[open mingle] let's go to the beach-each, let's go get a wave

[orphne]

Who: Anyone in Aldrip on June 12th
Where: The beach close to town
What: A totally open mingle for a party on the beach
Warnings: potential for injury and alcohol use -- let me know if y'all do anything that needs to be warned for, and I'll update it!

The prompts are just suggestions below -- this is a completely open mingle, so feel free to make your own starters, tag around, and go wild!

The weather doesn't change overmuch in Aldrip, but what is summer if not a state of mind? If anything, the too-pleasant weather makes planning ahead a little easier. A video message from one Kotone Shiomi had gone out the day before to invite everybody -- and that means everybody, locals and Chosen alike -- to a party on the beach, starting in the afternoon when the sun is consistently warmest and going until- well, until everybody leaves.

The morning of... Kotone can't do it all on her own, though! Maybe the prospect of a party is enough to get you digging around looking for supplies that could be useful on the beach. Games? The shops must have something, surely. Food? The kitchens are, as always, available. Hauling wood for a bonfire? Hey, someone's gotta do it. Maybe you're helping some of the locals go fishing early in the morning for extra food, or harvesting some fresh fruits and veggies from their gardens and farms. Many hands makes light work, or something like that. If nothing else, if you missed the initial annoucement, the bustle should at least clue you in that something's in the works. Don't forget to buy (or make, or "find") a swimsuit! Modernity not required.


If you can dodge a chore, you can dodge a ball, or, with or without your help, there are plenty of things to do on the beach itself. Some of the sports and activities might seem a little anachronistic to the generally old-fashioned vibe in Aldrip -- the volleyball net and ball are local, but the beach ball and water guns are a little too brightly-colored and plastic, the water balloons in their bucket too obviously mass-produced, to be local, but they're there for anyone to play with (or torment others with). The band's set up as well, though with some different music than they'd played for the inn party. Maybe someone can make a request for more appropriate beach music? Or maybe you just want to see if you can launch a water balloon from a trumpet.

Eventually, someone starts a volleyball tournament. Time to let that competitive streak shine! Or at the very least, you've got to try cracking open a watermelon with a bat... but maybe not too close to the people relaxing on lounge chairs under umbrellas.


Y'all gotta eat, right? Whether you helped the locals earlier with catching fish or preparing food, there's an array of grills that have been dragged out to the beach. Hopefully some of the more magically-inclined among you can figure out how to keep the insulated boxes of ice and ice cream cold away from electricity (or maybe you're using the trek back to town for more ice as an excuse to get away from the party), but even if not, there's plenty of fish, vegetables, and meat available for grilling. Maybe you're the chef, maybe you're just here for the food, but there's plenty available no matter what you choose.

The food is hot and the drinks are cold. Unlike the inn, there's plenty of space around to try to avoid mingling with others if you're the quiet type, but watch out! It also means there are fewer places to hide. It's harder to wallflower without any walls.


As the sun starts to set, someone gets the bonfire going. Marshmallows exist, though maybe in a less-manufactured way than you might be used to, and there's plenty of other leftover things to roast if you're the type. It's another beautiful night in Aldrip to watch the stars and take in the fresh air with some friends. In light of everything that's happened, maybe some quiet relaxation is finally in order.

Well, for some of you. For others, night is when the party gets rowdier and it's time for drinking and party games. Just try not to make too much of a mess! Because somebody's going to have to clean it all up tomorrow.

Comments

[nullificates]

Not in my eyes, which counts much more than the law!

(this could totally be why you're in a max security ability user big ass prison, but alas.

good question that she poses. a myriad of things to consider - they don't go home for two years, so kotone doesn't die upon arrival. dazai holds off for that long. this place doesn't kill both of them. the smile he gives is so close to being genuine, but knowing him, she certainly knows he's faking the perfect expression for her sake.)

I hope so.

[orphne]

[She huffs a small laugh. Dazai, former mafia, current detective, thinking his opinion is more important than the law? Shocker.

With a glance up at him, it takes a moment of study to recognize that it's fake, less than that to realize that he's doing it for her sake. The smile she gives him in return is knowing, tinged with just a hint of sadness, then she returns her gaze out to the ocean.]

I always liked looking at the sea. It's like... it makes you feel kind of small, doesn't it? Like everything you're worried about doesn't matter.

The school roof had a really good view of it. [The one she died on.]

cw suicide mention

[nullificates]

I'm more of a river person - though most of what I do in these bodies of water is-- well! You know. Glub, glub, glub. I do enjoy looking at it from time to time, though, at a distance.

(it's a calming feeling, even if his body reacts to it intensively. even if it barely allows dazai to enjoy being washed away.)

Ah. A lot of things don't matter, though. Everything in this life is awfully subjective.

[orphne]

[She just gives him a patient look. Thanks for the mental image, Dazai. Could've done without that.]

It being subjective is what makes things seem so big though, huh? Bigger than they should. People's feelings and problems all seem huge to them, but small to everybody else.

[nullificates]

(truth be told, he never got to play the part of a mentor much for girls. gin, without an ability, had been under another's wing for a while there, with dazai complementing it on the side.

he was good to her, he likes to think. kotone, sometimes, makes him think of that.)

Ah, that's my girl. Everything is chaos, there's no harmony, we must just go with it.

[orphne]

That's why it's good to talk to somebody else about them. They seem smaller when they're shared.

[A gentle verbal poke. He knows he can talk to her about anything, right? They've crossed that hurdle by now. But also- she looks back over the sea.]

You and Chuuya talk a lot about the stuff that happened at different... "times," right? Like, when we brought you back, you and him both seemed able to talk about stuff you remembered that the other didn't.

["Drowned you, drowned me?" she still doesn't get it, and honestly isn't sure she wants to.]

[nullificates]

Or perhaps bigger, depending on how the other person takes it. People...! Ah, what a complicated concept.

(he won't talk, not that much, not that often, but he has learned that it isn't the best to keep so many secrets from kotone. some, but not so many.)

Ah, not really. We talked because we were all attempting to murder each other, business only, no hard feelings. We don't tend to talk. He didn't know about Odasaku until very recently, you see.

[orphne]

Mm.

[She hums again, still not looking at him. Sorry Dazai, she really, really doesn't want to dig into why you were all trying to murder each other. Again, she is probably better off not knowing.]

Do you think it's better not to talk about stuff you know about somebody's future...?

[Shinji. She's talking about Shinji.]

[nullificates]

I'm the last person you should ask that. I wouldn't particularly care to do to it if there was no benefit for me or in general to do that. That said, there's the whole debacle of it being, well, someone else's life, correct? I don't have the answer for you.

[orphne]

Oh.

[She looks down into her drink and- takes a really long drink. It burns! She coughs after, then laughs a little at her own reaction.]

Yuck! It really is bitter, Dazai-san. Can you make something sweeter next time?

[nullificates]

I'm just going to give you a piña colada next time, this is what I get for being creative!

(see, adult life, kotone, bitter BITTER)

[orphne]

I've never had one!

[She sticks her tongue out at him. Anyway, forget she asked about other people's futures!]

You're a bad influence, you know.

[nullificates]

I'd have to be very stupid not to know that! I do like to think I am doing a better job with you kids, though. Either way, to summarize what you've asked - it's your decision, after all. Tell them if you think they need to hear it. Don't tell them if they could be better off. Or tell them because it's the 'right thing to do'.

(never forgetting, and he even sticks his tongue out back, because he's an adult.)

[orphne]

[Myeh!! She sticks her tongue out at him again and laughs, leaning her head against against his wheelchair.]

From what you told me, the bar is pretty low for "doing good," but I'd like to think we have something to do with it, too. It's not just you, you know?

[nullificates]

(... good kiddo... his hand gently rests against her hair, fingers playing with the drying strands, a little petting, like she tends to do to him.)

The bar is doing what we can do, though.

[orphne]

[She lets him do it, closing her eyes a little with the gentle motion and huffing a quiet sigh.]

Yeah. That's all we really can do, huh? Do what we can and rely on the others to do what we can't.

[nullificates]

You've been growing up well, then.

(if she understands that she doesn't have to be the only thing for everyone, and it doesn't make her unreliable when she can't be.)

[orphne]

[It's one of the few things she'd learned early on working in a team. Even if she could cover everyone's elemental weaknesses, even if she could use everyone's elemental or physical or ailment attacks, it was way easier if she could trust them to act alongside her or follow her orders.

It doesn't completely save her from thinking she has to do everything for everyone. But at least she knows the theory.]

Thanks, Dazai-san.

[nullificates]

I won't lie, at this rate, you make it really hard for me to want to send you home.

(if he could, she'd be in yokohama. he doesn't care how, nor when, nor where. alongside him, growing, helping, learning.

he loves her, what can he do. :( )

[orphne]

...Yeah?

[She doesn't laugh this time, but her smile is as bittersweet as the drink she's sipping as she glances up at him.]

It's okay. Somebody has to save the world, after all. But... thanks. That means a lot.

[nullificates]

... I can't argue. I simply wish things were different, but wishing on such things are foolish, aren't they?

(it's rhetorical. dazai's fully aware that it matters little how much one wants something, it won't ever happen as it should.)

[orphne]

Yeah. But I think it matters that you have the wish at all.

[She reaches up and pats his hand, pat-pat, before returning it to cupping her drink.]

I have to do it, though. It's gotta be me. I won't say don't be sad, but... I'd really like it if you remember me. That's all.

[nullificates]

If this place allows me, I would like that myself. Ah, while it lasts, I can enjoy my mentee's company and growth.

(it's all that he can promise, and this is ridiculous, both of them are pat-patting the other.)

[orphne]

[Isn't that just their relationship, though? Pat-patting each other while they talk about death? She keeps her drink cupped in her hands and keeps her gaze on the ocean for a long time, punctuated only by brief sips from the drink. She doesn't do it often, but it's nice to sit in silence, every now and then.

She's almost finished with the drink by the time she speaks again,] Once you're healed, lets go swimming together. No glub-glub-glub, though.

[nullificates]

I won't die if you don't die!

(is he serious? does it just mean for swimming purposes? does he mean it? who knows, who cares! not him, and he retreats his hand only to grab himself a water. look at this level of responsibility.)