"I know.." replies Avalon gently, his expression quite earnest. "In many ways you have to put him behind you. He's.." Avalon thinks over the word, "He's a hater, yes?" He smiles then and reaches out, pressing a palm to Alex's chest, his eyes looking into Alex's as he says softly "Hold onto Hope, for when it is all you have, it will keep you warm at night." He then smiles, his expression lighting up as he says "Plus if you just get too lonely to bear, you may always come find me. I am always happy to give hugs."

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Alex snickers a little. "Hater...naw...just a moron," he sighs. He goes quiet a moment, just peering out at the horizen. "I have blankets and heaters for that," he jokes. The Green Lantern of another shade reaches out to grab Ava for a hug. "Thank you...but I think Henry and Josh may not appreciate me coming and taking up all their hug time."

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Laughing, Ava leans in towards Alex, his tone soft as he says "I guess we are running into another one of those things with being on Earth.. I do not wish to hurt their feelings, but at the same time, I do not see anything wrong with giving hugs to anyone who needs them." he sighs then.

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Alex gives Ava a squeeze and shakes his head. "It was a joke, Avalon."

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"Oh.." replies Ava softly, looking quite confused. Then again it's rather easy to confuse him sometimes. "So you not needing hugs because of Josh and Henry was a joke?" he asks, trying to get clear.

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Alex just gives Ava a look before leaning against him. "Yes. What I said about Henry and Josh getting annoyed about me needing hugs was a joke," he says.

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"Oh.. okay." replies Ava, trying to keep from blushing too much. He gives Alex a squeeze and then wriggles a bit against the other teen as he idly digs his toes down in the sand. He's rather like a kid with ADD but admittedly, it's been a long time since he got out with anyone but Josh or Henry. "Well just to be clear, hugs are always free and welcome." he says with complete seriousness.

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"Thank you, Avalon," Alex says softly. "Seriously...thank you."

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Shrugging some, Ava just gives Alex a big toothy grin and says "It's no problem at all. I understand."

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Alex lingers for a moment before ruffling Ava's hair again. "Okay, enough of all that," he says, flashing a grin and starting to splash Ava again.

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Switching gears easily, Ava gives a squeal that ends up with him spitting out water. He then dives into the water, wriggling himself like a fish as he reaches for Alex's foot and tries to tickle.

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Alex proves pretty agile, leaping away when tickled and laughing as he goes. "Gonna have to be faster than that," he laughs, diving under the surface.

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Having to come up for air, Ava wipes the water out of his face and then tracks where Alex goes under the water. It might be noticed that even though he didn't put on any sun screen, he really doesn't need it - he just turns more brown and blond instead of burning.

He grins to himself then dives at Alex, trying to grab the Green Lantern around the middle. he's not too worried about anyone drowning though - not with power rings on each of their fingers.

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Alex isn't worried about burning either. He smirks when caught around the middle and looks back at Ava. Squirming about he wraps it around Avalon, grinning as he brings them to the surface.

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Totally in game mode, Ava sets in on tickling Alex, single minded in his goal. He's going to get Alex laughing if it kills him,

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Alex does indeed start laughing but he's too stubborn just to give in and laugh. Alex starts tickling right back.

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