Unwind in the Sunshine

"Unbelievable.”

One might think that Vandrad was upset over the fact that Mercury was eyeing his father up and down like he was a piece of meat. Worse even was that the Seal of Conquest, Victoria, had apparently decided to join in and agreed with the patronizing sentiment. After all, any normal person would probably be mortified that their parent was being stripped down in the heads of several women in the nearby area. But the prince was unlike others, having grown up in such an open and physical family as the duWolff clan. And Mercury did very little to hide her appreciation of others or her machinations with others, now that they had a far more open and honest communication. The fact that she slept with his father meant very little in the long run, as the man had been absent for so long.

What was aggravating was the fact that it was causing a distraction to the game. Vandrad had hesitantly agreed to come to this charade, for the singular purpose of spending time with his family -- at least, one side of it. He’d opted out of his responsibilities as an Ace for Fairy Tail and to his own personal training, a tentpole he didn’t very easily walk away from. It was even more annoying as he very well knew that he’d be simply lying about and hanging out rather than doing anything trying. But his agreement and patience had been rewarded and shortly after arriving, the group had collectively decided on taking part in the nearby volleyball game. The thrill of competition was one that Vandrad rarely ever passed up and it meant that he had the opportunity to actually get a workout in, if only in the most miniscule of frames. He had agreed wholeheartedly and urged that Mythal participate, leaving the younger man unable to deny him.

Yet now that they were here, everyone was too busy peacocking, save for the Rune Knight Director and the ones that were ogling. The other team was made up of men who fancied the gym but clearly in an attempt to pack on muscle and attract mates. The women were fawning over them, sure, but more infuriatingly was the attention being tossed their way. Gren had a lot of it but Vandrad and Mythal had plenty of appreciative ladies and men from the sidelines. The prince scoffed and shook his head, annoyed to his core that showboating was going on before the game even started. Thank Arcanos that finally the other team lined up and with a warning from Gren, they started. The ball went to Mythal first and the enchanted orb damn near slipped past the Slayer’s hands before he was able to get his bearings and rally. Gren then was able to launch himself up and deliver a hefty blow, scoring them a point. Mercury, overenthusiastic as she was, high-fived his brother and then gave his father a firm slap on the ass.

They rotated in kind, putting Mercury in the spot of the server. She delivered a good pitch, sending it volleying over with ease. The other team moved to pass it amongst themselves and then, just as they were getting ready to spike it over the net, Victoria leapt up and blocked it, completely bringing their offense to a complete stop and scoring their team another point. Two nothing. Now it was time for Vandrad to cycle up to the net, giving him a decent spot to get into the action.

“Man, these old people are tough!” One of the other team members said to his friend.

“It’s fine, this is our comeback. The dwarf is up front now,” the friend replied, grinning and giving Vandrad a curt upward nod. “Hope you’re ready, hairline. I’m going to blow this ball over your head so hard, it’ll make your hair look even stupider.”

Vandrad’s face remained completely neutral at the comments, his eyes fixated on the grinning man with a cold, calculated stare. Then, slowly, his mouth opened into a smirk that would have rendered others as putty and indeed, a few of the other team seemed to lose their jovial mood at the wicked look. Vandrad cocked his head to the side to look over his shoulder, giving his attention to his own team. "Get it to me,” he said simply.

Gren was shaking his head, concerned over the damage that his son was about to bring upon the other team. But even he couldn’t help but smile a little and gave him a nod. They set themselves and then the serve came in, a wave of water erupting in the aftermath of the serve. The other team had used some kind of spell to materialize a sea wave, crashing it through the net and over the rest of them. They didn’t seem to understand the caliber of wizards they were dealing with, as Gren easily planted himself against the water and managed to knock the ball high into the air. In fact, he served it up higher than it should normally go, perhaps in anticipation of what Vandrad was about to do. From the heart of the wave came Vandrad, bursting out from the water with his sleek, blue Empowerment. He shot into the air, his body painted against the sky for only the briefest of moments before his fist swung forward, slamming into the ball.

If Gren’s hit had been impressive, the prince’s was downright perfection… except no one on the other side even saw it. The ball slammed into the sand with such force that it detonated the ground beneath them, causing a hump of golden grain to swallow up the team. In one quick hit, Vandrad had upended the other side of the court and half-buried the opposing team in the sand. Legs, arms and heads stuck out from heavy mounds, the team frantic to free themselves as they yelled at one another for help.

Vandrad slowly floated down and landed on the net with a single foot, the other slightly tucked as he put on an impressive balancing act. "Aw, all that muscle and you can’t even pull yourself out from some sand,” the prince mocked the former smiling man, now wearing a scowl and his hair tousled from sand and gravity. "I believe that’s game,” he said, turning to look back at his team.

“Even if it wasn’t, I get the feelin’ they ain’t gonna wanna play with us anymore,” Gren said with a chuckle. “Pro’lly best we find somethin’ else to do.”

In an almost animated flash, a gaggle of women appeared around Gren. “We can find something!” they almost cried in tandem, each one vying for his attention more than the other. The former Rune Knight was stunned -- he had no idea how to handle the situation and looked to the others for some kind of escape.

Taking down arrogant people was a part of Vandrad’s speciality. He had, quite literally, been trained in the Bellum military to beat the pomposity of new recruits. Having pride in one’s ability was one thing, having an ego and using it to bring down others to bolster yourself was another thing entirely. And it was true, Vandrad had done exactly that to the other volleyball team, using his own strength to knock them down a peg. The difference once, the prince had gotten his moment to gloat and it had been in retaliation for their own comments. He didn’t take observations about his height or hairline or really anything about him seriously; he’d been the subject of scrutiny all of his life. Yet the reason he had made himself a living weapon was so that he could be the one to kick people out from their pedestals and bring them down to reality. Only difference the half-buried jocks got to experience was their lives continuing, whereas others of more notoriety would have already been vaporized by the prince’s power.

As he watched the group of men and women struggle to free themselves from the sand, Vandrad allowed his Empowerment to leave him, returning to his normal colors. With the grace of a master dancer, he pushed off the net he had so carefully landed upon and backflipped back to his side of the competitive space. Gren made a comment about the game coming to an end and, just as he did, an infestation of thirsty women practically materialized around him, hanging on his frame. The prince scoffed as his father attempted some means of escape, his eyes pleading as he looked about for some kind of safety line. "Come now, father; no joy over the idea of what seems to be quickly becoming a harem?” he asked the former Knight, smirking.

Before Gren could answer, two of the girls turned to look at Vandrad, perhaps offended by his remarks over their observed sluttiness. But rather than chastise him, their eyes seemed to glimmer with new discovery. “Oh my god, are you his son? You look just like him! Were you two chiseled out of stone?” one of the girls asked as she stepped forward, draping herself over his arm.

“Listen, we’re all for spending some time with daddy and son. I’m sure we can find some ways to… uh…” the other girl stopped, her brow knit in frustration as she tried to think of some kind of imagery.

“What she means to say is that there are certainly some things that should be shared between father and son…” the other girl interjected.

Vandrad sneered in annoyance at the two women, clearly unimpressed. Somehow Gren was able to wrangle himself Mythal and Victoria as a saving grace, exclaiming that they should go and play horseshoes. But that wasn’t before Mercury alerted the gaggle that they weren’t prepared for what Gren had in store, a comment that earned a grimace from Vandrad. Yet she proved his savior as well, insisting that he had ruined her fun and now it was time to teach her how to surf. Peeling himself away from the two women dismissively, he scoffed. "And what makes you think I know how to surf? I’ve barely spent any time in the ocean,” he complained as he walked after her.

As Gren offered the two horseshoes to Victoria, she remarked over the fact that Lux wasn’t present, taking the opportunity to take a shot at her brother while he was absent. Mythal snorted in amusement as the former Knight chuckled. The Seal of Conquest aligned herself with the metal rod and tossed her first shoe, sending it sailing over the target and plopping it in the sand past the rung. She took a moment to consider that before she tossed again, reacting to her miss by calculating how she needed to pull back on her strength. The second throw was better but not quite around the rung either. “Considerin’ it’s your first time, that’s pretty good,” Gren complimented her. “Afta you, Mythal.”

Much like Victoria, games like this weren’t exactly the Director’s forte. His first toss flew high and over the pole, landing next to the Seal’s first shoe. After frowning and considering the parameters of what he needed to alter, Mythal tossed his second. It bounced off the metal pole and landed on the ground next to it, closer but still not quite there. “Funny, I wasn’t half bad at the carnival games…” he muttered.

“Ah, these kinds of things take practice… and a certain skill set,” Gren remarked as he idly turned to look at the two of them. And then, with two even swings of his arm behind him, he sent his two horseshoes sailing over to the pole, wrapping the metal shoes swinging around the marker before sinking to the sand below. With a cheeky grin, he looked over at Victoria and gave a wink. Mythal grimaced a little. Gren had come back with rejuvenated energy, ever since the event in the graveyard. He’d been a bit mellow but each time after that, he seemed more energized and vibrant. If he didn’t know better, he’d say that his adoptive father had found a woman. But that seemed impossible.

In the ocean, Vandrad was sitting on the surfboard next to Mercury, casually sitting cross-legged on the floatation device in a manner that should have been impossible. All it took was a little manipulation of the ethernano in the water and he had practically perfect balance and, as he watched others surge in on the crashing waves, he imagined this pastime would be relatively easy. He even managed to stand up fairly quickly and without issue, doing his best not to smirk in absolute smugness. Of course, their combined ability to learn quickly caused Mercury to sign them up for one of the contests that was being held. Doing his best not to groan, he agreed to compete and waded out into the water. He decided to watch her first, taking in the sight of her standing on her board for most of the ride. But then the ocean moved against her and there she went, flopping over herself and crashing into the water. Vandrad cackled loudly, his amusement exploding over even as she emerged and laughed herself. Now it was time to show her how it was done.

Smirking, mostly to himself, he moved his board into place and waited until the water started to swell. A few arm paddles caught him into the surge and he jumped to his feet, balancing himself against the board and the water beneath. He could hear hoots and hollers from the beach from the audience as he came surfing in, looking like a pro. He was just about to turn to Mercury and flash her a mischievous grin when the unthinkable happened. An undercurrent cut off his path, throwing his balance completely off. He tried to counter the awkward positioning, hoping to fix the shift but all he did was make it worse. Back he went, disappearing into the water as his board shot into the air above him, airborne for a moment before splashing down into the water as well.

Well, that felt and probably looked ridiculous. Vandrad rolled his eyes under the water as he took in some of the water’s ethernano and planted himself on the sea bottom. As he pushed out a film of air to surround his form, granting him the ability to breath, he marched towards the shore. His hair was the first thing that could be seen, moving through the water like the fin of a shark. With each step more of him emerged, walking back to the beach with a very annoyed look. A woman ran up to him and draped a lei over his shoulders before leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek. With another groan, he walked over to Mercury. "Satisfied?”