[OPEN] From the Beaches They Ran

[businessorlibation]

Who: Johnny
When: Pre-Excursion
Where: Usual Haunts
Summary: Pre-Excursion
Warnings: None yet

1. Underneath the Waves [Promenade Bars]
a. Bobby B's
Hokay, look, Johnny hasn't given up his smoking habit, even if he still struggles to remember the new name for the cigar lounge. One will most likely find him here in the mornings or late in the evenings, when he isn't at Stan the Man. Find him here if you're a tobacco connoisseur yourself, or if you're into whiskey, or even if you're just into short men in tidy suits.

b. Stan the Man
It would not be an exaggeration to say Johnny spends time here every single day. Part of the reason is that in June, all the flavored vodka on the ship had been consumed within the first week after the labyrinth, and he's not about to allow that again. This isn't to say he's on strict rationing, but he is suggesting drinks to people that will use what he has most of, first.

Today, he's working with gin, mostly, and some of the tequilas and cachaça. Feel free to approach for a drink!


2. Won't Repeat the Same Chapter [All Over]
a. Excursion Goers
If you've signed up for the excursion that's in the near future, you may be approached by Johnny with a notepad and pen in hand. He doesn't seem to be here for a fight, and he, if anything, seems to be making sure he's welcome to approach before doing so.

b. Anyone and Everyone
In between his moments of being intrusive and asking nosy questions, Johnny may be spotted around Sundries and the infirmary, getting packages of supplies ready. Yes, everyone who goes on this excursion is dying--that doesn't mean that having bandages or Advil or other important supplies on hand will go utterly unappreciated. He's often thought of emergency preparedness since last August, how things could have been handled then. He's trying to find a way to be useful now.

Don't get the wrong idea, it's certainly not because he feels guilty about the fact he's not going, himself.


3. Knew What They Had to Do [Wildcard]
darkersolstice or same at Discord to plot.

Comments

2 [B]

[crushed_pearls]

Erin's come to check the mail at Sundries. Nothing, for once, which feels odd to her but then, the glut of packages constantly coming also felt odd to her. But here's Johnny, seemingly...shopping.

Her ears twitch in curiosity.

"'cha up to, my guy?"

[businessorlibation]

"There's an excursion coming up. I'm not going on it. But I'm still going to be useful, in whatever way I can, to those who are, before and after."

And that means supplies, somehow. It means other things, too, though.

[crushed_pearls]

This is where Erin would blink, IF HER WRITER HAD ANOTHER JOKE -

"Huh. Y'know, I was gonna start getting with the others who aren't going, see if we can't coordinate on helping. Cass...asked me not to go too." Try not to sound as conflicted about that as you do, Erin.

1A

[pineapplesalmon]

César enters Bobby B's. César has entered the cigar lounge. This is not a drill!

It also seems to be with purpose and he makes his way towards Johnny when he spots him. César will wave off any attempt for Johnny to put his cigar out.

He's into both whiskey and short men in tidy suits. The tobacco, not so much. But he's here!

"Hi!" César is trying hard not to cough and makes it most of the way to Johnny's side before he coughs once for the first time.

[businessorlibation]

"Hi, my treasure. What's going on?" Because it is truly interesting to see César here. He came here instead of waiting, so something must be going wrong, right?

Look, Johnny's got a right to be worried, given Ship.

[pineapplesalmon]

... Oh.

César sits down next to him, looking sheepish. "I'm just trying to see if I can get *cough* used to it."

What's wrong? César might be bored.

2 - a

[maximumcake]

Max hasn't signed up to go on the excursions, but he's distressed by the number of people who have. He's already been toying with the idea of doing something to make it easier on all the people who are going to wake up at 6:00 a.m. that day with fresh horrors on their minds. Little does he know, Johnny is already way ahead of him.

He watches curiously from afar as Johnny approaches someone with a pencil in hand to... take their order? Huh.

Once that conversation ends, he approaches Johnny directly. "What are you doing?"

[businessorlibation]

"Breakfast orders for those going on the excursion--what sort of food or other treats they might like to wake up to." And he offers Max the notepad so he can look for himself at what people want.

You know, in case this list would intrigue him for any reason. Any reason at all.

[maximumcake]

His eyebrows launch skyward and he all but snatches the notepad to look. No more perfect bait could have existed.

"Do you want help? I'm pretty good in the kitchen. I could make a lot of this from scratch."

2a.

[decrypter]

Johnny's always welcome to approach her. When she hears his voice, she brightens, laying aside the newest book she's been reading to pay more attention to him.

"What's on your mind?"

[businessorlibation]

"Breakfast, of course."

He audibly clicks the pen point out.

"When you return from the upcoming excursion, what is it you'd like to wake up to?"

1a

[lightconductor]

Ah, look, someone else who struggles with the new name.

Watson is not surprised to run into Johnny here, of all places on the ship, but he steps over to offer a kiss in greeting before going to find himself a suitable bit of tobacco for the evening.

"I see you're still up, love."

And if there's a little bit of guilt about his decision to run off to certain death, again, well, he does his best to bury it.

[businessorlibation]

"But I have promised to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go, before I sleep."

He has his notepad nearby, and is making a list of supplies and ingredients and help needed to accomplish everything.

2A

[angrycrabnoises]

As Johnny approaches, Karkat looks up from a book he’s been reading and says, “OH. HEY,” in a somewhat softer tone than his usual exclamations.

“SORRY ABOUT SNAPPING AT YOU LAST TIME WE TALKED, WHEN YOU WERE LITERALLY JUST TRYING TO HELP. I JUST KINDA DO THAT SOMETIMES. IT’S A WHOLE THING.”

He glances at the notepad. “WHAT’S THE NOTEPAD FOR?”

[businessorlibation]

"With the upcoming 'everyone dies' excursion, a few of us are, well. Trying to help in our own ways. Breakfasts for people when they come back to life. Other treats available, or arrangements made on request. It's certain to be an ordeal, whatever happens. Having something to look forward to after might help."

A pause. He probably should acknowledge that apology, but he's hardly holding any of what happened against Karkat.

"I'm not mad about you snapping. We're, ah...'cool'."

2a+b a lil bit

[dupli_arms]

This isn't the first time since the signup for the upcoming excursion was posted that someone had approached him to try and get a read on him, his abilities, his general mental state going into what was seemingly a doomed scenario. He hasn't been particularly secretive about anything at all regarding himself when he's met other people and and he actually recognizes Johnny from having attended the small Pride festival. He regards the man with a slightly nonplussed expression mostly hidden behind soft blue fabric, and mentally shrugs.

"Do you need to know anything in particular?"

[businessorlibation]

"Yeah. There is." And then he cracks an easy smile. "What do you want for breakfast, when you come back from dying?"

Look, Johnny isn't here to talk anyone out of things, or to question their reasoning or mindset. That's not what a Johnny Summer is for.

1a

[pointofhonoria]

It's late evening, and Crabb settles in near Johnny as he smokes, with a glass of her usual whiskey in hand that she raises toward him in greeting before taking a sip. The moment's quiet only lasts as long as it takes her to swallow. "You've sure been a busy one, last few days."

[businessorlibation]

"Taking on the role of 'death concierge'. Speaking of, 'Noria, what would you like for breakfast after the excursion?"

He asks it so casually, like he might ask her what she wants him to bring down from the Margravine for herself and her moms partners.

1b & 2a

[teethoftherisk]

The last time Johnny had spotted Siffleur, he'd had to duck out of answering whatever his questions were, since he had a date with Jack at the Canada Day party.

But it's a few days later, and Siffleur spots Johnny at the bar and decides that yeah, he can do that now. He heads on up, giving him the usual nod. "Make me something fancy, and I'll get to your questions."

[businessorlibation]

"Fancy, hm?"

The cocktail that Johnny lands on involves an absinthe rinse, then building a Negroni in the cocktail shaker, shaking, pouring it in the glass, expressing the oils from a sliver of orange peel over the drink and rubbing the peel around the rim of the glass before dropping it into the red liquid.

"Does this count?"

2 a

[saltwaterlungs]

Catching him at one of the few places he rears his head in public, Darcy eyes Johnny's approach with muted suspicion, his glance going immediately to the notepad as he stops the punching bag from swinging with a gloved hand.

"Whatever it is, no comment," because the notepad says journalist and Johnny seems like the type to put together a newspaper for the ship. He's not getting quoted today.

[businessorlibation]

Johnny considers that answer, writes it down verbatim on the notepad and turns to walk away. Look, he can take a 'fuck off' as well as anyone, and that was a pretty clear one.

2a

[light_mischief]

Skulduggery has a similar internal reaction to Johnny's tentative approach as Darcy had -- that this has something to do with a personal op-ed that Johnny's planning on writing, or that the notepad contains a list of reasons why he's being stupid for signing up.

Of course, he's less inclined to try and head someone off before they can ask for his opinions. That would mean not sharing them!!

"What's on your mind, Johnny?" he asks, which should be enough of an indication that he's willing to talk.

[businessorlibation]

“How to be a proper death concierge to someone who I can’t offer a post-excursion meal of choice. I’m stymied, flummoxed and baffled about how to handle meeting your needs, Mr. Pleasant.”

As he struts over like the peacock he is.