2; THE BEACH EPISODE

[medicgunner]

WHO: Everyone!!
WHERE: Starting on the network, then The Beach!
WHEN: Forward dated to the last weekend of August
WHAT: Beach Episode!!
WARNINGS: None hopefully??



[With no context, no preamble, no nothing. Early on the last weekend of August, Eunie greeted the network with a message.]

text; un: fortuneclovers

hey
Eunie here, changed my un
so this month was fuckin awful
im goin to the beach. Maybe have a little fun there to get the mind off all the bullshit
if you’re seein this youre invited too. come on and lets have a good time, bring what you want

Oh yeah
im bringin a volleyball for the nets
anyone who wants a game come at me. >:)

🌭 getting grilled

[So ended the text one humble weekend morning. Eunie didn’t have specific plans for this, she just sort of ran off and invited the whole app to the beach without considering the logistics. She did say to bring what you want but she was social enough to arrange some things for a bit of a beach gathering.

It wasn’t a lot, a few coolers and BBQ grills people can hand around and either loiter or cook at if they have the capability. If they don’t though they will be removed from the grill. But maybe that’s part of the fun.]

🌊 ocean owned

[Aside from the coolers, there’s obviously the beautiful sea people can surf or swim in all they want! The water is fine, a little cold but in a way that felt refreshing from the hottest days of the last legs of summertime. The tides were even and there was no real risk of drifting away, but don’t go too far out unless you’re a strong swimmer. There are lifeguards on duty but we’ve had enough trauma this month, we don’t need a drowning scare. Or do, I’m not your mom.]

⛱️ avoid the burn

[Not a swimmer? Well then catch up on your tan under the share umbrellas and towels laid on the sand. Or your sunburn. It is a bright and sunny weekend after all so no matter what you’re catching up on, get your sunscreen on too.

It’s also just as good for a little break from the swimming and the music to steady yourself before you head out or head back into the water or some piers you can walk down on your own for the same experience to just catch the sea breeze while staying up and about.]

🏐 bolleyvall bapped

[That being said, Eunie was not joking about there being volleyball. There are a few nets on the beach for a few different games to go on at once. Organize a tournament or just play casually. Remember though that there are normies on the beach and any Earth Shattering volleyball spikes might cost some property damage claim money. This isn’t death soccer, people.

Who am I kidding, this is going to turn into a disaster either way. Go ham, challenge the bird girl or just watch the chaos unfold and place your bets, kids.]

🎇 bonfire lit up your life

[As the day winded down and night settled on the beach, some folks were headed home or have gone there already to get the sand out of their shorts. But those who stuck around will get the pleasure of sitting by a bonfire not me as they bid a fond farewell to the summertime and summer vacation.

Or get in touch with their inner arsonist in a less destructive way.

Sit, relax and socialize, take in the ambiance of the twilight by the fire, roast some marshmallows or hot dogs. Maybe decide to camp out for the night. It is a pretty peaceful time, and it’s these small moments of calm with friends and loved ones we have to cherish the most when in recovery, right?]

Comments

[fiddlestick]

[Elliot isn't surprised that Zulius caught onto that]

Haha...there maybe some tea brewing on my end!

I'm not sure it's ready to be spilled quite yet though. ❤️ Eventually though!

[prunedworlds]

Oh, there is so much to potentially spill, but it would absolutely ruin the mood right now. Maybe Zulius could ask about it another time, if he's still curious enough.

"I mean like King Arthur's Merlin, yeah." Ritsuka grins a bit. "He's immortal because he's a cambion, and he's helped us out a few times, so I've met him. But he's kind of a slacker, too..."

And apparently someone Ritsuka knows well enough to be perfectly fine trash-talking a little. Does Zulius want dumb Merlin stories? Because she can absolutely provide dumb Merlin stories.

I

[incendiarize]

[Arthur perks right up when watermelons get mentioned. He is currently in long sleeves and long pants, yes despite the beach, so the shift is pretty dramatic.]

Someone brought watermelons? Hell yeah! You said we need a blindfold?

[prunedworlds]

"Yep!"

To both of those, really.

"I heard someone has a bat, so if we can find a blindfold, we'll be set!"

[incendiarize]

"A blindfold, huh..."

He thinks for a few moments. Did he bring anything that might work?

"I have a sharpie and some goggles I'm willing to sacrifice. Could that work?"

[prunedworlds]

"... Uh, I think if we can't find a blindfold, we could just use a t-shirt or something...?"

No need to go that far.

[bebest]

[Zulius lets out a sad little noise.]

Oh nooooo the teeeaaaa. I mean, okay, I get that you've gotta still brew it, happy for you, but still!

[Wait. He squints.]

...This is because of the cake, isn't it?

[incendiarize]

"Oh- I did bring an extra shirt, too. Long sleeves will be easier to tie, right?"

He just. Thought of the more complex solution first. He's a science nerd, sometimes that happens.

[doubledollar]

He looks back at the water, then at Ritsuka, again. His shoulders are hunched up, and he really does look ready to crawl out of his skin at the very idea of touching the water.

Even if Ritsuka's logic and attempts at calming him down were so very good--he still looks like a cornered, wet cat.

"...Okay, so. It's definitely not the animals or anything, it's.

Oof, if I sink, I won't be able to get out of it, you know."

He... can't swim.

"I uh. I grew up on a desert planet. Completely desert, sand everywhere.

We didn't... have things like bodies of water."

So. New fear unlocked.

[prunedworlds]

.... Oh. Okay now that explains a lot. Ritsuka being from a nation that's basically just a big island, she's not used to thinking of people as not knowing how to swim in the first place.

"Oh, in that case, you probably don't want to get started in the ocean, no. Maybe a pool?"

Assuming he wants to try to learn to swim, that is. But, back to the present...

"You can still wade a little though without having to worry about sinking or anything. If you walk in the middle of the wet sand, you'll get waves that touch your feet, but nothing deeper than that."

[prunedworlds]

"Yeah, probably."

Ritsuka had just said one of the first things that came to mind, really. Not a lot of planning has gone into this, needless to say.

"If you have something like that we can use though, that's probably good enough to get started."

[doubledollar]

--I mean, okay, yes, the beach is definitely better than videos or textbooks, but the water is still really--really close, and if we get dragged under I'm pretty sure I won't be able to swim, and...

[ ...his gaze goes out and out and out into that deep far blue, the thalassophobia most DEFINITELY sinking deep into his bones--but at the very least, Kni is offering a distraction.

Scared as he is, he can't disagree what kni found is... odd. Fascinating? What... is that...
He's gonna reach forward to look at the--creature? Rock?
Touching the bumpy surface and thumbing his real fingers over the pearlescent shell--

...he's sure he can feel something living inside.
Or, perhaps, the traces of something that once lived inside. ]

--It's like a ... snail? But I've never seen a snail shell that big before...

[doubledollar]

[ aw come on what's a little flourish here and there, LIVE A LITTLE!! It's fine he won't be too upset about it, shifting to watch Jun while bouncing from heel to heel, a pleased look on his face. ]

Being on house arrest in your own home isn't exactly ideal. I'd have gone way crazy, too. I was getting ready to come pay you a visit anyway, despite it.

Glad things ended when they did.

[ he tips his head to the side, though--a cheeky grin on his face.
He could talk about negative things, like how scared everyone was for those few days, or how tense things got when Dante's brother got taken, but...

It's Vash.

Instead... ]

Got your birthday gift the other day. I gotta say, the magic card that sang music almost put Wolfwood through the roof.

[doubledollar]

[ his current secrets include how many donuts he's eaten this week and noone needs to know that. You learn nothing today, incredibly cozy hair-chair. God, what a life this has turned out to be lately. ]

I don't mind getting wet when it's, you know, for bathing, I agree. At least you're in, you're out, you're drying off. [ he gestures out at the ocean that... goes on, as far as the eye can see??? ]

We had NOTHING like that on No-Man's land. There was an ocean of sand, sure, but like; I spent years walking across it just fine. You knew where to avoid the parts where you could sink into it.

All this--water?? And how deep it goes? And what's IN IT?

It's gross.
I can't even begin to tell you that it's gross, for one--and for two, what if you sink and can't get back out.
It's like art.
Much better from a few feet back.

[whiteshroud]

[Nope, no flourishes in the kitchen. He's had to patch up his father one too many times before he got overly brazen in the kitchen.

But when he's got enough cut away to dice some bits, he'll cut a couple cubes and place them on the cutting board near Vash. Here, try some]

Ha- why am I not surprised you were considering that? We practically had a bird mafia of folks showing up.

[Because Bird Mafia is totally a form of measurement]

Oh, you got it? It's not- [You know what? It's not worth explaining when he has no idea how those music cards worked] Nevermind. I had no idea Wolfwood was so jumpy!

[unreachableside]

[At first it doesn't seem like it has much effect, but then she says listen to me. His breath catches in a soft gasp. He isn't hearing Lapis, suddenly, but another woman in his memories.

"Listen, don't think about anything at all."

He swallows hard. His head feels like it's splitting open. He isn't sure if it's the memories or the demon, but the pain itself isn't unfamiliar. Every time he remembered something from before his accident it was the same way.]

I'm listening.

[His voice sounds too quiet to his own ears, but it's because the sound of blood rushes through them. A ceaselessly pounding heart no matter how many times the sword finds it.]

I'm...

[If he blocks out everything else, if he closes his eyes and focuses on her voice, maybe he can keep this feeling at bay. His trembling fingers grasp at the rock he's shoved himself against, though he keeps his other arm over his eyes.

When he speaks again, he is also struggling to keep his voice even, but at least he's not panicking as much as he was. The effort makes his voice flat and almost emotionless.]

What do I need to do?

[jackdawvision]

[Edward stares at him in deep confusion for another moment, before he scrubs his hand over his face.] All right, what do you think of when I say booty, because I've a feeling we're thinking of two very different things.

[In Edward's head, when he dreams of booty, he dreams of a ship sitting pretty on the ocean, stuffed to bursting with gold and treasure to the point of nearly capsizing. It's a fantasy and he knows it, but still.]

I've seen wooden fingers, and one man I know wore an iron hand around. I suppose a hook would be intimidating, aye, but then how would you reload your guns? It already takes too bloody long to reload them with two working hands. [Edward, you need to buy better guns.]

I didn't know we were so popular out in Hollywood. Back in my day, they would've liked to see us hanged and then stuffed into gibbets.

[twofoldfury]

[Good because he cannot begin to describe just how much he doesn't want another woman to fall in love with him.]

It's a well deserved reprieve. Taking in a breath of fresh air, a view of the sea from near or far and all the beauty it inspires. It does wonders for the body and mind. [Yes, he did look pointedly at Rose in referencing nature's beauty.]

[ornamentals]

If you start sinking, I'll pull you back to shore. [never mind vash weighs the same as a dying sun.

there is definitely something inside that makes itself apparent when kni turns over the shell to reveal the slimy foot of the sea snail living inside.]

It's called a conch, I read about it before we came. [in fact, he'd read about the many things one could find at the beach and in the ocean waters. he wanted to be prepared and finding things he recognized from webpages brought him a certain kind of joy. even more so when he can point them out to vash.] What's inside is a sea snail, but I can't tell what kind yet. [he angles the shell some, trying to peek in where most of the snail has pulled itself inside.] Did you know some sea snails also have teeth?

[twofoldfury]

[An amused, light hearted scoff. It showed that it was cheap, can't hide mid quality whiskey from this guy but hey, cheap didn't mean bad.

Despite how he tells it, Diarmuid can't help but nod.]

Not a bad lesson to learn. [Didn't he know it.] It is easy to lose one's self to the new experience of it all once we realize we have the time.

[Said as if he was caught in that in this moment. Between the War and his human life he very rarely could stop and smell the roses, as it were.]

Pressing matters?

[ornamentals]

[he's still considering it, stand by.

ah.]

I see, so you're the reason he came back with those comics. [manga, kni.] Did you help him pick them out, too?

[medicgunner]

[Damn, that's crazy. Must be some important tests. Super important, and very wise to inform the girl who can fly who is chasing you of these tests with your controller.

What if she just picked up more speed getting right up next to Blade and just.]

Yoink. [Snatched it right up.

Then flew juuuuust slightly out of his range.]

[ornamentals]

'Sea folk'?

[before kni can continue with more questions, he shakes his head yes to the offer.]

Definitely, yes.

[jackdawvision]

Easy enough to let all the newness overwhelm you, and to get lost in the catching-up, aye. But I'm getting used to it. [A pause.] Haven't gotten on a ship yet, though. I'm not quite ready to see just how much has changed from when I was sailing.

[Maybe one day.]

Jumped over one of the barriers. They weren't very pleased about that. [Because it's illegal and also you pay a fine, dumbass.] So how does a fellow like you wake up in 1994, anyway?

[ornamentals]

[wanting to know what to expect, kni did his research on beach critters! it was good to be prepared.]

It is, they're related to things like sea cucumbers and starfish. [he turns over the sand dollar carefully in his palm.] I found a few more by the tidal pools, but they were broken up.