[center][h2]Friends[/h2][/center] (Collab between Savato and Pirouette) The sand mummy had grown content from the hot sand serving as an extra layer to her baby skin, so much that it took her about five seconds to notice the nice Jackson showed up to apologize. Camille had no idea who he was and assumed that it was the asshole from before with a different pair of bathing trunks. She glared at the poor boy's eyes, expressing a deep case of bloodlust for him. "[b]Get lost or drop dead.[/b]" She wasn't very happy, that's for sure. But the idea of being a sublime sand zombie thing kept her in check for now. She even made a sand angel right after getting Jackson off her radar. When her buddy noticed how screwed the volley ball idea was, Camille looked around real quick, noticing a giant squid doing... Pointless things? She cocked an eyebrow, this felt perfectly normal considering... Everything? "[b]Ehhhhhhhh, we can always ride PattySquiddy and be the Marines of the Oceans, defenders of what is right![/b]" Camille expressed with enthusiasm. Only she could be worked up by such absurd and borderline stupid ideas like that. She randomly jumped upwards and landed on her feet so she could face her blonde friend, hainds on her hips as she got excited over doing something fuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Ann gave Jackson an expression that signified that she understood. Her friend, however, had answered in a more hostile way causing Ann to feel a bit sorry for the poor guy. When Jackson turned and began walking away, Ann muttered to her friend. "You shouldn't be so hard on him. He probably can't help it." Sure, Camille was angry but Ann thought that such an overwhelming negative comment wasn't necessary. She wanted to say something to Camille concerning the issue of negative comments and feelings but Ann couldn't muster up the courage to convey her message. So she stood there as the pair of them fell into a moment of silence. Ann's thoughts drifted to something what she would say to Camille and her childish friend was likely thinking about what to do since volleyball was no longer an option. "PattySquiddy?" Ann asked having no idea what her friend had just named. She looked around but soon saw what Camille had been referring to. "Um... Okay. I guess we can do that." Ann added with audibly less enthusiasm than her friend. She had no idea what being [i]Marines of the Oceans[/i] and riding a squid guy concerned. A childish grin took form on the kid's face, she could just imagine how awesome it would be to dominate the seven seas while riding a squid. Feinting a walk, she'd swifty catch her friend's wrist while having her foot kick Ann's ankle in order to have her trip on the sand. It was a clumsy attempt to pull off a nasty sand mummy prank but hey, to her it was the new initiation to her league of marines. "[b]Teehee~ I forgot to tell you... SAND MUMMIES ONLY![/b]" Then followed a stereotypical villain laughter before she'd heorically point toward the pink squid's location. They were going to convince Patel to take down all 'evils' that roamed the beach, an by evils this likely meant Kuro and Isaac, because she just loves to mess with Isaac. Speaking of which, Camille took notice of the burning smell, but it was so unimportant compared to her ambition. Ann could literally see flames ignite in Camille's eyes as her determination rose up to the max as she maintained her pointing pose for a little too long. "[b]... So, any ideas on how we catch PattySquiddy?[/b]" The over the top moment had ended and fell back into semi-reality as Camille was confronted to her first obstacle: Convincing Patel. Ann had dropped her guard and hadn't expect a surprise attack coming. Camille's kick was enough to cause Ann to stumble back and fall on her butt and much ot Camille's delight, the sticky sand covered everywhere where Ann had landed. "Ow!" Ann winced as she impacted the ground. She glowered at Camille as she got back up to her feet. Even though she didn't express her resentment, Ann would remember that and eventually get her revenge. "No idea..." Ann remarked, completely bypassing any comment about her being tripped and focused on the PattySquiddy. "You know him better than me so..." Ann trailed off as she realized she had just made a connection, even though she had no idea where it came from. "Huh? I just know the legend, silly! I also hear that..." She'd get closer to hr friend, leaving a few centimeters of gap between the two so she could whisper what seemed to be a secret regarding the sea monster antagonizing the bay. "... It eats panties!" (To keep up with Bee's weird Hentai theme) She informed her friend with a light giggle following. Camille wasn't wearing panties but an entire swimsuit, so the risks were at bare minimul. Her eyes quickly peered down at Ann's bikini, noticing that she was more than just vulnerable to the tentacle monster's tendancies. Ann immediately expressed her worry about Camille's remark. PattySquiddy sounded like a perverted monster, assuming Camille wasn't just sprouting fake legends just to mess with her. Yet somewhere, somehow she had heard of some weird thing being like that. Perhaps from a previous life. "Oh no, no, no!" Ann hastily spat as she took a step back, noticing that Camille was eyeing her like piece of meat now. "I'm not getting anywhere near that thing, then." Camille snickered at her worried friend's reaction, follwing with a little pat on her shoulder. "[b]There there Ann, that's only assuming you'd get caught~ I'll protect you of course![/b]" As unconvincing as that was, agreeing with her right away would spare Ann from a lot of trouble and harassment from Camille. Though she did recognize that she may have taken it a step too far by telling her a vague rumor she had heard about sometime in her subconscious. She wasn't going to assume it, however. "[b]Now quit being a bummer and let's fulfill our destiny, dang it![/b]" Camille said with dominance and strength, as if this was serious business. Ann, again, gave Camille a scowl, not comforted by her "friend's" attempts to reassure her. "I'm not going over there!" Ann said sounding thoroughly unconvinced of Camille's reassurances. "If you want to go over there and try fulfilling [b]YOUR[/b] destiny than that's fine by me!" She stammered in a sudden fit of rage crossing her arms and turning away from Camille, which was considerably uncharacteristic of Ann. Apparently people have their limits and Camillle's insistence of acquiring a squid-guy for nefarious purposes was past Ann's limits. Ann's sudden explosion kept Camille frozen in place, shocked and unable to utter a word. She didn't expect this, living in the thought that people would usually deal with her antics with simple nods or by just shrugging off her absurd words. But her friend, or at least what she believed was her friend considering this world's strange rules, reacted in a way she wasn't used to. Sure, she was used to raging individuals she'd have to handle during fights or cleanups, but the fact that she held a specific value to a friend caught her off guard. "[b]W-wait, erm...[/b]" Having lost her ability to freely release her sass and appear as carefree as ever, she looked like a helpless critter having been denied its right to live. She sniffled, ready to cry at any second. "[b]I-I'm sorry...[i]Sniffle[/i]...[/b]" she didn't move from her spot, facing Ann's back as she hoped that she wouldn't get yelled at even more. Ann's heart sank as she heard Camille sniffling behind her. Based on what experiences she had with Camille, she certainly didn't seem the type to cry, despite her visible age saying otherwise. "O-Oh no." Ann turned around, wearing a face that appeared as if she was going to cry. "I d-didn't mean to be so mean! I just..." She stopped herself and took a deep breath before continuing. "I just thought you were... being too mean is all." Ann trailed off with warmth and friendliness returning to her voice. She had to be the [i]bigger[/i] person here as she wrongily thought she was older than Camille. Tears started to flow out of Camille's eyes and from her cheeks, now feeling guilty about encouraging her friend to join her in an adverture. She looked up at Ann's slightly happier face, but it was blurred out by her wet eyes. "[b]But... I-I I just wanted to g-go on an adv-venture... And have fun...[/b]" she sulked. She never thought her words could affect people so much, nor did she consider her insistance hurtful or even remotely mean. But she was naive like this. She was kind of guilt tripping her friend at this point, but Camille could barely control her emotions, so it wouldn't be that surprising either. To an outside observer, Ann was totally appearing like a jerk denying a ten-year old her wishes of adventure, or so Ann had worked up in her head. Ann raised her hands defensively, trying to calm Camille down, "O-okay! Okay! We can still have fun but I... Let's try finding something else?" Ann suggested, looking around frantically for something to do. After a few more sniffles, Camille did indeed calm down before actually bursting. A she tried to rub her eyes, she noticed at the nick of time that she was convered in sand, making this a rather bad idea. Without saying a word, she took a few steps toward the rising water and soaked her hands and foerams so she could rub off most of the tears. She'd then sit down on that same hot water, cleaning her backside in the process. "[b]Hmm... Sit with me, Ann.[/b]" She said with a an uncertain tone. From where she was sitting, Ann couldn't get a clear view of her face, making this situation even more difficult to decrypt. Maybe the blondie would be up for a nasty surprise... "Oh okay sure!" Ann answered Camille's request with a tinge of apprehension but overall with satisfaction. Ann had always preferred low-key activities and sitting in the water, letting the gentle waves massage you was considerably more fun than chasing a squid. Ann sat down right next to Camille and relaxed, leaning back on her hands while sitting allowing the swell to gently wash away all that nasty sand. "You alright?" Ann inquired with concern, still looking at the back of Camille's head. "[b]M'hm.[/b]" She responded simply to her friend's expression of concern, giving a little yet visible nod. Slowly she turned her head, purposely making the moment last longer than it should have before her eyes could capture Ann's relaxed figure. Camille looked normal, neither ridiculously excited nor overwhelmingly depressed. "[b]Are you angry at me? Do you hate me?[/b]" She bluntly asked her friend, barely making eye contact with her during the process. "No! Of course not!" Ann quickly replied, suddenly not appearing so relaxed. "I only... I don't like people being mean is all." Ann added as she leaned forward thinking upon her own words. It was strange for her to ever be angry and she knew it. Friends fight, of course, but Ann had a feeling that she wanted to be angry at that moment looking back on it. But now that impulse was gone, quickly washed away like the sand on a shore. "[b]Hmm... I'm sorry...[/b]" she turned back to face the clear blue horizon, sighing ever so slightly. Camille was having a hard time understanding what she did was wrong, moreso when she expected people to ignore most of what she said. In a way, she felt happy that her friend listened to her at least. Taking in another deep breath, she assumulated a little bit of water in her half so she could wash off some leftover sand on her face before spinning her body and face Ann. "[b]I hate this place.[/b]" she responded out of the blue, her face just as neutral as it was a few seconds ago. "Yea... Me too." Ann muttered under her breath that even Camille would have a hard time hearing. It was true, though. This place just felt.. off. It felt like there was a big part of Ann missing here but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Everything about this was just giving off weird vibes and sitting here now, ignoring the loud rambunctious action coming from the beach, Ann could just sense the unnatural stench this place had. "I want to go home." Ann said to Camille, which was ironic because Ann didn't have a home technically. She remembered that at least. Camille smiled just a little as she acknowledged her friend's weak response, even with the waves blurring most of it, there wasn't really anything else. They both had this strange feeling, and it made Camille behave in ways she wouldn't reveal to people like her colleagues or someone she had just recruited. It felt wrong but at the same time she had lost the notion of her Underground duties. "[b]Home? Where do you come from? I thought you lived here...[/b]" she inquired with a touch of curiosity in her expression, slowly she reverted back to her usual appearances, but without the extremes. "Home?" Ann mirrored her friend's inquiry unintentially. It was just the shock that the question brought on. What was home? Ann could never remember but something stirred in her mind as if she was finally getting a complete picture. A small town tucked away in a vast, flat landscape. A set of mountains marked the horizon and Ann could distininctly remember the feel of prarie grass as she imagined running through it. Several familiar horses were in this imaginary view as Ann ran up to a lone house on a hill... Snapping out of what was almost like a dream, Ann shook her head. "Sorry... I, uh, come from a farm." She answered but thought it sounded a bit awkward. "You know, somewhere in the middle of the United States." The subject kind of made her uncomfortable and even though she could probably guess where Camille came from, she asked anyway. "What about you?" Camille tilted her head just a bit as she watched her friend drift in he thoughts, but before she could wake her from her day dreaming, she had replied with a rather vague answer. Camille, despite not being the best social basket around, could tell it made her feel a bit uneasy so she'd brush off her curiosity for a moment. The more she thought about this, the more she realized that, although they acted and felt like good friends, the little girl could barely recall anything involving her friend's life. This unnerved her just a little bit. "[b]Me? Hmmm, I come from France! But I don't know if you've heard of the town Carcassonne?[/b]" she asked, giving off a little smile of joy that they were having a conversation she could at least enjoy. "[b]I've lived there for a long time! But my parents don't come from France so... I guess I have many homes?[/b]" she concluded, asking herself if her parent's origins actually counted as extra shelters for her in the future. [i]To be continued...[/i] TL;DR: Camille and Ann have a roller coaster of emotions and end up sitting on the shore, opening up a bit to each other.