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Ah, a nice day on the lake! Well, as nice as a digital day can be on a lake that isn’t real. But hey, at least everyone’s wearing shiny new outfits! Gangle wore a blue bathing top with no straps and a nice blue skirt to match. And on her head she had a straw hat with a wide brim and a blue… ribbon. A little on the nose with that design, Caine. But overall Gangle liked the outfit. In fact, it looked quite cute if she did say so herself!
She did a twirl in the sand and giggled. She then looked up and locked eyes with Zooble, who was setting up a beach chair under an umbrella. Gangle got flustered seeing them and nervously awaited their reaction. But their eyes just smiled, and they went back to the chair. Whew!
Zooble’s appearance didn’t change a lot, about as much as it changes every day, actually. It was just vaguely beach-themed this time. They looked dreamy as always, though…
She turned her eyes towards the lake, where Pomni and Ragatha were sunbathing on beach towels. Their outfits were also different. Pomni had a top on and some swimming trunks. Oh, and her jester hat. For some reason. Meanwhile, Ragatha wore a simple blue bikini. Her and Gangle hadn't been on the best of terms lately, but she had to admit the doll looked nice. It was just something about her beach outfit. Something to explore artistically later, perhaps.
Kinger had a new look too with just a pair of swimming trunks. Gangle didn’t expect him to look the way he did when not wearing his robe. Sure, it made sense for a chess piece to look like that, but still. She just had a different vision of what he might look like, which was reflected in some of her drawings.
Jax was also here. Looking the same way he always does.
Gangle didn't want to think about him, so she went over to Zooble. They, instead of sitting on the chair, were hanging out on the sand next to it. She was about to ask if she could join them, but then…
"You wanna build a sand castle?" asked Zooble before she could even open her mouth.
"Yes!" replied Gangle immediately.
And so they got to work. Zooble went to get some sand buckets to make their job easier. Gangle laughed at the way they were waddling on the sand.
"You look so silly when you walk!"
"Yeah, I feel more like a peg-legged pirate than usual," they said as they sat down. "The stupid pointy leg keeps getting stuck in the sand. Why did I even pick it?"
"I think it looks nice."
"In that case, I don't mind wearing it." They looked Gangle in the eyes. The girl smiled nervously.
"Uhm, so I was thinking we could do two small towers and a big one in the middle?"
"Great. Here's your bucket."
They made sure to give the castle a steady foundation reinforced with rocks. Then they made a squarish building in the middle of it that would serve as the basis for the towers. It had a small gate made of tiny sticks they had gathered. The first tower was built on the left side, complete with crenels and little windows. The second one soon followed suit. Finally, construction began on the central tower. This one was quite a bit taller and had sticks inserted into it for better stability. At the very top it had a pointy roof.
"We should make a flag out of a leaf!" said Gangle excitedly.
"Good idea. You're pretty good at sand castle design."
"Y-yeah, I made them all the time as a kid," the shy girl replied. "It's kinda like drawing but with an extra dimension."
"Yep, like sculpting! I was the best at sculpting when I was little."
"That's so cool! I never knew that!"
"Yeah, I went through a lot of different hobbies in my day."
"Did you like to build sand castles?" asked Gangle as she was putting the flag on its pole.
"I made them every now and again, but they never lasted."
Zooble mounted the flag pole and together they finished up the castle by decorating it with pretty sea shells they had picked. For protection from intruders, they dug a moat around the castle grounds and filled it with water. To their shared delight, they discovered that a red little crab had already decided to claim the kingdom's throne.
Suddenly, a beach ball landed a little bit away from them. They turned and saw that Pomni, Ragatha, and Kinger were standing in a circle in the water. They must've launched the ball too far. Gangle got up and hurried to the ball.
"Don't worry, I'll get it," she said to Zooble.
She grabbed the ball and headed towards the others. At the edge of the water, she met Pomni, who came to pick up the ball.
"Here you go!" smiled Gangle as she handed it to her.
"Thanks! Kinger hit the ball a bit too hard," explained the jester girl. "You look happy today, Gangle!"
The ribbon girl giggled, "Yeah… Me and Zooble are building a sand castle over there."
"I see." Pomni looked over her shoulder. "Having a nice time with your joyfriend?"
"What?!" Gangle's voice suddenly became very squeaky. She quickly looked back, hoping that Zooble didn't hear her. "I— We're just— I don't know—"
"Hey, relax, I'm just kidding! I think you guys look cute together."
"Really?" asked Gangle, blushing. "I-I mean, yeah, thanks, I guess… Anyway, how's your beach day going?" She tried to change the subject.
"Me? Oh, I'm just hanging out with Ragatha, you know."
A grin grew over Gangle's face. "Oh, I know."
This time Pomni was the one blushing. "Haha, yeah, well, nice talking to you! Like your outfit! Bye!" Her bells rang as she walked away flustered.
"Bye!"
Gangle turned around and ran back to Zooble. She wondered about what Pomni said about them. Thinking about being together with Zooble made her feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Then suddenly she hit something. Something hard appeared at her feet, and she tripped. Gangle went flying right into their beautiful castle! The central tower toppled, and the building lost much of its structural integrity. The girl got up and turned her head to see Jax cackling at the exact spot where she tripped.
"Jax, you [&%#$]hole!" Zooble got up and in an instant was standing next to the rabbit. They proceeded to land several hits across his back with a metal shovel, as he rightfully deserved. Having reinstated justice, they returned to Gangle. She was shaking sand off of her blue skirt.
"Are you okay?" asked Zooble gently.
"Yeah… Thanks for taking care of that jerk." She looked back at the ruined castle.
"Don't worry, we can fix it!"
But then they heard a voice coming from behind them and turned around.
"Hey! Zooble! Gangle!" Pomni yelled, standing in the shallow water. "You guys wanna play ball? We're done."
Zooble turned to Gangle.
"Yeah, sure," said the girl, hoping it would cheer her up. "We can fix the castle later."
Zooble nodded, and the two headed into the water. Ragatha gave them the ball and followed Pomni to the shore to dry off. However, Kinger didn't seem to be leaving.
"Are you gonna play some more, Kinger?" asked Gangle. "Aren't you tired?"
"You know it!" he replied enthusiastically.
Zooble and Gangle looked at each other, shrugged, and got ready to play! Soon the ball was bouncing frantically from one player to the other. It rarely ever fell in the water. It was still not that deep, so it wasn't difficult to move around. Gangle was having a blast, and Zooble was glad to see her smile. At one point the ball landed, and Kinger picked it up.
"Alright, get ready, 'cause you won't see it coming!" he proclaimed.
"Come on, hit it hard!" asked Gangle excitedly.
Kinger wound up his arm and threw the ball as hard as he could in the girl's direction.
She swung her arms at the ball, but it flew right over her. Laughing, Gangle ran, trying to catch it as it was floating further from the shore. She was only a couple steps away from the ball when suddenly the sandy ground disappeared from underneath her feet! Startled, she plunged into the water and found herself neck-deep before she could even blink. Gangle was panicking and struggled to stay afloat and get back to shore, but her ribbon limbs were now completely soaked, and the wet skirt was weighing her down too, so the water felt thick as honey. For what seemed like an eternity, she was screaming and flailing her arms wildly trying not to sink, but her mask moved steadily lower and lower until it was engulfed. Gangle froze, her exhausted arms felt numb and refused to move, she couldn't breathe. Peaceful silence surrounded her. The last thing she saw was the blinding light of the sun that pierced the lake. Her eyes slowly shut.
But then she felt familiar arms grasp her motionless body. Gangle was pulled with great speed up to the surface and out of the water. Someone said something, though she couldn't hear it clearly. But part of it sounded like her name. For a second, she managed to open her eyes and get a glimpse of her savior's face. A triangular face with mismatched eyes. Gangle mumbled, "Zooble…"
"Yes, it's me, Gangle, don't worry! I'll get you to the shore," they said, though she could only faintly hear their words.
The girl felt so very tired and closed her eyes again. Zooble was swiftly wading through the water. Gangle's body lay limp in their arms. As they walked, the girl swung slightly back and forth, back and forth, in rhythm with their steps. Tear-like droplets falling from the wet ribbons trailed behind them.
Slowly Gangle was starting to wake up. She raised her head a little and looked at Zooble. They looked back.
"Thank goodness, you're okay!" they said.
Gangle blinked. She was so cold. She leaned in, hugged Zooble with her arms, and pressed her mask against their body. The water was getting shallow now. Gangle looked at the water, at herself, at Zooble, piecing together what was going on around her. Then she realized they were holding her! They were carrying her like a little baby. Like a parent bringing their child home after they fell asleep in the car. Their arms were so gently supporting her ribbon body and dangly legs. Gangle was not used to being held like this, and it felt so soft and cozy. She hid her eyes and blushed. "Wow…" was the only thought she could muster.
As she came to her senses, however, it dawned on her what had happened. She almost drowned! She remembered struggling in the water, and screaming, and helplessly sinking. The panic was now coming back. Gangle felt herself begin to shake, both from cold and from fear. It all happened so quickly, she was so alone and couldn't do anything! The thought that she was so close to drowning made her heart skip a beat. She grasped Zooble tighter, trying to keep it together. The two had reached the shore.
They carried the shivering girl to the beach chair and very carefully set her down. Gangle's eyes were huge and round. She looked lost, confused, scared…
"Gangle, talk to me, how are you feeling?" Zooble said softly.
"I-I don't know…"
"Are you cold? Here," they wrapped a towel around her and held her hands. "Is this better?"
Gangle nodded nervously. She was overwhelmed trying not to cry.
"Okay," they hurriedly got up and turned to leave. "I better let the others know you're okay—"
"No!" Gangle quickly grabbed their arm and wrapped hers tightly around it. She couldn't contain the tears any longer. "Please stay!"
"O-okay, okay! Sh-sh, come on now. It's okay, I'm here with you," they reassured her gently as they sat down in front of her.
"Please don't leave, Zooble!" the girl kept crying.
"Sh-sh, don't worry, I won't, sh-sh…" They wrapped their arms around Gangle and pulled her into an embrace.
She kept sobbing as she buried her mask into their shoulder and hugged eagerly, still shivering.
Zooble felt so sorry for her. She must've been scared to death… They started slowly stroking her back, trying to calm her down.
"I-I almost—" Gangle cried, "I almost d-drowned!"
"Sh-sh, there, it's okay, you're safe now. I'm here."
"I was s-so scared…"
"I know, poor little girl. I'm sorry."
She sniffled.
"Poor little Gangle, wandered off into the deep lake," they spoke. "So scared, and cold, and lonely. Poor little thing. Poor Gangle. I'm so sorry."
She kept sobbing.
"Sh-sh, it's okay, you're on the nice beach now. You're safe. Yeah?"
"Yeah," Gangle sniffled again.
"See?" They pulled back and sat next to her, hugging her with one arm and fondling her hand with the other. "Sh-sh, it's okay." Gangle put her head on Zooble's shoulder.
They brushed against her tiny ribbon arm with their thumb. Back and forth, back and forth. They sat like that for a while. Just her and them. Gradually, Gangle began to breathe less sharply, her body relaxed, and the tears slowed down.
"There," Zooble said. "Do you feel better?"
"Yeah…"
A single droplet landed on the sand.
"I can't tell if that was a tear or if you're just still dripping," Zooble said playfully.
The girl snickered.
"There you go, back to your giggling self," they concluded softly.
Gangle did giggle a little. She turned to Zooble and looked into their smiling eyes. They're the best. So nice, so brave, so funny, so… perfect. Before she could stop herself, Gangle took their hands in hers, closed her big shiny eyes, leaned in close, and ever so softly kissed her perfect Zooble.
It was the warmest, sweetest sensation either of them had ever felt. A brief tender moment of pure infinite bliss. For that moment they were alone in a perfect world built just for them.
They stayed like this for a little while before both drawing back and looking at each other. Both were red from blushing. Zooble was just as surprised as Gangle! And they were both so happy.
Then the girl uttered, "I love you, Zooble!" And the biggest smile grew across her face.
They were so flustered and overjoyed that it took them a second before they could put their feelings to words. "I love you too, Gangle!" they exclaimed, smiling.
They stared into each other's eyes, and they couldn't look away.