The Beach, Well Before The Party, Friday Noon-ish

[doesnotkneel]

Right. Parker had gotten a message, and Edward had picked up the gear-- wetsuits and windsurf equipment-- and headed to the beach about half an hour before he'd asked Cosette to be here, just to make sure everything was all right.

Just because he was impulsive didn't mean he couldn't be careful. He just frequently forgot how.

Frankly, outside of class, where everyone had been in the wetsuits, he felt a bit ridiculous. It clung to his skin and pulled oddly around... parts. He was sure he'd forget about it once they hit the water, but the sense hit him that he might as well be dancing around for whatever passers-by might find their way here. He found himself hopping up and down a bit just to shake his muscles loose, which was close enough.

[[ expecting one, but open before she arrives! ]]

Comments

[wildandbrave]

Sand between her toes was still a fairly new sensation, and a bit of a strange one, but not in a bad way; Cosette had gotten rid of her shoes the second she reached the edge of the beach.

"It wasn't hard to find you after all, jumping about like that," she said as she approached, laughing.

[doesnotkneel]

"It's harder to move in these bloody things than I remember," Edward said, rubbing the back of his neck as he stilled his movements.

[wildandbrave]

"I can't say they're my favorite part of the experience," Cosette agreed, "but I understand why, especially after jumping off the cliffs this week. I never would have thought falling into water might hurt if one did it wrong."

She set a basket down in the sand -- besides her towel and a change of clothes there was a little insulated lunch bag containing a couple of bottles of juice and some pasta salad -- and went to start changing into a wetsuit. "I brought along some drinks, and something to eat, for later."

[doesnotkneel]

"We'll have to put on those odd vest things as well," Edward said, jabbing his thumb in that general direction.

But he ignored that for now, as instead he came up to her and her basket. "You brought food!" A pause. "Right, I shouldn't eat it before we go in the water..."

[wildandbrave]

"Yes, I've read that you might get stomach cramps if you do," Cosette replied, and reached out to poke a finger lightly at his midsection. "And if you did that, and it turned out I had to save you, I'd never let you hear the end of it, so it's probably best we spare you such a fate."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward laughed. "Ah, you won't have to save me, miss," he said. "I'm quite capable, I assure you."

Also overconfident, but never mind that.

[wildandbrave]

"Mind you aren't tempting fate by saying that," Cosette warned playfully; the overconfidence wasn't lost on her, but she didn't see the need to point it out at the moment. "Though these silly vests are likely meant for just those situations, I suppose."

[doesnotkneel]

"I'm sure we can survive the high seas without something keeping our heads aloft," Edward said... loftily. "But for your sake, I'll use one."

[wildandbrave]

"Consider it less for my sake, and more for the sake of making sure we can borrow the equipment again sometime if it suits us," Cosette suggested.

[doesnotkneel]

"That's also fair," Edward said, grinning at her one last time before turning around to go pick up those vests. "Though I say we could make it look like they were used."

He wouldn't, because he'd worry about Cosette's safety. But still.

[wildandbrave]

"That had occurred to me as well," Cosette said, looking completely innocent, "but the squirrels would likely notice."

She took a moment to dig her toes into the sand -- still a somewhat unfamiliar sensation -- and looked down at the wetsuit. "What a scandal I'd cause back home, wearing this."

[doesnotkneel]

"I still find it a bit scandalous myself," Edward said, with a vaguely embarrassed chuckle. (He had largely been absent when the shame was handed out, though, so 'a bit' was as much as it got.) "But we should embrace the spirit of the place we're in, right?"

[wildandbrave]

"We may as well," agreed Cosette, "and I've largely become used to it, though I admit that most of the time I'm still somewhat more comfortable in the clothing I'm accustomed to wearing."

Not that she would at all even consider wearing that many petticoats while windsurfing. Because no.

"Well, let's see about those silly vests, shall we?"

[doesnotkneel]

"I'll wear anything that keeps me warm when it's cold, and cool when it's warm," Edward said, with a light shrug.

But then he'd never had much space to choose.

He picked up a vest and held it out in front of him critically. "It's very orange."

[wildandbrave]

Cosette eyed the other vest with about equal dubiousness. "You'd have to try very hard to lose sight of it, and even then I don't know that you'd succeed."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward pulled a face, but he tugged it on over his head. "At least this counteracts the scandal of the rest of it all, don't it?"

[wildandbrave]

Cosette fiddled with the straps on her vest, ended up cinching them too tight, and then loosened them too far in an effort to adjust. Sounding a bit put out, she said, "It's hard to be scandalous and feel silly at the same time. Besides which, I suspect people would rather look away for fear the color hurts their eyes."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward chuckled, and he walked up to her, reaching out to fiddle with her straps himself. Ahem.

"If I shield my eyes just so, I believe they will survive the ordeal."

[wildandbrave]

Ahem indeed, but it was worth noting that Cosette wasn't insisting she could do it herself.

"I'll try to make it worth your effort then, shall I?"

[doesnotkneel]

Edward was still a gentleman, thank you, so all he did was tug it a bit tighter until it seemed reasonably attached. Not that the proximity was a hardship.

"No need," he said loftily. "A gentleman suffers such things gladly."

[wildandbrave]

Not a hardship at all! Cosette definitely wasn't in any hurry to move away. And it was only fair of her to check over the straps on his vest too, wasn't it?

"Then I'm glad you're a gentleman, monsieur," she said, smiling. "And let me assure you that this . . . ungainly attire won't discourage me from looking at you, either."

Though they should probably pay attention to what they were doing while on the water, or that could go badly.

[doesnotkneel]

"We're a happy twosome, then," Edward teased, and let go of her with some reluctance.

"Come, let's get the boards."

[wildandbrave]

"To the water we go," Cosette agreed, and the only reason she wasn't more disappointed about stepping away was that she really did want to try this windsurfing business again.

[doesnotkneel]

Edward shot her an impish grin and suddenly took off for the boards at a mad dash.