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 Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2024 1:57 pm
Quote: Under the Moonlight (12) : In an ever persistent desire to get people out of the city and into nature, Destiny City is hosting guided tours on the water at the Reservoir. Kayaks can be bought or rented, and a very generous sponsor has even covered the cost of several kayak rentals per day throughout the month. Away from the city lights, you can leave with a tour group at dusk or take a kayak out on your own. As you near the caves at the reservoir, you may even find that with each stroke of the paddle, the waters around the cave glow with bright, bioluminescent lights. If you’re lucky, the trip is peaceful, but you’re not so far out of Destiny City that you’re not at risk for at least some oddities. While you can be happy that there seem to be no mosquitoes biting, sometimes something large might bump under your kayak, or you may hear a strange, clacking wail from deep in the forests around you. Sometimes large trees rustle, and sometimes you see strange eyes just staring at you. No reports have come out about anyone being hurt or attacked, but the forest can be a scary place–especially if you’re not used to it. All kayaks must be returned by midnight or you risk being hunted by some very unhappy park rangers!
Sadie and her had had small interactions since Gwen moved into the Bell’s residence. Gwen had been a bit stand-offish at first to everyone. She’d been struggling with things when she’d been offered to move in, and hadn’t wanted to burden people with her problems. But time had passed. Her addiction had finally, FINALLY taken a back seat. It still hoovered in the back of her mind. Especially when Gwen found herself emotionally compromised from anxiety or depression, but even that had lessened when she finally began to put herself out there. Getting a job had helped. Getting back into the gym had helped even more.
This was just another step in the right direction and thankfully Sadie was game to spending the day with her.
The kayak rental had been quick and easy. With the ores and provided life vest in one hand and the kayak propped on the opposite hand and shoulder at the seat entrance, Gwen headed down to the water’s edge, dropping the vessel as carefully as she could on the edge, and glancing over to Sadie. “I am not going to lie, I may end up in this water more than I am in the kayak.” She joked lightly. Even with the sun sinking it was still cloyingly hot. She’d dressed in a white tank top, loose fitting blue knit shorts and her voluminous red hair was pulled up into the messiest of buns. A green bikini poked out from under the tank. She’d come prepared.
“Thanks for coming out with me, again.” She offered a sheepish smile.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2024 6:40 pm
"I don't mind being in the water," said Sadie, running the tips of her fingers over its shimmering surface. "I can even breathe it, if I'm powered up." Had she mentioned that one to Gwen yet? She didn't remember. It was true, either way. She'd been called the mermaid, the fish, even Nessie, due to those powers that were even more aquatic than many of the Neptune Knights, or maybe because of the way that those powers reflected in her dress. Right now she looked fully human, though, in her floral one piece swimsuit, hair tied sloppily back in a braid, her hands unsteadily gripping the paddles. She'd had sandals, but had kicked them off as soon as they'd gotten in the boat. The only magic here was the simple, natural kind, like the way the ripples in the water reflected the light over their boat, and their skin. Sadie smiled at that. There was the magic of friendship, too, maybe. At least, she hoped that they could be friends. She'd enjoyed having Gwen in the house, of course, but she'd kept more to herself at first, and anyway, Sadie had been dealing with her own bouts of depression here and there since she'd arrived. Finally, both of them seemed okay enough to do something like this, and they were here, on the water, together. "Honestly, I'd probably do better at swimming than being in the boat." The people at the rental shop had made it sound so easy, but when she the paddle in the water, half the time she still didn't think it made the boat go the right direction. "But that's okay," she said, and smiled. "We can be bad at this together."
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2024 2:12 pm
A smile lit up the red-heads face. “Oh I certainly won’t mind going for a long dip. I bet there’s some good swimming areas that a lot of people don’t get to often unless they have boats.”
Gwen’s eyes widened at Sadie’s casual drop of info. “Well that’s interesting. Tell me, how often have you used that bit of magic to just cool off in the middle of summer? I bet you find some really interesting stuff at the bottom of lakes. Wait…is it fresh water or saltwater too?” The questions just came out of her as she settled herself in the kayak and pushed off from the water’s edge using the paddles as a means to get past the more shallow parts and into deeper water.
At the comment about the swimming to boat and being bad together, Hy flushed a bit. “I’ve…done this before. I mean I was a teenager last time I went out, but my Dad took my brother and I to the Finger Lakes for trips away from the city. We kayaked there almost every trip. I mean…I am no professional. Definitely won’t find me running down any rapids or anything, but calm bodies of water I am ok in.”
Sadie’s struggle with getting a rhythm with the paddles was obvious, but definitely something Gwen herself remembered dealing with before. “Place your hands a bit further down the paddles. Shoulder width apart. Yes. There.” She smiled encouragingly. “Now, slowly steady strokes back and forth. Honestly, it’s finding the rhythm. Once you get that you’ll be fine. We aren’t in any race, so take your time. We have all night.”
As if to demonstrate the paddle movement, Gwen slowly dipped one end of her paddle into the water and then the other. Back and forth. Almost making oval shapes with the tip of each oar. The slow motion had water trickling off the oar and onto her, which the woman enjoyed for the cooling factor.
“We can stay close to the shore and paddle around. See if there’s anything of interest to look at?” And this way if Sadie really couldn’t find the rhythm, which Gwen honestly didn’t think would be an issue, they could veer off to shore and relax for a while.
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2024 7:25 pm
"I mostly end up using the magic to relax, or explore," said Sadie, far more comfortable with explaining that than she was with the paddle in her hands. "Mostly at my Wonder, but sometimes I come out here when there's nobody around to look at the trout and snapping turtles. Although, I did, um, meet a fish-General underwater once." Her smile at the memory was thoughtful. "That was interesting." It was probably good that Gwen knew at least a little about what she was doing, even if it meant that Sadie was the clear beginner here. As she talked, she watched the way that Gwen put the blade of the paddle into the water, and drew it back, and she tried the same motion herself. Then, she tried it on the other side. The boat moved forwards slightly. "Either it's working or you're doing well enough for both of us," she said, finding that she could keep repeating the motions. As long as Gwen could either steer the kayak for them, or else coach her through doing it herself, they would be okay. "What did you do on the lakes when you were younger?" she asked, as she seemed to at least partially settle into the pattern of strokes. "Is it just to see things from another perspective on the water? I can see why people might like the idea of that, maybe." She glanced farther down across the water's surface. "I think there's some caves that are a little farther down this way." At least, that was what she'd heard. Even with her magic, she didn't often come out to this side of things.
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