[Santo - The Beach]

[walk_ins]

[ master post]You have to walk down a ramp to get to the sand. The ramp stretches over sand dunes, with sea oats dotting them, blowing in the near-constant breeze. On the same level as the ramp: a boardwalk, dotted with places to get sketchy-looking fried food, to try your luck at a number of games of chance, to watch performers, to ride roller

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[smallestopener]

Once she sees the water, Ingress runs down the beach, her not!blue hair streaming behind her. The adults can catch up or not.

She hasn't gotten used to all that light brown, but this is too much fun to worry with hair color.

[bad_in_latin]

Tom promised Mal. Promised him twelve million times or so even.

It doesn't matter -- Mal will not ever be one hundred percent convinced that magic does not come off in water.

"Slow down!" Mal calls, knowing it's mostly to no avail.

[young_tmriddle]

"It's no use, Mal. She's off. She's been looking forward to this too much to walk."

He eyes Mal. "I don't know. You might be too old to keep up with her."

[bad_in_latin]

Plaintively: "It's just a beach."

[young_tmriddle]

"A beach on an exotic world that just so happens to be part of one of her favorite people's universe. Look, are you sure it's alright for us to slip off an hour or so? We'll be back to resume beach duty, but we'd like to take a look around."

Tom and Door both look quite enthusiastic about the possibility of taking in some of the exotic surroundings unencumbered.

[bad_in_latin]

Mal waves his hand absently as he bends down to roll up his pants to just above his ankles.

He's wearing something remarkably like Nikes.

Rutting Milliways.

"Go. Go away. Leave me with the crazy child person."

[smallestopener]

The crazy child person is by the water's edge now, waving and shrieking.

"Mal, come on, Mal, come on! This is great!!!"

[bad_in_latin]

Mal is smiling, and was about to raise his hand in a wave when he spots --

Oh gorramit.

"I think I'll stay over here, baobei. Really."

[smallestopener]

"Why?" She jumps into a wave and squeals and then splutters as water splashes right up her nose.

[bad_in_latin]

Mal's not about to tell Ingress that he thinks the seaweed he sees coming in on the tide is the same kind that turns him tomato-red with a rash that he knew as a child, but he needs to think of something.

"Thought I'd read a bit first."

Good job, Malcolm.

[smallestopener]

"Why do you want to read when you can swim? Come on!"

She has floaties on her arms. They're charmed to keep her safe from drowning, jellyfish stings, sharks, and any number of other dangerous situations. Still, that doesn't keep her from being sad because Captain Chicken won't come play.

[bad_in_latin]

"I thought Tom instilled you with a sense o' wanting learning, and -- and what about me? I don't have -- " Pointing at Ingress' arms, " -- what are those things, anyhow?"

[smallestopener]

"Floaties!" She takes one off. "Here, you can have one. I know how to swim just fine without them, but Tom insisted because this is strange water and Mr. Julia's not around."

[smallestopener]

"Floaties! They help you float so you don't drown." She takes one off. "Here, you can have one. I know how to swim just fine without them, but Tom insisted because this is strange water and Mr. Julia's not around. He put charms on them."

[bad_in_latin]

...>O

Mal does not approve.

"You keep it. I can swim perfectly fine, young one. I did live on a watership for months."

[smallestopener]

"A watership? Like a spaceship but under water? Did you wear flippers and breathe through a snorkel?"