poly_chromatic | (no subject)

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oc - saya wallace

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[It's the ocean! The waves are tumbling and pretty decent today, and the device is on the sand, recording a slight figure in a blue and black neoprene wetsuit catching a wave and riding it, getting in the pipe, and then barreling out the other end.

In another minute she's coming out of the water, laughing - yes, laughing - and shaking her head to get the excess water off. She moves so her device, sets her surfboard upright in the sand and unzips her wetsuit down just a bit to get more sun.

When she speaks, her accent is a touch more Australian than it ever was, with the Namibian still in the background.]

There's a fierce curl out there today; Scholar would love this, I know I'm taking as much as I can out of it. Why isn't anyone else out here?

[She flops back, then remembers why she's out here. She grabs her device.]

I woke up and the hostel I'm staying at [she doesn't remember getting there or where she is but she's sure she's at a hostel] had this huge collection of shoes, so I put them out. I figure the owners will turn up and get them, because they're not mine. If they were mine I would have given them to a charity shop, they look pretty expensive.

[She flops back again]

Come on, someone come out here! The water's grand!

[ooc: replies from

torqued!]

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[He can't help the grin at that.]

It's been a long, long time.

Well, here we are.

[She moves up on her board to sit on it, looking out into the ocean]

I love this.

[He stretches out, one arm alongside her.]

What else do you love?

[She doesn't even have to think about it]

My brother, Scholar. Sharks - I'm bigtime involved in conservation, I started to go to school for that, you know, but I stopped. I'll go back when I get this out of my system. The North Shore of Oahu, because there is no better beach to chill on than Waimea Bay. Oh, the desert in Namibia. Breakfast burritos and chocolate cake, but not together. Fast cars.

[And a grin]

And I occasionally love a little reefer. Not too much, just once every couple of months.

[God, she can talk like this. But if Chase can do anything it's listen, and when she's done he turns onto his stomach, looking up at her.]

Specifying not together was important. Can't help with the pot, but I know a place that serves breakfast right through to evening. Maybe we can head up there later, since you love new places.

I'm not that much of a pothead, you know. I'll go, but only if you pay.

[She grins at him]

How about you, or are you going to be mysterious?

Of course.

[His invitation, that should be understood. But there's something in him that isn't quite on her level. While he's more comfortable out here than he is in suits and hospital corridors, he's never been able to give up one for the other.]

I love... surf, ski, anything with a board. Very fast cars. Thai food cooked to Thai tastes. [He's slowing already.] I love...

[Really?]

I'm still working that out.

[She tilts her head in a movement that is very Saya, but she's very perceptive, still]

Thai food cooked to Thai tastes is one of the great joys of going to Thailand.

You love...wait, can I guess?

[She purses her lips]

Your high-achieving job.

[Alright, he laughs and looks up again, surprisingly (if she knew enough to be surprised) earnest]

Well, I keep turning up to it.

So are you a lawyer, a doctor, or an businessman?

[He pulls himself up a little.]

Surgeon.

Admirable. Successful, smart, cute, and a good surfer.

[She gives a nod]

Not bad, Doctor Robert.

And I bet you say that to all the smart, cute, successful guys. [He cups a handful of water and lets it splash uselessly against her wetsuit.] I'm not dating my job. It was never supposed to be the most important thing.

Only the ones who can get past my big bad bodyguard.

[She splashes him back]

No, but most people let their jobs be the most important thing. They forget the world is out there and waiting.

[WAIT PAUSE. She lowers her voice, fake-serious]

Are you dating someone else? Oh, god, I'm not going to have to get into a fistfight because I went surfing with you, am I? I mean, I will, but I'd need you to buy more than my breakfast for that.

[Ooof, that got him in the face. Which might be a problem if his hair wasn't already dripping into it.]

I was married. The world kind of walked out on me around six months back. [He says it as simply as possible, no careful phrasing.] Which is a shame, because I bet you're a killer at bare knuckle.

[She takes a minute, there]

I was engaged. For a year and a half. He left me - I know it's not the same as being married but-

[Pause. Damn it.]

Fuck, I'm sorry. I'm terrible at this. Trust me, my punches are better.

It's the same intent. Something you do because you think you've found the person you'd like to stick around. You're not terrible.

[Even on an ordinary day, he doesn't think she's terrible. Oddly reassuring in a completely different way. But.]

That's what you're getting out of your system?

Thanks.

[She nods a bit]

I was in college. We were in love, and then one day he was sleeping with his TA and telling me I was emotionally unavailable and the next thing I know all my siblings - I have a lot of them - are planning on how to get me out of this funk and then Scholar just picked me up and bam.

Tahiti.

Is that TMI?

It's not emotionally unavailable.

[And he smiles, just a little.]

The chance to screw up of their own devices is half the reason most kids go to college. You got unlucky he decided to screw up with you. I hope you weren't kidding about your punches.

In the face.

[She has the kind of satisfied smile that says she's being honest]

Anyway, the point is, I empathize.

[Another one of those words that make the world feel like it's on backwards.]

It's appreciated. Maybe I should have gone to Tahiti.

Tahiti makes a lot of things better.

I'll put it on the list.

You know what else makes things better?

[There's a look on her face that says impish]

[She's probably not going to say an early night with a bottle of jack so-]

You go first.