Early November, Tabitha and Manuel

[x-plosive.livejournal.com]

This is unbearably late, but here we go. Where Tabitha has been since early November.



It was 3am and Boiler Beach was deserted. Tabitha basked in the heat, let
it beat at her muscles, but they refused to relax. She popped sunglasses
onto her nose and blocked out the rest of the world, glad for the lack of
people noise.

At least she looked cute in a bikini again.

Three am and he was still up. It was a ridiculous time to be up
but the perfect time to lay down in the sand and close his eyes. The perfect
time to work on his awakening powers. The good thing about this? Most were
asleep. The bad? Someone was in the boiler room and he stopped after walking
in, breaking stride only long enough to nod in the woman's direction.
"Tabitha."

She flipped her shades up only long enough to identify the
intruder, then tried to settle into a relaxed-looking pose. "'morning,
Manuel. Beautiful day, isn't it?" She tried to feel the good humor in her
voice, failing miserably. Though, only Mark would be prettier company.

"It is hardly day," Manuel noted drily, surveying her body
without yelding interest. "You are not as fat as you were before." He'd
meant for a compliment however it had come out more as an insult and he
contemplated how to right it, except that there was no way to, other than to
continuely dig his hole deeper. It simply came down to the dominating fact,
he didn't care to correct it.

Tabitha's jaw dropped in outrage and she propped herself up on
her elbows for better glaring vantage. "Such a charmer, it isn't a wonder
you don't have people dropping at your feet to beg for compliments like
that." She pushed the drooping sunglasses back up on her nose and flopped
back into the sand. "Should I thank you or kiss your toes?"

"All the more reason to say it if they were," Manuel said,
setting up a lounging chair, - there was no way he was going to lay in sand
with merely a towel - settling himself into it with a sigh of relief.
Perhaps if he lay here long enough, he would start to feel drowsy. At least
he was laying down. At least. His muscles arched to every shift and he
thought that he may need to see Amelia, especially for muscles that were
cramping in his calves. "I do not need such worship. However, thank you,
we'll file it away as an I. O. U."



She didn't say anything for a few moments, trying to be content
in the soothing atmosphere. But it wasn't in her nature to stay quiet when
there were other people around. She had a need to fill the silence.

"What's keeping you awake?" she asked.



"Insomnia. It tends to plague you when there is nothing to do but
dwell on aspects of your life. The mind has a way of repeatedly going over
mistakes, corrections and mistakes again so it is not enjoyable, nor easy to
fall asleep." Occasionally he had odd dreams about his trip with Marius and
Jenny, a minor thing such as a laugh at the casino, Jenny's fear, mostly
feelings caused a domino effect and made for very little sleep, but plenty
of nightmares should he fall deep enough into a doze. "And you?" he asked,
purely for the reason that she had asked him and it seemed rude to not ask
the same, regardless if he cared or not.

"Leg cramps," she lied. "Need to drink more water." She searched her
brain for something less awkard to talk about. Anything really, but nothing
came to mind. "So, how's the leg?"

Was there anything more awkward to talk about aside from his leg?
Possibly not. "Lame," he replied, leveling his gaze to hers. He suppose he
deserved that, considering he commented about her weight. He seemed to be
waiting for her to say something, anything and looked aggrivated for another
moment longer before laying down on the flat of his back and closing his
eyes.

"So, got anything that would make this encounter more painfully
embarrassing?" Tabitha chose to laugh at herself, unwilling to let the
tension stand as is. If she could just get him to laugh a little, she could
relax in silence.

"The incessant attempt at conversation." He flattered, folding his
hands over his stomach and inhaled deeply, focusing on his primary ability
to hold his focus around one emotion that was his. Hers slowly crept, inch
by inch, into him and he shifted restlessly.

Tabitha smiled wryly, thoughts turning back to the issue at hand. The
conflict. She stared at the ceiling as she struggled inwardly to untangle
it. Her head started to pound in concert to the rolling of her stomach.

Manuel sat up, adjusting his seat as much as he was adjusting with the
turmoil of emotions washing into him. One was forced out, focused on until
he could obliterate it from him and then the other, focused on the coloured
pattern that weaved and manuipulated around him in a spiral of dark hues.
Why must all women be like this on a consistant basis? He should have been a
telepath, it would have been easier to handle their scattered thoughts
rather than the emotional train wreck that seemed to be on repeat.

Finally Tabitha sat up and looked straight ahead to the wall. "I'm going
back to California." Once the sentence was out, there was a blessed silence
in her head, a sense of resigned relief. "With Alison on Muir, they could
use my help."
"Are you sure that's wise with all that is going on?"

She smiled, a genuine grin. "The folks back West are probably wandering
around almost as shocked as us. I mean, this is Alison. Who would have EVER
thought?"

"I do not think retreating is your best decision, however, you will do
whatever you need to do for distraction. Maybe sleeping on a beach is just
what you need.'

"Sometimes a person needs a change of scenery and time to handle things,"
she argued. "They'll certainly keep me busy. Then maybe the next time I poke
at the problems, it won't hurt so much."

"You realize that living here gives you the time you need to handle
things? When are you leaving?" Then? Now?

Tabitha did a quick mental calculation of her packing. "Two days."

"I suppose that is suitable to tell everyone where you are going, why and how long. Though I disagree. Problems would not be problems if they did not hurt to be poked at. Perhaps you should stay? Some may feel your absence more than others."

Tabitha's smile turned hollow. "I seriously doubt that." She stood and
shook her towel out well away from Manuel. "I need to get packing.
Enjoy the beach."