Beach Filler Episode (OPEN)

[Dust]

Meanwhile on the beach below..

After a bit of grown man whining about not being able to eat s'mores Dust finally looked up for another bite, only to see that Molly has finished all of it. She realized it shortly after that and then sweated under the pressure of making him mad. "I'm sorry Dust, you can have mine!" She said, before pulling the other one out of the container and holding it for him like he could take it. There was a moment of silence as it clicked and then she apologized with another nervous laugh.

Dust smiled and shook his head, if only because it was the only thing he could do. "Nah, its fine. You enjoy yours." He selflessly suggested, not wanting her to fret over anything.

She felt the heat in her cheeks once more, but pulled it back and sat down to start on her sweets next. Molly was collecting a finger full when something came to her mind. She looked up. "So why don't you tell me about yourself, you're a new face around here. No one even knows where you came from." She explained, paraphrasing what the TVs said about him.

The man looks surprised that anyone would ask questions about him, but then smiled all the same. "Okay.." He looked at the ocean to think about where to start. "Well.. My name is Hokori Hoshi." He began. "I usually just tell people to call me Dust, its easier to remember. Then again, some people already know how to translate it, and call me Star Dust." He let out a nervous laugh. "Funny, huh?"

Molly smiled, but didn't know why other than to comfort him in his comment.

Wolf looked up at the blue sky for a bit, the sand sticking to his skin before he turned back to her. "I don't have any family either, myself. I mean. Blood relatives that is." He paused at that, why did he say that? Was he projecting the image of a family member on anyone? That was strange. He shook his head, no reason to get side-tracked about it. "I didn't have any friends either, but then I met a bunch of people." He gave her a big smile, one that beamed happiness in the purest form. "Who would have thought a guy like me would be friends with Gildarts? Isn't he awesome!"

His tone was pure, and Molly couldn't help shake her head at him.

"Aw.. What's that look for? You don't think he's awesome?" Dust asked, feeling a little self-conscious now.

"I didn't say that!" Molly said, making sure he couldn't misinterpretation what she said or didn't say. "I was just thinking about how silly you are."

Dust's face went slack and he blinked up at her. "Silly?" Then he smirked. "You're right. I can't help it though, I love feeling these things." He celebrated with a bigger smile than ever. She just laughed at him again. He stuck his tongue out playfully. The wind blew through his hair as he looked down at the sand just inches from his nose. "It feels good to know that I can feel again.."

That was an odd comment, even for the younger prime. "What do you mean?" She asked tilting her head over one side of the cotton candy.

His face didn't look up at first, he was looking at himself in the past. The image of a wolvern shadow came back to his mind. "It's hard to explain.. But where I am from, there are people called Contractors. They can't feel emotions like everyone else, its pretty sad. The whole world thinks they are monsters or something they can control." He explains the numbers on his neck were covered in sand, but she could still see the bold black numbers. 389. "Anyways, I was a contractor. Still am, I suppose. Just, now I can feel things like happiness!"

"Is that why you are always smiling? Because you never smiled before?"

Her question struck a deep cord in Dust. He looked up at her as if she'd discovered a secret that was supposed to be buried in the sand with him. Then he looked away as if not understanding something that was said or thought. His grey eyes found her cute face again and he smiled a simple grin. "Maybe." He finally said, the smile growing.