Monster tricks 3 (nothing but your board and the ground)
The trio quickly got into their rhythm with the different pools and it wasn't long before they found their favorites among them, flipping, grabbing and grinding with glee. One of them only stopping temporarily to film the others on their phone.
"Can he do it folks" Spike announced in her best impersonation of a commentator. "Can the young star finally land a hand plant?"
"You got this Josh" Rat cheered next to her as he recorded his friend arching up the bowl like side of the pool.
They watched as he firmly gripped the rim and lifted himself up only for his arm to give out and have him tumbling to the bottom.
"You okay man?"
"Yeah, let's keep going."
"you guys go on; I'm going to take 5."
"Whoa, Spike dropping out first on a new spot. Don't think that's ever happened before."
She merely gave them the finger over her shoulder as a response and left her own personal Laurel and Hardy to keep dicking about as she sat down on one of the chairs left out next to the pools.
"So, fins, what do you think?"
"Fins?" Elmia replied.
"Sorry, I tend to give people nicknames when I first meet them. Make's it easier for me to remember."
"I see."
"But seriously" Spike said as she turned to face the woman "it's your first-time seeing skateboarding, something I genuinely love. how did we do showing it off?"
"Well, it's certainly exhilarating, before this I could never picture someone having this much freedom moving without being in the water"
"Shit, yeah. I guess you can't really move about as much as you could back home. Sorry for the reminder."
"don't worry, I've gotten used to it by now. Even if it does feel strange being stuck in this chair just to move around."
At that Spike really didn't know what to say. She had always been at least able to have full control over her body and what it could do, it was even one of the biggest lessons her mom taught her and her sister as well as the one she kept reminding her.
"your body is your own" she would say, "which mean's you decide how it should look and are in charge of keeping it in tip top shape".
"But anyway" continued Elmia. "I wanted to say thank you, this has been very enlightening"
"Jeez, what's with the whole noble lady shtick with how you speak. You can relax you know"
"Forgive me, I'm not really used to talking to people".
"And I've made it awkward again" Spike thought to herself as she looked at the young mermaid who was currently squirming in her chair. "This is why I let Rat and Josh do all the talking".
An uncomfortable silence formed between the two of them as Spike tried to distract herself by focusing on her friends. She couldn't quite put her finger on why but it always gave her a little surge of pride when she recognised their go to tricks and styles of skating.
Josh idolized a lot of the old school skaters; Mike V, Tony Alva, Lance Mountain, he even still had a poster of Tony hawk in his room from when he was 11. So after he had either given up or successfully landed what ever trick he was working on, he naturally went back to his old favorite of bowl carving, staying up against the side of the pool until gravity or human error brought him back down.
As for Rat, he always liked going big, used to talk about building a ramp that would be big enough for Danny Way or Bob Burnquist. Combine that with a love for Jackass that almost certainly fueled the more harebrained ideas he had come up with over the years and Spike wouldn't have been surprised if he had an idea to jump over one of the larger pools that required a lot of 2x4's, wood panelling and a piece of bungee cord.
"Listen El" she started with slight lack of comfort in her tone, "I'm kinda shit at talking to people at all so don't worry about what I just said".
"it's fine, meeting you all has been quite nice actually."
"You serious?"
"Yes" the mermaid exclaimed as she clasps her hand together, "I've only been here a day and I've already seen something new and exciting up close"
"Thanks, I guess." spike replied, somewhat dumbfounded, "I mean we're not that good, we end up on our asses just as much as we land anything."
"don't think so little of yourselves" Elmia replied as Rat landed a 360 in one of the pools, punctuating it with a cheer and raised fist.
"Being able to even attempt a feat like that is a skill that should be recognized".
"Well don't tell them that" Spike said as she pointed to her friends "they really don't need an ego boost".
The comment got a laugh out of both girls, attracting Josh and rat's attention.
"Huh, wonder what their talking about?"
"Your guess is good as mine Rat." Josh said as he set up his board on the rim of the pool and rat primed to hit record on his phone.
"Alright" Josh exclaimed into the camera, "for you folks at home, I'm going to carve up to the rim on the other side, go into a grind and pop shuvit out".
And with that Josh dipped down into the pool as his friend trailed his movements with the phone.
"You got this, you got this, you got this" he thought as his trucks locked in place over the rim and prepped to shuvit back into the rounded slope he came up. That was till he felt the board clip the side of the pool and stop spinning under his feet.
"SHIIIIII-" was all he got out as he crashed back to the bottom.
"Josh! you okay man?"
"Fuck, landed right on my knees" was the reply belted out from the bottom of the pool.
"Would you two keep it down" Spike yelled to her friends, "we technically not supposed to be here, remember"
"Honestly Spike" Josh replied as Rat hauled him up the side of the pool, "a little compassion would go a long way in helping me".
"Yeah, and so would a bit more practice on your end but it is what it is".
Josh simply chose to mutter under his breath at that response, some comment about Spike and how she was such a hypocrite but by this point his friends had learned to tune him out.
"So Elmia, what is this place?" Spike asked as she leaned back in her chair.
"Shit, that's right." Exclaimed Josh. "we still don't have a clue what this is supposed to be."
"really" the young mermaid replied, somewhat surprised.
"Rat just told us about a new spot to check out. None of us knew what it was." Josh answered.
"Oh. You guys really only think about skateboarding, don't you?"
"We think of other things." Rat responded.
"Yeah, like food." Josh added
"Or Pot" Spike continued halfheartedly
"Or hanging out with you guys"
Josh laughed at his friend's honesty. "You big softie" he said as he leaned over and noogied his buddy.
The two women looked on for a few moments, one significantly more puzzled by the current display than the other.
"Are they always like this?" Elmia asked as she watched the horse play unfolding in front of her.
"No, but it does happen on occasion. Anyway, you were going to tell us what this place is?"
"Oh yes, should we get their attention?"
Spike looked over to see that Josh now had Rat in a head lock and was trying out the classic phrase of "say uncle".
"nah, just go ahead."
