tides | jj maybank x oc

ep. 6 ~ the boneyard

~~~
As I mentioned previously; Luna Bliss Rush had tides. Like the moon. Maybe that was why, with some subconscious part of her brain, Diana Rush named her first daughter Luna - because she knew how suited to her name Luna's behaviour would be.

Now her tides were irregular and varied and, usually, had little to no cause. They just happened. Like a cycle of sorts, only no one had been able to predict her tides in her life.

This time her rising tide was an irrational anger and bitterness towards those around her and, more fiercely, herself. She couldn't exactly explain it but something about their close in counter and her having to remain under the bed in the same room as the cops had shaken off her sociable, relaxed mood and now she was venomous.

She didn't even feel guilty for it, not until after the tide had passed that is, she just felt frustration at anyone and everyone around her. However, just because she couldn't feel guilty for it right that second, didn't mean she wasn't aware of her position. She was painfully aware of her sudden change in temperament and she was smart enough to know that she had to try not to repulse her tenderly forming friendships with these people.

And that was why she was sat at the bow of the boat, watching the water pass by and trying not to spin around and scream at the top of her lungs. The weight of the knife and the tape recorder in her pocket was one she was also trying not to dwell on or throw into the ocean - they could be important after all.

Luna Bliss thought that, because she had distanced herself from the pogues, she was safe from offending anyone and that no one had noticed her sudden change. And, whilst that might have been true if she were some other random chick they'd picked up for the ride she was not. And she had not gone unnoticed.

~~~

The pogues conversion drifted over my head, spreading its syllables out and across the shallower water we were cruising through. Said pogues were sprawled in various positions behind me, forming a circle of sorts. A circle I had immediately decided I did not want to be a part of.

The murky water has a variety of boats docked in a sort of semicircle and half rotten boardwalks stuck up from the muddy sea floor. In actuality the planks of wood were half slipping into the water. The area was practically abandoned, which was probably why we'd come here to talk about our illegal activities, and I'd only seen a total of maybe two people around the docks and boardwalks, most of them with a beer bottle halfway down their throats and dozing off in the afternoon sun. Typical.

My attention is half drawn back to the group behind me as they begin shouting, I gather quickly that it's because JJ took the gun we'd found and can only roll my eyes. Is it really such a surprise?

Not that I could really judge: I had taken the knife and tape recorder after all.

Letting my mind drift once more I light up a slightly crumpled cigarette and let the poisonous vapour fill my lungs. By the third toke I'm much more relaxed already, feeling my frustration flow from my body with ever exhale. How can this be considered a bad habit if it helps me so much?

A presence beside me pulls me from my head. Glancing out of the corner of my eye I notice it's JJ, he says nothing so I go back to smoking and watching the area pass by.

"Oh what? C'mon, you're not mad at me for the gun too are you?"

I shake my head without looking at him, even though I can feel his gaze on the side of my head.