Meme yoinked from the usual place

[hotshotlightning]

It's summertime! Out with the snow and the dark, here come the sun and sea, watermelons and slushies, long lazy days, and all the things that make summer wonderful.

Along with a few other things.

Honestly, your character loves summer. How can they not? They don't mean to spoil the fun. They could've been having a grand old time right now, if it weren't for...

1. The heat! No kidding, hot in summer? Who would've thought. The AC broke and the fan just can't keep up. What to do? Why, complain, of course.

2. The bugs! EEK! It's cockroach season! Or possibly the invasion of the bloodsucking horde. Pick up a shoe and join the defending army.

3. Allergies! You know what's nice about the bare trees in winter? They're bare. Is it September yet?

4. Those meddling kids! Some of us don't get summer vacation no more, you little bastards. Stop partying at all hours!

5. The crowds! The beach was a lot nicer when you didn't have to share it with approximately twenty two billion other people. Some of them in wildly unflattering swimsuits.

6. That one unbearably cheerful friend who thinks summer is really just the best thing and they will prove it to you if they must shove a gallon of ice cream down your screaming mouth.

7. Or something else equally annoying and horrid, because fuck summer.

Comments

[surprisingwolf]

"I want to relax." He's right, I should try relaxing. Actually, building a sand castle sounds fun. I sit down and think about how best to structure one, staring at the sand intently. "Probably we should try to clump the sand into cylinders...."

[gimmedonuts]

"Oh, well, in that case!" I start gathering as much sand as I can. "Cylinders, got it. Then what?"

[surprisingwolf]

"Hmm. We'll need a square for the main castle itself, if we're trying for a European castle." Now isn't the time to educate him on how castles work. He's right, I need to relax. "So, four cylinders, and a big square."

[gimmedonuts]

"Right." Dang, he really is getting into this-- good. I start making a cylinder, but I'll be honest, art has never been my thing. Enh, I'm sure it looks fine. Looks fine to me, at least.

[surprisingwolf]

I try to think of a polite way to tell him we're building a castle, not a leaning tower or four.

But instead, I grin and start heaping the sand together to build the square portion. "Here, let's make the top and the sides as flat as we can."

lol poor guy

[gimmedonuts]

Oh, good, he likes it. Not that I was worried, mind you! "Awesome! Okay, flat..." All I have are my hands, but I manage.

Somehow, I think these two shouldn't open an engineering firm.

[surprisingwolf]

"You work on getting the top, I'll get the sides." I'd need them as flat as possible if we were to work in the cylinders. And I could quietly correct his towers that way.

Noooooooooo. D:

[gimmedonuts]

"Yes, sir!" I give him a thumbs up, then get back to work. It looks pretty flat, if I do say so myself.

I haven't considered sand castles a legitimate pastime since I was a kid, but I guess nearly kinda sorta shifts your perspective.

[surprisingwolf]

I nod. He's done pretty well. I flatten the sides as much as I can, and then try to get the Leaning Towers not to lean and instead meld into the castle. "We'll create battlements after I get the towers up," I tell him.

Hikaru is the smartest one, btw

[gimmedonuts]

"Like catapults?!" Because those are really cool! Although they might be a bit complicated, hmm.

... Is it just me, or do those cylinders look better than they did earlier?

:)

[surprisingwolf]

"Actually, more like raised walls that still allowed for archers and catapults." I lean back a little bit and pull more sand. "Let me show you."

I do my best, but that requires more detail than what we've been doing.

Re: :)

[gimmedonuts]

"Hunh." Usually I'd make some sort of smart ass comment, but he's so focused right now, I'll okay with watching. It's... kinda cute. And I'm not the type of person who usually finds things cute.

[surprisingwolf]

With the help of a stick, I finally make decent battlements, and then sit away a little bit to look at the castle. It looks good, if I say so myself.

"How does it look?" I ask.

[gimmedonuts]

"It looks amazing, Leo," I admit frankly. Then I nudge his arm. "Where'd you learn this stuff, anyways?"

reboot brain? Y/n

[surprisingwolf]

"I just practiced." I admit. I never went to a regular school, and I never studied engineering. I just kept trying. "A lot."

V. poss. y. :(

[gimmedonuts]

"You could probably build real castles, sheesh." It's a shame the tide is gonna come in fairly soon and ruin it. But hold on... I start rummaging in my pocket. "I'm gonna take a picture, so we can show our children and grandchildren."

[surprisingwolf]

I'm never sure of what to make of mundane technology, but I get out of Hikaru's way. We're here for his enjoyment, and if he wants to take a picture of my sandcastle, I don't mind.

"Possibly," I allow.

how do I head canon

[gimmedonuts]

"Such a cheerful guy," I chirp happily, then take the photo with my phone. I studied photography in school, so this should turn out better than my sand castle building. "You haven't died yet, right? So far, so good, right?"

[surprisingwolf]

"No," I say calmly, considering the possibility. It probably won't happen on the beach - there are no reports - but it still pays to be cautious. Nobody's screaming yet, though. "Let me see."

His photos are usually good.

[gimmedonuts]

"Here we go." I lean in so he can peek. Even with the rain, it's pretty clear-- good to know those classes weren't a total waste of money. "You know, if you had a computer, I could email them to you." I don't even know how he lives sometimes.

[surprisingwolf]

He was pretty surprised when he found out I don't own a computer. Or a cellphone. Or anything else really mundane. I guess it was a little bit of a shock when he found out that his entertainment options were limited to books.

"I don't think that's going to happen any time soon." I shake my head, thinking of how to make the sandcastle much hardier.

[gimmedonuts]

"Believe me, I know." Right before I got sick, I tried to point out how just having a desktop would make his life so much easier... but he kept telling me that he already knew how to do every task I brought up. After about three hours of that, I lived on my cell phone until I got ill. Then I was kinda not into much of anything.

... He's so serious looking at that castle. Here's hoping he doesn't notice that I'm taking a quick shot of him-- he'll probably think I'm trying to steal his soul, ha ha ha.

[surprisingwolf]

I hear his cellphone camera going off. I had a feeling that he'd do that. "Help me build a moat so we don't lose the castle," I tell him absently.

[gimmedonuts]

Mwa ha ha. I hit 'save' faster than I ever have in my life.

"Oh?" For someone who's so into fighting, he's sure into this castle. Which is good. "Okie dokie." I kneel down. "A moat is just a big hole with water, right?"

[surprisingwolf]

"Right. The idea is to divert the water away from the structure. Of course, moats weren't built for that normally, but in this case, that's what it's for. We'll want a moat, an inlet, and an outlet."

Sometimes I forget that not everybody is into structural defenses as I am.