[Santo - The Beach]

[walk_ins]

[master post]

You have to walk down a ramp to get to the sand. The ramp stretches over sand dunes, with sea oats dotting them, blowing in the near-constant breeze. On the same level as the ramp: a boardwalk, dotted with places to get sketchy-looking fried food, to try your luck at a number of games of chance, to watch performers, to ride roller coasters of the future!!!!

When you walk down the ramp, it's all white sand and blue water. Down about half a mile is a pier that juts out several hundred feet.

It's a nice beach. Not too crowded.

Comments

[still-a-cop.livejournal.com]

The sun is bright. It's also a little... off.

Charlie's wearing sunglasses as he's peering up into the sky. He's standing on the boardwalk.

"They'll fry anything these days," he says. Absently.

[simon_doctor]

"I saw a stand back there that was selling fried custard," Simon agrees. "I'm not even sure how that's possible."

[still-a-cop.livejournal.com]

"You wanna try it?" Charlie cranes his neck to the left.

[smallestopener]

Once she sees the water, Ingress runs down the beach, her not!blue hair streaming behind her. The adults can catch up or not.

She hasn't gotten used to all that light brown, but this is too much fun to worry with hair color.

[badinlatin]

Tom promised Mal. Promised him twelve million times or so even.

It doesn't matter -- Mal will not ever be one hundred percent convinced that magic does not come off in water.

"Slow down!" Mal calls, knowing it's mostly to no avail.

[young_tmriddle]

"It's no use, Mal. She's off. She's been looking forward to this too much to walk."

He eyes Mal. "I don't know. You might be too old to keep up with her."

[yankeedoodle_dr]

It's a nice beach.

Hawkeye had paused for a minute when they came into sight of it, and then started walking again as if nothing had happened. It's a little too warm to be too reminiscent of anything; the sand is too white, the coastline not rocky enough. But it's well enough.

He sits down once they've hit the sand, and starts taking his shoes off.

"Yeah, well," he says. One boot off. "I've never been one for the peanut gallery." Other boot gone, he peels off his socks and stuffs them into his boots, and starts rolling up his pant legs. "This looks like a nice place."

[simon_doctor]

"I've never been here before," Simon tells him, putting down the two folding beach chairs and starting to unfold one.

[yankeedoodle_dr]

"What a coincidence," says Hawkeye, burying his feet in the sand for a minute before getting up and brushing himself off. He grins at Simon. "Neither have I."

[ofthatantet.livejournal.com]

Having ditched Susannah in a museum, Rose is now as free as any teenager carrying a tracking device can consider herself. (Her mother says it is a communicator, but it has a map that shows the other communicator as a blinking dot. Total tracking device)

The Susannah-dot on Rose's is still perambulating the Flemish History Museum. Rose can take or leave the Flems. What Rose likes is a beach. It helps if you have a bathing suit (although some of the people on the beach are getting by without much), but the boardwalk is cool, too.

The important thing is to look like you belong her; like this isn't interesting at all. Saunter. The worst thing in the world is to look like a tourist.

[river_meimei]

How about looking like a hippie?

River is barefoot in the sand beside the boardwalk, big black boots dangling half-forgotten from one hand; her sundress and long hair flutter about her, and her head is tilted up to the sunlight.

Like a hippie, maybe; also, entirely happy.

[river_meimei]

Most of the museums are over in the museum district, some ten klicks away. Still, there are a few attractions scattered around this area -- got to have something for the occasional beach-hating spouse or parent to do, after all -- and one of them happens to be a museum with rotating special exhibits. The current one is Strange Clothing Through The Ages.

It turned out to be aptly named, at least in River and Galadan's opinions, and River is still giggling (possibly at something Galadan's just said, to judge by his ironic expression) as they step into the sunlight.

[wolflord_andain]

"Your desire for roaming, I trust, has been adequately filled?"

There's no hint in his words, just the sardonic amusement that rarely leaves him, even now.

[badinlatin]

To Simon: "Think they got real cotton candy here, or passin' off spun protein again? After Verbena, I don't think I'll ever stomach protein processed like that."

[simon_doctor]

Simon gives a one-shoulder shrug. "They've got enough of an industry base that protein shouldn't be easier to get than refined sugar, here."

He's looking at the stalls.

"Do you want to find out?"

[queenofmay]

Once she gets off the ramp, Marian dawdled at its end telling the others to go on ahead while she looked at the slice of blue. It glittered magically, almost blindingly, in the light.

That was the reason she rubbed her eyes, then widened her hand to shade her vision as she went on staring as she began to walk toward it. She didn't stop (except to remove her shoes) until she was standing in the surf.

They'd both said she needed to see a real ocean.

Well, she wasn't about to miss it this time.

[badinlatin]

There's a dude.

Sleeping.

Also? Purple suspenders.

[gonna_live]

And when it's dark out, the beach changes.

The boardwalk leads down, eventually, to a series of restaurants -- some shacks, some a little nicer. Music comes from several of them, and at least a few of them have floors set out leading down to the sand, with torches illuminating dancers. Up by the bars and the restaurants, people laugh, talk, chatter, deal, drink, dance, play. Down by the water -- it's less crowded than it was during the day. It's also low tide, with a full moon hanging heavy.

There's room for Simon and Kaylee to walk down where the waves come in, barefoot, shoes in their hands.

(She'd nearly had a meltdown earlier that afternoon, when she realized that when Simon told her to wear something nice -- nothing fit right any more.

So then she went out, alone, and when she got back she kicked him out, and didn't let him see until she was ready to go. We're already sneakin' out, she told him, might as well let me make an entrance somehow.)




"You got no idea," she says to him now, "how glad I am I'm wearin' flats."

[simon_doctor]

He's been waiting for this since they talked the other day.

It's a beautiful night, and Kaylee's radiant enough to outshine the moon.

(When she stepped out of the room, the sight of her actually stopped his breath for a moment. The new dress -- something full-skirted in green -- was part of it, of course, but what drew his immediate attention was her smile.

And the handmade shell necklace around her neck.)

"So where shall we go first? There's a lot of places to choose from."

[bothbutneither.livejournal.com]

The last time he was at a place with this much sand -- with dunes like these -- it was very different and he still can't believe they were able to leave the bar behind. He holds Faye's hand, protective, as they make their way along the ramp. Every now and then he stops just to feel the stinging of sand against his face.

(On Titan, we were all comrades.)

There was nothing like this on Titan. Some might say sand is sand, but he knows better. This is no desert: it's the ocean -- the beach -- and the place is mercilessly devoid of cannon-fire and the sound of choppers overhead. Scorpions lurking in the rocks. Enemies dropping down in front of them.

No, this is lovely, and so is Faye. If he hadn't played his sax out by the lake that night he never would have met Kaylee and if he'd never met Kaylee, he wouldn't have had this opportunity to leave, even for a few days, and... look at how predatory Faye is: he's never seen her in a place like this before and he thinks that maybe every measured step of nonchalance she takes, every breath of feigned disinterest, hides a fierce and mighty hunger.

She deserves this. If it was up to him, he'd be able to take her to places like this all the time. As things stand, though, he'll take what he can get.

"See a spot you like?" Towels tucked under his arm, he turns his face up to the sun. He's never felt such warm natural sunlight before.

It's beautiful.

[anythingbutblue]

There's nothing fake about this place.

It's another world. It's not some bar at an asteroid at the end of the universe that has a fake landscape behind it and a door that disappears so you can never get back home. It'd be enough to make her feel sad if she had the time for that kind of thing.

But she doesn't.

"Just follow me, Mister Saxophone." There's nothing that isn't smug about the smile on her lips, and on the way to the spot she's picked out, she sheds her cover-up without the slightest care.

The sun's warm on her skin, and the air is almost salty. This sure isn't Mars.

They lay out some towels, she puts her beach bag down, and she promptly stretches out and makes herself at home, pulling out a pair of sunglasses to shield her eyes.

"Some place, huh?"

Try as she might at times, it's hard to hide the fact that she's wanted this so badly.

This time she digs into her bag for her suntan lotion.

[young_tmriddle]

After their adventures in the marketplace, Tom and Door returned to the beach to relieve Mal of Ingress-watching duties and to relax.

For Tom, some serious sunbathing is now in order. He reclines on a towel, sunglasses and bermuda shorts the only thing between him and the warm sun. A happy family, both now and in the future, a chance to relax, and this glorious beach.

This is the life.

[smallestopener]

Ingress is a mischievous child at heart. Especially with Tom. She can get away with anything when it comes to him.

So this is why she's sneaking up from the water's edge where she's been splashing about, ready to drip water on Tom's recumbent form.

[river_meimei]

A perfect place to come walk one's dog.

One's... visiting alien dog.

Who has a suspiciously blue tinge to his fur, wide curious eyes, and strict orders to behave himself.

[evil_koala_626]

Stitch follows obiedently (for the moment) behind her on all fours. He's a veteran at this! His disguise is foolproof!

It's a bit more developed than the beach he usually frequents back home but goggling beach goers are nothing new.