fh_trips | Kohala Coast, Hawaii | Morning & Afternoon | Tuesday

Current Mood: sleepy

Entry tags:

spring break 2011: hawaii

Kohala Coast, Hawaii | Morning & Afternoon | Tuesday | February 22nd

Everyone should feel sorry for the poor bastards left behind in Fandom where snow collected atop the ice that coated the ground overnight. But in Hawaii, everything was sunny, warm, and beautiful. It was paradise, and everyone there should take advantage!

[Guest Quarters | Resort Activities | Spa Without Walls | Beach Activities | Hawaii Volcanoes National Park | OOC]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"If someone's head is in it, I'm going to be a little shivered out," Ben told her, holding it up to peer inside.

Karla was going to take an extra few licks from his cone ~~not-dirty!~~ for that comment. "First of all, eww. Second, that jar is far too small to have someone's head in it. And third, I don't understand how your brain works," she informed him, handing the ice cream back over.

Inside, Ben would find a clear gel, lightly scented with mint and chrysanthemum. "Sunburn unguent," she said, giving his bright red hair and pale, pale skin a pointed look. "With a bit of sun protection as well. Call it a hunch."

~~And in public! The scandal!~~

"Thanks," Ben said with a little blush. "I lathered up earlier, but there's no such thing as too careful. Ender's tan already, the bastard."

He didn't seem all that upset about it, really.

Karla laughed a little. "Ender's got good skin for it. Not like us." Karla enjoyed lying in the sun and called it 'tanning,' but it was mostly basking in the sun like a lizard while slathering in protective lotions.

Glacians were not meant for much sun.

"Let me know when you want to reapply," she said. "I'll get your back and shoulders. And promise not to leave sections uncovered so you burn in interesting patterns."

Ben froze up just a little bit, and it wasn't from the threat of weird patterns on his back.

He already had those.

"Um."

Karla laid a comforting hand on his arm. "I know," she murmured quietly. "At least two versions of me have already seen you naked, remember? And I half remember at least one of those versions. I'm a Healer. Scars don't bother me."

Ben now turned a very becoming shade of scarlet, and not due to the sun. "Okay," he mumbled, nodding. "Let's get it over with now."

Other than the meddroids at home and Tahiri during...other times...no one had touched Ben's back and he was radiating nervousness.

Karla sent him waves of comfort. "It's okay," she murmured. "I promise."

She delicately touched his back, through his shirt first, just letting Ben get used to feeling her hands on him.

"Have you gotten a little burned yet?" Karla asked, keeping the conversation going to distract him. "We are three days in already, so I'm guessing yes."

"The first day," he said, nodding. "Yesterday I was here early enough to grab a sun umbrella." He sighed. "All it did was leave me freckled."

"Didn't you say your father was from a desert planet or something?" Karla asked, slowly lifting up his shirt. "How did he manage not to burst into flame every time he stepped outside is beyond me."

The gel was cool on her palm. She gave it a moment or two to warm before touching it lightly to the skin of Ben's back. She was glad she was behind him now so he couldn't see her expression--though he'd almost certainly pick up the swirls of pain, compassion, sympathy, and regret.

Edited 2011-02-23 06:11 (UTC)

"He had Gradddad's skin or something," Ben said, flinching slightly despite his best efforts. "I have Mom's."

"Did she grow up on a planet with no sun at all?" Karla asked, gently smoothing the gel over his back.

His scars were ugly. There was no denying that. They stood in stark contrast to the smooth skin; Ben's own paleness making them that much more noticeable. But for all that they were ugly, Karla didn't see them as making his back ugly. They were a mute testimony to Ben's inner strength and dignity.

What they did, however, was chill Karla's anger at Jacen to something brittle and cold that she locked deep away, where Ben wouldn't have to feel it.

"I'm going to get you a dainty parasol," she said, keeping her voice light. "I'll even see if I can get it in brown, to match your robes."

"She grew up on Coruscant, so...practically," Ben said with a bad attempt at a laugh. She was getting closer to the lightsaber scar that cut from shoulder to waist.

"And I don't think dainty is really my style, despite the one-time wearing of a lei."

Hell's fire and Mother Night. It looked like Ben had gotten perilously close to being bisected. She couldn't help it--she traced feather-light fingers along the scar, reading it like braille. It also told a story, after all.

"Do these ever hurt?" she asked in a small voice, dropping the banter for a moment. She cleared her throat and continued in a normal tone, "Like in the cold, or the rain or anything?"

Maybe she could mix something up for him? To help?

He shook his head, gnawing on his lower lip. "I don't really even notice them."

A lie, and a bad one at that.

"That's not true." Her voice was gentle, even as she called him out on his lie. "If you want to me to leave it alone, I will, but we both know you're lying."

She gave him a hug, one made up of emotions alone.

"Leave it, then," Ben said, barely loud enough to be heard.

Karla nodded, spread some more unguent on his back, close to his hip, and then tugged his shirt down. "As you wish," she said and that did mean 'I love you.' Which she did, very much, if not entirely the way Jaenelle Mara would have preferred.

Ben gave her a tiny smile. "For that you can finish the ice cream," he told her, making space on his towel for her.

"You just know I was gonna do that anyway," she said, sitting next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. "You've finally learned to give in with grace, is all."

Or the ice cream was just incredibly melty. One of those.

"With age come wisdom," he said in his best creaky old Jedi voice, then dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "How are you?"

A mouthful of ice cream forestalled an immediate answer at least. "Better," she said after a moment's though. And swallowing. "Not great, but better."

And in the best matter-of-fact voice she could muster, she said, "Warren very nearly broke up with me three weeks ago. And had every right to do so. Hinata hates me now and Bobby's not all that far behind. I managed to really mess things up."

Ben's arm tightened around her waist. "What happened?"

Karla finished the rest of the cone quickly, mostly so she could cuddle a bit closer without having to worry about getting melted ice cream on them both.

"When we were fighting demons to get Raven back, I made a decision," she explained quietly. "It was tactically sound but a really stupid choice anyway."

She told him about Sebastian swallowing Raven's chakra, and him finding out her feelings for Warren and his plan to use her love against her. About pretending to beg for his release to get close enough to Sebastian and then snatching the chakra out of his stomach, even though she knew the demons would hurt Warren for it.

"I hadn't expected them to go that far...but then again, I wasn't letting myself think about it, either. It was like, uhh, moving pieces on a chest board. This was the most efficient way to bring about victory and the odds were very good that Warren wouldn't die, therefore, this was an acceptable move to make. But there's more to situations than whether someone lives or dies. I made the choice--but I didn't pay the price for it. I didn't even as Warren if he would."

Ben's eyes were full of regret. "What did they do to Warren in retaliation?" he asked softly.

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach

Re: The Beach