selkiesaoirse | for daine

Daine is easily one of Saoirse's favorite people in the city. Having her come back to the city had been a pleasant surprise, and she'd latched onto her every free chance she had after her return — not always easy, considering that Saoirse has school and footie practice, and Daine has her own life, too. So when Daine offers to take Saoirse to the beach, to let Greta do whatever child-free things she'd like or need to do, Saoirse jumps at the chance.

It's been getting progressively warmer, bit by bit, and Saoirse can feel the familiar pull that tells her it's time to go to the sea again. She's gone over the course of the winter and early spring, of course, but only for brief excursions. Today, she's hoping she can be out for awhile.

"Are you gonna come into the water with me?" she asks as they make their way down the sand. "Nobody else really can. Not when it's cold, anyway. When it's warmer, it'll be easier, 'cause then they can just do a little paddle with me."

She's wearing a bathing suit, mostly out of habit, since her clothes seem to go with her when she becomes a seal. She shucks her shorts and trainers, and drops her bag onto the sand next to them — inside, she has a jumper in case she gets cold, and some sunscreen that Greta insists she wear, just to be extra safe.

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"I don't see why not," Daine says, grinning down at Saoirse. She figures half the fun of being out with someone else who can take a shape is having both of you do it. That's also probably half the benefit of having Daine mind Saoirse instead of the other grown-ups who might be available: she can keep up with Saoirse no matter what shape she's in, instead of sitting stuck on the beach and hoping for the best.

At any rate, she wore loose clothes that are easy to shuck out of, and the bit of beach they're on is a little cut off from the main stretch of it, where they won't be so easily spotted. "What do you think I should go with?" she asks as she sets down her bag and kicks off her shoes. "Sea lion? Dolphin?"

Saoirse's eyes go big when she says 'dolphin', and she bounces on her toes.

"A dolphin!" she squeals, grinning huge. "I've never seen a dolphin in real life! I mean, not outside the aquarium. Could you get other dolphins to come visit, too?"

"I can ask," Daine says, her grin widening in response to Saoirse's evident excitement. It's fair sweet, even if it's not that surprising. Most of the littles she's met are fascinated by the idea of meeting animals up close, and dolphins are a common favorite.

And considering she nearly stopped her own heart the first time she tried to talk to them, she'd be in no position to judge someone else over their enthusiasm, even if she wanted to.

"Wouldn't be surprised if they said yes, though," she continues as she shucks out of her loose trousers and shirt. She's got a bathing suit on underneath, but it'll be easy enough to wriggle out of that once she's in the water. Maybe she'll start with otter shape just long enough to drag it back up onto the sand, then switch to dolphin after. "They love to play."

Saoirse giggles as she fishes out the sunscreen. That's a rule: sunscreen before sea. It's an easy enough rule to follow, even if she's awfully excited about getting to see a real live dolphin. She just wants them to both be in the water, already!

But she behaves, and stands in front of Daine with the sunscreen offered over her shoulder so it can be applied.

Privately, Daine isn't so certain the sunscreen is necessary — not when Saoirse's going to be a seal in a minute, and probably for most of their trip. But she also isn't about to flout Greta's rules in front of Saoirse and set a bad example. So she takes the offered sunscreen and squeezes some of it onto her palms, rubbing them together for a moment before spreading it over Saoirse's shoulders and down her arms. She lets Saoirse spread it around her arms and the spots she can reach easily, focusing her own efforts on the back of the lass's neck and the part of her back the suit doesn't cover.

"Right, that's you all set," Daine says, rubbing the little residue that remains over her own arms before reaching out to ruffle the girl's hair. "Shall we, then?"

She beams, nodding at her. "Yes! I'll race you!" She takes off for the surf, then looks back to make sure Daine is following before grinning and running even faster, squealing with delight.

Daine scoffs in playful offense as Saoirse takes off, then shifts at once into otter shape. She has to wriggle a little to get out of her heap of clothes, but then she bounds over the sand after Saoirse, squeaking in reproach.

Saoirse laughs harder when Daine squeaks at her like that, like she's scolding her. She almost trips over the sand as it shifts from the soft, dry beach to the pounded-flat surf. A wave comes up to catch her as she throws herself forward.

A flash of light, and she surfaces a few feet further out with a happy 'arp!'

Saoirse just about trips, but manages to make it into the water a second before Daine does. There's a flash of light that could almost just be an errant reflection, though Daine knows better: she can sort of feel the change, an insubstantial nudge against her mind, like the feeling of heat from a fire beating against her palm.

That's cheating, she says, surfacing beside Saoirse with another reproving squeak.

Saoirse barks at her again, looking quite pleased with herself.

Is not! she declares proudly. She dances around through the water, splashing at her. My teacher says, if you're doing something you have the skill to do, it's just 'u-lit-izing your resources'!

She does a cute flip into the air, and her excited barking and splashing calls some of her seal friends closer.

My magic is a skill!

for daine

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