Beach Party Log

[celebrity_commentator]

Who: The people of Union and all their wonderful friends who can be bothered to take a vacation.
Where: The Tropical Island
When: On and off, the second week of June
What: Union's more-than-annual beach party. Open log, tag around!

The sun is shining, the Wingull are squawking, and the beach of the Tropical Island is as beautiful as always. The whole city has more or less been effectively encouraged to come out, especially people who need to recover from the shenanigans in Sanctuary. The air is filled with the sounds and smells of Citadel visitors grilling, the expected murmurs of shock at Calderan fashions hitting the place where they're most practical, and of course, the colorful sights of everyone having a good time. There's lots of places to see and things to do on the island, and now's the time to enjoy them.

Comments

[wishingalone]

[She looks sideways at him and nods. The faith in her makes her wonder, though. She smiles, finally, idly toying with a ringlet.]

Thank you. I'll do so. And if you should have an idea about how I might be useful to Citadel abroad... please share.

[Then she looks back over the cliff.] Now. Shall we see how cliff diving works?

[punchesyu]

[...Oh yeah. That thing he was trying to avoid.]

Don't you think sitting up here and enjoying the view is way better than that? [He says worriedly, fearing for his life.] Check out how beautiful it is! You wouldn't want to ruin that!

[He's going to die he swears]

[wishingalone]

[She looks at him. It's understanding, but... skeptical.]

We don't have to if you don't want to.

[punchesyu]

[He really doesn't want to. But it seems like she wants to. Why is she looking at him like that...]

I mean... [He takes a step over to the edge of the cliff, looking down. That was so. Far. Down.]

How do you do this again? [Only asking to make sure that it's safe, but he's sure it's probably not.]

[wishingalone]

You do a running start off the cliff, then jump at the end. This one's straight down, so there isn't that much danger. And there--

[She points at the water below.]

You see how much darker the water is? It means that it is much deeper there. If you like, I can go first.

[punchesyu]

[He's not so sure about this. He might of been able to muster the courage to do it if the cliff wasn't so damn high, but it's high.]

You're sure there's no rocks down there? [His dumb boy mind is starting to take over though. If she can do it, why can't he? And she seems pretty confident.]

[wishingalone]

[Mami glances down at the bottom again, before she nods. She's learned to do water landings as a matter of necessity in battle and while exploring. Sometimes, there's no tree to latch her ribbon to.]

I'm sure of it.

[punchesyu]

[There comes a point in every guy's life where they are faced with a decision that is decidedly stupid, but necessary to retain any kind of manliness they've clung to if they're the kind of guy that does that kind of thing. Yosuke is one of those, coupled with the want to impress a lady and being easy to give into peer pressure, no matter how small it may be.

He gulps, looking over the edge. Well, if Mami can do it.

He can too.]

Here goes nothing.

[He takes several steps back, says a small prayer to himself, and runs as fast as he can, which is surprisingly faster than one might expect of him.

And he jumps. With nothing beneath him anymore, he makes the mistake of looking down, and starts to scream.]

THIS WAS A MISTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SPLASH.]

[wishingalone]

[Mami watches Yosuke leap. She blinks when he goes faster than she expected -- and then she pauses when she hears his scream. She covers her mouth with her hand.]

[...oops?]

[Well, she better go down there and see what the damage is. Mami does her own run and jump -- shooting off the side of the cliff. She comes down in a more practiced dive. She hits the water with her own splash, well away from him.]

[And then Mami comes up and looks around for him. Just in case. She might be ever-so-slightly worried.]

[punchesyu]

[He's splashing around near her, the sudden impact of the water plus the fact that he was freaking out to begin with wasn't helping his situation. He's not drowning, but he's freaking out.]

Aaaahhhh! Holy crap, I thought I was gunna die! Why is this water so cold?!

[He yells as he pathetically splashes around like a Magikarp.]

[wishingalone]

But you lived, didn't you?

[Mami smiles and grabs him by the shoulder. It's not so much a sign of support -- well, it is that, but.. -- as it's a way to make sure his flailing doesn't turn into drowning. She can keep him above water, if need be.]

Unless I blinked and missed it...

[punchesyu]

[The hand on his shoulder helps to calm him down, and he actually gets a little red. Is it because he's embarrassed or because she's so close to him now? Who can tell.]

Aw, c'mon, don't give me that crap. Yeah, I lived... [He sighs.]

You girls are crazy, you're already down here and you don't even look phased at all!

[wishingalone]

I have done it before. I am a Valkyrie, after all.

[She winks. And then she pulls her hand back from his shoulder. No need to fluster him too badly.] Did you have fun with it?

[punchesyu]

It was scary as hell! [That's the honest truth, and it comes flying out of his mouth before he can even think about it.] But...

I guess it was kinda fun.

[That is definitely on the list of things that are not boring.]

[wishingalone]

Sometimes, being a little scared is fun. [At least, that's how Mami has coped with vast tracts of her entire existence. C'est la vie.]

Maybe we won't do it again right away, though.

[punchesyu]

I don't think I'm ready to have a heart attack again-! [He's glad she suggested not doing it again.] Let's do something a little less life-threatening next time, okay?

Man, I'd rather train than do that again-! [Yosuke's life is tough. Totally.]

[wishingalone]

I'll spare you from such exertions. For the time being.

[But she might drag him along some day. Being a Valkyrie requires a certain amount of daring-do.]

Train, though? In combat?

[punchesyu]

Sec.

[He starts to swim back, and doesn't answer the question though until they reach the sandy shore. He sits, feet at the edge of the water, the waves pushing water up over his feet and receding again.]

I mean, yeah, sorta. Ever since that Gigas crap, I've been trying to do a little bit more than just have a pair of weapons on me. [Normally he'd try to pass this off to try to look amazing in this girl's eyes, but he can't lie to her. She's from Citadel, she knows perfectly well that he isn't trained for combat, or even knows how to train, probably just by looking at him. He looks like a lean, only slightly muscular boy from the tree.]

That shit's totally hard, I really gotta give you ladies credit for what you do. I'm still sore from a few days ago...!

[wishingalone]

[Mami swims back most of the distance, but then she makes another ribbon strand and fires it into a tree limb. She pulls herself out, then drops down, and lands beside him. She's now trying to get her hair in some semblance of order. HER DRILL CURLS NOOOOO]

[She looks down at him, though, and nods. She's well aware of how often men from Citadel fight.]

It helps when you've done it most of your life. What have you been practicing? You mentioned weapons?

[punchesyu]

[He may or may not be checking her out as she pulls herself from the water. Even with her hair all wet and messed up, she's still hot...focus, Yosuke. He blinks, taking a second to answer, but finally spits it out.]

Yeah, I picked up a couple of kunai a while back, and got some sweet ones after we took Sanctuary. Anything else just weighs me down.

[It's his only saving grace- despite being clumsy, Yosuke is light and quick on his feet.]

[wishingalone]

[Mami mostly -- mostly! -- manages to miss that he's checking her out. She does glance for a moment at him and pauses, her head tilting to the side. She's busy fixing her hair as much as she can.]

That's a better idea. Some people choose weaponry that is far too heavy. [She's lucky. She can make her own weapons.] You... aren't a Windblessed, I presume?

[punchesyu]

Nope. [Spoken like it's just a fact of life.] I'm just your normal average guy from Citadel. Nothing special here.

You know, except that I help run a business, if that counts. [He winks, the cherry on top to make light of the situation, even though he feels a little down about it.] Dad isn't all that happy with me, but I told him I gotta do what I gotta do- so he's giving me some time off from work to get some practice in. He was surprisingly understanding about it, even if he thinks I should leave it to people who are more prepared, I guess.

[wishingalone]

The world being what it is... [She shakes her head. She might have somewhat jaded views; after all, she's had encounters with wild Pokemon and fought a war recently.]

Having a way to defend yourself is important. We can't know that someone will be there to defend us at all times, sadly.

[punchesyu]

Dammit, that's what I said! [He remembers when the lava god was headed towards Citadel too. There'd been worries, and it was so bad that they had to reach out for help from Union and Caldera. Even the Matriarch had personally contacted them, it was a mess.]

I can't just stand by while this crap happens.

[That's why he's gotta get better- even if he doesn't exactly knows what he's doing half the time.]

You understand what I mean, right?

[wishingalone]

[Mami remembers that. She had been terrified out of her mind when it occurred. She felt helpless against the terrible god, and she didn't know what they could really do against it. They owe Union and Caldera a debt, but...]

[She does understand. She nods, hesitating a moment.]

Yes. The danger that that so many have been put in... I can't imagine standing idle then. Especially as... [She looks down at her hand, her fingers curling. She almost says 'as a Windblessed.'] ...as a Valkyrie. Others shouldn't suffer.