week two | dates

[marriagebroker]

Kiss the girl~!

Or guy.

Or person.

Or Messmer's snake.

Comments

[nrangel]

[ Serpilia has procured herself a bodysuit for the occasion. She may not know the first thing about surfing, the ocean in her world being a little... too risky to swim in, let's say, but the concept seems fascinating.

She's gripping her surfboard under her arm, glad that while it's not light, it's still not as heavy as it looks like it could be. ]

Have you ever done anything like this before?

[fireball]

[ Oh, a bodysuit would have been a good idea... and hers looks so cool on her? Don't mind if Poppy's starting this off by just staring at her for a second. She's just got on a plain, black one-piece, like it's something she has but never actually uses. ]

Um, yeah, actually. Once or twice. I grew up by the water, so...

[ That Aussie childhood. She's got her surfboard under her arm as well, relying on ancient muscle memory to remember what she's doing. ]

... My parents tried to get me to do it once or twice, but I kind of just wanted to... stay inside and play video games, so I'm not very good at it. [ A beat. ] I'm sure it'll be a lot more fun with you though!

[ Doing activities... with friends? What a concept! ]

[nrangel]

[ Look, this girl doesn't know what she's doing at all, so she figures she might as well look the part. Not that she has any concept of what a surfer looked like, this was all very much a having to ask for advice sort of thing, because only a few places with artificial seas and equally artificial waves support things like surfing, and those resort areas are few and far between. ]

Don't worry, I'll make sure to make you look good.

[ A small, reassuring smile, but-- ]

I've never even been to the ocean before, so next to me you're going to look like a pro!

[fireball]

[ Oh. Poppy smiles back, thankful, a little more confident. ]

I— No, don't be so hard on yourself! I'm sure we'll look good together.

[ For once, it's not about Poppy showing off or looking as good as she possibly can. No, it should be more about just... doing something fun? They're both probably going to get soaked and fall in the water anyway...

She reaches for Serpilia's free hand with her own, testing those particular waters. ]

I mean, plenty of people have never been to the ocean before, so it's totally fine! Where did you grow up anyway?

[ Somewhere... different, obviously, considering, but still, it seems like a relevant question? ]

[nrangel]

[ Hand: held.

Serpilia laces her own fingers between Poppy's guaranteeing that if one of them drops their board they will not be able to disentangle in time to catch it. ]

Laterano, which is a very landlocked city. Though the ocean in my world is a little... risky, so people don't do things like this even if they live closer to it.

[fireball]

[ Oh, yeah. This is some very good handholding right here. Poppy smiles a bit, giving Serpilia's hand a faint squeeze. ]

Yeah? Well, the ocean can be pretty risky where I'm from too. There's like... sharks and drowning and stuff.

[ Normal things to be afraid of in the ocean. ]

Is it like that for you too?

[ Maybe everyone where Serpilia is from are just super terrified of sharks? ]

[nrangel]

[ Serpilia is quiet for a moment. She's got a vague understanding of sharks, the way everyone has a vague understanding of the animals that people originally evolved from, but they don't really exist in her world anymore. ]

Not exactly. There are creatures called the seaborn though.

[ Her nose crinkles some thinking of her last big mission for one of her jobs, and the way the Church of the Deep had come so close to turning small abbey full of people into a mass of seaborns. ]

If I start describing them too much, it's going to make it really hard for me to want to get into the water at all.

[fireball]

[ Seaborn... sounds ominous. Poppy's picturing some kind of Creature from the Black Lagoon-type race, and, yeah, she wouldn't want to get in the water if she thought that was hanging out just below the surface either.

So she perks back up, swinging their hands a little. ]

Alright, then we don't have to talk about them. They probably aren't here anyway! No sharks, no seaborn. They wouldn't send us out here if we could get eaten.

[ She is very confident about this. Swings their hands once more. ]

Shall we?

[ Now that it's been established (by her) that the water is safe... ]

[nrangel]

[ Boy, wouldn't it be nice for Serpilia if they just looked like that instead of what some of them look like.

She looks out at the people happily playing in the ocean, families, teenagers in friend groups, young couples...

Which is the category she and Poppy fall into this time. She nods, pretty sure there is nothing too horrifying lurking in those depths this time as she lets Poppy get her hand swinging on. ]

Let's go embarrass ourselves in front of people who know what they're doing.

[fireball]

[ would.

Poppy finds herself grinning at Serpilia, swinging their hands further. Something about getting to unabashedly run out there, regardless of the consequences... something where they can go just to have fun? With each other? It sounds perfect. ]

Let's do it!

[ And she will take off, still holding Serpilia's hand, towards the water.

Hopefully neither of them drop their boards along the way. ]

[nrangel]

[ Serpilia will go jogging after her, managing to keep a pretty okay grip on her board (for now), and laughing as Poppy pulls them along towards the surf. ]