[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]

Fine, fine!! Don't be a broken record!

... Although I will say, depending on who he antagonizes, he might actually be hurt badly. You should also keep him out of trouble.

[chemex]

I'm the dad friend, I gotta be a broken record sometimes.

[He sulks into his drink and chugs it, setting down the class and nudging it forward in a silent bid for another.] Yeah, I know. It's harder than it sounds, though.

[nullificates]

Oh, I never said it wasn't. I have mentees who make him seem like a walk in the park. I've done my time, though, so this one is completely on you!

(akutagawa... akutagawa.)

[chemex]

[He laughs softly, and his posture folds inward just slightly.] Well, it's at least nice in a weird way to know it's not just me.

[nullificates]

Oh, no. I had a subordinate where Chuuya and I worked, and it's been four years since I left, and he just now is starting to see things.

[chemex]

[His posture stays pinned. He doesn't have that kind of time? But that's not something he thinks is appropriate to say, right now.]

I'm sure he'll come around. Akechi, that is.

[nullificates]

You underestimate my virtue - I don't care if he does, for me in particular. Quite frankly, I have more to gain if he continues to be as he is, but I don't think that'd be good for you or your comrades in the long run, and thus, you'd make my life slightly harder, and I'm not very into hard work myself.

(bullshit, but like, kinda true, but also, very bullshit-- which is it?)

[chemex]

[He chuckles, shrugging.]

I want him to get better for himself, more than I do for me. I just stand to benefit a lot from his improvement, too.

[nullificates]

I don't see him letting you walk around holding his hand in any foreseeable future, though.

(sorry, grace period gone, back to being bitch.)

[chemex]

[He chuckles, shaking his head.]

No, I don't really see that ever being a thing. [He'll roll with the bitch-mode, he's used to it.]

[nullificates]

Does it bother you?

(LET'S ACCEPT THAT HE KNOWS BUT PRETEND THEY'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT IT AT ALL.)

[chemex]

[He rolls that question around in his head a minute, shrugging gently.] Not enough to talk about. I'm happy just getting to be around him, if it's never anything different, that's okay.

[nullificates]

I suppose that's better than frustrating yourself over something you can't control.

(says a control freak, very frustrated at times, alas.)

[chemex]

[He nods, staring just about through his empty glass for a moment.]

...your friend, the one you were asking about. He died, didn't he? [Please don't kill him, Dazai.]

[nullificates]

(of course that would be obvious with how strongly dazai reacted.

thread carefully...)

When I was your age, so it's been a while.

[chemex]

[He draws in a breath, holds it, and exhales, nodding.]

...it's not my place to ask how you deal with it, but. If you ever want to talk about it... We aren't so dissimilar. [Looking up, he offers..., Well. It's a smile, but one that looks like he's smiling through having a really awful stomachache.]

[nullificates]

We aren't? What is it you find similar? Terrible taste in men?

(... kid what's happening to your face...????)

[chemex]

[He has to chuckle, shaking his head.]

That, definitely, yeah.

[nullificates]

Odasaku was the exception for me, though.

( he was a good one. a mafioso who vowed to never kill. who wanted out. whose world was filled with poetry and lines of prose.

there's a smile there. he won't continue on his own.)

[chemex]

[Akira sees that smile. He lets it stay for a moment in silence and then sets his chin in his palm.]

Tell me about him? [It's a question, and one he's not sure he expects Dazai to actually answer, but he also wants to prompt him to talk about happier things.]

[nullificates]

What is it that you want to know? It seems you know quite a lot about us. Seems like my ability is a book, as you told me before.


(the similarities might scare you, but he doesn't say it in a dismissive way. it's a matter of facts. if himself, oda, and ango were friends in his reality, what else might be the same?)

[chemex]

You're really expecting an eighteen year old to have paid that much attention in school?

[Truthfully it was probably one of the days Kawakami let him slack off.] ...'sides, it's different when it's a firsthand account. That's what I wanna know.

[nullificates]

It's not the same, anyway. Not with what you told me.

(mimic doesn't seem to have ever existed. there is a warmness in his heart to know that, at least in akira's reality, odasaku had been doing what he loved.)

... Chuuya talks about it openly and proudly, so there's no reason for me to hide my affiliation with the criminal underground of the world. Chuuya and myself were Executives, below only the Boss of The Port Mafia himself, but Odasaku wasn't. He was just a simple man, with low-grade jobs, because while he was most likely one of the most lethal men I've ever met, he refused to kill, so he never went up the ranks since he couldn't complete simple jobs as such. He wanted to be a writer, so he thought he couldn't write about people while killing them.

... Can you tell me about what he wrote? ... I'd love to hear about it.

[chemex]

[This is what makes Akira a people person. Getting them to talk about themselves, or things they love-- it's the way Dazai explains, loosely, and then asks to hear of the Odasaku Akira is somewhat familiar with. He smiles.]

I think he's the one who wrote Meoto Zenzai-- my friend Ann got all excited about it, because it's named after a sweets shop. It was about a couple, whose love survived all kinds of hardships of the times. [Proving that he was, in fact, actually paying attention.]

[nullificates]

Awfully like Odasaku. I'm glad you can read his thoughts, even if it's-- not Odasaku, but it's a generation gap, isn't it? You told me we've been dead for years. Ah, this makes me a little relieved.

(he's actually sobbing and screaming inside, but instead, he just looks neutral-happy.)