Maha‘oi [Mission]

Verona felt him breeze past her, but she didn't move. She only watched as Richard didn't even bother changing his clothes. "Are you not going to change?" The brunette questioned, her face twisting with disgust as she inspected his outfit. The fact that he was wearing cargo pants was already disgusting, but paired with an old and mangled t-shirt... It was just too painful for Verona to handle. Hopefully he didn't plan to actually go swimming in that, unless he was planning to skinny dip and if that was the case Verona was definitely going to pretend she didn't know him. Even now as the two treaded lightly into the hallway of their hotel, Verona made sure to keep her distance from the boy.

It only took a matter of minutes for the two to  actually arrive on the white sand beaches that surrounded their location. Immediately Verona felt the sun cascading it's radiant beams down upon the crowd. To her left sat a group of mingling college students, mostly girls, who held fruity drinks in their grasps as they giggled a little too loudly at a joke being said by some stupid frat boy. On her right was an array of families and couples and friends. Naturally Verona hesitated for a few seconds before finding a nice balance somewhere in between.

Verona rolled out her towel, and placed her bag on it's corner carefully so that it didn't float away in the wind. "Well this is nice," She said to no one in particular as she slid down into her respective spot on the striped towel. She had just gotten situated when she felt her back begin to tingle under the hot sun and she looked up and looked around. "Excuse me," Verona called to a young man sitting a few feet away. "Do you mind doing me a favor?" She picked up the tube of sunscreen so that her intentions were clear (didn't want him getting any ideas), and flashed him a small smile. Verona didn't even bother asking cargo boy, AKA Dickie, she had a feeling she already knew the answer would be no anyway.


Ooc:I know I didn't give you much to go off, but I didn't know what all to say and I knew I needed to post~

As he moved into the hallway, he simply shrugged his shoulders at her question. If he wanted to get in the water, he would. He didn't really care about the shorts he was wearing. He'd owned them for a little bit, and even though they were still in pretty good condition, clothes could be washed. He didn't see the issue here. "I don't have a different outfit for every little thing that's going to happen on this trip. I tend to stick to one outfit," he picked, pointing out her complete wardrobe change just to go out to the beach.

When they finally arrived on the sand, Richard had followed behind Vera as she tried to find a spot. By the time they set foot in the sand, he had already found a good three or four empty places for the little bit of stuff they had brought with them, but she seemed to be fairly picky of where they were going to sit. But when they finally got comfortable and Richard sat down on the towel (that I forgot to say he had with him), he looked over to find just the reason why she picked this particular location. Or at least, he had assumed. It didn't really help when she had asked the guy to help her with sunscreen. What was she, five? He rolled his eyes at the attention she was giving the frat guy and quickly opened the book he had brought, but it was hard to keep focused when it was obvious she was using the sunscreen to flirt. "Do you really need help with sunscreen?" he asked her, slight disbelief in his voice, but he didn't look up from what he was reading.

Hey now, Verona thought it totally fit to change into her swimsuit, mind you Dickie. She on the other hand viewed herself with a sense of vanity and wouldn't be caught dead swimming in her everyday clothes. Especially when she had been blessed enough with a complete wardrobe fit for any and every season that occurred. Verona had seen that he had, in fact brought a suitcase, which most likely contained many different clothing choices that were better suited for the beach, but he seemed to not pay that any matter and disclaimed her thought. But still, Verona viewed him with distaste, for swimming in public, in cargo shorts, was not of her liking. "Whatever." Verona exalted with a sigh, her voice giving way to a trace of defeat.


Despite her best efforts, it seemed as though this frat boy was very much obnoxiously intoxicated. He looked up at her with a wild look in his eyes and a mischievous smirk playing across his lips. Immediately Verona was taken aback and stared at him with a nervous look, regretting her request for his help. "What do you need help with baby?" He inquired a little louder than Verona saw fit. She quickly looked over at Richard for support or at least a sympathetic glance, but he remained engrossed in his book. Her smile drooped and she dropped her hand that was holding the sunscreen quickly to her side. "Oh, sorry... I-I thought you were someone else." She responded quickly, talking faster than her normal smooth composure consisted of.

Although not completely convinced or at all satisfied, the boy turned back to his beer and cranked up the distasteful rap music that was blaring on the radio next to him. Once Verona was sure he wasn't paying much attention to her anymore, she turned her flustered face away from her blonde companion to stare out into the water's edge. She heard Richard's question and seriously considered it for a second. But Verona was at the fault of being way too stubborn and shook her head. "I'm fine." She said and she finally pulled off her cover up and folded it neatly, before shoving it back in her bag and applying a generous amount of sunscreen into the palms of her hands. Verona then reached back to her back, smothering the white lotion all over the parts of her backside that she could actually reach.

Alright, so it was actually kind of funny to watch Vera squirm a little bit while trying to put the sunscreen on herself. It was obvious she couldn't reach everywhere and trying to rub in the ton of lotion she put on her back was pretty laughable. It really got Richard's attention, that was for sure. Closing the book but making sure to save his place with his thumb, he looked at Vera with a small chuckle. "Too proud to ask for some help? Or too creeped out by Mr. Big Bad Frat guy over there to ask again? Maybe it's just stubbornness," he pointed out, his words meant to be a little jabbing. That was one thing. He could never figure her out. The only thing he knew was that she didn't like him. That was the only thing he was anything close to certain about. Other than that, he didn't know anything. Not like he wanted to know anything else, but he couldn't ignore her the whole trip, especially when she was struggling with just a little bit of sunscreen.

"I said I was fine." Verona countered, continuing to furiously attempt at lathering in the globs of white suntan lotion across her back in an even sheet. She didn't need his help, honest. She was a big girl, she could do things by herself. It was only when she had seen a girl walk past with a patchy tan that she realized she was putting her beach body on the line. It was her pride or her vanity, two characteristics that seemed so often woven together and now Verona found herself caught between the two.

She sucked in a gust of air, before deciding that even a dicey tan was worth it, if it meant that she didn't have to give in to Richard. Almost nothing seemed worse, for Verona was not a quitter. And thus, she continued to reach for her back, her hands getting tired and she gave out an exasperated sigh. Verona looked around, in desperate need for a cute boy to walk by, but Verona had no such luck, and continued to struggle in her effort for applying a protectant to her skin. Verona paused for a second, to look back at Richard, and was shocked to see him watching her in her attempt to apply the protective layer. But her pause was brief, and within seconds was back at applying the sunscreen. Just as she thought she had applied a nice, even coat her hand slipped on the moist covering on her skin, pulling with it on of the straps that tied the bikini top onto her body. It seemed like today just wasn't her day. "Aw shit." The girl whispered under her breath, folding her hands over her chest to keep the top up.

It didn't take long before Richard lost interest and went right back to his book. If that's how Vera wanted to be then he wasn't going to stop her. She didn't want the help so he wasn't going to give it to her. He was able to read quite a bit in one of the chapters before she suddenly muttered under her breath. "What are you complaining about now--" he suddenly paused as he looked up to see her arms wrapped around her chest and the strings to her suit dangling untied down her back. At first his face began to turned a little red but almost instantly he began to laugh. It was more out of awkwardness than it actually being funny, but either way, he was laughing quite a bit before he got himself under control. "You're in quite a situation," he teased with a goofy smirk on his face. "Do you finally need some help or are you going to sit like that for the rest of the day?"

Verona sat on her beach-themed towel, seriously contemplating her options here and there weren't many. There were only two, to be exact. One, she could give in to Richard and ask for his help in retying her swimsuit. But Richard was a guy and he would most likely tie in the most horrid way, like a double knot or something of that nature. Two, was that she could own the accident, pretend it was on purpose and just run with it. It was a risky option, as she could flash someone in the process, but it was a lot easier on her pride. Thus, Verona chose the latter.

With a deep and shaky inhale Verona eased herself carefully onto the towel stomach first, not letting go of the top until she was sure nothing was visible. "I think you already know the answer," Verona said, trying her best to sound calm and collected even though she was really mortified. "Besides, no one likes tan lines." Which was true, but it seemed that this act of pride had drawn a lot of attention to the brunette. Boys of all shapes and sizes were gawking at her as they walked by. But for the sake of her pride, Verona didn't make any efforts to ask for help. She only had to make sure she didn't forget she was topless and accidentally flash someone.

Richard simply rolled his eyes. Whatever floated her boat. If that's she wanted to do, then so be it. It wasn't his problem. But of course, his mind just had to wander a little bit and it stuck in his head of what she was going to do when she had to get up to go back to the hotel. Or if she wanted to get in the water. Or any other activity other than burn her back and make herself roast like a lobster. He'd get a pretty good laugh out of that. And he thought he'd be kind enough to tell her at least. "So Miss Independent... what are you going to do when it comes time to turn over? Or... what if you wanted to get in the water? How about actually going back to the hotel?" He smirked. It was a very nice day and the sun was shining pretty bright so it wasn't going to take long for that sunscreen to wear out.

Verona hadn't exactly thought the whole thing through. Actually now that he brought it up, what was she going to do? Surely by then Richard would've felt bad enough and tied her swimsuit... right? She wasn't so convinced and she sure as hell wasn't going to ask. "I'll just have to burn that bridge when I get there." Verona said confidently, although she really did feel uncomfortable at the moment. She just wasn't going to let it show on her face, even in the most uncomfortable situations, you had to have a game face. Right? Isn't that how these things worked?

And yet as the girl laid there, the stupid blonde's taunting words echoed in her head, and Verona couldn't help but want to get up. Just laying in the sun was sooo boring. Actually the more she thought about it, Verona found herself growing hungry and admittedly the girl was particularly parched. She couldn't get up, she knew that, but staying still was surely not an option. Turning her head so that she was looking at the sand, Verona scribbled a small SOS in the sand, before quickly wiping it away before Richard could notice. But she really had no choice, because the sun was baking down and before long a warm tingle spread all over her back. "Fine. You may help me." Verona said, in a tone that sounded like she was allowing him to help her tie her swimsuit.

After she didn't answer his questions, Richard just went right back to reading his book. Well, if you could count staring at the same page and reading the same paragraph reading since he was a little to focused on Vera. Why did she have to do that? That was not something he wanted to think about on this trip. She was the one that said no funny business in the hotel and then she pulled this stunt? He wasn't supposed to like her. He didn't like her at all. She didn't like him and he didn't like her. End of story... kinda. Maybe it was just the guy in him which he was perfectly fine with. But suddenly he heard her voice again and he slammed the book down and turned to look at her probably with a little too much enthusiasm. "Wait, what was that?" he teased. "Are you... are you actually asking for my help?" He never thought he'd hear that. "Queen of the dance, Miss Independent is asking for my help?"

Verona took a deep breath and exhaled in a soft sigh, this wasn't easy for her. "Oh, don't get too excited." She snapped, although her face was towards the direction of the ground underneath her, so the sound was muffled and lost the bitter affect it otherwise might have had. "I'm not going to say it again." She hissed in between his teasing exclamations. "Dickie, please just shut up and tie." She demanded. Jeez, he had no clue how hard this hurt her pride. And of course she should have known that Richard, out of all people, wasn't going to let this go. Despite how awkward it was asking for help, Verona had yet to realize how awkward it would be when he had to actually get her swimsuit strings and tie it together. He would be way too close for comfort there and even then, there was no telling if he'd actually tie it tight enough. An improperly tied swimsuit often led to the exact situation Verona was trying to avoid.c;

Did he really have to tie it? He couldn't really figure out what was wrong if she just happened to sit up. It's not like anything bad would happen... to him. Being completely sarcastic, Richard gave a semi-thoughtful yet confused look. "Now why would I do that? I don't really see a problem with this situation," he said with a small laugh.

Verona's head popped up, although only enough to make eye contact with the blonde. "Dickie, I swear..." She said through clenched teeth, bringing her arms cautiously over chest. "Just tie my top." Verona repeated, her voice beginning to sound extremely frustrated, and her eyebrows furrowed together in frustration. This wasn't funny and it wasn't going to happen. She had already given in and ask for help, now if her thought she was going to show him her boobs, he had to be crazy. No matter what happened, she was determined he wasn't going to see anything.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Richard rolled his eyes before moving to where he could even reach the straps to her top. It was a little difficult at the angle he was trying to tie it at, but it was the best he was willing to try to do. "Fine. Just because I'm a nice guy..." he muttered jokingly as his fingers fiddled with the strings until the top was tied a bit awkwardly to the side but at least it seemed secure. Not the best in the world but she could deal. It's not like he actually wanted to help her in the first place. It was pretty hilarious to watch her try to deal with embarrassment. She's embarrassed him enough times, he figured she could get a taste of her own medicine. "Alright it's tied. You're good to go, my queen." Yep. The sarcasm continued.

It was a mystery if the two of them had noticed or not while the issue of the untied bikini was looking to be solved, in the clear, bright blue sky, a dark cloud moved on it's own - ominous and strange in it's ways, swiftly reaching for the sun. Most paid no mind to it, fewer even bothered to notice as it swept past, temporarily leaving the entire island in the shade. It only last a couple of heartbeats before just like that, it was gone, near the horizon and disappearing into the unknown. In these few moments, a sharp breeze blew past Richard and Verona, the creator so fast and slick it was nothing but a dark blur. A nearby little boy who had been minding his own, stacking up his sand-castle and seemingly proud of himself, was gone in a flash. His mother, who had had her gaze glued to the phone, glanced up to see him - but he'd already gone.

"Daniel?" The woman called out, glancing around again before panic began to over take her. "Daniel, where are you?!" She was on her feet, eyes wide and screaming out for her little boy.