2019-06-27 - Rain on the Beach

It's probably a shock to everyone, but it's drizzling lightly in Gray Harbor today. Shocking. It's still warm, however, leading to a somewhat humid, drizzling afternoon where the sun peeks intermittently through the grey clouds but the drizzling rain never stops, giving everything a sort of hazy quality. And so of course it's a perfect day to go to the beach! At least if you are Gina, and not particularly fond of humans. She's wearing a pair of black shorts over torn black lace leggings, a black t-shirt promoting some indie metal band tied into a crop top, and a transparent gray raincoat worn open like some sort of duster over the outfit, with bare feet and eyes heavily lined, lips a blue aqua color. She seems to be kicking at a ball half-heartedly on the beach, between staring at the waters-- and, of course, it's not hard to sense how brightly she glimmers.

Wandering along the drizzly beach are two other women, walking close together. One of them is wearing hiking-type cropped pants, some kind of black water shoes, and a light purple v-neck t-shirt; she has a light black windbreaker on over that, the hood down. Kiyomi's gaze moves ahead to the purple-haired woman kicking a ball not far beyond where they are. In fact, the pair are certain to run into Gina's ball-kicking vicinity any moment now.

Aster drifts along at Kiyomi's side, perhaps a half-a-step back or so. Dressed all in white, her loose black hair stands out against the gray sky and grayer mix of sand and rock which composes the beach. It's true that few people are out today, especially without the excuse slash obligation of a dog. Perhaps for this reason, when she spots Gina kicking that ball back and forth, she touches the thin sleeve of Kiyomi's windbreaker, as if to draw her attention.

Gina continues to bop around the ball a bit - not dribbling, not practicing, really just...staying active on the shore. But her head turns slightly, ALMOST but not quite looking over her shoulder at the sound? Sense? Of other people approaching. She stops kicking, looking back out towards the water before she turns to look at the duo, the ball somewhere between them both. She doesn't smile, or wave...but she also doesn't look hostile. Just watches them for a moment, before she raises both brows. "Yo."

Oh, hey. Gina's being sociable. For Gina.

Kiyomi glances from Aster back to Gina -- then watches as Gina stops kicking. Her lips open, like she's about to say something...until her cell phone buzzes in her pocket. She looks very embarassed, but draws it out anyway to glance at the screen. "Gomen ne," she murmurs, wandering off down the beach a little ways so she can take the call. So, poor, soft-spoken Aster will be left with questionably sociable Gina, at least for a little while..."

Indeed, Aster looks embarrassed to be left alone. Her head turns to follow Kiyomi as the taller woman walks off, and she raises a hand to coax a flyaway hair back from her eyes. When she looks back around to Gina, though, she has a warm, if rather hesitant smile on her face. "Hello," she says. She takes a step closer. "It's... Gina, isn't it? I'm Aster."

"Yup. Gina Castro." Gina confirms, reaching up to adjust the hood over the dark purple of her hair. Her had tilts as she studied Aster, before giving a small shrug, "Some kind of flower name, right? Rose or Azalea or something. Can't really remember more than that."

Well...that was a short call. Kiyomi is already back, though she still looks embarassed. "Ah, yes. Gina." She looks surprised as Gina seems to have already forgotten Aster's name, which she's just given. "It's Aster, as she said. I'm Kiyomi." The young woman's English is great, but she has the very slightest hint of an accent. "Do you come to the beach often?"

Aster nods in response to Gina's question. "Ah... Yes." She looks pleased to be remembered, perhaps, from the light smile on her face, even as someone with some kind of flower name. When Kiyomi catches up with them, she smiles at her, too.

"Oh, you know." A slight smile, self-amused, "Night over day, rain over shine, storms over sunny." Gina is actually in a very good mood. "Hard to avoid the beach, it being like a slingshot rock away. And summer's come, so it's the quiet times. You?"

"Yes, I like to walk here." Kiyomi smiles back at Aster, eyes lingering on her for a moment. "I like it here even when it is cold and windy. It is a good place to collect stones." She smiles at Gina next. Her smile is soft, a little sad, but genuine. "You seemed like you were having fun. Did we interrupt you?"

Aster's attention seems to have floated away for a bit, but it comes back at that question. She blinks, looking from Kiyomi to Gina, and pulls her hair out of her eyes again. Then she asks, "Quiet at the diner, you mean?"

"You'd know if I didn't want to talk to you." The remark isn't joking or amused, just a casual, frank statement, "Mostly by me not talking. Or bitching at you." A small shrug, Gina's thumbs hooking into her pockets, even as she simply...walks towards her ball again, mid-conversation. "Diner's been quiet too. Mostly I meant the ocean. It's quieter in summer vs winter. Even if the beaches have more people. "

"You can 'bitch' at us if you'd like." The word sounds kinda funny coming out of Kiyomi

"You can 'bitch' at us if you'd like." The word sounds kinda funny coming out of Kiyomi's mouth. She looks at the water again. "Yes, the ocean rages during the winter. I sometimes wonder what it is so angry about." She seems oddly serious about this question, though she's distracted by Gina walking towards the ball again. She doesn't go to chase her.

Aster holds her hand before her mouth, like she might laugh at that suggestion. She moves, brushing against Kiyomi, to watch Gina track after the ball. "The sky gives the ocean more to hold sometimes," she says, softly.

A little snort escapes Gina at Kiyomi's words, "If I'd liked, I'd do. I don't so I won't." And life's that simple, with a shrug, as she plucks up the ball, tossing it up in the air and catching it. "I don't skimp on myself." But her eyes go towards Kiyomi and Aster as they pick up the thread about the ocean. For the moment, she's quiet.

"I like that," Kiyomi says softly to Aster, smiling. She watches Gina and comments, "It is good that you know how to take care of yourself. A lot of women struggle with it. Do you think so, Aster?"

"Ah..." says Aster. She blinks at Kiyomi, surprised. Then she shakes her head, rather slowly. "I don't know... " She watches Gina throw and catch her ball. The ocean curls in over the sand. Rain drags the gray sky closer to earth.

Something about Kiyomi's statement has Gina's lips curving up, but a total lack of humor in her eyes. "Struggle with it, huh. I guess you could say that." She remarks, tossing the ball up with a little spin and catching it with both hands again. The spin sets droplets ricocheting, even with the drizzle. "So Flower Power over there I know. You visiting from wherever or just not somebody who frequents my side of town?" The question is a casual one, as the ball is spun and tossed once more. Thrice. A little higher every time.

"I live here as well," Kiyomi answers, still smiling gently. She is prone to smiling, but the smiles never stick around for long. They're as ephemeral as the wind that stirs her black hair. "Aster and I own a small art gallery. Perhaps you know it? Wandering Sky."

Aster keeps watching, head tilted a little to one side, as Gina tosses the ball up and catches it again. Her eyes move up and down with each rise and fall, and her head almost does, too. As if catching herself, she shakes it off, looking first at Kiyomi, as if to reassure herself of something, and then at Gina. "You should visit," she suggests, still in the same soft, warm voice.

One brow rises at Kiyomi's comment, but Gina just shrugs. "Ah. Must've not been forever and a half ago." She says, before she pauses. "I'm more of an audio than a visual person." Says the woman who gothifies every era in her fashion choices. "If it was a music store I'd probably know about it." Dark eyes glance towards Aster, and she asks, "What kind of art is there?" Because Aster is the one recommending it.

"Not forever and a half," echoes Aster. She looks at Kiyomi again; sweet, steady smile on her face. Black eyes warm as the tone of her voice. At Gina's question, she blushes, and lets her head dip a little, so that her hair slides forward and partly obscures her face. "Kiyomi's... paintings," she says, slowly. "And... Other local art, sometimes. Sometimes -- Sometimes we have music, too. I make music, from plants... "

"Wait, plant music?" For the first time in this whole conversation, Gina looks genuinely curious. Mystified, even. The ball is caught, left trapped via her arm to her side, as she steps closer towards Aster and gives a small grin, "Now this I've got to hear. That sounds pretty awesome."

Aster grows even pinker. She slides about a half-a-step towards Kiyomi, without quite seeming to move; stammers, with another nod, "Ah... Well... Thank you... " She seems not quite able to meet Gina's eyes, as if she might simply dissolve into the drizzling rain under any more scrutiny.

Kiyomi can't help but smile back at Aster. It's only natural. She also seems bashful, though specifically when her paintings are mentioned, but she does nod towards Gina. "Yes...art needn't be just something one hangs on the wall. It can be so many things. We hope our space to reflect that."

"That's cool and all," Gina sounds very skeptical of the studio's coolness, as she addresses Kiyomi, "But I'm way more into how plant music work." A smile, then, like a smooth cut across her features, "Guess I'll just have to go visit myself and see." Her eyes move towards Aster, and her efforts to disappear into the mist, and the smile turns into a smirk. Rather abruptly, she asks, "Think of a playing card." As she looks at Aster, studying. "Any playing card. Which one popped into your head, first thing?"

Aster touches Kiyomi's arm, very lightly -- a brush of fabric, the thin black stuff of her windbreaker, and not skin. She looks at her, seeming more at ease at the mention of her paintings, and the other woman's intentions for the studio, and perhaps forgetting for a moment that she's been put on the spot. At Gina's question, she blinks a few times, quickly, as though startled to be recalled... Looks back around at her, and answers, in a small voice, "The... Ah... The... Six of Hearts."

Something in Kiyomi's face changes, goes kind of far away -- she's brought back to her reality herself at Aster's light touch. Since she wasn't asked the question, she doesn't answer it -- instead, she looks down at the ground, some of her straight black hair falling into her face, like there is something deep down in that sand she is trying to see.

"Mmm." Gina's smile remains, slight and unconcerned. "Of course it's that one." She glances at Kiyomi, as if Kiyomi should be just as in on the joke as Gina is, before she glances away and tosses her ball up again, with a spin. "I'll leave you to enjoy the sea breeze, though. I've got my cats to feed before they decide to eat my face at night." Spoken as if this is a likely possibility.

Aster's eyes grow very wide. She looks back and forth between Kiyomi and Gina, touching Kiyomi's arm again, in a kind of gentle stroke down the other woman's sleeve. "Kiyomi," she murmurs, before recognizing that Gina is moving again, perhaps about to leave. "Why," she asks. She seems to be speaking to each of them. There's a hint of confusion, perhaps a slight worriedness, in the way that her large black eyes pass over their faces. "Did you see other cards?"

Kiyomi quickly looks up, taking them both in, but especially Aster. "It was good talking to you," she says softly to Gina, tucking a small piece of hair behind her ear. She gives Aster's hand a small pat, as if to say: it's alright.

Gina glances back at Aster's soft query, "Did you know, the easiest way to present the universe with something it has never seen before... is to shuffle a deck of cards?" Again that hint of amusement, the edges mocking - but whether she's mocking herself, the universe, or the pair is hard to tell. "The order of it is going to be different, every single time, and brand new to the universe- except if you cheat." Does that have anything to do with anything? Maybe. Maybe not. Gina turns away and continues walking, raising a hand in casual salute farewell as she heads down the beach. She won't turn back again.