castadrift | open to a brother from the same mother

Entry tags:

adelle,
valentin

open to a brother from the same mother

The ocean dropped her off on the island more than she swam to it as she wakes, still half-immersed in the ocean. Her eyes open in alarm, and salt water fills her mouth when it forms a shocked 'o'.

All Adelle remembers right before the crash is reaching for her purse and carry-on, clutching them to her chest like she would stuffed animals. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she looked at Valentin, and the rest was a blur.

She quickly pats herself, affirming that she's still alive, that she didn't drown. She looks around, grateful that her purse and carry-on managed to come with the same wave she did. It's then that it fully hits her, as she looks beyond her belongings to the rest of the island, just where she is and what happened.

"Valentin?" she calls out feebly at first. "Valentin?" Louder that time. She scrabbles up off the ground and looks around wildly, spinning, her head turning left and right. "Valentin! Where are you!"

Her breaths come quicker as fear creeps up her chest. "Valentin!" Her shout is desperate.

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Valentin drags himself to shore, spitting out seawater between curses and panting gasps for breath. His, well, everything hurts, but he pushes himself to his feet nonetheless. He isn't going to crawl through the sand, not on his life.

It's all a bit of a blur, and as he turns around, waves lapping at his feet. He staggers a bit. Dizzy. Not good. Peering out at the wreckage, he can see half the plane floating out on the water, the other sunk beneath the waves already. All sorts of flotsom floating alongside it, some of it making it's way to shore.

People.

Panic rises quickly as he looks around, frantic.

Adelle.

Where is she?

"Adelle?" His voice comes out in a too-soft croak. He coughs, spits out more salty water. He raises his voice. "Adelle!"

He begins pacing. Turning, pacing, going in circles. He shouts again.

There are a few people around, but none of them are right. None of them are her.

He begins stalking down the beach. Is it the right way? Is there a right way? He curses, alternating between that and calling his sister's name.

He stops. Still, so very still for a moment. Trying to listen, trying to hear, trying to convince himself it's not a hallucination.

He runs, kicking up sand, and nearly slipping in it for his attempt at speed. Over a small hill, and there--there!

"Adelle!"

At the sound of her name accompanied by that voice she knew well, relief washes over her. She spins until she can see the distant figure of her brother and scrambles in his direction, almost tripping over her feet too. Grace does not come naturally when coupled with desperation; grace does not matter. Nothing else matters--not her things, not the fact that she is covered with the smell and wetness of sea water--except that her brother is there and alive as well.

She sprints and practically flings herself at her brother for a hug she so desperately wants. "Valentin!" She hasn't sounded this young since their mother died. "Thank God," she whispers.

Valentin is nearly bowled over by his sister; he can't help but laugh a bit with relief, as short lived as it may be, as he hugs Adelle tightly. "Are you alright?" It's a relative sort of question. Not that he ever took first aid, not that he'd know what to do if she wasn't, but it's the sort of question people ask anyways.

"Yes." She pulls back and looks him over critically. Just as drenched in water and salt as she is, she's sure, but she doesn't see him bleeding or broken anywhere. "Are you?"

Adelle looks back over her shoulder to where her stuff is, calmer now that her most pressing need has been met. "We'll be saved soon, won't we?"

"I'm fine," he says with a dismissive wave. He thinks he must've hit his head on something, maybe the overhead compartment, but nothing that he can't get over. He won't tell Adelle that, though.

"Soon," he agrees with a nod and a weak smile. "Pilot must've radio'd a distress signal. It can't take them too long to get rescue out here."

"If you're sure..." Adelle doesn't quite believe that's all truth, but so long as he isn't dying, she won't worry too much.

"All my stuff is back that way." She flaps a hand in the right direction. "Do you have all your things with you? Were there people back where you were? I didn't see any people when I woke..." Of course, she had panicked enough not to really pay attention.

Threading her fingers through her hair to comb it out, she winces when her fingers meet knots and tangles. Awful. Just awful. "You saw the pilot?" ... Does she even know what the pilot looks like?

"Let's go that way then," he says, nodding in the direction she had waved. He takes one of her hands in his own and begins walking. "I didn't grab anything that wasn't already in my pockets." He shrugs.

"I didn't see him, but, I mean, that's what you do, right? There were a few people," he shrugged, waving his free hand in the direction of the sea, "but no one on land. That I saw, anyways..." He wasn't a life guard, it wasn't like he could do anything for anyone that wasn't on land already, so there was no point thinking about them.

"You and I are alright, that's all that really matters."

She swings their arms casually while they walk. "I have my purse and my carry-on~ ... I think I lost my iPad, though." It had been out on her lap when the turbulence started, and she hadn't tucked it away. Her face drops before she perks up again. It's not like she can't get a new one once they get home. Satisfied and sure they'll be rescued soon, she doesn't have any real reason to worry anymore. How long will it take for them to be found? A day at the most, for sure. The flight from LA to Sydney was supposed about 15 or 16 hours...

Oh, they do need food until then, though...

She nods. "We are all that matters, but we should find some other people. See if they have food~ Or water." Or know where they are. They need to find anyone of use that they can use.

"I could use a drink," Valentin agrees, smiling a little bit at his sister. They were none the worse for wear, their father would be having a fit when he found out, and they'd have a good story after the fact. How many people could say they survived a plane crash on a deserted island, after all?

"Maybe someone will shake down some pineapples or something. Better than airplane food, anyways."

Adelle eyes him suspiciously. "What kind of drink do you mean?" she asks teasingly. If they find alcohol, would he allow her to have some? It isn't like she's never snuck some before...

"Pineapples would be awesome~" Less stressed, she takes in their environment more clearly. It's like a tropical island straight out of a movie. "Maybe there will be some coconuts, too?" That would be good, too.

Maybe this could be fun! It would make for an exciting story to tell her friends at home. They'd be so jealous about her little adventure, and she could get all the wonderful pity points~

"If those little bottles of Malibu have washed up, I won't turn them down, is what I mean," Valentin replies with a laugh.

"Pineapples, coconuts, maybe papayas or mangos or something too. Tropical fruit salad, sounds good to me." White sand, blue sea, green jungle. If you can ignore, or look away, from what's left of the airplane, it's a postcard perfect picture of a deserted island.

"And then it's relaxing on the beach until the cavalry arrives."

She narrows her eyes slightly before she laughs and smiles. "Wouldn't that be lucky?" How would being drunk on a deserted island look? No, Adelle would only drink enough to feel pleasantly warm on a pleasantly warm island.

"Yes~ It'll be a short time in some sweet paradise."

Spotting her possessions, she lets go of her brother's hand to pick up her purse and carry-on bag. She holds out her carry-on bag for Valentin to carry. "Do you think my phone will still work?" Adelle had the foresight to get a slim waterproof case for it, but she doubts that the cover'd be able to withstand ocean levels of water.

Valentin takes the offered bag, and brushes off a bit of the sand sticking to it. "It might." He nods at the beach, a motion meant to indicate the whole island. "But it's not like there'll be any reception out here anyways." His own phone is, he suspects, a lost cause. A shame, he hadn't backed it up in a while and had gotten some good pictures at the last party he'd been to.

Now that they've rescued his sister's things, it was time to find some other people. He looks around, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Which way, do you think?"

"I'll give it a try anyway. I don't need reception now." She unzips her purse and wrinkles her nose the sight of the damp contents, pouting. "Ugh. My purse is ruined." Taking out her phone, she wipes it against her still wet shirt, frowning. "Maybe I'll wait until everything dries first."

Adelle looks back in the direction of where they came. "Back near the plane, you think?" She has no want to go trekking through the mass of trees. "That's where most of them washed up, right?" She starts walking that way. Other times she would have been annoyed to walk back and forth like this, but special circumstances call for different reactions.

"Weren't you eyeing up a new purse anyways?" Valentin smiles, because he knows his sister. "There's no better excuse than 'ruined in a plane crash' to con someone into buying you a new one." Not that Adelle ever really needed an excuse.

He follows his sister back towards the stretch of beach closest to the plane somewhat absently, the way he might while she was shopping; he knows where she is, but his eyes are elsewhere. He's watching the trees. There are probably animals on the island, but what kind? Are they dangerous?

What of their fellow survivors for that matter?

He frowns a bit, looking back out at the wreckage and the beach. They have to run into someone soon.

Adelle hmphs! "I never con anyone! How can you that?" She crosses her arms. "Besides, this purse will still be in style for a few more weeks."

Eyeing the wreckage in the distance, a feeling of discomfort flits over her. There's passing by car accidents that you can't help staring at, but seeing parts of the plane float towards shore... it's unsettling. Quickly turning away from the wreck, she peers at the same trees Valentin's looking at. "D'you think people would have walked in there?"

Isn't it better to stay out in sight in case someone flies over?

"You just bat your pretty eyelashes and pout; it's still a con, you just make it pretty." He chuckles, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"I think some of them will be looking for a bit of shade," he says. After all, it didn't seem like anyone was milling out on the beach. He pauses to look down at the carry-on bag he's holding for her. "You don't have sunscreen in there, do you?"

"It's not a con!" she protests. It's manipulation. The difference is subtle but there. There is more sophistication. "I'm always pretty," she says, her lips pursed as if she's about to pout.

"Not in there." Holding up her purse, she says, "In here. It's moisturizer with sunscreen, though~ Do you want it?" Valentin and she are rather prone to sunburns with their fair skin. "I guess we should check in there if people aren't out there," she says grudgingly.

Walking through a tropical forest isn't her idea of fun at the moment, though.

"You are always pretty," he assures her, managing not to laugh.

He continues walking up the beach, kicking at the sand. "If you're feeling generous enough to share with your under-prepared brother." He always seemed to burn and never seemed to tan, and he wasn't looking forward to the long flight after rescue with a sunburn.

He pauses, peering at the beach. Footprints milling around and someone has written a message in the sand.

FOLLOW THE A'S - WATER

"Convenient."

"Good that you know~"

Plucking her make up bag out of her purse, she takes the moisturizer with sunscreen out and hands it to him. "Who told you to be so unprepared? It's a good thing you have me around to be your lifesaver."

Her eyes are looking forward, so it takes a moment to understand what Valentin means by convenient. Her face brightens when she reads the message. Actual fresh water? Good! She needs it. "Let's go, let's go~"

She grabs her brother's wrist to tug him along. This means people!

"I think I had some in my bag," he replies as he eyes the bottle, making sure it isn't going to make him smell like a flower shop. "Which has probably sunk to the ocean floor by now."

He follows, obediently, as Adelle leads the way, towards the vegetation, looking for As. Hopefully they are fun people.

"Where it does you a lot of good." She arches an eyebrow, a move she practiced long and hard to perfect and be able to do. "Smelling like a girl is better than having your skin peel off." Not that it has any artificial fragrance, just the faint scent most lotions have even when they're labeled unscented. "Maybe I'll just spray you with some body spray." After all, Adelle did manage to find a bottle small enough to meet the TSA guidelines.

"Oh, there really are coconut trees here!" Sometimes, she thinks things are just movie perfect, but no, she can see some coconut shells above and around.

"Next time I'll ask the pilot to slow our plunge into the sea so I have a minute to grab my carry-on," Valentin comments, not at all showing proper respect for his sister's well-practised expression. "You can't blame a guy for checking. I don't imagine that would be much of a first impression, me walking up to people smelling like jasmine and violet."

Valentin keeps an eye out for marked trees as they walk. "Should we grab some coconuts?" He asks, knowing that he'll end up being the one to carry them anywhere.

"Do you want to smell like jasmine and violet or be red, ugly, and in pain?" she asks smartly. "You don't have to put that moisturizer on."

Adelle gives the coconuts another glance before shaking her head. "No, we can get some later. I want to find the others more." It took them a few hours to get here; there'll be a few hours before their rescue arrives.

"Well it looks like I can avoid both," he replies as he pours some of the lotion into his hand. He starts spreading it over his arms and face as they continue to walk.

"Lead on, then," he tells her, making a mental note of where the coconuts are for later.

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