☈ 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

[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.

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

"Sure." He's not in the least bit nervous about showing other people his stuff -you get over that when your designs become much more permanent than canvas and paint. Amongst the collection of standard ideas and fairy tale images are nine sketched and shaded planets. When Ruby gets to those, he says:

"Yeah, I'm sorry for borrowing your idea. But it's a good idea."

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

While Ilde conjures up a list of demands, Asbjørn is quite content to sit there and slide the bucket up carefully to reveal... Success! And then presses down around the top of the sand-shape for castle defences, as well as trace a door.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

"I don't mind--it's interesting, actually, to see it drawn out and not just in my head. These are really nice." She thoughtfully regards the astronomical array for a few seconds. Once satisfied, she smiles at Asbjørn, tipping her head back so her hair falls over her shoulder and away from her face.

"Besides, if I come in to wherever you end up working, you'll already know what I want."

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

"Ja, vel..." An uncharacteristic slip back into his mother-tongue as he regards the design, measures the size of Jupiter with his thumb and forefinger and leans back to look at Ruby's back. Like most people, he's his own worst critic.

"I might need to make that one a little smaller. And I included Pluto, since Pluto gets no love now." Why you gotta be that way, NASA. "Nine is a good number. I like the stars for the stories people told about them. Not that the god was very nice."

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

"I couldn't do without Pluto, so I'm glad you included him," she says, with certainty. "I think it's the purview of gods to be a little cruel sometimes, though."

She thinks about the gods here in the city, and wonders if they're like that, too. Probably. Power does that to anyone, and...if a deity is what she believes it is, it doesn't have the same kind of emotions that others here on the beach do. A god should be a being more of spirit than flesh.

"What would you recommend for placement? With the tattoo. I didn't know if I wanted it in the middle of my back or up a bit higher, because my hair would cover it."

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

"Do you mind if I, uh...?" And he sweeps her hair back a little to get a better idea.

"Hm. Well, you could start it in the middle, but Pluto will end up very near the base of your spine. Or we could try for somewhere in the middle of both." He doesn't quite touch her, but she might be able to sense his fingers hovering. He's reminded that, despite the immediate sense of trust he had upon meeting Ruby, they've known each other for less than a week. He is nothing if not respectful of other's boundaries (it comes with the line of work, or at least he feels it should.)

Sitting up again, he says, "I'll show you in a mirror some time, or we can stick the tracing paper to you for you to get an idea."

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Ruby is pretty comfortable with this--she understands a certain amount of physical study is necessary for tattooing, and she's nonchalant about her body in a lot of ways. (Thus: the plan with Ilde for their apparel while swimming today.) All the same, she appreciates the courtesy.

She sits still and quiet, but for turning her head to watch Asbjørn over her shoulder. This has the benefit of keeping her hair out of the way, also. She catches her lower lip between her teeth, thoughtful just for a moment, before releasing it in order to speak.

"Either works. I think it'd be better higher up...that way when I wear halters it'd show off more. But I'm not completely sure yet, and it's probably jumping the gun to make any big decisions."

She knows that some people take getting a tattoo Extremely Seriously, and she's not cavalier about it, necessarily, she just doesn't really feel the need to overanalyze any social repercussions. Some people will like it, some people won't. It's not about anyone else.

"For now, though, I should stop distracting you with professional matters! Should we head into the water?"

[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]

"Especially since I need to find a shop, first," he says, with a small grin. "But I'm used to talking shop, even off duty." His own ink has a habit of being a good conversation starter for a lot of people who otherwise don't know how to approach him. Not to mention he likes to be encouraging! Body policing can go to hell.

"Yes, I could definitely go for a swim right now." He shoots a look towards the sea, and pushes himself up to stand.

[rhinemaid]

The cool water is much, much more comfortable than the hot sand and Ilde laughs like a waterfall in its suddenness. The whole outing feels like a reprieve from her recent restless nights- it isn't, really, since she isn't asleep, but it's still good and she'll take her good where she can get it.

"Don't go out too far," she cautions, once she's got her footing. "Some of the things out there tried to eat us once."

It's worth noting, even if it was much further out. A little caution! ...for other people. Not for her!

[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.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

"Well, then." She stands up, too, and after an interval of brushing sand off her legs, looks up at Asbjørn.

Her eyes are bright, suddenly.

"Race you there."

And that's all the warning he gets before she's off.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Ruby is probably not one to speak to about caution (there's an entire book about it), but she listens, curiously, to what Ilde is saying.

"I usually get along pretty well with things that try to eat everyone else," she confesses, shrugging one shoulder. It's no guarantee, but it definitely emboldens her. The ocean is its own world, really, and she's cognizant of as much.

Meanwhile, Ruby tosses her bikini top onto the shore.

[rhinemaid]

Ilde's blue one follows it a moment later as she says, "They were out in the fog, anyway." So it's probably all right here, and it's probably different out there - it's certainly different out there. Speaking of things that try to eat everybody else, though, the salt water on her bitemark (now visible, without glamours and healed enough to leave it unbandaged) makes her rise up on her toes at first, unexpected. It's fine, it's healing over as it should.

"What kind of things?" Some fae, she guesses, if only based on her own reaction to Ruby; it follows.

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

He's half in a heat-dozed daydream when he hears the words and sees the flash of red hair darting away, before he snaps to and runs after, laughing.

The water is cold when he reaches it, but then he's used to much, much colder. He wades in easily until he's waist-deep, before turning around in the water and flopping, back-turned to the waves. Ah.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Ruby can't help laugh, too, when he flops down in the water. She wades in after him, testing out the sea bottom, checking for any unexpected holes or drops--she's a very good swimmer, but still.

"Now I am the little mermaid," she announces.

And then, after a moment: "Oh, but fuck this thing."

The bandeau is a nice thought but hopelessly impractical (she'd packed it in her weekend bag to swim in a pool, but the ocean is a different experience), so it goes sailing back toward the shoreline. She'll put it back on later. For now, she's moving out far enough in the water that she can actually swim and not just wade around.

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

He looks over to see what -oh okay, that's what. Well then. Nudity doesn't bother him in the slightest but he would be an outright liar if he didn't admit to himself he thought Ruby was attractive. He'll just...tread backwards for a minute in the water, eyes to the sky as he floats along. Thinking on the importance of not objectifying women.

And musing aloud, "I always wondered about the thing with the purple shell bra."

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

She thinks about the question, as though recalling the instances in which the nature she does not entirely understand had a mystifying effect on the world around her. This is partly completely true, and partly because it also gives her some time to decide what incidents she's comfortable revealing.

"Domestic animals, like horses and dogs. Wolves, too," she says. "A phoenix, once."

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Ruby does tend to flirt at him, a little--it's harmless and instinctual for her around men she thinks are cute, but in this case the bikini top removal was, at least, guileless. She pushes her rapidly soaking hair away from her neck and tips her head back to completely dip it in the water; later this will necessitate a good wash and cream rinse, but she doesn't feel the need to fuss about it in the moment.

"It's all just the magic of Disney," she says, sagely.

[rhinemaid]

"I've never seen a phoenix." It's probably a memorable experience, she assumes; not the sort of thing you could miss or forget. "I know a lady vulture, though- Ellen. She has three heads."

Ilde's tone suggests this is awesome.

[sailorofthefloe.livejournal.com]

Asbjørn is used to saucy banter and female company, and takes it upon himself not to come across as a creep rather than assume ulterior motives. If anything, he sees it as a good sign that Ruby feels comfortable around him. He's somewhat self-concious about that predatory vibe he puts out. Or at least to the people he likes.

"The one story I liked better than the original." Anderson, you weirdo.

He starts to swim out a bit deeper. The water isn't very busy the further you get and he's not afraid of drowning. He can almost imagine he's in the Arctic Sea, paddling between ice chunks.

[pinkmoon.livejournal.com]

Ruby is strangely comfortable with predators--she always has been, though, and it's less because she's like one and more because she chooses to exist outside the dichotomy. There's either a privilege or a peculiarity to that, but she can't really help being what she is, and she'd never ask anyone else to change their identity, either.

"She dies in the original, right? Or was that the other cartoon?" It's only half a question, as her tone becomes meandering and thoughtful. "It makes sense, I think...give up who you are, your voice, and you turn to sea foam. It seems a little harsh to me now, though."