(Untitled)

[youlosetrack]

It isn't until he's halfway down the boardwalk one evening, hating that he's forgotten to put on any sunscreen, that Mace realizes he's started to take the sun for granted. He's not sure when it happened, can't pinpoint a day when he stopped looking up at the bright smear of light in wonderment, and simply accepted it was going to be there every

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[just_hormones]

Aphrodite's dragged her windsurf board out to the beach, the effort required for that the closest she's willing to get to manual labor, since the payoff is so awesome. When she sees Mace, though, she leaves it on the sand for the time being, dropping her towel and cover-up next to it so that when she comes up next to him she's barefoot and clad in just a bright pink bikini.

"It's pretty bitchin', isn't it?" she remarks, flashing a bright smile. "I totally love the ocean."

[youlosetrack]

"It's pretty bitchin'," Mace agrees, unable to resist the pull Aphrodite seems to have over him. She's just so damn bright he can't help but cheer up a little whenever she's around. It's probably all the pink. "You out here for some swimming?"

[just_hormones]

"Sure am," Aphrodite confirms cheerily, then tilts her head back up the beach. "And windsurfing. I come out here just about as much as I can stand. It took a little bit to get used to actually getting, you know, wet, but it's still pretty awesome."

[youlosetrack]

"Windsurfing?" It sounds familiar, something Mace heard or learned about in the past, but never deemed important enough to remember. There are hundreds of little tidbits of how life was before the freezing began that he learned about, but put away to avoid thinking of something he could never had.

He hardly wishes the opposite now, instead seeing it as an opportunity to learn where he can.

[just_hormones]

"Oh, wow, dude, don't tell me you've never heard of windsurfing," Aphrodite says as she goes to get her windsurf board, dragging it down to where Mace is. "It's like a cross between sailing and surfing. See, you stand on it like this, and then the wind catches the sail and pulls you around. Cool, right?"

[youlosetrack]

Mace watches Aphrodite drag the board toward him, eyes already looking over the entire thing and figuring out the mechanics of it in seconds. It's deceptively simple, and he wonders how adding a sail to a board makes surfing any different.

Then again, he's never been one to look for thrills just for the sake of it.

He takes the sail in hand when she demonstrates, and tilts his head to the side. "The sail makes balancing easier?"

[just_hormones]

"I don't know, I 've never surfed," Aphrodite says. "But this isn't too hard to learn, you can get the basics in a few hours. And it's totally fun."

[youlosetrack]

Mace looks at Aphrodite, as though asking if he looks like he's ever done something for fun a day in his life.

[just_hormones]

"What?" Aphrodite says, grinning. "Come on, Hot Stuff, you can't tell me you're actually opposed to having fun."

[youlosetrack]

"I'm opposed to throwing myself at the mercy of the ocean for something people might think is fun," Mace replies, entirely serious. He's curious, but the very idea of it doesn't make much sense to him.

[just_hormones]

Aphrodite lets out a giggle that's amused but not derisive. "Well, yeah, that's part of the fun," she says. "A little risk makes it more exciting."