ota; beach bonfire

[prontissimo]

WHO: Luca Paguro, Alberto Scorfano, and ???
WHERE: Stardew Beach
WHEN: Evening of Sunday, 20 November
WHAT: Luca's 14th birthday party! Mingle at a bonfire on the beach. They brought... lasagna...
WARNINGS: none! mention of sand fleas?


[ Come Sunday evening, as advertised, Luca's party is all set up on the shores of Stardew Beach. There's a roaring bonfire for folks to gather round, built by Alberto and Luffy under Katsuki’s careful instruction. They've piled some wood into makeshift benches around the fire for people to sit and chat and eat. On a nearby picnic table, the boys have laid out a small spread of food. But being their first "human" birthday party (and Alberto's first real party period), they didn't exactly hit the bullseye with what to serve at a beach bonfire...

They brought pasta. They carefully shlepped a huge pot of trenette al pesto and a large tray of lasagna, plus all their other party supplies, on the bus, on the train, all the way to the beach. Diligence. They don't know about hotdogs. While unorthodox, it's genuinely tasty food, though — and Alberto hasn't accidentally poisoned anyone in at least a month or two...! So also safe to eat, bonus! In addition to the pasta, they have a bowl of leftover Halloween candy, a cooler full of bottled water and an impressive array of energy drinks, and off to the side, a small stack of frying pans, a collection of myriad spices, and a bunch of kitchen knives...? For filleting and frying fish, naturally. Alberto's also brought fishing poles, so now anyone can cook up whatever they catch. Like any normal human child's birthday party.

One normal human thing they managed, though: a birthday cake. That is, if you have a forgiving definition of what a "birthday cake" is... The icing did not fair well being stacked on top of the hot lasagna on the way to the beach. Plus this is Alberto's first attempt at cake decorating or baking anything in general, thankfully once again under Katsuki’s watchful guidance... It— probably tastes fine. Let's assume it does. Just don’t look at it.

They've got two telescopes set up for any fellow star-gazers, one courtesy of Danny, and Luca brought along a couple constellation guidebooks on how to read the stars. For the less bookish types, Alberto's brought along a light-up soccer ball and a light-up Frisbee, accounting for the darkness. They've brought a few cheap swim goggles for anyone trustworthy who'd like to sneak off for a swim with a sea monster. But for those who stay on land, Alberto's also brought three fishing poles, a couple hand nets, along with tackle and bait — but not worms or something normal, of course not. No, he has an old paint can he's filled halfway with live sand fleas... Took a while to catch them all by hand himself, but it's fine; they've found more than enough sand fleas for everyone. Anyone prone to poking their nose into random containers will probably regret this one, sorry. Bleck...

All in all, it promises to be a fun birthday party — but definitely a birthday party like no other... You only turn fourteen in a human city in another country in an alternate dimension in the future once, right? ]

Comments

Good idea! Luz is just going to have to find a LOT of towels later!

[a_cute_batata]

[Luz was going to freeze. She knew this much, understood and accepted that what she was doing was certainly crazy and going to be very uncomfortable. But seeing that Alberto was excited and confident though it was hard, she wanted to show solidarity.

He was her friend. Like any friend Luz had, she wanted to make them happy and help them become stronger, but she knew that this road sometimes took strange turns. This happened to be one of those turns, and despite everything, Alberto being unflappable and funny self.

And it gave Luz that push she needed].

Hey, don't count me out yet. Wouldn't want to look silly if I won, you know.

[She wasn't going to, she was sure, but still. The confidence was what mattered! She got down to her bathing suit, very glad that Amity wasn't looking in their direction right now].

You ready?!

lol they definitely brought those!! We'll make sure she doesn't catch her death of cold after hahah

[prontissimo]

[ Casually risking her life and health by diving into winter waters just to cheer up a friend in mourning — checks out for Luz 1,000% really... Unfortunately, without much knowledge still of the fine details of human anatomy, it doesn't occur to Alberto how different Luz's body might be from his, so it's lost on Alberto that this might not be totally safe for her... not that that would've made him stop her or anything, of course.

He's scanning the horizon in search of some sort of goalpost nearby, so misses her quickly undressing. When he turns back and sees she's changed, he's amused at her obviously anticipating she might swim anyway by having worn her swimsuit under her clothes — it makes him think of Giulia doing the same back in Portorosso when they were training for the race. Humans and their swimsuits... So silly to him still. Her insistent confidence and optimism keeps his grin on, and just fuels his own in turn. ]

Always ready. Okay, look— See that outcrop over there?

[ He leans in and claps his hand to Luz's shoulder as he points toward a strip of rocks extending from further down the shore, not terribly far off — not in his eyes, at least. ]

Let's swim there.

[ However, glancing at Luz, her adamant sportsmanship and confidence does start to needle Alberto a little, entertaining the idea that she really could win... That'd be embarrassing. So he elaborates on the rules spontaneously, shifting to prop his elbow up on Luz's shoulder. ]

Whoever reaches the rock first, wins the first round. Then whoever reaches shore again, wins the second. You've gotta win both to win the whole race.

[ This way ensuring a chance that Alberto could at least tie with her if her boasts really aren't empty. He's never swam with Luz, what does he know! What if she has crazy water magic and secretly swims just as good as a sea monster?! He's protecting his ego always, man. ]

[a_cute_batata]

[Well, this was definitely going to be a lot of bluster on her part. Luz was an excellent swimmer, sure, but this cold was definitely going to take a toll. Luz was going to have to summon all her strength to not scream the moment her body entered the cold.

She was just going to have to channel ALL of what she learned to take in the Boiling isles here. Besides, looking over at how Alberto was recapturing some of his bluster was comforting. If he concentrated on this instead of Bruno, maybe it would make him leaving go a little bit easier].

I see it! Right! I got it!

[Whoa. All the way there. Yup. Ok. Fine. Not at all impossible or imposing looking. Sure].

You got it! One swim there, one swim back!

[No water magic. No strength magic, and Luz would be freezing her butt off the moment she hit the water. She took a deep breath, and put on her most confident smile].

Ok! You ready?!

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto shoots her a challenging grin, giving one sharp, decisive nod. ]

Pronti, attenti, via!

[ And with that countdown, he sprints forward into the tides, diving in as soon as it's deep enough. His spiked tail whips out of the water as he descends and shoots off. After a moment, though, the cold thoroughly shocking him too, he lets up some speed to let his body temperature adjust itself (fish powers, oy). He glances over to check on Luz to see whether he's gained on her much already, and can tell just at first glance how cold this must be for her. Whoops... Well, it was her idea, so. He shrugs it off and pushes forward anyway. Nice friend. ]

[a_cute_batata]

Uno, dos, TRES!
[Luz jumps in with a swan dive and...oh. Oh no. She regretted ALL OF THIS.

But she was not about to let Alberto know this. She was trying to get him to feel better, and that included distracting herself from how horribly icy and unyielding this water was. Luz was trying to swim as fast she could, though the look on her face clearly told the story of how much punishment she was taking right now].

[prontissimo]

[ It doesn't take Alberto long to reach the goal point, but he lingers there a while until Luz catches up, as it suddenly occurs to him... huh... maybe humans' body temperatures don't regulate themselves like sea folks' do. So if he's cold... Luz might be even colder. Probably makes her slower, too. Hm. When she reaches the goal, he decides to change his strategy here. He shoots her a mischievous but warm grin as she swims up, but instead of shooting off like he very well could, to win the race... instead, he handicaps himself. By swimming like her. He's never tried to swim like a human before, so his form is rather awkward — though that's somewhat intentional. He can't help but use his tail a little but he's trying not to rely on it, as he takes to the water with human-like strokes, mimicking her style. Luz is admittedly a better swimmer than Giulia, whose breast strokes left a lot of speed to be desired, but to Alberto, it still just looks silly... He feels like he's flailing in the water, and with the advantage of a tail to propel him forward, he still manages to be faster than Luz; but that might be a good thing, really, because it places him in front of her for a better view of his shenanigans, which of course he hams up a little bit for added effect. This is fairer. And funnier. And funner. ]

[a_cute_batata]

[Oh, Luz is definitely not in a happy place, but is at least reassured by Alberto's light teasing and showing off. Luz had no delusions: Alberto was built to swim better than she could, she had not expected to win this. The suggestion had been to lighten the mood, and it looked like it worked! Sure, Luz felt frigid now, but she was not going to pretend this was unexpected. Alberto was at least trying to pretend to swim in stride with her.

"N-no fair having a t-tail!" Luz stammered, as if that were the only advantage. She still managed to keep her smile up though. She had to admit, even while she was freezing, she did like seeing Alberto's true form. He somehow managed to look even more self assured and confident right now].

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto shoots her an awkward grin, self-effacing and flippant, as he keeps clumsily breast-stroking beside her. ]

I-I'm not even using my t-tail...!

[ Is he mocking her stuttering, or is he stuttering from the cold, himself? Who can say.

But he is absolutely using his tail. It literally just splashed her. ]

[a_cute_batata]

[Now he was making fun of her! It served her right, in a way. She was the one who wanted to challenge him in the first place. Luckily, it was working]!

You're just a super f-fast fish guy then!

[She wouldn't mind the mimicking. That was just classic Alberto. Even if she was freezing her butt off].

C-cheater! I saw that!

[prontissimo]

[ He flashes a wide guilty grin, gritting his sharp teeth with both humor and freezing cold. This was not their best idea... But did they die?

Shivering and still breaststroking, Alberto gazes back to shore and... oh, it's so far still... why did he choose such a far-off goal point? Tryna prove shit. He's over that now that he's in the water, rough even for him, especially since he's not swimming like he usually would, not wanting to leave Luz behind. So, glancing back at her, another idea comes to mind. He flips over and floats on his back suddenly, propelling himself with his tail, but reaches out to swat at Luz to get her attention and tell her to slow down. ]

Hey! Idea. Wanna call it a tie? Aaaand then see how f-fast I can really swim? So you can hang on and we'll s-swim back to shore super fast, s-so we can get the shell out of this water before we freeze to death and die? Eh~?

[ ...That's a fun way to convince your friend to forfeit, Alberto. And then reframe it as a tie while still showing off... Winning without admitting to being the winner — yet eliminating the risk of being beaten... Hmmm... Not his conscious intentions here, but hmm all the same. Though for both their sakes, it's also a sincere suggestion because they are both feeling this cold to their very bones. ]

[a_cute_batata]

[Luz matched the smile despite her chattering teeth. She had not forgotten why she'd done this, and only regretted it the more she thought about how cold she was. Otherwise, she'd agree- they weren't dead!

Oh, but Luz certainly understood now that there were ways to punish someone without killing them, and being in frigid water like this with a bathing suit was the perfect way. She could tell (and knew from science) that Alberto wasn't having a great time either, and the frigid temperature was at least helping them forget about lingering sadness to instead focus on current agonizing ones].

I-I-I g-guess tha's ok, d-d-draw it is!

[Luz wasn't going to fight him on this, she had absolutely learned her threshold, and boy, was it this. She could think about how to make Alberto happier later, when she could actually feel warmth again]!

wanna start wrapping this one up too?

[prontissimo]

Benissimo. Andiamo!

[ Alberto's already feeling happier, or at least unsettled by the coldness of the sea instead of the coldness of loss. So mission already accomplished. Now they've just gotta get to shore as quick as they can, cuz, yeah, Alberto's decided this may be his threshold too — considering this is all for gits and shiggles. He goes ahead and swims up to Luz, grabbing her arm and guiding it around his own shoulders, instructing her to hang on. It's not ideal for either of them, but he's never... tugged a human along in the water before...? They'll figure out a comfortable position, before he takes off at top speed, relying on his tail to propel them.

Alberto's relieved Luz concedes to his idea of a tie, and isn't even gonna brag about kind of "winning" later. Wasn't what this was about and he knows it. And appreciates it — makes him trust her even more, just as a friend, who gets him and knows what he needs when he's sad... Maybe he's devastated losing Bruno, sure, but look how much fun he's still able to have, even so soon after. He's still got Luca and Luz. He's pretty unlucky with dads, but he's definitely lucky with friends. At least for now. But he'll count his lucky stars and try not to think about that til it happens... which it may well someday. But not today. ]

yup! This was a LONG one!

[a_cute_batata]

[Luz has felt better, but accepting this compromise is already making her feel better. Her goal may have required a little bit of a sacrifice, but so long as Alberto could take the loss one day at a time and feel a little better being here, Luz regretted nothing!

Well, except maybe the feeling that she might not HAVE feeling in her extremities normally ever again.

She gladly lets him lead her out and to the finish line, more that a little tired and ready to warm up again, possibly with a towel and some hot cocoa. She actually tightens her grip on Alberto and gives him a smile.

No matter what happened after this, she was glad to help him however she could. She might have have her Boiling Isles crew with her, but meeting Alberto was at least like having Willow and Gus here in spirit]!