had never seen a shark up close in person. “ i saw one at, aqua, aqua-e-um, once! “

    “no,” he replies, shaking his head. “what--what it... look like?” he’s never so much as seen a beach before, and while he thinks it’s interesting to explore, he’s not sure the environment is right for him. it’s too open and the water seems... intimidating. “aqua... what? is--is that where... the shark lives?” he asks, his brows furrowing.

“because people are stupid. all their clothes are so stupid. have you seen high heels? i hate them.” when it came to understanding the world around them, the odds were not in either of their favors. sure, she was more likely to get the hang of it, but neither of them would ever be normal. “i think mine is tighter. they don’t feel like clothes at all,” she grumbled. “i think some people have darker ones. maybe they just gave us this because they don’t like us.”

    “no,” he admits, at a loss about what high heels could possibly be. he can gather that they’re another strange clothing item, but that’s about it. “what are they?” he seems to deflate slightly when she suggests that they don’t like him, partially because he thinks its true. most people don’t like dealing with his underdevelopment, and as much as plath claims to be an environment of compassion, it’s become very clear that it’s not. “yes, probably,” he mumbles, scuffing his foot in the sand. “want--want us. uncomfortable.”

   “ You can keep these, if you want. Not to brag, but I kind of have, like,         the biggest beach glass collection in history of the universe, so I         don’t really need all of these greens or browns. But like, they’re still         𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓲𝓯𝓾𝓵. Is there anyone you’d want to give this         heart-shaped one to? ”

    he stares at the small collection of sea glass in her hands, slowly reaching out to take one of the blue ones. it’s strangely smooth, almost unnaturally so, and he’s not entirely sure of what to make of it. “keep... all of them? and--and do what?” he asks, glancing at her as she brings his attention to a heart-shaped piece. “...yes. know someone. maybe he’ll like it?”