trans_9 | Habit Turned to Landscape [Open]

Entry tags:

Habit Turned to Landscape [Open]

It's so easy to feel weightless in water.

Eva docks her boat, secures it with all the knots she remembers from her home, and jumps into the ocean. The waves are small and the sand at the bottom is just within reach of her feet. In a normal climate, this would be a horrible place to try and keep a boat, but tides and reefs and high shores don't much matter in the Sensoriums, where everything can be fixed and changed the instant it becomes a problem. So she's conjured up a beach and a sea and a perfect replica of her favorite boat from home, and a sunny, breezy day to illuminate the whole thing.

Too often lately she's been scared and angry and melancholy. None of this is going to be fixed with a quick imaginary trip to the beach. But as she floats on her back, breathing in salty air, it's easy to forget that, even if just for the moment.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sandy looked at the ocean water still suspicious, as if it would try to reach up and scoop her away.

"Alright I guess...It's not that big a deal." She lied feeling her stomach knot up. Taking a deep breath she slipped back into the water carefully, relief evident when she found the ground with her feet. She even cracked a smile.

"See? No toxic waste!" Eva flops over onto her back, floating again. She thinks she can tell by the deep breath that Sandy's nervous, so she's trying to be encouraging. "Squish some sand between your toes, it'll get you more adjusted to the water. I'm sure there's a pun there, given your name."

Sandy tried to give Eva a flat look but couldn't help but smirk. "It feels cool..." She remarked following the older woman's advice. The squishy sensation was oddly satisfying.

"It's not like I'm scared or anything." She defended not that there was a question as she lowered herself further into the water till she was up to her neck and using her feet to move along.

"I never said you were. Put your arms up and try kicking your feet a little. No harm no foul if it doesn't work the first time."

Sandy did as she was bid pushing off the floor of the ocean and paddling with her arms in short strokes. At least she was keeping her head above the water. She coughed as she got some of the salty water in her nose though.

"That's not so bad!" Eva says as she pulls the shore forward a little, so Sandy can stand as she empties her sinuses. "I mean, the goal is to keep the water out of your nose, but on the whole that's not bad. The key is to keep your feet kicking. The arms are just there to look cute and elegant. Well, and balance, there's that."

"Kicking." Sandy coughed and spat out some more of the salty liquid, "I think I can manage that." She lowered herself again and proceeded to kick entirely too hard while paddling awkwardly with her arms, almost clawing at the water. She was doing alright except she wasn't breathing and vanished beneath the water only to burst out again panting.

Eva resists the urge to laugh. Sandy looks a bit like a drowned rat to her right now. She swims up next to her. "Here, do you want me to hold you up a bit as you figure out the motions? Thrashing and clawing is great for comedy value, but won't get you far. You have to be slow, smooth and consistent."

"I got it!" Sandy lied as she tried to follow Eva's advice. She was getting better. Now she'd graduated from thrashing to dog paddling. The breathing seemed to be the hardest part for her to nail, but at least her head was staying above water now.

"Told mom*Gasp*She soulda *Gasp* Let me buy a pass to the pool." She panted.

"Remember, the shore's right over there whenever you wear yourself out on the dog-paddling," Eva says, floating on her back again. "How has your week been? It's been a little while since you saw me getting all lush."

She stood again to catch her breath, "Alright, found some cool stuff in the city, like a really nice chair for my room." She neglected to mention being caught by someone while she was sneaking about. "You?"

"Are you staying in the crew quarters?" Eva asks, specifically avoiding the question.

"Oh yeah." She scooped up some water and let it run out from her fingers, "With this guy named Hana. He's totally cool."

Eva arches an eyebrow hearing that Sandy's sharing space with a guy. "Oh? What's he like?"

Sandy's cheeks lit up a bit and she looked away "F-fine. He's really funny and cool. We go exploring the ship alot and he shows me some cool kung fu or whatever."

Eva nods. Funny, how she feels protective of a girl she's met only three times. Must be something about the alcoholic mother or the city where it always rained that made her feel like the kid needed some positive life experience. "I don't think I've met him. You're interested in kung fu?"

"Not really?" Sandy shrugged and splashed some water idly, "But like, he makes it look really cool you know? Like in the movies. And he says he's a Shaman which has something to do with ghosts." She looked back up at Eva with a twinkle in her eye, "I think he's kinda cute too." Her cheeks lit up embarrassed by her confession.

Edited 2011-03-07 15:33 (UTC)

"A Shaman, hmm? I don't think I've met one of them around here yet." She tries not to look suspicious about the whole thing - Sandy just seems so young to her, and living in close proximity sounds like it'd shake up the powderkeg of teenage emotions. Still, as much as she never held her tongue when opining on Marco's brain-dead armcandy girlfriends, she and Sandy are more acquaintances than anything. "Just don't let those hormones go to your head, chica. Don't get any tattoos."

"Hormones?" Sandy made a face at the "gross" word and then paused and looked thoughtful, "What kinda tattoos?" She'd always thought they made people look tough.

"Whatever you kids are calling them these days. 'Cooties'." She chuckles, rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "I'd say no kind of tattoos, but that seems like the narrow-minded old lady in me speaking, so...nothing with letters, ever, especially not names. And never anything that makes you giggle."

Sandy laughed at Eva's speculations, "I don't even know if there's a tattoo place around here you know? And I'm not even old enough for earrings." Not that she'd ever really thought about the accessories.

"Honestly, of all the businesses that people might start setting up in the city, I'm thinking tattoos may be pretty far down the list. Maybe right before a pet store and even that's a gamble."

Sandy was experimenting in the water now and was attempting to master the backfloat. She was halfway there as she kept herself distracted, "Did you have a job back home?"

She laughs, switching back to floating. "Government advisor on extraterrestrial integration. And now, on Stacy, none of the skills I gained there are even slightly useful. Not like anyone listens to me about it anyway on here." She adds the last bit in a bit darkly, but she's in the ocean to put all that out of her mind, as much as feeling like someone she's responsible for is being enslaved can be ignored. "I've got a job here now, tactical officer on the Quarter."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Habit Turned to Landscape [Open]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I am SO sorry I lost this thread

No frets! With notifs down, I probably have a few hiding in the attic myself.

\o/ Still totally love your Eva btw. You make me want to re-read animorphs

Aww, thanks! Love your Sandy too.

:D

Re: :D

no subject

no subject