[OPEN] I Want to Swim Away, But Don't Know How...

[treadwater]

Who: Undine and You
When: Mid-May, after the Battle Royale
Where: Pool Deck
Summary: Trying to remember how to relax
Warnings: Discussion of the event and violence possible


1. Flyers
Hand-written flyers on Serena Eterna stationary are posted in a few public spaces. Perhaps you run into Undine while she has an armful of them, sticking some up in the library or Playback or around the seating area of the Windjammer. They're fairly plain, words hand-written and a vague silhouette-style drawing of a person doing a swim:

SWIM LESSONS AT POOL DECK, 3PM-5PM

Apparently someone's looking to do something productive in the aftermath of all the things.

2. Swimsuit Shopping
Of course, Undine's going to stop and find herself a new, flattering swimsuit at the new Tommy Bahama before the lessons. If you're a friend, she might encourage you to join her. It's always an interesting time for her, shopping. Blue hair can clash with a lot of things, if she's not careful, but she also doesn't want to lean matchy-matchy. That's something she does in her transformed form, and she doesn't want to evoke that same sort of mood now.

"Alright, so here's the question: paisley or floral?" She's holding up both suits for a second opinion.

3. Lessons
Swim lessons go here--Undine starts everyone out in the shallow end, getting to know their level of comfort with the water. Luckily, she found some kickboards and floaties on the sports deck, so she can give lessons at all levels. She's an encouraging teacher, a bright smile on her face the whole time.

4. Free Swim
Once lessons are done, Undine gets herself a virgin pina colada from the pool bar and sits at the edge of the water, dangling her feet and relaxing. Now's a good time to talk to her about anything on your mind. Or maybe, maybe to get her to talk about what's on hers.

5. Wildcard
Same bat time, same batchannel: darkersolstice or darkersolstice#9463

Comments

[draughtsman]

He almost sighs with relief at finally having something made. He knows three of the words involved in this drink and, honestly, 'raspberry,' 'milk,' and 'tea' sound lovely together. The straw it comes with is also very large but, since straws are a novelty to him regardless of their relative diameter, Lucius thinks little of it as he takes an incautious drink.

Predictably, just as those before him and many after, Lucius gets a mouth full of tapioca pearls, panics because his drink has solid (or semi-solid) bits in it, and promptly starts sputtering and choking as he tries to deal with that and his surprise.

On the plus side, the drink is very tasty.

On the down side, it is also trying to kill him.

[treadwater]

"And that's the tapioca." She helpfully thumps her hand against his back. "You chew it. It's actually made with the same starch as the white pudding you're familiar with--just larger balls."

[draughtsman]

"It's good," he says thankfully between fits of coughing. This is just a wonderful first impression. Can he not be normal in front of any teenage girls? Is it physically impossible for him to have a boring interaction with any of them?

"So--these are the pearls, then?"

[treadwater]

"Yes, they're taking a bit of poetic license. And when they mention popping pearls, it's a lighter sort of bubble filled with juice--so you can pick a flavor that works with your tea and make a neat combo." She nods. "My friends and I used to go for drinks like this after school all the time."

[draughtsman]

He nods along. The actual activity is beyond him--going for beverages after school with friends? Boggling--but the sentiment makes sense. He finally stops coughing and takes a deep breath. His next sip is more judicious and he's prepared for the pearls themselves.

"You just...had this available?" he's amazed and, really, her order is a very good one. "I can see why you would go often, why drink anything else?"

[treadwater]

"To try all the different flavors, of course. And because sometimes coffee is a necessity--but it doesn't have to taste bad, of course. Oh, and then there's just things like hot chocolate that make you feel warm and cozy..."

She is going to enjoy corrupting him with the pleasure of cafe drinks, clearly.

"I'm Undine, by the way."

[draughtsman]

"Undine! A pleasure," he says and holds out a hand to shake. "Lucius."

He considers the menu again and then looks back at her slyly. "Are there any good snacks that go with this?"

[treadwater]

"I'm sure the pleasure's mine." She shakes with a firm, practiced grip.

"Pastries are always good--they have madeleines here, which are a type of cookie. But there's also, like...finger sandwiches with cucumber and smoked salmon that feel really fancy and special. Or...some of each? We could pretty much have our own tea party, there's absolutely no one here to tell us not to."

[draughtsman]

This girl is criminally precious and the moment she shakes his hand, he's done. If she asks him for any favor, he will grant it. Lucius cannot remember the last time a teenage girl was ever even remotely this nice to him. He is baffled and endeared in equal measure.

"Then let's have a tea party." He decides, as though he is not clearly a pirate and thus unsuited for a tea party in a boba shop. "I am on vacation and I just found my new favorite drink. Let's celebrate?"

[treadwater]

"That sounds like a perfect reason to me. If we even need a reason at all, given the circumstances. You pick a table, I'll make food happen."

That way, she can surprise him with some of her picks, because she wants to see the look on his face when he bites into a smol fruit tart, or some decadent chocolate thing.

[draughtsman]

Lucius is delighted and immediately takes his pink beverage with its weird, squishy tapioca orbs, and drops himself down at one of the little tables.

This place is small but a little fancy--all the tables and chairs are actual wood and not cast plastic, they're all painted with this chalky white, there's little mint green tablecloths and fake flowers on the wall and the electric hanging lights are all encased in whimsical glass jars. This is very much a building designed for and catering to teenage girls.

It's comfy. Well, more comfy than the loud clubs and bars that are targeted toward him (generally). He can see the appeal.

[treadwater]

Undine brings over a platter of treats--sweets and savories alike, probably more than the two of them will be able to eat in a sitting.

"So, how're you enjoying shipboard life?"

[draughtsman]

Lucius eyes the plate of tiny fancily cut sandwiches and cookies with a look of combined disbelief and skepticism. This is really something they can just...have here? He plucks one up--cream cheese and cucumber it looks like--and pops it in his mouth as she asks her question. Once he's swallowed, he makes a sort of strained expression--he knows he has an opinion that runs counter to most people but, honestly:

"You know, I kind of like it here?" he says, quietly, with a conspiratorial note. "Oh sure, it's extremely cursed. It's a haunted barge of the damned stuck in perpetual limbo but...the food is very good. Also beds! They are very nice beds."

He takes a cookie and gestures with it.

"How are you liking it?"

[treadwater]

"The beds are nice, I guess. And not having, you know, responsibilities like in the real world, I'm not going to complain about that, but..."

She pauses, looking at him for a moment as if checking to see if the question's a courtesy, or if she can spill her guts a little.

[draughtsman]

He recognizes that brief pause, the look that asks if he actually wants the answer. It's odd to see on such an adorable face, but there all the same. He cocks a brow at her as he takes a bite of his cookie.

His expression says: go on?

[treadwater]

Her voice is softer, and she drops a little of the sunny cheer she's been showing him, letting him see beneath the chipperness to what she's actually like.

"The part that's the absolute worst is the explaining. The times when I tell people about myself and my world and they look at me in horror, when what I'm talking about is just...how life is, where I'm from. It's all I've ever known, and it's very clearly not how things are for them, and it makes me feel so alone and so...bitter, every time it happens."

[draughtsman]

Oh, that hits him much harder than he expects and, he realizes guiltily, that is half of her point. He frowns a little and sets his cookie aside.

"Yes, that's...hard," he agrees with as much sympathy as he can show without it looking like pity. "I've felt something like that a few times."

But this really isn't about him. He leans in a bit and gives her a smile.

"Do you want to tell me? I promise to reign in the horror."

[treadwater]

"I kind of don't want to tell you right now, I just want to whine about it." She ducks her head, looking down at her drink. "Maybe later, I'll go into details. For today, I don't want to ruin the tea party completely."

[draughtsman]

"That's fair," he says gently. He's curious but he's not about to hound the girl, not when she's staring at her boba tea like it's personally disappointed her.

"Hey, want to know something dumb about where I'm from?" Lucius asks, cheerfully cha ging the subject before it drags them down further. He smiles and picks up a new type of tiny sandwich from the tray.

He has no fun (age appropriate) gossip to share, but stupid pirate stories have been a hit with most people thusfar. If that fails, he can just grill her about menu options until he can order drinks in this place.

[treadwater]

“Yes, absolutely. The dumber, the better.” She does perk up a little, grabbing a petit four to munch while he tells her.

[draughtsman]

"Alright," He clears his throat and sits up straighter, his boba drink held in both hands on the table. "So, hi, I'm a pirate, that bit's important. Well, it used to be when we bedded down on a ship we'd have hammocks. Terrible for sleeping, hammocks, but they stow away nicely so Captains don't usually care if they have awful back support.

"My lovely--friend--Pete was trying to help me out because, honestly, I just could not stand another day of sleeping in a hammock or on the deck or else I was going to scream. So he gets it in his head that he needs to make bed, for comfort, but all we have to stuff it with are the sails, or rope.

"He can't quite take down the sails without anybody noticing, but rope, rope we have everywhere. Can't walk across deck without literally tripping over it. It's absurd--anyway, we have all this rope but it's the big, thick, harsh kind.

"He gets together with a few of the other mates and they try to like...tie it together in a big net? Not a one had ever made a net, not once, because they're pirates not fishermen. Not big on fundamentals, pirates.

"Well, nighttime rolls around and we're about to join Captain for the story he's reading to everyone, but I cannot find half the crew it feels like. Very odd stuff. I wouldn't have been surprised if they all wandered off to--play badminton or have a jam..session--but I checked all their usual spots and couldn't find a one of them!

"Then I hear Captain give a shout and come out on deck and all of them, Pete, Fang, Ivan, Frenchie, John, are all caught up in this bizarre--"

He pauses and tries to gesture, letting go of his drink to pantomime...what can only be translated as a spiky ball. If he'd known what they were, he would have compared the sight to pulling tangled Christmas lights from a box.

"--little mass of rope and men, they'd slipped while trying to mount the thing and all the little knots they made gave out and left them all coiled up and swinging from a yardarm. They were all so embarrassed that they just ignored me calling for them and hoped they could swing back over the deck without anybody noticing.

"They were fine, of course, but I think a few of the crew hurt themselves laughing at the sight of five full grown pirates dangling from a pole over the ocean." He feels that is a pretty good story and takes a sip of his boba. "The sweethearts explained what they planned, apologized, and decided to just be dolls and let me lounge across them for the night. Best bed I ever had. Until here. These are good beds."

[treadwater]

"Okay, wait-wait-wait. You're a pirate and your captain reads stories to the crew? That's the most adorable thing I have ever heard in my life. Also, the mental image of you lounging across half the crew is the second-most adorable. I had never heard about pirates doing anything like that before."

She laughs, clearly delighted by everything going on here.

[draughtsman]

Her laugh is adorable and her delight is a much better look than the dour strain of a few moments ago. Lucius is pleased as punch as he sips his drink.

"I am and he does. He had a library with him, free for the crew to use as they like, but found out I was the only one who could read. Tragic, yeah? He decided it would be best if he read to everyone, instead, so they could enjoy the books too."

He plucks up another sandwich.

"He does the voices for all the characters, it's very entertaining after a day of wanton piracy."

[treadwater]

"What...what sort of piracy do you actually do? Like...are you someone who goes out and hurts people, Lucius?"

She would be a little disappointed to hear that. Not surprised, though, given.

[draughtsman]

"Me?" He grimaces readily, and recoils a little. "No, I haven't got the stomach for it."

It's true. He'd normally be more hesitant to admit that, pirates being how they are, but she is not a pirate and there's something just...comforting about her presence. Maybe it's just how nice she is? It's hard to say.

"I was...am a pickpocket? I mostly just take notes and write things down now."