Rooted to the place you sprang from...

[gotacigarette]

On the beach, Eden's chasing birds. She's running around with bare feet and Alice helped her roll up the cuffs on the camos she found, and she's got a khaki coloured t-shirt and a jacket discarded near-by and the clothes box even gave her a cap and a plastic gun. When Eden was nine years old, she hadn't done much playing. There hadn't been muc

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[waltsnothereman]

Wanda's enjoyment of the situation was officially extending beyond scientific curiosity. Not that random age-reversals weren't pretty damn fascinating, but there was only so much goofing around in a Halloween costume that could be justified as exploring a change of perspective. In the end, she chalked it up to a side effect of all the sugar she'd been eating as well the fact that having fun as a kid was more of a new thing than it might have been for some other people. She'd been kind of a serious little boy.

"You really think you're going to catch something with that?" she grinned happily as she called at the girl chasing seagulls.

[gotacigarette]

Eden stops in her game and turns, setting her hands on her hips, still holding the little plastic gun.

"I'm playing," she points out. She doesn't explain that she's still working out what playing actually feels like.

[waltsnothereman]

Wanda looked like she was thinking about that for a second before shrugging. She knew what playing was like perfectly well, it was just apparently a little bit different as a kid. "Fair enough. Can I play, too?"

[gotacigarette]

"Sure."

Eden drops her plastic gun in the sand and looks at the other girl expectantly.

"That game was sort of a one person one. What shall we play instead?"

[waltsnothereman]

"Um," Wanda started, before stalling out. What the hell was it that kids did together, anyway, beyond just goofing off? She tried to think of the things Kara and Laura would get up to on their off days, but drew a blank. "...tag? Man, no wonder I was such a lousy dad."

[gotacigarette]

Eden processes that, her eyes narrowing as she takes that in.

"Okay, Wanda," she says, throwing extra emphasis onto the name because she's pleased she worked it out, and then she lunges forward, tapping Wanda's shoulder before she takes off full pelt down the beach.

"You're it!"

[waltsnothereman]

"Hey!" Wanda exclaimed. "That is so not fair, I wasn't ready and you know who I am and I don't even know who you are and..." she trailed off before realizing that she should probably start chasing now. Running took a little practice now that her legs were a lot shorter, but she had experience with adjusting to things like that and hit her stride pretty quickly. "You are so going down!"

[gotacigarette]

"Gotta catch me first," says Eden, running as fast as her little legs will carry her. She'd been a slight child, small and silent, and hadn't really hit her growth spurt until after she'd met Bill.

She glances over her shoulder at Wanda, trying desperately to keep some distance between them.

[waltsnothereman]

Pouring on the speed once she had got into the rhythm of running at this height, Wanda grinned and laughed as she managed to close most of the gap caused by her late start. "Will do, Eden!" she panted through her grin. Accent, boots, and she knew Wanda had been a guy, it wasn't that much of a guess, really.

[gotacigarette]

"Shit!" cries Eden, the word stretching out into a squeal as she ducks low and keeps running trying to keep out of reach of Wanda's hands.

"You're too bloody quick!"

[waltsnothereman]

It probably helped that it looked like Wanda had a few years on Eden, who seemed pretty tiny either way, but she wasn't about to say that. No, this one was clearly to be chalked up to her fantastic physical grace and prowess. Now, if only Eden would quit weaving around like that.

"Clearly, you should just give in! Ugh!" she grunted, making a lunge when Eden was about an arm's length away.

[gotacigarette]

"No!"

In a somewhat desperate maneuver, Eden dives forward into a roll on the sand, scrambling to get to her feet before Wanda can catch up and trying not to end up with a mouthful of sand.

[waltsnothereman]

Wanda had apparently hedged a little too much on her lunge and she stumbled when she missed, only barely managing to keep herself upright. Damn Eden and all her crazy soldier training. She was going to need to get creative.

"New rule, you can't touch the beach!" Wanda shouted, suddenly turning and running a few paces to the side so that her feet, shoes and all, were in the water.

[gotacigarette]

Stupid rules. Eden swerves into the water, but it makes it harder going, her little legs hampered by the shallow water.

"I hate you!" she calls, over her shoulder, but it's clear from the way that she dissolves into laughter that she doesn't really mean it.

[waltsnothereman]

"Try hopping around, now!" Wanda laughed as she rapidly made up lost ground. That size difference really made a difference, even if her costume was holding her back somewhat, dragging as it was in the water. Her legs were probably going to be really sore come the next day.

[gotacigarette]

Eden squeals, trying to keep out of reach of Wanda's hands, the water making it really hard going.

"This isn't fair!" she protests.