Sunscreen and Ice Cream

[Laurels]

(OOC: First roleplaying post ever!!!! I feel so excited!!!!)

It was only seven a.m, but Paige was feeling like she had been up for six hours already. It was Saturday, the forecast predicted blue skies and moderate temperatures, so she thought was the perfect day to do her workout at the beach. There was a sidewalk that ran parallel to the ocean that most of Highland Beach's joggers and cyclists used in the summer or on weekends.

Paige began to get ready for her workout. She had dressed appropriately, wearing a pair of black athletic shorts, an orange tank top, and her classic pink and white running shoes. She had filled her water bottle back at home and had it strapped to the fanny pack around her waist. The small black pack contained her cell phone, some moist towelettes, a small bottle of sunscreen, and some cash for lunch. She was also wearing an iPod in a band on her left arm.

Paige had parked her bike at the far end of the beach, locking it into the bike rack. Her plan was to start at the far end of the beach, run to the boardwalk on the other end, and then run back to the bike rack. Once she was at the bike rack, she would ride her bike to the boardwalk and then back. After jogging and biking a second time, she would take a break for lunch before riding back home.

After tying her hair in a bun and applying the sunscreen, she put her earbuds on, pressed play, and began her workout to the tune of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep". Paige started at a brisk pace. The run itself would be nearly three miles, so she knew to pace herself. By the time Paige reached the boardwalk, she knew she had plenty of energy to continue her schedule.

"One down," thought Paige as she turned around and ran back towards her bike.

[Lord_Shadow]

((PREGAME: TIMOTHY WALKER START))

Timothy Walker was a Texas-native, and California really didn't suit him well. Despite being from a much warmer climate, the boy didn't spend much time outside. But his parents wanted that to change and so outside he had to go. Well, while he was outside, he decided he may as well try to enjoy it.

The sun beat down on the boy's skin. He made sure to bring plenty of sunscreen, and a nice wide hat as well. His sunglasses completed the look and he decided to set up shop. Why out so early, his parents had asked? His answer had been why not? Truthfully, it was more be out early so he could stay inside mot of the later day.

He got out his little table and set it up on the sidewalk there, sign and all. The sign read: Test your luck, dealer stays on 17. Payout 3 to 1.

Pointless, he knew. But damn if he wasn't going to get one sucker out here before he finally got to turn in.

[Laurels]

Around noon, Paige had finished her workout. Sure, some might find it strange to continuously bike and run approximately twenty-four miles on such a hot Saturday, but Paige loved it. The feel of sweat on her brow, the pacing of her breathing, the way everything sort of blurred when she was going really fast, it was wonderful.

Paige decided to ride her bike back to the boardwalk to pick up some lunch. She really liked the burgers they served at Dan's Grill, and she was really hungry. She hopped on her bike and began to ride down the sidewalk again.

The ride was actually nice. She got to really take in the scenery. She could see a little girl crying about dropping her ice cream in the sand, a dog running into the crashing waves, even a group of teenage girls tanning.

There was a sight she had noticed a few times during her workout. There was a boy wearing a hat sitting at a card table. The sign next to him read "Test Your Luck: Dealer Stay on 17. Payout 3 to 1". Paige wasn't sure about this guy, but she felt she had to stop.

She parked her bike in front of him.

"Hey, don't you go to Colehurst?" Paige asked the boy. "What's this all about?"

[Lord_Shadow]

And possibly the first sucker of the day stepped up. A girl about his age, she looked like. He had seen her jogging and bike-riding up and down the area. "What could bring you here huh? Curiosity killed the cat you know." She asked him if he went to Colehurst, what was up with his setup.

"Sure do ma'am," was his reply to her first question, "and this is just a nice little test I'm conducting. Just looking to see what kind of luck Californians got. Would you like to try yours out?"

He adjusted his hat. "Tell you what... first one's no charge. You win, I'll show you a little secret to the game." He flashed her a smile. Curiosity would get the better of her, he knew. And one way or another, he'd be walking away from this encounter with something he didn't start with.

[Laurels]

"Sure do ma'am, and this is just a nice little test I'm conducting," the boy at the card table said.

"Test?" thought Paige. "What, like some kind of psyche experiment? Why phrase it like that?"

"Just looking to see what kind of luck Californians got."

"Oh great," she thought, "we got some smug out-of-stater here. He must think everyone in California is tan, beautiful, and addicted to marijuana. He probably bets that I know a few celebs in Hollywood."

"Would you like to try yours out?" he asked her.

Paige held her left hand under her chin. She pursed her lips as she thought about what to do.

"Tell you what..."

Paige perked up.

"...first one's no charge. You win, I'll show you a little secret to the game."

"Well, it's not like I lose anything if I play a free game," she thought, staring at the boy with the large hat. "Okay, I'll entertain him."

Paige stepped closer to the table and crouched down to eye level with the boy.

"Alright kid. One free game. So, am I supposed to find the lady or something?"

[Super Llama*]

Suddenly, off in the distance.

"seeeeeaaaaaaguuuuuuuullllllllllllllllllllll!!"

A large seagull flew by, a well-garnished hot dog in its beak as it crossed the beach, being chased by a girl clad-in black with short, wild hair in alternating black-and-blue colors.

"I'll get you, you feathery bastard!"

The seagull led the girl on for a bit longer before finally turning and heading out in the direction of the ocean. The girl gave chase for a bit longer before just barely stopping right at the shore, staring intensely out at the seagull, seriously considering for a brief moment of continuing to run after it, as if sheer determination could cause her to run across the surface of the ocean to reacquire her $1.50 hot dog that had been in a bird's mouth and was probably all trashed.

"Gah! Stupid buoyancy laws!" Maria Graham finally concluded.

[Aura]

A little more shading here and...done!

Craig Hoyle placed his pencil in his bag and admired his work. Earlier that morning, he was inspired to draw a beach scene, so he had gone to the beach in order to gather further inspiration. And as the sun reached the top of the early afternoon sky, he had finally finished. A scenic picture of the beach, while two superheroes on the shore do battle with a mad scientist riding a robotic orca. It looked tike a two-page splash in a comic book. Either that or the cover of a metal album.

Craig closed his sketchbook and slowly lifted himself to his feet. It was times like this that he hated being so big. He was big and slow, and he didn't even have the surprising strength that everyone expected fat guys to have. Once on his feet, Craig looked around the beach to see if anything else was going on.

He saw a girl talking to some shady-looking guy at a booth. He recognized the girl as someone he had seen before at Colehurst, one of the athletes. Paige something. The guy, on the other hand, was someone Craig didn't know personally, but was familiar with nonetheless. Craig didn't remember the guy's name, but he knew him as the kid that acted smug towards everyone and kind of looked like a gangster.

As Craig was trying to jog his memory for names, he was distracted by the sight of another girl running past while yelling at a seagull.

Well that's something you don't see every day.

This girl was wearing a black shirt and had punkish blue and black hair. Craig knew that she went to Colehurst, and she was one of the few people that had never given him flack about his weight, so that was nice.

But why is she mad at a seagull? Craig couldn't stop asking himself that question. It wouldn't get out of his head. He needed an answer. He carefully approached the girl.

"Um...why are you yelling at that seagull?"

[Lord_Shadow]

"And that ladies and gents is how you draw someone in who otherwise has no reason to play your game." He smiled as Paige picked him up on his offer. "Oh no, nothing like that. Classic Blackjack here, 21 is what you're aiming for. Though if you do find the lady you be sure to let me know, see?" Just like a gangster. So friggin classy. There was no way he would lose. No way she would ever know how he knew he wouldn't lose. Get her interested in why she lost and she'll friggin throw money at him. Most people did. All about the ego. And the id too or something. Some crap Freud said or did right?

Didn't matter. He shuffled the cards, burned the first, dealt his, and dealt her two. King and Queen, just like he knew it would be. "And mine's and Ace and a Jack. The unbeatable. Too bad, you lose. That's pretty lucky there. Good enough to stay with. Though if lady luck loves you as much as it looks like, one more couldn't hurt."

And that was when he heard the cry of a girl chasing a seagull. He whipped around. "The hell?" Some crazy dame was running after a bird like it had stolen her lunch or something. "Don't see that every day." He mused to himself.

[Laurels]

"Classic Blackjack here, 21 is what you're aiming for" said the kid shuffling the card.

"Oh good, I can win Blackjack," thought Paige.

"Though if you do find the lady you be sure to let me know, see?"

"God was that lame".

The boy continued to shuffle the cards. He then began to toss the cards onto the table. As he did, Paige heard someone shouting.

"I'll get you, you feathery bastard!" a girl with black and blue hair shouted while running down the beach.

"Was that girl chasing a seagull?" thought Paige. "How queer. Oh yeah, the game."

Paige took a look at the two cards in front of her, making sure to keep the cards out of sight from the boy with the hat.

"King and queen" thought Paige. "That's a twenty. That's pretty good. If this guy doesn't pull any shady shit, then I might win."

"Alright, I'm good." Paige said.

She awaited the reveal.

[Lord_Shadow]

((Apologies for skipping and lateness. My bad really.))

Tim nodded in affirmation of the girl's wish to stay. It almost made him feel bad letting her think she had a chance. Almost.

He flipped his cards over, one at a time.

"Ace of Clubs, a 1 or an 11. Could make or break someone in a high stakes game."

He adjusted his sunglasses before he flipped over the next card. Jack, just as he knew it would be.

"And..." he flipped the card over. It wasn't a Jack. Wasn't even a 10 or a Queen or a King. It was an 8. The 8 of hearts. For a moment he froze, then continued on as if nothing happened. "an 8 of Hearts. Looks like lady luck loves you like I thought she did." He tipped his hat.

"But how long will that last I wonder?"

[Laurels]

"I won?" though Paige. "That's pretty awesome."

But how long will that last, I wonder?

"Another game? Let me think."

Paige began to run all the situations in her mind. She just won a free game of Blackjack. She could pride herself on her victory and simply leave. There was the fact that the guy in front of her looked kind of sketchy, what with his large hat, sunglasses, and the dinky little card table with the cheap sign on it. He probably was rigging it to get her to play more.

"That's what these kind of guys do, don't they?" Paige asked herself.

But then again, she could still win again and again. If she actually put money on the next round, she could take money with her.

"Wait, does '3 to 1' mean that I get a dollar for every $3 I place down? That's a fucking rip!" she thought.

Still, Paige wasn't entirely certain about how gambling odds worked. She heard about how some Vegas guys would talk about the odds of celebs winning Dancing with the Stars, but she never got how they calculated it. So, she might still get a lot for the money she brought for lunch.

Paige considered for a bit, and finally reached a decision.

"Nah, one game is enough for me," she said to the boy at the table.

Paige turned around and moved back towards the bike.

"Sorry man, but I think I've had enough fun."

Paige hopped on her bike and rode off to the boardwalk. After a nice lunch at Dan's Grille, she would ride her bike home and relax. She had a pretty nice day at the beach, and even gained a few freckles because of it.

((Paige Strand continued in It's Not a Party, It's an Intimate Get Together))

[Super Llama*]

(I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE)

"That seagull stole my hot dog!" Maria said to the guy who just walked up and addressed the crazy shouting girl. "He's probably at home by now, bragging about it to his seagull family."

She could just imagine it now. The seagull comes home to his wife and kids and he's like. "Honey, I'm home!"

And then his wife is like "And where have you been all day?"

"You won't believe it. This weird-looking blue-haired girl left her hot dog on one of those tables at the boardwalk, so I just swooped in and grabbed it!"

"I see. And did you bring home any of that hot dog for me and Junior?

"...uh, actually no. I forgot."

"Dammit, Benny!" Because apparently his name is Benny. "You do this all the time! You find some good food, and then you keep it all to yourself! Why don't you think about your son for once!"

"Hey, I DO think about my son! I just forgot this time!"

"Benny, I want a divorce."

"Wait, what?"

"I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I think it's best that I just pack my things, take Junior and leave."

"No...no, you can't do that! You can't take Junior from me!"

...holy shit, this was getting depressing.

"Oh no...I don't want Buddy to get a divorce because of me!"

...wait, did she just say that out loud?

Maria looked over at the really big guy standing nearby. This was bad. He probably thought she was some kind of crazy person. What a mistake that would be. She needed to come with something to change the topic. Something. Anything!

"Hey, what's your name?"

Aw yeah, there we go. Perfect segue, or perfectest segue?

No wait, perfectest isn't a word. Nevermind.

[Aura]

OK, the girl was mad at the seagull because it stole her hot dog. That made sense to Craig. If an animal had stolen something that he paid for and flown away with it, he probably wouldn't be too jolly about it, either. Strangely enough, after telling him this piece of information, the girl was silent for around a good ten seconds, seemingly thinking about something. Craig began to wonder if he had barged in on someone else's life unwanted.

Was I being rude? Does she want me to leave? Maybe I should-

Oh, no...I don't want Buddy to get a divorce because of me!"

What the heck?

The girl seemed as surprised by her own sudden outburst as Craig was. He was now thoroughly confused with his current situation. Many questions appeared in the large boy's mind, primarily "Who is Buddy?", "Why is he getting divorced?", and "What does she have to do with it?" Craig really began to feel like he had intruded on someone's personal issues.

"Hey, what's your name?"

The girl's tone had somehow shifted from worry, to surprise, to cheerfulness, all within the span of a few seconds. Craig's train of thought stopped in its tracks. This girl was weird, no doubt about it, but just because something's weird doesn't mean that its bad. The X-Men are weird, and they're awesome, at least in Craig's opinion. Besides, there's no reason not to be friendly, right? He held out his hand that wasn't carrying his sketchbook for a friendly greeting.

"I'm Craig Hoyle. I go to Colehurst." He wasn't sure why he mentioned the fact that he went to Colehurst, as he knew that he had seen her there before, so she had undoubtedly seen him there, too. "I'm an artist. Well, I want to be one, at least. What's your name?"

[Lord_Shadow]

Tim just stood there silently as the girl rode away. If there was one thing he knew for sure now, it was that she was one of the smart ones. Never goes in more than necessary, takes anything that comes her way but doesn't go out of her way for something unlikely. That he could admire. He smiled as she faded from view.

"Now ain't that just wonderful. Lady luck screws me over and expects me to be happy about it. Well, you got your way today ma'am. Timothy Walker just went and got bested by a California girl." He adjusted his glasses. It was about time for him to call it quits with his little operation anyway.

That was his justification. In reality, he was more than a little pissed at what just happened, and so was closing up shop so to speak before he showed that anger.

Just one thing left for him to do. Find out the deal with yelling girl. If anything, it would distract him from his current emotional state.

"Excuse me! Couldn't help but hear you yelling a little while ago. Anything I could help with?"

[Lord_Shadow]

((Moving on out, sorry.))

And then Timothy remembered that he didn't particularly care about the other situation. That loss fouled his mood worse than he thought.

"Actually nevermind, leaving now."

He turned away and started heading home, hoping that no one had actually heard his earlier inquiry.

((Timothy Walker continued in Window Shopping Is No Fun...))