2019-07-13: Beach Ball Bodyguard
- Log: Beach Ball Bodyguard
- Cast: Talia, Catenna, Jacqueline Barber, Ethius Hesiod
- Where: The beach!
- Date: July 13, 2019
- Summary: CaraKin's new bodyguard, Talia, joins some of the Kinship for a little beach volleyball.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
The beach!
Talia joined the Caravan Kinship as a bodyguard. She still works as one -- she spends some time around Jacqueline Barber on a semi-frequent basis -- even though her brother has laid off the attempts to murder her and other members of the Kinship. It feels gauche to say that's that, and walk away from them.
But, she should get to know them better...
...and, really, things have been so awful that everyone could use a reason to cheer up. Which is why she walks ahead of the group, onto Besaid's beach. She is wearing a dark blue bikini top, and then a long skirt of blues, blacks, and whites that falls down to her knees. (This is to hide a nasty scar on her hip, which is unsightly.) She has a hand rested on her hip.
She declares, loudly, at Besaid's beach: "Here we are! Sun, drinks, and water! It will be great, no? This is top-class bodyguarding, Jay!"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Swimwear was one of those civilized-people concepts it took Catenna a bit of time to figure out. An embarrassing incident with Morgan Newkirk and a gang of pirates clarified for her why it's important.
"If bodyguarding were always like this, I might never have walked away from the Zortroa," the Moon Shaman remarks with a wry smile as she moves down along the beach, giving her head a little flick to let the ocean breeze play through her long, dark hair. Catenna's swimwear of choice is a two-piece number, white with a blue, black and silver textile pattern dancing through the edges of the flattering triangular pieces of fabric. She's even let out the lone braid she typically wears in her otherwise loose hair.
Hands coming to rest at her hips, she flashes Talia a relaxed smile, canting her head to one side. "Truthfully, we needed something like this," she admits, before unfolding a large towel from her shoulder and spreading it across the sand. It's also white with patterns in black, blue and silver.
She pauses for a moment. Then she blinks at Talia, leaning forward and pointing first to the young woman's skirt, then to the border of her top. "Well, that's coincidental, isn't it? You have very nice colour choices, Talia."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline is someone who tends to devote herself fully to her work, even to her own detriment. So, it took a little convincing to get her to take some time away from the refugee camp...but, in the end, she agreed that she could probably use a break.
And what better place to take a break than the sunny beaches of Besaid?
And so, here she is, following along behind Talia! She's wearing a pale blue sundress with white trim along with a yellow sash around her waist and a bright yellow flower in her hair.
"It really does look quite nice..." Jacqueline admits at Talia's declaration, looking between her and Catenna. She smiles, then.
"...It's true, it does feel kind of nice to get away from it all for a little while. It feels like I've just been...going, ever since we found ourselves on Spira." She says.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is along. However much story reason he may have to endeavor to do so, he is not able to overpower the primal nature of the Beach Episode DLC. It is beyond comprehension. The basic idea sees some level of lip service still being paid, a hefty towel draped around his shoulders largely leaving only his forearms and abdomen area bare. There are plenty of Symbological tattoos - intricate, even. He is wearing very long maroon shorts (which, per Spira's clothing traditions, oft looks piecemeal and nonsensical in terms of practicality) that show much the same from the knee level down - a lot of Symbological tattoos.
He's still got a culturally appropriated Al Bhed mask on, though. These jokes and japes aside...
"This area appears safe, in the short term," Ethius remarks as he sits near the crashing waves, watching the distance for anything coming (very little) or going (also very little). That said, with the recent performance of the Besaid Aurochs... there has been a bit more foot traffic here. Nonetheless, these logistical matters are beyond the scope of a fun day on the beach.
if Ethius is even capable of having a fun day anywhere.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
"Ah, it is!" Talia says to Catenna, brightening at what she says. "I did not know you like such colors, too! Ah, it is my thing, no? Though--my girlfriend helped me pick." Her girlfriend, being a fashion designer, usually helps her pick most of her clothing. She taps a finger against her chin, then looks over her shoulder at Jay.
As she speaks, she drops the blitzball she'd found into the sand with a little paff. Then, she tilts her head. "I know what you mean. Recent days, they have not let up at all, no?"
She looks back at Ethius -- and then she raises a hand, to wave at him for a second. "Ah, you like these masks, don't you? I think you are always in one," she says. Then, she looks around the beach. "I've never really been to the beach before... but the beaches here are so nice!"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
The masks always give Catenna a bit of a start. She showed her own off during the fight against K.K. and Ragnell, but quickly abandoned the idea of receding back into Zortroan tradition - but seeing Ethius carting one around leaves her just the slightest bit antsy when she does happen to focus on him.
So she doesn't. She smiles quietly back at Jacqueline, pushing one hand through her hair. "The flower is a nice touch," she comments.
To Talia, she smiles, a hint of a blush at her cheeks. "My boyfriend's influenced my fashion choices somewhat, but these colours have always been a thing for me. They evoke the Moon and the night. Celesdue is very much associated with silver and blue."
As the Blitzball is dropped, Catenna glances down at it, then up towards Ethius, her smile taking on a tighter air. "They remind me in some ways of the ones the Zortroa wear, though those of the Dark Summoners are more, ah... ritual." She shakes her head with a low sigh.
Earlier, Catenna set a basket down beside the towel. In it, the Owlet has a pair of tiny shades on and is lying on a bundle of cloth, having a doze.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Thank you! I thought it really brought everything together." Jacqueline replies, smiling a little at Catenna's comment and taking a moment to adjust the flower a little. She looks toward Talia, then, as she explains that her girlfriend helped her pick her clothes.
"Oh, did she?" Jacqueline asks, with a hint of curiosity. "Well, she has good taste! It's a good look."
Ethius declares this area safe and Jacqueline nods before lowering herself carefully into a sitting position before turning her attention toward Catenna.
"It's quite a lovely combination." She comments with a nod, in regards to the colors. While Catenna mentions the Dark Summoners, Jacqueline leans forward, taking a peak at the tiny dozing Owlet.
She can't help but smile to herself - it's far too adorable a picture.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Thank you! I thought it really brought everything together." Jacqueline replies, smiling a little at Catenna's comment and taking a moment to adjust the flower a little. She looks toward Talia, then, as she explains that her girlfriend helped her pick her clothes.
"Oh, did she?" Jacqueline asks, with a hint of curiosity. "Well, she has good taste! It's a good look."
Ethius declares this area safe and Jacqueline nods before lowering herself carefully into a sitting position before turning her attention toward Catenna.
"It's quite a lovely combination." She comments with a nod, in regards to the colors. While Catenna mentions the Dark Summoners, Jacqueline leans forward, taking a peak at the tiny dozing Owlet.
She can't help but smile to herself - it's far too adorable a picture.
She leans back, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath of the ocean air.
"They certainly are...we don't have anything like this back home. The beaches are all...craggy, and rocky." She comments, opening her eyes and looking back at Talia.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"I do consider them ideal for their purpose, yes." The purpose is, within the context of the culture this belongs to, is deep-rooted in sidestepping persecution over one of the easy identifiers of one being a member of that people. Something he is not.
He does have a worrisome preference of taking masks related to - and often being attributed with - those oft considered less savory. Would he take to a Zortroan mask, if one presented itself?
Even now, his posture seems akin to a statue even when he is sitting down in front of the waves - that even the idea of him craning his neck to look behind him might seem off. "I would find a likeness between them to be coincidental."
As Jay mentions how the beaches back home are far worse off, Ethius stands from where he sits - though these events have no correlation between one another other than the timing. He crosses his arms behind his back as though he were standing at attention to the very sun above, the breeze going through his white hair. The clear water, splashing against his ankles.
It feels nice - as if the world itself were inviting one to take to leisure while one can.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
"Oh? Ah--I just always liked blue! It is like my magic, no? And it is different than what my brother wears," Talia says. When one has a twin, they have a way of trying to find ways to make themselves differ. The fact that blue and red become a matching set... well, that is the way of these things.
She gives Jacqueline a thumbs-up, and then she beams a little as she looks at her for a moment. "Isn't it? Well--I know what you mean! I heard there were nice ones, by Hilton, but... I did not have a swimsuit, then, and it was winter."
She then looks at Ethius, and blinks for a moment, and watches him walk ahead. "Uh... what is the purpose? To hide what you look like? Air of mystery, maybe?"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
From the basket, Saarda-Shanta lets out a low 'hoo' of relaxation before sinking back into a doze.
For her part, Catenna flashes Jay a pensive smile. "I get tempted now and then to add a lily to my hair... in fact, perhaps I should do so. I have certainly seen some growing near here."
Canting her head back towards Ethius, the Moon Shaman watches him for a moment, gauging his tone and body language. Eventually, though, she seems to decide that she's not going to let his typical anti-social stoicism drag down their beach day into tedious ruminating on heavy topics, turning back to Talia and Jay with a more relaxed smile. "They have beaches in Elesius, but they are not always so nice. I saw some in the course of our wanderings."
At the talk of Talia's brother, Catenna blushes with a little sigh. "I hope he is not overly angry with me. He did not seem to particularly enjoy being thrown in the water...."
When Talia mentions her lack of a swimsuit, the Zortroan clears her throat and glances out to the water. "...I did not have a swimsuit for quite some time. It, ah. Was impressed upon me why one is needed."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline melts a little internally at that low 'hoo'. So cute...
"I agree, you should! A lily...that would be beautiful, I think." She says, nodding toward Catenna. She looks toward Talia, then, smiling at that thumbs-up.
"Hilton? That's what I hear...I've only been up that way for business, though, and...well, I've never been much of a beach girl, so I've never visited them, either. Maybe I should make plans to, next time we're back in Ignas..." Jacqueline considers. Maybe it was just Spira's general tropical air, but she was she starting to find herself appreciating the aesthetic. Catenna mentions the beaches of Elesius, and Jacqueline nods. "I imagine so..."
And then, the mention of Ivan. Jacqueline thinks for a moment.
"I haven't seen him since he told me about his chat with Leo...I hope he's doing alright." She considers for a moment...and then, she chuckles good-naturedly to herself. "...I can just imagine his reaction now, if he knew we were out here worrying about him."
She goes a little red at what Catenna says next though.
"A-ah, yes...they are, um. Quite useful, in that regard." She says, a bit awkwardly.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"There is no need to concern oneself about it," says someone whose very nature is a natural cause for concern. "It is simple preference." That is not what he told Jay and a few others one day, but, that was one day in the past.
Ethius walks away from the water proper as the tide starts to get higher. The odd Symbologist rejoins the four of them as he takes a look out further along the beach, as if to observe anyone else among the CaraKin who have decided to go enjoy the beach a bit further away. Nothing is happening to see him pull away to go address it, so that's good(?).
He peeks down to the little relaxing Owlet momentarily. He is drawn into a momentary staring contest with a thing that has shades.
He loses within six seconds. This must be an off day for him.
There is talk here and there about Talia's brother and his complex, oddball relationship with the lot of them through all the weird twists and turns it has taken. "I am certain matters will work out as they will." That does sound a fair bit detached for someone they are all (...almost all) concerned about.
If he goes red in the face at mention about swimsuits and/or lack thereof, well, he's cheating! But he does have a hand to his forehead. "Impressed, then?"
Beat. He stops from speculating more on the subject, beyond that first word.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
Talia blinks a couple of times at Catenna. Then, slowly, she nods her head. "Oh, yes--ah. It is good to not run around naked, no? I mean. Unless it is the way it is, where you are, in which case... everyone is having fun, I suppose!"
She shrusgs her shoulders, once, and then she looks sideways at Jay. She flashes a smile. "The weather makes me want beaches more, too! Ah, but--" She pauses for a moment, then sighs. "Yes, Ivan would be annoyed if he knew. But... I think he is glad he is not after all of you, now. In his grumpy sort of way."
She just hopes the called off assassination sticks.
She glances back at Ethius; Talia blinks once at him, and taps a finger against her cheek once. "Well, I suppose that is fair," she says. "They are stylish, no?"
Then, she picks up the blitzball. She bounces it off the sand, and then serves it right in Ethius's direction. "Catch!"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"It generally is." Catenna nods grimly back at Talia. "Good not to run around naked, I mean."
She moves briskly off the topic and back to the mention of Ivan. "I hope he is as well," Catenna admits with a smile back towards Jacqueline. "I felt I could understand him a little... I could have become a killer at the beck and call of another, too. The Zortroa are such for the chieftain, Piedras Blancas...."
That thought hangs for a moment before she folds her arms under her chest, tilting her head to one side. "I am also glad he is not after us! I would like to see him happy in his life, really."
Catenna has a partisan interest there, too. Being knifed is never fun, as Kaguya helpfully reminded her.
When Talia serves the ball towards Ethius, Catenna can't help but smile, taking a step to one side. "Ah, are we going to play? I think that might be just what we need, Talia...!"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline rolls her eyes a little at Ethius's dismissive response to Talia's question. She knows the reason because he told her, but she figures it's probably better if she keeps it to herself for now.
She chuckles a little at Talia's assessment of Ivan's current feelings.
"I'm glad he isn't, either - but I may be a little biased in that regard!" She replies, then looks toward Catenna with a nod. Piedras Blancas...she forgets if Catenna had mentioned that name before, but she stows it away for later and offers her a genuine smile. "I'm glad it never came to that. I much prefer you here with me."
She nods to agree, though, when Catenna says she'd like to see Ivan happy - she feels much the same way. She never felt any real malice out of him, which was part of the reason she was trying so hard.
She smiles, though, and sits up a little as Talia tosses the Blitzball to Ethius.
"That does seem like it could be fun..." She eventually decides, rising to her feet and brushing some sand off of her dress. She wasn't usually much one for sports, as much as her friendships seemed to involve her with them, but...maybe it could be nice?
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
'Catch!'
INDETERMINATE TIME?
The air is just as warm as it is now. (As warm as it is later?) Humid... but the air carried an easygoing aroma across the verdant fields. The sky has hidden away its light so that the light itself may rest under a blanket from which it still peeks through.
"Until the light wakes." A young voice says.
A white-haired boy's features are barely visible under the cover of the light that sleeps.
"The waking light will blame who has it when its eyes are open," another whispers.
The white-haired boy was of slighter build than the others among them - and the only one with white hair. The rest were silhouettes under this light, at best. They could scarce see one another even by the light that shone through the dark blanket above.
The white-haired boy moved forward, hand on forehead. "When the light wakes... I won't be the one caught with it!" Boastful.
"You would wake the light being so loud!" One of the others said, as another dropped a spherical object on the ground. They drew back a leg...
"It always sleeps now." They would all be impressed if it suddenly didn't, but one of the silhouettes draws back as another speaks.
"Catch!"
NOW
A partially distracted Ethius has a Blitzball bounce off the side of his head, popping up. He recoils, his mask slightly ajar. A free hand moves to re-adjust it. Just as it might seem like this is about to be another episode in which a head boo boo could be sustained, even in a playful situation...
He bops the heavy thing back up into the air at a less altitude with his head, with only a small flinch, before batting it forward with his head again in Catenna's direction. It's at a respectable but not especially dangerous velocity.
Ethius freezes where he is. "...I apologize." For what?
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
"Ah... yeah, it is... that is how life is for him. Was, for us," Talia says, a little softer than before. She looks at Catenna for a moment, and then back down at her feet. Only, she had decided to stop living that life -- and Ivan wasn't there yet. She looks down for a moment, and then she nods her head to her.
"I hardly mind the bias," she says, with a little laugh. "It seems quite fair, no?"
The ball bounces off Ethius's head. She opens her mouth, then closes it. "Well, as Jay said: it seems like fun! Though, you should use your hands, too, Ethius," she says. "It might work better for batting it at one of us, no?"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"Yes! I prefer to be with you too, Jay." Catenna's smile is genuine and bright, her eyes twinkling with a warmth she doesn't often let show.
Flicking her hair back with a brush of one hand, Catenna moves over to Talia, her hand halfway held out - but she lets it fall in favour of just standing beside her. The smile is still there, and so is the warmth behind it. "You're in a better place now. Jacqueline helped me at a time when I was alone without a family. I do not hesitate now to think of her as a sister to me...."
THUNK. Ethius gets brained. Catenna blinks a couple of times. "...Ethius, this is rather unlike you," she remarks mildly. He's typically hyper-alert!
But he's kicking the ball up into the air, and it's coming her way! Catenna gasps, then darts forward, springing into the air as her smile returns. Deftly she catches the ball with a hand and boosts it with a flick before sending it arcing lazily back towards Jay.
"I feel like this would work better in the water!" she suggests.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Yes, certainly!" Jacqueline replies to Talia with a nod. She looks toward Catenna then and smiles, clasping her hands in front of her. "Yes...it really has been quite the blessing for both of us. I'm sure...I'm sure things will improve for Ivan, too."
She watches the blitzball fly directly toward Ethius...who manages to catch it with his head, and bat it over to Catenna. Catenna's right - he seemed a bit distracted. And...why was he apologizing?
"It's alright, don't worry - a-ah, whoops...!" She catches the ball as Catenna sends it in her direction...but, nearly loses it as it bounces up out of her hands. She repositions herself, popping it up into the air again before sending it back in Talia's direction.
It's a fairly slow serve, without a whole lot of strength behind it.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"Hands?" Why is he even asking that?! He's played Blitzball casually now and then and he's seen and even handled that ball with his hands prior. Why would he be confused about that now? Maybe that hit him in the head harder than it looked. He takes a few steps back as if to better center himself as the game of catch goes live.
"It is true, Blitzballs were, by appearances, designed to be utilized underwat--" As if underlying Catenna's point about his usual level of awareness, he steps away again as it comes up towards Jay's turn to catch, as though reading her body language that it might be directing the ball his way. Why did he apologize?
...
"That said," he continues the train of thought, "I cannot ascertain for certain that the water would be completely clear of dangers unto themselves." A hand goes to his forehead again, but then a moment later it goes down to his neck - like he were acknolwedging there were other places he could touch his head that were not his forehead.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
'Without a family,' Talia thinks. She looks down -- and it makes so much sense to her and feels so alien. She has a family; she also worries about them enough that she worries she doesn't have one. She looks up.
No moping during Blitzball, she tells herself.
"Thank you!" she says, to Catenna and Jay both. "I hope so too, no? But--I think I will stick around you. In case he comes back, or someone else gets the idea, no?" She winks, then, and pauses as Jacqueline almost bobbles the ball -- and sends it at her.
She steps back, then reaches up. She catches the ball, then, and tucks it under an arm. She looks between them for a moment; then, Talia shrugs, and walks out to the water. She starts to wade in, until she is waist high.
"Well!" she says. "The water is warm! So, let's see..." She bounces it up, and then serves it back towards Catenna.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"I appreciate your caution but I think it's alright to not worry just this once," Catenna assures Ethius with a shake of her head.
To Talia, she offers a warm smile. "That's good. And in fairness, my parents and siblings are well, last I checked. But I have found something with Jay and her friends that I could never find among the Zortroa."
Putting it into words is difficult. At least Jay doesn't hate her guts or treat her like a failed Zortroan.
She shunts the thoughts aside. Mooning over her family during Blitzball can only be a bad thing.
When Talia walks out to the water, Catenna comes after her at a brisk jog, wading into the surf once she gets there. The first contact of the waves causes her to gasp pleasantly. "It's beautiful!" she exclaims, an uncharacteristic liveliness in her tone as she begins to let her guard and reserve down - something she'd never do outside of this circle of friends.
When Talia serves the ball up, she laughs lightly, bounding up in the water. "I've got it," she calls out as she sweeps her arms over her head. For a second the blitzball dangles on her fingertips - but she manages to save it, boosting it up, then catching it as it descends to send it lobbing across the water.
It goes lobbing back towards Talia. "Here it comes!"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Well, I'm glad to have you with us! Not just as a bodyguard, but as a friend, too." Jacqueline says with a smile. It was a bit of a relief to have Talia there, though - she was pretty reliable. Between her and Ethius, anyone would be hard-pressed to sneak up on them.
There's a warm smile as Catenan explains how she'd found something with the Caravan Kinship that she couldn't find with the Zortroa. It's nice, to hear it put into words.
Talia and Catenna both wade into the water and Jacqueline follows after them - though she does have to take a second to make sure her dress won't weigh her down too much. It wasn't normally meant for water, but thanks to alchemical ingenuity it's no problem at all.
She smiles, too, as she notes Catenna letting her guard down. She looks toward Ethius, then - a person who rarely, if ever, did so.
"It's alright. Between the four of us, I'm sure we'll be fine if something comes up. Come on in!" She says.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is the last one to take to the water, even with Catenna's assurance that it is all right not to worry just the once. She seems to have the right of it by any measure. As Talia points out, the water is warm and perfect for a day of fun. Catenna reassures her happiness in having found something she otherwise would not have. Jay, once more, holds to her hard-tested optimism that has withstood any number of things that could have shattered her - or anyone - beyond repair.
Come on in, Jay invites. Ethius takes to the most shallow end of the gathering a few moments later, the lobbed ball whizzing by him towards Talia's grasp as he stands witness to a rare moment in which all of them can let loose and have fun.
It counts if he's in the water and playing the same game they are, doesn't it?
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
"That sounds... nice, no?" Talia says, looking up at Catenna and smiling.
Even if she wonders -- and doubts -- that she can find such a thing herself. She wonders, a little, if she wants to. She grins, though, as she feels the heat of the water -- and sees the ball fly up through the air. She leaps -- and spikes the ball out of the air. It hits the water, then bounces off it, and goes flying back towards Ethius.
"Look up, no?" she calls back at him, beaming proudly--
--and then botches the landing with a splash. She goes under, then comes up, with wet black hair and looking a little bedraggled. "W-Wait, we are friends?" she sputters at Jay. "I am not the annoying assassin girl?"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna letting her reserve down doesn't happen often, but any friend of Jacqueline is a friend of hers - and she's closer to Jay than just about anyone else in her life who is not named Cyre H. Lorentz.
If Talia isn't going to give voice to those thoughts, it's left unsaid if Catenna can see them - or if she can simply assume they're there. They're thoughts she carried around for a long time, a lone out-of-place Ellurian among the people of Ignas. She doesn't let it show beyond a smile and a simple openness - an experience she'll leave there for Talia if she wants it.
The ball goes spiralling towards Ethius, and Catenna claps her hands together with a smile - then gasps at the sight of Talia going under. When the assassin pops back up, though, she smiles and pushes her hair back with both hands. Water's not going to hurt the girl, and getting wet's just part of the blitzball experience.
"You do not seem annoying at all," she puts in. "And if Jay considers you a friend, Talia, then so do I."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline watches Talia serve the ball in Ethius's direction with an impressive leap - and then splash into the water in a way that doesn't seem intentional. Jacqueline waits to make sure she's alright, then lets out a brief, good-natured chuckle which soon turns into a smile turned Talia's way.
"Of course! As long as you want to be, that is!" She says, and then nods as Catenna speaks up. "Exactly! I don't think you're annoying, either - far from it!"
She certainly sounds sincere about it - and there's no amount of hesitation there, either.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The cheer among the three of them is infectious. The only one who doesn't seem to have a smile to show is Ethius, because he is wearing a dumb mask. A mask that's not far from his regular gaze - rarely changing, scarcely relenting, what is oft seen could well be the look he carries into eternity for when that time comes.
Look up, no?
Look up, yes, that ball has a heck of a bounce from the water by Talia's spike and it coming at him from high enough he might have to try to leap to catch it - which he does, without much ceremony or style behind it. The Blitzball is taken into his grasp as Talia flops over into the water and appears flabbergasted by what is said.
As Catenna reassures and Jay reasserts, Ethius stands there quietly with the Blitzball quietly.
This is no vacation. Ethius thinks to himself. I cannot allow myself to come to rest so long as the circumstances remain as they are. Even then... oh, I have the ball.
He throws an understated, basic toss leading with his left - his dominant hand - sending it skipping along back to Jay but maybe coming a little short. It doesn't have the peppy bounce that Talia's spike gave it, like he were in a hurry to be rid of it.
...Even then... it is not my place to tell them whether it is. He reflects as he stands a bit further away from the gathering, the furthest distance of anyone from the game of catch. It is good that they can consider it such on their terms. Nonetheless...
Nonetheless he could probably get beaned in the head again.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
It isn't all that often that Talia flusters, but it does happen. Her hand hooks around her neck, and then she glances down -- a little shyly, and with her cheeks burning red. "Th-that's, um--"
Two friends, it seems. She looks at Ethius, who throws the Blitzball at Jay. Two friends, she decides.
"That sounds great, no?" she manages with a little stammer -- and cheeks that remain red. "I do not exactly have many friends." She coughs. "Um--glad... you all... um... think so! Ah, Ethius, you can throw the ball with a little more spin, no?"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
A part of Catenna can't help but wonder if she blushed like that the first time she started to think about the idea of having friends rather than horrible monster siblings who hate her guts.
She pushes the darker thought aside; this is no time to brood. Her own cheeks take on a hint of rosiness as she glances to the water, but soon she's looking back up with a smile for Talia. "Then we are happy to be part of a privileged group,," she answers with a simple warmth, quiet yet genuine.
As Ethius casts the ball to Jay so limply, Catenna bobs back in the water a little ways, in it up to about her navel now. Her smile grows lopsided. "Ethius, you're allowed to have fun, you know. You have only been travelling with us for two years now."
From near the beach, the Owlet - shades and all - has moved to perch on the arm of the basket. <I do not think he will ever change, dear heart.>
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline watches Talia. She notes the way she seems shy about it, and the way her cheeks turn red. It distracts her for a moment, and in this time, Ethius sends the ball in her direction.
"A-ah! Don't worry, I've got it...!" Jacqueline says. She has to sort of dive for it, with the way it almost comes up short, but she manages to pop it up into the air again to send it Catenna's way.
She straightens herself up, though, and then looks toward Talia.
"Then it's decided! I'm glad to count you among my friends, Talia - I truly am." She says, with a resolute nod. She nods again at Catenna's words, her smile widening further.
And then, she lets out an honest giggle at Catenna's comment to Ethius.
"We haven't given up on him yet, though." She says. Even if he could be a little difficult at times.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
He is called out for his half-hearted throw. He has been seen, even casually, being pretty good at certain kinds of ball games. Even in the Blitzball Sphere - a place he'd never been in prior - he had a hell of a good passing game that almost might have gotten him drafted as a free agent.
The spotlight shines upon him, microscopic, for the distance in play. He goes quiet(er).
It has been three years. He reflects - a figure one year greater than Catenna's timeline of her knowing him. As far back as the straight line of memories he has goes. Three years, and I am met with no conclusive answer as to what it is...
"Your continued..." cooperation, say it, that's part of his scripted-sounding words he is so fond of, "...concern, is..."
...what it is that I must destroy.
...Is? A hand goes to his forehead. "...It is appreciated," he kinda-sorta salvages the statement. "It is not my intention to devalue your activity. I have merely misgauged the balance and weight of the throw."
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
Talia keeps smiling, when Jay says that. Her hand slips away from her neck and she glances to the side -- a little shy and a little awkward. Finally, she bobs her head again.
"Thanks," she says, again, a little quieter. "I'm glad, no?"
She watches the ball fly, then looks back at Ethius. It's a very odd way to put it, she thinks. But... maybe nice, in its own way.
"I am glad I met you, no?"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Again the ball flies, and again Catenna's got her eye on it. "I have it!" she calls out with a little laugh, sliding backwards in the water and boosting herself up, one arm sweeping to try and strike it --
She falls just short, arching back to try and get it, but losing her footing. There's a loud splash as Catenna falls into the ocean.
With a gasp, she pops above the surface, holding the blitzball in one hand. Her hair hangs around her face and shoulders in a wet drape as she blinks water out of her eyes - but she's still smiling, her face flushed, despite the moment of embarrassment. She even manages something she rarely lets anyone else hear.
A surprisingly girlish giggle.
"I'm glad we met too," she says, genuinely.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline's attention turns toward Ethius as he begins to say...something - it takes him a lot of effort, but he gets to it eventually, and Jacqueline smiles.
"You're welcome." She replies. The ball flies toward Catenna...and she catches it, but splashes into the ocean. Jacqueline waits, watching to make sure she's alright...and when Catenna comes up with that giggle, Jacqueline can't help but join her. It's infectious.
"Yes, absolutely. I'm glad, too." She replies, with a resolute nod. She wouldn't give these friends of hers up for anything in the world.