[SB] A Little Sun Never Hurt Anyone

[Corey Spencer]

It was a new day, and a fresh start.  Spence had finally been able to shed the rigid, stoic demeanor he'd had upon first arriving on the ship.  Or, at least, he'd managed to walk out of his room without being clad in his full EMT getup for the first time and not made a beeline to the gym.  The sun was steadily climbing into the sky when Spence stepped out onto the ship's deck.  He paused for a moment to look over the pool area.  It was already bustling despite it not even being noon yet.  


Spence was here and he was in the mindset to relax.  Having on just a pair of shorts and a tank top felt a little strange even if he did find it liberating, in a way.  He moved closer to the pool and lay claim to an empty deck chair.  When left with everything he could think of to do, Spence would always opt to do nothing.  It was an endeavor he was rarely capable of undertaking these days, but one he knew should become a much needed, stress relieving staple of his new life.  After kicking off his sandals and pulling the top over his head, Spence took up a position stretched out across the chair, propped up enough to people watch from behind his dark glasses.  Not having something to occupy his attention was an alien concept but, for once, he wasn't here to work.  After all, simply getting a little sun never hurt anyone, did it?

[Charity Croft]

"Wow, that's a lot of guy," said Charity aloud. Yes, aloud, because apparently that was how Charity's brain worked. She was at least a little distance from the actual guy, which meant that there was at least a chance that he didn't actually hear her. A small one, one that was likely not real. Well, she wasn't talking to him directly, more commenting on him near a few other females who might also be looking at all of, well, that.

And of course Charity was wearing what amounted to a granny swimsuit: a rather simple, black one piece that covered everything, over which she wore a white floral wraparound. Oh, and her hair was pulled up into a sort of sloppy bun, with sunglasses covering her eyes, which also gave her some anonymity. Though she wasn't sure that she'd ever seen this guy before, so maybe that wasn't quite as necessary as she thought it was.

Then something else occurred to Charity: she was still standing there holding the sunscreen. She'd actually been looking for someone to apply it to her back and, well... he did have big hands.

"Excuse me!" she said, raising a hand and trying not to look too much like a dork. "Hi, you, the, uh, big guy," who was actually looking a bit familiar as Charity got closer. "The big that... that turns into steel," Charity blinked behind her shades, staring. "Wow, that's, like, that's got to look pretty scary."

[Corey Spencer]

The suns rays succeeded in melting away the tension Spence always carried. It had been weeks since he'd arrived at the Academy now but he still found it difficult to relax, even at night. Too much had been brought back to the forefront of his mind when he'd been called back that he was finding terribly difficult to bury for a second time. He had to keep telling himself he was a civilian now. He wasn't an operator, not anymore. He didn't have to worry about anything here. He could let go of it all and just get some time to himself.

True to form, Spence did hear the exclamation uttered in his direction. His head tilted and he idly searched for the source of the voice. It wasn't difficult to find the pretty redhead peering at him from beneath a wide brimmed hat and waving a hand at him. He smiled a little at the display, finding something oddly amusing about it all. Slowly he sat up, turning to face Charity as she drew closer. His head tilted curiously as she approached.

[Charity Croft]

Okay, so, yeah, Charity should have totally recognized Spence. How many big guys that could turn into steel behemoths worked for the academy anyway? (Charity thought there was something like three, since she was pretty sure there was one who worked for security or something. Things got a little confusing in there).

So yes, there was Spence, wearing a tank top and shorts and--- "Do you even need to tan?" Charity stopped for a moment, as if she were listening to her own sentence, her lips moving as she repeated the words. "Oh, that was probably racist or something. I just meant aren't you naturally..." she gestured at him, accidentally using the hand that held her (fairly strong) sunscreen). In her excitement, she'd squeezed a bit too hard.

Which resulted in a squirt of white launching at Spence, hitting him from leg nearly up to the shorts. "Uh... oops?" Charity managed, smiling nervously. She was already moving forward, reaching around to try and grab a towel and start mopping up the wet, sloppy goo that she'd just squirted all over Spence.

[Corey Spencer]

A curious brow quirked upward comically as Charity began to speak. She stumbled over her words, which she, for some reason, feared might be racist or demeaning when, in fact, she was merely stating facts. As obvious as it was, Spence felt that pointing out he happened to not be among those who regularly needed tanning was a fairly innocent statement to make. He did, though, get a great deal of amusement out of the entire situation. "Yes." He said, with a slow nod of his head. "I'm already dark. It's-"

Spence's eyes dropped at the splatter of sunscreen against his leg. He went to immediately explain it was fine, that he understood it was just an accident and there was no harm done but she was already upon him, moving to wipe at his shorts. "Woah! Hey!" He said hands coming down to stop Charity before she ventured too close too... other things that happened to be near the mess on his clothing she'd made. He laughed though, as he went to relieve her of the towel so he could take care of it himself. "At least by me a drink first." He replied, a sly smirk touching his lips.

[Charity Croft]

Okay, so she hadn't been accidentally racist. That was definitely a plus. Working against Charity was the fact that she'd apparently gotten near to touching the guy's junk. Charity puled back at his comment, taking a step back. To her amazement, she managed to maintain her balance, and instead ended up holding out a hand and nodding.

"Right, yeah, totally not, I mean, not that I wouldn't but, yeah," she said, knowing that the burst of words didn't make much sense. She nodded a few times. "Would you believe this isn't the first time that's happened to me? Right down to the..." she gestured at his crotch area, "the that. Yeah," she bobbed her head again, then realized that she still had the sunscreen in hand.

Charity held it up. "This is, like, pretty high SPF too. I go up like bacon on a skillet. Just woosh," she gestured with her other hand. There was more nodding, and she reached over to firmly get the top back on. "So, yeah, that's a thing. And I think I just mentioned bacon? So this is another normal conversation for me."

[Corey Spencer]

There was only so much he could do about the sunscreen on his shorts and the young woman was certainly able to talk. Spence's eyes flicked up to her, obvious amusement showing in the dark brown gaze. Standing straight his head shook a little, but he smirked. She was endearing in a strange, almost manic sort of way. She was certainly not what he was used to dealing with, although the same could be said for almost the entirety of the eclectic assortment of staff and students he'd met since his return.

"Anyway. Charity." He said, his voice calm as he slung the soiled towel over his shoulder. Spence really didn't seem to mind the still very visible streaks along his shorts. He was hardly one to attempt impressing anyone. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess..." He reached out and plucked the bottle of sunscreen from her grasp with his thumb and forefinger. "... you were hoping to get a hand with this?"

[Charity Croft]

Oh thank God for the other adults around here being used to utter weirdness. Charity was fairly certain that she wouldn't be able to communicate with normal adults, but the ones around here were just so used to the mutants and the strangeness and everything that entailed that they just seemed to roll with what was Charity. Though normally they didn't sit up and show off impressive physiques while plucking the little bottle from Charity's limp hand while she tried desperately not to stare at all of the everything that was in front of her.

"Yesssss," she said, knowing she was dragging out the word even as she pointed at the container of sunscreen. "Yes, that is, that is definitely what I was doing with that and hoping to get done. Because going up like bacon is not a good thing," and yes, she did just realize that she'd mentioned bacon again. Charity bobbed her hand a few more times, pursed her lips, and nodded.

"Right, so, uh, you probably don't want to though, right?" Charity asked, reaching for the container. "it's cool. I can probably reach all the important parts and just, like, find an umbrella or something."

[Corey Spencer]

Spence just stood there and nodded faintly as Charity confirmed in her very wordy, roundabout way what she had originally been asking. While the big man was hardly one to complain about the prospect of rubbing lotion onto a good looking (albeit pasty), young woman, he did tend to operate with a certain sense of modesty and respect, especially when dealing with the female side of the species. He held up a hand to put an end to the slow approach of Charity's fingers as they reached for the bottle. "Relax." He said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "It's fine, I'll give you a hand. It'd probably be for everyone's benefit if you didn't go... bacon on us."

A low chuckle escaped as he gestured for the young woman to take a seat in the nearest deck chair. "So." Spence started, popping the top of the bottle and squeezing out a bit of the white lotion into his hand in preparation. "LeGrange is a well known name around the Academy." He said, glancing in Charity's direction. "Any relation to the Mr. LeGrange that'd been there for years?"

[Charity Croft]

Ok, so he was willing. Charity smiled a little at that, mentally telling herself not to overthink it. He probably was just being nice: he did work for the school after all. And/or he'd heard her last name before and owed her father some kind of weird favor or something. It had not been the first time that had happened and likely would not be the last.

"Yeah, no one wants to go full bacon," Charity agreed, her eyes going wide for a moment. She nodded, and likely would have moved to give the bottle if she wasn't fairly certain that he'd already plucked it. Instead she moved in only a semi-awkward manner toward the deck chair. She sat there as best she could, then realized that she should probably shift. Soon enough she had her back to him (that was the area that needed it most, after all).

"Uh, yes, actually," she said, nodding. "He was my father. Long story, but basically: I just found out not that long ago. And yes, he was actually my dad, and no, I'm obviously not of the same, uh, vertical alignment," Charity held a hand out, palm facing the deck, and sort of adjusted it as best she could before shrugging. It was awkward enough to think about without getting too deep.

[Corey Spencer]

Spence gave a short nod and left it at that. He was hardly one who enjoyed prying into other people's lives and such topics as the one he'd unwittingly brought up could be sensitive to some people. He was content to leave it at her answer and move the idle chat forward. At least he was left with the line 'no one wants to go full bacon' as something that had actually been uttered by human lips.

Giving a light chuckle the big man moved to position himself behind Charity as best he could without coming off like a creeper. This wasn't his first trip to the rodeo, he'd grown up in Miami, Florida, after all. The water and sunshine combination was one he was well versed in dealing with. Once in place, he reached out and pressed his hands gently to the exposed skin of Charity's back. With a remarkably gentle touch he set about spreading the lotion over the susceptible areas.

"How is it working with the kids?" He asked. Medicine, dealing with emergencies, all that was the easy part. What Spence was curious about was how the staff generally interacted with the student body. He was still trying to figure this whole 'working at a school' thing out. "Any of them give you much trouble?"

[Charity Croft]

Okay, hands on her back. Charity could handle that. She took several deep breaths, just letting the fairly muscular guy rub stuff over her back and shoulders and definitely not wishing she'd opted for some sort of coconut smelling tanning oil instead of something that would actually protect her skin from the harmful rays. Just, just focus on the conversation. yeah, that should totally be doable. Conversation was good and definitely didn't involve thinking about roaming hands and stuff.

"It can be a lot of fun," Charity replied quickly enough, though she was nodding seconds later at the second question. "Some of them are real pains in the neck. They gave me a lot of the trouble ones, which I think used to go to my dad but are now dropped in my lap. Anyway, at least one has decided to make my life a living hell," Charity sighed in quasi-frustration. "That's kind of why I was like 'a little break is totally needed,'" she nodded and then turned to look over her shoulder at him. "What about you? You, ah, you're a medic, right? So are you here to make sure we don't die of sunburns or something?"

Wow, that was a bad joke. Charity still smiled at it though, if a bit wobbly.

[Corey Spencer]

Corey chuckled softly. He remembered Charity's father from his own days as a student. He owed the former trainer a great deal of credit for the man Corey had become today. "Maybe they give them to you because they know you can handle them." Corey pointed out, his hands moving smoothly across her exposed skin. As a medic, and one who'd received extensive practice at that, Corey's touch was remarkably gentle. It came from his time working in trauma centers stateside in between deployments. Civilians usually commanded a softer touch.

"I am." He nodded, not really shying away from taking his time with the spreading of the lotion. Corey may have conducted himself with a certain sense of respect and reservation, that didn't mean he wasn't at all interested in the idea of getting his hands on an undeniably attractive young woman. It was all innocent, right? "I'm here for the same reason you are." He said with a laugh. He caught the bad joke and it didn't bother him at all. He was used to poorly timed humor. "To make sure someone doesn't blow the ship up or start a war between the US and Mexico." A hand shifted up to brush her hair over one shoulder so he could reach more of her lightly complected skin. "And to get some time off." After all, he had been in Syria a little over a month ago.

[Charity Croft]

Corey's comment had Charity laughing lightly. She quickly steeled herself, knowing that the motions wouldn't help with what he was trying to do. "I think it's more that they saw my last name and just started flinging kids at me," she replied, her tone light enough. That seemed like the most likely explanation to her, and she'd certainly gotten a few of her father's students. It probably helped that her power was similar in some ways to his, though from what she'd already found out, her way of dealing with students and training was drastically different.

Corey was proving to have soft hands though, which was kind of surprising for such a big guy. He could probably have wrapped one hand around Charity and squeezed her hard enough for stuff to come out, but his touch felt light along his skin.

Once more Charity found herself chuckling at a comment. This time, it was the one about the ship blowing up. 'I think I heard that at least one student has fireworks," she admitted, sighing and rolling her eyes toward the sky. "And I wouldn't be surprised if Jack McCarthy brought something to fight off the evil ghosts or if someone else hasn't smuggled a bong or who knows what..."

[Corey Spencer]

"If they don't have fireworks now, they'll have them once we get to Mexico." Corey said with a certain nod. It wasn't as though he was a stranger to foreign countries, even the ones that weren't typically seen on the news as war torn hell holes. He did get leave and as a Special Forces operator, he usually had a large group of single men with money to burn looking to blow off steam. Various spots around Mexico were favored destinations of many soldiers Corey had known over the years. The stories that came from these weeks of leave, however, were for a very different time. "We'll have to check the students when they come back." He added with a sigh. As usual, Corey was never far from work.

"McCarthy?" The name sounded familiar but Corey couldn't place it. He wasn't well versed in the names of the more prominent students at the Academy just yet. Hell, he barely knew many of the names of his own colleagues at this point. There was only a small handful of staff outside of the medical wing that Corey knew, and Charity happened to be one of them. "I'm not sure I know him..." He trailed off, sitting up for a moment as he pondered the name. "No, I don't." He finally decided, returning his touch to Charity's back. By now the act of spreading suntan lotion had devolved into something more akin to a massage, seeing as how the fact that the limited skin in need of attention had been covered did little to deter Corey's from continuing to keep his hands on her. "I'm guessing he's one I should look out for. Are there any others I should keep an eye on?"