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| Scene Title | Beach Bums |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Phoenix has a beach episode. |
| Date | August 22, 2009 |
In the low eighties and with a breeze even away from the seaside, the day has been nice throughout the morning without so much as a hint of dark clouds. Though there are clouds of course- big moldings of cottonballs floating past both horizons and intermittently blotting out the sunlight that falls onto the warm sand. The few rocky spots on either end of the stretch both glisten wet and bake in the heat. The caws and crees of gulls float in the air, and sometimes a curious bird lands to investigate something amid the swishing of the water. While shade is sometimes provided by those lumpy, marshmallow-esque clouds, there have also been a couple of broad umbrellas set up on one of the softest parts of beach. There are a few people here and there otherwise, but it seems as if that the only real group is going to be that particular one.
Under the umbrellas and around it, there is a little set-up of sorts; a blue and white cooler, lounge chairs, some big towels laid out, a canvas bag or two, a heavier cloth designating a spot wherein the cooler sits, a short-legged, bug-shaped grill to the far end being warmed- everything necessary, really. Oh yeah, there is a dog too. A gigantic, brindle colored heap lays sprawled over in the sand, half asleep. There is a white gull standing poised to Samson's far left, and he eyeballs everything from a safe distance.
Delilah, the technical alpha dog, is not so much sprawled out as she is stretched in the flickering sun, lying near the furry lump on a towel printed liberally with generic tropical birds. Of course, she has probably doused herself in SPF 9,000 sunscreen; it has sunken in, however, and so the redhead just has that swimmy shimmer about her instead. She is wearing a white swimsuit, pretty much yoinked from any picture of Marilyn at Sea; larger than usual brown sunglasses sit on her face(though she makes a mind of moving them sometimes as to avoid sunburnt circles), and her hair is tied in a ponytail by a white bow. She came out here with a purpose, and by golly, she is going to lie around and play on the beach! There's a beachball in one of those bags somewhere- probably a dog toy too.
Abigail's sprawled out on a towel face down, an honest to god bikini on the woman. Mind you, it covers everything necessary, but she does own one. If you could have a conservative bikini, Abigail owns it. The normally pale bartender/student is trying to get some sun. Sunlight does a brain good and after the conversation with Cat and then the subsequent invitation from Delilah and the events of hte last two weeks, Abigail's going to self prescribe some sunlight. The floppy hat covers her head, but everyone can tell it's her. The trio of tattoo's is a pretty good indication. Wings, latin and cross.
Conservative would not be the word for Gillian's bikini. Not in the least. It's black, only covering the necessary areas enough to keep from being thrown out, and showing off rather readily each of the faded mangled tattoos she has. One of the few that remained intact sits on the inside of her thigh, and that's visible when she lifts her leg up enough. A faded red biohazard symbol. Almost all of her remaining eleven tattoos have at least some visible damage, as if whole chunks had been taken out of them and the skin healed clean. It looks like she hasn't had time to get that fixed. Even the Chinese dragon on her breast is almost entirely visible, even if it's missing segments of it's body. Though she's not being conservative in her dress, it seems as if she has little interest in laying in the sun, from the fact she's under one of the umbrellas on a lounge chair, with a book in her hands. Dark hair is pulled back into a ponytail. With so many Evolved in the area, she can't entirely relax, with a constant mind on the knot in the back of her head.
Helena is not laying out on a towel, though clearly she has plans. The bikini she's in involves boyshorts and a stringtie top with navy white and blue theme. She somehow managed to get her hands on one of the first franks and a bottle of Red Stripe. Yep, the little blondie is pigging out, with an almost determined goal to Have Fun.
She is not on the beach, but she is bikini-clad. It's a bright blue one which shows off her features nicely. Skin of a fairly pale shade, hints of muscle tone which show she's in shape and works to stay that way without being ridiculously thin. Cat is at the controls of a jet ski watercraft, zipping along about two hundred yards from shore and thinking of doing that thing where a person gets towed behind on waterskis.
"Some day, your going to get caught for underaged drinking" Muffled from under the hat, Abigail looks over. "Not for you know, anything else, it'll be something innocuous. Like a broken tail light or.. that" There's a smile on Abby's face and she looks over the other two before craning to take in cat on the seadoo. "She looks happy out there"
Helena smirks over at Abby. "Hey, if I'm allowed to vote, die for my country, and get locked up in a Federal pen? I'm going to have a beer." She lifts up her bottle. "Hooray beer." With that, she goes to squat next to Abby.
The book lowers and Gillian glances over at Abby, actually smiling at the woman, "So says the girl who owns a bar." It's a small tease, since it actually is legal for people who can not legally buy alcohol to tend a bar in many states, including this one she's pretty sure. "Nice tats, Abby. I never saw them before. My brother know you got those?" A personal question, before she glances back out to the beach to tilt her head and watch Cat. Crazy wet Cat.
Crazy or not, Cat is indeed wet and enjoying the ride. Her course changes, she approaches the beach and comes to a stop as far in as possible. She calls out "Hey! Who's up for water skiing?" Eyes rake across the others to see if there are any takers, her tone one that seems to say anyone who doesn't step up is chicken.
"I've gotten them here and there since March" in reply to Gillian as she turns over so that she can sit up and Abby grabs her own cold bottle. Rootbeer that is. IBC FTW. Has her brother seen them before? "Yeah.. Yeah, Victor's seen them" There's a slight pause as she holds up a hand, forefinger extended the rest all clutched inwards. "He's not seen them all. He's just, he's seen then, you know, not at the same time. Like he saw the top part, and then he saw the bottom part, you know, i'm just going to shut my mouth" Because.. your brother is going to kill me." Her blonde hair and hat is dropped to Helena's shoulder, needing to just try and forget things today. No more finals, no more anything. She's got two weeks till school starts up again, this time though, honest to god paramedic school. "Hey hel, can we go talk later?"
Helena blinks in surprise. Her own tattoo is also on display, a sort of tribal motif that resembles a phoenix in flame (and in odd coincidence, one of the flame licks somewhat resembles the upper portion of the Symbol). "Sure, Abby." she says, easily enough. She tilts her bottle upward in Cat's direction. "Sorry, no drinking and driving for me!"
"I'm not gonna judge you, Abbs. Guys gotta get to know me real well to see all of my tattoos. Even you guys can't see one of them," Gillian says with a grin, moving to close her book and stuff it into a carry bag. Cat's offer of someone to join her on the jet skiis seems to have caught her attention. As she stands, there's more tattoos on her back, also fairly mangled. Including one on her buttcheek. "I'll take you up on that, Cat, I just hope I don't lose my swimsuit." Likely fortunate that she's not in a tied bikini.
First mistake was the buggy sunglasses. Second was being in the middle of a group of people otherwise distracted by each other. Delilah suddenly makes a tiny snorting noise over on her towel, hands jerking slightly at her sides.
"I haven't seen what of what?" Realizing slowly that she had dozed off, the redhead bats the sunglasses off of her face as if they were some sort of giant mosquito. Samson, who had been fast asleep moments ago, jerks awake when the plastic smacks him in the back of his butt. "Oh my god, did that burn me? How long was I-" Whatever thought she was finishing is cut short when the sun and sky above is blocked out by a mound-like shadow with stubby ears like an owl. And then there is the tongue- the big, pink, licking tongue- roaming right over her face.
"You have gillian! See, volunteer" Abby doesn't feel like going out on the waterski anyways. Content to sit and just be quiet beside Helena. Watch things. Things like Delilah waking up and her new dog opting to greet her as many a dog tends to do. She's been woken up by Scarlett like that a couple times too. "I needed this. I think. pretty sure. it's like, the first time since the weekend that I haven't needed to dive for my pill bottle"
"Exxxxxcellent, Gillian," Cat replies with a laugh. "Get the gear and hook up, then I'll tow you out." She takes a moment to watch Delilah get tackled by her dog, and snickers at the declination from Helena and Abby. She is, it seems, the only one of the group not to feature body ink.
Helena blinks. "Abby's hooking up with Brian?" she asks in nsurprise, grinning broadly from over her beer. Delilah and her doggy's antics prompt a burst of laughter.
"No, no, my other brother. The one from my adoptive family, you tell her, Abs," Gillian says, as she grins over at poor Delilah and her sudden awakening, before she moves on to the gear to get herself ready for water skiing. "I've only been on these things a few times before." With her sister, but she'd rather not think too much on that… So she just gets ready. "You're probably the safest person I can let go around, too. What's the most that'll happen— you'll remember even better?" For the first time in a while, she can likely let the knot go.
Being licked while waking up by Scarlett is probably a lot different than being licked by Samson, as the dog is about the same size as a grown man. It's more like being wiped with a sponge. A slurpy sponge. Delilah sputters loudly, wrapping her hands over the dog's big cheeks and making a valiant attempt at redirecting the smoo-ing. Erk, ffft, ppbt- Delilah's strange noises and heaving of his neck make the dog step aside, though now he seems to be tasting the length of her knee.
"Sam, please." She nudges his nose away again, but she is also laughing enough to make it ineffective. "Guys, do I have lines on my face? The sunscreen shower was one thing…" But having lines is worse! She doesn't have any, thankfully.
There goes the bottle of rootbeer, shaking from side to side as Abby's head shakes. Then she bobs it in a nod when Gillian informs Helena that it's victor that Abby's seeing. Not that many knew she was seeing someone. "You're fine Dee, no lines. Promise" and later it seems has arisen as the older blonde rolls her eyes up a fraction to match blue eyes to blue eyes. Gillians gone, it's safe. "I need to break off things with her brother. And I don't know how to. I need help"
Helena looks faintly befuddled. "You want me to give you advice on how to break up with a guy?" she asks. Uncertain of wanting the answer, she asks, "Why is it you think I can help you? I mean, I guess I could try?"
She watches while Gillian gets prepared with life vest, harness, and skis. "Shout when ready," Cat tells her, eyes drifting momentarily to the others then back out over the open water. She's thinking of how far out to go with this, and how fast. A smile forms, and she speculates, at Gillian's comments, but doesn't answer. Part of her wonders if it might give her a taste of what Edward said she should be capable of. Father's advanced cognition.
No matter what's happened the last year… Gillian vowed to have a good time tonight, and that's what she's intent on doing. Closing her eyes, she lets the knot unravel and energy starts to filter out, uncontrolled and without direction. Nothing glows, it's not overpowering, but should she touch the woman ready to drag her out… things could get a little more interesting. Not for the moment, though. Enough distance to keep it a weak augmentation. Unaware of the conversation back on the beach, she checks the sky gear a bit and gets out into the water as much as she thinks is necessary to start, before calling out, "Ready!" This'll be almost like when she could run on water.
The pair of umbrellas on the beach shade a gathering of towels, lounge chairs, a grill, and a cooler; they don't quite reach where Delilah is lying, and so even while Samson is licking her knee, Dee scoots over to reach the shady spot and making sure to not scuff sand with her. Her eyes go up a moment to watch Gillian strap herself into the skis, Cat watching from the seat ahead. When they start moving, Dee smiles to herself and turns her attention back to Abby and Helena, still under the shade. Samson wanders closer and thumps himself down not that far from the stubby grill, watching it intently.
"Ohoh, a break up? That's easy. Just say you don't want to keep seeing him. You don't have to actually explain- that's a false obligation. Well, unless they ask."
You don't have to explain why you want to break up. Right. This is Abigail who over explains stuff. "Because you're pretty close to like a really good female friend, and .. I thought perhaps you might have some experience in breaking up with a guy" There's heat flooding abigails cheeks. "Ignore me. Lets just.. lets just enjoy the day okay"
It's after work, and Leo has changed into army shorts, a white t-shirt, and worn combat boots. He's even wearing his dogtags, the old ones, with the rubber rims to silence their clinking. He looks tired, but cheerful, as he comes wandering up. He's carrying several packs of glass soda bottles. Some obscure brand of rootbeer, and other stuff.
Speed is applied, increasing steadily. Cat moves out about three hundred yards offshore and turns to a parallel course with Gillian in tow, occasionally glancing backward to see how she's doing there. Her hair is flying in the wind, sea spray soaks her, and the panmnesiac is positively basking. It's the most fun she's had since the last time she took the stage at the Surly Wench, and it's being eaten up ravenously.
Almost like running on water. Gillian holds on as best she can, and avoids getting unbalanced and knocked over, but gets very wet very quickly. And look, she's getting sun on her pale skin, even if she's currently moving. Not too long ago she had applied sunscreen, but who knows how well it'll hold off bouncing off the water as well as streaming down upon her. While she's not laughing outloud, or screaming, she's certainly making no requests to stop, and there's a smile on her face, showing off dimples. She's letting go, one of the few times in quite some time.
"I don't know if I agree with that." Helena says. "If you're going to part ways with someone, it's…the gracious thing? I guess, to explain why, if they want to know. But yeah, happy thoughts today, you know?"
"Speaking of boys-" Delilah props on her elbows, ankles crossing and face turned out towards where Leo is coming from. "-Hey! Have a seat, relax. You look absolutely crapped out, Leo." Samson eyeballs Leo as he approaches, nose snuffling at the air and tail giving a hesitant wag into the blanket.
"I want to get in the water," Leo says, as he puts the bottles of soda into the cooler, and then simply skins down to the trunks underneath, setting the dogtags neatly in theboots, and folding his clothes carefully, before stuffing them in the tote he brought. "Dirty, or no."
"Ohh I so don't want to explain why" Muttered under Abby's breath as she pulls her head off helena's shoulder and looks over at the newcomer. Leonard. "Good thoughts, happy thoughts. No more class for two weeks. I find out how I did in one week. So cross your fingers and pray that I haven't waste how many months of Cat's money. Leonard! Cat's taking people waterskiing. You should go after Gillians done"
There's no stopping, not even a hint of a suggestion of slowing down. Cat tows Gillian along the length of the beach, still three football fields out, at the helm of a jet-ski. The blue bikini wearing panmnesiac turns partly to look over her shoulder and make sure her towee is still upright as they cut through the water at the fastest speed possible.
As the jet-ski speeds along at high speed, there's a twist and the panmnesiac gets a sight to remember. Namily in the form of Gillian, wearing mostly a bikini and a lifevest, twisting and falling into the water with a rather glorious splash. She doesn't stay down long (thank you lifevest) and despite the possibility of injury, there's actually the sound of laughter as soon as the water settles enough. It wasn't painless but— the crash seems to have made her laugh at least. After a few moments, she'll wave a hand and wait for Cat to come and get her and take her back… though she reaches down to make sure her bikini is still on. Check. No nudity.
"Don't mind if I do," Leo says, affably. But he's not dashing into the water like a lab puppy trying to retrieve a ball. Rather, he's sidling into it, little by little, testingthe temperature with a wary foot.
Helena cups her hands around her mouth. "Don't be a wuss, Leo! Get in the water!" She grins at him and blows a kiss before turning back to Abby. "I'm sure you did great. You studied hard, and you'll pass your exams." She leans back with a sigh. "This was a good idea."
Samson gets up from his spot as Leo starts to take off clothes, stepping over to him in order to sniff curiously at his things, and then Leo's feet as he is still taking off his shorts. Not getting in the way, but not making it effortless. And lastly, he stuffs his nose in the top of one of Leo's boots, barely fitting the tip of his muzzle in. Hff! The snort sounds final, and then after looking aside at Delilah- the giant dog looks after Leo heading for the water, moments later following him. What are you doing? For all intensive purposes, Dee's friends are his new pack.
"I bet you did fine, Abby. You worked hard for it." Delilah echoes Helena, hand batting down a bunch in the blanket. "It's such a nice day, too. We got lucky. And economy sized sunscreen was on sale! I took a bath in it." Did she really? Maybe. Who knows.
"Maybe. We'll see" Abby murmurs. There's a glance to her bag and her phone then a wrinkle of her nose. "I promised the girls i'd go in, pitch in tonight for a few hours. I should head back" The former healer murmurs again. "I'll leave my towel here, i'll pick it up for the fourth later" as she starts packing up her few things and sliding a cover up over herself. "Thanks Delilah, for the invitation"
There's a Sicilian approaching from stage left. Plugging footprints into the damp sand with big, bare feet, his shoes hanging from the hook provided by two long fingers. There's the black tongue of a cellphone sticking out of the cuff of one of them, and moisture sticking granules to his ankles, dotting his long shirt, evidence that Teo had decided to do the water before he tried the company.
For all that, there's an easy warmth in his face as he comes on the knot of baby terrorists and allies, half-smile in no way diminished by its fragmentation. "Hey, guys," he calls out, dropping his shoes next to the ones Leo had left on the sand.
Leonard gives Helena the finger, but he does take the plunge, abruptly plowing into the water ungracefully. He leaps up and out a little, trying to avoid the chill, but settles after a few moments, paddling ungracefully.
Seeing Gillian fall and rise to the surface, then the signal, Cat cuts the personal watercraft's speed and circles back to her in wide arc, drawing up alongside so she can climb onto the back and be returned to shore. "You okay?" she asks with a touch of concern to her voice. Wiping out can't be comfortable.
"I'll be fine," Gillian says, despite hints of pain under the laughter. The closer that they get, the more aware she is of the knot in the back of her head. Unwilling to test anything in the water, she keeps her energy in as she accepts the hand up and climbs on behind Cat, "Been through worse." After all, Cat's well aware she died a couple of times. Wiping out might hurt, but it's not that bad. "Too bad Abby can't heal anymore. She should've brought whoever has her power as a back up medic."
Helena lets out a laugh when Leonard flashes her the finger, and awws as Abby rises. "I wish you'd stay." she says. "But if you're headed in, when you see Aaron, tell him hi for me, okay? I might want to um, chat with him sometime." Helena rises to her feet and pads over to one of the coolers. "Anybody want a beer?" she calls out to those on the sand. She must have missed Gillian's wipe out.
"I can't believe I've never been to Lucy's." It's hard to fathom, but there it is. Delilah stretches out a bit more before Abby stands up to drape something over herself, watching the others from her lying position. "You're welcome, Abby. Anytime." She smiles up, taking in the warmth of the baked sand under the blanket; as the footsteps get closer, the redhead turns her eyes to look. "Hello, Teo! There are hot dogs and stuff still warm, I made lots of macaroni salad, there's soda and beer…" Her hand waves vaguely towards Helena in the process, the other blonde going through the cooler.
Out by the water, Samson is watching Leo paddle around at a distance, his own feet only in the soggy lining between sand and sea. His tail is wagging, still, and he looks interested.
"OY." Cook walks towards the group not in the water. He's in board shorts and sandals, but no shirt. LOOK AT THE SHIRTLESS IRISHMAN.
And there's Teo. Talk about awkward. Abigail turns her face away a murmured "sure Hel, i'll tell him" before her tote is scooped up, sunglasses planted firmly on her face and the blonde is moving swiftly towards vehicles and the rental there.
Hey, there's a shirtless Irishman. Teo's head turns fractionally on its axis, before the line of his neck catches livewire tension, his brows digging downward in consternation when the former healer, one Abigail Beauchamp, pins his peripheral with her hasty departure. "See you later, Abby," he calls after her, cocking his head slightly against the slump of a deceptively lazy slouch. The nonchalance is, of course, a total contrivance— but fairly convincing, for all that.
"Buongiorno, Lilah." There's a greeting for the redhead, half a grin, before he addresses Helena with a thug's upchuck of chin, a wave. "Magnes Varlane has a message for you. Inbox, once you're back on-duty."
Leo wants a rootbeer. But he doesn't want to leave the water. The cooler opens of itself, and a rootbeer bottle comes wafting towards him, as if borne by an invisible servant. The telekine's treading water, and lifts a hand to receive it. Abby's leaving, and that has Leo frowning.
"Ahhhh! Fishbelly white! The glare!" Helena lifts one of her bottle holding hands up to her eyes, as if to ward off the shining whiteness of Cook's skin, before darting her eyes toward Teo. Extending one of the bottles toward Cook, she lifts her chin in turn to Teo. "If it's just a message, I'll be right with you."
"Yes," Cat agrees as she picks up speed to a moderate pace and pilots the craft back towards sandy land, "you have. And that would be Flint Deckard," she adds. But no more is said, because that involves business and she desires not to speak of such things today. What she wants, as her stomach begins to transmit messages, is to indulge in stout and the meat of a cow while basking under the sun for a while.
"M'palor brings all'a birds t'the yard, lass," Cook tells Helena with a smirk. He reaches for the beer and then drops his ass on the sand, popping the bottle open. "T'anks."
"Bye, Abby! Cookie, hi!" Yes, Cookie. "Don't eat anything that isn't food or garbage." What starts as a greeting ends in a tentative warning from Dee, though it is perfectly innocuous. "Magnes? Fbt, you talked to him, Teo?" It's not really a scoff, or a laugh, just an amused voice. What would he want with Helena? After a few more seconds she decides to sit up again, tucking her calves under herself.
Flying root beer? Samson seems to be the only one that blinks twice(so to speak). He takes a step after the floating bottle, feet in the sloshing water but going no further. The dog tilts his head back to look over at the people still on the beach. He lets out a baleful whine that sounds more like a rumble, and it can be heard in pretty much any direction.
A frown squats on one corner of Teo's mouth like a goblin, making a casual crook out of his expression. He looks out across the water, to where the girls and Leonard— who sometimes kind of counts as one of the girls, honestly, their relationship functioning mechanistically the way it does— are splashing around below the even meet of blue horizon. "He was looking for a line to Phoenix.
"Thought of me, since Minea hauled him out of her trunk on my request, the other month. Wanted to know something about—" he lifts a lazy fist into the air off the corner of his shoulder, counts his fingers off where Helena and Delilah can both see them. "Synthetic Evolved children and the dangerous experiments that made 'em, and allies to take action against Humanis First!. This isn't my enthusiastic voice."
"Thanks," Gillian says as she gets her rather wet self out of the water. A little sore, but she's not a stiff or limping as much as she'd been at the meeting, so it must not be too bad. She's just got a grimace on her face, that tries to hide under a smile. "I never really liked beer," she responds to Helena with a yell, before she makes her way back, dripping rather galantly as she sheds the last of the gear, the life vest that kept her afloat. The black bikini doesn't really hide much. As she walks up, she only just catches the end of it, and not who it's about, "Wait, what?"
Cook hides nothing of his interests. His eyes fly from one bikini-clad girl to the next; and he's not exactly trying to make sure they get even tans or discern the color of their eyes.
Leonard hauls himself back to the shore and flops down on a towel like a beached seal. HE looks pleasantly drowsy now, black hair spiked by damp. He merely listens to the banter around him. HE holds his hand out to Samson, for scritches.
Helena listens to the first part of Teo's relay, her eyebrows hitching up to her hairline. But at the last, she outright blanches. "I should have said I'm out of the office," she mutters, not quite looking at Teo, but talking to him nonetheless. "Shouldn't I have." A hand is run through the top of her hair, it results in pushing one of the two long pigtail braids she's sporting back over her shoulder.
Dripping salty water, Cat secures the jet ski and strides up onto the beach toward a towel some moments after Gillian. The brunette, only slightly less tall than Delilah and in blue bikini, glances briefly at the ogling Cook and makes her way to the cooler then the grill. Stout and beef are taken, she settles gracefully to sit and pulls legs up under her as enjoyment of the bounty begins. If she heard any talk of business, there's no letting on, though the presence of Teo and Leonard are acknowledged. "Good to see you out here, guys."
"Is he doing that vigilante stuff again?" Delilah sort of sounds like a mom that found out that one of her kids did something she may have told him not to. A familiar tone to at least a little of Teo's brain. On both sides, no less. "You should have told him to not worry about it. Now he's going to be all up in grills that he really shouldn't be all up in." She laughs, despite the actual matter. "Oh well. He'll learn."
Yes, she knows that the Irishman is looking at them all in probably ways she wouldn't ordinarily like; but for now, Delilah entertains it and even subtly straightens her spine as she sits there.
As for Sam, well- the offer of scratching is too tempting to pass over, and the dog buries the top of his skull into Leo's hand after following him back up. Hiiiiiyyyeeeello. His big pink tongue lolls out of the side of his mouth, and his tail sets to wagging in its saber-arc.
Cook leans over to Delilah and grins up at her. "Hi lass." He looks her up and down… probably because he knows she might smack him for it.
Iiin the meantime, Teo is content to look grumpy and count Varlanisms on one hand like a big— unshod— lump of— yeast that has, for whatever reason, assembled itself into the shape of a tall young man. He notes that the women are running around in extremely flattering outfits, or… flattering lack thereof, but this doesn't sink past the cognitive layers of his mind and into the more visceral parts of him.
He acknowledges Helena and Delilah's words with a summary grunt: "No shit." Blinking against the refraction of sunlight off waves, he drops into a crouch on the sand on the other side of the clothing pile from Leonard and the great beast he's befriending, watches them play out of a peripheral vision. An unwonted smile picks at the corner of his mouth.
"Okay…" Gillian says, moving back to the lounge chair she was using and bends down to pick up a towel so she can start to dry off. Too wet to read right now, and she doesn't want to stay in the sun much longer if she can avoid it. She glances cautiously in the direction of Dee, her dog, and the man who might well be hitting on her. The dog gets the most cautious look. She is not a chew toy. "So Abby took off?"
Leonard is involved in lazily scratching Samson. He doesn't seem to have much to add to the conversation, other than a languid wave in response to the greetings he's offered.
Helena peers over at Teo. "Okay. So yeah, tabled on how to deal with him for later. I haven't even told you about the heinous phone call with my father yet and - Teo, you are acting like Garfield on a Monday." She moves to sit next to him. "Do I have to ply you with beer? Take off my top?" She's not really going to take off her top, but of late, she hasn't seen so much as a smile from the man, albeit lately circumstances were pretty harsh. "Get Brian and Leo into a GrillMaster war?"
There's no commenting on things she hears as she enjoys food and drink while seated on a towel, Cat being entirely uninclined to even acknowledge business was being discussed at all here on the beach. The blue bikini clad woman with saltwater on her pale skin looks out over the water and squints against the sun, opting to put mirrorshades on for defense against the brightness. Not even Helena mentioning her father and a phone call draws a glance that way, and she doesn't really think it would need to be discussed anyway. Surely Helena summarized anything of note and entered it into the Humanis First file when it happened, she believes. Later she'll check.
The jet-ski remains at the water's edge, just far enough onto the sand to not float away, with the water ski gear Gillian used next to it.
If Delilah had fewer clues when it came to Cook, she would probably shove him away by the face. But, as she knows better than to let her fingers get close to his mouth- the hand on that side reaches out to give him a shove by point of his upper arm. "Bye lad~." It is hard to tell if she is being playful or if she is actually being serious and simply taunting him in the process. When Helena tells Teo he is acting like Garfield, Delilah lets out a sharp laugh. "He didn't even look at the ladies in Burlesque very long. I don't think taking off your top will do much, Helena. Try the beer."
Samson has better ideas than scratches. No, he doesn't go to see what Gillian now smells like(too much salty smells!)- Leonard is suddenly attacked by slobbery tongue on his face and neck, Samson lapping at him as if he had just turned into a man-sized vanilla ice cream cone. Sluuuuurrrp!
Teo's problem is that they are crawling in his skin, these wounds that will not heal. Nor would he be referring to any variety of venereal disease, thanks; sort of the opposite. There's a furtive blink when Phoenix's leader abruptly plops down on the sand beside him, and then a slight scowl, red-eared with embarrassment when Delilah mentions his reaction to Burlesque—
Or lack thereof. Really. At this point, Italy wouldn't give a fuck enough not to extradite one of their own, if the cops caught up; he's a shame on his kind. "I'm fine," he protests, casting up his hands. "I'll be fine. Just tired. Rough couple months at work. You know. I'm sorry to hear about your dad, 'cause that was bullshit. I— oh.
"Look. Uh oh. Look at this: what do we fucking have here?" He widens his fingers and flits them through the air as if giving warning, both brows lifted, pallid eyes widened. Slooowly, excruuuuciatingly, haltingly, he begins to pry up the corners of his mouth until they form an unmistakable smile. He points both forefingers at his face, turns at Helena with an expression of slightly absurd expectation.
"Let's go."
A simple, ordinary command that shouldn't cause so much chaos once uttered. But it does. There's something that happens in the back of the van that could be likened to a thunder storm. The rumble rumble rumble of kids unfastening seatbelts and stomping for the door then the flash of kids vanishing out of the van. Brian blinks over to the person in the passenger seat. Joe. FakeFather and FakeSon are both shirtless, Joe insisting on wearing the same pair of blue shorts as Brian (though in a much smaller size.) And while Brian has a necklace of a yin-yang hanging from his next, Joe has a candy necklace around his neck. Though Brian has something on his back that many in Phoenix have not seen, that being a tribal tattoo of a yin yang on the back of his shoulder blade. Not many Birdies have seen Brian shirtless lately. Joe sadly, can't have tattoos. :(
In the wake of children storming the beach armed with floaties, tubes, and wet noodles, Brian and Joe walk slowly down to the beach, both wearing matching aviators. "Where's Gilli.." Brian muses, mostly to himself.
Helena reaches out with a solemn air, sticking out two fingers and touching them to the polar tips of Teo's smile, nudging it up a touch. "Ah…ah…ah…ah…there." she says, nodding with satisfaction. She then shades her eyes with her hand, turning toward Brian and company. "Hey!" she yells out, thrusting her hand in the air and waving.
Gillian is lounging back on one of the lounge chairs, drying herself off with a towel. Rather than in the sun trying to get a tan, she's under one of the umbrellas. The rumble rumble of the kids draw her eyes more than most of the conversations, even if she looks quietly at Teo for a time. It's one of the girls who finds her first, running up in the sand and practically jumping on her arm. "He— hey!" she yelps in surprise. Like many of the girls on the beach, she's not wearing much. The black bikini just covers the essentials, and doesn't hide many of her mangled tattoos. "Good to see you too, kiddo." She looks over at Brian. This was supposed to be her relax day! The sight of aviators on the two "boys" makes her hesitate a moment, before she stands up. "Did you bring anything to make sandcastles with?"
Oh, god, licked. There's incoherent sputtering from Leo. And then Samson steals his rootbeer bottle, and Leo is off to chase him, scrambling up from the ground in a spray of sand, and stumbling after him. He could stop the hound with a mere mental touch, but where's the fun in that? And it'll turn into a long ramble down at the water's edge.
Delilah sits there and watches Teo from a similar angle as Helena, scoffing with laughter when he shows off his new smile. And look, his ears are red! "That looks much better, I think." Then, suddenly- rugrats everywhere! Dee sits up a bit further when the kids ramble through, looking up to Brian and Joe as they near. Sandcastles? "Ah, I brought a couple things, if they didn't." She gestures to one of the canvas tote bags lying nearby.
"Samson!" She barely gets enough time to call out above the new voices when the dog steals the bottle and darts off with it, feet thumping through the sand and Leo in pursuit. Sigh. "…Boys."
Fffuu ever see a hot girl and look closely for a minute, trying to figure out who said hot girl is and maybe go and talk to her.. And then realize it's your sister. akslda;sfjao. Frowning at his own brain, Brian approaches the group, and answers Gillian confidently. "My two hands and my freaking genius brain." Is his answer to 'things' for sandcastles. Frowning at Gillian, he glances over to Helena giving her a little wave. "You should wear more clothes." He suggests to his sister. That would be more appropriate.
Delilah gets a little wave as well, along with anyone who cares to give him a greet. "Sorry I'm late. Had to weed out who got to come along." He says, splaying his hands out. "Not everybody was on their best behavior."
"You only say that cause your… other parts… don't remember we're brother and sister very well," Gillian says, controlling her tongue just barely. But she does lean over and pull something out of a bag next to her lounge chair. A t-shirt, a band, but not of the crawling in my skin, variety, more the little known techno variety. There's really no one here she wants to be practically naked around. And if she's going to help build sandcastles… she'll need some sunlight protection for her shoulders. Once it's pulled over her damp hair, she offers a hand to the kid, "Let's go make some sandcastles. And see which of the boys are the 'kick down sandcastles' types." Cause there's always one. "Good thing Dee's here. Hands and genius brain won't do everything." She smiles over at Dee, and then offically asks, "Want to help? I bet some of the kids will love to play with your dog, too." It seems as if she's growing to enjoy taking care of the kids. Or at least getting better at faking it after that moment of 'why me' that she flashed for an instant.
Once Teo is distracting by the romantic sight of Man With Dog, Helena's attention diverts elsewhere, as she rises and wipes the sand off her butt. Now it's her turn to stroll to the shore, digging her feet into the receding sand and turning her face up to the sun with closed eyes.
Gillian has the right idea. If it is sandcastle time, Delilah's going to need more than that fading sunscreen bath. Though her suit is actually a one piece, it being white does not do much anyway. "Spiffy! Yes, I do. There's a beach ball in here too, if some of you kids want it…" She roots around in her bag, dislodging a set of those stacking buckets with a plastic shovel, a deflated beach ball, and a white shirt. The redhead yanks it on promptly before hopping up after Gillian with the buckets in hand; on the front of her is Keroppi, in some sort of dancing pose. Ribbit! Time to play!
"Are you serious? You're really going to say that out in public on the beach?" Brian asks, irritation touching his voice at Gillian. "My other parts don't forget anything. Okay. Especially that.." Gillian's boobies don't count as real boobies. "Yeah." He adds in after not being able to say his thoughts. He just lets it trail off. Glancing over, Brian gives a little nudge towards Joe towards Delilah and deflated beach ball.
Giving a satisfied nod when Gillian makes herself decent, the shirtless man makes his way over to Helena, a casual arm flinging over her shoulders and bringing her into a semihug.
"Hey."
"I think you're too embarassed to admit it!" Gillian yells back, in that teasing sisterly way. Even if, deep down, the very idea is ishy. Then again, she'd not really been too attracted to the other him. Good looking, sure. But too goofy to be her usual type. If she'd met Winters first, there could have been Skywalker issues…
"All right. Who is on sandcastle team?" she calls out to the kids, gathering them up as they make their way to the wetter sand. "If Leo wasn't chasing your dog around, he'd be great for sandcastle building, I bet." And Teo's off in dreamland. "Looks like it's you, me, and the frog."
Looking back at the kids, "How many of you have made a sandcastle before?"
"Do mashed potato castles count?"
"Not really. Same basic idea, though…"
Somewhere along the line, someone on the production team discovered that Amanda Seyfried's kinda stacked. So really, Brian's just transferred his attention from the woman who is his biological sister in a bikini to the woman who he connects with emotionally as a sister, also in a bikini. Life is funny that way. Distracted from her reverie, Helena's eyes open, and she grins up at Brian. "Hey!" she says. "I'm glad you could come. Did you bring all the kids? Leo's abandoned his post, you do know how to grill, right? I mean, I could do it…"
"Samson will probably come back with Leo before long, I'm sure." They'll chase each other all the way back! Dee isn't worried. "Potato castles are a good start. Firstly-" She scouts the sandy surroundings for a few moments, before taking the biggest buckets of the stack up and dropping the rest onto a sandy patch free of anything else. "-someone needs to get some water. We can't get too close or we'll be all washed out." And everyone has seen that, right?
Winters, although knowing he's supposed to connect Helena as a sister emotionally has yet to fill that gap in his memories. So for now, he simply remembers to keep his eyes up. Though every now and then from the safety behind aviators, Brian..
Anyway. With his arm draped around Helena's shoulders, he turns slightly to look at the kids. "Not all. Left some at the Lighthouse with.." Him. A one shouldered shrug. "Every self respecting man knows how to grill." Or at least assumes he knows how to grill. It's not that complicated, right? "I thought y'all would've eaten by now." Walking along with her, his foot casually wanders in front of Helena's path, and that arm around her gives a gentl, yet somewhat firm shove forward. Trip. Smiling innocently, "So what all do I need to cook?"
Joe watches the planning of the sandcastle building project seriously, his eyes flicking to the ocean when water is mentioned. Straightening out and placing his hands on his hips he after a while decides that he is boy enough for the job. Reaching out fr the bucket. "Okay."
"That's different then we used to do it. Victor would always get buckets full of wet sand and carry that over," Gillian says quietly, but seems to think the water idea might be better cause she bends down to grab the bucket and hand it over to Joe. It's rare to see him talk away from Brian! "Water will probably work better. And then we can dig a big moat."
Helena does take the stumble - not quite falling, but certainly tripping. She twists her feet once she's stable again and thumps a fist into Brian's arm. "HEY." she protests with a broad grin. "Oh my god, you don't even know the basics. I'm more manlier than you right now. I see where this is going. I'm going to grill, and you're going to be my slav - I mean, lackey." She catches his hand, and tugs him back up the beach. "C'mon."
"Either one works." Delilah advises to both Gillian and Joe, if he wants to get sand too. She is about as surprised as Gillian is, in terms of Joe talking. Best to work with it. "Sam can be our moat monster when he comes back, right?" She questions any of the other kids nearby for an answer.
"Pfft. You can grill after I kick your ass." It's said in more hushed tones to keep the kids, and more importantly Gillian from hearing him curse near the kids. He'll get in trouble if she hears. Instinctively rubbing the ouchies off his arm, whether it hurt bad or not, it's mandatory to rub it. When Helena takes his hand, Brian attempts to give a harsh tug, reeling her back in.
Then his arm swings to wrap around Helena's waist and lift. Then Brian will change course back for water. :D
Taking said bucket, Joe is momentarily distracted by Brian and Helena. Waterfights slash fights that somehow involve water are higher on the priority list than sandcastles. So while Joe does go to fill up his bucket, his eyes are primarily on his fakedad to see if he can spot any windows that will accept his addition to the rumble. Distracted, JoeJoe jogs back with a bucket full of water to Gillian and Delilah.
"Of course Sam can be the moat monster when he comes back," Gillian says, trying to keep spirits up as she instructs the remaining kids to find a dry spot away from the water. "Right here, Joe," she says, pointing at the dry sand. "Dump water on it, so we can get started. We may have to get more, or finish it off with wet sand once we get the beginnings of a castle." Already wet sand for the towers! That would work. "You like making Legos blocks and stuff, right? Sandcastles are kind of like that."
Still where she's been since shortly after returning from the water, Cat finishes the food she claimed and drains the last of her stout bottle, watching the activities of people around her. A slight smile rest on her features, her eyes hidden behind mirrored shades check the location of the jet ski to make sure it hasn't moved. She remains content to observe and look out over the water.
Helena lets out a scream, which is more protest than panic, and her legs flail wildly. "Hey, hey! Haaaaaalp! OhmygodBrianI'mgoingtokillyou!!" But she's also laughing as she smacks his shoulder and continues to try and protest. "If I'm going down, you're going with me!" Her arms lock around his neck with velcro like latching effect.
Distraction much- Helena yells, and Delilah practically falls over whirling her head around to look. Only to see Brian accosting her in one of the ways that boys always seem to do. "Oh pffff- put her down!" The yell is half-hearted, and about now, Samson has since trundled back to the little beachsite, attention now on Brian and Helena when he finds a seat in the shade.
Ignoring slapings and thwakings, Brian goes to link his other arm around Helena as well as he charges into the cold water. Once getting a little above his waist level the replicator jumps and drags the two of them to plunge down into the ocean. After submerging the pair of them, Brian bursts back up from underwater rapidly, quickly rubbing hair away from his eyes, even though it in no way threatens to hamper his vision.
Joe dumps the water where instructed, and once Gillian informs him they may need more, JoeJoe is quickly on the charge to go above and beyond the call. Rushing back to the water he goes to plop on one knee and fill the bucket up again.
The yells from a blonde weather manipulator earns a glance, but Gillian doesn't even try to verbally intervene, even half-hearted. In fact she chuckles a bit in amusement, and watches him drive her into the water. Soon she will be dripping just like the darker haired girl is. As her brother surfaces, she yells out, "Be careful, she might hit back with lightning!"
Helena can swim, and isn't the sort who shrieks when she gets her hair wet, but she comes up sputtering a little, her braids now limp and plastered against Brian's arm. After she huffs some saltwater out of her nose, she squawks, "Oh, you jerkface!" Revenge is planned, oh yes, but she will be sly and careful about revealing it - elegant as it will be, in its sheer complicity.
"That would be a sight to behold." Delilah laughs brightly at Gillian's words, soon beginning to help start the castle once JoeJoe gets back to them. "Remember, don't make it too high too fast. It'll fall down." Sand Architecture 101, for Lighthouse Kids.
Grinning broadly, Brian reaches up and places his hand on the top of her head, giving her a square shove back down under the water, just for good measure. Once that's done, Brian releases quickly and backpedals out of the water to avoid any retaliation. Making a beeline for the sandcastle, his pace is a little too quick and —
Brian Winters inadvertently becomes the sandcastle stomping bully. Much to the chagrin of many of the kids under his charge. Frowning down at his foot then looking up to meet the kids disappointed faces, and then Gillians and Delilah's…
"Whoops."
There's always someone. This time it may be unintentional, but it happened anyway. As he looks around at disappointed faces, Gillian's goes from surprised to… "Brian!" A hand comes out and smacks against his bare chest. "You…" What is the kid-safe word? "Doofus."
Helena pops out of the water with an inarticulate yelp, then begins to work her way out of the water. Half laughing, half wrathful, she calls out, "You're lucky I don't make a cloud follow you around and rain on you for the rest of your life!" She heads then for her bag, but doesn't bother with a towel - she can summon up enough wind to dry herself off, and even warm the air if it's too chilly. But she does head for the grill without him, so there!
That's okay, it was probably a bad castle anyway. While he is standing there in the midst of the wreckage, however, Delilah snatches Brian around his ankles and pulls- "Let's bury Brian!" See, kids, she has all the best ideas.
"Really? Inciting kids to rebel" Brian sounds disappointed as he tries to move his ankles but then finds that he is soon swarmed by masses of evolved babies. "Helena, help!" Brian calls out as his knees buckle from the mass of different children jumping on him and weighing him down. Allowing himself to be completely dragged down by the kids, he sits mostly still until the food is ready, which is when he busts free.
The rest of the day goes smoothly, talks about serious issues, talks about rainbows and where they go, even talk about Whoopi Goldberg. The conversation and general merrymaking eventually dies down and leads to the first annual(semiannual/weekly/bimonthly/whatever) Phoenix beach barbecue is adjourned.