tramitem_log | ♫There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to♫

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♫There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to♫

Who: Clarence Blakely and Elliott Naeuri

What: The boys go to the beach to talk and chill after a rough start of the month

When: Wednesday the 15th

Where: Rockaway Beach and wherever the boys wanna go

Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for angsty teens being teens, and possible mentions of alcoholism

Hey, wanna hit the beach?

The invitation wasn't meant to be too pushy, so Clarence didn't try to sound like he was begging but dangit, did he want to see his friend. Badly.

New memories that weren't pleasant seemed to be the rage for all the Different now that the rush to play around in K-Boz had slowed and with it also came summer heat. Which meant it was a great time to hit the beach and hang out and just... chill. He even was willing to splurge the 20 bucks for a nice umbrella to rest under. With a backpack full of water bottles and snacks, Clarence wanted to make today just... bearable, if Elliott was still in a bad way. He wasn't doing all that great either, but he could put on a good front anyway.

He was literally sighing with relief when he got the Okay, I guess response from Elliott. Better than nothing.

Dressed in a Kitten Lady tank top, a black, knee-long skirt, and white and black leggings, Clarence was trying something new. His usual converse he didn't change out, sand be danged. The skirt was surprisingly breezy and cool despite being all black. Sitting on one of the big beach towels he brought, he sat down to sketch and hoped that Elliott would show up like he said he would. If he didn't... Well.

Well, he would forgive it. But he hoped that wasn't going to be the case. Still, he kept looking up from his sketchpad, barely managing to make a mark on it while he grew more and more anxious waiting.

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He certainly didn't feel like hitting the beach, but laying listless in bed to think about how much of a failure his past self had been wasn't doing him much good, either. Elliott packed a small bag of things and let his mom know where he'd be if she needed him, then headed out.

The sun threatened to burn like the sand underfoot as Elliott made his way over to the spot Clarence had picked out, and he found himself grateful for the umbrella to rest under. Elliott gave his friend a wave as he rolled out his towel and settled down.

He pushed his sunglasses up into his hair and willed his voice into some semblance of normalcy.

"Thanks for inviting me."

Clarence felt a wave of relief like a cool breeze waft over him. He waved, reaching into his bag to retrieve a water bottle.

"Hey, glad you could make it." He twisted off the cap and handed it over. "Here. It's hot as heck out here."

Crossing his legs under his skirt, Clarence pulled out a bottle for himself and took a deep drink. "So... How's your mom? I went to see her after the, uh, yeah. But she said not to worry."

Elliott accepted the water and downed a refreshing pull from it.

"She's fine, yeah." To think everything really had been fine for months, and now everything felt like it was falling apart all at once. "Thanks for asking."

He gestured to Clarence's legs. "Decided to give skirts a try, after all?"

"Good... glad to hear it." Small talk wasn't his strong suit, but he actually cared about Yotsuyu so that had come more natural than if he had been ambivalent. Moving on to clothes was a lot easier, however.

"Oh yeah, it's pretty nice, actually," he admitted, smoothing out the fabric. "Not sure how I feel about the leggings. But I really don't want to have to shave my legs if skirts don't do it for me."

He shrugs. "Comfortable enough, though." He gave Elliott a weak smile. "And... how are you doing?"

Elliott nodded and looked about at the rest of the beach. Families and groups of teenagers hung out in clusters with children closer to the shore building sand castles and chasing each other.

"Well, I'm not crying all the time," he said finally.

That really was an accomplishment, but it still almost felt like he shouldn't be part of a day as warm and bright as this one. Or rather that he wasn't, as disconnected as his worn heart seemed. He breathed in a lungful of salty air, then slowly released it.

"Everything's changing faster than I thought it would. I just want it to slow down."

Clarence nodded, giving a half-shrug. "That's definitely an improvement."

He nodded, twisting some fingers in shade-cooled sand. "Mmm, yeah. Sometimes it would be nice if time just stopped."

Stopping time. Now there was an idea. Maybe something he would toy with later in some sort of twisted art project.

He glanced up, feeling shy all of a sudden. "... I'm glad you felt up to coming out here to see me."

Elliott managed a partial smile.

"I probably wouldn't have left the house today if you didn't invite me. Good to get out for something other than work. So thanks. I just hope I can be decent company."

“Hey, you’re always good company,” and he could actually smile after that. “Sorry I didn’t bring Cheddar. It’s a little too hot for him.”

A cuddle with a fluffy cat can be just what the doctor ordered when you were doing a lot of crying. Clarence knew this all too well, especially since the last week.

“You went back to work, then? Are you making sure to eat enough?”

He always used to be good company, but Elliott hoped that last visit could be the only one he wound up crying through.

"Yeah. Simple stuff that doesn't take too long- or if I'm really not feeling it, I'll order something that'll last a few days."

Elliott took another drink of water. "I didn't want to miss any of my hours, so I just rescheduled them for later in the week. Evening shifts instead of my usual morning. It's lucky they're flexible like that."

“Good. Very good.” He wasn’t a nutritionist but he was happy to hear at least Elliott was eating at all. “I brought some snacks too, if we don’t really feel like hitting the hole in the walls. Or the shops in Kay-Boz.”

Well. He would rather Elliott had just taken the time off, but he supposed he couldn’t blame him for wanting to keep busy. “Guess that makes sense. Medical personnel is always needed, even if you’re not an official doctor.”

He stretched his arms over his head, trying to give Elliott a moment instead of adding more to what felt like a constant bombardment of questions. “... As long as you’re not feeling too much pressure you should do what you want.”

Elliott nodded, leaning forward and eyes on the sea. Waves bright and blue, gleaming in the sunlight as they always should be.

"I think I'm going to start working out. The more memories I get, the more I feel like.. like I'm out of shape and not as strong as I should be. So, I guess I'm gonna have to start eating better, too."

Working out and eating better were all well and good, but Clarence didn't envy his friend that kind of lifestyle change. "Have you ever worked out before? I wouldn't even know where to start."

He threw his head dramatically, bangs lifting a little to sway against his forehead. "Don't you be turning all jock on me senior year. We can't hang out if you're practicing from dawn until dusk every day and swarmed by cheerleaders during off time."

Elliott rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"I'm not going to join a team or anything. Just spend like an hour or so working out every day. I've got the internet to help me figure out what to do."

“Still not something I can help with.” He waved a hand. “Oh well. Guess we’ll just have to start going for smoothies instead of ice cream.”

That he could deal with at least.

Silence settled for a moment, just the sound of the waves hitting the sand and the distant rumble of beach traffic muffled in the heat. It was a nice moment, but something cool would make it better.

Taking up his sketchbook, Clarence scribbled something in the margin and muttered a bit to himself. Then, he turned his gaze back to Elliott. “Wanna see, er, well, experience something cool?”

Between the unabashed sunlight and Clarence, Elliott decided it was good he'd come out, after all. It was easier to distract his brain whenever it tried to think back to his most recent memories.

He blinked at his friend and swung the neck of the water bottle between his fingers as he briefly mulled over the possibilities.

"What is it?"

With one more quick glance at his sketchbook notes, Clarence dropped the pad into his lap and raised his hands before him. He took a deep breath and reached for that pull of magic inside him, but instead of manifesting it into his hands he put the strength of it into the words he spoke:

”Dinw looc su htiw a ezeerb.”

The sound of the words still seemed to be the same as Clarence’s speaking voice except there was a slight wobble to them, as if the words had a “shadow” of magic following them. Immediately, the slightest breeze where there had been none picked up, blowing a soothing patch of air around them. Their own mini wind. It didn’t last long, and soon it was over.

Clarence dropped his hands to the sketchbook in his lap, fingering the spine self-consciously. “So... yeah. Cool, right?”

Elliott stared, a shiver running along his arms. He'd never heard magic spoken aloud, but there it was.

"Wow," he said after a moment. "That is cool. So you have wind magic or something?"

“No, not exactly.” He took a sip from his own water bottle, then sighed. “I commanded the wind to blow to cool us. But where I’m from, or rather, my previous self is from, that’s not really all that much of a thing. Supposedly.”

Elliott tipped his head, brows creasing.

"Well.. you sort of just did it, so that can't really be right." He shrugged. "Maybe you have a rare magical skill or something. Do you know what other sort of stuff you can do like that?"

“Hah!” Clarence snorted, shaking his head with a wry smile. “That’s kind of the thing, though? It’s not much of a question of what I can do but what I can’t. So far, no matter what I’ve tried, I at least got some kind of result.”

He flopped back onto his towel, skirt fluffing for a moment before settling. He stared up at the canopy of the umbrella, grateful for the shade. Then he began ticking off the things he could name; “I can lift small things, cause sparks, set things on fire, cool things, frost things over... and that’s just the stuff I felt comfortable doing. I saw more stuff I could do but, uh....”

A beat. “It wasn’t good. But I did get arrows and ninja stars thrown at me, so I guess it was in self-defense? Kind of?”

He blinked.

"Wow. So you can do almost anything? That's amazing. My powers are definitely limited to doing a specific thing."

Elliott shifted around and brought one knee to his chest. He leaned against it and smiled down at Clarence.

"I'm glad you've learned how to use it in good ways."

Oh Elliott, his sweet, sunshine friend. Even after such a deep slump, he was smiling again and looking just as radiant as always. Clarence's heart ached for that level of positivity.

He really needed to sketch Elliott again soon.

"I mean, sure, it sounds good. But I wasn't exactly a paragon of gentleness in my memory, either." He grimaced. "I definitely shot lightning at two other teens. And... I, uh... unhinged my jaw and breathed fire at a... green, flying girl?"

He scrunched his eyes shut with a sigh. "... My other self's life was so weird."

His eyes lowered, expression complicating.

"Well... we aren't those people. We can only try to be better than they were. I think that's all we can do."

His teeth pulled at his lip, fingers fidgeting with his water.

"So," he breathed and met Clarence's eyes again. "This is pretty dumb, but now I kind of want to fight you sometime."

Clarence nodded, tired but willing to continue to try and think that. He wanted to not be a crazy murderous person, but who knew what the future held. Maybe something was bound to make him crack? But so far, he at least had a few friends in the Different and Phil and Kris, not to mention Cheddar, to help keep him sane.

The mention of a fight absolutely shattered whatever cool Clarence had and he immediately tensed up, eyes widening as he gazed up at Elliott in disbelief. "Are you freaking serious right now? Don't... don't say that!"

Elliott grimaced, shifting back a bit.

"Sorry, I didn't mean- not like where we're really trying to hurt each other, just like- what's it called- a spar I guess? There's just a feeling like I want to... I don't know, test my magic against yours? I'd almost for sure lose, but I feel like I'd learn a lot. Anyway, I know it's dumb. We don't ever have to do that."

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♫There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to♫

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