There were plenty of things to do at Mieni Atoll. The beaches, of course, were a very popular place to go to. Playing in the sand or in the waves was a lot of fun, though some people came here for the scenery. That is, the scenic view of so many women, particularly Animalians, in bikinis. Though not every woman there was in a bikini.
Coye tilted her ears in a perplexed manner. "Adi, what exactly are you wearing?" she asked.
Adi was wearing a red and gold outfit that looked like a cross between a woolly one-piece bathing suit from the 1890's and a wetsuit. The oddest part was the hood and swimcap. The only parts of Adi left uncovered were her face, hands, hooves, and tail. "This is a burkini," said Adi.
"What's a burkini?" asked Blythe in confusion.
"Well, in Islamic tradition, a woman needs to cover up as much of her body as she can in public. This bathing suit, which is partially styled after a burka, is meant to encompass a woman's modesty while allowing her enough freedom to swim," said Adi.
"What's the point in covering up?" asked Faye. She and her sisters were all wearing bikinis. They weren't too skimpy, but they definitely showed off their bodies. The three of them were not as modest with their bodies, even if they were much younger than they look.
"Well, in certain schools of thought, women need to cover so they won't be..." Adi paused as she thought of how to explain something so complicated to these more innocent girls, "Objectified as sexual symbols."
"I'm not sure how effective that is," said Blythe.
"What do you mean?" asked Adi.
"Well, it is kinda showy, if not directly," said Coye, moving her hands in a hourglass motion.
Adi looked at herself again. It was true her skintight burkini did very little to hide the shape of her curvaceous body. There wasn't really anything she could wear to hide her large breasts and voluptuous hips that didn't involve excessive bagginess or unnecessary coverage. "Ok, I'll be level with you girls," said Adi, "There is a lot of Islamic rules that don't make sense to other people. Even I would prefer to be wearing a two-piece like yourselves."
"So why wear this?" asked Faye.
"To promote it for those women who do want to wear this," said Adi, "Not everyone is as comfortable with themselves as we are, Islamic or not. Some people feel like they need to cover up and I want to show that they don't have to look bad doing that. Also, I want to show that Animalians can be modest with their appearance and we don't have to look like sex gods, or goddesses in this case. I just want to have a few pictures taken of myself in this burkini. I'll probably wear a two-piece later."
"Do you want us to pose in burkinis too?" asked Faye.
"That's sweet of you to offer, but I only brought this one," said Adi, "I'm not so sure we can share it."
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Meanwhile, the male half of the Hanson herd were looking around the jungle of Mieni. "This is where one of the big races is supposed to be, right?" asked Elijah.
"Part of it," said Abraham, "Apparently, this jungle is an obstacle course and one of the big races that goes from island to island runs through here."
"I don't know how they have the energy to do that," said Damien.
"We're not exactly weaklings, you know," said Elijah.
"But they've been training for this," said Abraham, "if we tried to do it, we'd just look stupid."
"Not to mention we're not really built for climbing," said Damien, clopping his hoof for emphasis.
"We're not built for swimming either, but I hear one mare won the triathlon last IAC," said Abraham.
"Speaking of mares, when are going to find some that aren't family or single?" asked Damien.
"You're not thinking of Adi, are you?" asked Elijah.
"No...maybe...no more than either of you have," said Damien.
"I'm not sure she'd want stallions like us," said Abraham, "I think she wants a different type."
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The ocean around Mieni Atoll was also an interesting place to explore, especially since more people were becoming fish Animalians. Beatrice (or Beacon as shi was calling hirself) was adapting rather well to being able to breathe underwater. Before long, shi, Allura, and Xena were swimming down to the wreck of the USS Pennsylvania. There was a bit of caution as they went since this was where the giant squid had attacked. But it was very unlikely another one would come here.
Beacon was fascinated by the esca that was bobbing from hir forehead. For such a small thing, it produced ambient light for hir to see. Though really, it was mean to lure fish in so shi could eat them. Shi wasn't sure if shi could eat raw fish, not without some soy sauce. But shi also had a flashlight if shi needed more illumination. Allura and Xena were swimming in the depths perfectly fine. Though Xena had a much different style of swimming with her long tail and such.
When they got to the Pennsylvannia, they swam around it and into the unblocked corridors a bit. "It's a bit of a shame that they didn't make this into a habitat for fish Animalians," said Allura.
"I think it's better off the way it is," said Xena, "I'm not sure what's the point in building homes at the bottom of the sea if there aren't that many fish Animalians. Besides, it's not like we can't live on land."
Beacon was letting hir mind drift. Shi wasn't much of a history buff to know a lot about this ship. And there was a limit to where shi could go in the ship as well. Shi swam over to Allura and asked suggestively, "Hey Allura, you wanna join the mile-deep club?"
"Hmm...ok," said Allura.
Beacon grinned, only for Xena to fix her a reproachful look. "Then again, maybe we shouldn't," said Beacon, "I mean, sunken or not, this is practically a national landmark. Not to mention we may leak something and uplift fish by accident."
"But we're both vaccinated," said Allura.
"Better safe than sorry," said Beacon, "We can find another place to use our fishing rods."
"You probably shouldn't," said Xena, "Who knows what kind of deep-sea predator you'd attract with your motions?"
"Uh...she was just joking, right?" asked Beacon nervously.
"I'm not really sure," said Allura, "I'm not really sure about everything that's down here."
Beacon had a feeling the two fish were just messing with hir. But shi wasn't quite as eager to do anything with Allura down here. Maybe another time would be better.