TOTALLY OPEN.hirac_utzumApril 10 2011, 01:58:18 UTC
[The thing is, Elfangor loves the beach--it reminds him of home. Not his first home, but the home he made on Earth. He misses the California sunshine, the sand, playing in the ocean, the sights and smells (and food) of summer, of people gathered for a good time.
He's currently lounging about on the beach, sun-drying after having already gone swimming. He didn't swim for long, as the water's not as warm as he would have liked, what with it only being spring.
But still. It's nice to just relax, to take in the sun and not have to worry about a thing for once.]
[Matt's intrigued by the beach, but wary of it, too. He doesn't quite trust the ocean, having never so much as put his feet in one back home. Which is why he still has his boots on, and his goggles firmly in place over his eyes, when he comes half-slipping on the sand over to where he's spotted Elfangor.]
[He grins up at Matt. He may have reconciled that this world was his new home some time ago--would not have changed it, for this is 'home' now, the source of that feeling standing over him--but to be able to merge elements of his other home with this place? It offers a sort of peace he'd not expected to find here.
Elfangor says pointedly, if not a bit teasingly,] It is much easier to walk in sand without shoes.
[Matt's still completely dressed, aside from his boots (he supposes he should be glad he's not smoking at the moment), and he puts up as much of a fight as he can manage quietly and without getting dropped, squirming and elbowing Elfangor's chest. He's pretty sure everyone's looking at them anyway, and his face goes red.]
I dunno how to swim!
[There was one awful afternoon at a community center, shivering in too-big swim trunks, the chlorine making his nose wrinkle, yellow swimmies forced upon him. He got as far as hanging onto the side of the pool and kicking, and feigned sickness every time they tried to make him go back.]
[Elfangor feels a twinge of something akin to guilt for a moment at Matt's struggling, but figures it is mostly on account of getting his clothes wet. But it's a warm day, they will dry out, so he just ignores the elbow jabbed into his chest and keeps going until the waves are cresting around his thighs.]
There is not all that much actual 'swimming' involved, depending on how far out you venture.
[Oh look, here comes a rather large wave! Elfangor turns his back to it and lets out a delighted laugh when it slams into them, not quite managing to knock him off his feet.]
[Matt lets out a noise that's embarrassingly close to an eep, hangs onto Elfangor's shoulders and curls up, ducking his head.
He gets drenched by the wave anyway, and sputters, spitting out salty water. He might cough a little more than he really needs to. Just because. He's trying not to laugh.]
[He tries harder to sulk, but the part where he's in his boyfriend's arms is more good than the part where he's soaking wet is bad. Matt gives up, and laughs.]
Lemme dump my clothes on the beach, and I'll come back voluntarily.
I'd hope so. [Matt makes one last attempt at pouting.
Then he splashes back to the beach, pausing at the water's edge to pull off his sopping socks, and strips down to just the morphing shorts. He keeps his goggles on, damn it. A quick check to make sure the cigarettes in his jeans pocket survived, and he leaves the clothes on the sand to dry and goes back, only far enough that the water coming in laps at his feet. He's still not too sure about this. Kannagara may be smaller than a world ought to be, but the ocean seems huge.]
[Elfangor willfully does not think of Jaws and calls out,] You worry too much!
[He's about to make some teasing comment about protecting Matt from the big bad jellyfish, when he spots movement out of the corner of his eye. And when he turns to see a pod of dolphins playing further out, he practically lights up in excitement.] Matt! Come out here! There's dolphins!
[For a moment, he's painfully indecisive, wavering between chickening out and plunging in, but oh, man, that's so fucking cool, and Marco's told him how awesome it is to be a dolphin.
So he wades back out to Elfangor, wincing at how the water's cold all over again, trying to fight back a totally irrational fear that swimming somehow won't work for him, that he'll just sink.]
You just-- propel yourself by kicking your legs, pulling with your arms. [He frowns uncertain that he's explaining adequately.] Hmm. < Here, let me... >
[He sends thoughts, images of how to move when swimming, the experiences of learning to swim in human form, the muscle memory developed from that experience.
It is perhaps not the best way to explain how to swim, so he adds,] If you have any difficulty, just grab onto me. [He takes Matt's hand in his own as he leads them into deeper water.] I won't let you drown.
[The images do help, and more than that, the sense of what it ought to feel like does. Matt only squeezes Elfangor's hand a little bit harder as he follows him out until the water's at his chest.]
He's currently lounging about on the beach, sun-drying after having already gone swimming. He didn't swim for long, as the water's not as warm as he would have liked, what with it only being spring.
But still. It's nice to just relax, to take in the sun and not have to worry about a thing for once.]
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Hey. You look right at home.
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Elfangor says pointedly, if not a bit teasingly,] It is much easier to walk in sand without shoes.
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[Matt rubs at the back of his neck. Then he decides what the hell, and sits down next to Elfangor to start pulling his boots off.]
I've kinda never been to the beach.
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[This... this is a travesty. How could he have never been to the beach before now? It's too enjoyable an experience to have completely missed out on!
Well. There is no time like the present to rectify that.
With that decided, and no warning aside from a bit of a mischievous gleam in his eyes, Elfangor scoops Matt up and drags him toward the ocean.]
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[Matt's still completely dressed, aside from his boots (he supposes he should be glad he's not smoking at the moment), and he puts up as much of a fight as he can manage quietly and without getting dropped, squirming and elbowing Elfangor's chest. He's pretty sure everyone's looking at them anyway, and his face goes red.]
I dunno how to swim!
[There was one awful afternoon at a community center, shivering in too-big swim trunks, the chlorine making his nose wrinkle, yellow swimmies forced upon him. He got as far as hanging onto the side of the pool and kicking, and feigned sickness every time they tried to make him go back.]
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There is not all that much actual 'swimming' involved, depending on how far out you venture.
[Oh look, here comes a rather large wave! Elfangor turns his back to it and lets out a delighted laugh when it slams into them, not quite managing to knock him off his feet.]
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He gets drenched by the wave anyway, and sputters, spitting out salty water. He might cough a little more than he really needs to. Just because. He's trying not to laugh.]
You can put me down now.
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Hmm, I don't know if I should. Are you just going to run back to dry land if I do?
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[He tries harder to sulk, but the part where he's in his boyfriend's arms is more good than the part where he's soaking wet is bad. Matt gives up, and laughs.]
Lemme dump my clothes on the beach, and I'll come back voluntarily.
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Arms free, he falls back into the water and splashes around a bit, still grinning up at Matt.] That's acceptable.
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Then he splashes back to the beach, pausing at the water's edge to pull off his sopping socks, and strips down to just the morphing shorts. He keeps his goggles on, damn it. A quick check to make sure the cigarettes in his jeans pocket survived, and he leaves the clothes on the sand to dry and goes back, only far enough that the water coming in laps at his feet. He's still not too sure about this. Kannagara may be smaller than a world ought to be, but the ocean seems huge.]
What if there's jellyfish? Or sharks?
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[He's about to make some teasing comment about protecting Matt from the big bad jellyfish, when he spots movement out of the corner of his eye. And when he turns to see a pod of dolphins playing further out, he practically lights up in excitement.] Matt! Come out here! There's dolphins!
Reply
[For a moment, he's painfully indecisive, wavering between chickening out and plunging in, but oh, man, that's so fucking cool, and Marco's told him how awesome it is to be a dolphin.
So he wades back out to Elfangor, wincing at how the water's cold all over again, trying to fight back a totally irrational fear that swimming somehow won't work for him, that he'll just sink.]
Can, um. Can you show me how to get out there?
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[He sends thoughts, images of how to move when swimming, the experiences of learning to swim in human form, the muscle memory developed from that experience.
It is perhaps not the best way to explain how to swim, so he adds,] If you have any difficulty, just grab onto me. [He takes Matt's hand in his own as he leads them into deeper water.] I won't let you drown.
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[The images do help, and more than that, the sense of what it ought to feel like does. Matt only squeezes Elfangor's hand a little bit harder as he follows him out until the water's at his chest.]
'kay. I can totally do this.
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