trans_9 | Not Everyone Loves The Beach [Open]

To say that Kelly was having trouble relaxing would have been an understatement. Perched on the tallest, rocky outcrop she could find, the waves crashing against the smooth stone far below her, she was throwing stones across the water almost absently. The way her eyes refused to remain still however, attested to the fact that she was alert and wary as ever. Unlike the other members of the crew, who seemed to have taken the shore leave well enough, the Spartan had never been comfortable with inaction. Zokez II may have been a rest stop, a play-planet as it were, but to be on a strange planet, disallowed weapons and worst of all, her armor put her slightly on edge. Of course, a Spartan didn't need weapons to be deadly, but they sure as hell helped when it came down to it. In stark contrast to other members of the crew who had happily shed the majority of their clothing in favour of beachwear, Kelly's attire had hardly changed.

Dressed in cargo pants, combat boots, and a tight singlet with 'U.N.S.C.' stamped across the chest (something she had undoubtedly done herself sometime) she was the picture of discomfort. Her too-pale skin seemed to gleam in the sunlight as she sat, ignoring the gleeful cries of the people surrounding her. She kept a watchful eye on any member of Stacy's crew who was within sight, all the while lobbing rock after rock into the sea. At the rate she was going, it was surprising that she hadn't run out of them yet.

R&R simply wasn't her thing. She could appreciate rack time as much as the next person. A good soldier knew when their body needed rest. But this, relaxing, not doing anything. Unarmed and completely open to enemy attack. She didn't like it. The Ohm were out there. Who was to say they wouldn't hit this planet next? And without weapons, completely unprepared for such an attack, how would a single member survive. Her entire life had been a battlefield. Honestly, she couldn't remember a time when she hadn't been fighting, recuperating from a fight, or preparing to fight. This sort of relaxation simply wasn't for her. At the moment however, all she could do was keep a watchful eye out for anything that may have signaled trouble. Leave the others to enjoy the water and the sun. She would make sure they were safe.

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The sound of the waves against the rocks was soothing, if not exactly enough to calm the tension that seemed to be a regular part of the Spartan's life. That this tension was brought on only by er own sense of caution was not something that seemed to bother her in the least.

Her thoughts were interrupted however, by the sound of a familiar voice calling out her name. Turning her head, she caught sight of the boy, his arm high in the air. Raising her arm in return, she waited for him to near.

Sokka trotted up and sprawled out onto the sand next to Kelly, skidding a little bit and sanding a spray of sand over the Spartan.

"Oops! Sorry, Kelly." He grinned, teeth flashing against darkly tanned skin.

"I haven't seen you around lately. Enjoying the sun and the fun?"

She didn't seem to mind the sand at all, simply brushing it off, and watching him sprawl out on the ground, half amused. He really didn't need much to be able to relax, did he?

"Don't worry about it." She shook her head indulgently.

"I've been busy. Sorry, Sokka." At his question though she shrugged slightly. "Sun and fun isn't really my type of thing."

"It's all good." He paused, examined her for a moment.

"And why not? You're so pale!" He reached over to poke her. "I mean, c'mon..." He fished his aviators out of the pocket of the flight shirt he wore unbuttoned over a bare chest and hurriedly put them on.

"I think I need these just to look at you. We need to get you in some good beach clothes and get you a tan, Kelly."

She didn't seem to mind the poking. Nor even his joke at her paleness. She was almost lily-white after all. But when he pulled his Aviators out she shook her head, and gave him a firm poke between the eyes. "You're being melodramatic."

When he started going on about beach clothes though, she held up a silencing hand. "Everyone else is having fun. No one is keeping watch. So I'm watching. I can't do that effectively wearing something like that." She pointed to a bikini-ed young woman strutting along the sand.

Sokka just grinned.

"Well, you don't have to go for that look. Just get some of these...uh...what'd they call 'em? Trunks. And one of those shirts without sleeves." Sokka nodded sagely. He knew what he was talking about Kelly, and he is prescribing sun.

"C'mon. You can't go to a literal beach planet and come back without a tan, at least!"

Something the Spartan had grown far more accustomed to that she realized.

"The only thing that would do, is make sure that more of me gets sunburned. I'll pass, Sokka." Really, there was no need to talk about this. She didn't need a tan and that was that. As if she had time to be laying around soaking up the sun. Pfft.

"What would I need a tan for? I spend most of my time in armor anyway."

Sokka sighed and flopped backwards again.

"Because. I think you'd, you know." A pause, just a little awkward.

"You'd look good with one." He shrugged again cheeks coloring slightly as he dug bare toes into the warm sand.

Sometimes she forgot just how young he was. But then, she wasn't all that old herself. Chronologically, yes. But physically, she was in her prime. Still, he was young. In the midst of battle, it was easy to forget. But now, it was almost painfully obvious.

At his comment though, she tilted her head at him. Her expression remained impassive, even at the sight of his blush. After a moment though, she seemed to shrug mentally, turning back to the see.

"Well, I think Kennedy would look better if he didn't frown all the time. But you don't see me following him around trying to make him smile." She smirked, watching him out of the corners of her eyes.

"...I bet if we worked together we could make him smile." Sokka grinned, diverting the conversation in another direction. His mild embarrassment whisked away as if by the cool ocean breeze. He really was young, even if he thought of himself as an adult. Dealing with being a teenager was nearly the same no matter what your culture.

"And you should at least put some sandals and shorts on, don't you think?"

"It's not high on my priority list. His expression seems calculated to get his job done. No need to interfere with that." Leave it to a Spartan to completely miss the point. But then, if you were going to hang out with one, you'd better be ready for copious amounts of it. At his age, she'd undertaken several missions already. Gone through ordeals no one her age should have had undergo. She hadn't been allowed the freedom of a normal adolescence. It wasn't something she missed. But the reason she fought was so that no one else would need to miss theirs.

"Why? I'm comfortable enough in these clothes." She didn't even seem to be hot.

"But it would be fun. Don't you ever do anything for fun, Kelly?" Sokka asked, quirking one of his eyebrows. That was a response to both of Kelly's remarks, really. He watched the Spartan woman, a little confused by this entire string of events. How could you be against having fun?

"Sure. I just don't see how putting on less clothes would be fun. It's bad enough that I don't have my armor or weapons." She wasn't against having fun, per se. Just that her definition of fun was more...unconventional. Plus, to have one, one needed to be comfortable. And at the moment, the Spartan already felt naked, exposed.

"More sun. Duh." Sokka grinned, looking at Kelly over his glasses. "And you don't need them here. We're here to relax, chill out, take a load off. We can just be....you know, relaxed. It's okay to not worry about stuff for a while. And it's okay to not be carrying around your weapons sometimes."

Not Everyone Loves The Beach [Open]

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