057. A Day at the Beach

The motley spends a day at the beach.

***"I haven't been to many classic beaches. One time though, I left a game behind…."***

Sophia, Patches, Braum, Kyoko, and Ramzia have a full day in Halifax to spend together before they go to the Grand Bes Din; what better way to relax than at the beach? Zistor refuses to attend, but the rest pile into a rental car and head to the beach south of the city. The day is bright and sunny, and there are already mortals out and about on the sand and in the water, and a chimera halfway between a chameleon and a Komodo Dragon slowly chasing after a beach ball.

While Sophia and Ramzia set up their tents, towels, food, and drinks, Kyoko takes Patches down the beach, asking her privately to help "wet Braum if he's lame". The nocker obliges by flashing a glimpse of her Super Soaker. Meanwhile, Braum goes to retrieve the chimera's beach ball, finding it has been picked up by a child, Shelley. Her aunt, Amanda, is all over Braum, trying to guess what kind of profession he has that would give him such an incredible body. Braum tries to let her down gently, but invites the two of them to play some beach volleyball later on, if they're interested. He walks away, Amanda still calling possible professions after him.

As Ramzia suggests that Sophia needs a best friend in life, some (male) members of the Halifax University track team jog by. Sophia admires them, noting that she is an art enthusiast; Ramzia only smiles that "Art appreciates its own." Meanwhile, Kyoko buys Patches an ice cream and tries to get the dirt on her relationship with Duke Granville. She offers to help Patches out if she needs any help getting away from the Duke, but Patches refuses: the relationship might be more than she bargained for, but she's not unhappy.

The track team has looped around *again* to ogle Sophia as Patches returns. One of the young men, Taylor, offers to call Sophia "anything she wants, babe" as the others all try to impress her. Patches is intrigued that one of them is working on a car, but when things get a little too raunchy, she suggests that they take off, punctuating her point with a blast from her Super Soaker. Sophia, hoping to have a bit of fun too, uses her powers of Primal to chill the water in the air, ricocheting it back and forth between the crotches of all six runners. "Right in the gooch!" one yelps as they stagger off.

Braum halts one of the young men, Chad, as he tries to discreetly snap pictures of the group of women, protesting that Sophia is "like a famous movie star, dude!" Braum recognizes that Sophia's "appearance" in the "viral video flash mob" (the battle in front of the Spark) has made her more recognizable across the country. As he tries to goad Chad into racing him, Patches Mooches his phone, deleting the pictures of Sophia and texting his mother, asking her to have a sincere talk about the "way he treats women". Kyoko then brings the phone back to Chad, draping herself over Braum to put Chad in his place.

Sophia finally catches up to the Komodo Dragon chimera, Fan, who offers to take her swimming. She hops on, asking him to take her to his favourite place in the area: the dragon shoots through the water, zooming from place to place, and telling Sophia stories about the mortals who had been there. At the same time, Ramzia casually asks Patches about whether she's excited to visit the Grand Bes Din. Patches, honest and blunt as ever, tells her that she's apprehensive to be treated as a hero at the nocker hub; "I'm not a talker or a leader." Despite Ramzia's protests that she has accomplished many important deeds in recent months, Patches shrugs them off. "I don't want to be treated as a hero - I'd rather learn. Anyone would have done their best, as I did." Patches admits to Ramzia that she isn't sure she did the right thing with Talus: maybe Zistor would be better off if he was still around, or maybe he'd be dead. Ramzia is upset by Patches reaction and dashes off, tearing up.

Braum, overhearing that Shelley's parents are going through a messy divorce, finds two broken conch shells in the surf that he presents to the girl, so that she can have a souvenir of a great day at the beach. Amanda finally cracks the code: "You're a knight in shining armour!" she insists. Braum rises and smiles, admitting that that is the truth. Kyoko corrects her: "His job is making sure that others can enjoy the beach too."

Patches swims out into the waves, where she meets a creature just like Fan lurking beneath the surface: introducing herself as Fan as well, she insists that she and "Naf" are friends, but she can't ever approach him. "What if we meet and I blink out of existence?" When presenting this to Fan, he has a similar reaction, worried that if they were to meet, it would cause a nuclear explosion that would destroy the entire region. Patches and Sophia roll their eyes at the melodramatic reaction, but insist that Fan and Naf at least attempt to meet.

And as Braum and Kyoko, entwined in each others' arms, venture out into the surf, laughing and cuddling, Patches and Sophia reunite Fan and Naf, watching as they swim in circles together, deeper and deeper, until they disappear out into the Atlantic Ocean.