Under Sea Garden

Title: Taking Stock
Author: Rune
Words: 200
Notes: In the last week I've gone to the beach, gone hiking, gone shopping at REI and gotten sunburned. When wk_100 had the challenge "Anywhere but Japan," where else was I going to send Ken? 'Sides, I know people out there who've had good luck in retail dating lately. Why can't my boy? (Beta'd by ranalore)



It was a city that was supposed to have everything. The store was supposed to cater right to that; the sign said, “Outdoor supplies.” Soccer totally counted. He'd nearly walked out again when he'd found they didn’t hold quite the same opinion. But then he'd seen the climbing wall.

Just there. For anyone to use. So he had.

Then there'd been the hiking gear. The ultralight steel-framed, gortex-lined, backpacking pack practically had his name stitched across the front. That the sales guy had smiled at him in spite of the accent and the dance that had been charades for "How many pounds will this thing hold, and do you have a medium?" hadn’t hurt either.

What sealed the deal was when that same sales guy had offered him surfing lessons.

"Good waves. Not too big." And he had smiled, working through the hand motions for, "And there's hiking in the mountains too. I can show you."

So there Ken was, standing next to a rental car he hated with a couple hundred dollars’ worth of gear he didn’t need, no new soccer cleats, and a phone number.

This city might not have everything, but so far, they were comin’ close.

Title: Perpetual Motion
Author: Rune
Word Count: 100
Characters: Ken
Series: Kapitel
Author's Notes: Companion piece to ranalore’s Job security. Beta'd by Rana as well.


He gets up in the morning and goes for a run. There’s no one to remind him to eat lunch, and more often than not it slips his mind entirely. No practice until after school lets out leaves him too many hours to fill. He toys with the idea of a second job, but instead finds himself running marathon journeys with no destination. At night he stays on the pitch long after the kids have left.

If he sleeps with his face pressed to the grass it is only so he’ll be ready to move before the sun comes up.