The Heat of the Sun, the Heat of the Heart [Alex, Nel, Tier]

Damn, it was good to finally hit the beach. It'd been way too fuckin' long since everything was this relaxed, but hey, nothin' was better than getting out for the day. He'd have liked to bring Vegas along, but she'd said something about hanging out with friends for the day. Well, it was good that she was making friends, so he wouldn't be too upset about it.

"Yo, babe, you want a drink?"

Cracking open a beer as he leaned back in his beach chair, Alex watched the waves with a content smile on his face. Man, it sure was nice out here. Nel'd mentioned a friend was coming for a visit too, yeah? That was good. It was kinda hard to explain, but he liked the idea of meeting her friends. Made their whole thing feel like...well, even more official, you know?

"Yes, please."

She was sitting in the sand, the idea to create a sandcastle had come to mind and so she had set herself to work on that while she waited. Harribel could hardly be called a friend, an acquaintance that she was friendly with though? Yes. It would be good to let her settle, they were both former Tercera Espada without their fraccion who they held dear to them after all.

It was strange how it all foiled.

Her hand worked on moulding the next part of the castle. It was a nice castle, it didn't look like that awful Las Noches for one. She hated that thing.

"Gotcha. Heads up."

Pulling a chocolate milk out of the cooler and giving it a gentle underhand toss to her, Alex watched her with a small grin. It was cute, seeing her put that together. He'd probably help her out in a bit, but watching sure was nice in its own right...

Oh. Seemed like the guest'd arrived. On one hand, Alex wanted to say something about her outfit, but on the other hand, he wasn't even actually sure where to begin. Plus, it wasn't like Nel's usual clothes when they met were exactly high fashion, so that wouldn't have worked out great anyway. Oh well. Giving the newcomer a small wave, despite the fact that she technically hadn't acknowledged him at all, Alex greeted her with his usual relaxed and friendly demeanor.

Yeah, friendly. He's a friendly guy, leave him alone.

"Yo. Tier, yeah? I'm Alex, nice to meet ya. Want a drink? It's kinda hot out today."

Without moving her attention from the sand castle she caught the drink off centuries of instinctive movement and pesquisa. Nelliel sure didn't appreciate this heat, the beach was a nice place to cool off. It was time for a break from her little endeavour with the arrival of Tier anyway, she poked the straw in her chocolate milk and started to sip. How could one not like such a treat, really?

"Harribel."

She responded just as bluntly, really? That was it.

"Oh, come now. Surely you can muster more for me than just my name? Why are you dressed like that anyway? You're going to scare the children by walking around like that with your zanpakuto strapped to your back and your face obscured."

She felt inclined to point that out, it wasn't like it was intentional on the part of Harribel. She did feel like she ought to point it out to her fellow Arrancar though. Then again, it wasn't like her mask fragment was any less discomforting for young people she imagined.

What a predicament.

"Ah, c'mon, I'm sure the kids around here have seen way scarier things than a lady with a mask on. The sword might be a bigger worry, but I'm pretty sure the kids around here would think it's sick as hell."

Alex, of course, had no particular context for why Tier dressed the way she did, or for her general personality, but that hardly mattered anyway. He was in a good mood, and even if these two seemed like they might've been off to something of a rocky start, he wasn't gonna let a trip to the beach go poorly.

"Anyway, it's nice meetin' you too. Always good to make friends, yeah?"

Given her awkward personality, Alex thought maybe he should be at least a little bit less...well, himself about it. Normally, he wouldn't have cared that much, but his understanding of the situation meant he wanted to be cool with a friend of Nel's.

He wasn't the brightest.

Nelliel wondered how long Harribel spent in that desert, too long if she had forgotten all these norms. Granted, she couldn't speak. From the time which she died compared to the modern world which she experienced there had been a lot of changes- and her dear friend Abalia had been introduced to her by a matter of public indecency on her part. Right, she couldn't be too critical of Harribel's ignorance now. She sure had gotten comfy in this world, hadn't she?

"Mmm. You make a fair argument, we can get you sorted out shortly. Places with swimsuits are fairly close to the beach after all."

What luck right? Of course the beach would have stores for beach-related needs nearby. Nelliel could get the fellow former Espada sorted easily, it would be just like taking Vegas shopping and helping her try things on.

"Regardless, do try and have fun today. Yes, Tier? The lonely desert and your inclination for solitude must leave you starved for people to talk to."

"Ah, it's easy to have fun at the beach. Sandcastles, volleyball, swimming. Shoulda seen me a couple years back, I was out here oil wrestling all the time. Er, not that I'm saying you should jump right to that. You get what I mean."

Alex actually didn't know at all whether or not Tier did, in fact, get what he meant, but that was fine. She'd figure things out.

"Tell you what, you two go snag a bathing suit and I'll get everything for a good ol' beach cookout. What kind of food you two want? Drinks too. Just whatever sounds good, really, if I can grill it that'll be easier."

This was honestly pretty good in Alex's book. He hadn't gotten to show off his cooking chops in a hot minute, and besides, when was there ever a bad reason to have a sweet beach bonanza?