[Fiction] Life's a Beach

[Magnum Opus]

The night air is cool and relaxing, and quiet - this far up, the sounds of the city and the club fade away.

Okay. I landed once. I can do it again.

Knockout gives a reassuring smile to the titanium girl at her side. "Just down there. See? Empty as a pocket."

Don't screw up the landing. Don't screw it up.

She descends slowly, the details of the beach coming into easier view. The thousand footprints left behind, the gentle wash of the sea as it laps at the coast. The moon is a sliver, casting the whole scene in an eerie twilight.

I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this...

Knockout touches down gently, and relaxes. "Woo! I can land!" She looks excited, and proud of herself.

[Mithril]

Meghan landed next to Danielle and returned to her usual shape.

"You can land?" she asked, suppressing a tone of amusement.

Meghan took a few steps on the beach in no particular direction, then looked over her shoulder. Her feet had left smooth oval prints in the sand. the moon was only a faint sliver in the sky, and the beach was quite dark. Softly glowing foam marked the place where the gentle waves lapped at the beach, and Meghan found herself drawn in that direction. The loose dry sand gave way to wet sand, and with a few more steps Meghan was splashing her toeless feet in ankle-deep water.

Meghan looked over her shoulder again, and saw that Danielle was still rooted to the spot. She half-turned and beckoned with her hand.

"Come on," Meghan said, "The water's nice."

[Magnum Opus]

"Yeah, I can land." She grins. "I kind of have a problem with landing sometimes. There's this little field behind my house that's full of divots from me plowing into it..."

She removes her personal electronics, leaving them on the beach along with her wallet. She walks towards the water, shifting her eufiber into a one-piece bathing suit.

She steps into the water with Meghan. "You're right. It is."

[Mithril]

Meghan admired the fit of Danielle's swimsuit. For someone who had only recently become a girl, she had excellent taste in swimwear, Meghan decided. She held onto that happy thought for a moment before realizing why Danielle had such unusually good taste.

She's probably spent a lot of time looking at women in swimsuits, Meghan thought. Looking at them and-- oh ew.

Meghan fought to dispel that image from her mind while repressing a shudder.

"I like your swimsuit," Meghan said as she waded further out into the water. The ocean waves were subdued, rolling up and down only a few feet at gentle intervals. "How's it feel on you-- I mean, you know, being a girl and stuff after spending most of your life not being a girl."

[Magnum Opus]

"It, uh... geez, how do I answer that? It feels basically how I want it to feel... right now I barely notice it. Just a little support up here and that's it."

She wades out, keeping pace with Meghan. "If you're asking me how it feels having to change around my wardrobe, well... it's kind of weird. I have this odd relationship with my body. I don't see 'me' in the mirror, I see this hot blonde girl. And sometimes I just want to get back in my comfort zone and dress 'myself' up like I did before, and sometimes I want to try and get into this new body and dress like I'm... well, like I'm a hot blonde girl. And sometimes I change moods like that - " She snaps her fingers.

"I know that's probably messed up. I don't really understand it myself - this came as a big surprise when I erupted. I keep thinking I should see a therapist. Figure this all out."

[Mithril]

Meghan nodded, turning around to put her back to the sea and facing Danielle. The waves rolled around them, alternating waist-high and chest-high. Meghan stood firmly rooted in the seabed, her heavy metal body being far less bouyant than flesh and bones.

"Yeah," Meghan said with a far-away sound in her voice, "I know a little bit about big surprises." Meghan took a step toward Danielle. "All the experts say that part of the eruption process deals with the situation at hand, the mortal danger or extreme excitement or whatever. I don't want to talk about that part, though. It's the other part that I had issues with."

Meghan sighed, only for effect, as she never had the need to breathe.

"The subconscious apparently gets a big say in what happens when we erupt," Meghan continued. "It's as if all the things that we really believe or want but never tell ourself suddenly get a chance to be heard, and emboss themselves permanently into our bodies."

Meghan realized that she was rambling, and straying dangerously close to her most private thoughts, and she hesitated.

"Sorry, too much information," Meghan said with a wan smile. "Probably not at all what you had in mind for the evening."

The waves rolled quietly up the beach, as if they were afraid to voice an opinion.

[Magnum Opus]

Knockout smiles. "If I made a list of things I had in mind for this evening, standing in a one-piece bathing suit in the Ibiza surf next to a girl made of titanium...

"A really sweet, girl made of titanium...

"Probably wouldn't have been on it. But here we are." She bobs a bit in the surf, uncertain of how to continue for a moment. "But... yeah. That's the issue I had. All that stuff you have locked away, that you should never have to share with someone... and when you erupt it all comes pouring out over your body. It's hard. On you, on everyone... it's like everyone has to learn who they are all over again. It's like I'm back in high school."

She looks skywards, towards the endless starry night.

"I hated high school."

[Mithril]

Meghan nodded and resisted the urge to start yammering about how much she hated high school as well. Instead, she listened.

"Being a new nova is like high school?" she asked, "How is that?"

[Magnum Opus]

"Well, being a nova's kind of like going through puberty - for me, anyways. Your body does strange things and people expect different things of you all of a sudden, and you're finding that you have to relearn where you fit in. Like, plowing into the ceiling back there? That was classic high school for me. One time I got so nervous at a dance that I barfed. On my dad's really nice silk tie. I was so nervous about looking like a fool, I went and did it anyways."

"That's how I see it. Like I got to hang out with the popular kids back there - " She waves towards the Phoenix Room. "And I blew it. You know that I have Singularity's action figure? And he pulls me out of a concrete ceiling. He must think I'm such a dweeb."

[Mithril]

Meghan completely failed to identify with Danielle's plight.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Meghan said tentatively, "But I have no idea what that's like."

While Meghan hadn't been popular in any of the English-language schools that she'd attended with the other diplomatic brats, she'd also not been a social reject. Her social exile was self-imposed, not the will of the group mind. Still, the notion of learning one's place in the community of novas was familiar ground for Meghan.

"The part about learning who you are as a nova, though, I can relate to that," she continued, "but the being a dork part is out of my league I'm afraid."

Meghan splashed around a little in the surf, absently breaking up the awkward silence.

"New novas do stupid things all the time," Meghan lied, "But your 'potential,' as Neil likes to say, speaking of dorks, overshadows that. You've just got to find a way to get over yourself and accept that you've got the ability to do anything."

Like it's that simple, Meghan fretted. Still, she thought, it was a start.

[Magnum Opus]

"Hmmm. Yeah. That's the other thing right now, too. There's so MUCH to do. I barely know where to start, and..." She looks thoughtful. "Maybe that's why I spent so much time doing nothing, these past couple of months."

"Waki and Ptesan-Wi, when I met them and got this thing - " As if in response, her eufiber crawls down her left arm and waggles a couple of tendrils in the air. "Said that maybe I needed direction in my life. I think they might have had a point. I never really had much of that, even before eruption."

[Mithril]

Meghan laughed.

"Direction?" she giggled, "Oh man." Meghan took a moment to recover her senses.

"Like I know that," she explained. "Since the end of July I've been wandering around the world trying to figure out who I am and what I want to do and what kind if nova I'm supposed to me, and I'm still no closer to an answer."

Meghan scooped up a double handful of seawater and watched it flow through her smooth metal fingertips.

"I spent about my first four months as a nova crashed out on Flicker's sofa, surfing the 'net and playing video games before I got off my keister and decided to look around," she explained, "And Timeslip-- the Timeslip, mind you, spent about four years couch-surfing before she found her awesome."

Meghan picked up another handful of water and flicked droplets of water into the distance off her fingertips.

"You could do worse," she shrugged.

[Magnum Opus]

Knockout nods, conceding the point with a grin. "You got a point," she says.

"I actually talked to Flicker in the chat. She mentioned you - I got the feeling you two're close. How did you two meet up?"

You know, bringing up her girlfriend - or ex-girlfriend, or whatever might not be the most romantic thing to say...

So we're moving on to being romantic? asked another part of her brain.

... yeah, she said to herself. I guess I am.

[Mithril]

Meghan smiled at the thought of Flicker and nodded.

"We're definitely close," she replied without thinking of the consequences. "We met in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, right after I erupted. I was a ball of titamium about a foot and a half across, totally lost inside myself. Eruption was--" Meghan shuddered.

"My eruption sucked," she continued, obviously glossing over a lot of details, "the point is that Flicker was right there when I did, and since I had nowhere to go, she took me in."

Meghan shrugged.

[Magnum Opus]

"Oh, Meghan..." She bobs closer. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to bring that up if it still hurt."

God - I am never going to feel sorry for myself again. Just imagine that. One day you're normal, the next you're a ball of living metal. How do you wear that on your sleeve? "Hi, world! Part of me wanted to become a blob of titanium. What does that say about me?"

"I'm glad she took you in. She seems a very nice person. I... guess if she took you in and you lived with her for four months you'd know that, of course."

[Mithril]

Meghan shrugged again, indifferently.

"It's no big deal now," she explained with a ghost of a smile. Meghan stepped closer to Danielle, mirroring her approach. "Let's not talk about Flicker right now, what do you say?"

Meghan's eyes were unreadable, but her tone and body language were unmistakable. Cut the small talk, they said plainly, I want you.

[Magnum Opus]

Knockout breathes out softly, weighing her feelings carefully. What do you want, Danielle? More than anything, and right now?

I like her. I like her a lot. Am I ready?

Does she like me for who I am, or just my body? And... is there really a difference any more?

"Meghan, I..." She looks anxious. "I've never done this before. As a girl, or... or as a guy. I wouldn't know where to begin..."

Tears suddenly well up in her eyes. "I'm sorry. It's not you. I like you. I really like you. I don't know why I'm crying. I don't know about anything anymore... I..."

"I'm so alone. I..."

I'm where the land meets the water. Half of me is scared to go back. Half of me is scared to swim.

I thought I could live by myself forever. Just get a job and go inside an apartment and dick around on my computer. And I still want that.

But... it's not good enough. I'm so tired...

"I'm so tired of being alone. If... if you really want me then..."

Say it. Say it, Danielle.

"Then yes."

Yes.

"Yes."

She summons a smile as she drifts closer. "Yes."

[Mithril]

Meghan reached out for Danielle first, resting her fingertips lightly on Danielle's waist. She leaned in close for a soft kiss, and closed her eyes.

Not too fast, Meghan thought.

With the faintest brushing of their lips, they kissed, as tentatively as if they'd expected an electric shock. Keeping her hands at Danielle's sides, Meghan pressed her body close, enjoying the simple pleasure of the contact.

[Magnum Opus]

She's cold.

Danielle reciprocates the embrace, placing her hands on Meghan's hips, and holding her close. That's so weird. I know she's cold. But she doesn't feel cold... no, she feels cold to me, it's just that it doesn't hurt.

Danielle slides one hand onto the side of Meghan's head, trying to brush her fingers through the titanium girl's 'hair.' She leans in again for another kiss, a bit more confident.

"My skin's all tingly," she whispers.

[Mithril]

"That's normal," Meghan murmured, as if speaking too loudly might break the mood. She picked up on Danielle's increased confidence and kissed her more passionately. Meghan slid her hands up Danielle's back, embracing with her cool metal arms, forgetting how it must feel for someone who has never known the touch of living metal.

She smells nice, Meghan thought. She brushed the thought aside and squeezed Danielle tightly, becoming aroused at the feel of their bodies being pressed so closely.

[Magnum Opus]

At the moment, Danielle is playing follow-the-leader, imitating Meghan's affections as she too slides her hands up Meghan's back, holding her close. The roar of the waves is very nearly drowned out by the rush of blood in her ears.

Is - is it my imagination, or... is she getting warmer?

She scrunches her toes, sand running between them, and closes her eyes. I have to be careful. I'm so strong. I don't want to hurt her...

I saw this in a movie. I wonder if she'll like it...?

She breaks a little with follow-the-leader and moves her lips off of Meghan's face, kissing the nape of the titanium girl's neck.

[Mithril]

Meghan's back arched involuntarily at the touch of Danielle's lips to her neck, and she let out a startled squeak. Her fingertips pressed deeply into Danielle's back, kneading hard but not breaking the skin there.

"Oh, that's good," Meghan managed to gasp, momentarily robbed of the ability to say anything more complex. She felt as if an electric current were running through her body, one which charged her entire surface so that every sensation was an erotic one.

Meghan buried her face in Danielle's shoulder, kissing her neck as Danielle was still doing for her own. Meghan lightly brushed the surface with her closed lips and was rewarded with a sudden bloom of gooseflesh.

Meghan smiled and ran the tip of her tongue across the same spot.

[Magnum Opus]

"Hhhhhhnnhhhhh...!"

Oh, I think she liked that. Oh, I think I like that.

Danielle scrunches more sand between her toes as she tries to cope with the new sensations. God, this is so much better than when I take 'me time' in the shower.

Danielle squeezes Meghan tightly, her fear of hurting her subsiding as she realizes that Meghan isn't cracking in half or crying out in pain. She stares down Meghan's back, momentarily fascinated by the sea foam around her waist where it meets the water. Then she continues kissing along her neck.

[Mithril]

Based on their conversations in the Phoenix Room and on the beach, Meghan had expected just some quiet time under the stars, and maybe a little bit of walking and talking in the wet sand. Meghan certainly hadn't expected Danielle to be so suddenly enthusiastic about making out.

Two can play at that game, she decided. If Danielle wanted to escalate matters, she reasoned, it should be okay for her as well.

Fair is fair.

As Meghan continued to kiss Danielle on her neck, with the odd earlobe nibble put in for good measure, her smooth hands slid downward from Danielle's waist, following the leg opening of her one-piece swimsuit toward--

[Magnum Opus]

Danielle's eyes fly open wide. Woah. "Whoop!"

She jerks back, surprised. "Uh... uh."

Oh, dammit. Dammit.

"Sorry... I..." Her cheeks are a bright pink, and her eyes are open wide. "You startled me... I..."

Went for her neck. I think she liked it. God, I know I liked it... and I gave her the wrong impression...

She runs a hand through her blonde hair. "Thanks. Really, I mean that - thank you. But..." She sighs. "It's too soon. I thought maybe I was ready, but... I'm not. I'm sorry."

She stares up at the sky, and exhales. Terrific. You put the moves on, you get cold feet, and now she'll be all pissed at you again. What the hell else can go wrong?

As if in answer, the universe chooses that moment to send a seagull overhead, and to have the seagull let fly with a small glob of white paste that hits Danielle squarely on the forehead.

She blinks, and looks back to Meghan.

[Mithril]

Meghan started to take a step toward Danielle, then stopped. Rooted, she stood waist-deep in the surf, staring at her. Suddenly she was aware of the sea, the stars, the beach, the wind, and everything else. It was as if her point of view had shifted from first-person to third, and she was looking at herself and Danielle from high above. They looked very small.

Meghan felt her body cooling again, and the passion evaporated.

"Okay," she said simply. She nodded slowly. "Okay."

Meghan walked past Danielle and trod onto the beach. At the water's edge, she turned and looked over her shoulder.

"Come on," she said with a wave, "We'll talk. Just talk, okay?" Meghan plopped down onto a dune, facing the waves. The moon had descended and now hung low on the horizon, its slim crescent reflected in the sea.

[Magnum Opus]

Danielle wiped the bird doody off her forehead, and shook her hand underwater to clear it off. She walked out of the water and up towards Meghan, onto the dune.

She tried to read Meghan's mood, deciding that it ranks as "could be worse." She sat down on the dune, and managed a smile.

"Is, uh... all the poop gone?"

[Mithril]

Meghan glanced at Danielle, only barely. She turned her head just far enough to look at Danielle's forehead, and then returned her gaze to the waves.

"Yeah, it's gone," Meghan said flatly. "Let's talk."

Meghan scooped up a small shell and hurled it into the sea.

"So," Meghan said after a long pause, "What games are you into lately?"

[Magnum Opus]

"Well, I was into Nova Fantasy Saga - this MMORPG where people play novas - but I sorta erupted and... ha, this is embarassing. I became my avatar." She shrugs, and smiles. "Super-strong, super-fast, super-tough, extended zoom, flying, bulletproof... basic overall proportions..."

Tell her about what you were doing when you erupted too. Or better yet, how 'bout never?

"Since then I kinda haven't played it much. I mean to, paid up for a full year of it, but every time I log on it just reminds me that I turned into a video game character."

"Besides that, let's see... I play a few first-person shooters. Some puzzlers, like the one with the jewels and the blocks. Oh, and Space Fight Tachyon Pulse Drive. I just like those cockpit-style poom-poom-poom shooters. Flight sims, too. That's..." She giggles, covering her mouth. "That's how I found Ibiza. I practiced in ViaSoft Flight Simulator 2016."

[Mithril]

Meghan nodded.

"Good titles," she said, "Ever play any XWF Brawl Zone Alpha EX II? That's the one I play the most, well, played the most anyway. Believe it or not, Revenant plays it too. I was always owning him in OpNet play."

Meghan grinned. "I don't think he knows it was me, though. I don't use my real name for obvious reasons. I wonder how many controllers he's broken in frustration."

[Magnum Opus]

"Oh, I break controllers sometimes too. Just squeeze too hard and - hmmmm."

She picks up a handful of sand, and squeezes, gritting her teeth. She opens her palm to reveal... sand. "Well, it was worth a try. I saw it in a movie - a nova squeezes sand really hard and it fuses into glass." She lets it run out through her fingers. "Maybe I'm not strong enough."

"Revenant? I never met him. Just chatted online. What's he like?"

[Mithril]

Meghan leaned back, pushing her palms into the sand.

"Revenant's a weird one," she said. "He's got this total macho-man thing going where he's got to be tougher than anyone else, but I think it's a major front."

Meghan looked back at Danielle.

"I mean, seriously, he plays video games. He can blow craters in the earth and half the time I sign on to XWF Brawl Zone I see his name in the queue. What's that about? Also, he's totally whipped for Velvet. Do you know her?" Meghan didn't wait for a response. "I mean, it's easy to see why he'd be whipped for her-- she's gorgeous-- but all the same, he's so mixed-up by this crush that he's constantly bugging Flicker for love advice."

Meghan looked back at the waves.

"Was that too much information?" she asked.

[Magnum Opus]

Danielle laughs. "No, too much information would be telling me exactly what Velvet and Revenant do to each other. Building a relationship map is just fine..."

She trails off, looking out onto the ocean, where the fingernail of the moon is refracted across the waves, which lap gently at the shoreline.

"Were Revenant or Velvet back there, then?" She chucks a thumb over her shoulder and back toward Ibiza. "The only one I recongized from in person was Ptesan-Wi and she doesn't really count 'cause last time she was a psychic hologhost, whatever that means. Asides from MOST EXCELLENT SUPER FIGHT!!! - " She raises her voice and bugs out her eyes in the manner of an overly excited Japanese game show host. "Asides from that, I only just really met other novas in the past couple of weeks. Sounds like you got me beat there."

[Mithril]

Meghan smiled and laughed a little bit. She leaned toward Danielle.

"Hey, I have an idea," she said, "on the way over here, we passed a pretty big OpNet cafe. Let's go check it out, what do you say?"

Build up a solid friendship first, she thought, smiling. There's all the time in the world to fuck her senseless later.

[Magnum Opus]

Danielle smiles even wider. "You know? I'd like that. Yeah."

She gets up, shifting her eufiber into a more casual shirt and jeans. She takes Meghan by the hand. "I could handle that just fine."