Who: Claire and Joshua
When: afternoonish
Where: down by the lake

Maybe it was from being born and raised on an island, but Joshua liked being on the lakeshore. There was something soothing about the water. The damn thing was big enough to be an ocean, when you were standing on the side of it. In any case, he'd walked aimlessly out there again, far from where he'd run into the naked-feather-man, but still. Down there. His head was all over the place, and he'd been hoping the movement would help, but it hadn't really.

She'd said that she missed him. Gave him little text hearts. But he hadn't heard from her again. She hadn't wanted to see him. He was again in that place where he didn't know what she was thinking and he was stopping himself from texting her at least once an hour. He didn't know what to do. Should he do it? Go out there and try to see her? Would she even ask for his help if she needed some? He kind of didn't think so. But then he didn't want to be the insane stalker ex-boyfriend either, who just showed up to a house that wasn't even her's and demanded -- or begged, more likely -- to see her. So he was stuck. Wondering if she was thinking about him at all, if she'd meant it when she said she missed him, or if he was just ... placated and tucked to one side. Because that was what it felt like. She hadn't actually talked to him, after all, just made references to having a hard time. A hard time she apparently didn't want his help with. Not that he had any. He was worried about her, and felt completely helpless. Which really had been the problem, hadn't it? It was a bad headspace to be in.

But that was where he was, sitting on a rock and squinting out at the breakwall to his left, turning his phone slowly over and over in his hands. He briefly considered calling his mother, but he'd had a hard enough time acting normal for her the last time he had. So he just sat, and stared, and thought in frustrating circles until his nose stung in a way that had nothing to do with the break.

Claire was happy to get out of the house. But then again, when wasn't she? She'd worked on some simple magic spells in the basement earlier that morning and only managed to blow up the toaster. That was in the kitchen. Upstairs. But still, at least she'd tried. After awhile she'd grown restless being inside and had eventually decided to get outside for a walk. It was gray and dull, the clouds still hanging there ominously in the sky. She headed straight for the lakeshore, hoping the water was still dark and choppy. For some reason she much preferred that to the calm, serene waters during a beautiful day. There was something about watching the waves crash angrily along the breaking walls or the shore that drew her in and seemed to help her think when she needed it. Claire never thought too much about what that meant, though she hoped it didn't mean she was resorting to an angsty-woe-is-me-teenager. Soon she'd be wearing all black, piercing her nose, dying her hair blue (again) and writing poetry. God help her.

Claire walked carefully over the sand for quite awhile, not really aware of how far she'd walked until she spotted the lone figure sitting on a rock ahead. It took her a minute before she recognized the guy - Josh with the broken nose. She hesitated briefly, unsure of whether or not she should say hello. He had his phone in hand and looked deep in thought and Claire herself hated to be interrupted when she was in a 'mood' and wanting to be left alone. Still... she found herself walking in his direction, absently poking at her healing lip with her tongue as she did so. At least it wasn't swollen anymore.

"How's the nose?" Claire asked once she was close enough that he could hear her. It was lame, but she figured it was better than 'Hey, what's up?'. Greetings were just as awkward to her as introductions. Which made her thankful she and Josh had met over injury rather than some random run-in.

Joshua hadn't had any idea he was being approached -- something he probably really needed to get better about -- so the sound of Claire's voice was a tiny bit startling at first. He looked over quickly, heart leaping in his chest. His first instinct was to think it was her, and he didn't want her to catch him brooding. But when the visual synapses fired, he saw that definitely wasn't the case. Recognition took a second to kick in, and then he realized that it was the girl from the school. Who dropped a book on her face, right. He looked kind of surprised. Under the bruising and the tape that was still helping his nose set right. "Hey," he greeted, and then realized that wasn't an answer. "Oh, uh ... still broken. How 'bout your's? Your lip I mean."

She felt mildly guilty that she'd startled him, and for a brief moment thought that maybe he wouldn't even remember her. Their last encounter had been two days ago after all, and hadn't really lasted very long anyway. But then again, she did drop a book on her face in front of him, so she bet he'd remember that. Claire stepped up beside the rock he was sitting on and smiled easily. Reaching up, she tugged at her lip briefly. "I've been avoiding dropping anything else on my face since, so it's healed pretty quick. You look better. I mean, the bruises aren't as... bruisey. I'm surprised to find you out here." She motioned toward the rock he was sitting on. "Are you upping the scale of assaults, or seeking atonement?"

He glanced stupidly down at the rock for a second, brain still catching up to current events. Being that whole social interaction thing he'd gotten so bad at. Oh right. The rock. With the falling, and the yeah. "Oh no, I learned a long time ago that trying to get revenge on y'know ... inanimate objects is kind of unsatisfying," he said, looking up again to quirk a tiny smile at her. He was trying, determined to try. And be normal. For once, Christ. "But I can get behind the not-dropping-things plan, looks like it's working out for you." Since her face looked ... uninjured. Yeah.

"Yeah. So far it's been flawless, but of course now that I've said that, it'll only be a matter of time before I bust my lip open again. I'm predicting stitches next time." She shifted and slipped her hands into the light track jacket she'd pulled on earlier. See, now it had been easier to talk to him when she was trying to cover up embarrassment at her klutziness. Despite her best efforts not to, her mind drifted very briefly to what her father would tell her. She wasn't interesting, smart, or in any way memorable. It made her trip up in her haste to think of something incredibly clever to say to contradict those particular observations, but all she could think of was total fail. "So what are you doing out here alone? Are you waiting for someone?" Yup. Total. Fail.

Had he looked expectant? Was he waiting for someone? Was he down there in some pathetically desperate hope that Lullaby would show up? And tell him it had all been a big mistake on her part, and she felt as empty and lost without him as he did without her and she needed him and could they please try again and maybe things would be better this time? It was possible that was his motivation, yes. He wasn't above admitting that. To himself, at least. Even though he was pretty sure it wasn't going to happen in any dimension he was a part of. "No," he answered Claire after the hesitation in which all of that ran through his brain. "No, just kind of ... sitting." Augh. Lame. He glanced behind her, as if someone she was with might be back there. No doubt some dude-friend who was far better at everything than he was. But hi, that was bitter. "Just hanging out, watching the water. You?"

Claire instinctively followed his gaze behind her, expecting to maybe see someone walking up the beach. But they were still alone. She turned back to him, a curious expression on her before it smoothed out into soft amusement. "Hanging out... watching the water. Sounds wonderfully emo to me." Yes, that was it. He looked incredibly emo there, sitting on the rock near the break wall, looking out wistfully over the water. She smiled again. "I'm just hanging out too, I guess? Not really watching the water as much as I'm just, you know... walking alongside of it. How's it going for you, with the water watching? Are you dead set on it with the whole sitting thing, or do you feel like getting some exercise?"

Joshua felt a bit of heat creep into his cheeks. Emo. Yes, he couldn't really argue with that, now could he? He was being emo. Sickeningly so. He squinted out at the water for a brief second, before looking back to her and sliding off of the rock. "It's kind of the same as it always is, so ... exercise could be good," he said, sliping his phone into his pocket and trying a faint little smile. He could walk with her and hang out and pretend that everything wasn't a mess for a while, right? Right. His fingers joined his phone, tucking into his front pockets as he started to walk, sort of instinctively taking the path that looked the least rock-strewn. And cue his not having the first damn thing to say. Fuck.

She fell into step beside him, internally praying that she didn't trip and fall on her face. Not because he was a boy or anything, but she'd already been a dumbass once, she'd like to prove she could get through an hour without hurting herself. Or someone else. That was the goal. Yup, this was all just an experiment rather than some desperate attempt at company that wasn't her mother. She wracked her brain quickly for something to say that wouldn't sound stupid. She had been able to do it before, hadn't she? "So, Josh, now that I've got you to walk with me, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?" She flashed him a grin. "Beyond the entire do you like moonlit walks on the beach type thing, because I'm guessing you totally do... but where are you from? Unless it's your broken nose, I detected an accent somewhere under there. Ireland?"

Okay. Normality. He could do it. For real. Joshua glanced over at her and smiled in that faint way that he was having trouble going much beyond today. "I actually try not to? It's easier to trip in the dark. But y'know, I would. And write bad poetry under the stars," he added in a self-depricating sort of way that hopefully would amuse her. It felt like forever and a goddamn day since he'd made a girl laugh. A girl who wasn't Lulu. Okay it had been a while there too, or felt like it had. "But yeah, Ireland. County Kerry, fresh off the boat. Here with my cousin," he said, because that was the easiest lie in the world, it transferred neatly from September to Sean. "Are you a native Marquettean?"

Claire's grin widened and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped. "Come on, it wouldn't be that dark. You would have the moon lighting your way, remember? Moonlit walks." She nudged him lightly with her elbow, hoping to ease some of the weird tension she kind of was getting from him. Emo, indeed. "As for me, I was born and raised here, yeah, but I don't want to say I'm a native Marquettean. That sounds far too exotic, and Marquette? Not so exotic, really. Which makes me want to ask, are you here permanently? Or are you just passing through?" She couldn't imagine wanting to settle down and live in Marquette if you had the option of moving on to some place more interesting, or hell, even staying in Ireland.

"Trust me, I could have spot-lit walks and still trip," he said with a chuckle. He was glad that the nudge was light, as it made some deep bit of him twitch. It had been even longer being touched by a girl who wasn't Lulu. Aside from the couple of hugs at the funeral. ... and fucking hell, he needed to get his mind off of her. Joshua opened his mouth to answer her, and found that he didn't know if he was staying permanently anymore. He really didn't. "I dunno?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow a bit. "I'm thinkin' about getting my schooling done here, but not so sure now." Things had kind of changed.

"How sad is it that I know exactly what you mean?" Claire said dryly. She double knotted her shoes sometimes and yet that didn't seem to matter to her two left feet. In an absent gesture, she kicked at a small rock in her way and watched it fly several feet in front of her, bouncing to a stop ahead. "You're not so sure about school in Marquette anymore? Why the uncertainty? Because of the news?" She could understand if it was that. Marquette wasn't necessarily the pinnacle of safe, small American town anymore. It was turning out to be pretty fucking scary on a daily basis.

No it's more that the girl I'm in love with died and then came back from the dead, only to die again, wash rinse repeat, and now she broke up with me because I apparently didn't deal with it right, and she says she wants to be friends, but have I seen her since then? No. And I want to run home with my tail between my legs because I'm a pussy like that and I miss my ma. Did his patheticness even have a limit? "Well ... yeah, partly," he said, because to normal people, deadly activity in a town was more inspiration to leave than being dumped. But not everybody had a guardian angel. Lucky for them. "What's been goin' on, and I don't even know what I want to go to school for yet, and just ... a lotta things. ... But I'll probably stay." Because he'd promised he wouldn't leave her.

Claire nodded as he spoke. 'Probably' was just another word for 'maybe'. Probably never became definitely unless there was good reason behind it, and who was going to find a good reason to stay in Marquette these days? But ugh, all of that was depressing and she wasn't in the mood for that at the moment. Death, death and death. No, thank you. Claire glanced at him, suddenly wondering what would happen if she opened up one of his chakra points. She hadn't actually fed in a couple of days and she'd been growing pretty itchy to do so... however, she resisted that particular urge as it rose because Josh was nice and she didn't really know him well enough yet to gauge rather or not he'd react negatively to being touched by her. "Come winter you're definitely going to be regretting that particular decision," she teased. "You'll be ready to take off to some place sunny and warm, I can guarantee you that. I wear at least seven layers in the winter, you know? Not only because otherwise I would freeze, but I have this uncontrollable fear of falling on ice and breaking my assbone or something. So if you see me then and I look like a Weeblewobble, don't make fun."

Joshua chuckled a little, at the mental image and the excellent use of the word 'assbone', and nodded. "Promise, no makin' fun. I'll be in the same boat, I'm sure." Though he preferred the colder weather, there would be ice to contend with, and Sean quite possibly wouldn't let him out of the house. Not without like ... a helmet and pillows strapped to him and stuff. Which got him to wondering in a vague way if he could train his telekinesis to apply to himself and start ... maybe breaking falls before they broke him. It was possible, he guessed. Not that he'd probably have it ready by this winter, which was just around the corner. He glanced over at her. She at least seemed normal enough. It was appreciated, really. Even if he sucked at keeping his end of the conversation up today.

"Not that it's necessarily a good thing, but if you're as clumsy as you say you are, or really, as your nose and wrist imply, I think I might be off the hook for most feared teenager in Marquette with you around. I walk into shops and people behind the counters sort of, erm, wince and then tense up a lot until I'm gone. I've never actually like broken anything before. Okay, that one time... twice really and only a little bit of glass was ruined, but generally I'm super careful around things that can be knocked over. Or tripped into." She winced herself at a particular memory. "Have you ever been on crutches? Those things are hard to maneuver when you get some speed behind them... they don't have brakes you know?" She realized she was talking a lot, but she'd made him walk with her, so she felt the need to entertain. Or rather, make the noise so there weren't any weird silences. He didn't seem overly conversational which made her wonder if it was just his mood - emo boy - or she was just incredibly boring when she wasn't busting her lip open.

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean," he said with a small grin. Oh, he'd had his fun with crutches before. Occasionally they'd been worse for him than what actually put him in them in the first place. "I haven't had time to build up a reputation for myself yet, though, so I think your title's pretty safe for now." There was also the fact that his one connection pretty much to a social life didn't want him around anymore, and he couldn't even manage more than a few sentences with the one guy he kind of knew before it exploded into awkward, so. Yeah, but he was supposed to not be thinking about that shit right now, wasn't he? Hadn't he thought that? "I generally just have to avoid places like that. Antique stores, shops with lots of glass ... more of a plastic-user by necessity pretty much," he said, attempting to contribute. God, he was shitty company. He should probably apologize, but he didn't want any possibly sympathy for the reasoning behind it. Joshua flat out didn't want to talk about it. "So you're a ... senior, yeah?"

Claire grinned, thinking she ought to just take Josh shopping with her. Let him have a go inside for awhile and maybe she wouldn't have some jumpy clerk following her around the store waiting for the inevitable shattering crashes. It was a plan he probably wouldn't be on board with, but it amused her nonetheless. Claire kicked another rock ahead of her and nodded. "Yup. I'll be done after this year. Yay and all of that stuff. But since I've got at least four more years of school to go after graduation, I'm not really celebrating just yet." The only decent thing coming from leaving MSHS was that she would be leaving Marquette. She'd deal just fine with more school. "I've just got to entertain myself somehow for the next eight months or so."

"And wreaking havoc in stores isn't entertaining enough?" he asked, looking over to quirk an eyebrow at her and smirk a touch. He remembered being excited about getting out of school -- since it hadn't really been that long ago, after all -- and feeling like his entire life and the whole world was laid out at his feet. His two left feet, but still. How quickly everything could change, even though he was still only eighteen, still out in the world (mostly) on his own ... he needed to get into school or something. "So what's your plan after graduation? Goin' to school here?" Or are you getting out? He could definitely empathize with that.

"Oh, ick. No." She wrinkled her nose quickly before she could help it. And then her cheeks flushed, but only a touch. She smiled to cover it up, hoping he wouldn't take offense if he did eventually decide to take classes at the college. "I mean... NMU is great and everything. But I've never really been away from Marquette and I realize I'm tooting my own horn or whatever, but I've got the grades to get out and go somewhere really... far away." She laughed a bit and shrugged. "It's not as exciting as being fresh off the boat in a new country like you, but if I'm able to travel across this country, I'll be content with that. Or whatever." She shrugged again, not wanting to sound like she was overly desperate to leave Marquette, even though she was. Claire looked over at him. "Do you miss it? Home, I mean. Do you ever think about going back?"

Joshua nodded, not seeming offended in the least. He'd felt exactly the same way. He just hoped for her sake that her experience wasn't like his had been so far. No, people deserved normal sorts of getting-away. "Yeah, I miss it sometimes," he said after a second's thought. "Been thinkin' about going back a lot lately, but ..." He shrugged a shoulder. But that would be pussying out. Unless it was stupid to stay in Marquette, considering his curse and everything. He wasn't sure where he was in the middle ground at the moment. He just knew that going all the way back home wasn't really the best option. "I left for a reason, y'know? Not gonna run back." A rock came within range of his sneaker, and he kicked it much like she had, sending it bouncing off ahead of them.

"Oh." She nodded as if understanding, and then looked at him again, her brows furrowed together curiously because she didn't really get it. "Why'd you leave in the first place?" Because he hadn't really said, and she hadn't really asked before. Fresh off the boat with his cousin was pretty vague. And it was still a bit baffling that he would leave some place like Ireland to come to Marquette. There were so many other cities that might have been a lot more fascinating. And less dangerous apparently. Hell, New York City was looking like Mayberry compared to Marquette lately.

He looked over at her, looking slightly -- and stupidly -- surprised by the question. "You're gonna laugh," he said, giving a faint wry smile. "Sounds cliche, I guess, but kinda ... t'find myself and prove I could do it on my own. Or mostly on my own. My family's kinda ... protective, I guess you could say, yeah? An' Ireland's small compared to, well ... here. I just needed to do it." And it had been pretty much a total clusterfuck, but at least he was still alive, right? Positivity was good. "They sent Sean to make sure I didn' disappear or accidentally kill myself, but he's pretty cool, so." He shrugged again. Which didn't really say why he'd landed in Marquette, that was hard to put a finger on.

She assumed Sean was the cousin he'd mentioned. And she wondered if he was really so clumsy that his family would send someone along with him to keep him safe. Maybe so. Some people were just cursed through and through. Still, she respected and was a bit envious of his ambition. Picking up and just... leaving. Lucky bastard. "Not laughing," Claire replied with a smile of her own. "That's what people our age are suppose to do after school, right? Find ourselves, or something. And hey, if you've got someone around to make sure you're still breathing at the of the day, more power to you." She stretched out her track jacket a bit with her hands in the pockets and then stepped forward ahead to kick at the rock he had kicked ahead of them moments before. "Have you found yourself then? Or are you still looking?"

"Yeah, somethin' like that," he agreed with the whole 'what we're supposed to do' bit. He watched her kick the stone and considered that question. "Still looking," he said finally. He'd thought for a little while there that he'd had it, but then it all got blown to hell and now he felt more lost than he had when he'd left County Kerry. But according to Sean, all that shit was an on-going process. Becoming a man and all that. You just learn little bits as you went. He just ... seemed to not be learning, which was the problem. Or he didn't feel like he was, at least. So he didn't really say much more about that. "So where do you want to go? Clear across to California or something?"

Claire didn't push on the subject of 'finding one's self'. He didn't really seem to be much an of open book, and she was totally fine with that. Neither was she, for the most part. Besides, they barely knew each other, so there was no reason to delve into deep discussion. She would probably just sound like a jackass if she tried to sound smart or profound. She was the absolute last person to be doling out anything resembling advice. "I thought about it. And I haven't decided really, but I'm thinking Brown," she admitted, recalling the brief conversation she'd had with Thom about college. It sort of felt like this one had... like she was being humored. Which really wasn't a fair assumption on her part, so she tried to shake it off. "Not necessarily California, but still a decent distance." Claire's smiled widened. "Hell, maybe I'll try for Oxford and do that hopping continents thing like you."

Joshua chuckled quietly. "It's an experience," he said. Though going to one of the most prestigious schools in the world was a bit different than crossing the Atlantic to settle in Marquette, Michigan. Or one would think, at least, maybe the whole fucking world outside of where he'd been born and raised was cracked. Who knew. "Where's Brown?" he asked, looking over at her. The book she'd been reading before she dropped it looked pretty hefty; he could believe she was a smart girl. Like Lu. Out of his league. Which was a bad thought that should be banished; he didn't really even have a league anymore. The idea of a replacement girl was just ... ugh. Didn't work. Not yet.

"Providence. It's far enough away that my mom can't drop in on me whenever she feels like it, but close enough that it wouldn't cost too much to come home for holidays and stuff." She'd already weighed a lot of the pros and cons for the schools she was applying to, and it always came down to how easy it would be for her parents to travel to see her. "Though, I'm not one hundred percent on what I want to do, which is a problem, but I think I can figure it out by the time I get there." Claire pulled a face and looked at him. "I'm sorry. School talk is massively boring." She turned abruptly on her heels and began to walk backward a few feet in front of him so she could see his face better. "Other than assaulting rocks and breaking bones, what have you been doing since you got here? Are you working?"

He still wasn't sure where Providence was, but didn't ask again, just nodded. He'd come to find that Americans tended to assume that everyone in the world knew their geography. Unless it was a huge city, he hadn't the first clue where most anything was. But that was okay. She'd said it was far enough away. He looked up as she started to walk backwards, automatically glancing behind her to look for obstacles. Which gave him a pang. But fuck, what didn't? "I haven't been doing much, really," he said a bit sheepishly. Because he really hadn't, not in the sense she was asking about. There'd been plenty of trauma to keep him occupied, but that wasn't ... productive. "Kind of taking it easy on the money we still have, but ... I'm gonna be lookin' for a job, at least part time. Know of anywhere?"

She wasn't overly concerned with any obstacles. She was determined to at least appear graceful in some way, given the way they'd actually met. And so far, so good. She hadn't tripped once. "Not surprised... there's really not much to do here. Options are incredibly limited. I have to revert to third grade mindsets and swing at the parks sometimes." Claire wrinkled her nose. "But job wise? I don't know. I imagine some places might be hiring now. I think I saw help needed at Fenton's. And this jewelry shop? Though you're a man so that probably wouldn't interest you. A few of the gas stations are hiring, but that's incredibly boring, I'm sure. I was thinking about maybe working part time at the diner in town for awhile, if I think I can manage from spilling coffee on people. The owner I hear is always hiring people so..." She shrugged and grinned. "I guess it just depends on how desperate you are for cash."

It also depended on how likely it was that he would injure the shit out of himself and someone else. And carrying around hot coffee sounded like a bad idea. Bussing tables? Would likely get him fired within a week from all the broken dishes. He knew from wandering that Fenton's was a music shop, but again with the breaking shit. And instruments were expensive shit. Maybe he could work at a gas station. A business couldn't take too much of a financial hit with mushed crisps and cupcakes. ... god that was a depressing prospect. "I can't see myself managing to serve coffee without scalding someone," he said, giving her a faint smile and a chuckle. "Probably a baby or an old lady or something. So ... we'll have to see, I guess." He really did need to go to school and learn a trade. That was preferably done sitting down most of the time, with minimal arm movements.

"I'm kind of hoping maybe I can just bus tables," Claire admitted. "That way I won't have to really... interact with people and still get paid." She very nearly suggested her dad's auto shop, but she didn't want to subject Josh to working with her dad, of all people. She wasn't that cruel. Claire smiled instead. "And I'd say it's probably safer for all babies and old people around if you stayed away from the hot coffee. Actually, it'd probably safer for you. The last thing you want is to have to wrap up your wrist from a burn after it's just healed from a break, right?" Claire was bored with walking backward, and turned on her heels in what she hoped was a smoother manner to face forward again. She had grown far too confident in her backward walking abilities that her feet tangling up actually surprised her. At least until she tumbled onto her hands and knees on the ground, scraping some of the skin off of her palms in her haste to keep herself from meeting Josh's nose's fate with a rock. Pain shot through her limbs and hands and Claire ducked her head down and shook it in defeat. Bright red hair thankfully curtained her equally as red face as she forced a laugh. "So close to making that look easy."

He'd been too slow to catch her -- which was probably a blessing, he was likely to hurt her more rather than save her -- and Joshua winced as she hit the ground. He bent down and gently touched her arm with his good hand to help her up. "S'why I've almost given it up all together," he said lightly, hoping to make her feel better. Well, he probably had given it up all together, seeing as how he didn't have anybody now to watch his back and steer him clear of trippable things. "But hey, at least you caught yourself," Joshua offered.

She jerked lightly when he touched her but relaxed immediately after and gave him a grateful look. "That's something," Claire agreed, pushing herself up from the ground and wiping her palms on her thighs before giving them a brief examination. Nothing bandaids couldn't help. "No broken nose for me today." At least she hadn't taken him down with her. The guy would have probably broken his other wrist or something. Eager to shift the spotlight away from her fall, she looked over at Joshua. "Any exciting plans for the rest of the day? More water watching?"

He peered at her hands while she looked at them. Ah, that familiar flaky-scraped-skin look. It stung like a bitch, but she'd live. His eyes ticked back to her face and he recognized that desire not to dwell on the two-left-feet of it all. He shrugged a shoulder. "Not sure yet. Possibly. With a good extra helping of moping," he said with a little smile. Yeah, he was terrible company, and he knew it. "You? Hopefully no more backwards-walking."

She made a face and stuck her tongue out at him briefly. "Whatever. I did the backward walking thing just fine. It was the attempting to walk like a normal person that tripped me up." She paused. "Pun intended. So, I know it's none of my business, but why the extra helping of moping? Bad day already? Bad week?" Possibly bad month really, with the way things had been going in town. "Does that tie into the emo thing you've got going on today?"

Well hell, he probably should've seen that question coming. He glanced out toward the water again, considering the pros and cons of actual honesty. Or well, not too much. "Just a bad breakup, is all," he said, looking back to her. Bad for him, at least. Probably good for her, but that was him being bitter again. He shrugged a shoulder again, dismissively. "Been kind of a bad month," he said, unknowingly echoing her thought. It was hard to believe it had only been a few weeks since everything went to hell, but it was.

"Ooooh." Her voice trailed off as she digested that. Break up. He got dumped. Or he did the dumping. That certainly explained the emo-ness of his attitude. She struggled with the urge to wrinkle her nose up at him and tell him he's better off. Because she didn't know him very well and she certainly didn't know anything about his girlfriend or their relationship. Not to mention she knew how unappreciative her friends at school were whenever Claire voiced her blunt opinion of their high school 'relationships', so she kept her mouth shut. For the most part. "I'm sorry," she said, settling for the expected response. "Relationships are... messy." Messy was too nice a word for it. They were really miserable, pointless and painful. Those were better adjectives that were on the tip of her tongue. "Erm, did you date long?"

Messy? Didn't even begin to cover it. "I, uh ... really don't want to talk about it," he said as gently as he could, giving her the best approximation of a smile he could manage. He was just super-pathetic today, that was all, and it was best not shared with other people. He should just ... yeah, probably go home. "No offense or anything, I just ... there's no point, yeah? It's over, and nothing's gonna make it not-over." As he said it, he knew it was absolutely true. Even if she did call and say she'd made a huge mistake and she wanted him back -- which was probably the mother of all pipe dreams -- nothing would ever be the same. That kind of encompassed his life in general. Nothing at all was ever going to be like it was. He was irrevocably changed.

"Oh, no offense taken whatsoever!" She said it quickly, relief flooding her features. Thank god. Because she didn't want to really hear about it, which was nothing against him, but she generally did not do well with conversations revolving around relationships and so-called 'love'. Usually she found herself only wanting to roll her eyes in response, and most people on the receiving end of it didn't really respond well to that. Honestly, she felt bad for him because he was quite obviously upset, and he seemed like a decent guy, which told some part of her that if he was the dumpee, the dumper was a total moron, but again, what did she really know about it? "I didn't mean to pry or anything." Claire glanced up at the sky and chewed on her lip for a second before she turned to Joshua. "Do you have a cell phone?"

Good, she didn't want to hear about it anyway. That was fine, great. Because he shouldn't be talking about it anyway, he should put it completely out of his mind and get on with shit. ... because that was likely to happen at all, ever. "No, it's cool," he muttered to her quasi-apology for prying. Then he blinked at the question, looking at her again. "Um ... yeah," he said. "You need one?" He pulled it out of his pocket and offered it to her, assuming that she'd remembered she had a call to make or something.

Claire smiled, feeling less tense now that they were past the 'break up' bit. He didn't want to talk about it anyway, so she felt less guilty about not wanting to hear it. She took his cell phone and immediately began to go into his menu and contact list. She didn't pry, or snoop - instead she punched in her name and cell phone number, her tongue peeking out a bit between her lips as she concentrated on the task at hand. When she was finished, she looked up and offered the phone back to him. "No, I've got my own in my back pocket. But if you ever feel like doing something other than, you know, wanting to watch water and moping, you can call me. We can do something ridiculously strange, or fun, or horrifically dangerous or whatever. Or hell, even if you're still emo boy and just feel like company. Totally platonic of course," she added quickly, just in case he got the wrong impression from her offer. "And if not, well, that's cool too. Just delete me out of there." She smiled as if that wouldn't offend her in the slightest.

Joshua stared at her while she put her number into his phone like she'd lost her mind. Or perhaps that he'd lost his. Because he definitely didn't see that coming in the slightest. But then she was talking and suggesting they hang out and stuff, and while that was supremely weird to him, given the circumstances, part of him appreciated it. At least he hadn't completely crashed and burned as a social contact. He took the phone and tucked it away again, nodding a bit. "Okay," he said, even though that didn't really say much, did it? "Sounds like a possible time. With the horrifically dangerous and all. Might let my face heal first, but ... yeah, sure." He chuckled faintly and attempted to wrap his logical brain around the fact that he'd just gotten a girl's number, platonic or not, completely unwittingly.

She was sure he had other friends to hang out with, but it never hurt to try and cheer someone up somehow. Maybe it was the broken nose and broken wrist that sort garnered a bit of sympathy, since she could relate to it. Or the emo image he'd made earlier, all alone on a rock, staring out over the lake. Still, even with feeling bad for him, there was something mildly unsettling about him, but maybe that was what she found a bit interesting, even if she couldn't really put her finger on what it was. "That sounds fair enough to me. Once those bandages come off and you feel brave enough to face the world..." She held her fingers up to her ear in a 'call me' gesture before grinning. "I've got to get home, though. Homework and all that fun stuff that you don't have to worry about anymore, so I'll let you get back to your daily dosage of moping... but I do appreciate you humoring me with a bit of a walk."

"No problem, anytime you need somebody to bring the mood down, you let me know," he said, and the smile came a little bit easier that time. Hey, at least he could have a sense of humor about it, right? Sometimes? "Take care." He stuck his fingers in his pockets and gave her a nod, then moved off to head back toward the path that led home. It had been a nice distraction for a little while. Maybe he could indulge in it again sometime. Have like ... a friend or something. There was a distinct lack of those around, and Joshua could appreciate that they were probably needed around now. So ... maybe he'd call her. But in the meantime, he was gonna go put some music in, sit around in his room, and once again make himself not text Lullaby.