6464/Surf's up

Surf's up
Date of Scene:	05 June 2021
Location:	Ruby Cove
Synopsis:	Thea gets an impromptu surf lesson from Aspen when they meet at a beach. And then it's time to go hit those drinks!
Cast of Characters:	Aspen Matthews, Thea Queen

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Aspen Matthews has posed:
Aspen was in New York for a symposium as a keynote speaker on the Metropolis University Oceanographic Institute Aquarium's "open cetatean enclosure", their system for preparing life-long captive whales and dolphins for return to the ocean. Keynote delivered, questions answered, she skipped the rest of the events because ...

SURF'S UP!

The wind was perfect and the webcam at Ruby Cove showed her it was now or ... whenever. But she was surfing! Wearing her half-suit and swimming with astonishing speed and grace she hit the water and paddled the board out to the break point. Then it was time for fun! Absurdly long tube stays, even an end-to-end tube run (almost impossible and highly dangerous) she played them all, practically dancing on her board while doing it, just enjoying the everloving Hell out of her time on the beach.

Then the uncertain new surfer popped up in front of her. The choice was tumble or hit. So she tumbled, but took the newcomer out with her own wipe-out. Looking around to apologize she grew concerned when the newcomer's head didn't pop back up near his board.

Now no heads were showing.

Thea Queen has posed:
You are too pale, they said. You should go out more, they said.

Really, sometimes family should figure what they *want*. First they were all worried she was never home, doing God knows what with who knows who. Worried with reason, as those were the 'dark years'. But now it's all about being worried about her complexion and paleness.

Her complexion is just fine, thank you very much!

Truth be told it's good to be some time away from Starling, just relaxing and enjoying the sun. And ..., relearning on how to surf.

She had done some when she was younger but life had taken her through other avenues which meant there was a lot of rust. But hey, she was trying at least. So after she got herself a board here she was trying out some waves, on her own half-suit because there's no half-measures where it comes to Thea.

Lots of falls so far, but she is getting the hang of it and .., lets try a bit harder waves, maybe further out. Of course that it gets her right in the way of a certain Aspen as they go for the same wave. A wave that was just .., larger than she expected. Confusion ensues. She dives down, struggling with the chord holding her to her board a bit.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
Having no such cord herself, Aspen peers around underwater, her eyes automatically adjusting for the difference in 'atmosphere' giving her perfect vision underwater like she's in the air. Peering she finds Thea struggling with the cord and being disoriented, as a spill in the midst of a large wave can do to you, swimming downward instead of up.

Huh. It was a woman, not a man. Well, she'd only got a brief glimpse before having had to spill, so...

Swimming with a grace and speed that seems almost unnatural she reaches Thea, swimming in front to make her presence known before reaching out with her arms to render assistance.

After pointing upward. To show which way is actually up.

If Thea follows suit, Aspen follows nearby to ensure there's no difficulties along the way. If not... well... it may get physical.

Thea Queen has posed:
If anything Thea doesn't show panic. Instead there's that determined look on her face, lips jerked to the side as she is working on the cord to disentangle it from her legs. Blasted thing! But with Aspen's help it eventually gets disentangled.

Thea lifts her hands up in a 'thumbs up' gesture when she points where precious air is and so without further delay Thea starts her swim up, legs propelling her up with certainly less style than the other woman. But still fine for a human! Eventually she sees that shiny light up on the surface and pops out of the water, letting out a long gasp and running her hands up on her face and hair, taking in long breaths to recover.

"Someone got the license plate of that freight train..?" She jests, mostly to herself really. She saw someone was nearby but she isn't exactly sure it was Aspen. Of course that without anyone else being nearby now she can start to suspect!

She's this great detective, you see?

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"Oh, I am SO sorry!" Another clue! "I was in the pipe and just burst out of it when you were in front of me. I didn't hit you did I? I tried to wipe-out without hitting you. Are you OK? Get up on your board and let me check you. Any pain on your head? Any hint of broken bones?"

Aspen fusses like crazy over the person she may have injured or, worse, turned off surfing forever. So distracted, in fact, is she that she ignores her own board while helping Thea onto hers. Fortunately a freak current spins the board around back to her so it bumps her gently in the shoulder. After ensuring Thea was seated properly on hers, she slips onto hers like a cross between a snake and a dolphin so smooth is her exit and perch.

"Are you OK to paddle back to shore, or should I tow?"

Thea Queen has posed:
Finally! All clues were assembled.

It was Aspen, in the pipe, with her board. Her brother would be proud.

"No, no. I am all good." Thea lifts her arms almost as if in 'surrender' to all the fuss the other woman is doing about it. Was just a fall really! But she does reach over for her board when it so 'conveniently' comes back her way, turns it over to a proper position and then props herself up on it and sits with Aspen's help. Some good athleticism there but the form isn't the best. Beginner or a returnee.

She checks herself just to make sure there's nothing out of place but all seems good. "I am good to swim, yea." she then letting out a chuckle. "Some wicked waves out here. Man, it had been a while since I had been in a big one like this." she reaching up with one hand to brush it through her short-ish hair.

"You look as if you were born to be on that surf board." she notes on the way she is settled on it.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"I ..." Aspen pauses, wrinkling her brow. "I want to say I was swimming before I was walking, but naturally I can't know that, right? I can say, though, that I've never gone longer than about three days without a board under my feet except when I was snowboarding so..." She shrugs, grinning, "I guess I live on boards. I live to surf. And swim. Waterski. Sail. You know, all the stuff you do in water."

She pauses. Then sticks out her hand after again fussily checking that Thea's not injured. "I'm Aspen," she says. "Valley Girl but living in Metropolis now."

And catching waves in Happy Harbour...

"You know," she adds, looking a little sheepish. "There is kinda a right of way system. I mean this was also a bit of a freak thing, but we're supposed to kinda enter on that end..."

She points. To where a cluster of surfers is getting ready for the next wave.

"I can give you a few pointers?" she adds helpfully. "Have you doing all the tricks after half a day." Beat. Laugh. "OK, I'm exaggerating, but you'll be a whole lot more comfortable."

Thea Queen has posed:
"Well, I have been learning that you really can't fight destiny when it decides who you want to be." Right? Some close encounters with Asgardians, danger, and who knows what else is in store for her. But she smilese brilliantly back at the other woman. If there was any kind of resentment at having been poked out of her board those seem to be gone now.

"I am Thea. Starling bred and born." no need for last names! She takes the other woman's hand and shakes it once. There, friendship achieved!

She cranes her neck to take note of where those surfers are going in, thoughtful. "Ah, so I sort of broke traffic rules? Was I driving on the wrong lane?" a brow quirking and then she chuckling. "I have forgotten so much..." she letting out a sigh.

"It feels like it was a lifetime ago that I was on a board." It sort of was too.

"I would actually like that a lot, if you don't mind a tag along." she says in agreement to those pointers.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"Hey, we were all where you are. Worse off, in fact. Surf community's nice folk, though, mostly, and that's why it's still a thing after all these years. Newcomers welcome! Nurtured! Knocked off the board and nearly drowned!"

She giggles at that last item.

"OK, well if you're sure you're OK, let's paddle out to the input side. If you start feeling dizzy or weak, we stop and head straight into shore, though. I'm watching out for you still. Kinda my responsibility after hitting you."

She didn't hit. But still, guilt is guilt.

"We'll take a light one together and I'll show you some stance things."

Thea Queen has posed:
"A rite of passage." Thea says with a sagely nod about the being knocked off the board, nearly drowned... standard Saturday! "And don't worry, I am fine, really.." Yea, she can recognize guilt when she sees it. But honestly, she appears just fine! She even brings out her little 'thumbs up' gesture again. Maybe she should trademark the thing..

The mention to paddle to the input side gets her moving, she twisting on her board to lie down on it's length and start to paddle, broad strokes as she begins to follow Aspen out. Not a lot of technique but she appears to be able to handle well the needed cardio for it.

"I will try not to hit your board this time." she says with a grin before asking. "This your favorite spot to come to?"

The wave is coming, and they are on the spot. Thea looks over her shoulder at it and gets ready, tensing shoulders.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"First time here, actually," Aspen says. "I was in town for a symposium, and I'd heard of this cove so I scarpered from the boring talks and zapped straight out here to try the waves. Not bad for Atlantic swell, let me tell you. Puts the stuff by Metropolis to shame. Not as good as the Pacific swell, though, especially the Polynesian islands."

She pauses, then breaks into a wide grin and laughs again.

"OK, I may be a little obsessed. Please forgive me."

As they line up and await their turn, Aspen points out the techniques some of the people ahead are using, getting Thea to stand on her board and practice balance and poise, showing how the movement of the board manipulates speed, direction, and stability. "The general rule is control speed, direction, or stability: pick any two. Anything you choose is going to let you nail two of those three. So if you want to go fast and accurate, you'll be unstable. If you want to be accurate and stable, you'll be slow. And so on."

More theory follows, and more than a few of the surfers present edge up a bit to listen.

And ogle.

But surprisingly it seems mostly to listen. They've seen her surf after all, and seen her shoot a pipe end to end. Which is legendarily difficult (and presumed impossible, actually, except she did it).

"OK, our wave's up! Let's hope it's a gentle one! Now remember what I taught you. This is gentle, so we can be accurate and stable without getting wiped. Let's go!"

And the wave carries the pair along...

Thea Queen has posed:
"Mmmm, evading responsibility, is it?" Thea says in a low, conspirational tone, leaning over her board to talk with the other woman, "I know all about that. Don't worry." clearly kindred souls where it comes to evading responsibilities. Then a laugh when she comments about being obsessed.

Oh, she likes this one.

"How boring would it be if we didn't have our obsessions, mmm?" Like, you know, casual vigilantism. Sharp arrows. Kicking the behind out of bad guys ..., all those things...

Yet it's lesson time, and Thea focuses for that. Brows furrow while she listens on, practicing a few of the motions. Up on the board, posture. She looks good, but then again it's only during practice that they will see how good she was in absorbing those lessons.

One she has failed on though: Accurate and stable? Not her poison! So when they gain a little speed and the wave is cresting above she turns to put herself in a low stance, putting some speed into it. "Woooo!"

Of course that it means stability is a bust, so the board does start to wobble. Oh dear...

Aspen Matthews has posed:
That was an unwise choice and Aspen calls out, belatedly, "look out!"...

And then the damnedest thing happens. The wave loses its power and urgency like it had its metaphorical knees cut out from under it. The instability of the pose fades as the forces of the wave diminish.

"What did I tell you!" Aspen laughs. "Pick any two. You were about to head into the drink. Luckily the wave died out."

Yeah. Lucky. Just luck. That had to be it.

"Now get back into the pose I showed you. You're getting ahead of yourself and you're not ready to step around yet!"

Thea Queen has posed:
Well, it does give an hint about Thea and how impulsive she can be. Also, not particularly being a good listener to advice. Go figure! But the close encounter to going face-first into the water makes her slow once that 'miraculous' adjustment of the wave comes to be, "It went fine..!" oh, but she knows what she did... Tempting fate! So, the usual...

Now she is listening though and shifts into that more accurate and stable posture, legs just a touch more apart so her gravity center is lower and it's easier to find stability. "I was never the best listener back in school." she says with a chuckle.

And now considerably slower she at least doesn't appear to be in the danger of falling out, laughing as they cut through the waters, wave foam all over!

"You certainly weren't joking when you said you knew all about this."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"I could have gone pro," Aspen says. "Went for freestyle swimming competitively instead." She makes a bit of a face. Not a happy one. "Didn't work out so well. So I became a marine biologist. Same access to the sea, no stupid politics."

Yeah, something's festering there, deep beneath that cheerful surface.

"Anyway, wanna try another wave? Maybe we'll luck out and get a bigger one this time. After that, hit the shore, grab a few drinks, ogle the guys, and cat call them until they complain to the lifeguards."

It's hard to tell if she's joking.

Probably.

Thea Queen has posed:
Freestyle swimming? Aspen? It makes Thea squint her eyes. They aren't that apart in terms of age... And Thea always enjoyed sports, being athletic before, you know.., drugs. But at the time she did follow the olympics. There is a momentary blink, a cant of her head to the side as if she's remembering those childhood memories. But yes, it seems she recognized her. Or at least has an idea of who it may be!

"Rotten to the core is how most organizations are nowadays." She comments. A sad reality. "And were you at the Olympics?" she then finally asks. Not one to step back from making the questions.

The suggestion to go catch another wave is met with a laugh. "And here I was thinking we were just going to have that one-night wave..." her tone jokingly about it and she looks at sea again.

"This sounds like a great plan to me. Both the wave and the rest!" she is already swimming on her board to get in position.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
Busted. The word can be seen in her face. She doesn't even need to speak.

"Yes. I was. When I was 15. 2008."

Monotone. Mostly monosyllabic. The thrill/joy board rider is gone a moment.

"It won't do any good, naturally," she says with a sigh as deep and wide as the ocean. "But I was innocent. If they did the same test on me now they did back then they'd get the same result: Erythocythemia. Only what kind of nut case would blood dope for fun? What they called doping is just how I am. Always."

She makes a wry face. "Anyway, it's all behind me. For the best really. Marine biology is great and has a lot more future in it than pro athlete. As a pro swimmer I'd be washed up by 25 and would spend the rest of my life as a coach or something. Marine biology's a challenge that's life long. And I still live in the sea."

The vivaciousness is returning. There's an old wound, sure, but it's closed up. Just a bit of irritation from scar tissue, it seems.

"And I'm really good as a marine biologist too. Oft-cited. Keynote speeches. Director of the Metropolis Oceanographic Institute Aquarium."

Then she looks around. "And still the meanest, most bitching surfette there is!"

Oh, and something something freakish non-human life form something something water witch something something. But she doesn't mention that part out loud. Partially because it's just not really the right time, but mostly because a lot of that even SHE doesn't know...

Thea Queen has posed:
"So you are her." A grin on Thea's expression. Delighted. "I was .., I dunno... 12 or 13. Seeing that win at the time was amazing." she shares with the other, "It really got me more into sports." a chuckle. "But I was more of a runner." hence Speedy!

"It never really panned out but at least I am still lookin' good in my ol' age of 25." she tells the other with a small smirk coming to her expression. 25, one foot in the grave already.

"And no regrets about your life choices, good. That's important." Just the briefest of haunts going through the woman's eyes. But she recovers quickly enough.

Specially as that wave comes and they have to focus on keeping up and not falling! Or well, at least one of them has...

But it was time for some beach fun!

Aspen Matthews has posed:
This wave is spooky. It comes on moderately strong, but gains strength as it goes. Waves are unpredictable, naturally, but it's almost a bit too much of a coincidence that the wave is doing exactly what Thea needs to deal with as Aspen calls across instructions.

Then it happens. The wave ... splits somehow. Where Thea is the wave remains strong and stable, but a few metres behind it suddenly rears up, coils over and turns into a pipe, like it's in a separate part of the ocean from Thea, with Aspen riding inside the pipe, barely ahead of the crashing whitewater, and ...

She's crazy. She's DANCING on her board, having the time of her life. The noise, the rush, the spray, it's all confusing and even gives the illusion for a moment that Aspen is transparent in her half-wetsuit, but that illusion vanishes quickly.

Aspens half of the wave carries her far up the beach where she lightly steps off the board, kicking it up into her hand (so deftly it's like the water spray did the lift) and waits, grinning for Thea to come in.

On the board or swimming after a spill. Whichever it is.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea is having her fun taking on her smallish wave with gusto, wing whipping hair out of her face while she rides it out. It's a good feeling, just being out here without any other worries, wind and sand. And water. She can see why Aspen chose this as her life...

It takes her a bit to notice what happened. That's not normal... She blinks a couple of times but at least doesn't let her jaw hang open. Nope. She just laughs and continues on, inserting just a little more speed into her stance as it boosts her confidence...

Eventually Aspen does get to land and Thea does the same, the wave finishing not too far from the shore, she hopping off and still doing those last few meters with her board on hand. "You weren't joking when you said you were born on a surfboard eh?" a wink and she stabs the tip of her board on the sand to let it dry off.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"Nope!" Aspen looks alive like water woke up a sleeper, her hair plastering against her bronzed skin, teeth flashing like neon lights in a dark alley--in the brightness of the day. "I'm crazy for this stuff. It's why I skip out on conferences full of boring old men. Also a big fan of swimming, diving, water skiing, sailing. It's the sea. It talks to me like nothing else."

Beat.

"Except a good sangria sitting at the edge of the sea while we ogle, that is. Come on. Let's get slightly plastered and rowdy. I feel like it's time to be rowdy, don't you?"

Thea Queen has posed:
The suggestion to actually have an alcoholic drink has Thea smile a bit forcefully and then reply. "I think I will stay with the juices." she comments on that. Clearly something there. But hey, at least she will offer company! Even if it may not be the plastered kind.

"But worry not, I can get just as rowdy." A wink, hands up to brush over her hair and slide it out of her face before she stretches up to her tiptoes.

Yes, this was turning to be a gooood day out on the beach.