2013.06.05 - Impressive Covers It

Brighton Beach. In this mostly Russian tourist attraction, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean swell up to the shore, and sweep back again. Glistening sand shimmers with the sun's light, and countless tourists and visitors enjoy a nice summers day. A tall, leggy redhead idly makes her way down a well worn path, her flipflops idly crush down against the sand as she moves, her backpack slung across her shoulder, and her clothing..? Well. She's actually a bit more covered up than most of those that meander through the area. A full dark green bathing suit can be seen underneath a sheer stripy cover up. The swimsuit fits in close to Caitlin's curves, with a high neckline, and low bottoms. Nothing is going to go riding - so she hopes - today at least. The cover up is long and whimsical in design, with short sleeves that come down to her elbow, and the skirt that hangs in low down to her knees. It would almost be considered a dress, save for the fact it is /fairly/ see through.

She makes her way towards the base of the beach itself, shifting her emerald eyes about her one way and then another. As she does so, her pony tail flips across her shoulders, held in check with a dark green scrunchy on top of her head. She is suppose to meet up with Doug to test just how strong she is, or - something. Caitlin's not sure what kind of tests will be done, but she's also fairly sure she's feeling distinctly nervous about being ON a beach only a day after yesterdays events.

Doug waited on the beach, near the lemonade stand. He'd dressed for the occasion, with flip-flops, blue swimshorts that went from waist to just above the top of his knees, and an extra large brown t-shirt that, if it weren't half-tucked in, would have flowed down to cover his shorts. The T-shirt is brown, with a decoration on it that consisted of a blazened symbol of a redheaded girl posed behind a pair of sunflowers, an angel with covered eyes, and a banner that read "The Girl Who Waited."

Greeting Caitlin with a grin and a wave, Doug calls out, "Cait! Over here!"

Motioning towards the stand as she approach, the young blonde mutant asks, full of... well, puppy-dog eagerness, "Would you like some lemonade?"

Richard Rider, in beach shorts and t-shirt, stands at the edge of the beach and looks out across the sand and out to sea, just enjoying the peace for a moment. Most people wouldn't see all the tourists milling around as particularly peaceful, but Rich isn't paying a lot of attention to them. |Another coastal area, Richard?| The voice within his mind breaks him out of his pleasant reverie, its somewhat sniffy tone making him want to roll his eyes at the interruption. Instead, he replies under his breath. "/Yes/, Worldmind. You wanted me to take some time out, so I'm doing it. You should be happy. Besides, I didn't get much time to /relax/ last time..." He points out, only to be quickly countered, |Then perhaps a different venue would be appropriate?| This time, Rich does roll his eyes. "This time will be stress free. After all, what are the... chances... that..." And Rich's voice tails off as his eyes catch the motion of flipping red hair, and he squints a bit to identify that, yes, it really is the girl from the other day, on the other beach. "Turns out, pretty good." He says, cheerfully, causing a couple of tourists passing him at that moment to eye him strangely and give him a wide berth. "Right. Need to buy a bluetooth earpiece." He says quietly to himself, already angling towards Caitlin. He's about to offer his own wave when, well, someone gets there first. With a bit of a mental shrug, Rich carries on towards her anyway. He's at least going to make sure she's OK after her exotic experience the other day.

The sound of her name echoes in Caitlin's ears, as the redhead turns her attention towards the location of that sound. A wide, soft smile spreads itself over her features as she inclines her head towards Doug, flip-flopping her way the few steps necessary to make it there. "No. Thank you." She states quietly, turning ever so slightly to pull loose the backpack from her shoulders. "After yesterday, I've decided to ..." And then - her gaze falls upon Richard Rider, it isn't /that/ difficult to miss - what with him heading in Doug and her direction.

A slight tension begins to spread through Caitlin's shoulders, as her gaze swiftly sweeps about the area in a snap of her head from one location to another. Though without there being any form of an immediate threat, the tension begins to relax considerably as her hands remain poised on the beat-up old backpack that she was about to pull an item out of.

"Kid No.. I mean. I don't think I caught your name yesterday." She begins first, her hand extending towards Richard in greeting. "I don't think we were properly introduced yesterday. Doug - yesterday I had quite the.. well.. gosh." Caitlin's head just shakes to and fro. "It's a long story, but I seem to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Doug's smile seems to falter a bit, as Caitlin greets the new arrival. Oh. Well...

It's not -quite- made all the better by that she barely even knows him, actually, but at least Doug relaxes somewhat, bringing his hand up to introduce himself to the beach bum (and judging by the looks of him... maybe Doug -should- spend more time in the gym working with Jocelyn, see about picking up a few more MMA tricks...). "Doug Ramsey. Uh, what happened yesterday, Cait?"

Rich sees Caitlin look in his direction, recognise him, and not take off running away from him. Taking this to be a good sign, Rich gives a quick wave after all, though as he sees Caitlin look quickly between him and the other guy, he wonders if crashing her... date? Is something he really wants to do. But then it's a bit late as she greets him and /almost/ calls him... that. Doctor Strange, he decides, has a LOT to answer for. He mostly manages not to wince, although maybe a hint of mild discomfort pulls at his smile. Probably something he ate. It doesn't stop him reaching out to take Caitlin's proffered hand. "It's Rich. Rich Rider." He begins, and shrugs easily to try to assuage any of Cait's discomfort. "Hey, things got pretty hectic there for a while. It's not like we had much time to talk..." He'd probably rectify that now if Doug didn't take that moment to introduce himself.

With a bit of a grin at Cait, Rich turns smoothly to face Doug, reaching out to shake his hand and not offering the vice-like squeeze that the other man might have been expecting. "Good to meet you, Doug." He says amiably enough, though when Doug asks his question, Rich looks back at Caitlin, one hand raised to rub the back of his neck as he thinks, but then just shrugs again. Sorry, Cait. "Yeah, I think you need to answer that one." He says, "I just wanted to make sure you were OK." And then, adds, "You look pretty OK." Just for the hell of it. |Richard? You seem to be enjoying yourself.| The voice in his mind remarks, and Rich quickly and silently shushes it.

Looping her pack back over her shoulder, Caitlin's gaze flickers between Richard and Doug, then back to Doug. "It was -terrible-." She begins, though the crowd of people about do gain her attention. They move through, some pausing to gawk at the gathering of heroes, others just to stare openly at one or another, before moving on. Tourists come. And tourists go. And Caitlin just makes up her mind as she shifts her head towards a quieter section of the beach, "Rich, would you like to join Doug and myself, maybe over there - where it isn't quite as crowded?" She inquires, and not being very pushy, waits until both boys agree to do so. Caitlin actually stands still, seeking agreement from Rich and Doug before she moves. She isn't pushy. She isn't quite so bold. She's a /nice/, sweet, person that does actually want people to say 'okay' versus her just saying 'lets go'.

Once both agree to it - or at least offer some acquiescence, Caitlin is drawing towards the less crowded area, there she takes the time to flip open her pack and produce a few thin towels which are tossed onto the sand, as well as a few bottles of water - which she hands to Doug and Rich if they so desire and then, and only then, does Caitlin settle onto one of the towels and begins her story.

"So, yesterday I was at the beach - thought I might enjoy the sun and all." She starts, knees pulled up to her chest, as her gaze moves from Rich to Doug and back again, making sure to keep eye contact with both in her ever so polite manner. "When this..this thing just appears out of thin air, and starts to dash towards this child. I intervene and the next thing I remember is waking up face first on the sand, with Stephen and Rich looking over me. Evidently I'd been /possessed/." A shudder and Cait proceeds to unhook her hands from around her knees and settles backwards, palms down, legs out stretched, head tilting upwards towards the sun. "I'm told I didn't hurt anyone other than I hit Rich." Her head turns to gaze at Rich with an apologetic expression. "I don't have a lot of control over my .. my .. ahm. It's why I'm here with Doug, he's going to help me with figuring out my full potential. So I hope I didn't hurt you..?"

Shifting his gaze to watch Caitlin speak, Doug is convinced of one thing - whatever she might look like, at heart Caitlin is pretty much -like- she says, body language-wise, at least. No artificiality, just pure innocence. "Sure," Doug says, nodding at Richard. Hard to say no when it was coming from a naive pure-hearted maiden.

Taking the bottle, Doug sits down, tilting his head towards Richard. "Let me guess. She hulked up and hit you for... some reason?"

There was a skeptical look on his face, as he regards Richard. "So how did you manage to keep your head on?"

Rich isn't a bad guy - it Caitlin had given him the brush-off to spend time with Doug he'd have taken the hint and left them to it. But since she's invited him to join them it'd be rude to say no, wouldn't it? "Absolutely." He replies, since Doug had called dibs on 'sure' already. Following Caitlin through the crowd to the spot she's picked out, he's struck for the first time how much taller than him she really is - to be fair, she was possessed and/or unconscious during their last encounter - but it doesn't bother him any to have her clearing the path for him and Doug.

Collapsing onto the sand, he loops an arm around one drawn up knee, propping himself up with the other hand and looking the picture of indolence. "Thanks." He offers as he takes the bottle, twisting off the cap and taking a quick swig as Caitlin begins to speak. He keeps quiet, it's her story to tell for all he was part of it, but he's quick to reassure her when she looks at him. "You didn't hurt anyone, and you saved the kid." He says the words with a touch of firmness, just stressing a little that she doesn't have to worry on that score.

He's about to continue when Doug interjects, and he laughs a bit. "Pretty much. But it's not what you probably think. I was just the closest target, so I got to go for a swim." It could be seen as pretty embarrassing, but what the hell. Raising his eyebrows a little at the skeptical look that's being shot his way, Rich chooses a simple reply. "I don't bruise that easy. And it was more of a shove." He glances back at Caitlin, offering a disarming smile, to prove that no harm was done. "But there was a lot of /potential/ behind it."

"Really?" Caitlin states with some measure of enthusiasm, her emerald eyes twinkling at the comment. It's nice to hear she has potential! Sitting up again, to criss-cross her legs together, hands planted in her lap, Cait's eyes shift from one to the other. "I just don't remember a thing at all." She begins, a fairly sheepish expression on her features. The fact that Richard was able to take a blow and not get hurt, /does/ register - but in this day and age, all Caitlin really remembers of him - is the helmet wearing, fully suited up young man that looked a bit wet.

"Stephen made sure I was okay, and no other worldly residue left over." She offers quietly, before turning to Doug with a quick question. "Doug, do you know Doctor Strange? Nice man. I ran into him a week ago as well, evidently there is some very terrible mystical stuff going on, as he took care of this hulking monster that appeared out of an alley way."

One hand idly lifts upwards to begin to run splayed through her hair - only to pause and instead tighten the scrunchy that is holding her pony tail in place, before Caitlin just shrugs. "It's over my head magical portals and demonic possession and hulking Mindless Ones." She announces with a bob of that same head, pony tail bouncing to and fro with the motion.

"So.. do you both think you could.. help me with.. you know, my.. powers?" Caitlin starts, then realizes she's being a bit brazen, her eyes shifting towards Richard. "I'm sorry. You just seemed so capable and skillful the other night, and knowing Stephen.."

"Wait, wait," Doug waves his hands, having lost track of the narrative. "Richard... Stephen... you ran into something that caused you to punch -him-, and then... magical portals, demonic... oh..."

Running his hand through his hair, Doug nods slowly. "I don't know Doctor Strange, personally." He -might- have heard rumblings here and there about the magician... but he could've sworn the man wore a gold helmet...

Taking a deep breath, Doug nods. "I could. A lot has to do with finding out how much you can deliver, and how much you can take..."

Quirking his eyebrow at Richard, Doug adds, "And uh, I'm guessing that if she hit you, you had to have some kind of -power- to withstand that."

Stretching a bit, Doug nods at Caitlin. "So we find out your limits, then we see how much fine control you have." Pretty much the same situation as the Young X-Men. "Sounds about right?"

Rich can't help but react to Caitlin's sudden and infectious enthusiasm. "Hey, it's better for my self-esteem that you /don't/ remember." He remarks, then as she name-drops again and turns to Doug to explain the name-dropping - he mouths '/Stephen/' to Doug behind her back, then shoots the other man a quick grin, and a nod to confirm that, yes, she is really talking about the Sorcerer Supreme. His brows shoot up again and he looks back at Caitlin when she mentions the Mindless One attack, though. "He wasn't kidding when he said you had a talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time..." Rich muses to himself, then raises an apologetic hand. "Sorry." Since he's getting the feeling that Caitlin might be one to take things like that to heart. "Guess you've had a busier week than I thought."

Rich's quick to agree, with a simple nod and a "Sure." when Caitlin asks for his help, but his gaze shifts to Doug when the other man makes... it's not even a deduction, Rich hasn't been subtle. He hesitates a moment, caught between the whole 'secret identity' thing he had going on last time he was on Earth, and the fact that he'd gotten used to introducing himself as 'Richard Rider, Nova Corps Centurion' since then. "You'd guess right." He confirms after a moment, then glances around with a bit of an amused look. "Not sure this is the best place to give you the full picture." He glances back at Doug, as he makes his reasonable suggestion. "Looking for me to play punching bag, huh?" He still sounds far more amused than offended, or even particularly worried.

While the area Caitlin picked is fairly secluded, it's also a public beach that anyone can access, free of charge. So as tourists come and visitors go, some areas get abandoned, and are swiftly taken up again by sight seers and beach combers alike. Yet, the area Caitlin choose still has a fairly free circumference zone - a bit closer to the choppy waves than most like, a bit further away from the Russian vendors selling all manner of Russian food.. Also farther away from the facilities that have lines longer than the beer garden.

First to Doug, Caitlin's head once again bobs up and down at his suggestions. "Yes. That sounds correct to me." She offers with a bright smile. An eagerness entering into her gaze, a hopefully intensity that seeps through her very character - eyes twinkling with the prospect. "I have .. my apologies, no idea how I might go about doing this." Well, that isn't entirely true, Caitlin muses. She could go through and start just pounding bad guys, or trying to step in front of bullets - or who knows what else. Though that could turn disastrous for not just herself, but anyone that she gets into a tussle with.

So, to Richard, she then gazes, and a slight scowl begins to form over her features. "Are you..sure?"

"Not punching bag," Doug says, wincing. "Not until I have an idea of exactly what you can do. For now, uh..." Scratching his head, Doug looks at Caitlin. "What do you feel safe doing? How much can you lift? With one hand or both...?"

He'd already heard from Caitlin that she wasn't immune to magic, but it wasn't the best thing to test her with. That might have to wait for someone else...

Glancing around the environment for any useful thing that might be good to test with, Doug shifts his eyes back towards Richard speculatively. "How much -do- you weight...?" he asks.

Rich is fairly radiating unconcern at the prospect of being Caitlin's practice target. Either he really is a lot tougher than he looks - or he might be in for a very painful surprise. "I'm pretty sure can take it." He says, trying to reassure Caitlin without sounding like a /total/ braggart... something he may or may not be achieving. |Richard.| The Worldmind puts in, warningly. |I will reiterate, this is a being of significant power. You should not unnecessarily endanger yourself.| Rich's expression goes distant for a moment as he placates the presence inside his head.

Eyes sharpening again, Rich blinks and looks over at Doug. "Sounding better all the time." He puts in lightly, then shakes his head ruefully as Doug begins questioning Caitlin. She might have missed his splashdown yesterday, but this is going to do nothing for his dignity. "A hundred and ninety, give or take." He replies to Doug, then finally his curiosity kicks in. "So is this what you... do, or...?" The whole power training thing. Before Rich gets in any deeper.

Truthfully? Caitlin has a fairly good idea that only one hundred and ninety pounds is going to be more like lifting a piece of paper up, versus a full sized, muscular man. But - she also knows that you have to take things slow, and she's a patient person. Yet, there is also that slight mischievous streak, as Caitlin lets out a soft, and quiet giggle. With a quiet motion, she reaches idly over, one arm sweeping under Doug's rib cage, pulling him close to her, the other around Richard's doing the same. With a swift motion afterwards, /both/ are duly lifted upwards from their seated positions, herself rising to stand to her full height, carting them /up/ with her in the process. Her muscles don't even bulge an ounce under the strain. Granted she isn't /that/ much taller than Richard - but he's still going to find even /his/ feet a few inches off of the ground.

Quietly, Caitlin lowers both down again, releasing one, then the other from her embrace as she takes a step backwards. "Sorry." Her mouth quirks to one side, as a slightly embarrassed flush of her cheeks is given. "But it was a little too tempting."

That Richard keeps being utterly nonchalant means either he's one cocky son of a bitch, or he really could keep up with it. Well why not? He did approve.

And then just as Doug turns his attention back to Caitlin, he suddenly finds himself tensing, simply because a -giggle- like that meant some sort of mischief, and...

And then he's finding himself pressed up against Caitlin, -feeling- the simple ease of her muscles barely even straining as she lifts him up effortlessly, along with Richard.

"Um, very good, Cait," Doug comments, having found himself watching her shoulders and, er... face... and reddening as he's placed down. "So, three hundred sixty pounds isn't really a problem, I see," Doug notes. "I was thinking more bench presses, but... I think we'll pass on that. The full limit of strength's going to be hard to test, but... uh, invulnerability..." He ponders. "You want to try standing up against ocean waves?

Yes, right, keep it all business like. Don't -think- too long about anything else, Doug. It's much safer.

It's the giggle that does it, Rich /knows/ what's coming as soon as he hears that. As the arm steals toward him, his chin goes down and he regards Caitlin levelly from beneath brows that are lowered just a bit, but then he makes a play of casting his eyes skyward as he acquiesces to what's coming. He's going to look an idiot, but damn it this is the first time he's felt relaxed in God knows how long, so he's not going to stand on his dignity...

"OOF!" He lets out, most undignified, when Caitlin picks him up like he's /nothing/. Even after being on the receiving end of her strength, somehow he hadn't expected that. "OK, I'd call that a successful test." He manages, and then he's back on his feet, and quite happy to let Doug do the talking for a little while.

Although Doug didn't answer his earlier question, it's becoming clear to Rich that if this /is/ what Doug does, he's probably used to doing it with more equipment, or in more controlled surroundings. "Why don't we try something a bit more scientific first?" Rich suggests with the hint of a smirk. He glances around and locates what he's looking for at the edge of the beach, a small, rather tatty arcade - with a punching bag machine standing outside. "C'mon." He says to the others, and starts walking in that direction, grabbing up his sports bag as he does so.

Reaching the machine, Rich looks at it appraisingly, then roots around for some change. As the machine whirrs arthritically into life and the bag descends into position with a few jerks, Rich is shrugging into the light jacket he brought with him - and leaving his right hand inside the bag that's hanging from his shoulder. "Right gauntlet, Worldmind." He says under his breath, and the observant might catch just a flicker of golden light from the bag, and through the sleeve of his jacket. Glancing around, Rich's smirk grows a little wider as he weaves a tight gravimetric shield around the punching bag, the only outward sign a very faint sheen to the faded red surface of the bag. He looks over at Caitlin. "Take a swing at that." He nods at the bag. "You won't wreck it."

Well, Caitlin's not entirely -that- innocent that she doesn't notice that both are not exactly happy with being lifted upwards. Assuming Doug's flushing was due to being upset, more than - well, anything ELSE. She didn't /mean/ to make either look the idiot, a thought that brushes through her mind? She's got a lot to learn about people in general. So much of her life - Caitlin was such a loner. That scrawny smart girl that people would look past, versus look at. Now..? Well. She's still trying to find who she is, much less the figure she strikes. She still considers herself the skinny little geek. Why should anyone else consider her differently? And here she is, lifting upwards practical strangers - without their permission! To what? Show off!? Well. She was showing off little, why? The question remains a mystery.

So, the red head that happens to stand six foot four, and weighs three /hundred/ pounds due to her increased density falls silent as she regards Doug and Richard. Caitlin apologize again, but it probably wouldn't do any good, so she just links her hands behind her back, straightens her dress a little from behind so the sheer fabric rests closer to her neckline, and waits.

Mild curiosity sends Caitlin to follow after Richard, her head tilting to one side as she regards the machine with a careful and critical eye. "I'll des.." She begins, though Richard's assurance that she /wont/ wreck it does offer some consolation.

So - Caitlin begins with a light tap against the punching 'bag'. A tap that would probably send a grown man to his knees. When she doesn't turn the machine into crumbled metal, she tries a bit harder. Like. Putting every ounce of power that she has behind her punch, as she's still fairly inexperienced in being either gentle or full on. The strength she puts into the punches would literally bend the strongest metal, punch a hole through the thickest concrete, and probably even cause a moments pause to a super person.

Regarding the arcade punching bag with curiousity, Doug frowns, looking back at Richard. "Isn't that going to..."

His voice trails off as he watches the gravimetric field weave around the bag, and then Doug whistles, looking back towards Richard. "Yeah, I'm definitely interested in hearing your story about -that-", Doug says, eyes wide with curiousity.

Stepping back, Doug grins at Caitlin. "Go ahead."

Having kept an eye on basically how boxers fought and how it worked, as training goes, Doug -can- tell that she's trying to exert power the brute force way, rather than letting kinetics and physics do the work for her.

And as soon as she's done with the combo, Doug smiles. "Good, but you're trying to force power in with strength. There's a trick to adding more power to your blows, but... you know, hmm. Hey Richard, how much force was behind those punches?"


 * Richard.| The Worldmind's voice is disapproving, but then it often is. |This is hardly an appropriate use of the Nova Force.| But beyond that, the Worldmind doesn't object further. Rich has, after all, done plenty of things it has been far less happy with in the past. It's enough distraction though that Rich doesn't get chance to answer Doug's question before the other man answers it for himself. Rich gives Doug a quick, appraising look at that. Whatever other talents he might possess, he clearly doesn't miss all that much. "Some other time." He answers the other man easily, nodding to a group of tourists who're wandering past, admittedly more interested in their ice creams than their little group. He's not trying to be deliberately irritating, but this really isn't the best place for what they're /doing/, let alone anything more obvious.

As Caitlin makes her first swing, Richard looks between her and the punching bag, which doesn't move. At all. Rich's mouth curves in a bit of a smile, even though the Worldmind is in the back of his head, telling him that it's increasing power to the gravimetric shield. The next blow, the first of Caitlin's one-two punch, swings in - and there's a very brief flash of light as the shield bleeds energy off into the visual spectrum. The Worldmind's voice is sharp and urgent, as the Nova Force flares within Rich, his eyes seeming to glow with blue light, the shield increasing to maximum strength as the follow-up strikes - and the punching bag slams back into its 'parked' position, the shield having absorbed just enough power to make good on Rich's promise that the machine wouldn't be wrecked before Caitlin blew through it.

Rich lets out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding, slowly and carefully, then looks at Caitlin, surprise still on his features. "OK, that... was a little more than I was expecting. Good thing you decided not to hit me, I guess." He looks like he might say more, but Doug's talking, and he's got that inward look on his face again. "In excess of one hundred tons of force, I'm reliably informed." He looks back at the parked punching bag, then shrugs. "We gonna need to give this a bit more thought." He remarks, shock given way to good humour again, even as he shakes his head.

That last powerful swing..? Hopefully all present will be focused upon the machine's punching bag and not Caitlin - and would therefore not note the distinct sound of a very prominent *SHRRRRIP*. As though cloth is tearing very perfectly a part, shredded into tiny bits and pieces. And as for Caitlin? Well. Her fists recoil backwards, gaze shifting towards Doug as she listens to him explain she's basically using nothing more than brute force, versus finesse. She's also lost her cover up, and her swimming suit now sports holes that it shouldn't, thankfully enough the fabric does cover her still. Well. She's /mostly/ decent. Granted her mid-drift is exposed - and there's certainly stress lines across the entire suit, as though it's going to just give way very soon.. but yes. She's still covered. Mostly.

"I see." The redhead begins, as Caitlin lets out a soft breath, turning her gaze towards Richard with new found appreciation. "That was very impressive." She offers with a fluttering of eyelashes and wide smile. She'd say /more/ but it comes to her attention as a wind picks up that perhaps now isn't the best time to state just how that was interesting, when her skin is fairly exposed.

With a soft sigh of regret, Caitlin's gaze moves down to her statuesque frame, one hand idly picking off the last of her cover up to view the sheer fabric with disgust. "I don't think I'll be able to repair it." That's all she states. Standing as she is, wearing as little as she is. No. Caitlin just collects the fabric, and makes her way towards her towels and backpack with a backwards. "Maybe.. we can continue this another day...?" Or at least she so hopes she doesn't need to explain that she should probably find new clothing ...right about.. now.. As the towel is swung across her shoulders, and a bit of her green suit drops to the ground conveniently at that point.

It's just as well that Doug was a bit more focused on just how to explain -how- to do more force, but he has to stop and gape a bit. "A hundred tons.." Doug grimaces, before Caitlin's gaze causes the blonde's to follow.

"Uh... Caitlin?" Doug calls out, as he removes his t-shirt, and proceeding to hand it over gallantly to the girl. "I... I was thinking you... uh, you might like this. I mean, it's, you know... The Girl Who Waited. We were just talking about it, and uh... you know, this shirt really is too big for me, so..." Take it, take it, quickly.

And quickly he'll just turn his back to her, as a preservation of modesty, nudging Richard in the process. "So, Richard... uh..."

Rich was doing fine - until the Worldmind finished feeding him data on that last swing and Caitlin has his full attention again. There's rather a lot that he can't fail to notice at that point. "Impressive. Yeah. That's one word for it." Rich is talking about that last punch. Isn't he?

He looks around sharply as Doug steps forward and offers up his shirt, as if he's momentarily forgotten the other man was there. Still, he manages to back Doug's play with only a slight pause. "It really is." He agrees with Doug, then adds to Caitlin. "It's definitely you." Not that Rich has /any/ idea who The Girl Who Waited might be... and then he's looking back at Doug with a 'what?' look of mild irritation as the other man nudges him. "Right. Definitely. Another day." And he gets in a quick grin before he turns away.


 * Richard, sometimes your motivations are a mystery to me.| The voice in the back of his head says, and Rich snorts quietly to himself. "Trust me on this one." He says quietly, then shakes his head to ward off any questions Doug might have about that. "Yeah. Impressive covers it." And it's plain enough what he's talking about. "Guess I'll see you for round two. Good call on not letting me be the punching bag." And with that, Rich settles his bag more comfortably on his shoulder and heads off. Not quite the day at the beach he'd been shooting for, but it'll more than do.