<span style="color: #0080FF">Gale smiled to himself, humming along to the song coming through his head phones, as he watched the town go by. He was on the bus headed out towards the beach, going a little earlier than his friends, and it had turned out to be a beautiful Saturday for it. The bus came over one last crest of a hill and started on downwards, the ocean bursting into view in a most spectacular way. He'd never lived anywhere that was as beautiful as this little town could sometimes be. <br/><br/>The bus came to a halt and he filed out after a few people, sandals, swim trunks, and a simple green t-shirt completing his look with a back pack on one shoulder holding a few items. He started walking, taking in a deep breath of that salty breeze coming in from over the water. He almost wish he'd thought to bring a fishing pole, he would be willing to bet he'd get more than a couple bites today.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #00BF80">"You could travel the world, but nothin' comes close, to the golden coast..." </span><br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">He made his way out into the sound, walking over to a shaded spot next to a steep rock wall before tossing his back down and sitting in the cool sand. He listened to the waves for a bit, smiling as he thought,</span><span style="color: #40BFFF"><span style="font-style: italic">If it weren't for all the people, this would almost be as good as the shrine. </span></span><span style="color: #0080FF">He pulled out a drawing pad from his bag as well as a couple pencils, setting about drawing the ocean view in front of him. <br/><br/>He'd met two different officers as he was growing up, brothers actually, but they were firm believer in the idea of a Renaissance Man, and after having the term explained to him he'd wanted to live that way as well. He was no poet, but he could write a decent short story. His art was getting better, but he doubted he'd ever get famous off of it. His skills in a fight though, those he had down without a doubt. </span><br/><br/><span style="color: #00BF80">"Tall and tan and young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking. And when she passes, each one she passes goes, Aaah... When she walks, she's like a samba. That swings so cool and sways so gently..."</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">He killed about an hour sitting there in the shade before his phone rang, the first of his friends arriving at the bus stop. He hung up after a couple quick words and packed his things back in his bag, pulling out a volleyball this time though. He stood up and hurried along until he saw a handful of people coming down from the road. He stopped walking and took aim, judging the distance before hurling the ball through the air, watching tensely as it came down from it's arc. One of the guys noticed shadow coming at them and looked up in time to actually catch the ball, Gale smiling as he ran over and they greeted each other.<br/><br/>It wasn't long until a second group came along and the beach was home to about 10 high schoolers, out for a Saturday at the beach. The set up a couple beach umbrellas and laid out some towels before everyone set about getting ready to go out in the water. Gale pulled off his own shift, slipping his sandals off before grabbing some sun screen out of his bag, the easy 'spray sport' kind with enough spf to keep him from burning, but maybe get a little bit of a tan going on. He'd just finished himself when Keiko, one of the 4 girls present, flagged him down. <br/><br/>He hadn't stuck out to much as a foreigner when they'd lived on bases, there almost always a handful of other military brats running around, but he'd been the new guy when he started school last year. That made him the shiny new toy for everyone for awhile and he still hadn't found that niche of people and thus was more of a social butterfly. That also meant that he didn't spend to much time around one girl or the next, and surprisingly enough wasn't all that experienced in the matter. But Keiko, she could be as about a big of a flirt as they came if she wanted to. </span><br/><br/>"Can you help me with my back, I burn way to easily to go out there without any sunscreen."<br/><span style="color: #40BFFF">"Yeah, sure, I can get your back." </span><span style="color: #0080FF">He said, reaching for his own spray bottle before she interrupted him. </span><br/>"That's no good enough, I use SPF 40"<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">She handed him his little tube of sunscreen before laying down on her towel, crossing his arms under her head. He looked at the sunscreen for a moment before taking a breath and kneeling next to her, setting about the task as he squeezed some out into his hands. He started with her shoulders, briefly admiring the contrast between the color of the sunscreen and her skin before catching his straying thoughts and reigning them in. </span>