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The Beach By The Boardwalk, Monday Afternoon

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!]

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After her shift at Stark Industries was done for the day, Kamala went back to the manor to change before heading out and finding Arden.

"Best idea ever," Kamala said, settling down on the beach. "You're a genius, Finch. I'm declaring it now for the world to hear. Genius."

Charlie was absolutely in!

"Great idea," she said to Arden as she flopped onto her own beach blanket. Her guitar, carefully charmed to stay dry and sand free, rested next to her. "This is an excellent day!"

Ever since moving here, the ocean had easily been Eleanor's favorite part of living on the island. If she had her choice and wasn't so bound by those things that let her lean into the category of human, she would possibly never even leave it. So it would be pretty remiss of her, wouldn't it, to pass on the opportunity to enjoy sitting by it that afternoon? Especially without anything better to do. Especially after the party over the weekend...

She'd long since invested in a bikini. Honestly, she hated the feel of swimwear between herself and the water, and would be entirely rid of it if it weren't for social expectations and her own shyness. But it was that shyness and self-consciousness and tgat wayward message on her phone about her body that left her pulling out just her old regular suit and a wrap-around instead, and then heading down to the beach, a hand lifted to her eyes against the sun as she approached to see who else might be there.

And hope some of the magic of the other night hadn't been completely dispelled by now.

"Hi. This the spot?"

Lydia arrived carrying her parasol and looking rather more nervous than one would expect for an outing to the seaside. Perhaps she was afraid someone would expect her to wear one of those modern swimsuits? At any rate, she could be found hovering approximately as far from the sea as possible while still being on the beach.

"You're right," Arden said, offering some of the pizza she'd been gifted by a stray cat named Harley Quinn who had claimed their kitchen for awhile today. "But the public recognition is pretty nice. Can you superhero skywrite it somehow so the whole island knows?"

"I mean, what better way to celebrate a week of no classes, huh?" Arden asked. "Want some pizza? I snagged some from the kitchen on my way out."

Courtesy of Dr. Quinn!

"Eleanor, hi!" Arden said, looking up from behind her sunglasses and grinning. "It is! Come sit down, make yourself comfortable!" She gestured grandly to all the beach around them and if her hand just sorta happened to linger in Kamala's direction for a few seconds longer than anywhere else, well...surely it was a coincidence. "Glad you made it out! Settle in, I got some pizza, some water, plenty of sunscreen, whatever you need."

"Hey Lydia!" Arden said, offering a wave, and then peering closer at her friend. "Hey...you good?"

She'd seen Lydia look uncertain before, and also askance (usually in Cal's direction), but nervous? That seemed new.

"If I ever turn down pizza you will know that there is something seriously wrong with me," Charlie said with her usual grin. "Absolutely I'd like some pizza."

She turned to face Arden. "So, how are things? I went home for what feels like seven years, even if it was just a weekend. So much drama!"

"I second that," Charlie said, raising one lazy hand. "Today genius. Good call, Kamala."

Just like how the slight increase in Eleanor's awkwardness when following that grand general sweep was merely coincidence as well! But she was trying to work pass this completely unrelated bout of coincidence and gave Arden a faint smile.

"Pizza does sound pretty great right now," she admitted. "And sunscreen's probably a good idea, too."

She was pale enough she sometimes wondered if she wan't just translucent; skipping the bikini may have just saved everyone from blindness.

"Probably that first, actually," she realized, going to go and grab a bottle.

"Thank you for sending me an invitation, by the way," she added, lest she forget.

Edited 2024-07-01 17:24 (UTC)

All y'all and your lack of melanin. Thank goodness she and Kamala were here to try to offset the glare.

"Of course!" Arden said, her grin turning into a cheerful laugh. "You're fun to talk to and we really should be hanging out more. Besides, once you fall down on your ass with someone while attending a roller disco, you're basically friends for life. Everybody knows that, definitely not something I just came up with."

"Wait, what happened with you and your drama?" Arden asked. "We had a roller derby party, that's nothing compared to whatever it was that it sounded like you got up to. Girl, you got tea? Bitch the pot!"

"I never tried that before. Hang on," Kamala threw a hand up and started sending blobs of hard light into the air and got something like a garbled looking "Ardn = Geniuz" hanging in the sky.

"Uhhh. I'm going to need more practice with that," Kamala decided and dismissed it.

"Well I just call it as I see it," Kamala said with a shrug.

"Hi El!" Kamala said with a wave and a happy grin. "Have you recovered from your roller skating experience?"

"You can come closer if you want to, Lydia!" Kamala said waving Lydia over. "I assure you we are very proper. And I'll chase away Cal if he shows up."

Well, probably not but at least Lydia would feel safer from any cads who show up on the island.

In defense of Eleanor's bloodline, melanin wasn't exactly much of a concern down where the sun didn't even reach.

"Well, that's good to learn," she had to laugh a little herself, sunscreen now in hand and finding a spot to sit to start smearing it on. "Roller disco was a little after my time, so, see? I actually didn't know! But now I do, so thanks for that, too, Arden."

She didn't know if she really believed stuff like that, from her experience, but she starting to feel pretty determined to cling onto what was starting here for as long as she possibly could.

"Did you have a good rest of your weekend?" she asked, squeezing the lotion into her hand and already starting to work it into her shoulders and arms.

"Clearly by writing Arden = genius over and over till you get it right," Arden agreed with a laugh. "Learning and performing your civic duty."

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Auntie drama. Aunt Jane and Aunt Ruth got into it about who made the best strawberry pie and good lord, you'd think it was the end of the world!"

She shook her head. "Nobody wanted to pick either one against the other and then Auntie Muriel said that neither of their pies were any good compared to Auntie Catherine's - who want even there! And then after that uproar that distracted them enough to get on my case because I'm Wild like Auntie Catherine and somebody should get ahold of me and make me settle some so I don't end up like her and... Ugh."

"Works for me," Charlie said. "Hey I heard the roller party was great on Friday and that you did a lot to keep things going smooth. Nice"

"I promise I will practice daily," Kamala joked. "I'll have to come up for one for Cal as well. And BD. Oh! I almost forgot."

Kamala pulled out from her back some sealed red squishies. "Icy drinks are important while frying in the sun."

"Hey, Kam," Eleanor said, and, boy, it sure was a shame her blood made her blush a little differently, so she couldn't just blame it on sunburn already setting in, huh? But she returned the grin and the wave easily enough that it almost didn't bother her. "And I think so! I wasn't expecting to be so sore afterwards, but I guess it's more exercise than you realize.

"How about you? Did Jerry ever end up getting his act together?"

"Eleanor, right?" Charlie said. "Come grab some beach! It's an excellent day!"

"Oh, I was just a cog in the catering machine," Kamala said with a shrug. "How've you been?"

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The Beach By The Boardwalk, Monday Afternoon

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