(no subject)

With task force, with hunting, and with the building crew, he's starting to find his free time in less abundant supply than he used to. Which is good in some ways, but it means that when he has a free hour or two it's hard to know what to do with it, with the pressure to use it well. Today he's figured, fuck it, a walk on the beach, maybe a joint that Lennox has so thoughtfully provided, maybe some company if he finds it. Tom is busy somewhere, but seeing him almost every night now makes seeking him out during the day less of a priority.

Walking barefoot along the strand, he sees a shape off in the waves and it doesn't take him long to identify it. Well, how about that. Because this is something he honestly has yet to see. He stands for a few minutes, watching, and then takes a seat on the sand and watches some more. When Neil gets up, slides just under the crest of a wave and rides it, he's not sure what he's feeling. It's beautiful to watch, but it also makes him wonder at being here all over again. At the insane idea that any of this can work, so insane that it might just be true. That a human being can climb on a board and ride on a wall of water.

He leans back on his elbows and pulls the joint out of his pocket and lights it, letting smoke drift out between his lips with a warm buzz starting to move slowly through his muscles, content to watch if Neil never notices him at all.