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

[doubledollar]

[ fsdjfnhksdjgs oh no not the judgement from the mint twink.

vash's face immediately turns red as the other points out some pretty obvious foolery here, and his embarrassment ramps up to 10. ]

--Listen! At least with worms, it was like, obvious what part was for eating! You know, all of it? Except the stinger.

[ he's gonna brandish the pineapple at Jun, like a weapon. ]

Where does one even START with this?
Do--do you eat the skin, too?

Most fruit skin is good for you...

[whiteshroud]

[He giggles as he holds up his hands at the pineapple sword]

Well, typically no, but stuff can be done with it.

Do you want me to handle the scary fruit?

[doubledollar]

[ engarde, tiny. ]

'Stuff' is so unbelievably vague...


But you know what.
I'm gonna' take you up on your offer.
Since you asked so nicely.

Please handle the weird pineapple.

[whiteshroud]

[He snorts]

Sorry for not memorizing all the uses of pineapple skin.

But as you wish.

[He'll reach over and pull the pineapple from Vash's hand, setting it down on the folding table someone set up. ]

Do you have a knife?

[doubledollar]

It's fine. It looks gross anyway, I'll put it in a bag and feed it to Brad later.

[ thomas are scavengers, fortunately.

He's gonna turn around for a moment, though, and snatch up a nice paring knife he'd used to cut up vegetables already, flipping it around a little tooo showoffishly for a moment before handing Jun the handle. ]

Nice to see you outside, by the way.

[ how you feeling . ]

[whiteshroud]

That works.

[You showoff. He snorts a little as he takes the knife. He meanwhile will do no flourishes, simply start working on cutting off the top of the pineapple and the sides]

Haha- it's nice to be outside, really. I was ready to climb the walls by the end there. How about you?

[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.

[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!

[doubledollar]

[ listen its not vash's fault that your dad has no grace. some long-legged sugar-obsessed weirdos with glasses DO have grace. Somehow. two left feet aside. ]

Because I'm a busybody who can't help but get involved. Or, at least, that's what people tell me.

[ he grins. Bird mafia... hahaha... hahahahaha... ]

It's good knowing you were safely watched though, at least. And YEAH, absolutely--it was a great gift. Every part of it. I appreciate all of it. I'm gonna put the tools to great use especially.

[ but that aside... he grins, wide. ]

See, that's the fun thing about Nico. I grew up on a space ship, learning everything about Earth and about Earth culture and stuff, so I have a basis of most things here, even if not a full understanding.

...Nico doesn't.
So whenever something 'new and weird' happens, he completely turns 10 and goes all fight-or-flight. It's hilarious.

[whiteshroud]

I mean, I wasn't going to phrase it like that, but...

[Yeah. Yeah that's exactly what you are. ]

I'm glad to hear that.

[He doesn't want to bask in the thanks too much. He doesn't think he did all that much with the gift. But then again, Jun never thinks anything he does is that worth the praise.]

Haha...honestly, that makes a lot of sense. He always did seem to have a harder time adjusting to things. Sometimes when he calls POKEGO for advice, they end up switching members because of all the questions he ends up asking.

[doubledollar]

I know who I am as a person.

[ and he's not sorry he's like it, either. he's a force of nature--a typhoon, really--and that's not gonna' change. ]

...Oh, right. Yuuki gets pretty frustrated with him every time, doesn't he.
I appreciate Yuuki's patience with him up to a point... but I get it. Sometimes I'll talk about a new vegetable or animal that's not even a pokemon and he gets stressed about it.

You should have seen how upset he got when I told him worms from this world don't have wings.

[whiteshroud]

He does. Though to be fair, Yuuki has some of his own social issues that he's working on... [Yeah, that's the nicest way to put it.] Wolfwood is probably just well outside of what he's used to dealing with.

... He got upset from that? Why?

[doubledollar]

Unfriendly introvert, meet unfriendly introvert. Create space paradox.

[ he makes a gesture with his fingers--kaboom. ]

And the same reason he gets upset about anything about this planet that's different from back home.
It messes with his sense of survivability.

Worms are a quick and easy thing to grab and eat in a bad situation.
He's here and he's got a home with more food than he'll ever know what to do with.

But the idea that something he's used to surviving on is changed here--or unavailable--makes him nervous.

[whiteshroud]

Mm. Like two cats who've never been socialized.

[Spicy kitties, both of them]

I see... so in other words, he's stressed about what he should do if something goes wrong, because all his usual coping mechanisms wouldn't work in this world.

[doubledollar]

Oh my god that's exactly it. They're a pair of cats. Why didn't I think of it myself.

[ he makes a gesture with his hand, knocking a palm against his forehead. ]

And that's exactly it! You can tell him he doesn't need to worry about that sort of thing on this planet--but like; he's not a glass-half-empty guy, he's a glass-could-be-taken-from-him-at-anytime sort of guy.

Like he's always waiting for a rugpull to happen.

[whiteshroud]

Haha, maybe it felt too obvious?

[He makes a "mmm" sound of understanding.]

I see... I could understand that. Especially if he's lost everything before.

Does he have anything consistent in his life? Like an anchor he can count on to be there? That tends to help when a person has something like that.

[doubledollar]

Probably because the only cat I'm used to was usually sleeping whenever she'd show up...

There are way more cats on this planet.

But I digress.
He's told me a few times. What the most important things in his life were. And the only 'anchor' I could consider was... that old orphanage. Now that he's here, well.

...
It's a bit self-assured to say something like 'I'm trying to be an anchor for him', right?
Because I don't really think he has any, either.

...See, he. Um.
He's not. 'My' Wolfwood. There's that whole--thing. With people coming from different times and universes...?

The Wolfwood I knew. Back home. He had a big thing with how he'd always turn to god whenever he needed to center himself. He'd hide away in a church or he'd go out and listen to peoples' trouble and do some preaching from his 'good book'.

The one here... I don't think he believes in god. So much so, that if you call him a 'priest', he pretty quickly snaps back that he's 'Just an Undertaker.'

[whiteshroud]

[Jun is quiet for a moment, listening to what Vash is saying and sorting out what to say to that. Especially to the idea of Vash being his anchor. He likes Vash a lot, but ... ]

...Mm. I've no doubt he cares about you a great deal, and being in each other's lives is good for both of you. But... I think your own roots need to be a bit more settled before you can be an anchor.

Which that's okay, it's usually healthier if a person's anchor isn't a single person.

[That's the gentlest way Jun can phrase it.

He continues to listen, and luckily he's able to understand what Vash is getting at with the different universes. So the Wolfwood Vash knew back home turned to God like Jun did for his anchor, but the one here in Kaisou did not. ]

I see... well, I think I understand that, given his past. After I escaped Krusnik, my father would take me to church and it was through the clergy's kindness that I found my own faith. But for the other survivors... they're much less religious and found their own ways to heal.

[...]

Though, even if this Wolfwood doesn't believe in God, from what I see, he still have the same charitable center.

[doubledollar]

[ he... kind of knows it's a terrible idea to be someone's anchor. especially given vash himself isn't even sure about his own two feet being steady. last thing he wanted was to fail yet another person just because he talked bigger than he could act. time and time again.

His eyes sort of cast down with a guilty look before he snaps back, waving a hand with a loud, jovial laugh at Jun--nodding his head twice with a bouncy motion as his shoulders come up with a shrug. ]

Probably not the greatest idea either, given the whole--uncertain thing of this world and its gates and such! I could disappear tomorrow for all we know! Hate to leave Nico in the lurch like that.

[ but then his hands go to his face, tapping his cheek as he gives a little sigh. ]

It's good to find an anchor like that where you can. I ... might never believe in god myself, but I think that the idea of god can be good for others, if only because it gives them something to hope for. [ he's begged for god's help for too many years and gone unanswered--there was no real hope for his own faith, but... ]

Oh, he loves kids. You should see the way he's treating Eve these days. She's like a duckling, and he's a proud father goose, it's embarrassing.

I think, if he could accept freedom and comfort, he'd make a really good babysitter. Daycare... runner...?

[whiteshroud]

[Yeah, he catches that guilty look and it makes him feel a little bad, even if he does think he's right. ]

Mm, that is another consideration. But really... it's nothing personal. As I said, it's just not healthy to use any single person as your anchor. I shouldn't be anyone's anchor either.

[That's how you end up with co-dependent relationships, or cults. But at the mention of people believing in God, Jun pauses. He knows better than to directly say gods are real, but there is one point he has to contend with.]

...Having faith is not just about "having hope". People who only pray to gods for things to get better will inevitably be disappointed. [The pineapple cutting almost finished, he'll start to use his knife to bring the pieces together into a pile.] Believing in a god is more like... feeling like you have someone who loves you, no matter what. He can't solve all my problems, but He'll be there to make sure I don't go through them alone.

[At least, that's how he personally felt about it. He knows it's easier for him to say that than other people, given his powers, but he felt that way even before the mark appeared on his arm.

With that said, he'll smile a little at the description of Wolfwood and Eve]

That's adorable to imagine. Eve seems very fond of you and Wolfwood, I'm really happy she's moving in with you guys.

Wolfwood running a daycare though... [okay he's snorting at that. ITS A FUNNY MENTAL IMAGE]