Took a walk by the sea (Ch. 6: Day 4)

Sheff · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:04 am

The morning was peaceful, the early light casting shadows down from the immense skyscrapers of Central City, the metropolis yet to be roused fully at such a time. Past the horizon of metal giants was the hazy infection that was Eggmanland, but that was a looming presence to be addressed another time, hidden from the hedgehog's view as he lingered near the shore.

Actually, it was the barest resemblance of a shore; just a strip of concrete that lined the edge of the city like some sort of manufactured border. It proved to be the perfect location to just find some solitude, something Geoff exploited silently just outside the gaping maw of a massive tunnel that opened out to the sea. It was large enough to fit a certain, whale-shaped battleship, perhaps.

Flat, green rocks skipped across the water in a slow succession as he fell into a preoccupied state, the self-generated crystal being at an endless supply, the stones eventually vanishing into the calm ocean. The mindless activity was certainly keeping him distracted from any approaching, white-tipped fins for that matter, anyway.

The fin grew steadily closer, though its movement was lazy; there was almost no disturbance of the glassy surface of the water, as though the owner of the fin was just idly drifting along. (Spoiler alert: he was.)
Unaware of the green hedgehog taking a... morning stroll, Mako allowed the flow of the water to carry him along, his dorsal fin dipping up and down with the movement of the tide. It had been a few days since he had really done much of anything -- ever since he had parted from the group after returning from Chun-Nan -- and he had spent his free time drifting around like so much flotsam.

He poked his head above the water for a brief moment. In true fashion with his typical luck, he was immediately beaned in the forehead by a skipping piece of green crystal. "Ow!" he yelped, immediately tilting his body backwards to tread water instead of the belly-down drifting position he had been in. "Watch where you're throwin' that stu--"

Blink blink.

Grin.

"Sparkly!"

When the water seemingly started to yell in annoyance, Geoff's light reverie shattered as easily as a glass attempting to break the headway of a boulder. A cocked back rock froze in his hand before ultimately slipping from his grip, landing onto the walkway with a clatter. A second later, it let itself tip over the edge and into the waiting ocean with a small plop.

The broken silence returned to its former state as the hedgehog registered that there was now a shark in his throwing range.

"...Mako."

"In the flesh-- and water," the shark replied, before suddenly ducking back down into the water, deeper than before. A few powerful waves of his enormous tail closed the distance between him and the concrete barrier startlingly fast, and with a sploosh his blue, finny head broke the surface of the water right near Geoff.

"Who else do you think a rock thrown into the freakin' ocean would hit, of course it's not gonna just sink harmlessly, nooo, gonna bean me in the noggin," he mumbled, but then he smiled. "Whazzup, o glittery one?"

"Takin' a breather between excursions," he answered, his tone that of a man who still hadn't fully awaken. An impressed sort of glance still lingered in his eyes from Mako's agility in the water, however, showing the smallest of amused grins as he rested his arms on the short, metal fence lining the concrete path.

"See you're enjoyin' yourself, though. Where'd you run off to this time?"

"Excursions. Aw, you're havin' fun without me," Mako replied, with the sort of inflection that implied he was entirely okay with this. He tread water leisurely, looking up at the hedgehog.

"I've kept around here, mostly," he admitted after a moment, and then broke into a grin. "There's all kinds of stuff in the water that you sort -- y'know, without gills -- have no idea about, bro." He shrugged one shoulder. "Just kinda putting off going home for now. ... Just can't wait to explain to my fam where I've been," he added in a somewhat sarcastic undertone.

"Define 'excursions', though."

"Like a 'infiltratin' giant-ass Chimera battleships' sort of definition?" questioned Geoff with all the good humor he could muster. That shark sure did something to his mood. "Or maybe 'scoutin' out secluded floatin' islands'. Somethin' grand is goin' to have to roll around next to beat any of this."

Mako cringed visibly. "My sympathies, brah. See, that's why I'm down here right now, not running around up with you and the GUN brigade," he supposed, shrugging again; he smiled. "Floating islands, I'd probably fall off, or something. You know me."

He ducked his head below the water again, mostly just to give himself something to do, popping up a second later like a buoy; the gills on the underside of his head visibly flared before flattening down once more. "What's it been like?"

Geoff had given a small sigh within the duration of the shark's brief dive, as if guessing the appearance of the question.

"Runnin' around, tryin' to take down the newest world-power on the block that happens to have a million times more firepower than we do?" he stated in monotone. "Not exactly the job I ever planned to have. Wouldn't have expected it to be this personal, either."

An uneasy pause followed his slip of inner thoughts, the hedgehog's stare abruptly fixated to some point in the distant sky far ahead to where the water met the heavens. It was nearly a minute before he spoke again.

"...I keep wonderin' what I'm doin' is even worth all this effort," he admitted with a mutter. "Any other time, I'd care less who was behind Chimera; let them go ahead and butt heads with GUN. They sort of deserve the opposition for once." A few more dragging seconds of silence passed. "But just because its him. Always so superior, actin' like I'm worthless... then dumpin' us off halfway around the world, nearly gettin' us killed, makin' me hike around for his friend just so he could run back. And the fact I could have just stopped hi-"

He cut himself off before his words became more out of hand than he would have preferred, simply shaking his head as his glance returned to Mako.

"I don't even know sometimes. What do you think?"

Mako frowned; his grin slipped away gradually the more Geoff talked, until he was furrowing his brow and biting the inside of his cheek in thought. "What I think," he said and then paused, with nothing but the ocean surf for a soundtrack. After a moment, he continued:

"You gotta do what you feel's the best thing to do, whether or not it really tends to work out for you. It's why I kept running around with you guys during the whole Eggman thing, y'know?" He shrugged. "And why I'll probably get caught up in whatever thing I end up stumbling upon next, though I'll probably end up with about a million new injuries in the process. Sounds stupid, but you gotta do what your heart's sayin', whether or not you got the odds on your side, Geoff. 'S'what I do. ... what I try to do, I mean."

Wait, he actually knew the hedgehog's name?

"That help at all?"

He actually had some remarkable clarity when not in the middle of Everything Trying to Kill Him. (Or trapped in a closet.)

Even though Geoff's face had turned back to the ever-distant horizon as Mako gave his perspective, he hung onto every word. In fact, his expression gradually softened from an aggravated self-questioning to a softer, more understanding look that he shared with the shark, offering yet another one of those barely-there grins that he possessed.

"A bit." He let the words roll through his head again, considering them once more and finding more comfort within them. "I mean, I'm the last guy in on this who was actually up there. If I don't take care of this mess, who else will?"

The hedgehog stood taller then, ridding himself of his former slouch over the railing as he gripped the waist high bar in his hands. He appeared more sure, as if some sort of burdening weight had managed to lift off his shoulder for a few refreshing moments.

"I guess the other half of it all is me just gettin' tired of bein' so angry about it," he mentioned offhandedly with a shrug. "Easy to know when everyone is callin' you out on it... suppose its my fault, though."

Mako considered the hedgehog for a moment. "Well, whether it is or isn't your fault, that's beyond me, bro," he said, making spirit-fingers to... express that it was beyond him? Whatever. "You're-- well, dude, at least you're kinda trying. Making an effort. That counts for somethin'."

Shrug.

"Don't let it get to you, or something like that. Just do what you can. ... or something," he repeated, chuckling.

The hedgehog managed to give out a light laugh.

"I'll do my best, shark-boy," he said with a certainly more chipper tone, conversation falling into a more relaxed mood. "You better hope this doesn't end up underwater again, though. Might have to track ya down for old times sake. We even got a whale-submarine now. You couldn't stop us even if you tried."

Perhaps not noticed by the shark, it would be good to note that Geoff's shoes were currently being kicked off to the side unceremoniously.

"You are a sick, sick person, Sparkles," Mako said, putting a hand over his heart and looking skyward (not taking notice of Geoff's actions). "The last thing I need in my life is to be mowed down by a whale submarine. Whalemarine. Submawhale."

"Ah, oh well. Guess we'll see just how fast you can swim... Now move over."

...wait, what?

SPLOOSH went a hedgehog cannonball right into the drink, a shirtless Geoff landing in the ocean beside Mako with hardly a warning.

Mako flailed around with nary an ounce of dignity for a moment, but quickly regained his 'balance' in the water.

"You have just made a grave mistake, o sparkly one," he said, before suddenly arcing his body to dive back into the water-- his head, his dorsal fin, and then his tail all smoothly slid under the surface of the drink.
A moment later, a (totally ominous) shark fin began circling the hedgehog.

It didn't last long, as suddenly he erupted out of the water with a powerful thrash of his tail-- which totally coincidentally splashed a massive amount of water in Geoff's direction.

"You are totally obligated to come to my house and drag me into whatever stupid adventure you get into after this Chimera crap is done with," he said decisively, as though he hadn't just soaked the hedgehog. "It's almost boring when I'm not almost dying on a regular basis." Pause. "... just, not if Henshin is going to be anywhere in the vicinity, okay?"

Geoff emerged with a gurgle — "pphhh- Dammit, that's cold!" — wiping water from his eyes, only to repeat the process barely a second later when a sharky shockwave of ocean came splashing right into his face. He only laughed it off though as he whipped his quill-soddened head back and forth, returning fire briefly.

"Takin' advantage of your home turf, eh?" he accused, treading water and not seeming to regret his decision in the slightest. "Probably will have to do just that though. Always good to have a sushi shield on stand by."

The hedgehog tilted in the water, closing his eyes in rare content as he floated on his back, feet kicking idly.

"Question is how'd I even get to... wherever you live. Unlike you, I'm not gifted with gills."

"Hey, in the water's the only place I'm worth much, I gotta use it to my advantage," he chuckled, grinning a too-many-toothed grin.

And then, for a moment, Mako looked genuinely offended. "Geeze, just like a mammal to assume we all live in the ocean," he said with a huff in his voice-- and then he broke out laughing, because he could not keep a straight face. He swam up alongside Geoff, and said: "I live in Emerald Town, Sparkles."

"Tch, call me ignorant then," he replied, it being a question if he were on the verge of being apologetic or just bordering on sarcasm. "Makes me wonder why any of you still have gills, if that's the case."

He grinned though, raising a brow at the revealing of Mako's residence.

"Beach town, huh? Always been a city kid... not to mention your home doesn't have Eggman plastered all over it." He paused. "...not sounding half bad, puttin' it like that."

Mako chuckled. "I'll explain the whole history of ocean life to you later, Sparkles, and the whooole story of how some of my ancestors decided to come up on land while the others ... please don't make me, it's boring."

The shark paused then, considering Geoff's asessment. "Yeah. It's nice. ... kinda boring, though, but hey, not so many robots running around trying to turn you into laser-cooked sharksteak," he mumbled, then looked up into the sky.

"I should actually start getting back. It's a bit of a ways. I hear a couple of my friends back there are torqued beyond belief 'cos some band or another they were kinda rival-ish against got popular, or somethin'. I donno."

The shark grinned. "So. I'll go home, you go blow stuff up with your newfangled friends, and I'll see you later, a'ight?"

"New band, huh?" muttered the hedgehog wistfully as if his mind were dragging out another unwanted memory. Geoff shut it out, though, shrugging away the looming connections that could be made.

"Well, anyway, sounds like the best plan." He smiled, swimming around the shark in one large, gradual circle. "Just make sure to save me a piece of beach, though. After all this emerald huntin', space travelin', time jumpin' and world savin', I think I'm due in for a right and proper vacation."

Mako rolled his eyes. "You realize that the second you step within a mile radius of me something's gonna happen, like, a meteor will crash into earth. Or a semi truck will hit you. I kind of ooze bad luck."

Regardless, Mako gave a quick little salute. "Later, gator. Try not to get killed."

And with that, the shark suddenly dove smoothly back into the water; a dorsal fin swimming away was all that was visible of him for a moment, before -- while further away, but still within sight -- he popped back up and waved a goodbye.

Geoff could only shake his head in amusement at the shark's final worries, not given much a chance to think of some parting words before Mako went swimming off. He happily waved back when the opportunity came, however, bearing a sort of wide smile that hadn't been seen from the hedgehog in an age and a half.

When his aquatic friend finally dipped out of sight, he tipped back once more and studied the far off, brightening sky, his hands propped behind his head without a care in the world.

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Took a walk by the sea (Ch. 6: Day 4)

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