OPEN LOG: A beach party.

[bouchonne]

WHO: Everyone.
WHAT: A beach party.
WHEN: On a very hot day. At some point during the month.
WHERE: A beach just outside of Kirkwall.
NOTES: It is a beach party.

During a particularly hot and oppressive week in Kingsway, the Diplomacy division announces it will be diverting some of its funds to organize a party on a nearby beach. Kirkwallers are invited as well - a relationship-building sort of effort - but the party is mostly intended for morale boosting for Riftwatch itself.

The party features the following:

• Transportation to this lovely beach from the Gallows and from Kirkwall.


• Sunbathing and swimming in skimpy (or non-skimpy, if you're a fuckin square) bathing suits.


• Live music and dancing.


• Delectable grilled meats (and some vegetables, if you're a fuckin square).


• Rum drinks served in hollowed-out fruits.


• A sandcastle-building competition.


• A swim race.


• A few fun little sailboats bobbing around out on the water.

Does all that sound too wholesome? Great! There's also a cave system in the cliffs next to the beach. These little grottos are full of nooks and crannies and are perfect for a bit of sinful action after dark; in one cavern, there'll be some gambling games where some of Kirkwall's citizens are losing money; in another, you're likely to run into people making out.

Have fun! Soak up sun! Don't get in trouble! Or do, whatever, it's a beach party.

Comments

[muckspout]

Anything interesting?

[cozen]

[ Bastien thinks about it, head slowly tilting until his shoulders tilt, too. ]

I suppose that depends. What interests you?

[muckspout]

[Edgard laughs and raises his eyebrows at Bastien and ticks items off his fingers as he speaks.]

Caves. Things inside caves. People who go inside caves. Activities people who go inside caves get up to, and finally [He holds up
his thumb.] Things that Bastien finds interesting that weren’t covered by the other options.

[cozen]

Ah, such wide and varied interests! You are a man after my own heart. Let me see...

I saw a spider. A very little one. [ He holds up his fingers in demonstration. No more than an inch. By Thedosian standards, since a child couldn't ride it, that's tiny. ] Some stalagmites and ghoul's beard. Some symbols etched into the walls—smugglers, I assume. Or bored children.

I saw some people kissing. I saw some other people who wanted to be kissing, but were not. They were pretending to only be there to watch other people and giggle about it, but they were sitting very close. I did not recognize them, though.

And in the other I saw a dice game that looked ready to come to blows, for a moment, before the man I thought might throw a punch just gave up and walked out instead. That was nice.

[muckspout]

[Edgard leans towards Bastien, listening eagerly, face lighting up as Bastien lists all these things.]

I knew it was busy in those caves, it's been very quiet out here and not everyone can be sleeping.

[He offers Bastien his flask.] And what were you going to do now before I walked over here?

[cozen]

[ Flask accepted, Bastien uses it to point out toward the little sailboats anchored just offshore. ]

Wishing I knew how to sail. [ He takes a drink without sniffing first, but whatever he finds inside, he doesn't choke. Choking is for amateurs. ] I do not suppose you do.

[muckspout]

[Edgard shrugs and glances out at the sailboat.]

No, I don't. But, how hard can it be?

[Edgard waggles his eyebrows.]

[cozen]

Well...

[ He spent long enough pretending to be a sailor—for infiltration purposes—to realize it was more complicated than he’d always thought. But that was also on a ship. Not a dinky little boat. Despite the hesitation, he’s grinning at the eyebrow waggle. ]

We could go have a closer look, at least.

[muckspout]

[Edgard cackles with glee and then points at him.]

Good man, Bastien. I like you. You are fun. Do you know how many people here are no fun at all?

[He touches his shoulder.]

On y va!

[cozen]

[ Having been here for nearly two years now, Bastien is very familiar with how little fun some people are—but he still makes a scandalized face at Edgard when he says so.

Still starts walking, though, toward the pier that will let them reach one of the little boats without having to wade out through the water. ]

You said you didn't stay anywhere very long, [ he says on the way. ] Were any of the places you lived by the sea?

[muckspout]

[Edgard laughs at Bastien's scandalized face and follows him on the pier. Thank the Maker it exists! Edgard would've waded through the water for this, but seriously didn't want to.]

Not often. Maybe once or twice. We were usually needed further inland. But, I suppose you grew up with the sea?

[cozen]

Beside it, [ Bastien says, feet now thunking on the wood of the pier, ] but not really on it or in it. We had the Miroir—more hospitable, you know.

[ But fuck Emperor Reville for building it. ]

What do you mean when you say you were needed? What did you do?

[muckspout]

[Edgard realizes he slipped up. He's been drinking too much, fuck. Nevertheless, he continues conversation unruffled.]

Hospitable? I suppose that depends on who you're asking. But, I've only heard, you would know better.

[Time to be more careful.] We were thieves.
[He says it casually, grinning at Bastien and looking meaningfully at one of the boats.]

[cozen]

Thieves!

[ The exclamation is more excited than scandalized. Edgard might as well have just said he was part of a traveling band of acrobats. ]

Should I be clutching my valuables?

[muckspout]

[Edgard shakes his head and waves his arm, laughing.]

No. Not you. Only people who deserve it. [Edgard smiles and points to a boat on the far in with yellow sails.]

I like the look of that one. What do you think?

[cozen]

[ Only people who deserve it begs some other questions, like who are they, and how can you tell. But the lowered yellow sails of the boat Edgard indicates are bright and sunny even in the dark, so all of that can wait for some other time. ]

It's the best one. C'est sûr.

[ When they reach it he hops across the short gap between the dock and the boat, then turns to check— ]

Can you swim?

[muckspout]

Yes, I can swim. Would prefer not to though.

[Edgard grins and hops over following Bastien into the best sailboat on the dock.]

Can you?