[b][center][h2]Paige Kennedy & [color=f26522]Milo Ventri[/color][/h2][/center][/b]

Waves rolled onto to the beach in a slow, steady rhythm. Crashing and pulling back again underneath fading daylight that stretched from over the horizon in an explosion of red-orange and faded gray clouds delivering rain far in the distance up the coast into Canada. Seabreeze pulled at Paige’s hair as she watched Milo adjusting his line on one of two large ocean fishing rigs that he had planted in the sand. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been fishing. Sometime back when she was barely a teenager in Florida she would still go with her grandad on the beach by Delta City or out on the pier he preferred. Any times after that were just a murky blur of growing older. Watching Milo as the line clicked slowly with tension she glanced down the rocky shoreline. It was the first time she’d been to the coast since moving out to Delta City and there was admittedly a certain beauty about it: sharp black boulders jutted out from craggy escarpments and dove straight into the water where the tides beat white foam against them continually. Combined with the setting sun, there was a surrealness about it, though it was still damn cold.


“I have to tell you something.” Paige said, breaking the quiet the came with the constant breeze the swept down the beach. She watched Milo’s back as he reeled in a few yards before he was satisfied. They hadn’t said much throughout the week and she knew she hadn’t been particularly inviting for conversation either. She exhaled and glanced down at the blanket beneath her smoothing out some of the wrinkles over the sand before glancing away again and then back to Milo. “I want you to know, I’m sorry.”

[color=f26522]”Sorry for what?[/color]” Milo said with a slight shrug, not fully turning his attention away from his cast. One rod bowed slightly with a gentle pull from beneath the waves. He felt the weight of the tug on his fingertips patiently. 

“For how I treated you… before.” She knew she didn’t need to remind him of the time. 

Milo’s hand stopped and his shoulders dropped slightly at the word, [i]before[/i]. He let his free hand ease into the warmth of his jacket pocket still not turning back to face her and only taking in the natural perfection of the scene in front of him. When they flew over in the helicopter, he’d seen it from the air and figured it would be a good fishing spot. The catch inside his cooler confirmed his suspicion and he gave a slight chuckle rocking back on his heels a little in the sand. [color=f26522]”Is that what’s on your mind?”[/color] He said finally turning his head back and meeting her characteristic glance from the corner of his eye with a slight smile beneath his beard. 

“Yes. “ Paige said. “...Among other things.”

[color=f26522]”What else?”[/color] He wasn’t going to press her for anything more. Getting any sort of apology from Paige was an event akin to something like a double eclipse. One thing he knew about her though was that she always had to [i]feel[/i] tough, even when she was faking it. It was just her nature. He had put those times behind him, but it had been much harder for her and in her mind was still stuck somewhere between the past and the future, whatever it was, between Delta and Sol. 


Paige thought for a moment, again running her hands over the blanket, looking down. The answer she wanted would only come from a question she was afraid to ask and with Ana’s visit not far off, it was going to be even harder. “Did you know that was a flash grenade, back at the airport?” She said finally. It wasn’t [i]the question[/i], but she was looking for assurance. 

[color=f26522]“No,”[/color] He said turning and meeting her eyes fully. The smile from before had faded from his expression. [color=f26522]“In the moment, I wasn’t sure, I just moved.”[/color] 

“You could have died.”

[color=f26522]“Yep.”[/color] The line he was attending bowed over and ran out sharply.[color=f26522]“Just wasn’t my time I guess,”[/color] Milo picked up the rod and gave a quick pull. [color=f26522]“Not yet.”[/color]