Spring has sprung and the island of Oahu is living out its warmth in happiness now that the weather has joined in on the celebration. The temperature was mellow, of course, since it happened to be occurring in Hawaii, and the sunshine touched everything in the afternoon with a warm, subtle caress. The locals all seemed in good spirits and as always, the visitors mostly wore beaming smiles and happy expressions. Mostly.
Within the open air market people were wandering and shopping, selling, talking, eating. The place is big enough that you can do or find pretty much anything and everything in Ala Moana. There had been a show earlier, young men and women singing and dancing for some sort of television tryout, but that crowd had dissipated a bit after it ended a couple hours ago.
Felix was striding along comfortably in spring afternoon, picking his way through the market in a rather random fashion, zigzagging across the street as one store or another caught his eye. It was window shopping for the most part, and more than often enough food. Dressed for the weather and locale in a pair of sandals, cargo shorts and a faded blue t-shirt, he exited the doorway of a small bakery with a pleased look on his face, a milkshake in one hand and a freshly made sausage roll in the other. He chewed happily as he started bouncing down the sidewalk, pausing to cross the street as he spotted something else to distract him.
Akhlut stood as surveyed the market, the bear of a man allowing the people to flow around him. A growl rumbled within his ribs until he stuffed his mouth with another bit of breadfruit and chewed it thoughtfully. Nodding slowly at the thought in his head, his brow knit together. "It is mud wrestling, but I don't believe mead is a worthwhile prize. It is a drink like any other..." The man was wearing a pink and white Hawaiian shirt, a pair of well-worn jeans, saddles, and a faded blue 'Bud Light' trucker cap. Swallowing his food, his eyes scanned once more. "This market does not appear to sell shovels, Nala. That is not what market means."
Ember is hanging about, looking around. She isn't much of a shopper but she does love checking otu the performances. The woman is nibbling snacks from a bag, various fruits and nuts in chocolate. She's not so distracted by the place, but when you live in a place and see something all the time it's less captivating.
Nala was adhering to the dress standards that seemed so prevalent in Hawaii. She'd pulled on some sort of guazy, shell pink slip of a dress over a swimsuit that was the precise color of a Watermelon Jolly rancher. The two piece was easily visible through the fabric of her cover up, but the coverup itself wasn't sheer, just thin. The vivid cords of her bikini top could be seen tied around her neck, the straps showing on her shoulders just to the inside of the inch-wide straps that held her dress up. The fabric of said dress hung down to about mid-thigh, leaving the rest of her well toned, tanned legs bare all the way to her bright blue thong-style sandals. Looking up at Akhlut, Nala just shook her head. "We can go to the home goods store, down at the end of the row. They have shovels. They also have everything else you might want. Hammers. Nails. Maybe an anvil." Her vividly bright blue-green eyes were glinting with humor as she gave the very tall Akhlut an adoring smile. She was carrying a foil wrapped treat of some sort, folded bits of soft pastry with a delightful, warm, almond scent. Almost like a handheld crepe, folded 12 times and still larger than her palm. Goooooood stuff that.
The busy sounds of the market weren't abating and the place was definitely filled with a variety of people. The central stage area was dark, but there seemed to be a few street-style performance artists out and about. A couple of them were off to the side, one man beating lazily at soft, oddly hollow sounding drum that looked to be made of a gourd and his compatriot singing in Hawaiian while playing a ukelele.
Still eating, Felix paused for a bit, stopping to take in the music of the street performances, moving slightly to the beat of those he paid attention to. His eyes traveled up the street to spot Akhlut and Nala, and he paused, taking a pull on his milkshake as he mulled things over. With a nod and cramming the rest of his snack into his mouth as he walked, he managed to finish chewing as he arrived at the couple. He gave the two a small wave, looking from one to the other and clearly still collecting his thoughts. "Hrmmm... aloha. Hi. Remember me?"
Akhlut's eyes narrowed as he scanned down the row, offering a grunt of approval before he looked back at Nala, offering a wide smile. "A hammer I have had use for as well as the nails. Anvil? It seems worth a try." Turning, the man reached back to put his arms around Nala's shoulder to guide her through the market towards the hardware. "Even if there were no shovels, hammers, nails or anvils, we are together and eating. And we would be here to hear the songs of your people." His smile never faltered as he got Nala a squeeze, his course altering towards the music.
Making his way along weaving through people as he went when needed, the tall mountain of a man Bjorn was wearing an ugly Hawaiian shirt and some tan board shorts and sandals. And by ugly, the shirt's ugly. Maybe he wanted to stand out. Maybe he lost any fashion sense, what little he had. Maybe he's punishing himself and those around him. Or maybe he's playing the part of cheesy tourist. But wear it he is. He's also carrying in his hand some what looks like breadfruit of all things. He slows up though as he spots a familiar face, easy to be seen as he's a tall drink of water as well, and makes his way slowly over toward Akhlut and others.
Ember Listens to music, eats cocolate covered fruits and nuts. The small native woman seems to just be enjoying the day with no real other concerns.
Nala chuckled softly and tucked in against Akhlut, the woman not small by any means but looking rather diminutive in comparison. When Akhlut started steering them toward the singing she beamed wider, eyes lightning up like they'd been filled with a sudden flame. "Oooh! I've seen these guys in here before, they're really good. But usually they have a third guy with them that plays this silly little tambourine thing, but sings too." She gave a happy sounding laugh and lifted the hand holding her pastry toward Felix. "Aloha 'auinala, I remember you, yes, both of you." Nala winked to the young man then looked over in time to catch a glimpse of the familiarly tattooed Ember, whom she gave a wide, pleased smile with eye contact and called out "Aloha 'auinala!" to with that same cheered voice. Naturally, this being Oahu.. the call of "ALOHA 'AUINALA!" rang out from about a dozen sources nearby as the largest open air market seemed to greet all its friendly visitors in chime. The impending form of Bjorn was greeted similarly, at least with the wavish hand, as Nala was too busy laughing in response to the boistrous greetings to really say much of anything.
The men playing on at the side of the walkway were doing a good job. Really, their music sounded pretty close to being in time and they had a good lilt to their beat that made it toe-tapping and joyful. Until, of course, a tambourine started coming in from down the walkway. It was a bit off the mark, and the guy playing it looked cheesed out of his mind, smiling so wide that his eyes were almost closed in crescents. He seemed happy to see the other two, and started humming along with the music.
A happy, though decidedly ragged looking man came walking down the very center of the walkway. He patted people on the shoulder happily when he passed them by, and strange enough more than one child walked right up to him, offering hugs. The man took them and even managed to look happy every single time, patting the little ones on the head as they passed with their bewildered parents and continued on through their day. His long, stringy hair was somewhat damp from likely the ocean and not a shower, and he looked like he literally spent all day, every day, in the sun with his dark brown complexion. One of his eyes was milky white and looked covered in a cataract while his other eye was a deep, dark brown that looked more like he had a giant, blown pupil than he had an actual iris. Still, he was smiling and happy in his worn out jean shorts and terribly threadbare, open fronted shirt that showed a decidedly tanned, somewhat soft torso.
Felix nodded somewhat distractedly as Akhlut walked by, looking up (and up) at the man. "You... look a lot bigger during the day. Crazy." He turned to Nala smiling a bit sheepishly. The call out and response she gave caught him off guard, and he was slow in responding, though he managed it in the end. "Yeah. That was all sorts of a thing." He ruffled a hand through his hair. "Actually I sort of wanted to talk to you both if I ever saw you again. That was all kinds of... kinds of..." Felix paused and frowned, looking around. The tambourine music seemed to jar him something fierce, and he stared at the man. "A for effort but uh wow rude." He mumbled.
Bjorn approaches the others slowly and offers a wave. He waves to the others in turn even though he might not know them as well. A blink though as the tambourine comes out before he can speak. A brow is raised but though he has the facial expression that might agree with Felix he keeps his opinions to himself, instead offering a piece of breafruit out for Ak and Nala. It looks like it has a little butter on it, and maybe cinnamon on some of them? The elderly man gets notice as well, though more curiosity than displeasure like with the tambourine.
Akhlut offered a warm smile to Felix, "I have not know many of man to fly with their own arms. I hope you took care of the woman who forgets that her hands are her own. She is fierce, but I'm not sure she realizes what she is saying." Breaking off a large piece of breadfruit, he rolled it with his lips until he could fit it in his mouth and chew it. He offered a nod to Enola and a smile, pointing to his breadfruit. The man seemed all the more content to listen to music when Felix kept talking and Akhlut swallowed down his bite. "It is strange to ask to speak by speaking. It seems a difficult way to go about it." His laughter rumbled and glanced to Bjorn showing off his own breadfuit. "They should paint more on the island if you and I are both eating them."
Ember smiles and lifts her fingers waving lightly "Aloha." she says brightly to Nala. The small woman enjoying the music happily and not paying much attention beyond the music snacks, and aquantance she's just reaquired.
Nala chuckled slightly and raised her brows to Felix for his seeming bemusement as he answered her. "If you weren't comfortable with it, you shouldn't show it off in front of Akua and everyone, kane." She winked to the poor lad then winced, her eyes fixing on the tambourine-clanging young man as she canted her head to the side. "Well, he's... not in his finest form right now. But he's not being rude, he usually plays with them. But... usually better." She winced again as the man playing the tambourine started throwing off the rhythm of the drums. "Oh man..." Bjorn coming a bit closer and offering pieces of his own breadfruit, to which Nala lifted her own, foil-wrapped treat. Her other arm was wrapped solidly around the edge of Akhlut's waist. "I would accept, but I'm afraid I'll have to wait til I finish my own. You're welcome to a bite, though, Bjorn, if you'd like one. It's a huge, flat crepe thing filled with marzipan." The still obviously warm treat was lifted a bit so that Bjorn could have a bite if he so desired. Notably, she kept her fingers away from the upper edge to avoid a possible fatality should the bear of a man get too excited and take a bigger bite than expected. Ember got herself a wink. "It's good chilling today, neh? Love the springtime!"
As the men fell out of time with each other due to the havoc of the impending tambourine, the ukelele and the voice fell silent, leaving only the clanging of a tambourine to fill the sudden hushed quiet around the trio of musicians. The man with the Ukelele seemed to focus fairly hard on the face of the young man banging away at his timpanic crasher and finally spoke in a hard, unhappy voice with a deeper frown forming. "Nolan, man. Just.. go home." He sounded almost tired, but mostly angry. The other man with him sighed and shook his head. The drum was held close to him, almost like a teddy bear. "Yeah, brah, just... go sleep it off. We can play together another day, little brother." Upon closer inspection, the guy playing the drum and the guy playing the tambourine definitely looked related, where as the guy playing the ukelele and singing had a totally different complexion and entirely different facial features.
The older man walking down the middle of the walkway moved over to the side post of one of the interior shops, leaning against it with an elbow up. He openly watched the interchange between the three musicians with curiosity, making no attempt to hide that he was staring, and listening.
Felix frowned. "Oh. Huh. Looks kind of rough then. Must have been a bad night I guess." He could only offer a shrug to Akhlut and Nala. "It's not that I'm uncomfortable, but who regularly brings up that sort of thing in casual conversation?" He paused in the topic as Bjorn came up, giving the big man a smile and stepping back slightly so as to be less surrounded by giant people. "Oh wow hello." He grinned at the man. "I've seen people eating those things all over the place, but I have no idea what they are." He chuckled, following Nala's gaze to give Ember a nod and an "aloha."
Bjorn looks to the treat Nala offered and blinks. "That sounds... delicious." He looks at it and adds, "If you're sure..." Still he leans over and just goes to nibble the corner so as not to eat all of her good food on her. Watching the display between the musicians from the corner of his eye he says after chewing and swallowing, "It seems they are having problems." At Felix's question he raises a brow and asks, "Which? Her food or the breadfruit?" He holds his out to felix to try one if he meant the latter.
Akhlut scratched his beard as he listened to the band melt down into silence and talking. "Voices come from the same place as the heart. I can understand it is more difficult for music to be made with hands, but it is impressive to see it tried regardless of the result." The man took another bite of his breadfruit, his eyes drawn to Bjorn's offering. "I don't think my stomach knows how to say no. But... My hands are occupied for the once." He gestured with his own and patted Nala on the arm. His eyes drifted back to Felix. "And have had my arm in cow that was slipping her calf. I ate hamburger the next day. So what is casual conversation if there are plans to avoid certain things." The man's chuckle rattled in his chest.
Ember smiles and waggles her fingers at Felix. She turns back to the band and smiles "Hey no worries right guys? A little rest and let the Spirit of Aloha bring you back into sync." she says in a sweet tone to the band. She seems to embody that spirit with her easy going way and positive attitude.
"True enough, but it's not something I shy away from. I suppose that you could say I'm someone that regularly brings up that kind of thing, though not so as to just throw it out there for the world. More to acknowledge it and not leave anyone feeling like we haven't got all our stuff out there." Nala grinned to Felix and shrugged softly. "Don't worry though, I don't expect to talk about it in the market. It's a little loud in here anyway, we'd have to practically shout." She chuckled and looked up at Bjorn, nodding when he took his bite of the positively heavenly concoction. "It's my favorite thing to get here, it's why we come before five. They close then and I'd have missed them." Nala grinned and took another bite of her folded layer delicacy before she glanced up at Akhlut. "I need to come by and see the new baby. They're so cute when they're first born, all leggy and their fur goes all the crazy ways because its not laying flat yet." Nala seemed genuinely amused, though she did look over at the three musicians with a sadness on her face. "It's really too bad when people have a hard day of it." She grinned over to Enola and nodded in agreement. "That's right, best to give it up to Aloha and accept the day as just not being one to play." Nala didn't quite call it at the band, but spoke it loud enough to be heard by those close by.
The man playing the tambourine walked up to the fellow with the ukelele and proceeded to pat him on the head with it, making the cymbals clang raucously. "Chill brah, it's all good. We can just hang, do a little music, the music is GOOD man. I think we sounded great, just like always." The one called Nolan winked at the ukelele player. "It's all good Stan the man with the plan about the ban...d." He finished that last and started laughing, shaking his head, the tambourine still bouncing on the one called Stan's head.
Stand the ukelele player frowned sharply, staring absolutely confoundedly at Nolan, and when the young man kept bouncing the tambourine on his head he reached up and grabbed the other man's wrist, glowering at him dangerously. "Step back, brah, and go home. You need to sleep this shit off before I help you out."
The other man, still holding his drum, gave a sound that was most akin to a grumble as he moved closer to the other two. "HEY... get your hands off my brother, Stan. He's just... Well he's obviously jacked up, OK?" Emotions were obviously starting to ride high and people had begun watching the musicians with an air of anticipation for something other than a musical performance.
The older gent leaning against the pole holding up a storefront shook his head and sighed, then broke out into a huge grin as he pushed off the support structure and came walking over to the three musicians with a twinkle in the eye that wasn't milky. "Kane, kane, kane." He nodded to each of them in turn, smiling like a fool.
"You know the best way to get over this, right? A hug. Here, I'll start." And then he walked right up to Stan, the angered ukelele player, and wrapped his arms around the man to give him what looked like a full on, friendly hug.
Felix looked from Bjorn to the offered breadfruit and back, grinning. With a shrug he took an offered chunk of breadfruit and bit down, chewing thoughtfully and nodding. "Hey! That's not bad. Thanks." He gave the man a thumbs up. "I'm Felix." He smacked his head and looked to Nala and Akhlut. "Oh yeah. I totally forgot to introduce myself. Felix." He nodded to Akhlut. "It's a uh... family thing. And yeah she got to the hospital ok. Dropping her off was kind of a pip though." He chuckled, regarding Nala and smiling. "Yeah I can dig it. Probably not the best place. But I'd love to talk huh oh wow." He watched as the band started arguing amongst itself, finally taking note of the older gentleman as he went over to speak to the three and give one of them a big hug. "Aww that's nice. Spirit of Aloha right?"
Bjorn smiles and nods to Felix as he has some of it. He nods his head toward Akhlut and Nala and says, "They introduced me to it." As he glances over occasionally at the disturbance he adds, "Sounds like someone had too much spirit, but it was not of Aloha." He starts to focus more on the scene though, perhaps some concern for the old man as he tries to break up the impending fight.
Akhlut glanced at the band with a puzzled look as Stan's head was played by tambourine and the band members started arguing. The fact that someone walked straight in there and gave Stan a hug earned a groan of approval from the man as Akhlut let out a heartfelt laugh. "I have come to love this island, because they understand that touch is as guiding as any words, if not moreso." He gave a nod to Ula and Stan before looking back to the others. Grinning widely, he nodded to Bjorn, "It is good fuel. If men like us stepped in and gave hugs, I feel there would be less room for violence. Or we would be in the position to end the fight quickly."
Ember laughs softly "It's good, but not a panacea." she says lightly to Akhlut with a smile. The small native woman stretches a little and keeps an eye on the band and the man hugging them.
Nala turned her smile back to Felix and nodded to him, her bright, blue-green eyes meeting his openly. "It's good to know you, Felix. I'm Nala, this is Akhlut, and this is Bjorn. And that lovely woman over there with the amazing tattoos is a friend of ours who goes by Ember. She's a good drinking buddy to have around." Nala motioned to each person as she introduced them properly by name, using the hand laden with marzipan goodness. Her moving her own food around seemed to remind her that she had it and Nala promptly took a huge bite of her pastry, chewing it thoughtfully as she watched the older man go in to hug the rather upset looking Stan. "Awww, that's so good. What a good heart." She grinned up at Akhlut, nodding as she licked her lips. "I think that's a fantastic idea. I'd even help. We could give out hugs to everyone and make the day a better place to be for all." Nala looked at Bjorn and grinned. "Do they have hugging much in Norway, Bjorn? Or do you need a little practice before we rope you into a hugging mission across the island?"
The fact that a stranger stepped in to hug Stan might well have got him to calm down, considering how surprised he was by the gesture. He even moved to start hugging the older man back, clearing his throat, until that damned Nolan moved to tap on his face instead of his head with the tambourine. That was all it took to get a ravaged sort of howl of anger from the man currently wrapped in a stranger's arms. He shoved the older man back and went for Nolan, arms out ahead of him to grab onto the obviously alterred man's shoulders. Then, he began shaking him, in swift, violent movements that would definitely cause some whiplash. "STOP IT! JUST STOP IT YOU JACKASS!" Obviously lost to his anger and seeing red, he was seeing and hearing nothing else at the moment.
The push had the older man falling to the ground and then sliding back, his bare legs making a SQUEAK sound on the ground as he moved across it. He sat there, blinking his eyes in surprise, looking up at the two men that were now apparently having a full on physical altercation.
Nolan was making blubbering noises as his mouth slammed shut then reopened in time with his head being whipped back and forth while Stan shook him. "DOLAN! HELP!" He sounded completely confused, and he started batting at Stan with the tambourine, making the crashing of cymbals part of the conflagration.
When Stan literally dropped his ukelele and went after Nolan, the man holding his drum like a teddy bear made a surprised sound before he set his drum down carefully and moved after the man that had been pushed away, concern obvious in his eyes. "Are you ok?"
Felix smiled and waved to everyone as they were introduced, finishing off his bit of breafruit and taking a pull on his milkshake. "Nice to meet you all. Good weekend vibes righ Whoa!" He stepped back as Stan and Nolan started going at it, watching Nolan go back and forth. He winced as the spirit of aloha ran afoul of the spirit of vengeance and sighed. "Well... I guess the Kodak moment is over." He went over to help Dolan pick up the older man. "You alright buddy?" To the drummer he nodded towards the two. "I'll make sure he's ok. You should probably go help your brother." He grinned.
Seeing them push the old man and the violence start Bjorn looks to them, then back to Akhlut. He starts to move forward to help extricate things, though he'll follow the other man's lead if he moves in.
Akhlut patted Nala as the situation began to devolve. Shoving the last of breadfruit into his mouth as he pocketed the foil wrapper and strode through the crowd, straight up to Stan as he shook Nolan. "Ma shoo tie." It was unintelligible as he wrapped his arms around Stan to pin his arm and gave the man a big hug as he continued to mumble with a full mouth and slowly chewing through some of it and talked. "Now we get to stand here until it gets uncomfortable for the both of us." Akhlut licked the bits of food from his lips. "Seriously... Like all day, brah."
Ember takes a step back, the small woman not getting between the big men and band. She looks on with a bit of worry but she isn't one to getinto it if she can avoid it... and if no one is molesting Oahu itself.
Nala let out a small sound of surprise as the men started actually getting into a fight. "Oh! Stop it! You can't go around shoving people, brah!" She covered her food with the foil wrap as Akhlut moved to go get to know Stan better, then she slipped her wrapped food into the wide pocket on the side of her dress, moving over to be a bit closer in case she was needed. "Is he alright, Felix?" Nala asked the man as she moved to slide the ukelele away with her foot, and the drum, making sure they weren't close enough to actually get damaged in the fray. Notably, she didn't get into Akhlut or Bjorn's way as they were apparently engaging.
Nolan held onto his tambourine still, but reached up with his free hand and rubbed at his neck while Stan was pulled into a rather close encounter with Akhlut. "Come on, brah, you need to just chill." And then... well. Nolan took advantage of the fact that Akhlut had Stan held in his arms of steel and bapped Stan over the head again with the clang of the cymbals around the edge of the tambourine.
Ula blinked, looking stunned for a moment as he was down on the ground. He patted Dolan's hand softly and gave him a smile, looking the man right in the eye. "Easy brah, easy. Don't you hurt yourself coming to get me now. You need to go heal your brother." Then he looked at Felix. Offering up a hand or perhaps holding up a hand to request aid in standing, he gave what had to be one of the friendliest smiles available on the planet. "Mahalo, hoa. You have a good heart, kiddo." Once he was up, Ula looked over at Stan for a moment, then let out a slow, steady breath.
The actual sensation of warmth picked up notably in the room. Some of the people in the group standing and watching the altercation actually moved closer to one another, arms looping around each other into hugs as they did so. It might not have been strange, save for the fact that it kind of all happened at the same time. Several sets of people electing to take a cuddle.
Felix looked up to Nala as he moved to help Ula up, nodding. "I think so. How are you man?" He looked to give the man a smile and stopped, still pulling the big man to his feet even as his eyes seemed to lock onto the other man's. Though it was over in moments and Ula moved to spread good cheer throughout the room, the whole thing seemed to have left Felix stunned. Or more like totally poleaxed. He fanned at himself in the increasing heat, plucking his shirt as he returned to his milkshake and took a looooooooooooong pull. All the while blinking. Finally two words managed to form and leave his lips. "The. Hell...?"
Akhlut took a deep breath and lifted Stan while maintaining his 'hug' and took a few long steps from Nolan. "I understand that a small fish nibbling away at you is annoying. At the same time, if you react to everyone of them, you'll end up looking like the crazy one chasing his own tail." The man's voice rumbled as he turned to put his own back to Nolan. "We'll see how understand I am if he starts drumming on me."
Stan really tried hard to fight against Akhlut's hold. He did. But the fact that he was being held by a veritable wall of human made it all but impossible to do more than squirm and look like a child trying to get away from his mother in a crowded store. After a moment or two, however, about the same time that other people started hugging one another, Stan stopped fighting Akhlut's hold and seemed to relax into the 'hug'. In fact, he wrapped his arms around Akhlut's own arm and held on, burying his face against the inner curve of the much bigger man's bicep as he shuddered and started to weep quietly.
Dolan stood up from the floor, and looked utterly dumbstruck. He stared at Ula and then blinked repeatedly before he looked at Felix, still blinking like he'd been blinded by some bright light, his pupils tight as pinpoints like they were protecting him from staring straight at the sun. "Uh.. Yeah. Yes sir." He mumbled the words softly and turned to look at his brother, Nolan, then took a couple of steps toward him. "Bro! Hey.. brother.. stop man!"
Watching the instigation Bjorn finally moves up to Nolan as Akhlut tries to block him with his own body. Moving to put Nolan in a similar big bearhug so he can't smack people with the Tambourine anymore he says, "There we are, time to just relax and enjoy the good feelings going around. Let's just hug it out and not hit anyone else, hmm?" Hopefully between the two big men and whatever else they can diffuse the situation.
Shadows lengthen and the light turns golden as the sun sinks toward the west through a clear sky.
Ember stands back, her head turning, eyes taking in hugs, and drug like reactions. Ties that in with the warm tingly feeling she has running over her. And starts hunting for a cause. Her eyes narrowing as she takes all of these things in.
At the sensation of things getting warmer in the market, Nala stood up and looked around, her touch receptors particularly responsive to such things. Blinking, she rubbed at her arms and cleared her throat softly. "Uhhh... Guys. Let's all relax and chill out so that no one has to help us chill out?" She looked over at Akhlut and then at Bjorn, eyeing the men in their arms. Since Stan seemed to be well into cuddle mode, she approached Bjorn and the man he was holding. Reaching out, she attempted to take hold of the tambourine he couldn't shake it anymore and spoke quietly. "I think Bjorn's right, let's just stop hitting people, neh?" Nala glanced to Felix and Dolan, then over to the roving Ember, concern obviously knit across her brows, but she didn't fly into alarm.
Seemingly unbothered by anything going on at the moment, the older man that had fallen to the ground was now up, and moving toward Akhlut and the man he had held in his arms. He stood in front of them, looking at Stan's face, until Stan lifted his eyes and locked gazes with the older gentleman. While that occured, Ula just smiled softly to Stan. A moment later, when he took a soft breath, he just nodded to the boy. "I get it, all of that. But... You know you have to pay a penance. You will find the saddest person on the island tomorrow and make their life as beautiful as you're able, though love and understanding." His smile was a gentle, quiet thing and he spoke with a nearly goofey level of tenderness to his voice, especially combined with his strong Hawaiian accent. "You cannot fight a man and beat a drug, but you cannot fight a drug without beating a man. You have to overcome the drug with love, understanding, patience, and help. Anything else is you harming the brother you love." He looked up at Akhlut then, smiling softly, and attempted to make eye contact with the taller fellow. "Mahalo, kane, for loving your fellow man."
Nolan attempted to fight back against Bjorn, trying to wriggle free of the arms around him, but to no avail. He was stuck, and started making high pitched keening noises like a trapped puppy. Out of his mind, he was attempting to flail, causing the tambourine to make a horrid amount of noise as it hadn't been taken away from him yet and his fist held it in a death grip.
The evening stars come out as the red-orange sun sinks below the horizon.
Felix was still sitting there on the curb, blinking away the uncanny experience he'd just been through. When Nala looked to him in concern he raised his head and offered her a slight nod. His gaze went to Ula and he just stared at the man, totally flummoxed. "I have the overwhelming urge to call my parents and tell them I love them. What the hell?" He looked like he half wanted to panic, but the vibe just wouldn't settle on him and he grinned a little stupidly. "Damn and now I want fridge cake... seriously..."
Rather than stare at the man like he was crazy, Akhlut maintain the lock of one arm as he patted Stan on the back. "It's okay, brah, get it out. It's clearly something that was weighing your heart down. That's what will end up drowning you." Turning his head, he looked back to the others and beyond to the people beyond, arm in arm. His mouth curved into a wide grin. "This is a good island." He nodded and glanced back to Nala, "I was acting as a physical barrier to prevent the hitting..." When Ula came, Akhlut stared at the man for a long moment. "I don't know about fellow, but I believe they're more than they know." Squinting his eyes, he gave Stan another pat, "It seems like a worthy way to make amends..."
In Akhlut's arms, Stan seemed to fall further into tears after he listened to Ula, then just nodded, and didn't quite have the strength to leave the person holding him at the moment. Hey man, big guy offering to be a giant handkerchief? Sold. Or at least, sold now.
Dolan seemed to lose some of his cool as his brother started flailing and wailing as Bjorn held him tightly. Looking like he was about to burst into tears himself, the poor drummer boy reached out and tried speaking softly to his brother in Hawaiian, looking between Bjorn and Nolan, possibly attempting to make sure that Bjorn wasn't going to hurt the kid.
Well apparently he didn't have as good a grip on the wiry spry intoxicated little Nolan as Akhlut had on Stan. As the kid goes slack briefly and then jello slips out from Bjorn he blinks, the guy slipping from his grip to free himself and illiciting a sigh of frustration from Bjorn, especially if he's not nearly calmed down yet. He says simply to give Akhlut the heads up in case he goes back to his original target, "He got free!"
The stars glitter like diamonds in the deep sapphire blue of the night sky.
Ember continues to look around. The small native girl hunting about and trying to get in tune with the warm happy feelings rolling in... manipulative is manipulative but that doesn't mean nefarious.
Nala was originally going to just grab for the tambourine, then Bjorn harkened the warning about the freed druggy. She moved forward quickly in an attempt to get a grip onto the kid's arm, or around him, something, to stop him from getting away and either causing more havoc or running away period. The wiley guy had some dodge to him, though, and Nolan managed to slip away from Nala before she was even ready to fully grab the lad. "SHIT! Watch out, guys. He's quick!"
Ula blinked and grinned up at Akhlut, a momentary flash of supreme good humor on his face. "Ah! Indeed." He laughed brightly, and if his stomach could have shook like a bull full of jelly it would have made perfect sense. As it was, his tummy was only a touch on the soft side, so he kind of wiggled a bit. Then his eyes fixed to the newly freed form of Nolan and he shook his head. "Such a hard thing, addiction. It tries too many families too hard." He patted Stan's back softly and moved to start walking away, seemingly convinced he had no reason to further stick around.
Now that he was free, Nolan essentially took off. His tambourine clambored loudly with every footfall, making a terrible noise, and he managed to move himself a good bit, heading down the long walkway of the Ala Moana market. He seemed to be heading toward the exit.
Felix seemed to have finally gotten enough of his head together to start paying attention to what was going on. His eyebrows went up when he spotted Stan breaking down in Akhlut's arms, giving Ula a long look before shrugging. "Yeah I can dig it." Then Nolan was wriggling free of Bjorn's grip and heading off at a sprint. Still seated, he watched the drug addled man run right past him, and up and over the leg he stuck out to trip the running man up. There was a squawk of outrage then as Felix snaked a hand out to grab the man's foot, stumbling him and slowing him down. "Sorry buddy, but 'immediate threat to self' usually ticks off my do something box."
Akhlut again patted Stan's back as he stared at Nolan worming his way free and going for a run. The mountain of a man sighed. "I think your penance may be closer than farther. Family is important, but family is also about choice. Those standing at your side, and the ones you make music with... Those are family." Since Stan wasn't exactly standing on his own, Akhlut walked him over to Dolan to lower Stan to the floor. Staring at Nolan and Felix slowing him, Akhlut growled. "See... That is a line. You can try to show them the way, you could ever drag them. I have met some stubborn cows and horses... Big things can choose not to move. And that man may have a big problem." He glanced at the retreating Ula, and Akhlut scratched at his beard as he pondered and watched.
Stan sunk to the ground and looked up at Akhlut, wiping his face off with the back of his hand as he nodded to the big dude, though the nod was somewhat strained, because from the floor to Akhlut's face was a seriously oppressive angle to cover the distance. He looked to the shorter Dolan and reached over to pat the man's foot, as it was nearby. "E kala mai ia'u, brah. I didn't mean to lose it. This just sucks so hard." He sniffed, attempting to collect himself as he turned to watch Nolan flee. "We can pick him up later if he gets away, or we can get him taken to the hospital if we catch him here. But we got to do it, man. He's just gonna deflate into nothing if we keep just helping him when he says he's gonna stay sober and doesn't."
Dolan nodded when Stan patted his foot, but then he took off after his brother, attempting to reach out and grab the boy. Unfortunately it would seem that Dolan wasn't near the athlete that the high Nolan was, and Nolan was able to slip past his fingertips even while being unsteady on his feet!
Ember can't figure out what's going on exactly, and she doesn't want to get involved with ninja druggie so she slips out quietly.
Bjorn just watches as the man seem to run like... a man on a mission. He just blinks and looks around at the hug fest, finally saying to everyone, "Sorry I let him go. Hope you get things sorted." He says that last part more to the lad's family than anything. He just starts to walk away at that. "I think I'm gonna go for now. Take care everyone." He kinda has a look almost like a kid dropping the ice cream off his cone, and just makes his way out.
Nala took a deep breath and watched, somewhat amazed really, as the kid who was high as a freaking kite just took off like he was in a qualifying quarter final. "Akua... man that kid can run. It's so sad." She looked to Dolan and then down to Stan and offered them a gentle smile, her bright, blue-green eyes filled with sadness. "I'll ask for as many blessings as there are for your family. It's a terrible thing to handle. Be strong, and remember that you all love each other. I hope that helps at least a little in the long run." She nodded to them, then looked over at Akhlut, slipping toward him and sliding a hand along his lower back, under his shirt, as if she needed to feel something solid. "Let's go get your new shovel, ko'u aloha. I need to see someone happy again."
Ula had made his way into the crowd and was now lost from sight.
Nolan, for his part, was running like the hounds of hell were on his heels. Without the loss of stability, he was able to really get his legs underneath him and ran like someone intent on winning the 100 meter dash. Soon enough, he made his way out the far exit into the sunny afternoon, the tambourine clanging and jangling harshly on the way.
Felix blinked as Nolan managed to right himself, watching the man book through the crowds and away to freedom. He sighed, shaking his head as he watched the man go and rose to his feet, pulling on his milkshake. "Well, at least no one got hurt. But man that's gonna be a rough ride for that guy." He watched Bjorn walk off into the crowd, and Ember likewise. As Nala and Akhlut went back to hunting for shovels, Felix gave them a wave. "Take it easy guys. I'm down by the water a lot. Maybe I'll see you there sometime." He shrugged, returning to his meandering, looking around on occasion for Ula.
Akhlut offered a nod to Bjorn as he left. The moment Nala touched him, he moved his arm to flow over her shoulders and pull her in close. He gave a nod to Felix as well and a hint of a smile. "Taking him to the ground, wouldn't have changed anything. Help is something that can be ignored which is strange, but a path doesn't always mean others are on it. And yes..." His smile broadened, "We can be found on the water as well." He started walking with Nala, giving a final glance to Stan before continuing his search for hammers, shovels, and maybe an anvil.
Stan and Dolan managed to get themselves together enough to pick up their musical instruments, and they left the market together, looking pensive and concerned, but not angry anymore. Now, they were just on the side of sad. Stan, though, definitely had a look about him of some determination when he said "Hey man, let's go check on your mom. I bet she's one of the saddest people on the whole island and probably needs us now." He smiled slightly to Dolan, who nodded in return, and off they went.
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