MINGLE: BEACH DAY BABAY

[powerhittou]

Who: You, and you!
What: Exactly what it says on the tin.
When: Sometime mid-August.
Where: Down on the BEACH.
Warnings: Uh... Mark your threads if they get a little too wet and wild, I guess?

You didn't think summer would go by without at least one day for fun in the sun, did you? Of course, with how close Pelican Town is to the beautiful clear waters of the ocean, hopefully some people went more than just the once.

There's no particular event going on today, but for some reason everyone seems to be swinging by around the same time. A convenient contrivance? The work of a mysterious stranger parading through the streets and bellowing about summer because he didn't learn from being arrested the first time? Who can say?

Anyway, it's the beach. You know what to do. Go fish off the piers, sunbathe, make sand castles, collect shells, get swept away by the undertow and never seen again, play volleyball, go nuts. Just look out for jellyfish.

Comments

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

The cute ones anyway.

[Jecht flops down to sit with her, letting his legs dangle over the edge. Sprawling ain't quite the right way to go for him right now.]

Cut it out, though. It's okay to want to improve. But I'm telling you it was good for a first time. If your standards say you should be doing better at something you never did before, they aren't good standards.

[goesawol]

[While Ana came from a place known for its deserts, she always appreciated the times she managed to visit the Red Sea, the occasional sighting and dive into the Mediterranean. That, however, was rare, as she had been on the move since forever - deployed here, deployed there, then around the world... the beach had been a cherished memory from her younger days.

Except, maybe, the sneaking into a Brazilian beach when one of her missions was over. It had done very little to quench her thirst.

Meanwhile, Jecht looks completely at ease with this environment, even more so than when she first met him. Like he was born in it.]

What if I have a reputation for being good anyway? [She pointedly does not look at the speargun resting beside her. Handling it was very similar to her own rifle. The biggest challenge, however, had been dealing with the refraction of the light through the water, skewing shapes and depth perception. The cybernetic eye did not help.]

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

[Dream Zanarkand... a city in the ocean, floating out there as a world apart. As big and glamorous and glorious as it had been, it was never too far from the water. Water ran through it, water defined it, and water is his element, always.]

[But after everything he'd been through, it isn't hard for him to be comfortable anywhere.]

Learning something new doesn't make you worse at the old thing you're good at, right?

[goesawol]

[She considers that seriously. While he does have a point, she made it her own duty to learn every skill she could to protect those she cared for. If it took learning spearfishing to provide some extra cash for the farm, so be it.] No, but it creates some expectations if it's something similar to what you're good at, right?

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Yeah, maybe, and you lived up to 'em. Wouldn't have gotten that haul on your first go, right?

[Jecht gets the idea of working hard and being the best, but not right when you start something new! He had a lot of work to do to be a good guardian, after all. Gives him some perspective.]

[goesawol]

Hm, I guess you're right. [And as beckoning as it is, it's hard to let go of old habits - especially when you grew used to keep standards high.] I'm just used to high stakes.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Yeah, I get you. You get so used to being the best... you don't know how not to be the best. Having way too much talent and skill can sometimes be a bad thing, huh?

[Yeah, he gets it perfectly. S'why he'd raised his kid not to think of himself as the best, so he'd keep driving himself forward and never stop getting better. Never get that ego Jecht had gotten, or that pain from falling off the top of the heap.]

[goesawol]

[She would understand that to an extent. Ana had spent her whole time as a mother struggling with being more than good at her job while making her daughter understand that it's not a life worth living for. It's difficult, considering how similar they are.]

For me? Or for others? [A twitch of her lip there.]

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Ha! [Jecht leans back, tipping his head so all that unruly hair spills back.] You're all right, y'know.

[goesawol]

[The arch of an eyebrow.] Am I? [Although, she's not really shocked at the admission itself. She knows she's alright, but for Jecht to tell her is something different.]

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Yeah, you get it. You'd make a hell of a blitzer. [And there are few higher compliments Jecht can give.]

[goesawol]

[With the way he raves about the sport, she knows it's high praise. Still...]

Is that your M.O.? Flattery?

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Naw, I never give compliments that ain't deserved. And sometimes not even then!

[Easy enough to believe, right?]

[goesawol]

[ Right.]

That's kind of harsh to some people, though, isn't it?

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Naw. Sometimes it's pride. You don't give out compliments to the guy on the other team, you show your respect for 'em by giving your all against them. And then some people don't like compliments like that.

[goesawol]

[She looks thoughtfully at the water, humming quietly.] You could, though. It would mess with them a little.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Yeah, I know some guys who do that sort of thing. Ain't my style though. And it never works on me, since I deserve any compliment everyone gives me. [He flashes her a big wink.]