This is What Happens [Open]

[Cale Davidson]

So much sand used to fascinate him. In a fundamental sort of way any foreigner found unfamiliar things fascinating. Back home, there were no beaches, not fine sand, just dirt and dust and those pretty bluegrass fields. He missed those.

Sitting on the old fence railing, Cale drank in the morning air. The smell of the ocean, it's salty tang like a chocolate covered pretzel, sharp in his mouth, but sweet right after. The red and white plaid shirt he wore signaled to anyone a mile away what he was. Not to mention the wide brimmed, sloped cream hat that graced his head. Cowboys weren't hard to notice in the tropics, though he wore lighter clothes than many. Tennessee was relatively cool year round, compared to Texas, Colorado, and all the other states one such as him could be from.

Cale closed his eyes, the calming waves still reflecting the sky's pink and peach hues, almost blending with the sand but for the surf. He could feel the melting tension in the atmosphere, as if the world was listening to those waves just like him, as if everything was waiting for them to pull back and try to catch the faint and quick trickle sound they made as they receded. The tropical birds kept ruining the attempts, the gently swaying palms hanging over him encouraging the animals just enough. The sun was a welcome heat on his face, a tender caress that he loved to wake up to in the morning. If it weren't for this beach access, he never would have stayed here.

There were no pressing matters of the day, so he kicked his sandal's off, settling on foot back on the lower rail and the other brushing the warm sand. He unbuttoned his shirt after barely any thought, then removed his hat, hooking it on a fence post. Cale ran a hand though his dark semi-curly hair, trying vainly to get it looking more lively and less sweaty. But in the end, it never really mattered. To him anyway. So little of appearance was worth it, so why bother? He knew who he was and if no one else got over it, that was their problem. Having a life-threatening disease tended to change one's views...

With a sigh, he lifted himself off the graying wooden fence, settling both feet on the sand before committing to a seated position. The wind picked up a little, the waves and sky still cloudless, however. Something thumped softly against his shoulder, causing him to grunt in surprise and turn just in time to be a passive bystander to the travels of his hat. The headgear flopped and floated over the sand, first toward the ocean, then down the beach, skimming wet sand and surf.

Cale groaned, not wanting to stand up, and flopped back onto the sand, hitting the back of his head on a rail. He paused, sitting slowly and rubbing his head. Perfect. "Maybe I'll just get the hat," he muttered.

[Rani Khan]

I'M FEELING ALIVE ALL OVER AGAIN
as deep as the sky under my skin
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Once a month. That's how often the students of shifter academy were taken to visit the neighboring island. Rani loved the other island, it felt like it was alive. There were people she had no clue who they were walking around, completely oblivious to the other island filled with shifters. Don't get her wrong, there was an extreme comfort to not having to hide a single part of herself that was so important. But Rani did enjoy being able to explore, to feel a little bit more open to the world. They were studying to go out into it after all. She had come over for the weekend with a few other eleventh and twelfth graders. Not many felt like traveling to the island in the middle of the summer, so much else was going on. But Rani felt the need to take a break, from all things to take a break from in the summer: studying.

The sun had happily warmed Rani's tan, Indian skin as she lay out on a brightly colored striped towel. She had originally come with the idea to walk around with a book and read. Maybe just run down the beach. Rani loved to run, she loved the pump of blood in her ears as she let her feet hit the ground. That probably had something to do with her shift... Either way Rani was happy to have been out on the beach that day, and surprisingly nobody was really out. That was a benefit of living on an island, tons of people weren't always swarming the beaches. Boys running around showing off for the ladies, and vice-versa. It was nice. Better than nice really. Rani had fallen asleep on the warm sand about twenty minutes ago, but the heat had woken her up.

Rani rubbed her eyes and groaned as she stood up. She was broiling in the sun and headed for the water immediatly. "Ahh..." She mumbled to herself as he slipped into the cool salt water and sighed. Submerging her head for a second then popping back up Rani headed back to the beach and shook the sand out of her towel, drying her skin for the most part before slipping back into a pair of blue jean shorts and grabbing her blue button-up. She reached for the buttons, but at that moment something caught her eyes.

A white, no, that wasn't quite right. A creme cowboy hat tumbled across the sand in the breeze. Rani looked around quickly but her brown eyes missed the man in the sand. All the same, she figured that she should grab the hat before it was lost to the expansive sea. Leaving her shirt unbuttoned and wet Rani sprinted for the hat as it spun in the air before landing back on the sand and being pushed along. With a bit of determination Rani chased the hat as it dodged her grip. A bit aggravated Rani leapt a little bit and finally was able to snatch it up as it hit the water. It dripped for a few seconds but then seemed alright. Wiping her brow she grinned at the thing. It reminded her of horseback riding with her brother before he left. It was a pleasant memory.

Holding the hat between her thumb and forefinger Rani raised her hand to shade her face and looked to see if she could find out where the mysterious flying hat came from. Bingo. The figure of a man lying in the sand caught her attention and she decided to walk forward and give him back his prize. Her mind wondered about the owner of the cowboy hat. At the stables back home she was usually pleasantly pleased with the owner, and hoped it would be the same this way. Although most of the cowboys were from the south, and when your family is one of the biggest name in racing it is more easy for people to recognize you through that. but she stayed out of the public's eye. And that was always great.

She approached him and cleared her throat. "Excuse me there mister, but does this belong to you?" She said with a smile and a hand shading her eyes as she looked down on the shitless man. he actually didn't seem to much older than herself. And that was unexpected. She hopped that she didn't wake him up or anything. Maybe he had let his hat go on purpose. That was dumb, and Rani refused to ever be seen as stupid or dumb. ever. She put way to many hours into perfection in everything. Studies especially. But what else would you expect from a girl in medicine whose family shared the task of dealing with a huge business. Perfection. That's what.

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MAYBE I'M WRONG, I'M FEELING RIGHT
like being in love she said for the first time

tagged; cale davidson word count; 798
muse music; Save the Last Dance for Me by Michael Buble
outfit; here lyrics; first time by lifehouse

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[Cale Davidson]

Cale was about to pick himself up, head beginning to trade the sharp pain for a dull ache. A good trade, in his opinion, meaning the knock he'd taken wasn't too serious. Another good indicator of that was the absence of blood, but you never knew. Then again, he'd been kicked harder than that. Except, as he leaned forward and dug his palms into the sand, a figure blocked his view of the beach. A decidedly female figure.

Looking up, her face was cast in shadow by her shielding hand, her thick dark hair swirling about her face and shoulders, even when wet. Her cream toned skinned hinted Middle Eastern, maybe India, soft shoulders supporting an unbuttoned shirt in the same style he was currently wearing his own, but she of course, thankfully wore a cute denim bikini with simple ruffles, droplets of saltwater on her bare stomach, jean shorts a little sprinkled themselves from her dripping hair. Even the flip-flops caught a stray bolt of his attention for the briefest moment.

But it was his hat, pinched between her thin forefinger and thumb, that he focused on. He had to clear his throat before he could speak. "Yeah, it is," he said softly, reaching out to take his hat back. "Thanks," the words came as a sigh of relief. He loved that hat and wet or not, sandy or not, beat up or not, he'd always love it. He had it for years and so many memories were becuase of it, directly of indirectly. But int the very least, it reminded him of home, and that he still had one somewhere. Sometimes, he couldn't wait to get back to it, but others, he wondered why he'd never had a reason to come out here before.

Well, he knew the answer to that question. It was why he had needed that particular reason to get him out of Tennessee in the first place that he didn't know the answer to. But it was one of those mysterious of life and the human race. Why did they need any of the reasons they did? Why couldn't they live life without waiting? He knew that now. And apparently this girl did too. Well, not girl, there was no justice in that. Young woman. Whoever she was, she wasn't the shy type. Cale decided to work on being more outgoing. He had nothing to loose from starting more conversations than he ended, right?

"Mister? I'll have to call you "ma'am, now won't I?" he asked with a smile, the faintest southern drawl in his words. "I reckon' I'm not a year older than you," he offered the jest while getting to his feet, spinning his hat in his hands, careful to keep a hold on it. "You can call me Cale."

[Rani Khan]

I'M FEELING ALIVE ALL OVER AGAIN
as deep as the sky under my skin
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The sun was warming her back, and drying her off with the heat, but that wasn't working to well, considering her clothes were wet. Rani nodded as the cowboy man gave his thanks and happily took his hat back. He seemed happy for it too, a smile on his scruffy face. Rani could only mirror the grin and she pulled down her hand, crossing her arms across her chest loosely and then squinting a little to try and complete the job her hand was doing.

Rani wiggled her toes in the sand, because everyone knows that no matter what footwear you've got on at the beach, there's going to be sand in them. She wasn't exactly complaining about it, one couldn't fuss about it to much anyway. "Mister? I'll have to call you "ma'am, now won't I?" He said, paired with his cowboy smile and a touch of the good old south in his voice. Rani chuckled a bit at that, but he was very right. He was no middle aged 'mister.' She thought, noting his lean frame and manual labor fit body. "He'd be a horse, a bull, or a buck if he had a shift." Leena thought to herself, and then let the thought disappear quickly. Everyone had their secrets, just that hers was a very secret one.

"I reckon' I'm not a year older than you,"

[/s] he continued while getting to his feet. He wasn't 'towering' per say, but a pleasant height for a guy. Rani nodded at that, a year older... nineteen hmm? That was odd, not being the oldest. or the same age. It was nice, reminded her that there was more out there waiting for her than just Shifter Academy. She nodded and shrugged her shoulders, a crooked smile on her lips. It was a pleasant surprise that he talked. Rani was a bit... in your face. She liked to let others know what the plan was, and who she was. She was a bit difficult that way. But this guy didn't seem to mind, or know it yet. And that was fine with Rani. She loved meeting new people and learning bits about their story. "You can call me Cale."

She smiled, pleased that he gave his name as well, meant he wanted to chat and not run along. Rani was pleased with some good old company. Quickly returning the favor Rani spoke up,her voice didn't really have any sort of accent though. Nothing distinct besides it's very feminine sound, like bells or something sweet like sugar. Even if the owner wasn't always the same. "I'm guessing you're right Cale. Because if I'm eighteen, then that would make you around there somewhere. Either that , or you take really good care of yourself!" Rani said with a small giggle before continuing with what she had been saying.

Wow, haven't heard a yes ma'am or no ma'am since I was back home. And judging your runaway hat I'm guessing you'd know a little about that yourself. I'm Rani." She said with a broad grin that reached her eyes. The brown eyed girl was happy having this contact with the outside world, and wasn't that the point of these visits? To interact with the 'normal' people of society? not that Rani veiwed herself as an outcast, that would mean she wasn't working hard enough to be the best that she could be in everything. Including her social life. Friends were important for a person's sanity if not anything else. "Sorry to disturb you though, this beach is pretty nice. It's much quieter than any city beach. I appreciate that." Rani said, her words trailing off a little bit to the end, becoming more along the lines of spoken thoughts.
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MAYBE I'M WRONG, I'M FEELING RIGHT
like being in love she said for the first time

tagged; cale davidson word count; 622
muse music; cigarettes and chocolate milk by rufus wainwright
outfit; here lyrics; first time by lifehouse

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[Cale Davidson]

H smiled a little awkwardly, not certain if she had been joking or not, not certain why he should be thinking she was joking. It was just...she, he- He had never understood females much. Well, he knew of them, new how to treat them right, knew how to be polite and all that, but he didn't always know them. Even with his sisters he had felt uncomfortable, just because they had never explained to him why they did things, or why they used that tone, or why saying this really meant that... Bu they understood him just fine it seemed. And so did every other guy on earth, to Cale. So why was he left out?

"Both, I'd hope," Cale put forth tentative;y, though not very honestly. He had taken as good a care of himself as it looked. But in today's society it was all about mere looks, right? So why should he bother her with technicalities? Why should he bother such a sweet girl who hadn't ask for any of his baggage to be dumped on her? Why should he bother anyone but himself with it unless they asked? Of course, they never knew to ask. He liked it better that way. It was happier, in the end, a lot happier.

But she seemed the talkative type. Not like, bubbly, just accustomed to speaking more than him. Which was fine, he supposed, except he knew to prepare for so uncomfortable silences on his own part. He was just shy by nature, the complete opposite of this girl. He never would have had the guts to approach a complete stranger. He was just socially awkward, socially unfit, one could say. But to hold conversation with someone such a polar opposite would be...challenging naturally, to say the least. For him, likely not for her.

"Glad to meet you, Rani," he said, holding out a hand. That conjured a smile despite any other thoughts he had. It had been ingrained in him to be polite and friendly to all women. But her previous words, on being called "ma'am" before, conjured something else entirely. He never heard ma'am used much outside of his home life, except maybe with teachers, but this girl was eighteen, she had admitted, and didn't look ready to handle children. So his only other known connection with the word "ma'am" had him guessing. Had she been raised on a farm too? She looked much finer than him, much less hardwork apparent in her walk, but still... Being called ma'am meant she was important, so higher up maybe? An owner of a farm or stable? The daughter of an owner of a stable? "Back home?" he ventured to ask, just for some solid ground. And if she did train horses... Or any animals... That would supply common ground.

He looked up and down the stretch of water bordered sand at her comment, smiling to himself, then blushing a little. "Yeah, it's sort of private for residents... My condo's down yonder," he gestured to the left, facing the water. "It's a great place to avoid tourists..." He trailed off, suddenly uncertain about half of what he'd said. Saying the beach was private made it sound like he thought she shouldn't be here. Telling her he had a condo made it sound like he was imply she should come over. Mentioning tourists negatively sounded in horrible form. Especially if she was a tourist. He blushed, shoving his hat on, putting a hand to his forehead and looking down. "Sorry."