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The whole situation is really just absurd.
One minute, everyone's minding their business—Nina is trying to multitask and probably failing, because the tasks are "play mind-numbing games on her phone" and "appear interested in whatever nerdy shit Ophelia's been spouting off since Forrest left for snacks or whatever"—and the next, they're all getting called down to the main hall so Shigure can explain that their freaky necklace-thing started pinging or something and they had to all go somewhere and they should go pack.
"Someplace warm," Kiragi chirps, grinning, and oh, that's why Forrest took so long with snacks, she got sidetracked with the other team leaders with this teleporting-necklace shit.
"How long?" Midori asks, looking a bit twitchy. Probably didn't want to leave her workshop for more than the 6 hours she took daily to sleep.
Shigure shrugged. "Who can say? It's never clear."
Reina smiled serenely. "Us adults will stay and investigate whatever threat we must face here while you all go elsewhere for safekeeping." Nina tried not to shudder at the way she talked about them, like money in a bank vault. Safekeeping .
"Pack a swimsuit!" Shiro burst, as if he'd been trying to hold back but finally couldn't take it anymore.
Long story short, that's how everyone ends up on the beach.
("Where are we anyway?" Dwyer complained, probably annoyed that he couldn't keep up his goth look in 85-degree weather.
"I think the Caribbean?" Selkie replied, sniffing the air. "Or maybe South America." Helpful .)
"You should at least try to have some fun." Nina starts and whips her head around to look at Forrest. She's seated on a lawn chair underneath an umbrella, looking regal and dignified and perfect . "We've been here almost a week-"
"Five days," Nina mutters.
"-and you've done little but sit and mope. We're getting a free beach vacation. I can't believe you're not interested."
"I am!" she protests. She is. But seeing all the guys in their swimsuits is weirding her out for some reason, and she's suddenly been annoyed by how much more in-shape Caeldori and Sophie are than she is. "It's just… weird. I mean, I thought we didn't really trust Shigure's weird hell-magic? Like even they don't trust it?"
"Don't call it that," Forrest scolds. "And the amulet is… strange, with many unknown properties. But they've been told that it always has their best interests at heart, so to speak, and we've yet to see any evidence to the contrary." She frowns, lowers her heart-shaped (annoyingly cute) sunglasses to hit Nina with the full force of her disapproval. "It sounds like you're just making excuses. What's really bugging you?"
"Oh, for god's- fine , I'll have fun, I'll show you fun ." And Nina gets up and stomps away, like a mature, dignified person. Very great. Nailed it.
"My dearest compatriot!" Oh Christ . "Nina, my sister-in-arms! My trusted ally!" Please stop. "Oh, stop running away from me!" Tits .
"What's up, weirdo?"
"Okay, firstly, rude ," Ophelia says, "and secondly, can't a young woman seek the companionship of a kindred spirit, a companion on the long walk of life-"
"You need a favor."
"Okay," Ophelia says, drawing out the word and flailing her arms a bit. Which is ultra-childish and not-at-all cute. "It's not. A favor, per se."
Nina raises an eyebrow, waits for the other shoe to drop.
"Look, all everyone wants to do here is sit around, or laze on the beach, or play very difficult and somewhat unfair water games-"
"How many times did Soleil beat you."
" Seven , and that's none of your concern. I just want," she waves a hand, searching for a word. Nina does not offer assistance. "Entertainment?" she tries, which is clearly the wrong answer because Nina turns around and starts walking away again. "Nonono wait!"
"If you want entertainment, watch some reality tv. I am not your little plaything."
"I'm sorry! Nina, please wait, please forgive me, I didn't mean it!" Nina stops, and Ophelia bounces to a halt next to her. "If you want the honest truth, my bracelet-" and she raises her right wrist to jingle that dumb fucking bracelet she never takes off, "-sent me a vision—as you know, the mystic gemstones in my bracelet are highly conductive to visions of the future-"
"I know," Nina says flatly. "Mystical gemstones that aren't just regular old rocks ."
"They're not! And my vision showed that both of us would have wonderful luck if we stuck together! And I thought, perhaps spending more time together might be a good idea, and we might need that luck in the future, but also I was wondering if maybe we need this luck now , so we better test it just in case?" She looks a bit nervous, and maybe apologetic, and somehow it flies right over Nina's head that her teammate might just want to. Hang out with her . "I just thought we could have some fun! Do something exciting?" She probably keeps talking, but Nina's mind is stuck on the phrase have some fun , and fuck you, Forrest, she can have fun .
"Fine," she says abruptly, and Ophelia jumps.
"Really?"
"Yeah, all is forgiven, or whatever."
"Yes! Excellent!" She leans in conspiratorially. "This will be a union for the ages."
"Gross. Don't say it like that."
"Yes ma'am!"
---
"I just don't understand."
Nina groans in frustration. "Look, I don't get it either, okay? Just shut up and go with it."
"But if you like these people, why don't you just talk to them?"
"That's not how it works!"
"Why not? They're just people!"
"Oh, whatever," Nina huffs, throwing her hands up. It wasn't like it was her choice to go to the stupid pier, anyway. That was on Ophelia.
"I'm just trying to help! Your fear of talking to men seems to be negatively affecting your quality of life, and-"
"Okay," Nina says. "I'm gonna go get us some ice cream."
"Will you talk to them if I go with you?"
"Maybe, okay! Can I just get some damn ice cream or what?"
God , is Ophelia annoying. This whole stupid idea is because of her stupid bracelet and her stupid ice cream is so damn expensive-
But, because Nina is a good person , who can have fun on vacation with her friends , she gets ice cream and even buys Ophelia that weird sherbet she likes, and when she turns to meet up with her again she's moved.
She's moved to talk to the guys .
Which is fine, because Nina said she might talk to them, if Ophelia went with her, and Ophelia's just such an outgoing person, and it's great, that Nina can make more friends to have fun with but-
Ophelia's flirting . Or, at the very least, she's talking, all animated and smiley like she does, and the guys are grinning back, and then they all laugh, Ophelia throwing her head back and laughing in that genuine, sweet way she does, and she reaches out to touch on of them on the arm and god is she flirting is she doing this on purpose ? Nina feels heat rising in her cheeks and her stomach starts turning and she feels something—not tears, but something strong and angry—burning behind her eyes, and she wants to throw these stupid, expensive ice cream cones on the dock, and she wants to scream, and she is so ridiculously upset because-
Because Ophelia knew , didn't she, that Nina thought these dudes were hot, and she listened to Nina talk about what she thought was so attractive about them, and she'd said she would go with Nina to talk to them, not go off and flirt with them while Nina was fucking buying her ice cream.
One of them touches Ophelia's arm, now, and Nina thinks she's going to throw up. This is absolute betrayal. She trusted Ophelia, told her about her weird thing with guys, hung out with her on her request, and this was-
She unfreezes all at once and stomps over to them, watching Ophelia light up at the sight of her and wave frantically, and she can barely hear her "Oh, there she is! Hey, Nina, look, I made friends!" over the blood rushing in her ears, god, why is she so mad?
"I got you your dumb ice cream," she mutters, thrusting the cone into Ophelia's hand.
"Aw, you remembered what kind I like! Isn't she so sweet?" she says, beaming, but too little too late , all three guys are clearly enamored , god, why was this happening, why-
"So this is my friend, Nina, and Nina, these are-"
"I think we should head back," Nina says flatly. Anything to get away from these weird dudes and their appreciative glances .
"Aw, really? We only just got here-"
"I don't feel well," Nina tries, gritting her teeth. God , with her dumb, clueless smile and that little wrinkle in her forehead that means she's worried-
"Well, if she's not feeling well, maybe you could come over with us to that spot we were telling you about?" one of the guys says, eyes locked on Ophelia, ugh .
"Oh, where you found all those shells? It sounds lovely! But, Nina, are you sure you're all right? If you're not feeling well I can-"
"Nope," she says, and her voice is too loud, she thinks, why is she talking so loud? "Just go. Collect seashells. Sounds great." Ophelia is frowning now, biting her lip. "I'll be fine," she continues, loudly. "Seriously, go. Have fun ."
She wonders if her anger is seeping into her voice; it must be, because Ophelia looks upset now. "Fine," she says shortly. "I'll see you later."
She barely gets the words out before Nina retreats.
---
It does not take long for Forrest to get fed up.
She doesn't mind the occasional mope. Every teen needs something to angst about, as her father so masterfully put it, and her companions had more to be emo about (as her dad tended to phrase it) than most. If one of them was grouchier than usual, if they got into a funk, if trauma was surfacing with a vengeance, Forrest is happy to cut them some slack. But this?
Nina has been moping for three days since she and Ophelia met those boys by the pier. When Ophelia had returned hours after Nina carting a bucket of seashells and a wealth of information about the other boys, Nina's whole face had screwed up and she looked away. The next day, when Ophelia returned after half a day away with their numbers, Nina had looked punchy.
This afternoon, Ophelia showed up dragging one of the boys with them, and Nina had looked like a cross between a kicked puppy and a boxer on a losing streak—small, hurt, but ready to enact some violent revenge.
Now, Forrest is hit with déjà vu as she sits in a lawn chair, frowning at Nina, who is sitting on a beach towel next to her with her knees pulled up to her chest, the both of them hiding from the sun under a large umbrella but only Nina using her position as a lookout point. She is glaring at the water, where Ophelia and her boy are splashing around (with Kana, a somewhat bedraggled Shigure, and an annoyed Dwyer), laughing and having fun. Forrest risks a glance out to see as he picks her up over his shoulder, Ophelia shrieking in surprise and delight. She quickly turns her attention back to Nina, who now has her face buried in her knees. Alright, then.
"Nina," she starts, and her companion jerks her head over to look at her. Her face is flushed, her eyes, surprisingly, watery, and she makes for an altogether pathetic sight. "Nina, you can't just sit around and mope about Ophelia making friends."
"I'm not upset that she's made friends!" and oh, Forrest has been waiting for this—she delicately raises one eyebrow, then lowers her sunglasses so she can give Nina an unconvinced look. It works (which is immensely satisfying, since Forrest has been perfecting the single-raised-eyebrow look for years), and Nina shrinks a little. "It's not that she has other friends. She wants to meet new people, fine. But she knew I thought those guys were hot and she said we'd go talk to them together, and I go to get her her favorite flavor of ice cream and I come back and she's all buddy-buddy with them! How is that fair?"
"Nina," she starts, which, in her experience, gives her a chance to gather her thoughts while Nina is under the impression that she's about to drop serious wisdom, "I understand being jealous. Really, I do. Sometimes, things just don't go our way and we miss out on something we really, really want. I even understand why you'd be upset with Ophelia. But the simple fact is, you can't expect her to read your mind. To her, these past few days haven't been you giving her the cold shoulder because you're mad at her. It's been her, meeting people and have a good time, while you're miserable, and she rightfully sees that as your problem." Nina is turned away, head buried in her knees again. "You need to talk to her. You're waiting for an apology, but it will never come because she has no idea that she even has something to apologize for." Another peal of laughter interrupts her—Ophelia is now on the boy's shoulders, trying to knock Kana off Shigure's. Nina's attention snaps to Ophelia again, and Forrest sees her brow furrow.
"Please," she tries, begging Nina to heed her advice, "just talk to her. Sooner, rather than later?"
This, as it turns out, is bad advice.
Ophelia's friend stays for dinner. Afterward, he has to head back out, and Nina, naturally, takes this as the best time to talk to Ophelia.
Which it would've been, if Nina weren't so volatile.
"How is any of this my fault?" Ophelia cries. They're out on the beach for this screaming match, and though their section of the beach is private, everyone is gathered up on the deck to watch this play out. Everyone, that is, with the exception of Forrest, who marched down to the beach to join them and hopefully mediate a bit. Which is going beautifully .
"I told you I was attracted to those guys! Why would you then go and steal them from me? I thought we'd talk to them together ."
Ophelia gestures wildly. "I was just trying to loosen things up a little! I thought maybe, if you knew something about them, it'd be easier for you to talk to them!"
"Oh, yeah, that was great! I know so much about What's-His-Face!" Given how close to each other they are, Forrest thinks drily, there's really no need for either of them to be talking as loud as they are. Which means, of course, that they are talking as loud as they possibly can, just because they have the ability.
"You would know his name if you actually talked to us instead of running off! I was just trying to do you a favor." Ophelia is pointing a finger in Nina's face now, which can only end poorly. Midori's voice is at the back of Forrest's mind, saying It's as easy to bite through the human finger as it is to bite through a carrot! , which is very much not helping, and Forrest begins running calculations—how fast could they get Dwyer down here? Fast enough to reattach the finger? Assuming, of course, that Nina doesn't swallow it. Would she swallow it? Even furious, it seems unlikely. Does Ophelia need a finger? How hard is it to live without a pointer finger, anyway?"
"You were doing me a favor?" Good, no biting yet, if Nina is screaming. "I was hanging out with you on your request, because of your stupid bracelet!" And Nina, whose anger has been building and whose gaze now lies on Ophelia's pointing finger, does the unthinkable.
She grabs Ophelia's bracelet and yanks, trying to pull it off, but Ophelia, panicking, pulls her arm back to protect it, and Forrest barely has time to place her hands over her mouth and think, No, she made that with her dad, no, the emotional attachment, no, your friendship may never recover before the elastic holding the beads together snaps.
Everything goes silent. Even the ocean seems to go still, and Forrest wonders, stupidly, if Nina had managed to stop the whole ocean in her attempt to prevent the inevitable. But Nina doesn't use her powers to stop the bracelet's breaking. She watches, stock still, as beads cascade to the sand, as Ophelia cries out and drops to her knees to gather them, and then she looks at her hand and lets go of the piece of bracelet she's still holding, watching dumbly as they too fall to the ground.
"Ophelia," she says, hoarsely, and Forrest can hear the shock in her voice. "I'm so-"
"Get away from me," Ophelia whispers, staring at the beads she's managed to gather.
'"Ophelia," Nina tries again, this time sounding on the verge of tears.
"Can you just leave me alone?" Ophelia yells, and Nina takes a startled step back, and Forrest can see the tears on Ophelia's cheeks, the shame burning behind Nina's eyes, the thread snapped between the two, possibly irreparable.
Nina takes another step away, then turns and runs back to the house just as Forrest finally regains the ability to move and rushes over to help Ophelia.
---
Yep, this is bad. Yeah, Nina fucked up .