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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He sifts through his memories, frowning, choosing and discarding faces and voices until he hits the one that matches. "You're the one who talked about small talk and support groups. From the sports deck." They never did exchange names.

"Good ear!" Kiriya says approvingly. A lever on his dash flips itself, an electronic voice says, "CLICK TO SAVE" with a vague sort of powering-down intonation, and there is a flash of light as the motorcycle resolves itself into Kiriya, wearing a ridiculously chunky belt. "Hiya."

Thanks. Like I said, I owe you one.

[ She pulls her shirt back down again, wrinkling her nose at the blood still drying on the fabric. ]

And thanks for not letting me be a tough guy, too.

"It will be. I looked in the craft area and the cabins and the main area but I couldn't find whatever they're going to be using for music. I assume that speakers and a stereo will show up the day of, because it won't be much of a dance without anything to dance to."

They'll try some advanced maneuvers like spinning her once she gets the feet movements down. "You see? You're doing splendidly."

"Yes, the ones where they somehow think they're too smart to get caught. That kind of hubris is just asking to be arrested." Though he supposes it's also incredibly validating to then not be found. Max knows if it was himself he'd be so smug that he'd probably radiate some kind of aura of cockiness that would get him arrested immediately.

"After thirteen years he would have gotten away with it if he hadn't meddled." Max shakes his head. Not that he wants murderers to escape custody, he doesn't really care if they aren't specifically targeting him, but he is very perplexed at the rationale that would cause someone to do that.

He glances over at Malcolm's letter, that definitely is a lot of hearts, and he will immediately avert his eyes back to his own letter. He probably doesn't want to see that.

[ The sign-up sheet had red flags written all over it and she realized it. The list of names kept growing longer and longer over a number of days. Somehow, it scared her into signing up herself, despite knowing what happened in the previous excursion. It kind of felt like everyone was going away... and leaving her. She can't stand the thought of being alone again. And she hopes the rest of the week continues to be peaceful.

And she can imagine a lot must be on his mind... there's always something to think about when you're left alone. But before she can even think about asking what might be on his mind, he suddenly goes into a more secretive tone. ]

Um... no? I don't wear glasses! [ Clearly. Asides from the occasional Tommy Bahama sunglasses. A beat. She similarly lowers her voice, in a matching volume for only Jade to hear, even though it's unlikely anyone else is around to hear them. But you never know! ...This might be as important as the crow romancer secret. ] You don't remove your glasses when you sleep?

[ Guess she doesn't have to change his "Mr. Specs" nickname ever! ]

( do better. it's a wonderful sentiment, and a familiar one. sometimes the only notion that kept them going, the faint idea that somewhere after conflict (after conflict after conflict) there was some peaceful ending where they'd be able to put the fight to bed and just focus on regaining their humanity. but now that happy ending seemed not just far off, but utterly impossible.

back on earth, at least.

here? clarke still expects bloodshed and betrayal and loss around every corner. how is she supposed to do better or be better when the calloused over parts of her are the most useful to achieving their ultimate goal? being sorry for her atrocities and then turning right around to commit them all over again seems inevitable. but maybe, hopefully, if she tried — maybe this time it'd be possible to keep at least one persons head above water. optimism isn't her strong suit, but clarke is left with little more to do in this conversation than fall silent, swallow her begging for punishment, and eventually just. nod. )

Alright.

( thanks, natsuno. )

...anyway. Are you tired of my story, or do you want to hear how A.L.I.E. came back and started forcefully converting people to her hivemind utopia in an effort to save them the pain of dying in the second nuclear death wave?

[ Avoid the beef tacos, duly noted. As well as a little disappointed that she has to steer clear of it. She wanted to know what a taco tastes like! She'll just have to see if she can prepare something easy for herself in the kitchens later. ]

I'll try.

[ Despite how frightening it can be, being a passenger of the Eterna, most people don't know it's surprisingly better for Fio to be here than back home.

She tries to think of how else she can help Clarke... ]

It's nice to meet you too. I'm sorry you don't feel well. I'll keep you company for as long as I can, until you feel better.

( for a second, she looks at mizuki like he's just grown three additional heads. and then the shock turns to alarm because, yanno what, that's a horrendous ending she hadn't even begun to consider the likes of. for one who's barely even played an arcade game, clarke apparently subscribes to the thought of save points, where the big bad can't touch them, and figures if they survived camp the bus back would basically be considered reaching a safe zone.

but now.

but now...! )

I — she wouldn't, right? Not without the Captain's orders, and then — he wouldn't do that, that's not... his style.

( unless it were funny??? congrats mizuki, ya threw a wrench into her logical approach and now the gears are turning so aggressively they're smoking. )

Well, of course she wouldn't. But the Fridays that come with us on these excursions aren't our Friday, right? Because, she… can't leave the ship, or something?

[ At least, that's what Mizuki's picked up from the little Information Sharing party Lumine had set up. He didn't contribute to it, of course, he simply just sat in the room camouflaged the whole time and gathered what info he could… ]

Is it not? I wouldn't know, I don't exactly know how the Captain functions. I… try not to talk to him. Just being in the same room as him makes me…

…

Hungry.

Camping is entirely new to Fio and campfire songs is one of the activities she had been looking forward to. She's glad to be able to catch someone playing music. Other days, it seemed like there was some sort of scary storytelling and she made sure to avoid the fire pit around those times.

"Of course! Thank you for playing it for me. I've never had a musician play a song for me before!"

[ Fio tends to very quickly call others' her "friend", even if she might have talked to an individual once. At least two of those names sound familiar to her: Max, one of the campers she had been put in charge of. And Jinx. She has... several questions. ]

... [ Where should she start? ] Why do you think Max hates you?

[ It seems like a dangerous goal with who they're up against, trying to figure how to "save" everyone aboard the boat. ]

...Maybe it would be okay on the boat if we had a different captain.

[ At first, she thought she wanted to move away from the ship entirely, find some sort of reality where she can live peacefully. Or some island? She doesn't know. But she had formed so many close connections, more to call family and friends. She now wonders if there's a way to continue living on the ship together with everyone else, without having to play any games that risk their lives... ]

[ Her smile wavers a little and she senses that she might have said something wrong. And from the way that Jinx continues speaking of Vi, she realizes there must be something more complicated behind the relationship. While curious, she tries to be careful with her choice of words. She doesn't want to spur on any more unwelcome thoughts. ]

Are the two of you getting along?

(she hums quietly as a response; probably could go either way of a yes or no. but she wouldn't do that to fio -- leave her hanging like that.)

Yeah, we are. It's just a lil' strange having her here, y'know? 'Cuz for a long while it was just me. So it's weird but... not a bad weird.

Would you be one?

(she knows the answer is a no but jinx is just trying to set the mood in a more light-hearted note; if not silly. a time like they spent here on this campsite should be something fio should always experience. it shouldn't be... about killing, betrayals, hurt feelings, and the like.)

"Then I guess that dude doesn't have to worry about me kicking his ass, huh?" Because, like, it would suck to be the guy who literally killed all of these people. That would be literally the worst thing ever. He would probably fucking kill himself if that happened, except he'd also be dead, which would also suck.

"There are always assholes out there tryin' to ruin good things for other people, but so far most everyone I've talked to either just wants to go home or like, doesn't care that they're here to begin with. That's good, right? Means mosta us all want somethin' similar."

[Alright, she says, and Natsuno accepts that with a nod of his own. Moving on.

There's a pause before he replies, because he assumed that was the end of the story, and he has to backtrack to recall who A.L.I.E is. It says something about Clarke's story, that he almost forgot the AI who destroyed Earth because there were "too many people." Finally he replies flatly:]

...Hivemind utopia.

[Come on, you can't bring that up and expect he wouldn't want to hear - ]

"Well, he's being a big enough nerd for everybody..." He means it fondly, really. He can't blame him for being stressed out and frazzled -- everyone seems like they're on edge around here.

"Used to have to tough it outside. You get used to it. AT least this place isn't swarming with bugs and animals." So far anyway.

Marc finally grabs a bag of-- some kinda chips. It's not what he wants, but it's something to occupy himself with while they're here anyway.

The hottie comment earns a bit of a laugh. "Yeah, well, not debating that."

She is attractive, even if he's vaguely certain he recognizes at least familiar crazy in her. "Have you known her long?"

"It was a classic, and it was good!" He will absolutely die on this hill, okay. He's seen it-- far too many times. But even Steven wants to insist it was a bad C-grade movie. Honestly.

Although he pauses, shifting a little -- awkwardly after a moment. Still weird that she's figuring out details he doesn't share with. Anybody. Talking about anything real has never been something he could do, wanted to do.

"Is that when you were a kid?"

"It was fun, campy. But somehow I'm not sure it'd hold up quite the same," Ava comments.

Figuring out little details is what she's good at, thanks for noticing.

But she doesn't mind sharing a bit in exchange. "Yes, it's where I lived before my parents died. And then SHIELD dragged me away to their facilities."

"Well, guess we'll just have to see about that... if we ever get a tape of it." Or a working VCR. Those might be tall orders though.

"Do you remember much of it?" He has no idea how old she was when she finally got taken, if she can remember that far back... Maybe she doesn't want to.

"I see," Ava finds the idea quite interesting, wishing she could see them to understand better what Ginko was talking about. She wonders if her world has such a thing, just hidden from her view.

"A whole ecosystem of their own, then? Does it feel strange, with them not here?" Ava figures they follow along the same sort of rules with no insects or animals wandering about.

"There's plenty of things," Ava protests. Although after awhile it all starts to get a bit repetitive. But she's good enough at finding her own entertainment.

Like the coded notes she wrote.

She peeks back around, can see his teasing expression, and pouts just slightly. "It was something you did. Being too annoyingly attractive, with those silly blue eyes. They're unfair."

"I'll spare us both my humming along," Ava glances over at Skulduggery from over Max's shoulder, making a face at him. "And I don't think that bag of bones can carry a beat. Look at him." Said so affectionately.

But now that she's not thinking about it as much, focusing on other things, Ava finds the steps do come along much smoother, more naturally. "So can we try one of those spins? Or a dip?"

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JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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