[For Mathias & Veronica]

[thewordofweb]

After the strange personality happenstance and the obituary and the fight that came after that, I've come around to thinking that I'm long overdue for a nice bit of respite. Surfing, sunning, fishing from a dock (considering I'm trying to respect Joe's wishes by not going out too deep), and sticking around friends. Today's plans involve checking on

Comments

[plntfood]

Thus far, Mathias has done an excellent job of not talking about what happened during those few days, with the exception of making a request of the building crew. He and Stacy have begun to move their things to the hut on the beach, but as far as he's concerned every other thing he said or did during that time never happened.

Except for the part where he called Veronica his girlfriend. Repeatedly. To her friends and his friends and possibly even to her face, he isn't sure. They're doing an excellent job of ignoring that elephant in the room, however, and he's already with Veronica near his new place when he hears Webster's voice.

And the only thing he can think to say now is, "Oh, shit."

[neptune_sleuth]

Veronica tenses, tipping her head up to find the source of the voice, alert. Now that she's back to normal, mercifully, she's been intent on enjoying herself in completely normal ways - not anxious, not chirpy, not desperate for anyone's affection - content to pretend the last few days never happened. The labels affixed to their relationship? She'll cross that bridge when she comes to it - as herself.

This, though, requires immediate attention. "That doesn't sound good," she says. "What, should we hide?" She's only half-kidding.

[thewordofweb]

I can hear voices talking and I bear in the direction. I still have my senses sharp and well from my Army days, but I can clearly tell it's Mathias, so I'm not about to pounce or do anything stupid. "I've got things for surfing or fishing if you take your pick?" I call out and hesitate before taking those last few steps and pressing my lips together to hide my amusement. "Or not. I didn't realize you had company."

[plntfood]

They can't hide, although he thinks it's an awfully good idea, considering all the things he'd said to Webster. On a normal day, Mathias isn't particularly bothered by anything, but on a normal day, he hasn't just spewed everything to a new friend.

"I just... said too much to him," he explains quickly to Veronica, hoping she'll understand, then turns toward Webster when he begins to speak German. Smiling awkwardly, he gestures at Veronica. "Webster, this is Veronica. Veronica, this is Webster."