(Jack, Joe - 10/16)

[echolls_cursed]

So, okay, he hadn't gone to see the dinosaurs, but he had gone up to the mountain. It hadn't been a long trip or a long stay. Gone on Tuesday, back by Thursday morning. Nothing monumental or exciting had happened, and whatever it was he'd been hoping to find out there hadn't been found.

Still, Linus had enjoyed the trip, and a few days away from the world had helped clear his head a little.

The hut was starting to get a little untidy again, but he made no move to clean anything up, dumping his bag out on the table and tossing the dirty laundry in a pile in the corner before putting down the food he'd grabbed for Linus at the compound when he'd stopped off for a shower.

In fact, his hair was still damp, and when he heard someone head up the steps to his stilted hut he raked his fingers through it, causing it to stand on end as he glanced over to see who it was.

Comments

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Moving in the water was as natural as walking or running to Logan, and he slid onto the board as he started to paddle out deeper into the ocean.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

It was a little more difficult for Joe to get on his own board, but he managed it eventually, awkwardly paddling after Logan.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Once they were deeper in the water, Logan didn't move to catch a wave. Instead he simply sat up a little and let himself float, steering with his hands and feet as he hung around, figuring Joe might need a moment to simply adjust to the tide.

"You alright, Joe?" he asked with a grin.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"I'm good," Joe answered, although he probably would've been better on dry land. Still, he hadn't fallen off the board just yet and he wasn't swallowing salt water, so he figured he was doing okay for the time being.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"We don't have to surf yet, you know, we can just chill for a while and let you get comfortable. No big deal. Me and dick sometimes just hung out in the water like this," Logan said, quietly remembering.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" Joe asked, thinking he liked that plan a hell of a lot more than trying to get onto his feet just yet. "That's probably a good idea."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes I have those," Logan grinned, turning slighty so he could look at Joe. "It's nice out here, right? Calm."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Joe agreed. "No one out here to bug you or piss you off. It's nice." And it was quiet, too. The beach was far enough away that he couldn't hear anyone talking and the waves didn't crash against anything, not out here.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"It's perfect. I love being out here, just... away from everyone and everything. Sometimes it feels like it's as far away from this life as I can get, you know?" Logan replied with a sigh.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I get that," Joe said, nodding his agreement. It was sort of how he felt when he was writing music. Like no one could touch him, like the time or place or even who he was didn't really matter.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes I think I could just... be out here all day," Logan admitted with a soft laugh. "Just floating, not even thinking or doing anything. You think that's weird?" he asked, glancing over at Joe again.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"I used to do copious fucking amounts of cocaine," Joe pointed out, laughing. "You can't ask a fucking addict if it's weird to just want to lie back and float and forget everything else, because the answer is a big fucking no."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan laughed a little as well, though it wasn't really funny. Thinking about Joe and drugs still left him uneasy, and he couldn't help but look at the other man again, almost as if he was searching for a sign that things might not be okay. Just in case.

Joe had done something amazing by giving that stuff up, but Logan couldn't help but worry that the other man might slip back into old habits one day.

Just because it was hard to find drugs on the island, didn't mean it was imposable.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe looked back at Logan, waiting to see if he'd found anything. He wasn't just looking to look, Joe knew that kind of expression and he wasn't offended by it. He was a fucking addict, he couldn't expect people to just start trusting him to not do it, no matter how long he went without it.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I worry about you when you talk like that, you know?" he said after a moment. "Can't help but worry I might loose you or something. Like that stuff could take you away from me. From all of us."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Just 'cause I talk about it doesn't mean I'm gonna start doing it again," Joe answered. It wasn't even a matter of whether or not he could get coke on the island, he knew he wouldn't do it. He'd already gone down that road once. "I'm not."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I know, I just worry, that's all," Logan said softly, leaning forward slightly on his board as he let out a soft sigh.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Guess it'd weird if you didn't worry," Joe allowed with a small smirk, paddling in the water. "But I'm not gonna fuck up again."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, Joe, I know. I trust you, okay? Like I said, I just worry about you sometimes. Same way you worry about me," Logan said, watching as Joe paddled around in the gentle rolling waves.

"You think you're ready to catch a wave now?" he asked with a grin, deciding it was time to talk about something happier.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Guess we'll find out if I end up falling on my ass in the water, won't we?" he asked in return, grinning back. "C'mon. Worth a shot, right? Won't ever get any better at this if I don't fucking try."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Damn right," Logan agreed with a laugh, starting to paddle out and waiting for a wave to roll up beneath him before popping up.

It wasn't the best wave, but it was enough, and he road it as long as he could before eventually making his way back to the shore to see how Joe was doing.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe was in the water. He'd lasted about four seconds before toppling over and making a pretty huge splash as he floundered around. He popped up to the surface though, managing to grab hold of the board as he blinked water out of his eyes.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan laughed, starting to paddle out again as he called out to the other man.

"You alright?"

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"I'm good," Joe said through a laugh that was almost a cough. He scrambled back onto the board and then wiped the water out of his eyes, still blinking.