Deryn was excited to see Nate again -- they hadn't hung out since they'd gone to the rollerskating rink, so it was definitely due time. The little blonde was nearly thirteen years older than Nate, but they still got along swimmingly. And why shouldn't they? They both liked having fun, and sometimes it was just nice to have someone to giggle with and not need to worry about anything.
She'd driven over to the beach on her little scooter, parked it, and then headed over to the best sandy section of the place. It wasn't very crowded, considering that it was still kind of winter for California. If seventy degrees could be considered winter.
Nate was there, using his uncle’s house, then headed out from there on a sand-rated atv, and bouncing over the dunes until he got to the right place. Heh.
He parked and smiled as he spotted Deryn, dressed in his hawaiian shorts and shirt and slathered in sunscreen. “Deryn! Hi!”
Ohmygosh wasn’t he the cutest thing? Deryn let out a happy little squeal (not even stopping to wonder if a kid his age should have been driving an ATV of any kind) and hop skip jumped over to him. “Nate! Hi! I missed you!”
Nate hugged her and smiled. He probably should not, but he did things he shouldn’t all the time. He grinned at her and nodded. “I missed you too! How are you?” She and her unrelenting warmth and bounciness felt good to be around again. he nodded. She was nice!
Of course she was nice! She was good-natured and almost always in a good mood. “I’m really good, thanks!” Really, she couldn’t complain. Her job was awesome, her best friend was getting married and she, herself, had a boyfriend now. Things were all looking up! Then again, when weren’t they?
Nate might argue that last point, but not today. “So where’s the best place to build sandcastles?” He was hoping for some epic sand and fun!
“Right here!” Deryn grinned, gesturing to the beach before them even as she unshouldered the bag that was on her back -- opening it up to spill out little shovels and buckets. It was possible she’d stopped at the store beforehand.
Nate headed for her stop, and grinned, and bounced. “Awesome! And you brought supplies! You are the best!” He patted his backpack as he set it down. “My backpack is a cooler, and I brought snacks and drinks for us!” He bounced again.
“Best picnic ever,” Deryn declared, because, well, it kinda was. Everything could be the best thing ever if you put your mind to it. And if you didn’t judge one thing in accordance with another thing. Unique bests! The best kind of bests!
She couldn’t help but bounce a little too -- before plopping herself down on the ground and grabbing a nearby twig to draw in the sand with. “We need a master plan for castle building!”
Nate flopped next to her and grabbed a stick as well. “Yes! Moats, and walls, and guard towers!”
She drew out a little example, adding on what he was listing -- it was a fairly paltry attempt at art, but hey, she couldn’t be good at everything. “And a tower. A big one, right? Can we make a dragon?”
“Yes! And yes! We can do that!” He was enthusiastically certain. whether it happened or not, well, that was another matter. But he would try!
“You’re pretty good at drawing!”
Deryn positively giggled at that -- her stick figure dragon looked a bit more like a snake with consummate v’s. “Really not,” she said, and it was clear she didn’t really mind.
Nate liked her drawings!~ Even so. He peered at her dragon and wished any dragons he ever encountered would be like that. “Okay, so we make it like that? We can do it!”
“Totally,” Deryn said with a firm sort of nod tat was offset by a happy giggle. It was fun just being able to play like a kid, sometimes. “We’ll need a -- bucket of water. Annndd.. some more sticks.”
Nate grinned. “Hang on a sec!” And he dashed off. Approximately three minutes later, he came back with a bucket of water, sticks, and a bright red stone. “Here, this is for you.” He handed it over. It was shiny, and faceted, but like no gem he had ever seen.
“Ooh,” said Deryn, rather touched at that. She turned the stone over in her hands and wondered at it for a moment. It wasn’t glass -- not that she was aware of. Either way, it was lovely. “Thank you,” she said, beaming wide, teeth showing.
“You’re welcome!” He waved a hand at the ocean. “I got it out there!” And he had, but that was another story. “Now, let’s make sandcastles!”
So they did.
Some time later, the both of them had their game faces on -- Deryn worked hard to keep the sandcastle standing -- tongue poking out at the edge of her lips as she concentrated on keeping one tower on top of the other. It was all a bit lumpier than she’d imagined.
He shored up walls and worked to build it nice and strong. The sand and a slight breeze were both complicating things. “Sand is sometimes annoying.” He nodded as he kept working.
“But fun,” said Deryn, who for the life of her couldn’t see any reason to complain about -- well. Anything, really. She was the sort who might be able to find extra silver linings in silver linings. It was just the way she was.
“Lots of fun!” he scooped up a little sand and tossed it at her, lightly. Just a little. Because. “You’re pretty cool. We should go parachute jumping sometime!”
Deryn giggled, not at all offended by the sand tossing -- and she found the need to return the favor -- sand landing mostly on his pants and forearms. A nice kind of teasing. “Parachute jumping?” She asked, eyes lighting up slightly. Most girls wouldn’t be for that sort of thing. But then again, most girls didn’t have dreams about being flying, clumsy ponies, either. “Do you do that? Is it fun?”
He chuckled and smiled at her. “Yeah. I want to go but I need an adult with me!” He nodded. “I’ve been three times, and they know me, but it isn’t as much fun without a friend.”
“Do you have to take classes or something first?” The blonde wasn’t too detail oriented, but she was just clever enough to ask the right questions, sometimes.
“No. Not really. During your first visit, you have to listen to instructions and watch a movie, then you go take your first jump with an instructor. The second time and on, you can jump by yourself, if you are an adult.” He made a face.
“Cool,” said Deryn, and she kind of meant it. She was always excited about the next adventure that might come up, and that one seemed as good as any. “We should go some time, then.” She drew little windows in their sandcastle with a stick.
“Next week!” He nodded as he worked on the moat. It seemed a cool thing to do. Maybe he could bring some water for it. “I like hanging out with you.”
“Thanks,” Deryn said, and her smile was cheerful and bright. “You too!” And then she thought that hugging the boy would be a great idea in that moment and leaned over to do so. Unfortunately her quick movement brought half of their castle down around them.
Nate laughed as he hugged her and their castle attacked them. “I think today is a wash, and ice cream is the only cure.” He nodded, surveying the castle.
“You might be right,” the little blonde agreed, dusting sand off of her lap. “Let’s get some ice cream, then.” FIN.