`TRAGIC with a capital T. [open]

[jinx]

`I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.

&&BUTTERFLY BANDANGE, BUT DON'T WORRY;

The water was utterly familiar and terribly, horribly, strange all at once. Artem felt the swish of it against the bare skin of his chest, and the memory of forcing his way through the waves in Romania flashed through his mind. Smothering it, he closed his eyes tightly and swam farther into the river. However, in trying to rid himself of the memories, he had forgotten that he was an Eraser, but not an under-water-breather, and swiftly swallowed a lungful of thick, muddy river water. He choked, hacked under water, and struggled his way to the surface, where he broke away. Thick, wet strands of inky hair stuck to his face as he spit it a chunk of mud from his mouth, sarcastic lips twisting into a disugsted grimace. He detested water, but the day was hot and humid and he didn't want to be stuck in vigil territory-- and neither did he want to be anywhere else.

The air was thick and crackled with the electricity and heat of the day, and made him feel uncomfortable-- even in the water, for the water was still nastily warm. His grimace grew, and he ducked his head under water once more before swiftly bringing himself to shore. He wore only the jeans on his lower torso, his shirt being ashore, and as he climbed onto the muddy, steaming bank, he laid on his back. The sun beat down on his face and caused the droplets of water that clung to his pallid appearance to disappear quickly enough. In fact, Artem could've sworn that the water simply turned to steam and disapeared like the bat of an eyelash. Weird, how simple things like that could happen.

He let his body relax a bit, though he was never fully relaxed-- no, spending years in the underground lab had kept him on edge for the long, grueling seventeen years of his life. With a sigh that escaped his lips easily, he straightened into a sitting position. The water that hadn't evaporated from his face ran into his eyes, and he had to grope around for his shirt before he could pull it over his head and wipe the stinging hot water from his impossibly dark eyes. Terrible, really, how the heat just couldn't stop and give him a brief moment of rapture before he had to lapse back into his tiresome heap on the bank of the river.

&&YOU'LL NEVER REMEMBER, YOUR HEAD IS FAR TOO BLURRY.

[Nathan]

All was calm, and Nathan smiled and started stretching as he realized that why he was over heating was because the sun was out. He hoped silently to himself that he didn't get a sun burn or anything, before picking up his make-shift bed for the night. He paused, listening carefully, and noticing that nobody was either up, or they all already left. He sighed, and started towards the River, because he seriously needed to cool off. As he neared within a few yards of the sand, he took off, and took a few long strides on the sand, before launching himself into the water, yelling "Cannonball!" With a big splash.

Nathan surfaced quickly, and flipped his hair out of him face. He smirked, and waded around for a little bit. Walking on the rocks under water. He didn't notice the other presence on the beach, to absorbed in the fact that he wasn't dying of heat exhaustion at the moment, and he closed his eyes and floated on his back in the river. He didn't float downstream, though, because his foot was still under water holding him from doing so. He let out a soft chuckle to himself, and then dove under the water once more, before coming up along the shore line, and sitting with his lower body draped in the water.

[jinx]

`I can't help being a gorgeous fiend. It's just the card I drew.

[/center]

&&BUTTERFLY BANDANGE, BUT DON'T WORRY;

Funny. That's what it was. Amusing. Terribly and horribly amusing how he couldn't sleep for three days due to how unfamiliar everything was, but because of an intense heat and the steaming smells of mud, grasses, and river water, he already felt tired and thought he was lapsing into a sort of time between waking and sleeping. And it was an odd time, this in between; he could still register purposeful thoughts, but his mind was also trying to sort through everything, and it created a flurry of colorful memories and sarcastic comments he'd made earlier fly before his eyes. A very faint smile curved the pale lips of the eraser before he settled back down in his spot.

However, it took only seconds for his tranquility to be shattered. A familiar, but also somewhat unfamiliar, scent drifted through the thick, heated air, and Artem clicked open on dark, narrowed eye. He heard someone shifting through the brush, and then someone broke through. Ah, yes, he knew this person-- but he didn't remember his name. He hadn't seemed important enough at his time of arriving. Without warning, he shouted and leaped into the water, causing a spray of sticky water to fly over Artem. A growl errupted from him, and he straightened, wiping the water from his face as he sat on the bank.

The boy's head broke the surface, and Artem's eyes narrowed even more. As he came to the shore, he watched as the boy laid down, not unlike what he'd done just moments before, but he was, in fact, half way into the water. "Hey, you," Artem growled. His voice had come out meaner, due to the fact that he still spoke with a thick Romanian accent, and the Slovak nature of the country had a harsh, almost choppy sounding language. "Ever consider that other people are on here that don't want to get wet?"

&&YOU'LL NEVER REMEMBER, YOUR HEAD IS FAR TOO BLURRY.

[/size]

[Nathan]

Nathan heard someone shift behind him, and he took a deep breath, and noticed it was Eraser. He laid down on the sand, and put his arms out to his side. He smirked at the Eraser's comment. Usually, there was someone down here, but they were burning up from heat and were happy that he came by. He tipped his head back to face the person, and shrugged. "I do. Occasionally. But apparently, someone's ice cold and can't feel the heat of the day. Stupid city and it's frequent weather changes," He mumbled the last part, and tried to recognize who it was. He had recognized the accent, but otherwise was clueless to who it was. Never got around to actually meeting him.

[jinx]

`I can't help being a gorgeous fiend. It's just the card I drew.

[/center]

&&BUTTERFLY BANDANGE, BUT DON'T WORRY;

A snort errupted from Artem, and he rolled his eyes. He felt his lip curl back from his pointed teeth the slightest bit, but restrained himself. It wouldn't do anything good for him to attack the other Eraser in such a short amount of time-- well, he'd be pleased with himself and he'd be much calmer when he got back to the vigil territory, but nothing better than that would happen. He smirk the slightest bit, and it sort of warped his face in doing that; with his lip curled, and eyes narrowed, the smirk looked odd on his handsome face.

Finally, he sat back a bit, his bristling smoothed a bit as the boy talked. He still felt that nagging feeling, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he knew him. He sighed, running his fingers through his damp hair. "I may be ice cold," he drawled out slowly, flinging his head so his hair stayed to one side instead of all in his face, "but I've already been in the water." He paused. "If I really wanted to get drenched, then don't you think I would've been in the water?" Okay, so maybe "drenched" wasn't particularly true. But Artem didn't care. Whether the boy could see him or not, he couldn't prove that he wasn't drenched anyway-- the sun would've dried him up quickly enough. Besides, he was close enough; his shirt was pretty damp.

He paused, ran his fingers through his hair once more, and then sighed softly. "What's your name, stranger?" he queried, and his voice came out in that thick drawl again. He couldn't help it, not really. He'd been taught to speak with the Romanian language, and he'd had to learn English on his way here once he'd figured out that he was headed to America. And besides; he thought it sounded cool.

&&YOU'LL NEVER REMEMBER, YOUR HEAD IS FAR TOO BLURRY.

[/size]

[Nathan]

Nathan felt a little tension erupt from between him and the other Eraser. He smirked, and rolled over on his stomach, wondering if he could feel himself burning if he were to get a sunburn. He wondered these things a lot, but he didn't ever really test it. The wet sand felt cool against his skin, and he blinked slowly, feeling like he could take a nap while still in the water.

Nathan opened one eye to look at the boy as he started talking. He didn't actually see, but he still wasn't adapted to not making it look like he was giving them his attention. He wasn't deaf, and he had to show in some way he was listening. And, to other people, they couldn't tell he was blind, which was good. The unknowing prey is the easiest to catch. "Well... The water feels good, and with the heat, it'd dry off in about a few minutes at the maximum," He said, nodding intelligently.

He smirked as the Eraser asked him his name. "Nathan, what's it to yah?" He asked, purposefully using his Tennessee twang, because it was fun. He closed his eyes and laid down comfortably on the sand folding his arms, and resting his chin on the little platform he had created above the sand. He let his hair stick to his face as it dripped down, and traced patterns around his facial features. It felt nice and cool, and the rythmic tapping of the water against the sand was soothing, against the lapping of the water on the shore.

[jinx]

`I can't help being a gorgeous fiend. It's just the card I drew.

[/center]

&&BUTTERFLY BANDANGE, BUT DON'T WORRY;

He snorted again, rolling his eyes in much the same manner he had before-- however, this time, the sarcasm seeped from him like a venom. He felt his lip curl with the sarcasm he was enmating. He watched the boy roll onto his stomach and blink sleepily, and pondered briefly how easy it would be to drown him by no means other than to scoot him closer to the water after drugging him.

Artem was actually very observant, so he noticed these little changes in the people around him. As the boy opened one eye at him, Artem confirmed whatever suspicions he'd had that the boy was blind; he'd guessed before, but he wanted to confirm it. He snorted out a laugh, something that sounded amused, snide, and mean all at once. "Anyway, that's not real important right now," he retorted with his eyes narrowed in a polite sort of smile. He paused as the boy spoke, and then quirked a brow with a type of gentlemanly surprise. "Nathan, hm?" he mused, rolling the words around on his tongue.

"I've never really liked the taste of Yankees, you see. Their political flavor doesn't suit my palate." He smiled that same gentleman's smile, the one where his lips curved upward only slightly and his eyes narrowed. And then he said no more; he'd never been asked his name, so he wouldn't tell. Besides, there was no reason for this boy to know his name. He needed to know Nathan's name so it'd be easier to find him when the need arose.

&&YOU'LL NEVER REMEMBER, YOUR HEAD IS FAR TOO BLURRY.

[/size]

[Nathan]

Nathan frowned. He didn't like this guy, and he couldn't place the reason. He didn't appreciate that the guy wouldn't tell him his name, but he shrugged to himself. He could always ask Tagg or Fox, or break into the records. "I don't life Yankees either, but I was made in Tennessee and I can't change that. And anyways," He repostioned himself, smirking. "Tennessee wasn't in the Yankees during that timeframe."