Who: Lilo and Belle. What: Meeting at the beach! When: 11/21. Where: The beach! Rating: PG-13! Status: Complete!
Belle liked to walk on the beach. Even in the slightly dreary weather it was beautiful, and it reminded her of some of the best parts of her life. Wolfwood wasn’t much for sand anymore, and Belle couldn’t blame him, so she was on her own. She wore a light sweater over shorts and a tank top, and whistled as she walked. There weren’t many people, only the really hardcore surfers and people who worked at nearby shops. She smiled at everyone, and made idle small talk with anyone who wasn’t busy.
She saw the dogs from far away, and for a moment she eyed them. The last time she’d gone near a strange dog it bit her, but she’d been trespassing, so she couldn’t blame them. Beside, these guys looked friendly, if enormous. She headed closer to investigate.
Lilo’s dogs Mareeba and Daisy were lolling about on the beach next to their owner’s supplies - towels, snacks, a cooler with lukewarm water, flip flops. They would play in the surf, shouting out encouragement to Lilo as she swam and caught waves, lazily swimming back to shore periodically.
When she saw someone walking toward her dogs, Lilo figured she’d swim in after that wave. Coasting to shore, she waved at the new arrival. “Hi! They’re nice, you can pet them.”
Belle smiled at Lilo, waving back. When she was assured the dogs were nice she extended her hand to them. “They’re so cute, I couldn’t help but say hello.” She patted one dog, then the other. “You’re crazy goin’ out into the ocean right now. You’re gonna freeze your cute little butt off.”
“They normally like playing in the water, but it’s too cold for their pads right now.” Lilo had on a wetsuit, so the only parts of her cold were her hands and feet. “Yeah, I’m probably pretty nuts, but this is peak surf season, so I have to stay training and stuff.” Lee wrapped her hair in a towel immediately, just so she wouldn’t shiver.
“Dieu.” Belle noted. She admired that kind of dedication. Even if it was just surfing Lilo obviously devoted a lot of time and energy to her craft, and Belle always respected that. She held out a hand to Lilo to shake. “I’m Belle, do you mind if I ask you stuff, or are you more interested in practicin’?”
“Lilo,” the Hawiian girl grinned, taking the hand. “And oh, no, I was gonna have some protein and play with the kids for a bit, feel free.” She leaned down to wrap her arms around the mastiff who clearly looked worried about her. “Yes, Daisy, you get some beef jerky too. Obviously.”
Belle chuckled. “Merci. You do this for a livin’?” It was good to see people who loved their pets. She’d never had one, but she knew how loyal they could be, and how loving. It was always nice to see good faith rewarded.
“Surfing? Yup! I’m training for this big, invite only competition. Between November and the end of March, they just call you randomly when the surf upstate is insane, then you fly up and surf. It’s awesome. I do free diving competitively too, but even I’m not nuts enough to do that this time of year.” Going a hundred plus meters down in November? No thanks.
Plopping down on the sand, Lilo took hand warmers and put them on her feet before opening up the cooler and taking out a bag of jerky. Both dogs immediately plonked their buts down and practiced their best puppy eyes. “Want some, Belle?”
Belle snickered at the dogs, and took a seat as well. “No thanks, I’m meetin’ my boyfriend for lunch later. Sounds like you got a pretty crazy job. I bet it’s real fun.”
“I love it.” Lilo gave the dogs jerky first, smiling and wrapping herself in a towel. “I’d never do anything else.” She’d thought of doing something else at first - she’d gone to school for a semester - but god, surfing had her.
Belle grinned brightly. “That’s good. You gotta love what you do, no matter what it is. Good luck at that competition.”
“Oh, thank you! Do you like your job?” Lilo grinned at her new friend (because that’s what most people she met were, anyway). “You’re too nice to go into work grumpy every day.”
“I do. I’m a personal assistant for Winston Frost. It’s a lot more fun than it sounds. I get t’ met plenty of interestin’ people and I’m always busy.” Not to mention her side work with Shepard. “I’d hate having a job I didn’t love. Probably go nuts and kill someone.” She laughed at her joke, but not for the reasons Lilo would probably assume.
“Oh, I’ve heard of him!” Lilo smiled broadly. “That’d be really hard. I’m kind of disorganized sometimes, so I’m really impressed. My boyfriend’s a cop, I have no idea how he even with his day. I’d forget who I interviewed or what I did with something and mess it all up. Surfing’s ... I don’t know, it’s almost like meditation out there. I can be competitive with it but at the end of the day it’s just me and the ocean, which is nice.”
The smaller dog plopped into Lilo’s lap, making her laugh. “You’d think I just adopted her yesterday, not last month.”
Belle chuckled at the display of affection. “Your dogs are so sweet. We all got our talents. There’s no way you’d get me out in the ocean on a day like today, that’s for sure. I can see the appeal of a job that’s real meditative, though. I just feel better when things run smooth, and I like a job where I make that happen.”
“I’m just lucky, really. Will was a dog trainer before he was a police officer, but the girls are honestly just really smart.” Oh, and Lilo could talk to them, but she wasn’t going to tell a new person that. Lilo didn’t want to look weird to anyone who didn’t Dream, and anyone who did might not know other people did.
“Seems like it. Dogs can be so sharp. It’s amazin’, really.” She kind of wanted one, but her life wasn’t conducive to having a pet that needed a lot of attention. Beside, if things did go south with Nicholas it would suck to split up the dog’s family. “How long have you had ‘em?”
“Mareeba, the littlest one, only a couple of months. Daisy, I’ve had since I moved here a few years ago.” Lilo ruffled the large mastiff’s fur, which prompted the dog to fall over and show her belly.
Belle laughed at the display of affection. “Awwwww. Daisy seems t’ really love you.” She reached out and gently stroked the fur on the mastiff’s chest. “They must like your boyfriend too if he’s a dog trainer.”
“Daisy and I are kind of soul mates, I swear. She’s actually in love with one of Will’s dogs, Winston. It’s the cutest thing, when I go to visit Will, I take her too. She whines the whole way there like she wants me to go faster.” Lilo rolled her eyes but she was smiling. “I can’t complain too much, it gives me an excuse to go visit.”
“That’s really cute.” Everything about Lilo was cute as a button. Belle just wanted to pinch her cheeks. “How’d you meet Will?” So they were pretty far off the topic of surfing, but Belle hoped she wouldn’t mind. She was a nosy person, when it came down to it.
“Oh, I went free diving and he saw me, thought I was trying to kill myself or something.” Lilo blushed. “Guess it does seem pretty odd, strapping weights to yourself and diving down to see how far you can get.” It had been nice to have a hot guy worry about her.
That was definitely a unique story. Belle thought it was sweet, but she was a romantic at heart. “Sounds like a good guy. Do you have to learn how to swim with the weights on, or are they one time use only?” Boyfriends were nice, but she’d never heard of free diving before. There would be time later to ask about her hero cop/dog trainer boyfriend.
“I usually just use them once because I drop them after I get down as low as I can. Usually I go out with someone so they can dive in after me if they need to, monitor my O2, that kind of thing.” Lilo shrugged. “Holding my breath for five minutes is a skill, I just don’t know where else to use it.”
Belle snickered. She could think of one thing but it was inappropriate to be a pervert at someone she just met. “That’s good. Gotta be safe with that sort of thing.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to die doing a hobby,” Lilo smiled. She tossed some jerky into her mouth, finally no longer shivering. “I mean, I could surfing too, but not in these swells. Anything bigger, I’d have someone with me.”
“They get worse as the weather gets colder?” Belle asked, petting whatever dog was closest.
“Yup, swells get bigger around this time of year, at least in this part of the world.” Lilo was wiggling her way out of her wetsuit so she could change into a dry pair of sweats.
“You want a hand?” Belle asked, moving closer so she could lend a hand.
“Oh, thanks! I usually end up falling over at some point.” Lilo turned around so Belle could help her unzip.
Belle helped her unzip her suit and pushed it down off her shoulders. “Nothing’s worse t’ fall on than sand. It’s hard as hell and I swear it just grinds up into your skin with no provocation.”
“Getting sandburn is basically the worst.” Lilo wrinkled her nose. “Thanks.” She wiggled into her sweatpants and sweatshirt, sighing happily. “Umph, warm. The surf’s awesome, but I really do wish the ocean could be heated somehow.”
“Pas problem.” Belle said with a smile, standing up so she could dust herself off. “It was a pleasure t’ meecha. I best get going. I hope you have a nice day.”
“You too, Belle! Have fun doing whatever it is you’re doing!” Lilo stood up too, just so she could shake Belle’s hand. That had been really nice, actually.
Belle shook her hand with a grin, and gave the dogs one last earrub before she started back toward her car.