2023-08-01: There's 'Sand' In My Castle
- Log: There's 'Sand' In My Castle
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Eight York, Lavnadim Orlodhari
- Where: Tropical Island, Pacific Ocean
- Date: 2023-08-01
- Summary: Eight joins Ruri for some nice, low-key beach fun, because she's been a little unsettled. She, Ruri and Lahvi meditate on the nature of crab. There are sandcastles.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
It's time for SUMMER FUN, which is all assuredly happening on one day but don't ask what day it is it's fine don't worry about it. While Seiya Uribatake mans his horrible mediocre Beach Tea House near the treeline, Minato Haruka splashes in the water with Megumi Reinard, and the boys are wrapped up in a game of netball (there is, at least, a ball and a net)...
Still others are on the sand.
Like Ruri Hoshino, who sits on a beach towel under an umbrella, studiously typing away at her laptop again now she's dry. (She couldn't put it on her lap right after getting out of the water. That would be mean to the machine.)
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
SUMMER FUN is rather the opposite of what Eight grew up with in Winter Wonderland. That makes it novel but also means she was reminded many times about sunscreen, and today Eight York is in a nice one-piece swimsuit in red, with draping fabric around the shoulder line, and some sandals. She has... not visited the beach tea house.
Definitely not.
But she does walk over to where Ruri is, with a smile. "Ruri," Eight greets her as she's at work. Because she doesn't need to work at the beach!!
But not alone!! She's leaning on Lavhi as they approach, the large Zentradi in trunks and an open, brightly-patterned shirt. "Hello!" he greets her as well. "Is there room under the umbrella for Eight?" he wonders, and Eight smiles wanly at him. "We can say hello before you get me out of the sun," she admonishes, but she does look like she could use a seat.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"It's probably not big enough for that," Ruri says to Lahvi's joke(?), without missing a beat, "but two people should fit."
We here note that Ruri also has generous amounts of (Pure Shield, obviously) sunscreen applied to her; Minato made sure to remind her to put more on after she went into the water. There's a big white blotch over her nose she hasn't quite seen, but mostly she's just shinier.
(Normally shinier, that is.)
She shifts on her towel, so they can sit on it, too. Luckily, it's one of those lavishly oversized beach towels, so it's not impossible to think it could house them. "Hello, Eight-san, Lahvi-san," Ruri says, so that Eight can fulfill her requirement to say hello before they get out of the sun, since that sounds important. "Are you having fun?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Ah, ha ha!" Lavhi smiles widely. "Yes, good."
Neither of them comments on the blotch; it's cute but not something to worry about. Regular shiny is fine. Eight does indeed, once Ruri says hello, move to take a seat, not quite able to suppress a sigh at getting off of her feet. "That's better," Eight says. "Thanks, Ruri." Lavhi stays in front of them to make it easier to talk, though he does take a seat. "Much better," he says, seeming to approve. ...One gets the idea he's been worrying a bit today.
"We are!" he says. Then, Eight continues, "I was going to try swimming a little, but I thought I'd drop by you first, since it seems somebody's left you to work. I guess there is technically a mission here..."
"The ocean is very interesting!" Lavhi reflects; it's new to him, relatively.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Oh, no one asked me to," Ruri says, shaking her head. "Actually --" Here she pauses, because she was about to say what people have been saying to her, and it reminds her --
To grab one of the water bottles beside her and offer it over to Eight and Lahvi. Yurika's spirit still dwells here... even if she hasn't haunted Ruri for a little while. She's probably just chasing Akito.
"Actually," Ruri says, picking up her sentence where she left it, "everyone keeps saying how we don't have to worry aboutt this mission so much. But I went swimming earlier, so I thought I should look into it more. Though... I don't think anyone's really ready to do anything," she adds, looking over to one of their pilots as Nagare Akatsuki spikes a ball over to Jun Aoi.
("HA-HA!" He crows, pounding his chest. "King of the net!")
Ruri actually smiles, for a full .38 seconds, before her face relaxes again. "But the ocean is very interesting. I got to watch a crab... and I think there are dolphins out there, too." They're orcas, but it's hard to tell from this distance.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight had a feeling that Ruri took it up on her own, but having it confirmed is important. She didn't want to call her out!! She takes the water bottle though, opening it and downing some before offering the bottle to Lavhi too.
Then, "Hmm..." Eight's a little like Ruri in this respect. "It's hard to just ignore a mission," she admits. "Though the beach is fun, that's true. I think the Nadesico especially needed a chance to relax after everything..." But everyone is not ready. That seems.. true.
"Perhaps I will join them shortly," Lavhi reflects. "It looks like a good game!"
But Ruri smiles! Eight smiles, too. "The ocean's pretty new to me," Eight admits. "I look out and I can't see the edge of the water feature at all! ...Because there isn't one!"
Lavhi laughs. "Yes. On the Fleets there are beaches, but the scale is somewhat different."
"I've never seen a dolphin," Eight says thoughtfully. "Was the crab fun? All I know about crabs is that apparently nature evolves them quite a bit. I heard that from Tempo, he was sharing a lot of facts about the ocean he'd researched..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri nods, on the idea that the Nadesico needed a chance to relax. "Everyone's been stressed," she agrees.
"I think they're winning," she goes on, about the game, "but I'm not really sure." Whether this is because Ruri doesn't know how sports work or because they're making it up as they go along is unclear.
"I never saw the ocean growing up, either," Ruri looks out, at the waves, obscuring all the shells and sand below. "But I like the sounds the water makes. Actually, if you look all the way out there," she points, to the horizon, "that's where the Earth's curving around, so you can't see any more of it." It's a very simple scientific fact, really. Anyone can observe it with their own two eyes. "That's a lot of water."
Ruri tilts her head, thinking for a moment... before she puts her laptop to one side and scooches forward on the towel to draw in the sand, shaping it to the flat shape of an orca's fin. "You need to look closer than the horizon to see them -- but if you look out at the water you might see these shapes coming out of the waves. That's their dorsal fin. It pops out when they come up to breathe. Since dolphins breathe air, like us, so they have to surface to take a breath every so often."
Pat pat pat, she shapes the sand. "The crab was fun," she adds, as she works. "He had a lot of armour. Actually, it's chitin, but it still keeps him safe."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
For good reason!!
Lavhi glances over to the game for a moment as Eight looks to Ruri, who is looking out at the water. "...It's relaxing," Eight admits of the sound. Then Ruri explains--well, it's a simple scientific fact, sure, but Eight is from the colonies, where such things are far less relevant. "To have so much space that you can't even see all of it that way... it's really something."
A whole lot of water.
Ruri starts drawing, and both Eight and Lavhi look down to see what she's doing. Those shapes. "That's something. Living in water, but needing to breathe air..."
Pat pat pat. Eight considers, and leans down to start sculpting a little sand, too. Pat pat.
Lavhi on the other hand, "My parents told me that a warrior could learn many lessons from animals. Like the crab's armor. It may be chitin in reality, but it still shows the importance of the proper protective gear for a task, be it battle or otherwise. One cannot expect to stay safe without taking efforts to be so."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"The Earth is very large," Ruri says. "It might look small when we're in space, but that's just perspective." Which can be taken a lot of ways, really.
Ruri nods, considering the noble dolphin. "They're even-toed ungulates," she says, "like boar or deer or sheep, but they're most closely related to hippopotamuses. They used to be land animals, but they went into the water so much that they eventually became so good at swimming they couldn't return to the land. Even though that happened, they still had lungs. But they're very good lungs, so they're able to hold their breath for a long time. Some whales can hold their breath for hours."
Ruri's record is two minutes, not two hours, but those numbers are LIKE the same.
"Some crabs also use their environment to protect themselves," Ruri adds, looking over to Lahvi. "Like hermit crabs. They live in discarded shells, or sometimes in the things humans throw away, too. But that's why you're not supposed to take shells from the beach. Well, something might already be living in there, but even if they're not, it could still be someone else's home. I guess that's like..." She pauses, for a moment, trying to think. "When our pilots take their Aestivalises out to fight, and trade out their parts for the environment?"
Sorry, Hikaru. You have ascended to crab.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
It can!! Eight marvels some at how big the Earth is, looking up at the sky, where she can't even see colonies.
Ruri explains about dolphins. "Oh, hippopotamuses!" She's heard of those. "That's some pretty serious breath-holding," Eight notes. Lavhi nods along thoughtfully. He can also hold his breath for a long time. But that's different.
But the crabs...! Lavhi says, "Yes, that is very clever of them. The use of tools! I know that humans sometimes discount animals, but my parents tell me that they did not have such creatures on the Zentradi and Meltrandi fleets. But it is true for humans as well; they have found many things to make homes of... Some of which were designed or made as something different!"
But it is like that, isn't it? Eight nods. "Hmmm, yes. Well, I'll make sure to leave everything where I see it, in that case."
"I wish to meet this 'hermit crab'," Lavhi rumbles. "Perhaps I will go and look for crabs as well. Ruri, would you watch over Eight for me while I do?"
Ordinarily he wouldn't ask something like that; Eight can take care of herself. But apparently today is different, and it may not just be letting Ruri feel important.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
The colonies are VERY high up, and the end of the ocean is VERY far away.
"Animals can be very smart. Actually, some dolphins and whales have similar intelligence to humans. They just use it differently, since they live in the ocean. Octopuses are really smart, too, but that's in a different way to humans." Octo is smart, huh?
Being fair, Ruri probably isn't making that joke on purpose.
"I guess that goes for the Ra Mari II, too," Ruri muses, "since it was originally a Zentradi ship, but now it's housing lots of different people. It didn't start as your home, but it's your home, now."
Ruri tilts her head, and nods, to Lahvi. "Okay. Good luck finding him, Lahvi-san. I'll take care of things here." She's fourteen years old now! She's absolutely old enough to take on this responsibility.
(Is Ruri a babysitter in the making? Maybe they'll write a book about it...)
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Oh, yeah?" Eight smiles. Octopuses... Eight thinks of Rena, naturally. ...But Ruri probably isn't making that joke on purpose.
"Yes!" Eight answers. "That..." She nods along. Still smiling. It's nice to think of that. But Lavhi says to take care of her, and Eight sighs, shaking her head. "Have fun," she says, and Lavhi walks off.
A babysitter in the making!! Was it the plan all along!?
Regardless, Lavhi goes off to the water, while Eight explains, "...I was feeling really light-headed earlier. He hasn't stopped worrying about it since. But I wanted to come and see the water while we had the chance."
She gets back to the sand, "This stuff is sort of like snow," she reflects. The sand, that is. "I haven't made stuff in the snow in a long time..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"If something happens, Dr. Fressange isn't far away," Ruri says, looking over to Inez Fressange, who is STILL wearing a lab coat over her black swimsuit.
That's how you know she's sciencey.
Ruri takes up a handful of sand, letting it filter through her fingers. "I guess it's similar," she says. "This feels coarser than the snow at Winter Wonderland, though. That was a little sharp and cold, but this is rough and warm..."
She hums through her lips, and moves from her dolphin fin to start patting the sand into an uprised circular shape. "I wonder if you can make snowmen out of sand," she explains her thought process, as she goes.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"That's... true."
Dr. Fressange's bedside manner certainly doesn't leave something to be desired. Eight might want to avoid having to have her as an actual doctor...
But Eight considers. "Hmm. Yeah." Eight agrees, putting her hands through the sand. "It is different. But you can do something with it..."
She considers. "Maybe if you got it wet?" Eight reflects. "It wouldn't just melt away, though."
She considers. "Something... Ah, that's right! The sayings about castles! Castles in the sand."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri doesn't mind Inez's bedside manner, but mostly because she tends to avoid being a patient. As a person, she thinks Inez is an excellent role model, and this explains much about Ruri's problems with problematic individuals.
"Sandcastles..." Ruri wonders, looking down at the sand. Thinking. Thinking...
THINKING TIME IS OVER, THE HOWMEI GIRLS ARE HERE NOW.
Sayuri Terasaki calls out to them, as they come over: "Ruri-ruri! You're going to need equipment, right?!" She has to lean a good ways down -- she's very tall -- to deposit some plastic buckets under Ruri and Eight's umbrella.
Eri Uemura chimes in, as she puts down another bucket, this one full of seawater: "Now this is an ancient beach tradition!"
Mikako Satou, hair all up in her little twin buns, smiles brightly as she stabs a spade into the sand. "Don't worry, we've got you!"
Harumi Tanaka has similar ideas about her hair, except instead of buns, she's got two braids. "You too, Eight-chan! You've got to let off some stress with art!"
Junko Mizuhara leaves another couple of water bottles with them, adding: "Since the Captain's wandered off, I'll remind you to hydrate, instead!"
As quickly as they come, they leave.
Ruri blinks. A piece of seaweed goes rolling past.
"I guess it was obvious, then."
Sandcastle time.