Seaside, Reality's Theater [open :D]

[ex_gunholic964]

There were merits in coming to the beach to sulk.. or simply to think. Lumine was unsure which he was doing-- the strange, cold upwelling of disappointment after his foray into the Nexus felt almost alien, and yet Axl's steady presence in the back of his mind was still quiet, deeply asleep after he'd pushed himself to the limits of exhaustion

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[hikari_netto]

Netto was, first and foremost, an eleven year old boy. Eleven year old boys like playing at the beach. So every once in a while, Netto made a point to go there after school (and usually after his homework was done, so that neither his parents nor the various versions of his brother didn't harp on him about it). Sometimes he saw people he knew, sometimes he didn't, but either way he had fun playing in the sand and water.

Today, he saw Axl. "Oi! Axl!" he called out, waving enthusastically as he changed his course to intercept the reploid.

[ex_gunholic964]

"Hmm?" Lumine turned, watching the little human dashing across the sand-- kicking up quite a lot of it in the process. Borrowed impressions and memory helpfully supplied a name-- Netto-- and relationship-- one of Axl's young friends, and a trainee Maverick Hunter.

"Netto. How are you?" Lumine said, trying to match Axl's speech pattern and wincing internally when he failed miserably.

[hikari_netto]

Netto blinked at the odd sound of "Axl's" voice. He pulled up to a stop in front of the other Hunter. "I'm okay," he said. "What's wrong with your voice?" If Axl had been human, his first guess would have been a cold, but mechanicals don't get colds, do they? There was something else... off about Axl, but Netto couldn't pin it down right away.

[ex_gunholic964]

"Nothing is wrong with my voice," Lumine said, nodding slightly to emphasize the thought. There was silence for a moment before Lumine decided that something else needed to be said-- humans tended to hate having long pauses in conversation, even if there was nothing more to be said on a given subject.

"How has school been?"

[secrets_navi]

Ally was down on the sand with her flag bag, watching the familiar purple and spiky brown heads bobbing in the water.

She smirked and called out to the swimmers.

"Water battles at high noon? Is this a new training exercize I should know about?" she teased.

[hikari_netto]

"Of course it is," Netto said. He was trying to sound innocent, but the grin on his face ruined the effect. "If you get in the water, we'll show you." He didn't let go of Lumine, though. Wasn't going to unless Ally actually got in the water. Why give up a free ride any sooner than he had to?

[ex_gunholic964]

Lumine was watching a few enterprising fish swimming underneath them as Netto spoke, and looked up to see who would be joining them, still smiling faintly. He brought them a little bit closer to shore to avoid a few jellyfish that were floating nearby. The stings couldn't hurt him, but he did have to think of the child on his back.

[secrets_navi]

"Some of us are working, Netto," she stuck her tongue out at him, checking the tracker she used to find Missy's flags. "I've got to pick these things up and get back to a project," Axl's project, in fact. "But maybe I-" she looked at the tracker, gaged the distance the 'ping' was from her and grimaced. "Damnit."

Ally pulled off her sundress and sent it to data storage, revealing a green bathing suit. She clipped the tracker to a strap of the bag and set it down on the sand.

"Flag in the water," she informed them tiredly as she trod out into the breakers.

[ex_gunholic964]

"Axl is sleeping. I should be too," Lumine said, pressing one hand against his forehead to try and hold back the weird disconnected feeling of extreme sleep-dep. He hadn't felt this bad since being in the laboratory.. a thought he shied away from, wincing minutely.

[secrets_navi]

You're not the only one who feels tired.

Ally sighed. What are you doing?

"Do you need help getting home?"

[ex_gunholic964]

"I can return on my own," Lumine said suspiciously, slowly sitting up in hopes of dulling the nagging tiredness. At least he was mostly-dry and Axl was known for going to the beach.

[secrets_navi]

She also got up, pulling the flag bag off the sand. "Okay..."

Ally waited for him to leave, mentally reaching for her comm 'call'. As soon as he was gone....