Main Beach (#590)
The beach here is of a fine, glittering black sand... volcanic sand, remnants of a long-past eruption. The beach is fairly wide, which is a good thing since many of the Weyr's dragons like to come here and lounge in the sun. The crystal blue waters of the ocean roll up in gentle hissing waves on the shoreline, sometimes leaving shells or other treasures from the sea in their wake. On the north and south ends of the beach, the cliff from the plateau retreats into the forest, and trees flank the beaches.

T'rell shakes out his hair, sending droplets flying all around him, and then grins to Kaeryn as he strides up the beach.

Kaeryn pulls back the thin blanket that covers the infant in her arms, revealing her tiny smiling face for T'rell. "I think I'm not the only one that was looking forward to spending a little quiet time out of doors, just the three of us. Did you enjoy your dip?"

T'rell smiles broadly down at Brencia as he puts a wet arm over Kaeryn's shoulders. "I'd say it was more than a dip. You ever tried diving like that?" He glances out to the shallows, where Sejith lounges. "He'd love to take you."

"Can't say that I have," Kae admits with a grin and a shake of her head. "I might be up for a little swim but I'm not so sure about the *diving* part of it. Some other time, perhaps?" A gentle kiss is planted on T'rell's cheek, and the infant is offered to her wet father, "A swim actually sounds lovely, I think we'll do that."

"You want to take a few laps, Brencia?" T'rell jokingly teases, tickling the girl in her mother's arms. "I'll take her in the shallows if you want to stretch yourself, Kae."

"I think that would be perfect," Kae agress, passing their daughter over to T'rell, and then immediately stripping out of her dress, to reveal a smooth, blue swimsuit. "I think I could use a little exercise," she notes, patting the slowly disappearing pudginess that remained after Bren's birht.

T'rell's admiring glance doesn't seem to have minded whatever pudginess there still is, however. "You just need to get out and have some time to think." He bounces Brencia on his arm lightly, causing little happy burbling sounds from the tiny creature. "Go ahead, we'll be here, and Sejith's out there if you want company."

"Just a couple laps in and out, I think," Kae grins as she runs off in the direction of the water, diving neatly into an incoming wave as soon as the water is deep enough. Smooth, even strokes carry her out toward Sejith, and she does a lap around him.

T'rell leaves Brencia's blanket on the sand and wades just into the shallows, kneeling in the gentle surf. "Is this your first time in the water?" he asks the girl softly, holding her out so that the waves just tickle her toes at first. She pulls her feet up at the first touch, looking down with open mouth at the retreating ocean until it comes again.

Sejith floats quietly, his eyes covered with their inner lids to shine just below the surface. Only his nose remains above water, though his tail slowly traces a path toward Kaeryn as she swims, roughening the waves with its wake.

Kae flips over, so that's she's floating on her back, using her arms to pull her in circles, not watching where she is going, just trusting her instinct, and hoping that Sejith wouldn't let her bump into anything *too* large. Casually kicking her feet, she causes small splashes around her.

Sejith wouldn't let Kaeryn bump into anything except perhaps himself -- in fact, there he is, looming closer -- could that be mischief in his eye? Nah. He takes a deep breath and sinks deeper, exhaling great bubbles.

"Splish. Splish. Splish. Kae's arms work in circles, pulling her backwards, and the harper's blue eyes drift closed as she floats around in the water, feet just barely wiggling as her legs make scissored motions to propel her backwards.

Shore> T'rell lets the waves break on his back, shielding Brencia from all of their force as he lowers her, just waist-deep, to ride the waves in his hands. Quietly, he starts to murmur the words to an old sea shanty as the girl begins to actually enjoy the water -- not without a squeak or two of protest at first, of course.

Sejith submerges completely, out deep enough that he can actually perform a lazy roll; if he could remain comfortably on his back, he probably would, but he simply stretches out every part of his body in sequence until he's let the seawater caress every muscle.

Kaeryn's body bobs around in the new waves created by Sejith's rolling body, and she laughs softly. "Sejith waves are nicer than natural ones," she calls out to the huge dragon before shifting her swimming position again and chosing a forward stroke to move in. She pauses in the water as she hears T'rell's singing to their daughter, her face softening into a gentle, loving expression. Blinking at herself as she realizes what she's doing, she shakes her head, and swims about a bit more.

As the infant starts shifting this way and that to watch the waves roll in beside her, T'rell sits her down in the sand beside him where she can see the whole of the ocean. As the tide rolls in and out, the smiling girl reaches out to grab at the water even as it drains from her grasp. "Can't catch it?" the rider asks her playfully, cupping water in his hand to show her, then pour over her shoulders as she squeals happily and learns -- uh, oh -- how to splash.

Kaeryn allows herself to slip down beneath the surface of the water, and she swims up toward the shore, staying just beneath the surface as long as she can, in an attempt to sneak up on the father-daughter pair near the shore. When she resurfaces, several golden curls stick against her cheeks, and she pushes them back over her shoulders.

Brencia gives a bright gurgle of pleasure as her mother emerges, reaching out her arms with a big smile.

Kaeryn moves a little closer to the pair, and grins at her daughter's energy. "I think she likes the water, don't you?" she reaches her fingers up and runs one along Bren's wet little arm.

"Come back to play?" T'rell, reclining in a few inches of water to support Brencia, raises an inviting eyebrow to Kaeryn.

"Something like that," Kae replies with a soft smile as she slithers up in the water and leans against T'rell, causing him to have to support some of her weight.

Brencia continues to reach toward Kaeryn, her short little arms not nearly long enough to reach although she certainly is trying hard enough. T'rell, with a smile, scoops the girl up out of the water and sits her on his knee instead where she immediately squeals and grabs at the harper's suit. Mom!

Kae laughs softly as she makes herself comfortable, just enjoying the warmth of both the sun and of T'rell being so close, and the coolness of the water. She wiggles her fingers just out of Bren's reach, making the little one stretch her arms to try to reach them.

"Aw, no fair, Kae." Brencia reaches so far that she nearly topples herself; it's only T'rell's firm hand that keeps her upright, and the rider chuckles. "So," he glances out to Sejith for a moment. "What were you planning to paint?"

Flopping backwards into the water and sand, the harper just lifts her hands in an 'I don't know' gesture, and closes her eyes, letting the waves roll over her body. "I thought I'd just paint the beach, but I'd rather just watch you," she admits with a grin and another shrug. "You're better looking."

T'rell quirks an eyebrow upward as he eyes Kaeryn, amused. "Well, I'm glad to be better looking than a pile of sand. What do you think?" he leans over to inquire of Brencia, tickling her lightly. She starts to squirm, then, listing heavily to starboard, where mom sits. "Hmm. I think she votes for the pile of sand. Either that or you."

Rolling up into a seated position, Kae manages to wrap her arms around T'rell's neck so she can look him in the eye, and not disturb their daughter's seated position. "You've been the subject of my art for quite some time now, so why should I stop now?" With a wink, she plants a gentle kiss on his lips and pulls away again. "But *that* can do from memory."

"Only memory? We'll have to fix that." T'rell returns Kaeryn's kiss, leaning back to follow. Brencia, lying against his stomach, squirms more insistently, her squeals becoming more annoyed. "Hmm." The rider sits up again, but that doesn't fix the girl's irritation, and she begins to screw her face up.

"Shh," Kae touches her finger to Bren's nose as the tiny girl begins to complain, and leans over to give their daughter a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Now now, what's bugging our little girl?" she asks the infant quietly, as is expecting an answer.

***Fade To Black***

---

Back