You're Driftwood

[D/N]

(Deanna Hull continued from What Now?)

Dee didn't know if any of her, Cammy or Kyran really had a clue what they were doing or where they were going. As a threesome, they kinda stunk at this hunting thing. Maybe it was just because they hadn't met up with Cammy's other group yet. That was fine with her.

They'd been sticking close to the aviary since that was where Garrett's note to Cammy pointed them, but no luck so far. And now hey, they were back by the docks.

Dee looked over at Kyran. He smiled. Yeah, he remembered. She looked back out over the ocean and thankfully couldn't see some imagined vision of herself circa day one being dragged through the waves.

She guessed they'd take a few minutes before deciding what to do next; Cammy was sorta taking the lead in that regard. The aviary itself was still in sight, a ways off, but it was OB until at least tomorrow morning. There was also that rusty maze of crates, but Dee wasn't thrilled about the prospect of rooting around in there.

But so long as the bad memories from this place were willing to stay half-forgtten in her mind like an old, grainy photo, Dee was fine with hanging here for a while. Some of the docks looked to be solid, others were mostly submerged and seemed ready to break away from the mainland any minute. She nudged a loose segment on one dock with her toe; it felt like cardboard. Acted like cardboard too, tearing away from the rest of its dock without much fuss and sliding into the greenish water. She gave it a second nudge and it began floating away.

Funny. She used to like to swim.

"Hey Whitney, I saw this quiz online. Are you more of a bird or a fish?"
"Uh, what were you?"
"Fish, duh."
"K. Ummm, bird, totally. Birds eat fish, like albatrosses do and stuff. Plus they can fly anywhere; fish gotta stay in the water."

Whitney -- Mac, now -- had been right, way back a few weeks before they'd broken up. Too bad she hadn't realized it tiil now. Maybe that was why he'd broken it off.

Of course, if he hadn't, he'd be on this island too, maybe with her. Or on this island and dead by now, which she guessed was more likely.

She turned back to Kyran and Cammy.

"You, uh, if we manage to get out of here, you guys got anyone back home you're hoping to see?"

[jimmydalad]

((Cammy Davidson continued from What Do I Do Now?))

Cammy had stayed quiet, her thoughts pensive as she followed Kyran and Dee. She hadn't talked much. She barely made eye contact with the others, only acknowledging that she was paying attention to them once or twice.

What was she doing here? She felt lost, the game dragging her around places and making her feel like she had no control over any of her actions and decisions. It was as if she was a marionette, just waiting for the organizers to cut the strings and leave her for dead. It was a feeling that caved into her heart and was slowly ripping her into shreds from the inside.

The island was messing with her, screwing her perception of time as the days started to blur together. It felt like she had been on this island for a lifetime, even if it probably only was a few days. It was straining her, knowing that the island was messing with her yet being able to do nothing about it.

Cammy's face was tired. Bags formed at the bottom of her eyes and it appeared disheveled and messy. Cammy didn't think she could bear to look at herself in the mirror, because she know she looked awful. It looked as if she was drained, devoid of any color. It was a stark contrast to how she would've looked back at home.

It came to the point where Cammy wasn't even fully aware of where they were, just letting her feet take her along for a ride. Looking around, she was very close to the place where she had encountered Travis for a second time. If only she did something then. The sounds of the waves and their footsteps swirled around her and she closed her eyes, letting them envelop her and travel through her body.

The sound of Dee's voice snapped her back, causing Cammy to jump lightly. She hadn't really been thinking about life back home. Everything she had been thinking about before had to do with the island. What she was going to do, who to look out for, how to survive. She spent so much time being fixated on the concept of the game, she didn't realize that she never thought about the people left behind.

"Suzanne, my sister." Cammy answered quickly. Her hand clenched tightly at the memories of her older sister, remembering the time she first left home to study. The depression she developed due to the isolation was soul-crushing at the time, but she knew that Suzanne was coming back. She didn't want to think about the pain that her sister was going through.

"I'm guessing your brothers are waiting for you, aren't they?" Cammy stated, not looking at Kyran as she said it. There was a lot waiting for them at home, but for Cammy, her family was the thing that stood out.

[Cake]

[[Kyran Dean Continued From: What Do I Do Now?]]

((OOC: Darn you internet for erasing my post out of nowhere when almost done with it the first time.))

---

Kyran shrugged.

"Dunno, uh -- everybody?" he snorted back to conceal a laugh.

Then for a moment, he dropped his head silence.

Turns out talking or thinking about things, like family only managed to make him feel more depressed. He had finally gotten what he wanted, to just sit down and talk, but now he sorta didn't want to. It was true though, as long as they were out of this place and sitting comfortably back home in Seattle or at Disneyland, any familiar face would do. Even if that face belonged to that grouchy old sea-hag, Principal Freeman.

He wondered how far they were from Seattle right now, what time it was there, if they were all able to sleep well enough and not go around being too stressed out beyond belief like everyone here on this island. The kids at least, not those sick monster terrorists.

Then again, he wondered what time it was here, right now. Oh that's right he had a watch.

Almost tomorrow, already.

It was easier to just avoid things that were bothering him and do something else; particularly when there wasn't anything he could vent his frustration out on. So that's what his mind did, it pulled him away from thoughts about home and into thoughts about what to do concerning their current situation.

They were supposed to find Camilla's allies; Garrett, Matt, and whoever else they had with them, which had him trying to figure out a way on how they could do that, as so far they hadn't made any progress.

All they had accomplished was wandering around, stopping to rest here and there without running into anyone, and fortunately or perhaps just luckily staying safe and sound, alive and well for how many days already. Others would have killed to have had the luck he had on the island and some literally had done so. Point was - it was like they had no direction whatsoever and well - It was all very uneventful.

There it was, that tiny, little, unreasonable feeling again, nagging at Kyran in the back of his head. That same 'Adrenaline Junkie' mindset he had while bored in the shopping center was back.

It was stupid though, really stupid.

Along with finding the others from Cammy's group, Kyran suddenly wanted to find the rest of the people he knew, his own friends. The only thing he could think of that would have them cover more ground and possibly find them before they all became corpses was to do the worst, most clichéd thing anyone could do in a situation like this, which was to split up. Split up and look in the areas around the Aviary and meet up again at the Aviary at around noon.

That was his plan.

Thing is, it was break-time at the docks right now and Deanna wanted to have a chat. Fair enough, he wasn't exactly confident in the idea either, so easing into mentioning the plan would probably be the best decision. They didn't have to move on right this second. Besides, all three of them could use a brief, light-hearted, chit-chat of sorts for morale.

Kyran could definitely help there, maybe. It wasn't usually his 'role' in social situations, except on camera with friends on a video blog or something, as he wasn't much of a talker. Joking was more of a 'Cooper' job really, but he'd try and probably fail, but gosh darn it, Kyran was going to try, much like Cooper actually.

"Don't think that's what she meant, Cam."

He lifted his head back up with some semblance of a side-mouth expression of amused tenderness on his face.

"Dee was wondering if there was someone 'special' in particular you wanted to see again." Yeah, there we go; a good little tease about lovey-dovey stuff. "He was on the plane trip too, but how about that dude you went to the prom with, Virgil?"

What the hell was he doing? This sort of talk was always mega annoying to listen to back at school or whenever his bros, Eli and Andy or his dad would press him on about it at home like school girls. Funny enough, unlike the guys of the Dean household his mother never would partake.

Kind of made him like her best by default.

Thinking about it made Kyran finally show some teeth with this latest grin stretching the corners of his mouth to reveal a hopefully, warm, dimpled smile, despite the visible, vertical scar on his formerly stitched bottom lip.

"How about you, Deanna Hull?"

[D/N]

"I wasn't meaning, like, it had to be some soulmate, you know," she said. The dock fragment had drifted back towards her. With another small kick, she sent it out to sea again.

"I dunno, I was just talking. I'd been with Mac -- Whitney, uh McGregor -- since last summer. We broke it off a couple weeks ago, though. Probably for the best, I mean if we'd still been together either he'dve come on the trip too. Either that or I'd be expecting him to remember me forever or something if I died. That's too much pressure to put on him, I think.

"I've still got my mom; it's funny, it's kinda the same thing in that I'm happy she's got my sister now. Her name's Avery, she's only two so... yeah."

Oh there were all sorts of those people out there for the Deanna Hulls of SOTF and the world at large. There was the long-forgotten K-Double-Why'd you pick such a dumb stage name daddy; there were all the replacements since then. There were the faces from school who didn't go and the people she knew from the coffee shops and malls and all those teenage haunts from Tacoma to Aurora, the Dash Center teachers who'd taught her guitar and the stone-faced case worker who'd warned her of the slippery slope she could be heading down slipping overpriced baubles in her purse for fun.

"I've actually got my great-grandma, she's still alive. She's like 95 though, and doesn't really remember much. They probably won't even tell her. She wouldn't understand."

And there were memories and there was the halfway point and that last fucking cigarette she wouldn't smoke no matter how much Deanna tried to smile at Kyran and Cammy and pretend like that was enough. If it was she would've picked the fish tattoo over the songbird when she was out with Whitney that one time; she was a Pisces after all and it would've made sense.

Fuck fish.

(permission granted to move Dee out with the others)

[jimmydalad]

"O-o-oh..." Cammy responded sheepishly, as Kyran explained what Deanna actually meant. She could feel her cheeks blushing brighter as she realized that Deanna was talking about a special someone. She looked to the floor, embarrassed as Kyran teased her about the situation with Virgil.

"Virgil is only a friend!" She quickly spurted out, fist clenching for a moment as she realized how loudly she shouted. Her eyes open wide and she looked frantic, not really sure how to compose herself for the situation that she had gotten herself in. She must've looked like such an idiot at the moment, but she wasn't really sure what else to say to him. If Kyran hadn't been suspended from the prom, Cammy would've gone with him.

It was only when Deanna intervened and started talking that she fully realized that Kyran was messing with her. She glared light-heartedly at Kyran, a little annoyed that he had got to her again, but at the same time feeling a strange moment of happiness. For the first time in what felt like forever, things were somewhat normal. Well, as normal as she could feel on the island. With Kyran around though, she felt more comfortable and less on edge with what was happening on the island.

As Dee continued to talk, Cammy moved slightly closer to Kyran. This was probably one of the only times that she could properly talk to him, considering the volatile state of the island that they were on. She wanted to say some things to him, because she didn't know if there would ever be another opportunity for her to do so.

"I'm so sorry about before." Cammy whispered into Kyran's ear, looking over to Deanna who was talking about her great grandmother. "I didn't mean to be so mean. I guess the island was getting to me. To be honest, it still is. I don't want to lose myself to the game and I don't want to lose your friendship. You just being here helps but in the situation that I do for some reason get lost, you need to stop me. Can you promise me that?" Cammy asked him quietly, trying to make sure Deanna wouldn't hear. For a moment, she thought that she was thinking about the game too much. Maybe she was. It was all she could think about. It dominated her mind. She couldn't help it, her survival instincts were kicking in and she didn't know how far they would take her.

That's why a part of her needed Kyran. However, was he going to be ok with her the way she was now? Was she so different to the way she was before that she was something he didn't want in his life anymore? Cammy wasn't sure.

[D/N]

And then Kyran suggested they split up. Really, Dee should have seen it coming.

She looked back out at the ocean, twirling a bit of hair in her fingers.

"Yeah, OK," she said.

That probably didn't come out like she wanted it to. She turned back to Kyran and Cammy and gave them a small grin.

"No seriously, it's OK. Try to find anyone, meet back at the aviary at noon."

And it was. For now, at least. Because she could tell that Kyran needed it; for all his likely fucked up reasons he needed it, and she could accept that.

Did she need it?

Fucking hell no. But she could accept that, too. For all the sense in the world it made.

"Just... just be there, alright?"

(Deanna Hull continued in Hunger for Freedom)

[jimmydalad]

((Skipping approved by Psych))

Kyran suggested they split up, making Cammy wonder about his response. She couldn't tell his reaction to her confessions. It had felt like the only thing she had talked about with him was excuses and confessions. Excuses for why she acted the way she did, confessions about the game changing her. She knew the game was changing her, but she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. At first, she thought it was a bad thing. She was losing herself. The girl who she was before the game was nothing like the person she was now. She was starting to become unrecognizable to herself.

At the same time though, it was possible that these changes were good for her. It allowed her to be strong and persevere through the game. Was it really a smart thing to cling to the past? Kyran had been aloof to her for most of the time they had been together on the island. Maybe he was changed by the game as well? Cammy's face contorted in thought, wondering how things were changing. She couldn't be the person she was back at home. She couldn't be that person. She would be dead if she tried to go back.

She had to stay strong, she told herself. As Deanna started to leave, Cammy decided to leave as well. There was no point staying around for too long. After all, Kyran came up with the plan to split up and find the others. If they stuck together as a group, they were not going to get anywhere anytime soon. This way, they could hopefully get to the others before the others got to them.

"I'll see you around, ok?" Cammy called out to Kyran, flashing him a big smile before quickly turning away and running. Once away from his eyes, she dropped the happy facade and moved quickly. Off she was again, going god knows where.

((Cammy Davidson continued elsewhere...))

[Cake]

[[Kyran was supposed to have moved out as with the others, I didn't know he was still taking up space on this location. I'll remove him.]]

[[Kyran Dean Continued Elsewhere...]]