Beach Combing
Ketti: *shifty eyes* What? It's before my midnight. It still counts.
(*_*) ^(*_*)^ (*_*)
When Seras heard the shh shh, shh of the rolling waves, she knew she was back at the beach, and for a moment she felt anxiety claw at her throat. Would the two Nekettes be here again? One was more than enough!
Cracking an eye open, she scanned the moonlit sands, and was relieved to find no sign of her insane elder sister. Don't get her wrong, she didn't dislike the girl, but Kette could get overwhelming in single doses, let alone double.
She heard something, a muffled thud thud thud and the ssskch! Of sand being thrown about, and she looked back just in time to see two massive dogs coming right at her. The lead one, a pretty obsidian color with gold eyes, tripped over her beach towel and went flying into Seras' lap. "Oomph!" The silver-white one barked and jumped into the dog pile, green eyes glowing with mischief as a long tongue snaked out to slobber over Seras' face. "Ew, ew, ew! Not the face!"
Squirming under the heavy bodies, she realized they weren't just big dogs they were wolves, and the green eyed one was being particularly malicious with where she stuck her tongue. Seras squealed in disgust as her ear got slathered in wolf drool. The moonlight glinted on something, and she realized the wolves had nametags on their collars. Grabbing the black one she dodged the flying tongue and managed to make out the word Eltanin, and ducked under Tani's paws to throw her gently into the white one. Taking her chance, she dove on top of the pile and laughed as she managed to keep out of reach of more drool. Seeing her chance, she squirmed in and snatched the nametag up, the other one was named Esque. Something about the names nagged her as familiar, but she shrugged it off, and yipped when Tani tackled her back to the sands.
"No fair, two on one!"
The canine duo just barked in amusement and began to circle her, making it impossible for Seras to watch both of them at once.
There was a tremor through the sands and the shadows at their feet elongated in a menacing wave of darkness until the entire circumference of the circle was outlined, expanding even further to fill the disc, and Seras found herself standing in the center of the shadow. Red eyes opened, one after another until she lost count, and quite suddenly the darkness coalesced into a single spot as Baskerville crawled up out of the sands to stand in his full intimidating glory. He howled, and the eyes along his body closed until just the two remained, and he bared his teeth in a doggy grin as he stood at Seras' side, tail wagging excitedly.
"Hullo Baskie," Seras crooned, rustling the hellhound's ears affectionately, "Coming to play with us, boy?"
He barked, and suddenly there were two of him, and they snarled playfully as they charged the two female wolves, who turned tail and ran in opposite directions, howling their own challenge that even Seras could translate to; catch me if you can!
As she watched the "puppies" frolicking happily, two cold, strong hands gripped her shoulders before long arms looped around her neck, fingers dangling precariously close to her cleavage. A chin landed on her head, sticking into her skull as the surfer leaned into her form.
"Warms your heart, doesn't it, Police Babe? If your heart still had any warmth, that is," he chuckled. She scowled, but let him stay wrapped around her as they watched the animals slipping and sliding in the sand.
"Surf with me, Police Babe," he purred, bringing her closer to his chest so that she could practically taste him on her tongue, he smelled of blood and seawater, and something else that she mused might be the wax he used on his boards.
She squirmed a little, then shrugged, "Sure, why not?" It's not like she had any choice, really, once he got his hands on her. He chuckled breathily into her ear and she shivered as he hauled her up and walked her across the sand to the waiting Jackal. "I can walk!" She protested, and she could feel his smirk as he rested his face against the side of her neck.
"Nah, Police Babe, it's more fun this way."
She grumbled, but stopped squirming as he set her on the board and kicked off the shore, his power over the waves drawing them out past the shallows into the deeper waters. He draped himself over her again and she nearly toppled over, but he kept them from falling in the drunk.
"Feel the groove, Police Babe. The ocean is mondo cool, she's always moving. If you can tune into her beat, Police Babe, you can ride any wave like a master." Like me he meant, and she nearly snorted, but held herself in check as he pressed down on her. Sighing, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the motion of the ocean, feeling the board sway under her feet as the tide shifted. Even before she heard it, she felt it, the way the waters pulled them deeper into the sea's embrace, she knew that a wave was coming. Without realizing it, her powers had flared out gently, the shadows lapping the water as they turned the Jackal just as a wave was born. They balanced there on the brink of wiping out, and Seras laughed as she stretched out her arms and leaned back into the solid weight of Card, trusting him to keep them both upright.
The wave wobbled and they bounced unsteadily, but Card leaned further into her and they slid down the breaking surface, and as he pulled her along with him, they turned the Jackal to ride the inside curve of the diminishing wave until they shot out into calm waters and she whooped in excitement.
"Totally tubular, Police Babe." Card purred as he tugged her back to his chest and without warning they were falling, landing on their backs on the large surfboard and staring up at the full moon floating above their heads.
"Righteous," Seras giggled in agreement, reaching up to push a damp strand of hair from her face.
Something wicked sparked in her mind and she grinned impishly as she tipped her head back to peer at him upsidedown, "I think I did better than you could."
"Yes, babe, but what if you have a wipeout?!"
He smirked nastily and pushed her off the Jackal and she shrieked as she rolled into the sea. Salt water invaded her mouth and she flailed before getting her bearings and grabbing the edge of the board to pull herself up, sputtering and spitting out the salty flavor on her tongue. "Hey!"
"What's that?"
He jerked her up and she spit water out.
"You're insane!" She was shoved back under
"Sorry, can't hear ya over the sound of your drowning, Police Babe!"
A slew of bubbles erupted from her mouth as she screamed and thrashed, hands grasping his wrist and digging painfully into the skin as she fought to get back to the surface.
She heard his teasing laughter in her head and she latched onto the mental connection like a life line, 'This isn't funny! I need air to breathe!'
His voice oozed into the depths of her mind like seaweed ensnaring her in a trap, "On the contrary, Police Babe, this is hilarious. You're a vampire, you don't need to breathe, brah."
She flailed, and her fingers slipped, the nail cutting into Card's skin, and suddenly the smell of his blood surrounded her, even diluted as it was. She shivered, pupils dilating. 'I need air to talk!' She tried again, trying to keep the whine out of her mental voice.
He laughed and reached intot he water with his other hand to push her deeper as he pulled his injured wrist out of the water, presumably licking the cut to seal it, and she could feel the smug amusement rolling off him in waves. "Yeah, about that… Ya see, Police Babe, ya talk too much as it is."
She felt herself sinking deeper into the water and she screamed bloody murder as she scratched and flailed, 'Not funny!'
She froze as she felt something cold and slimy wrapping around her foot, a shudder wracking her body. 'Something's got my foot!'
"Nice try, Police Babe. It's just seaweed. Ocean's full of it."
She kicked her foot, trying to loosen whatever-it-was' grip, and shrieked as it wound tighter and slithered up her ankle, 'It is not! It's moving!'
Before he or she could say another word, the whatever-it-was tugged on her, and she sunk another foot. She would have screamed if she had any air left in her lungs, but they were already flooded with salt water, and she knew it would be a pain to get them dry again later. If there was a later! 'Ogod, ogod, it's pulling me under!'
She felt the hand in her hair tighten its grip and she looked up, though the salt burned her eyes, to see Card laying flat on the Jackal, a grim expression on his face, and while the surface rippled, she was almost positive he mouthed the words 'not cool, brah' before pulling her upward and she broke the surface with a gasp. There was a thick black tentacle wrapped around her leg and sshe shrieked in disgust, the sound a bit bubbly from the water she'd inhaled.
"I don't share my babes, dude." Card muttered as he grabbed the slimy thing and tore it off Seras' ankle, and it retreated swiftly back into the depths like a scolded puppy.
Seras coughed, trying to spit up some of the ocean in her lungs. "I jhate you sometimes. You know that, right?"
He chuckled and patted her head condescendingly, "I love you too, Police Babe."
She woke with a start, and felt something damp on her cheek. Grimacing, she reached up to wipe it away, and curled her lip in disgust. She'd drooled in her sleep, and her pillow was damp too. "Oh, gross!"
Flipping the pillow over, she moaned and buried her face in the cloth, trying to will herself back to sleep. It was still another hour at least before the sun set and she hadn't been sleeping too well the past few days. She blamed the damn dreams.
