2023-10-09: Long Walks on the Beach
- Log: 2023-10-09: Long Walks on the Beach
- Cast: Rena Lancaster, Anita Rosetta
- Where: United Emirates of Orb
- OOC - IC Date: 2023-10-09
- Summary: Rena and Anita go for a long walk on the beach. They decide to get a more permanent place together and talk about how the future connects them both.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
After the mission in the REA, the Three Ships Alliance crew returned to their base in Orb.
That was yesterday. Today, there is shore leave and a relative lack of responsibilities. Somehow, Rena was pried from the temptation to engage in more optional responsibilities -- hopefully, this tremendous sacrifice is appreciated -- to go out with Anita.
Which entails a walk on the beach, at sunset, because sometimes, picking romance is an active choice.
The beach has chairs and umbrellas, with piers stretching out into the sea. Resorts and buildings are against it, forming a backdrop; in the distance, the Kaguya Mass Driver stretches up high into the sky.
Rena walks next to Anita, wearing a button-up tropical shirt and khaki shorts. She is barefoot (though her sandals are in her bag), and she has Anita's hand in hers. She glances sideways at Anita, as they walk.
"I love Orb," she says, and it's not the first time she has voiced that sentiment.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita appreciates the sacrifice and the enormous fortitude it must have taken to make it, she really does. But mostly... in this moment, Anita appreciates Rena, and the wonderful atmosphere they both find themselves in right now. Anita's glad to take some time out like this after yesterday's difficult work.
And so, Anita walks down the beach, hand-in-hand with Rena. Today's outfit is a dark blue tanktop and black shorts, putting today's arm and leg on full display - each with a sleek look and what is presumably a hydrodynamic design, painted so that they really stand out against the colors of the beach and the waters.
Rena mentions her love of Orb and Anita looks toward her, offering a smile. It takes a second of looking before she actually responds.
"Yeah, me too." Anita replies. "...I feel comfortable here. Safe, too. And it looks really nice, too."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena looks sideways at Anita as they walk, her hand in Anita's right. She does have a look at the arm and leg, with that rather memorable hydrodynamic design. "The arm and leg are great," she says, with a beaming smile, as they walk.
She looks at Anita for a moment, more, and then she nods.
"Mm-hm," she says. "I've really liked to getting to live here. We've spent more time on the ship, since... the war, and everything."
A beat, as she considers.
"But it's the kind of place I'd like to settle down, some day," she says. "And it's... pretty safe, for Coordinators, too." Which, for Rena, is a big plus.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita chuckles at Rena's compliment, meeting that smile with a grin and raising her left arm and turning it around so she can get a better look.
"Thanks. I'm pretty proud of this one." She replies, and then nods. She looks up at the sky for a moment.
"...Yeah. It's been good to have a place to just... relax for a while. I mean... the ship's great and all, but there are some things you just can't... escape there, you know?" Anita replies. The war, though... "...Yeah."
She looks back down toward Rena as she thinks.
"You think so?" Anita considers, as Rena says it's the kind of place she'd like to settle down. She nods, then. "...Yeah. I think this'd be a great place to just... live."
She looks toward Rena for a moment longer.
"...Yeah. I'm glad about that, too." She replies with a small smile.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"You outdid yourself," Rena says, with a big grin on her face. She squeezes her hand -- and then she nudges her hip against Anita's. Maybe it draws a few glances while they walk down the beach.
She smiles at Anita -- and then she nods. Things that they can't escape, like the war; things that come part and parcel with life on a military ship.
"Yeah," she says. "I'm glad we have a place like this. Magallanica, too, but... Orb feels a little more home. Maybe with time, though..." Rena trails off for a moment, then she glances sideways at Annie.
"Me, too. I'm a bit surprised," she admits. "I thought... I'd feel more that way about a colony. But... this place does feel like home, now."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita brightens even further, at that - and when Rena nudges her hip against hers, Anita gets a bit closer, too. She certainly doesn't mind that - and she doesn't mind those glances, either. She's fine walking just like this.
"Me too." Anita agrees. Magallanica... "...Yeah. Maybe just 'cause it's so new, but... I guess it doesn't feel like 'my place' yet, either."
She looks toward Rena curiously as she mentions that she's surprised, and then chuckles a bit.
"We just have ways of surprising ourselves, I guess. We never know what we're gonna latch onto as important until we realise just how big a place it has in our heart." She comments. "Me... as long as I've got you and everyone, I think anywhere could be home for me."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah. Give it time... and time for them to make it feel like home, too," Rena says, with a smile. She scratches at the back of her neck with her free hand, looking sideways at Anita for a moment as she walks along with her.
"Yeah," she agrees, after a moment. "That makes sense. These places have a way of sneaking up on us. But..."
She trails off, then she nods.
"...You're right, too," she says. "No place would be home without you there. And Eight, and everyone else too. But..." She bumps her hip against Anita's again. "...Especially you."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Yeah." Anita replies with a nod. That's what it takes, sometimes - time to get used to it. Maybe once she's settled in she'll feel better... and once she's found all the prime napping spots.
She chuckles as Rena agrees with her, on how things tend to sneak up on them... and, on how no place would feel like home without all of them.
"Especially you." Anita agrees with a nod, grinning fondly at Rena's hip-bump. "Guess we're gonna be stuck with each other for a while~."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I can think of much worse fates," Rena says, with a smile and a wink. She slides over close, then, and slides her arm across Anita's shoulders while they walk down the beach. She stays quiet for a second.
"Do you want to look for a place here, after things calm down?" she says. "Like... an apartment or a condo, that we could get together."
She glances sideways at Anita. "I think we'd always have our room on the ship. But... I'm hoping, some day, we'll have a place we can call our own. I know it's a big step, too..."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita laughs at that, and when Rena slides an arm around her shoulder, Anita takes the opportunity to lean on her a bit as they walk. They walk like that in silence for a moment, before Rena asks a question. Anita considers it quietly for a moment, lifting her head for a moment.
An apartment or a condo... Having a room together on the ship is one thing, but having something like that... that is a big step. But...
"I think that'd be great." Anita replies with a smile. "Let's do it."
A place to call their own...
"Yeah, it's a big step... but, if it's with you, I think I'd be comfortable taking that step." Anita replies. "...It'd be nice, to really have a place of our own."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena sighs, happily, when Anita leans against her. It's no longer quite so new, getting to hold her like this. It hasn't made it feel less wonderful, getting to be here with her like this. Her arm tightens a little around Anita with that thought.
She watches her, thoughtfully -- and breaks out into a larger smile when Anita agrees.
"It would!" she says. "A place that's ours, more than the way that a room in a ship is." She tilts her head to the side for a second.
"And... um, you know." Rena's cheeks flush. "...It's nice. Getting to, um, take big steps. With you." Oh, she's flustered, her cheeks red and her words stammering a little.
"A-And..." She trails off for a moment. "...It's going really well, um, us, and--and everything, and taking steps. B-Big ones, even!"
Oh no, she broke.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Definitely." Anita agrees. "I like our room... but there's just somethin' about having a place of your own you can go back to, no matter what's going on, y'know?"
...It's been quite some time since she had a place like that of her own.
She shifts so she can look at Rena's face - and because of that, she can see her get redder and redder. Anita grins as she watches her work her way through her words, stammering all the while.
It really is cute to see her like that - and so, with a mischievous, knowing look, Anita leans over with a quick kiss on Rena's cheek.
"I think it's going really well, too." Anita agrees, looking smug. "Let's keep taking these steps together."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Th-there is," Rena says, with a smile. "I haven't had that in a long time. Winter Wonderland, but even then... part of me was always living with my aunt and uncle. And I'm grateful for the home they gave me, the chance to meet all of you..."
She trails off for a moment, as she thinks about how to phrase this.
"But it wasn't a place that I made my own, either," Rena admits. She smiles back at Anita, still red-faced -- more, when Anita leans in to kiss her on the cheek.
"I'm not planning to stop," she says. Then she leans over, and kisses Anita on the cheek. "I wanna take a lot more. N-Not that I want to rush it, but..."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
They're on the same wavelength there, it seems. Anita nods in understanding.
"...Yeah. I get that." She replies. It's a different feeling, a place shared with you and a place you made your own. "It'll be nice."
Anita grins triumphantly as Rena turns even more red - and looks pleased as she receives a kiss in return.
"Good~." Anita replies. "One step after another in the future, at our own pace... that sounds pretty good to me. We don't gotta answer to anyone other than each other, right? As long as we're comfortable with how fast we're going, that's what's important."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Mm-hm. Really nice," Rena says, and she smiles at Anita, looking sideways at her. No one they have to answer to about their future, and a future taken at their own pace. After a world that moves as fast as it wants...
That sounds wonderful. Rena smiles, her hand squeezing Anita's again.
"Yeah," she agrees. "Just each other. But..." She looks at her for a second. "...I'm glad we both want that future. I-I'm... not asking, um, it's a big step. But I'm glad... maybe some day, we can get married. That kind of thing. And that's... that's on the table."
She scratches at her cheek. Which is quite red. "I-If that doesn't sound weird."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Rena's hand slips around her own again, giving it a squeeze - and Anita returns the gesture, taking a moment to appreciate the feeling of Rena's hand around her own.
Her eyebrow raises Rena starts up again, but she waits politely as Anita works her way through her thoughts. Maybe someday they can get married, huh... Anita laughs fondly at that, looking up at the sky.
Yet another thing she would have thought in the past would never be in the cards for her. She'd be lying if she said that everything happening with Eight lately hadn't gotten her thinking about it, at least a little.
"...Nah, that doesn't sound weird." Anita replies with a shake of her head, her eyes finding Rena's again. "I think... that'd be great, maybe. Once things calm down a little and we get some time to think about just us."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Annie..."
Rena's voice is quiet, a little, as Anita looks up and tells her that it isn't weird. She smiles and tugs on her hand so they stop walking, then steps closer so she can wrap her arms around Anita.
She smiles at her, the crystal below her collarbone glimmering a dark blue. "...I'm glad," she says. "When things calm down. And we can think about it."
She hesitates, looking into her eyes, and then she flushes a little. "...I always wanted to be proposed to," she admits, her voice quieter. "J-Just. Um. So you know. For the future. M-Might be useful information some day. Aah, that sounds so silly, nevermind, I shouldn't have said, u-um--"
She bites her lip. Oh no, she broke again.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Rena tugs on her hand and Anita stops - and when Rena wraps her arms around her, Anita holds her close in return. She nods, and then their eyes meet. Rena flushes a little and Anita smiles - though when she speaks, Anita briefly raises an eyebrow.
And she listens quite intently - committing Rena's words to memory. But, ah, she broke again...
And so, Anita leans in. Her lips brush against Rena's - and she holds the kiss for a moment before pulling back, offering her a smile with her head tilted to the side.
"It's fine - you're fine." Anita assures her. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep that in mind~."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena looks at Anita -- and blinks when she leans in, but she meets her. She holds the kiss, too, her arms still around Anita. When she pulls back, she smiles up at her. Her eyes blink a couple of times.
"Annie..." She trails off for a moment, and then her head tilts a little more to the side. "I'm glad. I'll... I'll leave it in your hands, then."
Rena smiles, then, and leans in closer again.
She kisses Anita again, holding the kiss for even longer this time. Her arms stay wrapped around her, and her eyes close this time.
As kisses go, Rena thinks, a kiss on the beach at sunset is hard to beat.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Great. I hope you're ready to be swept right off your feet." Anita replies with a grin. Rena's the one who leans in close this time - the one who initiates the kiss. Anita shuts her eyes as well, holding Rena tight.
...Anita truly counts herself lucky, to be able to share a moment like this with her - and to have so many more ahead of them.