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

[sulahnan]

So in a century and a quarter you've become adept at question dodging and massages, it's no wonder being a duelist got neglected.

[ As reluctant as she is to move, Athessa has to do something to prevent herself from getting massaged to sleep. So she pushes herself up, leaning on one hand and caring very little about any of the sand stuck to her skin. ]

How else did you spend your time, before all this?

[highborn]

[ He shifts to accommodate, and makes absolutely no effort to not enjoy the view, sand and all. ]

I travelled.

[ He leans in, one hand brushing sand gently from one of her shoulders. ]

And before that, I largely hosted extravagant parties on my family's dime. Lots of food, wine, and sex. [ He quirks a humorless smile. ] I made quite a nuisance of myself, really.

[sulahnan]

[ She doesn't move away from his touch, watching him with keen interest when he leans closer and tipping her head eeeever so slightly towards the opposite shoulder. Baring her neck, in part, but also angling her face so their noses won't collide in case he— ]

Aha, [ as if everything makes sense now. ] It's no wonder you and Byerly get on so well.

Whereabouts did you travel? What kinds of places, I mean.

[ Obviously she won't know any of them. ]

[highborn]

[ He knows that tip of the head, and he loves it. But he doesn't steer for the obvious just yet — first his brushing hand turns into a trailing finger, wandering the road of her collarbone. ]

A bumpy start, but yes, we found some common ground. [ His finger comes to rest at the hollow of her neck, and his eyes flick back up to hers again. ] I spent some time in a desert. There I found a tiny town beholden to a very large goat, with nearly all the people wearing masks and veils, and the children named with numbers. I didn't spend long there.

[sulahnan]

A goat?! A big goat.

[ She laughs, delighted by this unexpected detail. ]

Wh— How big was this very large goat, exactly?

[highborn]

Oh, monstrous, I suppose. It only appeared for some yearly sacrifice to it. I made sure not to be there to see it.

[sulahnan]

What if it had actually been a regular goat, just a little bit bigger than the others?

[highborn]

Hmm, it could have been. It wouldn't be all so strange for a small village to fly into hysterics over a larger than average goat.

[sulahnan]

Definitely not. Edgard over there—

[ She gestures without bothering to see if she's doing so in the right direction. Wherever Edgard is. ]

—practically flew into hysterics over a smaller than average one. You'd think it was a fucking dracolisk the way he went on.

[highborn]

Did he? My very own personal hero? [ He glances back in ... whatever direction, fails to spot him there, and looks anyway. ] He plucked me out of a tree back on that island, you know. I won't hear one word against him.

[ It's a mild tone, suggesting that may not strictly be true. Go ahead and mock, mean girls gossip is safe here. ]

[sulahnan]

One wouldn't be enough anyway, I'd need...

[ How many words does she need... ]

At least fourteen.

[highborn]

[ He snorts. ]

Alright then, we'd better hear them.

[sulahnan]

A loud-mouthed imbecile and liability who is as loud as he is smelly.

[ She tallies them off on her fingers, exactly fourteen (because the hyphenate counts as two). ]

[highborn]

[ He whistles low, impressed. Well counted. ]

Perhaps. [ He sinks from his upright seat, settling back into a comfortable sprawl next to Athessa. ] But seeing him at the right time, when I really needed a hand -- well, I could have kissed him.

[sulahnan]

[ doubt.jpg ]

That'd be like kissing a soup pot that hasn't been washed in forty years, if the seasoning for every soup was dirt and hair and sweat.

[highborn]

[ The smile of the man who can typically find the appeal in anyone does manage to go a little strained. She's not wrong, precisely. ]

I did say 'could have'. Not did.

[sulahnan]

And I said 'would be', not is.

[ She shrugs. She did just suffer through sharing a room with him, so she'd be willing to bet on her assessment. ]

But yes, he got so startled by a little goat that he fell off his horse.

[highborn]

[ Hm. Kind of strangely adorable, but more importantly: ] Are the horse and the goat intact and well?

[sulahnan]

Oh they're fine. The horse is in the stables, the goat back with its herd. A happy ending for all involved.

[highborn]

And? [ Prompting with cocked brows: ] Edgard didn't strike his head on a rock or anything? I'm not certain I can trust you not to include that in a happy ending.

[sulahnan]

[ She laughs. ]

Alas, no rocks. But at least that job didn't involve having to share a room with him.

[ Looking out over the sand toward the water, Athessa lets out a breath. Time to change the subject, lest she say anything too bitter, or too hurtful. ]

What's your world called?

[highborn]

[ Hmm, yes, there is a bit going unsaid there. A subject change seems very much in order, and he rolls with it smoothly. ]

The land was called Rune. My city in particular, Aluthsa. I did a fair bit of travel, if it's stories of a distant land that you're after.

[sulahnan]

I just rather like listening to people talk about the places they call home.

[ That much, though said in the same light tone, is a bit too honest to be in the spirit of flirting. ]

I find it interesting, how people choose to describe it. Not that stories of distant lands from a completely different world than my own aren't perfectly enticing on their own.

[highborn]

[ It's a light tone, but it does put him in mind of the brief summary of Athessa he'd been given from Byerly. The clan, and such. It's enough to gave him pause for a thoughtful second, and give an answer more truthful than he might usually consider.

Carefully: ] Home isn't anything I look back on fondly. In fact, I've looking forward to making something new here.

[sulahnan]

Oh.

[ Vanadi may be the only Rifter she can name who doesn't have some drive to go back where they came from. ]

Something new, like...permanent?