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 Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:39 pm
Who: Ronan, Phiel, Zurine
When: Early March, an early morning.
Where: The Gambino beach, a little ways down from where Phiel and Zurine live.
Weather: Surprisingly balmy for early spring. Still grey as dawn starts creeping up.
--
Zurine had spent more than a few mornings out here in the sand. Despite herself, her schedule had shifted around so that she could soak up the first cool, tentative rays of the sun as it crept over the horizon, putting gold and pink on the waters and making the whole world glow with a halo of familiarity. She had awoken when Phiel came back in from a late night shift an hour or so ago, and she'd sat nibbling blearily on the gas-station foam cup of her second-favorite ice, the kind that came brittle and crisp and delicious in small crushed cubes. Since she was awake, she might as well come out and enjoy the dawn, Phiel had coaxed, and Zuri had agreed, a little reluctantly.
She had curled up in the shadow of a dune with her cup and her phone, playing with it while she watched the sea for the familiar figure of her guardian knifing smoothly through the waves, slick and disciplined. The sand was still cool beneath her back, and she found it soothing.
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:54 pm
Winter had finally started to release it's grip on Gambino, and as a result Ronan was back to his morning swims.
For most people the water still would have been much too chilly for their tastes, but the selkie missed his ocean swims enough to bear the nippiness, and as right now he was strolling down the beach, already in his swimsuit and other supplies slung over his arm. Today he'd decided to try out a different stretch of beach than usual, and he was already being rewarded by a wonderful looking surf. What he hadn't expected however was for someone else to already be around.
"Hullo!" Ronan shouted with his hand cupped around his mouth, raising the hand to wave a second later. It never hurt to make sure he wouldn't startle the others. He walked a bit closer, seeing the man in the water and the other figure by the dunes, though he wasn't able to make out the second individual's appearance yet. "Is it okay if I swim here?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 8:57 pm
The shout was more than enough to wake Zuri up, and her eyes popped open as she sat bolt upright, squeaking a little. "Hullo," Zuri said back, sheepish. One hand laid over her heart, which was thumping quite rapidly now. She didn't know the stranger, but she could tell immediately that he was not threatening at all. Her phone was slipped into the pocket of her open hoodie, and she floated up to look more clearly at him. "I'm sure that it would be fine if you swim here," she said, looking curiously at him as she tucked a sandy lock of her hair behind one ear and looking out momentarily at where her guardian was swimming, grey head bobbing in the waves. "Phiel's already out in the water..."
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:09 pm
Ronan's eyebrows raised at the girl's appearance, though probably not for the reason she was use to. Part of him always forgot that, while not huge, the lab still had a fairly sizable community. He'd simply discovered one of the local individuals, it seemed.
"Sorry if I startled you," he said, setting his things down in a sheltered area by the dunes. Dusting off his hands he looked back out to the water. "Is... Phiel your guardian?" It seemed to be the most likely conclusion, but it wouldn't hurt to get confirmation.
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:28 pm
She smiled a little bit, pleased not to be looked at like she was anything strange. Fiddling with the hem of her jacket, she nodded as she watched him. "He's my guardian, yes," she confirmed softly, curious. "H-how'd you know that? You must be part of the Lab community too," Zuri said shyly, her dark eyes widening.
Phiel was coming in, dripping wet and a little winded, ready to get a good deep drink of water before continuing on. His eyes narrowed a little with curiosity as he spotted the figure of a man talking to Zuri, and hastened a bit. "Oyah," he called gruffly, his protective instincts hopping after the night he'd spent doing a security detail for a minor celebrity that'd been passing through.
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:48 pm
"I am, yes," he said with a smile, glad his question hadn't been too forward. "My name's Ronan." Hearing the swimmer's call Ronan went ahead and sent out another "Hullo!", watching the man approach.
"Sorry if I've intruded," he said when the other man was closer. "I just wasn't expecting to see someone else from the lab during my morning swim." A bit blunt perhaps, but curiosity was starting to gnaw at him.
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 10:08 pm
At mention of the lab, Phiel began to relax a little bit, and he came up onto the beach a bit staggeringly, shaking saltwater from his grey curls and slicking it off his arms. If Ronan had Lab ties, then he wasn't likely to be someone that'd harm Zurine. Good to know, he thought. He was still rather glad that he'd been around. "Mm, we live just up the beach," he said, pointing back down the way to the house, which stood still and dim in the chilly morning light. "It's no intrusion. I was just concerned for a moment." He nodded, and approaching, he offered a hand. "My name's Phiel. And this is Zurine, my charge." He indicated her, and Zuri dipped a pretty little bow.
"Good to meet you," the owl frei murmured, relaxing a bit as well, now that everything seemed to have sorted itself a bit. She even gave him a little smile, pleased to see Phiel interacting with folks. "Do you come swimming a lot?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:44 am
The selkie returned the handshake, grip firm. "Ronan, pleasure to meet you," he said, nodding at both of their greetings. His gaze followed the earlier point, now seeing the beachfront property even in the half light. It was a nice place. For a moment part of him was glad to see that, from all appearances, Zurine was in a good home.
"I do actually," he said to Zurine, starting to run his arms through a few stretches. "During the warmer months I usually get out several times a week, though this the first time I've come to this stretch of beach."
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:22 pm
"Phiel swims every day, almost," Zuri said with a little laugh, before Phiel could even open his mouth, only for her guardian to smile, warm and crooked, with a shrug.
"I used to be on my high school's swim team," Phiel admitted, looking up at Ronan speculatively. Zurine could recognize the look of excited competitiveness sparkling in her guardian's eyes, and she pondered suggesting that perhaps he oughtn't let his mouth make checks his arse couldn't cash. After all, Phiel had been awake for nearly twenty-four hours, and his expression was a little bit punch-drunk.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:26 am
Ronan caught the competitive glint in Phiel's eyes, but instead of backing down it was soon matched by a glint of his own. "Swim team, eh?" The selkie grinned. "Haven't been on one myself, but I like to think I have a decent amount of experience." That, honestly, was a bit of an understatement, but he figured it'd work best for the other man to assume what he meant by that. The actual reason might be a little hard to swallow.
"You up for a little more swimming?" Ronan usually swam alone, if for no other reason than his pace and the hours he swam, but the chance to actually face off against someone was a rare one and he was going to take it. At the very least he'd try to keep it from being a race. Well. As long as the other man didn't make it one first.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:04 pm
Zuri sighed deeply, and shrugged, lifting a hand. Of course. Whatever they wanted to do was fine with her, and Phiel couldn't help laughing a little bit. "I'm always up for swimming," he admitted. "I can't promise I'll be at my best, but it'll be fun anyway." He finished off his water bottle, and tossed it back over to where his towel lay folded in the sand, near where Zuri was perching. "Are we racing, or just swimming?" He asked it, almost innocently, hands on his hips.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:24 pm
"Just swimming for now, but we can make it a race if you think you can keep up," Ronan said, matching the innocent tone. He didn't want to force the other man into anything, but it'd be a lie to say that he didn't want to let loose a little. A little encouragement couldn't hurt, right?
It was at this point that Ronan noticed Zurine's expression, and he had to fight off a laugh. Hopefully she'd be okay with a little more time on her own on the beach.
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 2:08 pm
Phiel's brows rose, then he chuckled a little, rolling his shoulders a little in a lazy stretch. "Sure," he agreed, relaxing a little, as he turned to amble back toward the water, letting Ronan follow if he liked. "Let's head out, then..."
That suited Zuri just fine, in any case. She settled down again, cozying up in her spot. She'd watch them to make sure nobody got into trouble.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 5:21 pm
"Sounds good," Ronan said, following Phiel down to the surf. Feeling the cold water wash over his feet was a shock, but it was a good kind of shock, and the selkie waded further into the ocean, only halfway paying attention to where the other man was.
With one final look back towards Zuri on the beach Ronan went ahead and dove in, lazily stroking out to deeper water.
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 12:32 pm
Phiel slipped back into the water, his skin already acclimated as he moved, kicking long legs against the tide and letting himself get carried out into the cool, salty greyness. He felt at home here -- no matter what was going on in the outside world, the sea didn't ever change too much, and that was comforting. Still, he let himself stay aware of the other man, staying to the right of him. Sure, he felt a little competitive, but it was also just nice to know someone else was out here with him.Arana Kamina Sorry that took so long!! I'm back in the saddle now, haha...
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