Sam

[nola_quicksilver]

Sam had been so busy lately, getting back into the swing of work after his long migraine-induced absence and generally brooding about being Cyclops and everything, but he'd still started to pack. They'd agreed to share a bedroom to make room for a strategy space, and Oliver would have just walked over handfuls of junk or maybe dragged it all over in garbage bags, but of course Sam was neatly packing things away for a proper move just a few yards away.

Oliver nudged at an empty box with his foot when he came in, trying to be casual and ignore the fact they'd just been talking about, oh, death and disappointments and insecurities over their phones. "I can help carry these over."

Sadie

[nola_dickon]

It was the day before Easter, so people were clearly trying to get some of their dogs' energy out before family came to visit and the chaotic egg hunts began. The dog park was absolutely packed with animals large and small, short and tall, tailed and stumped.

The tiniest dog of all, Mouse, was hanging around the bench right now, because that's where Sadie and Jordan were, but he seemed intrigued by the joyful barking and play. They'd just gotten there anyway—there was still plenty of time to decide what he wanted to do.

"Do you think he'll join in?" Jordan asked Sadie. They were holding hands, which was still enough to thrill him.

Alistair

[nola_namor]

Eric's great photographic weakness was people.

He'd sailed countless waters and captured images of whales majestically breaching the waves, of waves so tall and breakwater-white that they didn't seem to be of Earth. He'd traveled through valleys and mountains, shooting everything from entire landscapes devastated from drought to crumbling ruins that attested to the impermanence of humanity's efforts to tame their surroundings. Hell, he'd won his first major critical acclaim for a close-up shot of a ladybug battling an aphid, a photo that evoked palpable tension and drama on a micro level.

But put a baby in front of him and all his shots would be flat and lifeless. He just couldn't connect emotionally.

So, well, while making his home base in one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country, why not use the opportunity to practice? Most people were too busy gawking all around them to even notice he was photographing them and not the sights, and it wasn't like he was going to do anything with these shots.

Like now, for instance, seated at a cafe table in front of an indie coffeehouse, it was nothing to casually pick up his camera—he always had it on hand, because you never knew what you might stumble across—and snap a photo of an interesting-looking tourist with snowy hair. Or was he photographing two pigeons fighting over a cruller, just on the other side of the street? The world would never know!