Rosalind was here! Rosalind had shown up and wanted to spend the day with her. Her and not the stupid stinky Turks she worked with and not the stupid booooooooss she thought was so great and not their Dad, either, but her.
Rosalind was writing her a note for school but Elena didn't care if she got in trouble from school and dad. She and Rosalind were hanging out. On purpose. Because Rosalind wanted to.
Elena had a very cute purple one-piece and was fidgeting. A lot.
"Are we really gonna go swimming?" she asked.
No, Elena. They had come all the way to Costa del Sol to play cards.
"And there's nothing wrong with that," Rosalind said, not looking up from her inventory of the pile they were taking down to the beach. Sandals, towels, bottles of water... "But the sun will burn you and you don't want to be red and peeling, do you?"
"Maybe," Elena admitted, thumping over to her sister's side. "'Cause everyone will be like 'what happened' and I'll go 'the sun did this 'cause I was out in it, for hours' an' everyone will be sooooo impressed."
"You think I can get one?" Elena asked, eyes lighting up. "An' then I could be all 'oh, don't I look nice with my tan' and they'll go 'nuh-uh, you don't have a tan' and I'll say 'my sister took me swimming. On a beach.'"
It had yet to occur to Elena that this would only impress the classmates who also lived under the plate. Ones topside, or from other towns, probably had had plenty of tans themselves.
"Good," Rosalind said, flicking the lid up on the bottle. "Hands out."
Elena could, truly, do most of this herself, which would be why those hands would be getting lotion squirted into them once they were held out. Rosalind only truly had to do the back and Elena's face.
She might also need to give Elena a primer on the fine points of "actually rubbing the sunscreen in." Because Elena was smearing it on a little haphazardly, leaving streaks of white across her pale skin.
"Are there gonna be sea monsters?" she asked, sounding half-excited by the idea.
"If there are," Elena said, cheerfully rubbing harder at the sunscreen -- which was now in globs and missed spots along her arms, but it was, at least, an improvement -- "you should let me fight them. 'Cause I'm doing awesome at school and I bet I can fight like three of them. At once."
Abruptly, her mind hopped to another topic entirely.
"Do you gotta wear that a lot?" she asked, nodding to the sunscreen. "For work?"
"But what if you had to be on a beach?" she asked. "Under covers as a beach person who's getting a tan 'cause you're spying on some guy an' he's got bodyguards but they're all on the beach, too?"
Rosalind was writing her a note for school but Elena didn't care if she got in trouble from school and dad. She and Rosalind were hanging out. On purpose. Because Rosalind wanted to.
Elena had a very cute purple one-piece and was fidgeting. A lot.
"Are we really gonna go swimming?" she asked.
No, Elena. They had come all the way to Costa del Sol to play cards.
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People who lived under the plate did not get much of a chance to tan after all.
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"But I like the sun."
She'd been out in the sunlight. Real sunlight. Wait till her classmates heard about that.
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It had yet to occur to Elena that this would only impress the classmates who also lived under the plate. Ones topside, or from other towns, probably had had plenty of tans themselves.
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"Only," she said, holding up the bottle under discussion. "With sunscreen. It'll keep you from burning which means you're more likely to tan."
Rosalind glanced at her sister.
"Which do you prefer? A tan or a burn?"
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"I guess a tan," she said, sighing, as though she were graciously doing Rosalind a favor.
Behold, the generosity of Princess Elena.
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Elena could, truly, do most of this herself, which would be why those hands would be getting lotion squirted into them once they were held out. Rosalind only truly had to do the back and Elena's face.
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"Are there gonna be sea monsters?" she asked, sounding half-excited by the idea.
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As Rosalind had to put the sunscreen on herself as well--was it any surprise she was good at it?
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Abruptly, her mind hopped to another topic entirely.
"Do you gotta wear that a lot?" she asked, nodding to the sunscreen. "For work?"
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"I normally wear a great deal more clothing for work," she said, bemused. "But I've had it on my face and hands before."
Really, that was just common sense.
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"Elena," Rosalind said, smoothing lotion up her arms, "I did not invite you out to play decoy for me while I worked. I am not here on a job."
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