#beach plot

He checked his and Soll's tickets, trying to see where they both were before they actually boarded the plane. His father had generously bought both tickets but, most likely purposefully, he had placed them about 15 rows apart. What an asshole. 

Upon boarding the plane, he was greeted by a small child yelling and his mom half-heartedly attempting to shush him. He turned the volume up until it had shut the kid's yelling out and waited for the plane to take off. He grunted a "goodbye" to Soll before dropping himself onto the navy airplane seat. Hoping that the seat next to him wasn't taken, he sent a quick text to Soll telling him to sneak over if he could. But, not long after, an elderly woman stopped and slowly lowered herself into the chair. Eventually, the attendants began showing procedure and the plane kicked into gear. He shut off his music and shifted in his seat, glancing at the elderly woman who had ended up being his sole company. She caught his eye and smiled, thinking he was listening to the music he had been blasting loudly before and had merely turned it down. He offered a weak smile back and pulled the earbuds from his ears. She complimented him on his appearance and how much like her grandson he looked; however cliche and trite that compliment had gotten and how surprised he was that he looked like every grandson that every grandmother had had ever, he still thanked her and awkwardly looked away to see that they were taking off. She asked him who he was travelling with and they sparked a short conversation before slowly dying out. The woman quickly fell asleep, leaning slightly on his shoulder and snoring just enough where he could hear her raspy, tired breaths. Soon enough, he had gotten sick of the atmosphere and had put the earbuds back to his ears and turning on his music again. He sent Soll another text but he didn't expect a response; after all, he probably left his phone off for the trip or he was busy doing whatever the hell he does on his computer. He lowered the ringer on his phone to vibrate and slipped it in his pocket.

What a beautiful face I have found in this place That is circling all round the sun What a beautiful dream That could flash on the screen In a blink of an eye and be gone from me Soft and sweet Let me hold it close and keep it here with me, me

He put his head on the cold plastic of the plane and watched the wing of the plane and the clouds beneath it. Sighing. he reached down for his bag, watching her to make sure not to disturb his elderly friend. He pulled out his camera, a older Kodak that he had originally bought for his Photography classes. The last few months he hadn't bothered bringing it with him to Massachusetts -- it had been nothing to him but a foolish hobby. He knew there was nothing that had made taking photos "worth it" to him but it always cheered him up. He scrolled through the scenic pictures, some of the city and some of the outskirts of Chicago where his home was. He cringed at some of them, noting all of the mistakes he had made. He played with the settings a bit and shut off the flash, taking a quick picture of the sleeping woman to show Soll. It'd make a good story later or something.

And one day we will die And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea But for now we are young Let us lay in the sun And count every beautiful thing we can see Love to be In the arms of all I'm keeping here with me, me

He turned the camera off, the beep from it causing the woman to shift. He held the camera close to his body and looked back to the wing, watching the flaps and slats move up and down. His eyes fluttered a bit, his body hoping to rest. He slowly closed his eyes, falling asleep to the quiet music coming from his lavender earbuds.

What a curious life we have found here tonight There is music that sounds from the street There are lights in the clouds Anna's ghost all around Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me Soft and sweet How the notes all bend and reach above the trees, trees

~

He woke up to the sounds of shuffling and bags dropping as everyone quickly began filing out. Moving quickly, he put everything away and threw his bag over his shoulder. The woman wished him good luck on his trip and he returned the wish as she squeezed into the line and walked away. Once most of the crowd had gone through the aisle and out the plane, he waited for Soll and left with him. They ran to the baggage claim and waited for their bags. Soll's bag were just about first to show up; Erin tapped his foot impatiently as every passenger he recognized seemed to pass him and leave him waiting at the belt.

After what felt like a lifetime, his suitcase fell from the conveyor and onto the circular belt. He grabbed it and pushed Soll along, hoping to catch a taxi to the bus station immediately. He just wanted to sit down again -- he still hadn't gotten over flying yet.

Catching a taxi and telling the driver that they needed a ride to the bus station, he made himself comfortable for the ride. After so many trips, he had quickly learned of how bad Boston traffic could be. It was impossible to know how long the drive was and, after his phone lost so much power from being left on during his mile high nap, he couldn't listen to his music without losing his lifeline. He decided, much like on the plane, to go between rummaging through his bag, watching the cityscape and watching the boats on the water. He and Soll occasionally would talk about a passerby or joke about something but, after the traffic and the lack of movement began wearing on them, boredom took hold. Erin decided to risk the loss of power from his phone and just like always, he offered Soll an earbud.

Now how I remember you How I would push my fingers through Your mouth to make those muscles move That made your voice so smooth and sweet Now we keep where we don't know All secrets sleep in winter clothes With one you loved so long ago Now he don't even know his name

~

The car soon came to a stop in front of the bus station and Erin shuffled out of it, grabbing his messenger bag as a last thought. The driver offered Erin his bag and he thanked him, handing him the money for the ride. Soll barked a complaint his way but Erin barely acknowledged it, telling him to pay for the bus ride. The man nodded and rushed back to his car, kicking it into gear to find his next customer. The ride should have been barely 15 minutes but it had taken almost an hour because of the traffic -- they just needed to get out of town to catch a direct bus to Cape Cod and they'd finally be able to be done. It was just about sunset and he was already about to fall asleep on the steps of the station. He meandered inside and waited as Soll purchased the bus tickets, guarding their belongings. They were directed to a very large bus but as they gave their luggage away and walked inside, it was eerily empty. They sat together in the back row, having enough room to sprawl out and get comfortable. The sun hid behind the trees as the bus growled and shook to life. The driver looked up and announced that it would be another 2 or 3 hours to Cape Cod before focusing back onto the road. It was going to be a long ride.

Time passed and Erin had plenty on his mind; he really didn't have much choice but to think. His cell phone needed to stay charged just in case he had to call Flis or Karl or something. He wasn't too concerned about that, really. He and Soll were pretty capable and they had the address -- they'll be able to get there. They wouldn't be there until almost midnight, though. Fashionably late, as usual. 

Actually, that whole idea's bullshit. They'll probably be pissed. 

  Since hearing about the trip to Cape Cod Roslyn had been thinking about ways to actually head to her destination. It wasn’t like she didn’t like the idea. After all it would be a chance to see familiar faces and reunite with the trolls again. And if there was anything that Roslyn wanted it was that; she held dearly the people she had met during that and being separated from them after everything that had happened was difficult. Keeping hidden and still keeping in touch was hard and Roslyn was often frustrated that there was no way she could ascertain the safety of her fellow trolls but through flimsy social media. So getting to see them in the flesh was certainly welcomed.

Still, as much as she liked the idea it was getting there in the first place that was an ordeal. From her various google researches (To go on a tangent for a moment: Roslyn was really beginning to love the human research engine, it was quite useful! Then again there was always a wealth of information on the net, something Roslyn took advantage of, though mostly to research things such as “alien conspiracies” and “psychology” (human wizards were also a topic of interest, but one Roslyn would rather keep secret.) it seemed like Cape Cod, was not exactly in the vicinity, in fact it was in another country. While Roslyn had no qualms of purchasing a car (or “borrowing one”) it seemed unlikely that she could pass the border between the Us and Canada without some kind of identification.

So that left…….. well not very many legal options that’s what. For a moment Roslyn had felt like forgoing the trip, after all safety came first. Just because she wanted to see everyone didn’t mean she should compromise her fellow trolls safety for that.

However things turned up during one of her each endeavors on the web she had found a ship that was heading to Cape Cod. After making sure she could easily secure a return trip afterwards (it would be useless to go and then be unable to return home afterwards right?) she quickly reserved a room on the ship. (It was rather expensive, but it was a small price to pay for traveling safely.)

The trip on the boat had been more nerve-wracking then she had expected, keeping hidden but still eating and keeping hydrated wasn’t easy and being around so many people was terrifying. After having spent the better part of three years alone in a secluded house with only a catfish and a mutant cat for company it was rather difficult to get used to social interactions.

 (She was getting one of her neighbours to house sit while she was away. While she had never actually the person in real life a short search and a few e-mails later she had found someone in the vicinity of her house that seemed…. Honest enough. If anything happened while she was away. She thought the monetary compensation would be enough to deter the person from doing too much damage to her property.)

At any rate after all three days of general discomfort and trying to be as discreet as possible she finally arrived at the port in Cape Cod. All that was left was traveling to the actual beach house a short cab ride later. (Unfortunately she couldn't exactly walk around wearing a hodded cape, though Roslyn would have rather liked that, at least she could somewhat escaped odd looks that way. But the excuse of "Oh I'm going to a costumed party between friends" was luckily more or less accpeted(The willingness for humans to accept something farfetched(like a costumed party in the middle of summer) over a simple truth(the existance of extraterrestrials.) was actually pretty fascinating.) though it certainly didn't stop the odd looks, it was better odd looks then admitting she was an alien.