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i might've cracked open an encyclopedia and gotten a pretty good idea of what went down

has that ever yknow. happened before?

No. I can change into my night form, but I got a handle on that. Gettin' my claws out, for example -- it ain't too hard, as long as I know when to keep cool.

[ In a way, his background had eased the transition: back home, he'd been all about control. Over himself, if nothing else. ]

But I've never... that was new.

maybe i should be flattered?

[That he'd made the guy who normally has great control over himself lose it a bit.]

You're one of a kind, Tim. I hope ya know that.

[ Was it disconcerting to be the one whose control had slipped? Yes. On some level, Majima's survival depended on his ability to judge the situation and project the appropriate image -- to make sure he didn't show how he felt.

And yet he couldn't bring himself to regret anything about it. ]

that's really sweet and i'm gonna take that compliment

but i'm letting you know right now that i'm reserving the right to make dog jokes

And I reserve the right to shed all over your stuff, so I guess we're even.

By the way, how much skin would ya say you're comfortable showing?

uh i think i'm going to need context to answer that question?

oh is this about the beach thing? like i'm fine with wearing a swimsuit.

Sure is. I was gonna pick up tickets for next week.

Unless that doesn't work for your schedule?

next week sounds great! i'm looking forward to it

[He still had no idea how to swim but like. It was fine. Everything would be fine, how hard could it be.]

Yeah, me too.

[ They could beat the heat, feed the seagulls, put worries about their respective junk to the side... ]

Ship starts from Lake Dala, I'll send ya the details. Oh, and remember: sunscreen.

[ Granted, Tim would be able to grab sympathy points, and no doubt Majima would be just fine spoiling him. But it just wasn't fun being overcooked steak. ]

[Seagulls aren't pigeons, Majima, they don't wait for you to feed them, they just help themselves to your stuff.]

i won't forget! the last thing i want is to end up fried

roasted?

god i'd be roast beef, wouldn't i

[Why was he such a fountain of beef puns.]

Ha! You said it, not me.

[ And when the day in question rolled around, Majima would be by the Lake Dala dock, canvas bag over his shoulder and dressed more casually than usual. Long-sleeved, loose-fitting button-up shirt and similarly relaxed fit slacks. Beach sandals.

The eyepatch wasn't in evidence, either, though there were a pair of sunglasses perched up on Majima's head. His left eye he simply kept closed, and if someone was looking close enough, they might spot the tiniest mole under it in a spot the cloth usually kept covered. ]

Hey. Looks like the weather held out.

[ Their ferryboat was still boarding, but the smells of freshly-caught lake fish were already wafting up from further down on the dock, as fishermen brought in their hauls. Majima wasn't interested in any of these, however -- nope. It was the open ocean he was looking forward to. ]

[When Tim approached the dock, he was dressed about as casual as Majima-- maybe a little more so, since he was showing more skin with his tank and shorts. But if he was going to the beach, he wanted to get some sun, right? Sun's out guns out or whatever.]

[Within reason, of course. He was also appropriately sun-protected with sunscreen and a floppy straw hat and sunglasses. Sun safety!]

Hi! Yeah, it's really nice out today.

[Great beach weather, which was doubly nice because he got to see Majima in something casual. More obvious than his clothes, though, was the lack of an eyepatch; Tim didn't want to stare, make it weird or something, but it looked very... normal. It kind of just looked like he was closing one eye, like a perpetual wink.]

[Plus that cute little beauty mark. Kind of a shame that the patch covered it most days.]

Ready to go?

Edited 2019-06-07 04:47 (UTC)

[ He snorted at the sight of the man. ]

That's the dorkiest hat I've ever seen. Looks good on ya.

[ Because strangely enough, those bovine ears and the ribbon kind of complemented each other? Majima tilted his head in the direction of the ferry, the thumb of one hand hooking loosely into the waistband of Tim's shorts to tug him forward. ]

Ready. Let's get a good spot, huh? Been forever since I was on a ferry.

[ A few other people were slowly filing on: younger locals, chatting cheerily. For the most part, however, it seemed that the real summer crush hadn't yet begun. ]

Hey, it's practical! It won't be dorky when your whole face is sunburned.

[Okay, so the ribbon had no practical purpose, but the rest of the hat did! It kept the sun off of his face, and it was cute. But it's fine, he's only faux-offended anyway; the hat was big and floppy and made of straw and possibly supposed to be a woman's hat? Whatever, he didn't care.]

[Tim followed along when Majima tugged him, up onto the deck of the ferry. There was a nice breeze coming off of the lake, crisp and cool and smelling a little bit like fish. Which was... kinda gross. It was fine, he'd smelled worse things in his life.]

Yeah, sure. [He was all for getting a good spot, whatever that would be on a boat. He was relying on you for this one, Majima, boats, like swimming, were out of Tim's general experience range.] How long's this trip take, anyway? I mean, it didn't seem that far to get up to the islands?

[It was more that Tim doesn't really know how fast boats go.]

A couple hours -- we're takin' the scenic route. The course takes us up the river and around to Tunn.

[ Shouting, and the sounds of preparations as the boat made ready to leave. Majima made his way over toward the prow. He slipped his sunglasses on as they reached the front and leaned up against the metal railing. ]

This is your first time on a boat, right? Wait, ya don't have a problem with motion sickness, do ya? They do kind of rock back and forth.

[ Gosh, he kept forgetting Tim was a space alien. But surely if he was good with space travel, he'd be fine on the water? ]

Edited 2019-06-07 05:39 (UTC)

[Tim leaned against the railing, watching as much as he could of the castaway procedure. It was different from what people would do to prepare for docking or sending off a ship in a hangar bay; there was a lot more, like, rope involved. Presumably an anchor?]

I think I'll be okay. [This couldn't be worse than space, right?] I was fine in low gravity, for the most part. The movement part wasn't the problem, I mean, it was more the, uh, height? I'm not good with heights.

[More like he was fucking terrified of heights, but that's fine. They were on a boat, not a plane or something.]

I guess we're gonna find out, anyway. God, I sure hope I don't get motion sickness, or else it's gonna be a shitty few hours.

[ There was one guy on deck yelling at the sailors. Something about sea dogs? He had a captain's uniform; maybe he was really into roleplay. ]

Really? How the hell'd you manage it when ya had to take off and land?

[ And if Tim was afraid of heights, was he also afraid of the depths? Hmm. Probably not, probably it was fine. The boat cast off from shore, cutting its way through the waves. The breeze off the lake was cool -- a nice change from the heat of approaching summer as it blew at the ends of the loose ponytail in which Majima had tied his hair.

Some of the passengers were sitting down, heading inside the glass-fronted cabin for snacks or drinks, but he seemed satisfied to stay outside and check out the gulls for now. They were screeching as they floated lazily above the water. ]

Edited 2019-06-08 01:22 (UTC)

Poorly.

[Tim was really not very good with heights, which really made the jump pads on Elpis a trial in and of themselves. He just... he had a really hard time, okay.]

[He was okay with being out on the deck of the boat, at least. It wasn't too high up off of the water, and he had his feet on a solid deck. It was manageable, especially if he looked at the horizon or the birds instead of straight down. It was never good to look straight down.]

I just tried not to look out the windows or bother anybody with my panic attacks, it was fine.

[It was not fine.]

[ Wow, Tim, that was actually

concerning.........

Majima reached over and touched the back of Tim's head. If The Hat hadn't been on there, he might have ruffled Tim's hair. As it was, he just sort of ruffled the goofy ribbon. ]

If it gets bad, lemme know, alright? Don't think we're due for any cliffs today, but I'll keep it in mind.

[ "Arrrr!" said the ship captain, in the distance. "If ye be thirsty, there's hot chocolate in the cabin!" ]

[Look, Majima, there was very little about Tim or his coping habits that were healthy. He was just USDA-grade A prime beef marinaded lightly in continual anxiety, it was fine. Builds character or whatever.]

Yeah, I will. [He smiled, in that kind of rueful, self-conscious way.] You'd probably be able to tell, anyway. It's not like my panic attacks are super subtle.

[Technically, he'd managed to overcome his crippling fear of heights enough to rocket his dumb ass a couple stories into the air on Elpis, so he ought to be able to manage a cliff? But still, it wouldn't be his idea of a good time.]

I wonder if it's going to be crowded? You aren't the only person I've heard of who was thinking about taking a trip to the beach.

Yeah? I know at least two monsters who were talkin' about taking it.

[ One who had thought it was a great opportunity for nude sunbathing, even, but maybe he wouldn't mention that just now. What were the chances they'd end up going at the same time?

A seabird -- an osprey, maybe? -- dove towards the water, hauling up with it a wriggling fish. Majima had never seen the like before, though of course he knew about sea hawks. There just weren't a lot of them in Tokyo.

He leaned his hands on the rail and craned forward to get a better look. ]

We're still on the off-season, so hopefully not. I ain't exactly supposed to flash my ink in front of random civilians.

[ Sure, no one was around to call him on it out here, but that didn't change the underlying principle. ]

[Tim turned his head to follow where Majima was looking, and he'd never really seen a bird submerge itself so much and still manage to haul its ass out of the water again, along with the added weight of a whole fish. Kind of impressive? He'd been a little worried that it wouldn't make it, but well. It knew what it was doing.]

That's kind of a shame? I mean, it's really beautiful.

[You go through hours upon hours of probably a lot of pain to get some really beautiful artwork on you, and then have to keep it under a shirt all the time.]

Did you bring sunscreen, at least? I've heard that sun exposure can be really bad for tattoos. Makes 'em fade or something.

[Tim didn't have to worry about that too much-- or, well, technically he should, he has the stupid blue cuff thing that Jack had gotten on his wrist, but he doesn't even like it. Let it fade, it was ugly anyway.]

[ Majima dug a bottle out of his bag, and showed Tim the label. Eyyy. ]

Ya heard right. I got the colors just how I want 'em, too. It's why I'm still dressed.

[ A pause. ]

You know what I mean.

[ He gave Tim a smile, briefly turning from the water to look at the man. ]

Anyway, thanks.

[ And then he turned back to watching the hawk ascend with its catch. ]

I don't think it's a shame, though. It's a message and a reminder, all in one. Wouldn't be much point in either if I showed it off every chance I got.

Really? That's the only reason?

[He couldn't just let that one slide by, Majima set himself up for it.]

[Tim made sort of a thoughtful noise at the tattoo comment-- there was a lot about Majima's tattoos that he probably didn't get, a lot of, like cultural significance? So if it was important to him to not show them off, well, than that was his prerogative. And it wasn't like Tim was going to go over and rip off his shirt to show the world his sick ink, either.]

[He could probably be persuaded to rip off his shirt for other reasons, though.]

Well, if you do decide to take your shirt off, I'll sunscreen your back for you. So you don't miss a spot.

[Not at all so that he could get his hands on his hot boyfriend in a way that wasn't weird in public. Just two guys being dudes.]

And you should really know that I could've totally made a hot dog pun, but I'm not going to because I'm a good person.

[Well. That was debatable, but still.]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, TIMOTHY LAWRENCE. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 011.11.201.45 * mrhandsome69 has joined 011.11.201.45 <USERNAME> First sentence of message. <BANNED USER> SCREENED MESSAGE. UNSCREEN? Y/N -- sample for when you ban someone <USERNAME> First sentence of message. <USERNAME>** First sentence of message.

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HANDWAVES PROBABLY

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