InsaneJournal

Who: Minato and Hannah
What: Hanging out at the beach/first date
When: Late July [Backdated]
Where: Minato's Place
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete!

Dating was something Minato was trying to get back into the swing of. One night stands? Sure, he could do those. They saw his moves out on the dance floor, and they wanted to know how that translated to the bedroom. Minato, on the other hand, wanted something more out of life. He wanted something stable, something that could be forever, but that meant dating. He was feeling a bit rusty these days on that front.


He'd thought things had been going well with Anna, but that hadn't panned out the way he had wanted it to. He was happy, however, to still be her friend and he would make sure that she was safe.


Minato had seen where another gentleman had asked out Hannah. It was fine, it would be fine, he would just play it cool and see how things went. He'd bought a couple of steaks to cook on the grill after they were finished swimming and playing on the beach. He was dressed in a pair plain black board shorts with white trim, and a black tank top. Minato wasn't too concerned about shoes, it was just a short walk from the deck down to the sand after all.


Minato had just walked out onto the deck carrying his towel when he saw a car pull up. He walked down the front entrance of the deck, giving a small wave. "Hey, glad you found the place alright."


Hannah was nervous. It wasn’t the first date or anything like that, but it was a date, which made her feel anxious. She hadn’t been sure about the bathing suit. Maybe she had the body for a bikini, but she generally didn’t wear them unless she was around people she knew well enough not to feel uncomfortable. So she’d gone with a more stylish one piece. She thought it was a good choice. White and purple were good. She’d also gotten help getting her hair back in a partially braided hairstyle that she thought would work best when swimming and not swimming. Over her bathing suit was a simple beachy dress that she really hoped didn’t make her seem boring. Really, she hoped she didn’t seem boring over all, but she knew she wasn’t nearly as flashy as her brother could be. She liked to keep things simple.


The entire ride over, she wondered if it wasn’t just a better idea to go back home, but Sam would officially never forgive her if she turned around and didn’t go because of nerves, so she forced herself to keep driving.


Once she got there, she tried to act casual as she got out of the car. When she saw him, she felt the nerves amp up again and her face got a little flushed. If asked, she’d claim it was just a little sun. So clumsy. She forgot sunscreen again. It was totally normal. People did it all the time. She hadn’t, but she would definitely pretend that it was something she’d do. It was most likely horribly embarrassing to blush when all the other person said was that they were happy you’d found the place. “Yeah. Having a gps helps. That and spending a lot of time in various places.”


Hannah was very pretty, in a wholesome way, at least that's what Minato thought. In a world where he was surrounded by girls in flashy clothes, and in some instances barely any at all, he could appreciate the simple dress covering that she wore over her bathing suit. Minato chuckled, giving a small nod. "That does sound like yet another useful skill, and I'm sure the GPS helped a little." It wasn't as if his place was too out of the way, but still, he did worry that one time someone might not be able to find him.


"If there's anything you want to drop off in the house, feel free too. I was actually just about to go grab a couple bottles of water for us to take down to the beach." His beach was private, or well, as private as one could hope for with neighbors. It was nice, however, to have it mostly to himself, especially on nights when he just felt like sitting on the sand and thinking about nothing in particular.


"Is there anything else you'd like?" He asked, turning to go back up the stairs of the deck, so he could enter back through the sliding glass door on the side.


“GPS always helps,” she agreed. “But I guess I have a lot of useful skills. I just don’t realize how useful they are until...it’s pointed out.” She shrugged, fidgeting with the dress and smoothing it down. Minato seemed nice so far. Sam hadn’t lied to her about that at least. Not that she thought she would have. It was just nice to know that he was the way Sam had said he was.


“Oh! Well, I don’t know what to drop off, but I guess I could put my bag inside.” She’d take the sunscreen and towel with her, though. She didn’t think she was up to getting sunburn. Not even if it was more difficult considering she spent a lot of time outdoors. It didn’t make her less concerned about it. “So I guess if you need company getting the water, I could do that.”


God, she sounded like such an idiot. She was pretty sure she would never recover.


Following him quietly, Hannah tried to think of anything, but she wasn’t really sure. “I don’t think there’s probably anything else? At least nothing I can think of, but if I think of anything, I can probably get it.”


He smiled over at her, "It happens. I'm sure that you'll find more that are really useful as time goes on." Minato figured that everyone had something to offer the world, well, most people anyway. From what little he'd spoken with Hannah via the network she seemed like a nice woman with a good head on her shoulders, even if she didn't realize things about herself. So far, things were going okay, and that was enough for him right now.


"Sure, I'm always up for company." He offered her a smile, and then slid the sliding glass door open to his house. "Yeah, make yourself at home. Mi casa es su casa." Minato had no issues letting people into his home truth be told. The living room was modern, as was everything in his home, with pieces from Mike Lane that he'd purchased recently. The walls were decorated with photographs, mostly landscape in the living area but if one ventured into the main hall they would find more photographs, this time of dancers in various poses. They'd been taken by a friend of his back in New York, he'd wanted to capture Minato and his classmates during a rehearsal, and Minato had purchased several prints from him.


He reached into the fridge, grabbing a couple bottles of water before nudging it shut with his shoulder. "Alright, I think I'm ready to head down to the beach." Reaching with one hand, he picked up his towel to sling it over his shoulder. "So, you're still in college right?" He asked, a brow quirking as he glanced over at Hannah.


"Probably." Then again, it was usually her friends or other people that pointed them out. She knew some stuff, but it was easier to see the negative parts. She'd always struggled with finding good qualities, but not the negative ones. She tried to remember that there was more than she thought on a regular basis, but it didn't always work out the way she wanted.


Hannah followed him into the house, looking around as she did. The way someone decorated where they lived said a lot about them. At least the magazines and internet blogs said they did. She had no reason to disagree with their philosophies. So she took in everything. Minato had more modern things, but there were also photographs all over the walls. Without really thinking about it, she moved to look at the photos on the wall. She was distracted with the process when Minato came back out from the kitchen and nearly startled.


"Yeah." The word came out breathy. Part laugh, part actual word. But the laughter was directed at herself. Setting her bag down and grabbing her towel and her sunscreen, Hannah walked back outside with Minato. "I still have a little while, but I really like it, so that's not a problem." She smiled, tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear. "After that I'll probably build a house out of rocks and become a hermit." It was a lie and what she was sure was a very weak joke, but she wasn't sure how to really talk to people in person. "Of course, I'd have to choose my rocks carefully. Maybe geodes. The inside can be the parts where the colors are exposed and the outside will just look really boring."


Minato didn't mind people looking through his home, and the photographs? They were definitely worth a better look. He was proud of his friend for the work that he did, and he was happy that everyone that saw them seemed to think the same. He gave a small nod, "That's good. I always enjoyed school as well." It'd been awhile since Minato had been in college, but it hadn't been too long ago.


"Oh come on now." He looked over at her with a smile once his feet touched the sand of the beach, "While that would be beautiful, on the inside and I'm sure it'd have its charm on the outside too, it's no fun to be by yourself all the time." Of course, Minato was more of a social butterfly, and he enjoyed spending time with people in general.


Once they were down far enough on the beach, Minato pulled the towel off his shoulder and spread it out onto the sand. "How much longer do you have to go though?"


Hannah found herself smiling a little when he started talking about the outside of her future geode house having charm. "You're one of very few people who would think that the outside would be charming." She played with the ends of her hair before nodding. "I couldn't really become a hermit. Josh and Beth would never actually let me." And she didn't know if she could actually live on her own for that long. It sounded lonely...even for a girl who was barely capable of interacting with others. At least as far as she could tell.


As she walked on the sand, she felt glad that she wasn't barefoot at the moment because the sand was definitely too hot. "Oh. Well, I'm supposed to be going into my junior year, but I will probably keep taking more classes once I have a job anyway. There's so much with geology and geoscience that I feel like I want to know more about. But technically speaking, I have two more years of school until I get my degree." She knew that she was probably not going to stop learning. Especially not when the more knowledge you had, the easier it would be to get a job.


"Well, I mean, in a medieval type of way?" Minato offered with a small shrug of his shoulders, with a small smile over in her direction. "Those are your siblings correct?" Minato had been an only child, Jiraiya had never had any children of his own, and he'd never adopted any others other than Minato. It'd been ideal, really, since he'd needed the one on one time with his dad at the time.


He listened to her as she talked about her college experience, and gave a small nod of his head. "That's understandable. You should never stop learning." Minato still attended workshops even though he'd been dancing most of his life, he felt that he should stay on top of trends and things of that nature. Besides, there were always things he could learn from other dancers. "So what are you planning on doing once you graduate?" He asked, raising a brow over at her.


“Yeah. Josh is my older brother and Beth is my twin sister. We’re identical.” She fidgeted a little more as they walked. “Do you have any siblings?” She didn’t know much about him, so it seemed an acceptable question. The only way to find out more about someone was to ask questions.


“That’s what I think, too. I love learning more and there’s so much. There’s working with the Earth and there’s working with things in the ocean and pretty much...everything.” She could work on an oil rig if that was something that interested her, but it wasn’t. “Well, starting out, I was thinking about maybe doing environmental geology. You basically go in and advise how to dispose of underground waste, how to plan mines if that’s something people are looking to do, how to keep underground water safe from contaminants, and basically how the geology of a place might hinder development. But there’s also hydrogeology, which would be mapping out underground water and how geology might affect that. With more schooling, I could probably also do something with understanding volcanoes and seismic activity. I’m still figuring out exactly where I’m going with it, but environmental geology will probably be my starting point.” There was a pause. “I sound like a total nerd, don’t I?”


A twin huh? That was interesting. Minato had only personally met one other person that had had a twin but they'd been fraternal. "That's awesome." He shook his head, a light smile on the corners of his lips. "No, I'm an only child. I was adopted when I was younger, my parents...well my birth parents weren't capable of taking care of a child." That's what he'd heard anyway, and he had no desire to learn anything more about them. "But I do have the best dad anyone could ask for."


He smiled over at her, listening as they talked and walked along the beach. A lot of it went over Minato's head, but he was willing to listen anyway. At her question, Minato turned his head to look over at her and shook his head. "No, you sound passionate. There's a distinct difference between sounding like a nerd, and being passionate." He lifted a shoulder, "I'll admit, I don't understand a lot about it, and if I have questions I'll ask." At least, he figured that it never hurt to ask, and well, again he was all for learning new things. "I do, however, think that sounds like a solid starting point. I mean, miners, and waste disposal does have a big impact on our environment, so it's good that you want to help preserve that."


“Oh.” She forced herself not to look pained like she felt after asking about it. “It’s good that they made sure you found a family that was able to take care of you, though.” She smiled a little at that. “And that sounds nicer than our family anyway. Except my siblings. My parents didn’t really pay us that much attention unless they wanted to throw really big birthday parties for us. Which I’m not really all that fond of. I’d rather it just be a small group of people I like.” A pause. “I’m glad your dad was as great as you say he was, though. It sounds nice.”


When he didn’t seem to think she was weird for nattering on about what she wanted to do, Hannah felt a little less like some awkward nerd. “That’s a relief. It’s just that I always talk about it and I don’t know who will think it’s interesting and who is going to stare at me like I have two heads.” She wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have stared at herself if she wasn’t her. “Yeah. I definitely want to protect the environment and make it better. I just hope I can make a difference.”


"They didn't. The state did. I was in a few foster homes before landing with my dad." Minato wasn't ashamed to talk about his past or the things that had happened to him. It was a part of who he was, and that was okay. Every story, no matter how boring it might be to that person, helped build who they were. He glanced over at Hannah as she spoke about her family, a line appearing between his brows. That had to have sucked. "I'm sorry that they were, are rather, like that. That couldn't have been easy." He smiled softly, "Thanks, it was nice. He's a good guy." Jiraiya was a good guy despite all of his faults.


Laughing, Minato shook his head. "Well, you don't have to worry about that here. I'm always happy to learn about something new." Minato did find what she was doing fascinating, although he had very little knowledge about it all. "I hope that you can make your dream a reality." He offered her a smile, and gave her a wink.


“Oh.” Now Hannah felt even worse. She tried not to show that, though. “I’m glad that you found somewhere in general, then.” Somewhere with someone who looked after him. She hoped that it didn’t take too long for him to find a home. “It’s fine. I lucked out by having Josh and Beth. Josh has always taken really good care of us. I think it’s probably difficult when he was a kid at the same time.” But she was glad to have him. She wouldn’t give up Josh for anyone.


“Thanks. It’s just the easiest topic for me to talk about because I know things. But maybe I can learn about dancing in return. Even if I am particularly abysmal when it comes to dancing.” The smile and wink made her face heat up a little. “I hope that I can, too. It would be pretty amazing.”


"Me too." He replied with a nod, head turning to look over at her as she spoke about her own family. He wondered, if not for the first time, what it would've been like to have siblings. Jiraiya had never spoken of adopting any others though, and Minato hadn't asked. He was just content to have a home. "That's good. That you all had each other. I'm sure that your brother wouldn't have it any other way either, watching over you two that is." He didn't know the guy, but he was fairly certain that any brother worth their salt would be happy to look after their little sisters.


A light smile tugged up one corner of Minato's mouth, "Everyone has rhythm in them. It's just a matter of finding it." Minato was a firm believer in those words. "I'm happy to teach you a few moves whenever you want. We don't have to go to a club either, I mean, dancing can happen anywhere as long as there's music." He gave a small nod, "I have faith that you can do it too. You're very passionate about it, and that helps a lot when you're going out there into the real world." Minato had seen one too many people only doing something because of the money, or because they thought they'd be good at it. Instead of enjoying their work they ended up dreading it, and Minato hoped that he never turned into that guy.


“Probably not. He at least never complained about it.” Hannah wondered if he’d ever regretted it or wanted to have a normal life where he didn’t have to worry about his kid sisters following him around everywhere. Did he ever wish he hadn’t had to watch out for them both all the time? Beth was a force all of her own, she could handle herself better than Hannah had ever managed. She tried, but usually she was awkward and uncertain around others.


“I guess I’ll have to believe you. Maybe.” Hannah wasn’t sure that she’d ever succeed at dancing, but since Minato had agreed to teach her, she’d try. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone to a club in my life. But I will do my very best to trust your opinion of my possible dancing abilities.” She smiled at him. “You certainly have a lot of faith in me.” A pause. “Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s a good thing. I guess I’m just surprised that people outside of Sam and Josh think that, too.”


"Then I think you've got a great brother then." Minato replied with a small nod, and smile over in Hannah's direction. He at the very least thought that it showed her brother was a man of great character. "Maybe?" He teased lightly, bumping her shoulder playfully. Minato always did try to believe the best in people, and that they were more talented than they thought they were. Well, most people anyway. Besides, he thought that Hannah might need the confidence boost to help her out.


Sometimes confidence was all that it took. "I believe that you do have it in you. Even if you've never been to a club. Which we're going to have to fix eventually. Maybe you, Sam, Mike and myself can go out one night." It was a simple suggestion, something that maybe they could plan for the future.


Hannah nodded. “He’s pretty much the best brother I could have asked for.” Which was true. She at least never had to worry about his knowing that since she told him all the time when he called to tell her that he loved her and make sure she was okay. The calls were a lot more frequent lately. Her smile grew when he bumped her shoulder. “Maybe,” she agreed.


“Okay. We’ll have to do that. I’ll ask Sam. Not that I think she’d say no.” Even if Sam wasn’t that into it herself (which Hannah had a feeling she probably was), she’d go for Hannah’s sake. It helped to have someone you knew in an unfamiliar setting. “And maybe I can show you one of my favorite places. Geologically speaking.”


Sounded like to Minato, and he gave a small nod. He'd be honored to meet him at some point and time in the future. He chuckled softly at her reply with a smile, "Mhm, I see how it is." He teased her lightly, hoping that she actually did believe him.


"Sounds good to me, just let me know when would work best for everyone. I'm pretty flexible in terms of schedule now." He did have some set classes, but he didn't really have anything scheduled during the night hours on the weekend. Minato smiled over at Hannah, "I'd like that, so we can definitely plan on that." Minato glanced out over the ocean, "Do you want to head back toward the house? I can go ahead and get dinner going if you're ready to eat."


Hannah grinned. It was nice to be able to joke around with someone else. It wasn’t that she couldn’t with other people, but it was nice to find another person.


“I have school coming up again, but...otherwise, I’m not all that busy.” And school wasn’t so close that she had to worry about it immediately. But she could find a way around school once it came up. She’d just have to be organized enough to make sure that homework assignments didn’t get missed. “Good. It might end up overly educational, but it should be fun. At least somewhat.” The question about dinner switched her thought processes. She was hungry. “Only if we can come back out for a little bit after. It’s really nice here.”


Giving a nod, Minato kept smiling. "Alright, we'll figure it out." He figured he could get together with Mike and get a time set up for the four of them to go out. It would be fun, or at least, Minato thought that it would be. "Learning is fun." He replied, glancing over at her, "So I'm looking forward to it." He was always happy to learn something new, since it broadened his horizons. "We can actually eat out here on the back deck if you'd like." There was a table on the back deck, a place where Minato had enjoyed plenty of meals and if Hannah wanted to eat back there then so be it. It was nice enough outside to where they wouldn't be sweating like crazy while enjoying their meal. "Do you want to help me cook?" He asked, glancing over at her with a soft smile.


“It is, yes.” Hannah liked to learn new things. Even if she was hesitant at times, but that was mostly due to nerves. But she was glad that Minato didn’t seem to mind that most of her adventures - if they could even be called adventures - were likely to be mostly educational in nature. “That sounds really nice. So I’m voting yes. We should do that.” She gave him a small smile. “Yeah. I could help with that.”