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

Re: Ocean~

[doubledollar]

"--Eh. Eh, eh, eh... but, but listen, what if. What if a huuuuuge wave comes and crashes down and drags us both out into the water?!

Then, then I won't be able to swim back and I'll be stuck down in the ocean, and--"

This is a man way too nervous about the water than is normal. He looks down at Ritsuka, his bottom lip poking out.

"Aren't there dangerous things in 'oceans', too?"

[prunedworlds]

He sure is abnormally nervous, yes.

"Waves don't get that big unless there's a lot of wind, and if there is then it isn't really good swimming weather anyway."

Well, there's other reasons for big waves, but no need to get into that.

"And maybe there are out in the ocean, the same way there's wild animals in the woods and mountains, but they wouldn't let people swim here if there was dangerous stuff like that around, you know?"

[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."

[doubledollar]

Ritsuka wouldn't be the only one confused about the whole ordeal. Most planets have water--it's insane to hear that one doesn't, honestly?

So he laughs--because all he can do is laugh--a loud little popping thing.

"M, maybe. I don't know. A pool is scary too." Water in general, just--!!

He makes a little whining sound.

"Okay, but like, what if, when my feet are out there, a big wave comes crashing in and drags me out!?"

[prunedworlds]

"It won't, because the lifeguards would tell everyone to get away from the water first."

There's other people already in the water, Vash, they'd be in at least as much if not more danger! Still, being nervous to try a new thing one had never even imagined being possible before isn't entirely unreasonable. So maybe he just needs some more moral support to give it a try...

"Though... Since you haven't been to the beach before, would it be better if someone went with you? That way you could see it's safe, right?"

[doubledollar]

Lifeguards.... oh, he supposes that makes sense.
Also he doesn't see people in the water. he's totally blind. He sees nothing. he does not see it.

But then, when Ritsuka offers to go with him, well.
He feels his lack of pride rising up in him like a sunflower turning towards the sun.

He has absolutely no shame.

He bows himself nearly in half. His hands clapping together in front of him.

"Please go with me."

[prunedworlds]

Luckily for him, Ritsuka's not the type to make fun of him for something like that. Well, maybe giggle just a little at that over the top bow, but if anything she's just happy herself that he'd trust her that much.

"All right, sure."

She'll even hold out her hand for him to take if he wants it.

"I'll make sure to just stick to the edge, too, promise."

[doubledollar]

It's definitely nerve-wracking--he's been close to water before, sure, but getting this close to it? It was making the little hairs along the back of his neck stand on end.

When Ritsuka offers her hand, though, there's that odd flicker in his heart. The same one he always gets when humans offer him even the simplest of kindnesses.

He finds himself smiling a little dumbly--and putting his hand in Ritsuka's own.

"Hahaha. Hey, I appreciate you not teasing me about this."

...Humans really were good beings, when they had the chance to grow into things like empathy, weren't they?

[prunedworlds]

Ritsuka definitely believes that humans--or just people in general--are indeed good. Even the ones who've done terrible things in the past.

"Well, teasing a friend when it's all in good fun is one thing, but it doesn't help anyone to just make fun of someone, you know?"

Though she says it lightly, there's a brief flash of... something. Regret, tied to a wound that never quite healed. But only for a moment, because her focus is on leading Vash to the water's edge. She walks in far enough that the waves get up to ankle-deep on her, which means that for him, the water should be no more than lapping at his feet with each wave.

"What do you think?"

[doubledollar]

Once again, when you have eyes that can track bullets and dodge hair-close strikes; even the barest flash of emotion across someone's face is easy to track.
He saw it. That expression that's quickly hidden by focus on the task at hand.
...It's familiar.

Even if he hadn't caught it with his eyes; a moment later there's a different ping. It reminds him of the psychic link he shares with Kni--the sound of something discordant, like a missed key on a piano being pressed while flowing through a natural song.


His fingers squeeze against Ritsuka's hand a little more.

His expression has gone from somewhat goofy to... something gentle, kind. He's gonna' put on a smile, as he always does, all the same.

"I'm starting to think you don't have a mean tendon in your body."

[prunedworlds]

Well, that's definitely not the response Ritsuka had expected. She could easily write off the tightened grip as nervousness at approaching the water, but the remark definitely catches her off-guard.

"Oh, I uh, I meant about the water...?"

She really has no idea how she's supposed to respond to that.

1/3

[doubledollar]

"....Huh,"

He ... might have temporarily forgotten what he was doing, every inch of his brain having shifted off of the water and onto something else. He'd been considering the emotional flicker of pain, and connecting it with how she seems quick to want to please, to help--

2/3

[doubledollar]

But now he's returning to earth.

"Ah,"

Yep, there he goes, putting the thoughts back in place.

3/3

[doubledollar]

"--Is it supposed to be this cold?!"

He's gone right back to goofy and yelping, that serious, somewhat melancholy look on his face long gone.

[prunedworlds]

Well that sure is a reaction! But at least he hasn't taken off running back up the beach, so Ritsuka will take what she's got.

"Yeah, it's always like that, but it really only feels cold at first."

Don't ask her why, she just knows that's how water like this is.

[doubledollar]

He isn't running! He's being SO BRAVE and he deserves PRAISE--

Not that he'll ask for it, he'll just stand here and whine first.

"Only at first? But it's just cold, you know??" Local plant doesn't know how water works, news at 11.

"Do you go swimming often or something."

[prunedworlds]

"It is, but... It's also really hot out, so it feeling cold at first is kinda nice, too?"

There's a reason why the beach is so popular on hot days in particular, after all!

"And not really that often, I guess, but I like going to the beach when there's a chance?"

[doubledollar]

Hm. Maybe there's some merit to that. The longer they stay in the barely-ankle-deep water, the nicer it DOES feel with the hot sun beating overhead...

Vash lets out a little chuckle. It sounds less helpful than the ones that came before it.

"...I like the beach. The sand reminds me a little of home. And maybe the water isn't... SO bad...."

[prunedworlds]

Ritsuka gives him a grin at that.

"You don't even have to swim to enjoy it, either. People just wade like this all the time, too."

And who knows? Maybe someday he can gradually work his way up from wading to actual swimming!

[doubledollar]

"I mean, I like bathing, but that water is like, super controlled and only as deep as you want it to be...!"

He raises a hand to gesture out to the ocean.

"That... that just goes on forever."

[prunedworlds]

"It's not actually forever, even if it kinda looks like it, you know."

She's sure he knows, but sometimes it helps to just hear it, too.

"Though it doesn't matter anyway, since you don't have to go any deeper than you want to."

[doubledollar]

"Where I come from, you can walk across the sea of sands that look--just like that--except its all desert and grit as far as the eye can see. And It'd look like you haven't gone anywhere for days.

It might as well be forever."

He huffs.

The water just goes on and on and on, with no land or islands in sight...

"I can't imagine how deep it gets, all the way out there."

Scary.

He looks down at his feet, though and--oh god, when did he get down into it to just over his ankles? WHwhahkhljfd.

"It... it's not so bad.

I. I think I can see a crab down there."

[prunedworlds]

"I guess in the middle of the ocean it could seem like that, but unless you got out in a boat you won't see it."

But hey, he's this far in and he's doing fine, so that's progress, at least? That said...

"Oh, where?"

Now she wants to see!

[doubledollar]

It's probably a good, welcome distraction, but--

Vash is gonna point with his metallic-looking arm, down in the water near Ritsuka's feet.

"...Hold still, it's..."

And he's gonna crouch, just a little... move his hand down and...

....Yank a whole goddamn crab out from under the sand, where it was damn near invisible just a moment before.

He lifts it up and grins at Ritsuka.