(Untitled)

[un_gloved]

Rogue had taken a lot of care in prepping for the day’s excursion. She’d had to find a new bathing suit, for starters, since her last good one had been stolen by a literal wave of bad luck. She’d packed a bag with water and sangria she’d left soaking for a whole day, two towels and a chewed up paperback edition of The Firm. Sarong firmly in place

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[little_moons]

With echoing shrieks of delight, Mack and Flo tear down the beach, all pigtails and coconut scented kid's sunscreen and oversized sunglasses in place, that inevitably make me think of their mother. They're carrying plastic pails and shovels, borrowed from the children's office, and when they catch sight of Sookie, they make a run for her, scrambling over the legs of two women I know by sight, but not necessarily by name.

"Sorry, ladies," I say, lowering myself down onto the edge of Sookie's towel, uninvited but most likely welcome.

[[Meant for Sookie, but any of them are welcome to react to being climbed all over. XD]]

[un_gloved]

"Oh-! Geez," Rogue started, half scooting back and then realizing it was probably best to lie still a moment and let the tornado pass.

Faye was going to be pissed.

"Sure thing, don' mention it," she mumbled, half amused.

[velation]

"Shit-In case it isn't already, let me make this very clear: I'm not good at dealing with kids. And, if you're wondering, the things I'm not good at? Go immediately into the 'dislike' pile

[justsookie]

Some days, I feel like my eventual goal on the island is to round up all the kids. Adopt them all, in one way or another. Now, I know that some of them (most of them, actually) have perfectly decent parents, Mack and Flo definitely being no exception. But there's just something so sweet and straightforward with kids, you know, the sort of thing that you can't with adults. Doesn't matter how kind they come, adults are always twisted somewhere under their skin, messed by something in their lives, and sometimes it's all a matter of finding out where those land mines are

[little_moons]

"I used to put 'em in dog collars, but they're old enough now, they just slip out of 'em themselves," I mutter dryly, offering the Asian chick a smirk and reaching out to straighten the sunglasses on Mack's face when she knocks them askew.

"I have ruffles," Flo says proudly, rubbing a hand over her tummy, preening in her newly found bathing suit. Mack squirms away so that she can dig around in her bucket of sea shells, looking for the prettiest one to give to Sookie. She's never been as interested in clothes as her sister.

"Usually they're good about it," I say, "Guess they were just a little too excited to see you."

[un_gloved]

"They're awful cute," Rogue offered, reaching over to flick some sand off Faye's knee with a ill-repressed smirk.

"Worse things t'have in spades than enthusiasm."

[velation]

Now I can't tell if the skinny guy is just screwing with me, or if he's serious. I'm pretty sure it's the former. Almost certain. Even just thinking about it in my head, it seems like collars would present a pretty big choking hazard- unless the dog collars are huge and used more as baby belts. Either way, thinking about it too long is just messing with my head, so I offer him a crooked grin and lay right back down, brushing the sand off my side.

"I'm pretty sure that there are a number of ways to tie a harness that even a grown man can't slip out of," I offer back with a wider smile as I pat my shades right back down and lay out again, hoping that the girls won't suddenly decide to turn around and build a castle over me. For now, they seem largely interested in Sookie, anyway. "But I guess better to be bouncy than bratty."

[justsookie]

Sometimes, banter's a healthy thing to have between two people. I mean, you never heard the end of love-hate talk between Tara and Lafayette, yet as far as relatives go, I think they've had one of the most stable relationships out there between siblings. I know it's not even close to the same thing, but Neil's quick tongue amuses me more often than not, the way he brings it all up so easily, naturally- I'm just fortunate he doesn't aim it at me all too often, otherwise I'd probably leave the Winchester every day feeling kind of dumb

[little_moons]

"They're monsters," I say, smiling crookedly, "You're catchin' 'em on a good day." I try for a sympathetic look when the girl with the streaks reaches over to brush sand off the other one's knee, but it's a fuckin' beach. It's not like they could expect to avoid it.

"Yeah?" Flo says, preening just a little bit more, "I'll bet... I'll bet there are real mermaids, out there," she points to the ocean, her eyes wide just thinking about the possibility. At the same time, Mack nods, showing Sookie the tiny hole at the top of the little pink seashell. "You can make a necklace," she says, their conversations running independently and simultaneous. That's how it is with the two of them, most of the time.

Pushing a hand through my hair and breathing out a tired sigh, I glance at the other two women and say, "I'm Neil, by the way."

[un_gloved]

"Nice t'meet ya, Neil. 'm Rogue," Rogue said, stretching a hand out to shake.

[velation]

I get enough of a hint of Gren from this guy (more in personality than in appearance, admittedly) that I can't bring myself to be, well, half as rude as I usually am. Not that my sense of courtesy extends to looking after those two high-strung girls, though, especially not when they're both plenty occupied. I shook the guy a look, my lips ever so slightly quirked.

"Pleasure," I tack on after Rogue, a bit too lazy to pull myself up for a handshake of my own; I shoot him a relatively apologetic look, and hopefully he understands. "Faye."

[justsookie]

"They are not monsters," I protest in mock indignation, although it's hard to keep the smile from my face as I look up at Neil. I feel a bit bad for the other girls- Neil can probably keep Rogue well enough occupied, I'm sure, but the other woman seems out for the count. It crosses my mind to try and share the girls a little more, but then again, I've got no idea how much either woman appreciates tiny, high-strung bottles of sugar and spice. "They're both gorgeous as can be. I mean, look at Flo here, who I'm sure's prettier than any real mermaids that might out there, though maybe someday we should go look

[little_moons]

Leaning around Sookie to return the handshake, I say, "Likewise," and offer Faye a knowing smirk. Not one for chitchat, and honestly, I never was either. Not growing up. Not in Kansas. It wasn't until I got here, maybe not even 'til after I left Logan, that it felt right to be all friendly and shit. Sometimes it still doesn't feel like it fits.

"Sookie, you keep puffin' 'em up like that, their heads are gonna explode," I say, watching with a smirk as Flo seems unsure about bothering the other women, and Mack is too preoccupied with the prospect of jewelry making, even though she'd probably lose interest halfway through, and lose whatever she made the first time she wore it.

"Sorry if we're interruptin'," I say, mostly to the other two, even though I'm more amused than sorry, "We'll be on the move, soon. They got kinda short attention spans."

[un_gloved]

"It's nice t'be distracted from grown up stuff," Rogue said, with a little gesture of one hand as if to say 'pshaw'.

"Even if it's only comprised of tannin' real studiously."

[velation]

Maybe it's a little bit hard to believe the company that I've found myself with today. They're both so sunny, welcoming, one like powdered sugar and the other with more bite, but they're both a hell of a lot more positive than I am, maybe even on my best day. Makes me feel like a downer by comparison, and I haven't even said anything out of line. Already, I feel my sharp tongue dulling down as I figure out what exactly I'm supposed to say to that guy, the one who seems none too sorry about getting all up in my day, I'll tell you. I guess that could be the appeal of kids. You can bug the hell out of people, and no one can even protest.

Note to self: If I ever need to drive Spike nuts, obtain children. Possibly in multiples.

"They're kids," I say with a shrug. Sure, I'm not really that annoyed by them being there, sand aside. But it's not like I'm going to encourage them to stay the rest of the afternoon, either. "Isn't that the very definition?"

[justsookie]

It's becoming pretty clear that the girls aren't too sure about the other two women lying there. (Actually, it's more like Mack doesn't even care; I keep on hearing her mumbling about jewelry and her fingers keep on running along the ridges of the shell she's pull out for me.) I can't really blame them. Not all people know how to deal with children- even I'm not going to argue that I'm an expert, nor can I ever really claim to be until I've got kids of my own, I think- and not all people want to. And that's their prerogative. If everyone gave into their maternal and paternal instincts, it's very possible this island would end up overpopulated, anyway.

"If they're botherin' either of you," I say to Rogue and Faye, offering a very slightly apologetic smile. "I can always haul these two off to the trampoline for a bit." My voice lowers to a feigned hush as I lean in, not really trying to hide my words from the girls.

"The goal's to get them tired enough so that they'll take a nap."