Still Caspian’s eyes and ears - Dorian still hadn’t fully relaxed on the island. He was always looking for those with abilities that would benefit the blue-eyed devil. In his own world, only a few people remained. The pressures of New York still coursed through him even though there was nothing he could do and what he had done was not the best.
Standing near the breezeway where newcomers emerged from initial arrival procedures, the brown eyed stringbean of a man watched in the shade of a tree. He wore slip-on sandals, dark brown boardshorts, a black tanktop, and a lightweight tropical shirt left open. His dark hair fluttered softly in the breeze.
“You have sunblock on your face,” Jude said. He wandered up next to Dorian. His head ducked down long enough for a cigarette to be lit up and while dragging in a breath of that beautiful, cancerous smoke, he lifted those icy blue eyes and took a turn for surveillance. The lighter went back into his jeans pocket and with a slow exhale, Jude plucked the smoke from between his lips and let it dangle between lithe, tattooed fingers. He’d left his jacket back in his room, it was too hot to parade around in it out in the sun.
He’d run into Caspian already - and had also met Nate. It was odd to see Dorian so casual and island chic but then Jude didn’t blame him. You got the best intel by blending into your surroundings and he had yet to hit the local surf shop to browse through the wares.
It was such a new and different experience from what he was used to in the big city. And he couldn’t remember ever being outside of New York.
“Do I?” Dorian asked as he turned his head to look over to see Jude. He had wondered if Jude would show up and was mildly surprised that he did. You’d think the island had one piercing blue-eyed person already.
Same slick survivor. “When did you get here?”
Jude just nodded.
“How are you not burning to death with all of those clothes?” The shirts alone made up too many layers for anything but being casually indoors. But then he wasn’t in charge of dressing Dorian and probably for a good reason. Not everyone could rock a leather jacket. “A little while ago.” Through sunglasses he glanced around again. “What are we looking for?” There was nothing interesting happening out here to be concerned with, at least not in the context that could worry someone like Dorian.
He didn’t bother with sunblock too much, himself. His skin had a tendency to get bronze before it burned but you never could be too safe.
Taking another pull from the cigarette, he quieted down so as not to blow cover in case Dorian was doing work.
“Are you looking after me now?” Dorian asked as he turned his eyes back to the pathway. He didn’t talk much. But when he did, he had something to say. At the question, he turned fully to face Jude. “Just my usual bit of looking.” The tall slim guy sighed as he had finished the bit of his daily routine. Nothing to report to Caspian.
“Met up with Caspian?” He tilted his head out the side. “Come on, let me show you the endless horizon. It’s frightening.” Then he began walking towards the beach. So much wide open area had frightened him when he first arrived.
“We have to stick by each other,” Jude replied. Who else would if they didn’t? Plus, they were playing for the same team and being on opposite sides was counterproductive to the cause. Both of them were quiet types but sometimes words were important.
Jude nodded and resumed puffing from the cigarette he’d lit. And then he put it out, tucked the smashed filter into his pocket and stepped forward with an exhale of smoke. “Sure.” He wasn’t afraid of the horizon. He didn’t know why but he had some feeling that felt positive about the water. The skyline. Being outside. Sand shuffled around his boots as they walked across it. It really was nice out there.
“Always. Safety in numbers.” Dorian breathed. He felt better with more people from his recent past arriving. When they were apart, it felt wrong and lonely. Pushing each other along could help.
Nodding, he walked alongside Jude towards the beach. “Have you met Nate?” Dorian asked softly as he continued across the sand towards an unoccupied beach umbrella. His warm eyes looked over at Jude, watching him while waiting for a response.
Jude just nodded quietly. Dorian wasn’t wrong. He had been on protection detail for long enough to understand that better than almost anyone. They were stronger together, as a family. Caspian had always driven that point into him - take care of your people and they’ll take care of you. So he did what he could to pitch in and do what he could for assignments.
“I did.” He glanced over at Dorian. “He seemed a little bit ruffled. Nice though.” Jude couldn’t blame Nate for the jealousy. Cas was a catch. “Why?” Was there something he needed to know?
Caspian would always be his family. Jude too. But his priority was the devil who saved him. But this family was good - each member strong in turn. Dorian tucked an arrand strand of hair behind his right ear as he looked at his friend. He sorely missed home - the city with all its ‘normal’ dangers and opportunities.
“Just wondering what you thought of him.” He shrugged.
Jude licked over his lips while he decided how to phrase what he wanted to say about Nate. Finally, he shrugged and looked over at Dorian. “What I think about him doesn’t really matter. If Caspian loves him, that happiness is what matters to me. Caspian can read minds - I trust his intuition and you know how selective he is. He wouldn’t pick just anyone. If Nate is really that special to him, then what I think about him is irrelevant.” He knew that Cas could make his own choices and that he could take care of himself. Sure, there was an aspect to blindness when you loved someone but in this regard, the man could read Nate’s mind and would know if he didn’t mean well. “What do you think about him?” Of course Jude wasn’t going to go running to Cas about anything Dorian said, everyone had a right to their opinions.
“I agree about Caspian’s happiness. And yes,” Dorian nodded. “I am too used to looking out for him despite the fact he’s quite capable of it himself.” It was an insecurity that he worked to defeat. “Nate’s okay. Full of energy and more than just his ability.”
“He was on crutches the last time I saw him,” Jude remarked. There wasn’t mistaking the sound of those crutches on tile. “But maybe when he starts feeling better I'll be able to see him in action.” Nate did seem pretty spry, or maybe that was the determination to put himself between Jude and Cas. “Sometimes he does need our help,” he agreed. He knew that from experience but you had to know when to step in or step up, not get in the way. “What about you?”
Jude turned to look up at his friend with mild interest. “Where’s your Nate?” Dorian had to have found someone to entertain him by now. It was insane to think otherwise, even if his friend was a quiet and shy type.
“He’s definitely a sight. And one to watch out for especially in your peripheral.” Dorian smiled to himself. Being able to run that fast was fascinating. “Sometimes he does,” he nodded. That was why the lanky and usually quiet man was watchful. “What about me?”
Dorian matched, turning to face Jude fully and edge just a hair closer even though there wasn’t anyone else around. He shook his head. “Don’t have one.” Being hellbent to not let this place feel permanent, the quiet man hadn’t let himself even look for someone.
Making the mental note about the peripheral vision, Jude nodded. Whatever skill or ability Nate had was evidently useful or Dorian wouldn’t be as excited about it. It was good to be excited about abilities, they all had become collectors of them during some point in their lives. “What do you think about him?” The question was turned around and posed to Dorian. Was this about Nate or was it deeper?
Jude looked over the rims of his sunglasses at his friend with disbelief. “I think you’re lying to me.” He said it with a playful grin twisting the corners of his mouth. Talk about being hyper focused. “You need to get out and have some fun, you’ll go crazy in a place like this if you don’t.” So far it felt more like prison except with a view and you didn’t go back to a cell in an orange jumpsuit. You made the best of your situation until something better came along.
Being able to run so fast was definitely exciting to him. He could only temporarily nullify someone or someones’ ability within a certain distance for a set amount of time could be limiting and boring after a while. But it was useful both to himself, Caspian, and the crew. “He’s nice.” He didn’t say much since that was all he needed to know as long Caspian trusted the young man enough to let him in and love him.
His arms slowly folded over his chest. “Why would I lie?” Dorian arched an eyebrow at Jude. “Do you have any suggestions, Jude?” he asked. Being of use to Caspian and watching out for new people to collect for the man was what kept him busy aside from exploring and reading.
Nice. That seemed to be the consensus on Nate. Maybe the opinion would change later on once they got to know Nate better but for now he would let it go. He was sure there would be an update if Dorian uncovered anything.
Jude looked at Dorian pointedly. “Don’t make me spell it out for you.” Then his shoulders shrugged and he looked around. “I just got here but it’s a tropical island. I can name twenty things you could do.” But Dorian probably wouldn’t like most of them. “Starting with properly applying your sunblock.” To be fair, Dorian was tall like a tree and it was hard to see some of those smaller spots when you were applying to yourself.
Dorian had looked for things to do besides information gathering. He just didn’t feel it yet. “What? I thought you were joking earlier?” He wrinkled his nose and bowed down a little towards Jude.
“Joking about what?” An eyebrow would be quirked. They had covered a lot of information and yes, there had been jokes along the way, but he wasn’t sure exactly which part of their conversation Dorian was referring to. And that bow was oddly humbling. “What’s that?” He inquired, shoving a little bit at Dorian and then motioning to what looked like a theater in the distance.
Huffing a little to himself, Dorian leaned back at the shove and reached up to touch his nose. He found the sunblock and spread across his nose and the apples of his cheeks. Turning, Dorian looked where Jude motioned. “I thought the whole point of this place was to be outside.”
Oh, the sunblock. Jude bit back a laugh and focused more on the object he’d motioned to. “The whole point of this place is to have fun and relax. Being outside is part of it. But let’s be real, Dorian. You and sunshine should get a divorce.” Fair skin and sunbeams weren’t meant to be friends. While he didn’t burn easily, he knew what it felt like.
“One additional relationship I could commit to,” Dorian laughed softly and shook his head. “‘Fun’? You think they’d have any good movies.” He shrugged. “Are you going to stay out here?” The tall man wanted to have fun, but his hypervigilance was his downfall.
“Don’t commit to the sunshine,” Jude remarked. He shook his head. “She will burn your heart. And your face. And yeah….ouch.” The question about staying outside made Jude shrug. “I mean, there’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored and you want to put me in a dark room, with clothes on, and feed me popcorn.” His hands went up as a ‘I’m whatever’ gesture. “I guess the outside isn’t going anywhere.”
“Hmm. Yeah. Definitely not.” He blinked at Jude’s shrug. “Fine…you stay out here and explore.” Dorian shrugged in return. There was a sliver of apprehension to the tall, lanky man. But he let it fall away.
“Okay,” Jude replied. If Dorian didn’t want to hang out, that was fine. He was good either way considering there was a lot more to see. “I’ll catch you later.” He gave his friend a nod of farewell, and then turned to wander off in a different direction.
Of course, he wanted to hang out. But he wasn’t going to force Jude. Sometimes he had trouble interpreting someone’s tone of voice. “Later.” His warm brown eyes watched his friend as he turned.