Verdurous Seas, Cerulean Skies
High Dive
It was another hot day on Gargantia, the perfect weather for a beach party.
As the fleet began moving closer to another Milky Way, the days became longer and the sun shone brighter, providing a balmy week for the people of Gargantia. Amy decided to seize the opportunity to gather her friends for another fun get-together.
Once again, Pinion planned a nice barbecue for everyone, this time bringing a backup generator in case the grill didn't work again since Chamber wasn't around anymore. Bellows and Ridget lounged under a couple of umbrellas, discussing something or other about the fleet's next destination. Bebel and Dr. Oldham also relaxed in the shade, perfectly content embracing the breeze and switching between reading and watching everyone else. Amy and the girls were in the water, splashing each other and going out a little further into the sea.
Ledo was not too eager to join his friends in the water immediately, especially considering the new venue. Instead, he stood with Pinion, partaking in one of Gargantia's most mouthwatering delicacies, grilled eel.
"It's good, right?"
Ledo nodded since his mouth was too full to voice how indescribably delectable it was. The euphoric expression on his face was enough of an answer.
"Glad you like it. And that's a real compliment coming from you." Ledo was still wary of most meat-based food, his diet mainly consisting of baked goods and produce. His body still needed the protein, so he made a few exceptions (especially when it came to Amy's cooking). Seafood wasn't bad, but the thought of eating another living being, especially something as enormous and odorous as a cow, still made him a bit queasy—that is, until he tried eel. And once he found out the rarity of these slippery creatures, he made sure to savor every bite. "You haven't tried anything until you had it with the special sauce."
"Are they done yet?" Bellows came over and reached for one the skewers of cooked eels. Pinion bravely slapped her hand away. "Hey!"
"Not yet."
"They don't need sauce!"
"I believe the taste-tester is the judge of that."
While the two squabbled, a sly hand reached over the grill and grabbed a skewer. Lukkage winked at Ledo before taking a bite. "Not bad, kid."
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Bellows and Pinion exclaimed.
"I heard about your little party. Thought I might crash it." The pirate handed the skewer to her two cronies to share and began reaching for another.
"Ah, ah, ah," Pinion admonished. "No one is allowed to take anymore eel. We have to have enough for everybody."
"Including me?" Lukkage swung her arms around the engineer's neck and smirked at him suggestively. He could practically feel the sharp glare of a certain excavator as she threw metaphorical daggers at his back.
"L-Ledo!" He broke away from the pirate's grasp and practically hid behind the younger boy. "Call the girls up. It's time to eat."
Ledo, also growing uncomfortable by Lukkage's presence, ran over to the terrace and called the girls up for lunch. The three couriers swam over to the ladder and climbed up, hungrily prepared to fill their gullets with some barbecue. Once everyone was together, Pinion and Ledo started distributing food. Thirty minutes later, the girls were ready to jump back into the water.
"You coming, Ledo?" asked Amy. Ledo nodded hesitantly. Shedding his T-shirt, he went over to join the girls. However, instead of going down the ladder like he thought they would, Melty and Saaya jumped off the terrace, plummeting with joyous laughter and playful howls. The ashen-haired young man looked over the edge uncertainly. Seeing his discomfort, Amy took pity on him. "You don't have to jump if you don't want to. You're still learning, after all."
"Actually, this might be good for him," said Bellows as she walked over to the pair. "Diving is an essential part of learning how to use a Yunboro—aside from swimming, but that's a given. Diving is the initial trajectory point before you go into the water. After you dive, swimming comes naturally and handling those Yunboros will be a breeze."
"But Ledo's still learning the basics, and we haven't even started dolphin kicking yet… but I guess we can skip to diving. Are you okay with that, Ledo?" He nodded, letting Amy lead him over to the ladder.
"Diving's not that hard. It's actually much easier than swimming, so I'm sure you'll learn it in no time," she assured him. "All you have to do is jump." She jumped into the water before reaching the bottom of the ladder. Ledo sat on the ledge next to the ladder, his feet barely touching the waves. "Okay, before we do any actual diving, let's review what you know so far. Show me how to float."
Sliding off the ledge, Ledo sank into the water. He relaxed like Amy had taught him, allowing his body to buoy along the waves like a dinghy.
"Good! Now try the backstroke."
With the same amount of calm, Ledo began cutting his strong arms through the water, kicking his legs lightly against the gentle current.
"You're doing so great, Ledo! Now frontward… stroke."
"Front crawl," Melty corrected.
"Whatever." Ledo swam back around towards the girls the way Amy had instructed. "You're a natural at this, Ledo!"
"He is a fast learner," Saaya agreed. "Have you been practicing?"
Ledo nodded. "Bellows said it would be a good idea so I get accustomed to the feel of the water."
"Alright, enough of the beginner stuff," Melty interrupted. "I say he's ready to start diving."
"What do you say, Ledo?" Amy asked. "Ready to move on?"
"If you say I am."
The girls began climbing the ladder. Amy and Ledo were halfway up until she had them stop. Melty and Saaya continued their ascent without them.
"Okay, our first lesson starts here: Falling." Releasing the bar, the brunette fell back into the water. Ledo fought every instinct that told him to catch her as she fell past him and inwardly berated himself for being so paranoid. It was something he was still learning to control.
Once she popped out of the water, Amy waved. "Your turn!"
Ledo steeled himself before releasing the bar, spreading his arms out. The cold water bit at his skin due to the abrupt fall, but he was able to get his bearings pretty quickly, swimming over to Amy's side.
"That was good," she boosted. "Now let's move on to actual diving."
Amy led him over to the ledge and knelt down. "Just put one hand on top of the other like this and push off. Make sure your body is straight and you're facing forward." She demonstrated the action, and once again Ledo was able to pull it off flawlessly. This way was much more uniform than the shambolic falling maneuvers they had been practicing, and his militant caliber as well as his adept learning capacity certainly helped him master the skill quickly.
"That was perfect!" Amy cheered, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Most people don't get it on the first try."
"Impressive as usual, Ledo." The teens looked up to see Bellows sitting on the ledge with her legs crossed and her chin resting on her palm. "In a few weeks' time you'll be ready to practice with the Yunboros."
"When did you—"
"You were so immersed in the lesson I didn't want to disturb." She smiled coyly at the younger girl. "You're a really good teacher, Amy. Do you always get so hands-on with the students?"
Amy blushed, quickly moving away from the young man. She expected those kinds of comments from Melty. Speaking of which, she looked around the area, finally taking note of her friends' absence.
"We're about to start a diving contest," Bellows explained. "You guys want in?"
"Sounds like fun!"
"What are you competing for?" Ledo asked earnestly.
The redhead shrugged. "We haven't thought about it. Come on."
The three of them had reached the top of the ladder just as the contest was about to start. It seemed that there were going to be a lot of participants. Surprisingly, Ridget stood amongst the competitors, and even Pinion had shed off his layers to join in on the inevitable fun. Bebel, Dr. Oldham, Lukkage and her crew were standing by as spectators. They sat farther away where the view was perfect for watching them dive off the terrace. Ledo decided to sit by Bebel and observe, having no experience other than the brief lesson he just had with Amy.
Pinion stood before the other divers as he explained the rules of the competition. "Okay, here's how this works: This is a game of style; whoever has the most originality wins."
"Rules?" Bellows pressed.
"None, except make sure you don't land on whoever decides to stay in the water."
"What about judges?"
"Um…" Pinion turned to the spectators. "What about you guys?" Bebel looked to Ledo and the doctor while Lukkage and her crew exchanged glances. The decision was unanimous. "Alright! We have our judges. Now, who wants to go first?"
"Ladies first!" Lukkage declared.
"You heard her, Pinion," Bellows quipped. "You're up."
"Funny."
"I'll go." Saaya, ever the pacifier, became the first contestant.
Ledo watched closely as each diver performed their own free style stunt. Saaya was not one to show off, so the first dive was fairly simple, like a straight jet into the water. Melty went next, folding her body into a ball before splashing right after her dark-haired friend. The third contestant was Ridget, who performed a much more impressive dive, hugging her legs together parallel to her body as she flipped through the air and straightening out before she hit the water. Having never seen anything like it, Ledo became very enraptured by the contest.
Unfortunately, those dives weren't impressive enough for some of the judges, and Lukkage did not hesitate to express her boredom.
"It's not much of a contest," she drawled. "It's like they're not even trying."
Pinion sighed. "Come, Lukkage. It's just for fun." The pirate was not amused. "Fine. Care to make it more interesting?"
A sly smile formed. "Well, now that you mention it… Maybe if there was a prize…"
"That actually does make it sound more interesting," Bellows agreed, stunning most of the participants considering she never agreed with the pirate about anything. "What'd you have in mind?"
"… How about the last eel rack?"
Ledo's head snapped to the young boy who proffered such a tempting treat. This contest suddenly become more enticing.
Everyone looked at Bebel expectantly as he went towards the grill to lift the lid and, lo and behold, the last spit of eel was revealed, perfectly warm and tender for consumption.
Ledo's throat suddenly felt dry.
"But Bebel, that's yours," Amy said. "Are you sure?"
"I could barely finish my first stick. I don't mind."
A drop of a sweat trickled down his pale brow as he leered at the eel. Its perfectly brown texture glistened with the saccharine sauce that kept it copiously saturated, adding more flavor to the exceptionally delicious treat. It was sinful how something on Earth—something in the entire existence of mankind, could be so covetable. It taunted him, mocked him, and all of a sudden he felt a hundred degrees warmer. He had never felt such a ravenous sensation in his life.
"Well, that settles it," said Pinion. "We have our prize. So who wants to…?"
Everyone watched curiously as the former ensign stepped up to the plate. They had never seen him so determined, not even when it was his lifelong ambition to slay whalesquid. He turned so his back was facing the water. His audience waited with bated breath as his rigid form stood patiently. His heliotrope eyes closed and he counted with each breath… going in and back out slower… and slower… until…
Amy was startled when his eyes snapped opened and before anyone could recall what happened, he jumped off the terrace backwards, his body spinning in a corkscrew two, three, four—five times!—before shooting into the water like a missile. No one on the fleet could pull off such a spectacular stunt, and yet Ledo, a former elite soldier who wasn't even native to this planet, had executed the dive like he'd done it a million times! As always, he managed to pull off something absolutely incredible.
As soon as Ledo popped back up to the surface, everyone immediately expressed their amazement, hooting and hollering praise.
"Way to go, Ledo!" Amy cheered.
"I guess there's no point in continuing the contest," Bellows said with a laugh. "Only Ledo could pull something like that off. He's made more progress than we thought."
"I wonder why that is," Pinion quipped sarcastically.
The white-haired boy didn't waste another second as he climbed back up to the terrace and claimed his prize. They watched in amusement as he happily munched on his new favorite treat.
The redhead laughed. "Yep, that'd do it."
"How is it, Ledo?" Amy asked, giggling.
Once the last bit of eel was cleanly scoffed down, Ledo smiled boyishly. "When is the next contest?"
