Owner	Pose
Jon Kent	It's a gorgeous, bright, sunny Summer day and who would have imagined that the *entire* world would want to go outside and enjoy the weather at the beach? Nonetheless, Jon is super excited and full energy today. Gabby drove them (how quaint!) to the beach, so he's in beach bum mode: board shorts, flip-flops, and sunglass shields over his regular glasses. And da boy is PALE! It's a testament to how much time he spends in his Superboy uniform working. But guess what? When you put a shirtless Kryptonian out in the bright sunlight, it's like a sugar high to him. As he maneuvers through the crowd while carrying both his bag and Gabby's (Jon's a gentlemen!), he's practically jumping out of his skin. "Hey, Gabs," he calls out, "Do you think they sell hotdogs here? Oh you know what I like? Those frozen Cokes! They're the best, I hope th...OOOF!" Jon runs directly into a bikini-clad woman. He has the presence of mind to reel backwards and fall on his butt. His glasses fall right off his face and land on the ground as the woman's male counterpart growls and steps forward. His foot goes down on the glasses just as Jon reaches for them. Beach dude puts his full weight on Jon's hand, probably trying to crush the glasses. "Ahhhhhhhh...ow...ow...ow...ow," Jon exclaims as his hand gets "crushed." "You got somethin' to say to my girl, douchebag?" the mans growls as he looms over the now-sitting Jon.
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney is quite happy to walk alongside Jon trying to keep up with the hyperactive Kryptonian. Her legs were shorter but she could move quick when she needed to. "Slushies? Yeah I'm sure there's some around here somewhere. Probably icecream too," she explains as she follows along a few steps behind due to his energetic movements. Just in time for Jon to accidentally bump into the girl with the bro-dude boyfriend. "Well he *would* say sorry because he's that kind of guy," Gabby butts in as she quickly interposes herself between Jon and the taller, more musclar guy. Her head is tipped back to glower up at him. "If you gave him a minute to do so!" She looks aside to the woman quickly, asking, "You okay? Sorry about that, it's his first time at a beach," she half-lies. For all she knew it might be true. "Oh, right," she adds as her hand lifts snapping her fingers. "Sorry your boyfriend is a roid-raging dudebro who has no self esteem and has to try and make himself look good by being a sterotypical bully."
Jon Kent	The woman at least has the decency to look ashamed of her boyfriend's reaction. "C'mon, Sly," she says...yeah, that's correct, ladies and gentlemen, our dude here goes by Sly! "It was an accident. Let's get outta here. I'm thirsty." When Gabby gets all up in his business, Sly takes his foot off of Jon's hand. The young half-Kryptonian looks up at everyone. Superboy looks utterly natural without glasses. But Jon Kent has this way of squinting when he's not wearing glasses that makes him look like someone who wears glasses who isn't wearing his glasses. Or something. "Golly, I'm sorry, ma'am," Jon says as he quickly put his glasses back on. Both they and his hand are untouched, but nobody really notices that. People see what they want to see. "I should have been watching where I was going." "You see, Sly?" the decently behaved woman who is more than Sly deserves blurts out. "It was an accident." Sly frowns and takes his girl's hand in his. "Keep your woman on a leash next time, too," he says as he stalks off. Sly's girlfriend looks back sheepishly and silently mouths 'I'm sorry!' Jon gets up off the ground, making a showing of rubbing his "injured" hand. "You okay, Gab?" he asks. "Sorry 'bout that guy. Thanks for sticking up for me." He bumps his shoulder into Gabby's shoulder.
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney pfffts a bit at the talk of keeping her on a leash. The situation has de-escalated though so she doesn't bother going after... and the girlfriend at least seemed like a good one. So she flashes her a grin, and a quick thumbs-up at the mouthed apology. At least nothing bad had happened. Tipping her head back toward Jon she grins again, and leans back against him to bump his shoulder in return. "Welcome. He's just lucky his girlfriend was there," she remarks. She's not speaking so loud she's trying to be overheard--They can happily go on their way. "If he hadn't backed off he was about to get pantsed." She's kidding, right? Right? Quickly stooping to pick up one of the bags she continues on, remarking simply, "Better that it ended that way. He could have hurt himself if he tried *actually* attacking you." A grin is cracked as she winks back toward Jon knowingly.
Jon Kent	Just...like...reflexively without even thinking about it, Jon puts his arm around Gabby's shoulder as they walk. It's like he literally doesn't realize what he just did. Then, after a few moments, it hits him. His cheeks, ears, and neck go *bright* red, and he retracts his arm very quickly. "Oh my gosh, Gabby," Jon blurts out, mortified. "I'm *so* sorry! I don't know why I did that. I'm feeling all hyper for some reason." Yeah, because he almost never goes out shirtless on bright, sunny days. "And that guy kinda surprised me, and I was all mixed up." He stops and looks at Gabby like he just betrayed a friend. The busy crowd is funneling around the suddenly stopped Jon. And it's a good thing, too, because you definitely don't want to run into him.
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney lifts an eyebrow slightly at Jon's own antics. It's not so much the arm around her (though that was a surprise), but the delayed reaction from him as well. She can't help but bite down on her lower lip trying to repress a bit of a grin. "Yeah you're a bit hyper," she has to agree with a quick laugh. "Even by my standards. Don't worry," she assures giving him a light punch on the arm that was more for show than attempting to hurt. Really it wouldn't matter either way. "I've always been a hugger to begin with." "Though," she adds lightly clearing her throat, "Probably should watch that just a bit. My SO's might get jealous," she explains only to step forward and grab his arm with hers. "So why don't we go find some drinks, a nice spot to throw down the blanket, and just enjoy the day?"
Jon Kent	"I really wasn't trying to..." Jon starts to protest. But he just gives up with a long exhale that flips his bangs up away from his eyes. With arms linked with Gabby, he maneuvers to a relatively okay spot for putting out the blanket and stuff. It's a hot, crowded day, so beach real estate is at a premium. "Okay do you wanna watch the stuff and I'll go get us some drinks? Dad gave me some money." Jon kicks off his flip-flops onto the blanket. "Or do you want me to st...." His eyes suddenly open wide. "OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!" he exclaims as he dances from one foot to the other because of how incredibly hot the sand is. Some little kids building a sand castle nearby start giggling. It takes Jon several moments to realize he needs to get off the sand. He jumps onto the blanket and a look of relief falls over his face. "Oh golly," he sighs.
Gabby Kinney	"I know you weren't trying to, Jon, that's why I'm not upset," Gabby explains quietly giving his arm as reassuring a squeeze as she can. The spot is picked out with a nod of acceptance. It was a good spot and with as many people as there were here at the beach it did make it difficult to find anything better. Out of habit she steps onto the blanket to crouch and begin putting some of their heavier items on the corners. She'd been to the beach just enough to know that a good gust of wind could really ruin the whole set up if you weren't careful. It's enough of a distraction that she's quite caught by surprise when Jon starts hopping around in pain. "Did you... really feel that?" She asks a little confused, perhaps even curious in her own right, before looking a little guilty. "Sorry I should have mentioned it gets hot. It doesn't really effect *me* but I can feel the heat," she mumbles quietly. "Ah, I can go get the drinks if it's easier. You want to get the umbrella up so we have a bit of shade?"
Jon Kent	Jon could, quite literally, fly into the sun. So certainly the hot sand didn't bother him. But there many, many moving parts involved with keeping his secret identity a secret. He has to show the public a person who nobody would even *begin* to think might be Superboy. It's the art of lowered expectations, and when nothing but a pair of glasses separates you from one of the mightiest heroes on the planet, you must always, always be playing the part. "I'm fine," the young, half-Kryptonian says gently with a warm smile. "Could you please get me a frozen Coke?" he asks politely. Then he begins setting up like Gabby instructed. He unfolds the umbrella and plants it in the sand right at the edge of the blanket. "Do that dance again!" one of the children making the sand castle commands. Jon smiles at the kids and starts shifting his weight from one foot to the other, though he stays on the blanket. They all get some giggles in, which seems to please Jon, who sits down and waits for Gabby to return. Of course being under the umbrella is not helping his severe case of pale skin!
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney lets out a little breath of relief when she realises he'd just been acting. Really, she should have guessed. Even she could act like a totally different person when needed as he may have glimpsed at when she was playing bodyguard for Phoebe. "Right, one frozen Coke coming up," she agrees as she hops back to her feet. A quick ruffle of his hair is given before she heads off at a light jog across the sand showing no indication of it bothering her. Even if she wanted to she wouldn't know how to fake pain in some instances. It doesn't take her long to come back. Following her nose to the nearest snack stand she's loaded up not only on some drinks, but a couple of hotdogs for them both. The goodies are carted carefully on one of those snack-box trays of folded cardboard that were only durable so long as they didn't get wet. Speed therefore was a priority as the frozen drinks tended to sweat down the sides of the cup in heat like this. Making it in time she hops back onto the edge of the blanket giving a little kick of her feet behind her, carefully, to knock sand off before she tracks it everywhere. "Got it! So is this really your first time at a beach?"
Jon Kent	When Gabby returns, Jon is sitting quietly, cross-legged, on the blanket just sort of staring off into space. Who knows what thoughts are passing through the mind of this half-human, half-alien being. But when Gabby arrives, he looks up and lets a smile bloom across his features. "Thank you," he says when Gabby provides the treats. Always please and thank you with this one. He he takes a sip from the frozen Coke. "Careful, don't get brain freeze!" Then he grows a little more serious. "It's hard for me to just go have fun," Jon confesses. He lowers his voice considerably. "I have to literally actively shut out every sound in the world, including emergencies. But I know I need to relax sometimes. I just don't know /how/ to do it." He nods in Gabby's direction. "What 'bout you? Are you a beach bum?"
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney flops down cross legged on the blanket joining him, just partially under the shade herself. She was pretty pale but... it really did look as if she was starting to get a tan, slowly, but surely. Cracking a grin she takes a long slurp off of her own Coke slushie. The hotdogs are set down between them in their little cardboard carry case. "Not much. At the school there was the pool and lake and everyone loved both. I've really only started going to the beach this year." She wasn't at the school anymore. "Just don't go swimming in Gotham." The talk of needing to relax has her grow a little thoughtful, and serious. "Well. I can kind of help with that a bit," Gabby muses thoughtfully looking out to the water herself. "I only developed my enhanced senses a little over a year ago. It helps to find one thing to focus on. Like, for sense of smell? That's why you'll sometimes see me pull out a handkerchief. To kind of refocus myself so it's not overwhelming. Friend of mine that grew up with werewolves taught me that." Tilting her head toward Jon she suggests, "So try focusing on just one sound. Not to be weird but like, the beat of my heart? Or..." Her gaze shifts over with eyes narrowing suspiciously. "The seagulls. They're everywhere." One was trying to edge in toward some food on another blanket nearby.
Jon Kent	"Dad has been training me on how to shut out sights, sounds, and smells since I was little," Jon informs. "I'm not as good at is as he is, but I'm getting better. But it's more the psychological part. Even now, I am fighting the urge to open up my hearing a bit just to make sure somebody doesn't need my help." He lets out a ragged sigh before sipping more frozen Coke. "But somebody *always* needs my help. Somebody always needs all of our help. Yours, mine, the Justice League's, the Outsiders, the Avengers, the Titans, all of them. So I gotta quit having such a complex about it, like it always has to be me. Because it *doesn't*." He looks sheepishly at Gabby. "But it feels like it *does*. You get it, right? Do you ever feel like that?" Jon drew the role of paladin in this play, and it's a heavy weight. It almost seems like the longer he sits under the umbrella, the more his earlier optimism and energy high siphons off.
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney slurps a bit on her drink considering the point of view that he was speaking of. "Even you can't be everywhere at once, Jon. I know you want to. I know you want to help... I do too, but... You're not doing anyone any good ultimately if you wear yourself so thin trying to do everything." "Like...." She gestures with the soda out over the ocean. "Imagine you go to help a building fire that firemen are already at. While you're there, there's a bomb going off somewhere else--But maybe the bomb squad already has it taken care of and you don't know that because you're just hearing the panic of everyone and the bomb ticking down. And while all that is happening, a submarine is in trouble and sinking without power." She looks back toward him with a faint smile. "Yeah, you might be able to do the others, but not trusting those who are already there to do their job to also help means you're not going to be free to do the one that you could really be needed at because *no one else* can do it."
Jon Kent	"This is why I surround myself with smart, wise people," the young half-Kryptonian says after a few moments of contemplation. "Dad always says if you want to be great, have great people around you. He's right, of course. And so are you." A shrug, which is often a gesture of surrender, doesn't come easily to Jon. Jon, the warrior. Jon, the hero. But he shrugs now. It's a message to Gabby, to himself, to anyone with the wisdom to understand: I can just be Jon for a while. I'm not so important that the world can't go on without me for a bit. Suddenly, his face lights up. "Wanna swim?" he says. "Race ya to the water!" Jon jumps up and goes into motion to run to the shoreline, but his foot tangles up on the blanket and he trips, landing on his chest in the sand RIGHT NEXT to the sandcastle-building kids who were laughing at him earlier. They now break into severe guffaws, their childlike voices unleashing musical laughter out into the air. Maybe our clumsy boy knows what he's doing after all...