Beach Day

8: Tiff And Matt Get In A Hole

Matt goes down first. It's almost like he was meant to climb like this, haphazard and on a leash or some sort of makeshift rope, all control and levelheadedness. Gone is the confusion and near-terror at Kepler and whatever the hell Tiff is doing and refusing to explain. It has been replaced entirely by an overwhelming sense that, unlike his cousin, Matt knows exactly what he's doing before he does it.

Tiff has no clue why. Maybe it's the control offered to him by years of dancing. Adrianna needed a partner initially after being put in dance classes as a little kid, and Matt was kind of the only boy of a comparable age who was around and willing. If Adrianna is gone, though, maybe those skills haven't been put to use in a very long time.

Tiff shakes her head to clear it. Kepler jumps into the hole before she can stop him. The gentle squeak followed by soft cursing and the sound of water splashing is her signal that he has landed.

This is stupid. She doesn't need someone to spot her. She just needs to get in the fucking hole with her camera and notebook to figure out what the hell is going on here and how she can remedy it, if it even needs remedying at all.

No, she knows, as she starts her descent. There is no issue to solve here. Nobody has been hurt. Nothing has been destroyed. She doesn't need to get to the bottom of this for the sake of others. More likely, she just needs a distraction.

Maybe it's all the morose introspection and the sigh that comes with it that ruins the moment. Tiff herself might not fall— but her phone certainly does. It tumbles from the pocket of her jacket when she's about ten feet off the ground; it hits the ground and the water coating it. The back pops off with the case, exposing the lithium battery.

She frowns. This is as good a time as any to drop off the wall and let the leash hang. She lands in a crouch and comes up out of it, looking up at the sliver of sky she can see at the top of the hole. There's no salvaging the phone.

Matt gathers it up anyway and wipes off what he can on his jeans before he hands it back to her. "Do you think it's going to be okay?"

"Probably not," she sighs, sticking it in the main pocket of her bag. "It'll be fine. It's a wonder I haven't broken it before now. And if I had tools, I could fix it, but I left those in Lake Wonder. It's... fine. I spent forever without one— I only got it after I moved, you know my mom wouldn't let me have one— so it isn't... unheard of, I guess. It isn't unbearable. It's just going to make this harder. I didn't pack a flashlight— or, rather, I didn't pack batteries."

Matt pats his belt like he's looking for a pouch that just isn't there. He throws his head back just barely and groans. "I forgot my belt."

"You had a flashlight on there?"

"Yeah, and it's not with me."

"Shit."

Kepler slaps the ground. Tiff looks over to him, and he slaps the ground again, then gestures to himself.

She nods, understanding perfectly. He does the same thing when they're camping and she can't find her lantern. "If you're alright with it, Kep, then I would appreciate it? But only if you want to, bud."

He nods.

"Hold on a sec, then." Tiff puts a hand on Matt's shoulder. "Okay. I need you to not freak out when this happens, okay? It's gonna be weird and it's gonna be unexplained, because I'm not going to explain it. I'm not sure how far he's going to go, but— you have to promise me not to freak out. Okay? Do you promise?"

Matt gently removed her hand from his shoulder. "Tiff, I promise. Whatever you've got in store, I've seen my fair share of weird shit. I'll be fine."

Tiff gives Kepler the thumbs-up. It's clear he didn't even need it; he starts glowing immediately. His fur puffs up a little, like he's about to sprout antennae and two more arms, but he doesn't.