Beach

Darren stepped out of the changing room in his swimsuit. He actually was well figured, slightly tone which was more than he probably should have been. Probably another enhancement from the Seed. He turned and saw Rosalia and Seifer, but no Noel anywhere. He looked around and realized she wasn't around at all.

"Noel?" he called out to her. To prevent him from yelling any further, one of the ladies working there pointed him in the direction the Kusanagi girl went to. He walked to that changing station, knocking on the door as he wouldn't dare to go inside. "Hey, is everything alright in there?" he called out.

Okay, so first of all, it is not uncommon for a woman to think her man was handsome. That's part of the reason some people nowadays date/marry, because their partner is drop dead gorgeous. Obviously, her own love for Seifer was based on much more than just appearances... but hot damn he was hot- I mean... uh... Ya know what, already digging myself a hole here. Rosalia, thankfully, didn't drool, but she did end up staring at the brunette for a solid thirty seconds. Just... staring... Eventually, she caught onto the fact that there was this giant scar over his chest. Then agaaaaain she already saw it earlier... in the hotel....

The scar still seemed out of place, but she didn't mind it. The pinkette only followed the male to their spot on the beach, setting up the umbrella when they got there while leaving the towels (for the moment) in the beach bag so they didn't get all sandy. Then she finally noticed that half of their party was missing, and glanced back at the beach shop. "I know Noely picked a swimsuit out..." Rosalia frowned a bit, looking down at herself. The bikini Noel got should have been the blue version of her own. It was a nice halter-top bikini with frills along the borders with stripes across the whole thing. The frills and stripes were just a few shades lighter than the base color, and the bottoms matched exactly. Now, given her shape, she had an attractive figure for a petite frame, but was sure that the bikini would look great on both herself and Noel. "Wanna go check on Noel and Darren, see what's holding them up?"

Hm, well maybe they should check up on them. Rather unusual that it'd be taking so long. Right? "Yeah sure, let's go see what's up." he spoke softly, kissing the edge of her lips for a moment before walking toward the changing area and spotting... Darren? Outside of one of them? It looked like he was trying to coax the person inside out... Which could only mean... His little sister is shy, that's adorable! I mean, ahem... Walking over to the changing booth, he gently knocked on the door. "Hey is everything alright in there? ...Do you need me or Rosalia to come in there?" he purposely left Darren's name off for... reasons.

"Uhhh... I uhh... umm... No! Nothing is ok!" The proud Kusanagi... was shy? How is that even possible? A few days ago, she was ready to behead people without thinking twice and she is afraid of coming out of a changing room because of what she is wearing? This is so embarassing... people are gonna stare!! Noel's face was red and was trying to cover up herself even though it was pointless in doing on. She cracked open the door of the changing room. "You guys! Get out of here! Go! GOOOO!! ROSALIA YOU STAY!"

Bring in Reapers, she will be there. Bring in any kind of threat to her life, she will still be there fighting without thinking. Bring her in a changing room and have her wear a bikini? Then you better expect her to stay in there. Who would of known, that her weakness isn't some supernatural force or entity, but of something so trivial as a bikini.

Darren blinked as he saw Noel. She was bright red. There was something cute about it, but her yelling brought him back to reality. He took a couple of steps back, seeing that she would draw blood if anyone made the embarrassment she was feeling any worse. The last thing she needed right now was a boy seeing her.

"I guess Noel's never done this before," Darren said out loud. He hadn't done something like this before either so he wasn't one to talk about it in that way. Still, it did make him all the more curious as he started to walk back and give the girls space.

Having left their newly bought beach supplies on the sand, Rosalia was quick to follow Seifer back to the changing area. Actually, she almost couldn't hide her giggle fit when Noel was clearly embarrassed by the situation, before yelling at the boys to leave. Yay girl time! The pinkette added a shoo-ing motion with her hands to both of the guys, then stood right where the open crack of the door was. This way, despite Rosalia being so damn short, most people couldn't see into it. Not that Noel wasn't decent, but whatever. "It's okay, Noely~ I'm here. If you're worried about people staring, we can get you a different suit, but I think you look really good in that~ Hum..."

So how could she get her sister-in-law to relax enough and come out of hiding? She sighed mostly to herself, crossing her arms as she glanced around for an idea. The possibility of a cover-up from the beach shop was always an option. That way Noel could hide a bit more of herself while not actually wearing her normal clothes in case they got wet or sandy. But Rosalia waited to see what Noel wanted this time, offering a gentle smile at all times. "What can I do to help?"

Have you ever seen a six foot tall man go from neutral standing position to parallel to the ground with little to no movement? Neither have I. And while Seifer thought it was adorable that his little sister was shy, big brother instincts kicked it, and his feet met with the back of Darren's head. Why? Big Brother that's why.

"Oh no, it's just that... I like it... it's really pretty looking and we kinda match, it would be a waste to change it now. It's... I never wore anything like this before... I'm probably overreacting but I..." Noel's face was red, she was stuttering at the fact that she is wearing something like this. "Just don't leave me!" Noel said as she latched on to Rosalia's arm. Somehow holding on to her arm was helping Noel calm down and relax. If they stayed together then the attention to her won't be as much since Rosalia is there and her being there means big brother surveillance and protection.

After finally relaxing, Noel felt ready to get out of the changing room although her face a still a bit red, "Hm... ok... I am ready now. We can go, sorry for taking this long, just bear with me for now..."

Darren felt a tremendous force collide with the back of his head. He fell forward, hitting the ground and creating a bloody puddle where none should be. He wasn't knocked out from it. This was someone who was in the middle of a mall being destroyed. This was someone who had a Vanguard Fight Table blow up in his face. This wouldn't kill him, but it hurt like hell.

He started to stand up, his body shaking slightly as he saw Rosalia was helping Noel. That was good. He turned to Seifer after that and said, "What the hell, man? What the actual hell?!"

Rosalia blinked twice when Noel latched onto her arm. Was this how Seifer felt when she would hug his arm? It was so adorable!! A-ahem, anyways... "Heh~ I'm not going anywhere, Noely," she replied softly, lightly stroking the embarrassed female's hair with her free hand to hopefully calm her down. I'm not going to disappear again... At least Noel finally relaxed, even if the crimson was still prevalent in the blackette's face. It really was cute, and maybe now they could actually enjoy their time at the beach!

"It's okay, Noely~ You'll never be a burden to me. I just want you to be happy and have fun, considering all that's going on right now... So, let's go find the guys, shall we?" Speaking of which, as Rosalia moved out of the way so Noel could actually leave the changing room, the pinkette's gaze found Darren yelling at Seifer... of which, Darren had blood running down the back of his head. "What the..."

"Hey man look, it's not like I coulda killed you with that. But to be fair, my body just kinda acted on it's own. No idea why." he shrugged as he stood up from dropkicking Darren. Really though, he wasn't usually this violent. Oh the girls were out. Awesome. "Hi there. Ready to go?" he asked turning around and waving. They looked cute side by side, his fiance and his sister. Though he wasn't really going to stare, not right now. Plus he'd only be staring at the pinkette for... obvious reasons. Anyway! "You guys ready to do well... ...beach things??"

Noel came out of the changing room, still latching on to Rosalia's arm, still a bit embarrassed. She can feel guys around the store staring, dazed out on her appearance. Somehow seeing Darren getting dropkicked by Seifer made her forget a little about that and she laughed at the scene. "I'm ready to go, we wasted a lot of time... because of me. Can we just go?" Noel just wanted to leave the store and see the beach already. Maybe then her self-conscious self can settle down and deal with what she is wearing.

Darren stood up completely by this point. He brushed himself off a bit as his head was still dripping slightly from what Seifer did. He sighed before he saw Noel. He turned away immediately so that he wouldn't stare. She looked... good to say the least. But it wouldn't help her shyness if her best friend was staring her down like any other guy would.

"Don't sweat it, Noel," he said as he tried to reassure her. Realizing that talking to her without looking at her would make it worse, he turned to her and tried to focus on her eyes. "This is new to all of us from what I can tell. At least we're ready now. Let's have some fun together."

Rosalia flashed Noel another smile, only to give Darren a quick glare. He was having an awfully hard time not staring at the already embarrassed female. If she didn't have Noel hanging on her arm, Darren would have gotten a kick to the face probably. Eh, save that for another day. There were other guys in the store staring, but she had no reason to hit them either... for now... "Beach day~"

The pinkette grinned from ear to ear as she led the way to their spot on the beach, which had the umbrella set up and a bag of stuffed with their towels and beach goodies. Even with access to only one arm, she reached into the bag and rummaged around for a tad, eventually pulling a Frisbee out. "Wanna play Frisbee? I think I grabbed a beach ball too, and some cute little shovels for building sand castles like kids~" What? This was a day that they could actually relax; might as well make the most of it. Note that the Frisbee could also be used as a weapon against Darren if need be~ (Yes, she is going to pick on him for all eternity)

Seifer had finished setting up a set of three umbrellas and four beach towels in their spot when Rosalia mentioned the sand castle part, turning and smiling just a bit. It seemed like beach day was a pretty good idea. He however... pulled out sun screen. "Before you guys start playing in the sun, let's make sure to apply some of this so we don't regret it later. Gather under the umbrellas." he motioned to the group to join him in the shade. Honestly, sun burns are the worst.

Noel was amazed by the beach. The views of the ocean, seeing nothing but water far away was really something. For a moment, the thought about Reapers or anything that threatened the world seemed to be nothing more than a bad dream while here. This day... was finally a normal day. Noel can be a normal girl for once, but honestly, what was normal? Nothing about her childhood was normal. But now wasn't the time to think of the past, it was beach time and this beach newbie was going to learn how to have fun here today!

Seifer called everyone to gather around the umbrellas as he pulled out a bottle of sun screen. Apparently you can get burned by the sun for staying out in the beach for too long. "That makes sense... I just want to have fun already! Let's get this over with!!"

Darren stepped onto the sand and looked around at the horizon. The beach was beautiful, and it was the first time he could think of that he was in a place like this with friends. It was just like the Cardfight Club all over again. That felt like so long ago that it was almost unreal. That was what Darren was fighting for, to return to those times where days like this were the norm. That said, today was a time to remember them by having fun without and magic or fate of the world side-plots.

Darren heard Seifer call everyone over. He was still sour about getting kicked in the head for no reason, but he might as well make sure his skin doesn't burn. It really was one of the worst pains of all time, constant too. He did not want to go through something like that. He walked over to umbrella and took a bottle. Yeah, he made sure to get a bottle when he bought his trunks. He was there to have fun but he wasn't a fool. "This is just what the doctor ordered," Darren said softly as he was rubbing his Sun Screen onto his own body. "Minus the kick in the head, I mean. Nice scenery and nice views. Good old fashion fun."

Rosalia simply hummed to herself happily as the sunscreen was handed out. She immediately snatched up a bottle and handed it over to Noel, while grabbing another for herself. "Good ole sunscreen~" She immediately poured out some of the white substance, only to pause. Hmm.... "Seifer~ I'll get your back for ya~" Immediately she moved behind her six-foot-tall fiancé and applied the sunscreen to his back, making sure to work it into his skin so there wasn't any globs of white smeared everywhere.

While doing so, the pinkette did glance out at the ocean. She's been here a couple of times now since she returned from Delete, but they never went into the water. It was a nice warm day too, so the cool ocean waves were practically calling to her. As long as she didn't accidentally step on a crab or something... Knowing her luck, Rosalia was going to at some point. Oh well. When finished with applying sunscreen to Seifer's back, the female giggled and moved around in front of him, so he could do her back. "My turn~" While waiting though, she started on her front and face. Getting a burnt face was probably the worst because then everyone could see it.

When the bottle was taken from him, and he felt the cold cream against his back he stiffened, shivering. It was unexpected but not unwanted, since it was her anyway. When she finished, and said it was her turn, he returned the favor... Smearing the sun screen against her back and massaging it in so that there wasn't any globs left to taint the look of her skin... Then proceeded to apply the sunscreen to the rest of his body that was exposed so that he didn't burn anywhere. There done. Handing the bottle of sun screen over to his sister, he gave a smile that just said enjoy the beach.

Noel looked at the bottle of sun screen. This was easy to do... right? Ok, I know I can do this. This shouldn't be too hard... Noel proceeded to put sun screen on her arms, legs and the rest of her body... minus her back. She needed some help there. Why is getting something on your back so difficult? "I.. uhh, kinda need help getting some on my back..."

Darren seemed to put his own Sun Screen all over his body, as much as what was showing at least. All except his back. He sighed as he was thinking of calling forth a unit to help him with that. Probably not the best of ideas. He turned to Noel, still not used to seeing her in a bikini. He didn't show it though, that would lead to more pain. He did see that she was having problem with Sun Screen.

Darren walked up to her. He held up his own bottle in his hand as he said, "Hey, I'll help you if you help me." He made sure it was as casual as possible. There was nothing wrong with a friend helping another friend with sun screen. "Seifer and Rose are helping each other, so why not, right?"

Rosalia finished up with her own sunscreen as quick as she could when Seifer was done with her back. She was ready to go and have fun finally, when she heard Noel and Darren ask about their own backs. Whoops, almost forgot about them~ She walked over to the pair and poked Darren's shoulder. "I can take care Noely~ You go poke Seifer~" she grinned. Guys help guys, girls help girls? Their couple moment didn't count because, well, couple things.

Without waiting for an answer, the pinkette moved behind Noel and took the sunscreen, working quickly and carefully to get the entirety of her back. "So what'cha want to do first, Noely? We can play frisbee, or blow up the beach ball, or  make sand castles, or swim for a bit... Oh, we should have gotten boogie boards. That would have been fun~ Though we have enough stuff to carry back to the base as it is, I suppose.." Actually, she was have debating to go back to the shop and get one or two anyways. They could share, right?

"I could just buy a storage area nearby. Wouldn't be that hard honestly." he suggested the idea of buying a storage shed, purely because of how awkward it'd be to take the beach stuff back to the base. Stepping behind Darren, Seifer applied the sun screen with no complaints, straight faced the entire time as if it didn't bother him. Spoiler, it really didn't. "There all done." stepping back after he was done applying the sunscreen to Darren's back, he stretched, looking at the girls. "Rosie hun, if you wanted you can just get a pair of boogie boards if you want. Or even a whole set for us. It'd be fun I guess. Like I said, storage shed is a thing."

"I... don't know honestly. We can do whatever you want to do first really. We COULD just play in the water or something. I really don't know." There was so many options that Noel couldn't possibly choose which one to start first. Not only it's her first time at the beach but knowing what the proper thing to do first is obviously beyond her knowledge. She just waited to see what everyone else wanted to do first. Also, a storage area could work in putting personal things in. No need to bring these types of things back at the base. "And thanks for helping me with my back Rosalia, I wouldn't want to get burned for not being able to put some sunscreen on my back." Is this truly a normal, peaceful day? Noel is finds this day too good to be true. Although in the far reaches of her mind, she wishes Salome was back so she can at least accompany her here.

Darren felt sun screen hitting his back. Seifer was the one that did it. That was fine. He wasn't expecting much more than that. Having Noel do it would have been nice but she was far too shy for such a thing. Besides, it was more than clear that the other two didn't trust him very much. He wasn't going to let something like that ruin his beach day.

The ideas that Rosalia gave were fun, he wouldn't mind doing any of those things, or all of them. Probably not all at once because that would be very difficult. "We can do anything you like, guys," he said to the two girls. "We're pretty much got the area to ourselves so we have a bit of room to spread out." He looked at the water with a small blink. Good thing he knew how to swim.