come_sailaway | JUNE EVENT: CAMP

JUNE EVENT: CAMP

early on June 10th, Friday's morning announcements end with a request for everyone going on the latest excursion to meet her in the atrium. she seems in noticeably better spirits than she had been last time, and she leads them cheerfully to the tender. once they are all aboard, and the door is securely shut, the interior fills with gas, and, perhaps, their last thought before they slip into unconsciousness is "oh shit, not again."

passengers wake up on a rickety old school bus, driving down a dirt road surrounded by woods. what is it that they notice first? that, no matter what they were wearing before, they are now wearing a camp t-shirt and legitimately horrifyingly short shorts? the overstuffed backpack between their knees? the words "take one down and pass it around" dying on their lips? the fact that Friday is absolutely driving the bus?

or, maybe the fact that it's already slowing down, pulling up in front of a massive wooden sign, saying:

CAMP AION

when they get out of the bus, Friday is the one to divide them up into their cabin groups, and she is the one to give the counselors their very official-looking clipboards and whistles. she explains that they are in charge, and that she will be back to pick them up in a week, and... very little else. she responds to nothing outside of whatever is on her unseen little script, and she gets back on the bus shortly after, leaving them there.

welcome to camp. let's make some summer memories!

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"Oh my god- does nobody fucking talk to each other on this ship?! It was a big deal, it went on for like, three days, fucking hell."

Darcy rolls her eyes. Seriously, how did the murder-fest not come up at all over the past month?

"The Captain is probably in the bridge, back on the ship, watching us. And, because apparently you don't know anything, he's an evil immortal magician that can't be stabbed, trying to achieve godhood. I'm sure he'll take complaints about murdering children and your egg allergy as soon as you get back to the ship, because he cares so much about those things."

Oh! He talks? And he's from Steven's side of the planet, too. Steven looks at the skull in awe and he might have selectively heard the 8km part out - that sounds really far - as he starts following the skeleton into the woods.

"Could I ask you another question?" Steven ventures and before he gives his new friend a chance to respond he just launches straight into it. "How do you talk with no visible vocal cords? Do you have a brain? Is any part of you, like, 'meaty'? Does banging your elbow hurt more than if I bang my elbow? Do you even feel any pain? Can you see me with no eyeballs? What happens if you break a bone?! HOW DO YOU GO TO THE BATHROOM WITH NO MUSCLES TO HOLD IN YOURRRRrrrrr ummmmm waste... material?"

[ That "anything else" seems to be a just a boy, who pulls his hands out of his pockets and holds them up in surrender when he's spotted. ]

Just out here to take a piss. What're you up to?

( sob, when will the terrible nicknames die in the war...

it's still her name though, and more than enough to drag clarke's attention from where she's fiddling with the windows, experimentally trying to pry them open with just her fingers. ah right, this kid again. she never had gotten his name, and the tour of the sports deck had been short and sweet — the bridge door remained impassible and lifeless, it's become an accepted fact people would have a better chance talking to the captain without her around, but that's hardly a scenario clarke recommends.

no, she recommends constant vigilance. which to some might look like excessive paranoia. )

...based on experience, there's always the chance this outing ends in violence. ( the captain's fickle nature aside, they can't seem to cooperate as a whole here. ) And I take "not getting caught unaware while sleeping" very seriously.

[Natsuno just keeps looking at him flatly. This is his default expression, but it's probably not reassuring.]

No. Just trying to make sure no one hunts me.

Vi? Really?

(He was a little surprised that she was taking it this well. But maybe the two of them of them had finally had a chance to talk and managed to get everything straightened out. Maybe without the enforcer, Jinx was willing to give Vi the chance she needed to talk. Or this song was going to be something completely different than what he's thinking and Ekko would have to make sure to give a heads up as soon as he could.)

What have you got so far?

He laughs. "I am certainly overselling your charm and humor. No doubt about that." Of course, there is doubt, and he does think he was the exact right amount of sincere, but he can all but see the embarrassed steam coming off her.

He's idly picking the bark off his newfound branch as they walk, checking it to see if it's real wood. It seems real, on its surface, but there's something that doesn't quite sit right about it.

"I suppose I should have known Undine had questionable tastes, what with all the puns." Teehee. He pokes her gently in the shoulder with the branch in return.

You think they will? There's, like, no point of it, right? Unless it's part of the whole "red versus blue" thing?

[ Camp competitions are a thing, probably. But it doesn't HAVE to end in murder ]

"Oh, I'm sure everyone will! It's certainly relieving that we're at an actual camp and not trying to kill one another. I'm sure that means people are going to very enthused about doing group activities and such."

Mizuki isn't, but not because of Dumb Drama. He just isn't really much of an outdoors-y, "roughin' the wilderness" type of person. He likes video games and anime, what is he supposed to do with all this camp garbage? At least he'd brought a console to keep him busy while he's here.

"I, um, may not be around the cabin much, though. Sleeping in a bed by myself isn't really my ideal. I'd much prefer some lake naps. I'll definitely be around the camp if you need more for anything, though!! Have you ever been to camp before? Maybe we could play some games? Group activities could be fun~. I used to compete in some festivals back home. Lots of swimming involved, honestly. And eating competitions! Oh, but we probably shouldn't do those while at camp, since there's no infirmary or anything on the grounds. Imagine all the stomachaches people might get..."

He's just sort of… rambling at this point. Maybe it's a nice enough distraction to try and make a new friend. Or, really, the answer is: he's just like this.

"No, don't worry about it, chef eats last," she waves him off, scouting out a plate and a knife to hand to him. They're a little flour-y, sorry Stede.

"There's not a lot to say. I have a mum and a dad, they're fine," anything is easier to talk about when she has the tactile feedback of kneading dough to focus on, "mum and dad split a couple of years ago, when mum got injured in action, but dad's still like, around. I've been taking care of mum since then. No siblings. That's about it."

"No traps, don't worry" she holds her hands up to show she's unarmed and puts on as warm a smile as she can, she's pretty sure smiling is supposed to help, "I'll be there in a minute"

She starts climbing, taking it slower than she normally would so she can map out the best route down for someone less experienced than her as she goes

"Can you do something for me, Stede? I want you take a deep breath, okay" she takes a long breath herself as demonstration, "1. 2. 3. 4. Now hold it. 2. 3. 4. And now let it out slowly"

They had bomb collars. It was like, 'if nobody dies on the first day then everyone blows up'. It was honestly pretty fucked up.

[ It was a rough couple of days. ]

A lot of us are kind of like... used to fighting anyway. I don't think it was personal or anything. Everyone got back and it was like, fine, nobody kept trying to kill each other. It was just awkward for a while.

(she exhales out another quiet breath as she takes her eyes away from the moon above back to the waters. there's still so much uncertainty rushing through her and she even tries to maneuver herself to possibly lower herself in the water. but each time, fear sneaks up to her and she is back where she started -- standing with a hand over her face. he might not be able to see her face with her back turned but she is obviously showing some frustration over this.

her shoulders slump a bit as she does a slow turn to look over at the campsite. and there she spots ekko from afar -- her heart instantly flutters in her chest due to well, she is bare and he can see her fully. but she doesn't necessarily shy away like she previously thought she would if he ever did stumble across her like this. but there is a small lump in her throat and her breath seems to be shortening just a bit. she can't necessarily see his expression from this distance but she is curious if he gets random butterflies like she does, sometimes. )

(slowly with her eyes still glue on him, a hand shifts her long locks over her shoulder and then she turns away with her back facing to him again. and now she can really let herself turn into a tomato now that she's looking somewhere else.)

[ when Kano comes across a funnier one

This one's fine, though, and most importantly, it's one she responds to. ]

Sounds like your camping trips have been pretty scary in the past! I dunno, I've never been. Did you get good cabinmates? 'cause, like, they're the ones who're gonna watch your back when you sleep.

[ Or stab you in the back when you sleep. Close quarters, either way. ]

"You'd think we could at least get clothes that fit." He does finally move slightly, noticing that Skulduggery might be in a slightly worse position since the clothing doesn't really sit right without skin. At least Max is vaguely human shaped, though only because of upgrades he's done otherwise he'd be in the same position.

"And I can barely walk in these, my feet do not bend in the proper way to keep them on my feet." Shifting his weight so he can flex one of his legs and awkwardly take a step while wearing crocs.

He's about as coordinated as those videos of dogs wearing shoes.

[ Mizuki is, at least, genuinely in such a good mood today. Yesterday had been very emotionally charged, what with his spar with La Pluma sprinkled in with the both of them talking their feelings out. And fighting their feelings out. Mizuki is just, unfortunately, very naturally violent. He hasn't had any sort of outlet for said violence besides his torture attempt on La Pluma during the royale, and even then, that caused an infinite amount of more stress than relief. Things still aren't better by any means for the little jellyfish, but he at least has one of his friends from home back, and some of that pent up wrath is out of his system, so…

Yeah. That smile is genuinely sweet. And these attempts to make these bracelets for Clarke have so much genuine love and work put into them. He tried to make little make shift butterflies and flowers out of thread and pin them to the bracelets, but they mostly just look like balled up thread attached to the bracelets. They don't look bad, necessarily, but they don't look how they're probably supposed to.

Regardless, the moment Clarke holds her hands out, Mizuki drops literally all the bracelets into her hand. ]

They're all for you!

Skulduggery, having been thoroughly humiliated by his athletic shorts, finds himself actually relieved to have a barrage of familiar-if-embarrassing questions hurled his way. He manages to hold in a laugh until right about the point when the man's voice rises frantically, only to die off at the most mortifying question of all.

"Remember to breathe," he chuckles, knowing full well that's just going to raise more questions if he doesn't cut them off a the pass. "I am what you see, with no internal organs. I can break bones and bang elbows, and it all hurts quite a bit. As for the other questions..." Well, it's the only answer there is. "I'm sustained entirely by magic. That's how I see, hear, smell, feel -- all of it."

You know, he'd just been about to go out and look for Steven, but apparently Darcy found him first... and he's worked himself up and seems to think this is a 'let me talk to the manager' type of situation. He winces as he circles around the beds and comes closer.

"It's not-- an egg allergy. He's vegan." An egg won't kill him, thankfully. He huffs out a sigh.

"Steven, c'mon, buddy. Let's calm down, alright?" He'd been kind of hoping to tell-- Steven about the whole murdering-each-other shit himself precisely for this reason.

"No one's killing each other, alright?" They'd surely know that's the game by now. Hopefully.

[The milk cartons for sample are a great idea, one he wouldn't think of on his own. Natsuno is smart, but a few weeks as an amateur vampire hunter are hardly a match for Clarke's education and training.]

Dead bird is better than no bird. [Palamedes can tell things just by examining a bone, after all.] In movies they always prop a box on a stick and put some food under as bait. Then you pull the stick and the box traps the animal. Would that work in real life?

[Don't judge him, no one covered earth skills in his high school.]

[ It sure did. Mizuki isn't fussed about it, at least, and instead just pats the side of his console. ]

It's my all time favorite game, actually~! So, I should hope I'm good at it. I have so many hours put into it. But it's probably no fun if I just play it first, here! My favorite part of it is watching people learn how to play~.

[ He moves his hands down so Kano can properly hold the console. ]

Oh, one more thing! There's going to be some big pellets around. If you get to those, then the ghosts will become edible for a short time.

That's more like it, the dig feels as relieving as pressing on a bruise, and she's maybe too glad that he doesn't actually think she's that charming or funny.

She swats gently at the branch, but looks it over for a bit, squinting for herself. Kinda just looks like a branch to her.

"Oh god, don't tell me she likes puns, I can't believe I finally find a girl to put up with me and she's going to make puns at me."

This is probably unsurprising, considering everything about Darcy. It's like she's catnip for dorks.

(grinning big, she clears her throat and sings out her ~~diss track~~ song.)

♪You're a class act, sister
Sister, thought I missed her.
POW-POW, I bet you wouldn't miss her!
Remember how she left us alone with that Mister.

Powder's DEAD! I guess abandonment is the killer
Silco raised me as his own little daughter,
People down here think that I’ve lost my head,
Here, hold this grenade, screw what they said!♪

(maybe there's still some issues they still need to work on, apparently. but regardless, she feels pretty proud of this little tune since she came up with all by herself without any help.)

[ Reminds him of a number of books and movies and videogames. Bomb collars sure are popular, huh? He glances down at Darcy's shorts, the only commo variable amongst the campers, as if it'd also start beeping. ]

It was for real a bomb collar?

[ It'd be so easy to mastermind something like that with an empty threat; he knows full well he would have picked up a knife himself rather than risk his important people getting hurt, even if it turned out to be a lie in the end. ]

"It was like, fine," huh? There's nothing forcing anybody to kill anybody this time, though, right? I'm kinda hoping we don't do the whole murder thing.

"Ah. Certainly."

Easy basic requests, he's got this. He may be at 90% power but he is definitely functioning like he's in power-save mode. He bends down to scoop up the arrow (a nice shiny view for anyone behind him given the shorts), heading over towards Darcy with none of the elegance he previously had. It's hard to walk in shoes like this when the bend in your foot is in a different place than humans.

"Practicing?"

[This is new, right? Probably missed the memo then. Or the reruns.]

Last "camping" excursion turned out to be a fight to the death, which is just as pointless because we get revived anyway.

[He's trying to figure out the "rules" this time, so he can make sure EVERYONE loses if necessary. He's not gonna be the last one standing this time, it sucks.]

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JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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