☈ it all went to my heart, like some rainbows in the dark.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Who: Ruby Van Alst, MANY PEOPLE to be added as they appear
What: Impromptu enjoyment of the late summer weather
Where: The beach
When: Early afternoon to evening
Notes: N/A
Warnings: N/A

The unrelenting summer sunshine of Baedal is a direct contrast to where Ruby was before, and it's something of a relief. She likes each season equally for her own reasons, but...right now it feels as though she's absorbing the light more than ever, pushing away all the darkness of what she'd done. It lets her float around with the breathless enthusiasm she'd first manifested at the party on her arrival night, and she hasn't really slowed down very much yet.

(At some point there will be coming down, at some point she will have to breathe. But not yet.)

The beach sand is hot, the water is clear, and Ruby is in the process of stripping down to her colorful bandeau bikini. She squints up at the cloud-dotted sky, and stands carefully on the pale blue terrycloth towel she brought with her; eventually she'll make the mad dash across the dry sand to the cooler water, but for now, she is waiting to see who will turn up--there are a few people she expects, but she's open to surprises. Fortunately, it's not exactly hard to find Ruby, given her height and her vibrant hair color.

Comments

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

It takes Asbjørn not a long time, but longer than he initially thought it would to grab your standard amount of stuff for the beach (http://www.polyvore.com/watched_swells_blossom_up_round/set?id=35564462) (a plastic bucket and spade are essential things, you know). But when he does appear, it is with a smile and a friendly one-armed hug for Ruby.

"Hey." And then stuff gets tossed down on the sand. Since there is a beach full of it and all.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

"Hey, you." She leans into the hug a bit to return it, smiling. And then she surveys the haul he's brought with him, pleased and a little entertained; she hadn't thought of most of that in her haste to get to the water.

"Do I spy sandcastle-building supplies?"

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

"The finest that Baedel has to offer." It is said with utter solemnity (no). He unrolls and flicks out his towel, sitting down.

"I'm beginning to think a black towel wasn't the best idea, in this heat." Oh well. And his t-shirt comes off, for applications of sun cream. Redness and tattoos don't look that great.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

"Ah, we'll be in the water most of the time, anyway," she says, adjusting the sit of her bandeau (this will not be staying on in the water, she's not even going to try with its general skimpiness and lack of straps).

"This place is so strange geographically. It's like there's a bit of almost everything all in one small province. ...not that I'm complaining!"

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

"Been exploring much?" So far he's only been traversing the more urban areas, but is curious to learn more. "I've checked out Griss Twist and Fell, Howl Barrow and Mafaton, but this weekend I plan on heading up to the forested parts."

No prizes for guessing why. He needs room to stretch.

"I would stay clear of Bonetown. That place was...not pleasant. For me, anyway."

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

"I've heard things about that place." Not enough to totally deter her from at least looking once, but she does think she'll have to make sure she's very prepared. Ruby sits down on her towel next to his, tucking her knees up a bit so her feet are flat on the ground.

"But yeah," she admits, with a grin, "I've been looking around. Mostly to figure out what neighborhood I ought to look for a place in, but...just because this city is so different. It's probably jumping the gun to be thinking about housing with no idea what I want for a job, anyway."

[rhinemaid]

After digging out a bikini and (wisely) flats, Ilde makes her way to the beach in good time, hard to miss in her oversized straw hat and the fact that she's done away with illusions for the day. It always seems silly to bother with near the water, even if this isn't her water and the ocean is, in her professional opinion, full of jerks.

"Ruby!"

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

"Hi." Ruby waves, realizing now that they're both in flats or barefoot how much taller she is than Ilde. (As with her hair color separating her from them, she is also the tallest woman in her family by far. She's not sure why this strangeness manifested in her.)

"The weather's going to be perfect today," she predicts, with a certain authority. "We'd better take advantage. I like your hat, by the way."

[rhinemaid]

At this point Ilde is getting accustomed to being shorter than most of the women she spends most of her time with - men, too, but she doesn't think of them first - and it's sort of comfortable. Someone else's shadow isn't always such a bad place to be, if you like it there, and if the light's a little bright for your tastes.

"Better than sunglasses," she says, with a quick grin. "I haven't been down here before, properly."

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

"Then it's a first for both of us." Ruby considers her for a second, and then smiles, in an absent kind of way. She's put on sunscreen, so she's not worried about burning--she tends to tan first, actually, unlike most redheads--but it's something she minds for skincare reasons. (Hers is perfect and it is staying that way.)

Also, it's just hot. So:

"Let's go into the water."

[rhinemaid]

"Let me just-" Here, with the removal of things. Dress, hat and sandals are all unnecessary here, and on the reasoning that she probably isn't going to go further into the ocean itself than to splash around obnoxiously in the shallows, she leaves her necklace where it is.

Studying the hot sand once she's not got flat sandals between that and her feet, she looks at Ruby. "On three?" And then bolting.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Ruby nods, and rocks side to side, as though readying herself for a great sprint at the end of which race she may be awarded with a medal or at least a popsicle.

"Three, twe, onego!" The last two words blur together, and barely as soon as go has left her mouth, Ruby and her eighty mile long legs go tearing across the sand. She yelps and then laughs a little when she hits the water, mostly out of delight and the contrast of the hot dry sand (sticking to her legs a bit) vs the surprisingly cool August ocean. It's not cold, but she thought it would be warmer, somehow.

But then, it takes a lot of heat to warm something so big. She knows the feeling.

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

Asbjørn has been away on an important sandcastle building expedition regarding the retrieval of wet sand, but when he sees Ilde, she gets a big friendly smile. And because she has dropped her illusion, is greeted with, "Ilde, you look lovely." Because he is a gentlenord.

[rhinemaid]

Stripped down to her bikini, hat and sandals, she obliges him with a little turn in the light, so he can better appreciate the Twilight jokes she was mercifully spared by coming from a world that effectively ended in 2006 (there's a silver lining to everything, if you know where to look). Her one lone tattoo takes on a slightly interesting quality on her natural skin, as opposed to the usual illusion.

"I came to have a look at your castle," she informs him. "How goes construction?"

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

Mercies of mercies, Asbjørn has never been exposed to Twilight and its unique take on vampires and werewolves alike, and let's all be thankful for that. He does, however, note the tattoo with a professional eye.

He flops down on the sand and, quickly, turns the bucket upside down, giving it a few pats. "Fit for a very small king or queen. How have you been?"

[rhinemaid]

"Good, I guess." Besides the nightmares; if they persist, she supposes she'll have to do something, but it wasn't as though she hadn't had nightmares before. They were just- different. Not hers, somehow.

After a moment, watching his progress, she decides aloud, "I'm going to find it some decoration."

[manipulativni.livejournal.com]

Katherine doesn't often have the opportunity to enjoy the beach in spite of being the very rare brand of vampire who can do such a thing, so she's decided to seize this one with enthusiasm. She hasn't met the new arrival who organized the outing yet, but she appreciates anyone who can do something like it at the last minute. She arrives dressed (http://www.polyvore.com/tide_is_high_but_im/set?id=35795274) to the nines, or as dressed to them as one can be when one plans to spend the day at the beach, and begins setting up her towel where people have begun to gather.

[rhinemaid]

Ilde, standing in the water, raises her hand above her head to catch her attention. "Katya!"

[manipulativni.livejournal.com]

Katherine looks up at the nickname and grins at Ilde, stripping off her cover-up dress and setting it on her towel before coming to join her at the water's edge. "Hello, Nimfa. How's the water today?"

[rhinemaid]

"Cold." But she likes that; Ilde is always slightly colder than a human would be, watery creature that she is. "And nothing's tried to eat me yet." Unlike the last time she was this close to Baedal's ocean.

Not that she's bitter.

[manipulativni.livejournal.com]

"Cold is no trouble with me." Katherine's body functions more like a typical human's does than other types of vampires, but the cold doesn't bother her. "And if something tries to eat you, they'll have to go through me first."

There's a bit of lightness in her tone, but she means the words. So loyal, this one is.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Ruby moseys over to greet Katherine, with a smile. She's in the process of refastening her bandeau on, because it's cute and she figures she ought to wear it most of the time she's on land, though it's obvious she's been in the water--her hair is damp. Thus far, however, Ruby has managed to evade a sunburn, because as redheads go she is a freak of nature in multiple respects.

"Currently this is a mostly female-dominated beach trip," she says, by way of greeting, "I think boys are scared to show off. I'm Ruby, by the way."

[manipulativni.livejournal.com]

At this point, Katherine's at least dipped her toes in the water, but she's laying out on her towel for the moment, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin. Ruby might find it odd that she's got an expensive-looking bracelet encircling her wrist, but if asked, she'll say it's a family heirloom that she never takes off.

"Their loss," she says as she sits up, moving her sunglasses to the top of her head and regarding Ruby with a smile. She heard her approaching before she spoke up, though the surface of the sand makes it harder to hear the footsteps. "It'll be a success even if they don't show up, though." She extends her hand to the woman in greeting. "I'm Katherine. Good to meet you."

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Ruby shakes Katherine's hand and immediately (and she sort of knew it was going to happen, her power is sometimes secret and sudden, but sometimes like an electrical storm) comes away with three rushing senses of knowing, conclusions that hit her one after the other:

One, the polished dark-haired young woman, of apparent comparative age, is much much older than she seems.

Two, she's running from something--or someone.

Three, that she's dead.

Breathing, but dead. Not the kind of sleeping, quieted dead that involves a casket and a burial, but the sort that drains away innocence and fragility, leaving a cool, poised, even brutal quality in its wake. Vampire is a word that Ruby of course knows, but it's not a label she's ever had cause to give anyone until now. She pauses only briefly, fortunately, and the bracelet does catch her eye, so after the brisk greeting is accomplished, uses that as an excuse for her hesitation.

"Likewise." She settles down in the sand next to Katherine so they aren't oddly angled as they speak. Her mind is still running over those three individual flashes of awareness, but she's more than capable of working on multiple levels by now.

"That's a beautiful bracelet, by the way--antique pieces are so much more elegant than most of what we get nowadays."

[manipulativni.livejournal.com]

Katherine frowns slightly at the pause, but it's over quickly enough that she doesn't realize that something's up, that Ruby's just discovered something she's been trying to keep under wraps as much as she can. While there are benefits to being the type of vampire that she is, there are a few disadvantages, one of the big ones being that she can't automatically identify the supernatural. There are signs she knows to look for, of course, and her heightened senses help at times, but for the most part she's flying blind until she knows what to look for.

"Thank you," she says to the compliment, raising her arm a bit to be sure it's not in danger of slipping off of her wrist. "I'm quite attached to it."