Beach Run ::Mischa::

[piscula]

Connor trotted down the road, heading toward the beach. He had decided earlier in the day that a trip to the beach was in order and he had also decided that he needed to run. The logical combination had led to him running to the beach. Now he was sweaty and gross but almost there. This idea was seeming worse and worse by the moment. Not only had he forgotten water but he had worn sweatpants because of his odd abhorrence of shorts. His body felt like it was going to melt, his skin felt like it might actually be turning to water from the amount of sweat leaking from his pores.

He closed his eyes a moment, willing himself forward. He would make it to the beach. It wasn’t that much further. He could do it. He could do it even though the midday sun was beating down on him and even though his shirt was soaked through. He was going to make it despite his feelings of impending heart attack as his blood moved faster through his veins with each passing second. His head was starting to feel woozy and the world started to spin but he could make it…. Oh, who was he kidding, he couldn’t make it.

His legs reluctantly slowed their forward momentum and he stumbled a little bit as his jog shifted to a walk. He was deeply regretting forgetting a water bottle now and he peeled off his shirt and threw it over his shoulder. Sweat was soaking his hair and the only reason he could see was the bandanna tied around his head. He pulled the bandanna off, using it to soak up as much of the moisture as he could while running a hand through his hair.

In due time his feet sank into the soft sand of Beluga Beach and a sigh of relief passes his lips. He pulled his shoes and socks off and felt the sand squeezing between his toes. He tossed his shirt and shoes in a pile and waded into the water, dipping the bandanna in as he walked. He squeezed all the water out of the cloth onto his head and smiled as he felt the nastiness seem to slip away. His mind went blank, his breathing started to slow. The bottoms of his sweatpants were getting wet but he didn't care at this point, he was so hot from the run. The dizziness was still present though and he knew he needed to sit down but the water felt so good…

I need to remember this for next time. Note to self: do not run to the beach at noon in the middle of the summer..... His breathing was almost back to normal, now. He turned and walked out of the water and lay down in the sand next to his things. He closed his eyes, relaxing in the sun and sand. His head felt almost normal now, cushioned by sand, only the sound of the waves crashing. Now if only he had remembered his water…

[Mischa Keys]

Mischa had been biking around during the day, not planning on going anywhere specific until around noon, when she had planned on eating lunch at the beach. She was biking slowly, trying to enjoy the wind in her hair and the sound of the waves crashing. It was peaceful out here, and the wind was slow, calm, and soft enough to appear as soft grey squiggles on the invisible screen in front of her face, instead of the harsher grey lines that they appeared as on windy days back home. The crashing waves appeared as dark blue looped squiggles, with the squiggle reaching the top of the loop every time a new wave crashed.

Mischa slowed down as she approached the empty bike rack, parking her pale yellow bike there and taking her bag out of the wooden basket she had perched on her handle bars. She stepped out of her flip flops, leaving them in the basket, and stepped into the sand, letting it seep between her toes. Mmm, the sand felt good. She ran out a few steps, leaving her bag in the middle of the sand before going to wet her feet.

Mischa waded in the water up to her knees, deep enough so that she could feel seaweed brushing her toes, but not quite deep enough to wet the edges of her denim shorts. She sighed. The water was cool and refreshing on such a hot day, so she scooped some of it into her hands, pouring it over her head. Never mind the fact that now, not only were her shorts getting spotted with water, but her yellow ribbed tank top (the one with one inch straps and a pattern of blue suns all over it) was getting a bit wet as well.

Feeling very much cooled down, Mischa made her way back over to her bag. As she sat down next to it, she noticed a pale boy wearing nothing but sweat pants just a little bit away from her. He had flopped down in the sand, eyes closed, making her wonder if he was asleep or just trying not to stare at the sun.

"Are you alright?" She asked him. She opened her bag, shuffling through it as she waited for a response. He didn't appear to have anything with him, so she wondered if he had eaten or drank anything yet. She certainly had more than she needed, she realized, looking down at the two ham sandwiches she had packed.

[piscula]

"Are you alright?"

The voice had startled him. He didn't know if it had been his own fading in and out of wakefulness or if the sand had just muffled the sounds but suddenly having someone else around was disquieting to say the least. He rubbed his eyes and leaned up on one elbow, roughly brushing off the sand stuck to the back of his head. His eyes were barely open in a squint, his lack of sunglasses a clear indication of his general inability to prepare even for simple tasks. Sitting a little ways a way was a girl, probably not older then 14. She seemed to be made of a bean stock, or a light post, or something equally skinny.

It was a few seconds before he realized that there had been a question proposed to him. "What? Yea, I'm fine..." His voice kind of trailed off at the end as another wave of dizziness came on. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the world to stop spinning just for a moment. He lay back down on the sand, pressing his palms against his eyes, using all of his will to force the dizziness back, but of course no matter the will he imposed the dizziness remained and stronger then ever. Stupid, stupid, stupid... Why would I run here, now my head is spinning so much I could puke and all for, what, a 3, 4 mile run?

"I'm just a little bit..... Dizzy, right now.... I ran here from the school... Bad plan in hindsight, too hot." He realized he was talking to this girl despite not knowing anything about her and he closed his mouth. He had found that it was better to not tell everyone everything about you and though he was fairly confident he could probably take this stick thin girl if it came down to it, he really didn’t want to have to. Which brought him back to his primary plan, start slow, let them reveal their hands first. Of course, telling someone he didn’t know that he was dizzy was not a good start to this rule for the day.

On the other hand, the girl had something in her bag, and seeing as how she was sitting outdoors in the middle of the summer at the hottest part of the day it was quite possible she had water. Oh what he would do for water. Besides, she hardly looked like a threat anyway, so what harm could it do. He slowly raised himself into a seated position and turned himself toward her. His movements were slow and deliberate in an attempt to confuse his dizzy head into thinking he was laying still.

“I’m Connor, sorry, I am a little bit…” the world did a complementary spin to taunt him. “…out of it this afternoon…” He closed his eyes carefully and brought his knees up to rest his head on. “And your name is?”

[Mischa Keys]

The guy finally sat up and responded to Mischa's question. He claimed he was fine, but by the way his voice trailed off, she wasn't convinced. Sure enough, he shut his eyes hard and lay back down on the sand. Yeah, the guy didn't exactly look fine, she thought to herself, trying to figure out what was wrong. She watched him press his palms into his eyes and wondered if the heat, the light, or both, were probably getting to him.

I'm just a little bit..... Dizzy, right now.... I ran here from the school... Bad plan in hindsight, too hot.
Mischa bit her lip. She noted that his voice tasted sweet, but not unnaturally so. Like... a banana? Something like that. "Hmm, you're probably dehydrated too." she said. She put the sandwiches in her hand back into her bag and shuffled around a bit more. "I have an extra water bottle you can have... oh, but it's a reusable one..." she pulled out a green stainless steel water bottle and held it up, offering it to him. He looked like he needed it, and since it was stainless steel, it felt nice and cool against the palm of her hand.

"Man, you've got some stamina if you ran here though..." she chirped. "I rode my bike, and even though I took breaks every once in a while, I'm still pretty tired." Not as tired as you look though, she added in her head. Yes, she was tired, and yes, she had slowed down to catch her breath as she approached the bike rack, but she wasn't keeling over and the world wasn't spinning around her, so relatively, she was doing pretty damn well.

She watched as he moved himself to a sitting position, slowly, probably to not upset his dizziness. As he did so, she had the odd feeling that he was just going to flop over again part way, but he didn't. It was one of those things that, although slightly comedic, happened more in the movies than in real life, she reminded herself.

I’m Connor, sorry, I am a little bit… out of it this afternoon… And your name is?
"I'm Mischa." she said with a smile. "And it's alright, we are all like that sometimes." Actually, Mischa wasn't "out of it" as he said, that often. But then again, this was probably because she slept a lot at night and was always full of energy during the day. Which certainly explained why her shift was a ferret.

[piscula]

"Hmm, you're probably dehydrated too. I have an extra water bottle you can have... oh, but it's a reusable one..."

Conner opened his eyes and almost immediately regretted it, though he kept them open this time. He examined this girl. She was tiny, short and skinny. Her hair was long and curly and she seemed very childlike. He wondered if his guess of 14 was too old now, maybe more like 12. She couldn't be any younger then that, really, not to be on this island. He didn't think any of the teachers had any children here; she had to be a student. Regardless, he didn't know of many child serial killers... Other then that one girl from Britain who killed the two toddlers, but she killed other kids and Connor was significantly larger then this girl... In her hand was a green aluminum bottle, it looked like it would be cold and he swallowed, his mouth as dry as cotton.

He realized he was staring and that he hadn't answered yet. She probably thought he was a creep or a freak. He rubbed his eyes again, as if he was trying to rub the dizziness out of his head, "Uhm, yea, do you mind? I, uh, I kind of forgot mine..." He felt his face flush a bit. This child was more prepared then him.

"Man, you've got some stamina if you ran here though... I rode my bike, and even though I took breaks every once in a while, I'm still pretty tired."

He nodded, "I run a lot... It is way hotter then I thought it would be though, and I forgot my water, which makes it seem like 100 degrees hotter. If I had thought about it, I'd probably be back at school sleepin right now..." He smiled a little bit. He had the tendency to not think before he started stuff, and to not quit once he started. That was probably the other reason he was so exhausted, the last bit of the run was really unnecessary. He was surprised he was still conscious, actually.

"I'm Mischa." she said with a smile. "And it's alright, we are all like that sometimes."

He kind of half shrugged his shoulders, "Yea, but I try not to be too out of it, too often" His back was arched and his arms were wrapped around his legs, tying to ground himself. He was gazing at her through his bangs, wary of moving too much to move them out of the way. He was still sweating, but that at least meant he wasn't so dehydrated that his body couldn't produce more water.

"What're you doing at the beach, today, Mischa?" He smiled briefly before stating, "It's kind of hot out". He spoke it completely deadpan, but his eyes were smiling. He didn't normally warm up to people this quickly, but this girl also seemed friendlier then the average person. She was smiley and helpful, how could he dislike her. Yes, he was still nervous about her, but that was mostly instinct by this point in his life. He didn't think she was any sort of threat, and that meant that he was starting to relax.

[Mischa Keys]

Uhm, yea, do you mind? I, uh, I kind of forgot mine...
"If I minded, I wouldn't have offered." she said with a smile and a giggle, handing the water bottle to him. She then pulled a ham sandwich out of her own bag. "I packed lunch for two, but it's only me here, so I have extra food too if you want." she said, pulling out a ham sandwich before unwrapping it and taking a bite.

Connor seemed a bit... awkwarded out, for lack of a better word, by her forwardness. Mischa knew that it was odd to be so friendly on this island. Plus, many people here had horrible pasts, such as her own brother, Max... Mischa didn't have as horrible a past, but she knew that some people did, and scarred pasts often lead to trust issues. She suspected that Connor was one of those with trust issues.

Either that, or he was even more out of it than she realized.

I run a lot... It is way hotter then I thought it would be though, and I forgot my water, which makes it seem like 100 degrees hotter. If I had thought about it, I'd probably be back at school sleepin right now...
Mischa laughed. "Yeah, my brother Maxie runs a lot too... though I don't know if he's ever run this far before." she told him. "I sure haven't. But then, I'm not too good at running. Don't have enough muscle." she poked one of her thighs, which, like the rest of her, was just skin and bone. "Though I guess running builds muscle, so it works both ways." she shrugged, and took another bite out of her sandwich.

What're you doing at the beach, today, Mischa? It's kind of hot out
Mischa giggled. "I was bored, so I wanted to have a picnic here with my brother Maxie. Except I wanted to surprise him, so I didn't tell him about my idea ahead of time. It turned out, he already had plans, so I decided, why waste a perfectly good basket of picnic food? So I came here alone." She shrugged. "But I'm glad I have company now. To be honest, I don't really like being alone. It's kind of scary." She told him. She took another bite from her sandwich, chewing it and swallowing, thinking in the silence between her statement and whatever he was to say next. His voice, which tasted like a banana, tasted weird when mixed with the taste of her ham sandwich.