ROLEPLAY HQ - riding-the-wave

The sun was hot, burning even. Every inch of sand blazed with the sting of a summer’s day. Families traveled to Florida for their well known beaches. They staked their multi-colored umbrellas into the ground, forcing shade for their group to crowd under. The water that day was particularly clear. A bright teal mixed with shades of dark sapphire. It sparkled from the rays of the sunlight breaking through a series of wandering clouds. Custos, one of the lifeguards at Siesta Key Beach, sat on a chair elevated above everyone else. He watched over the sunny landscape keeping an eye on the people swimming in the water. The whistle around his neck was used now and then to make sure rowdy teens stayed in line. There was coconut sunscreen smeared on the tops of his shoulders and nose, covering the areas of his golden skin to avoid burning. His hair was curly and out of place, dark brown yet in the right lighting blended with natural wheat highlights from the sun. With eyes that were made from the depths secrets, dark blue, sometimes taking on wild shades of the sky depending on the time of day. “You feel like one of these?” asked his friend, Molt, another lifeguard, who handed him a cola. This friend was taller than Custos, slimmer and known to make people laugh from his terrible jokes. His black hair and brown eyes often got him in trouble. Just like Custos, neither one of them wore shirts, and he drank his coke in nearly three swallows as if it were a competition.

12:13

“Sure, why not,” Custos said, taking the cold can into his hand. Hair in his eyes. He leaned forward in his chair, watching the water for sharks or signs of someone needing help, but instantly lost his attention when spotting a girl walking the shore. It was normal for the lifeguards to comment on the people roaming the beach, especially when they were attractive, though out of respect Custos said nothing. “Look at her,” said Molt. Custos grinned. “Think she needs saving?” Molt asked with a big smile. “Only one way to find out,” replied Custos.

@NakaWreath🎄🌟

It was one of those days, a day where it was simply too hot to do anything. A day that came to often in Florida. Shae had been sitting in her apartment, trying to get some stuff done in her house on her day off, but even with airconditioning on she soon had sweat covering almost every bit of her skin. She stood up once again, waving some cool air into her face. She looked at the clock on the wall. Two PM, the hottest time of the day. She groaned softly and then just tossed the wet cloth she had cleaning with into the sink. “Fuck it. I will clean tonight when it is colder.” She promised herself. She went into her bedroom and tossed the sweaty clothes into a bin and picked up a bikini from the closet. It was a white color with small ruffles along the edges of it. The color making a beautiful contrast against her tanned skin. She the took a sheer looking dress that wrapped around her much like a bathrobe would, but had thin straps covering her shoulder. It secured at her waist with a small string that she tied together. The last thing she did was tie her hair up into a messy bun at the top of her head and off she was. She came to the beach on a skyblue vespa scooter. Her favorite way to go around the busy city she lived. She parked it near the beach and locked it in place with a chain. She looked over her shoulder the, looking towards the beach. It looked absolutely stunning that day. She felt a small sigh leave her lips as she watched that sparkle go over it as the waves gently made it’s way to the surface. She waste no more time and took her slippers from her feet into her hand and put her feet into the sand, walking her way to the waterline. It was busy that day, it being such warm weather, but she didn’t pay it much mind. He eyes were on the ocean, on that line where the sky met the water. The water tickling over her feet as she sat right at the edge where the water came in and pulled back again. @luxtheoHoHoHo

After convincing his friend to stand guard at the tower, Custos left his post to get a better look at the woman sitting near the water’s edge. The bottoms of his bare feet pressed into the hot sand with every step, approaching her with the wind in his hair and sun on his back. “You know,” he said to her, standing at her side so if she looked up at him he’d be silhouetted against a bright blue sky, blinding her from getting a first look at his rugged face. Custos would only be a dark statue standing there with the sun’s touch aimed for Shae’s eyes. “If you aren’t careful a shark could get you,” he moved slightly to the right so his shoulder blocked the light directly behind him, allowing Shae to see his features like his tanned skin and swimmer’s build. The pair of crossed arms folded over his chest, which made his biceps show off unintentionally. Or the look suggesting he was serious, while nothing but fun danced in his blue eyes. “Can I interest you in stepping away from danger to cool off with a coke?” If she didn’t like the taste, he countered, “Or a Pepsi if that’s your poison?” It was only a matter of time before Shae would see he was stronger than he looked. Custos offered her his hand, outstretched, and waited for her to take hold so he could bring her to her feet, if that were something she wanted to do…there was always the chance she would deny him and stand up on her own or run as far away as she possibly could. Just as Custos extended his palm in her direction, another rush of warm wind rushed by, carrying the sounds of laughter, seagulls, and a crashing sea all around them. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face, glistening on his arms and chest. If circumstances were different where he already knew Shae, he’d have picked her up over one shoulder and carried her into the water to cool off - but not yet. First, Shae needed to make the choice to get to know Custos or not.

14:15

@NakaWreath🎄🌟

She had been so lost in thought, staring at how the waves rose from the sea and then joined back to it again. She had not even noticed the guy that walked up to her till he talked. “You know,” It made her look up at him, her eyes instantly squinting against the bright sun that was behind him, moving her hand up to try and block it, but mostly failing. “If you aren’t careful a shark could get you,” he finished his sentence. She couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips at that point. She looked at her feet that the water was just barely touching before pulling itself back to the sea again. “Yeah.. got to be careful of those shore sharks huh?” She said as she looked back up to him. His body now blocking the sun gave her a better view of him. She thought she had seen him before and looking down at his swim short she knew she had. He was part of the lifeguard, usually sitting in his little tower, his eyes focused on the water. She had always been slightly jealous of his tanned skin, knowing he got to enjoy the sun almost every day during the long Florida summers. She raised one eyebrow at him as he invited her to get a drink with him. That was pretty forward of him, yet she wasn’t against the idea of it. “Yeah, why not.” She smiled at him. As he extended her arm she took it and he easily pulled her into her feet. The sheer robe around her falling open just a bit to show more of her bikini. She quickly swiped the sand from her legs from sitting. Especially on the white bikini bottom. As the wind carried the sound it made her look around herself. She had gotten so lost in her own thoughts while looking at the sea that she had not heard the sounds coming from behind herself at all. “You sure you got time? It is a busy day.” She teased him slightly as she started to walk with him towards the guards tower. “So is this just something you guys do? Inviting girls out for a coke?” She laughed. @luxtheoHoHoHo

Custos let out a laugh. Shae’s comment about shore sharks caught him off guard and her clever remark left a smile on his face. His hand curled around hers and pulled her to her feet just before a cold wave came crashing down around their ankles. He let her hand go and together they walked away from the ocean, crossing the sandy yellow beach until they reached the Lifeguard’s tower. Custos climbed the old steps leading the way for Shae to follow. Bits of sand clung to the backs of his legs and fell onto the red wooden floorboards under his heels. “Looks like we have one Coke left,” he said while digging through an ice chest, holding onto the same smile from before, though it was more of a grin now. He brought over a can of ice cold Coke and snapped the metal top off. It hissed then instantly foamed, gushing brown bubbles over the edge. Custos opened a Pepsi for himself and before he took that first tantalizing sip, knocked the edge of his can against Shae’s to cheers. “Here’s to not getting sunburned,” he said. It was a hot day. Brutal, even. There was a bottle of half-used sunscreen sitting on the balcony. He reached for it. As Custos set his drink down to reapply his defense from the sun, he glanced in Shae’s direction. “To answer your question…the answer is yes. It’s common for the lifeguards to bring people up here. Some of them are dehydrated and in need of pure water. Most people come out here thinking they can live off of sugar, which only makes matters worse when they’re unprepared to spend an entire day in the sun. Heat stroke can be deadly. Luckily we haven’t had that happen in a while…”

21:46

His hands, blessed with sunscreen, roamed his arms going up and down the length of his muscles until every inch was coated with protection. He set the bottle next to Shae offering it to her if she needed to reapply. Custos leaned against the railing, now guarded from harmful UV rays, and brought his attention out to the bustling beach. His eyes danced with the reflection of the sea, surfers, and volleyball players. “My name is Custos, though friends call me C.” The whistle hanging from his neck rocked into the air as he leaned forward, pressing both arms against the railing for support. “What’s your name?” @NakaWreath🎄🌟

She walked with him to lifeguards tower. The sand tickling in between her toes as they went from firm wet sand to loose dry sand. Walking just slightly behind him she could let her eyes dance over his frame. Nothing wrong with checking out a guy who invited you for a drink right? He was quite handsome, a nice body that showed he took good care of it. His tan showed just how often it saw the sun and even if his hair was dark she could see the roots were darker, his hair slowly having been bleached the sun’s rays. She climbed up the stairs with him and watched as he got a coke out for her and knocked it against hers. She took her first sip, the cold drink a welcome change on how hot of a day it was. A satisfied ‘aaah’ leaving her mouth as she brought it back down. That hit the spot. She smiled at him. “It is way to hot today.” She agreed with him. She narrowed her eyes at him as she talked about the other ‘girls’ he invited in the lifeguards tower. “Smart answer.” She said narrowing her eyes at him and chuckling. She took another sip of her drink. She watched him apply the sunscreen, giving her another good look at him. The white substance would define the lines of his muscles before it got spread to thin to be visible any longer. Once he was done she gladly took the sunscreen from him and also rubbed some over her arms, upper chest and neck. She even reached down to apply a good amount to her legs, some sand still sticking to the skin. “Nice to meet you Custos.” She smiled at him as she finished applying it herself. “My name is Shae, though my friends call me Shae.” She teased him with a soft chuckle. She turned to look at the sea as well. Damn it was a busy day. There were people everywhere. She needed to squint her eyes against the sun to even see anything. People were enjoying the water, she couldn’t blame them. “So this is your gig? Watching people, sunbath, drink cokes..” she to him, still looking at the waterline. “Good choice.” She said with a sm

08:09

ile. “I could get used to this..” she said closing her eyes. Of course she knew there was more to his job, but for now.. it was fun to see how he would take her teasing. @luxtheoHoHoHo

As Shae spoke, Custos leaned against the railing with his forearms pressed on the painted wood. His eyes observed the beach and danced with quiet humor when the word “gig” left her mouth. “Well, when you put it like that…” he said, but in her defense, his job did seem easy. There were tons of people roaming the beach. Girls in bikinis. Guys playing volleyball. Kids making sand castles. At least half of them were sunburned, but none of them seemed to care. Every day the air was filled with laughter and crashing waves, which was deceptive to his line of work. “...I could see you making a decent life guard.” There were many roads he could have guided the conversation, and he decided to drive down compliment lane first. Custos faced Shae with approval while his right hand, the one without the Pepsi in it, motioned to her arms. “You look strong, a good swimmer, I mean…and your legs look like you could navigate the water, get you out of dangerous situations.” He didn’t linger on her lower half too long because he didn’t want to come off as a creep, however, Custos did take a moment to admire her build. “Usually, it’s a stress-free day, but you have to keep an eye on things, which makes it more like babysitting, honestly. The thing is, when something does go wrong, the feeling lasts weeks. For me, I remember the look on the person’s face when they’re in need of help - the job has pros and cons that weigh out. I’m not sure if you heard about this - we lost someone last year. A wave took them and they never found the body. Two years ago, we had a shark attack. There was blood everywhere, red water washed on the sand, it was a fucking mess.”

21:53

Custos tapped the soda in his left hand, drumming it with his fingers. Tiny droplets slid down the side of the aluminum can as he did this. “The question is, do you have what it takes to try and save someone’s life, and when it doesn’t work, live with the look of fear before the ocean seals their fate?” Molt was in the background giving Custos a “what the fuck are you doing” hand gesture, but Custos figured if Shae couldn’t take his morbid topics of conversation, there’d be no point in him asking her out on a date later that week - in return Custos casually smiled, not for Molt’s sake, but for Shae as a way to let her know this is just who he was.

21:54

@NakaWreath🎄🌟

“Could you now?” She asked him, a smile dancing on her face. Her eyes kept looking at his, seeing exactly where his eyes went to on her body. She took the compliments that he would give her, if anything she liked them. He went about it in a good way, keeping it casual instead of drooling all over her and making her feel like a sexualized object like so often seemed to happen. He sure knew what he was doing. It was only hen he turned the conversation to the other parts of his work that she let that smile fall away from her face. She listened to what he said and turned her face to stare at the many people who roamed the beach. It seemed so peaceful, it was hard to imagine that people had actually died here, or came close to dying. She let out a deep breath as he asked his question and she turned back to him. “Honest? I don’t think I could..” she answered him. “I think I would run away the moment it would happen and never come back here. Find another beach where I could feel.. peaceful again.” She forced a small smile to her face but it quickly faded. “Because that is what the beach is to me. It is peaceful and beautiful and gentle. It is the feeling of sand between my toes, of wind in my hair and sun on my skin. I don’t think I could handle it if that was invaded by death and injury.” She paused a moment, sipping from her drink. “So all kudos for you for being here and doing the job so I don’t have to.” @luxtheoHoHoHo

He knew he was in trouble the moment Shae answered him. His attention was on her lips, how they moved, and when she brought up the idea of what the beach should be like: calm and peaceful - he imagined changing her mind if he had a chance with her between the sheets. And since he couldn’t remember the last time someone did that to him, he considered her worth the risk of rejection. “Kudos,” he said with a calculated nod, digesting the vibe of her words. ”That’s high praise coming from someone like you.” Custos moved closer to her. Now they were side by side looking at the same blue waves. He finished his Pepsi and set the empty can down on the railing, a single drop of condensation flattened against the wood at the base. “You know…I have more stories about the job, if you wanted to hear them. I could tell you about the top five sunburns I’ve seen over a coffee sometime.” Did the few pieces of dark hair falling around his eyes or the smile that shouldn’t exist on any human being, charming yet dangerous, work for Shae? The thing was, Custos didn’t ask girls out often, so if she thought she was being played, she was wrong, contrary to his looks. The way he broke eye contact with her to avoid making her uncomfortable was the closest gesture to authenticity he could offer. @NakaWreath🎄🌟