Frail State of Mind

Mason had slowly been integrating himself into this - some would say dysfunctional - group of friends and it was a bit of a surprise to him to be invited on their camping trip. Of course he couldn’t say no, although when he realized he couldn’t take Maisey he almost reconsidered. Luckily he didn’t, what would a couple of nights spent sleeping in a tent? This was a great opportunity to meet those he hadn’t yet. “I’m going to go rock climbing?” Mason said, speaking to anyone listening nearby. “Would anyone like to join me?”

Evie raised a brow at Mason’s admission that everything was organized by author. She wasn’t sure why, but there as suddenly a really uncomfortable feeling in her chest. “You said, by author only?” she asked, just to clarify. Slowly, she stood and looked to the bookcase she’d currently be beneath if it weren’t for Mason. He’d sort of rescued her from a bad situation. “Thank you for pulling me out of the way,” she spoke gratefully, looking to one of the still standing bookcases. There were only a handful of books that had fallen out. Reaching out, she arranged and moved books still on the bookcase before bending to pick a couple up. “How long have you been working here for?” 

“Yeah,” Mason said with a sigh. He wasn’t an avid book reader but even the way the owner sorted them made him feel a little uneasy. Just by author seemed rather unorganized. “Of course, I couldn’t let you get crushed. We are too young to die in an earthquake.” He started placing the books back on the shelf and then went to pick up the fallen bookcase. Surprisingly the shelf wasn’t too heavy, maybe that’s why it toppled over so easily. “Just about a month. It’s easy money, and I was running low on that. Are you from around here?”

“I’ll definitely let you know - but are you the type to say yes and not show up because you found something better?” Austen asked, raising a brow. She wondered if he’d even actually have fun with her friends. There were so many of them with so much baggage that maybe it would be nice to include a new person. “Oh! Yeah, you definitely need a passport,” she laughed easily, shaking her head. “I honestly don’t know how you do it, though. This is such a small place and as much as I think it’s cool to travel the country in a tiny home, I think I’m more high maintenance than I originally thought,” she rambled a little. 

“No,” Mason shook his head, saying the word in a sing song voice. “I never just not show up. I at least try to reschedule.” He laughed lightly. Maze looked around the small space, the space he had called home for a while now and shrugged a shoulder. “If you really wanted to I think you could minimize your life to fit into something like Maisey here. And it’s not like it’s something you have to do for the rest of your life. You can just try it out for a year or so.”

Addison peered up at the male as a playful smirk danced upon her features in response to his statement about natural talent before listening intently to him talk about how he became good at volleyball. “No, I wouldn’t have laughed,” she began before nodding her head slightly. “Well, at least not too much anyways,” the female finished as a soft laugh escaped her lips. Addison took another sip of her water before licking her lips to catch the remaining droplets that still clung to them before looking over at him. “I’m originally from Naperville, Illinois, but I currently live in Hilo, Hawaii,” she explained with a grin. “You mentioned that you’ve been here for a few months. Where were you before? If you don’t mind me asking,” the femme questioned. 

“It’s okay if you laugh. I don’t mind if people are laughing at me and not with me.” Mason had a crook, charming smile on his lips. “Naperville? Never heard of it. man going from Illinois to Hawaii, that must be the dream.” He sipped some of the water that was brought to them when they first got there. “Uh, Las Vegas. That’s where I was before. I move around a lot.”

“ so, a real last liquor left in the world situation, then? ”  an easy laugh slipped her lips as she tilted her head in his direction. “ you’re not entirely wrong. what gave it away? ”

“In my experience the girls that ask if someone is a tequila or vodka drinker is because they are a tequila drinker and want to brag about it.” Mason laughed. “Not that there is anything wrong with that. I just find it funny when girls take pride in their tequila, even more so when they boost about being able to drink it without any salt or lime.”

“mason, that simply won’t do. you’re going to have to let me expose you to the joys of ben platt. he’s simply wonderful, even if you hate broadway. i’d drop anything and everything to marry him,” roman joked softly. he shrugged at him, “that’s never been my mantra, but i see the value in it. you’re probably disappointed by life far less than i am.”

“I mean, if you must.” Mason chuckled. “I won’t say no.” He didn’t know much about theater or those that made a life in it and show tunes aren’t in his wheelhouse but he’d try to listen to this Ben Platt guy that Roman was talking about. “What’s got you disappointed in life?”

Evie wasn’t sure if it was the events that had just occurred or if it was this Mason character’s usual tendencies, but he was sort of seeming annoyed with her. At least, that was how she read his tone and demeanor. “Oh, no, I’d really rather help. I really need this book and I figure I can be a better help,” the girl assured him, sipping on the water once more. She was thankful that her heart rate was starting to slow. “I did, actually. But it’s now underneath that,” she pointed to the bookcase that she was thankful Mason had saved her from. A soft laugh left her lips. “Let me help.”

“Okay,” Mason nodded, an extra hand really wouldn’t hurt and he honestly didn’t want to be there well into the night just to try to get the shop back in order. “Um, just a heads up the owner organizes by author. Just by author. You know how big bookstores would go by genre then author, yeah it doesn’t matter the genre. Everything must just go by the author’s last name.” He looked around and started to pick up some books. “Hopefully it’ll be easy, the piles shouldn’t be too mixed up.”

“You seem like the type of guy who might take anyone up on pretty much any offer,” Austen pointed out with a soft laugh. It wasn’t lost on her that Mason seemed like the kind of person who just let themself into your home the second you even alluded to having him over. It was a little more like looking in a mirror than the redhead wanted to admit.·“But you really are welcome to come take a look some time. I’m sure our crew will have another party some times soon,” she chuckled, shaking her head. Eyebrows raised at Mason’s ideas of where he might go next.·“Does she not have a passport?” Austen asked, winking as she walked back toward the front door of the bus.·“Is it like an emissions thing that they’d not allow her or something?”·

Mason opened his mouth but didn’t speak right away. She was right, he rarely said no.·“True, it’s hard to say no especially if the offer is good enough.” He shrugged.·“Plus saying no is no fun. Let me know when the next party is. That seems like a good setting to meet everyone else.” He had seen them have a bonfire and they seemed to be having fun. That would have been a perfect time to introduce himself but he didn’t want to intrude, not yet anyways.·“To be honest, I don’t have a passport. I need to get that and then figure out what else I need to take Maisey with me.”

Addison followed the hostess and took a seat at the table before taking a drink of the water. It was refreshing to her as the summer heat was taking a toll on her from playing that volleyball game. She peered over at the male sitting across from her before allowing a light laugh to surpass her lips. “I honestly have no idea,” the female replied as she shrugged casually. “I’ve played a few times before that back home, but it wasn’t anything serious. I’ve always been athletic, so maybe I’m just a natural,” Addison stated with a playful wink. “Where did you learn to play volleyball like that?” she asked as her brown hues glanced down at the menu while awaiting his answer. 

“Ah, natural talent. Must be nice.” Mason teased, closing the menu and giving his undivided attention to her. “I’ve been here a few months and play every weekend at least. Believe me, if you had known me back then you would have laughed at how terrible I was.” The long haired boy laughed. “Where are you from, you mentioned you’ve played a few times back at home.”

Addison smiled in return once she joined the male again before waving to the other guys as they walked away. She didn’t expect to make a new friend, but she didn’t mind it at all and was interested to learn more about him. “Oh wow, look at you being all charming,” the female teased as a light laugh protruded past her lips before scanning her brown hues over the various places to see where she wanted to grab a drink from. Addison pointed to a nearby restaurant that didn’t seem too busy and figured it would be a lowkey environment where they could talk without too many interruptions. “Let’s go there,” she suggested as she began making her way towards it.

Mason looked forward, wondering exactly which place she was talking about as they walked. It was a quaint place, not super crowded like some of the other places they passed by. “Perfect,” He said as they got there and the hostess led them to a table outside. They were left with menus and two glasses of water. “So, where did you learn how to play volleyball like that?” He wondered, taking one of the menus and starting to look through it.

roman blinked rapidly at mason,·“excuse me? you don’t know who ben platt is? tony award winner, broadway icon, star of netxflix’s the politican? voice of an angel?” he listened to mason talk, shrugging,·“sure, it isn’t, but don’t you wanna live your life with things to hope for? hope makes the world go round.”

Mason had a blank expression on his face.·“Those words mean nothing to me. I never really ran with a broadway kind of crowd, and I don’t watch much Netflix.” He shrugged.·“Hope hasn’t gotten me much in life. I’d much rather just be living in the present. No thoughts of the future, no worries of the past.”

an arched eyebrow climbed even further, clear bemusement on her delicate features. “ problem solved. ” she started walking a few paces, revelling in the feeling of the sand on her bare feet. “ i believe we were just getting to know each other. first things first, are you a tequila or vodka person?  ”

“Tequila, but I wouldn’t say no to vodka if that was the only thing available.” mason answered without a second thought. “What are you? You seem like you’d be a tequila kind of girl. Am I wrong?”

“You might have to be careful with words like bohemian after saying nothing too hippie like,” Austen laughed softly. Wasn’t Boho just another way of saying hippie-chic? At least, that’s how she thought of it. People in Portland really loved to freely throw around synonyms and act like they weren’t actually the same thing. It was confusing to Austen. “I mean, I think I can work some magic on the outside, but I like really plain interiors. Art should be the focal point, the rest of it? Not worth fussing over too much, in my opinion,” she spoke honestly. “You could come see the view sometime. See what you think - meet some of the others,” the redhead laughed easily, motioning as she spoke. Often times, her hands moved with her words. It was almost trained into her when she was young that body language could exhibit enthusiasm. “Oh my goodness,” Austen laughed, hands settled on her waist. One of her friends, if not many of them, were world travelers. But that was a lot of states. “That is a lot of places to visit. I suppose this thing comes in handy then, eh?” she asked. “Anywhere you want to go that you haven’t been to yet?” 

“I guess those too are pretty similar,” Mason laughed. “This is why I am not into interior design.” He was hoping for a more subtle bohemian style for the artwork on his bus but he wasn’t even sure that was possible or what that entailed. “Don’t invite me unless you mean it because I will take you up on your offer.” He quirked a brow, watching as she spoke with her words but also her hands. Her question didn’t catch him off guard, it wasn’t the first time he had been asked this, but he never had a good answer to it. He never had a plan on where to go next, he just let the road take him wherever and he stopped when he felt like it. “I want to try take Maisey to Canada or Mexico for a while. I’m not sure if they would allow her over the border though.”

“Oh, no… No,” Evie dropped her hand, shaking her head. It was a fairly normal reaction when your heart rate spiked the way that hers had. “Just a little shocked,” she nodded, speaking honestly. Her voice was rather quiet. Not only was this guy a stranger, but they had just been through something kind of big and abnormal together. It had to have been an earthquake - she knew that there was a chance of them in California, but she never would’ve thought it would happen while they were visiting. Thanking the stranger, she sat down on the chair and slowly sipped the water. “I’m Evie, by the way,” she introduced herself, taking a deep breath. After a few moments, she opened them again and looked around. “So… this place is a wreck. Do you want me to help clean up?” 

“Mason,” He forced a smile, the ordeal of the earthquake made him forget that he hadn’t formally introduced himself. “No, it’s okay. It’s my job to keep this place tidy when the owner needs help. You can just sit there and relax.” Mason said, this time with a more genuine smile. “Were you able to find the book you were looking for? If not I’ll keep my eye out for it while I put this place back together.”

FAVORITE INSTRUMENT

Probably guitar, I bought one not too long ago. I don’t play it well, I’m still learning.

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF SOCIAL?

Yes, if I wasn’t social then I wouldn’t be able to make money wherever I am. The key is to be friendly with the locals.

DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH RIGHT NOW?

I mean, there are a lot of attractive people at the beach. Can’t say I have a crush on any of them but I wouldn’t turn down a chance to grab a drink or even more.

FAVOURITE SONG.

Sex by The 1975. Literally anything by The 1975.