The Beach By The Boardwalk, Monday Afternoon

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

It was the first day of break and Arden was going to spend it the way the goddess had intended it: out on the beach with the salt and the sea and the sun and the sand, sorry Anakin. She was sprawled out on a blanket with a towel or two next to her and a cooler of drinks and snacks. She had a book with her for later, but right now she was enjoying the warmth while sending out a text to all the usual suspects (and a few new ones for good measure) inviting them to come and spend the day out on the beach with her.

[Open to all! If you think you got a text, you did, or maybe you just happened to be wandering up the beach and decided to chill!]

Comments

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I wasn't sure about going either," Arden confessed. "If Kamala hadn't been there, I probably wouldn't have. I'm never sure if those parties are for everyone-everyone? Or just the adults everyone, you know? But Captain Rogers was really polite and kind, so either we're welcome or he was great at faking it and not calling security."

She chuckled a bit, and passed Eleanor a water, just so she'd have one when she settled in.

"Oh, you know Cal? A little older than us, red hair, world's most adorable robot? He and I had a long standing bet about who would do better in paintball every week. He still owes me for last week's ultimate victory."

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor nodded as she took the water from Arden. "Thanks," she said. "I don't think I've had the chance to meet him yet. Congratulations on your victory, though. What is paintball, anyway?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh, you'll like him, he's really sweet and BD-1 is just the cutest," Arden said. "He works Mondays, so I dunno if he'll show up today, but he's one of my favorite people on the island."

But like, in a friend way!

"Paintball is...well, you shoot big balls of paint at each other with these special guns," she explained. "It's pretty much a battle royale where you try be the last one standing. Kamala and I had an agreement than she and I wouldn't shoot each other. You know, girl power." And then, casually, she added, "Pretty sure the three of us are gonna sign up for that again. And I'm trying to convince Kamala to join us in Earth Tourism next workshop. You should definitely come with us for that one. It's so great!"

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor's eyes drifted over toward Kamala thoughtfully when Arden mentioned her, and then tilted her head a little when her attention shifted back to Arden. "That's about traveling to different places, right?" she asked. "I've never really been anywhere except the east coast before, except for the school trips. That sounds more useful to me than shooting big balls of pain at people."

It sounded interesting, though. Was that something someone could just come and watch for the entertainment?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Almost certainly. There were certain people who would probably appreciate the audience.

But Arden was just going to grin into her slushie as Eleanor's attention wandered. "That's the one," she agreed. "And, yeah. Before that class, I'd only been here, the place I grew up, and the trips the school brought us to. It's nice just seeing different places, even for an hour."

[what_big_teeth]

"Maybe I will sign up for it, too, then," Eleanor decided, thinking about it a little more and shrugging. "I could probably do to see a lot more of the world, anyway. Even more so if I'm seeing it with friends."

A word that still felt a little awkward. A little uncertain. A little...nervous.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Exactly," Arden said with a soft smile. "It'll be at least the four of us - five, if Charlie signs up again - and we'll have a ball seeing parts of the world we never would have otherwise, yeah?"