JUNE EVENT: CAMP

[sailmods]

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!

Comments

[treadwater]

Surprise, Sarge, the source is just a teenage girl, skimming around the surface of the lake, careless despite her skimpy attire--the shorts and t-shirt merely mimicking her customary magical girl costume. She hasn't realized she hit anybody yet, too busy being glad that she was able to throw the blorble of water at all, given her unorthodox outfit.

[worthallthis]

Oh. Right. He's met her once. Blue-haired girl with water magic. Sarge slumps a little, then bends to collect his protective blanket, shooting her a stressed-out glare but not much more. It's not like he's got any right to tell her to stop.

He does maybe fold the blanket over his flesh arm and try to wring out his hair, though, and sunlight off a metal arm might catch her eye.

Please don't spash him again, Undine.

[treadwater]

"Sorry! I didn't realize you were out there!"

She's immediately apologetic, moving in toward the shore to make sure Sarge is okay. It is just water, but for all she knows, his other arm might rust.

[worthallthis]

He heaves a sigh. He's just irritable, and he knows it. He shouldn't take that out on the kids, or anybody really, even if all he did was kind of glare a little. "It's fine. You were practicing. And I got in the way," he says wearily.

[treadwater]

"Honestly, I was testing to see if it would even work. It's weird, don't you think? The mix of the captain's imposed paradigm and my own powers?" She gestures at her not-quite-costume.

[worthallthis]

"It is," Sarge agrees, giving his hair another wring out before giving the blanket a good shake-- and then a wring, too. Maybe he'll sit in the sun for a bit and dry out.... "At least you can change."

[treadwater]

"Oh! Do you want me to dry you and the blanket off? I'd just need to touch you for a sec."

She controls water, even when it's currently dampening someone or something else. It wouldn't be hard to fix that for him.

[worthallthis]

Sarge hesitates a moment, then slings the blanket off again and holds it out to her, instead, draping it over his hands for her to get at whatever part she wants.

[treadwater]

She pulls the water out toward her hand, until it engulfs it like the reverse of a bubble. And then she flicks it off away from Sarge, leaving the blanket dry as it ought to be.

"Do you want me to do that to you, too?"

[worthallthis]

That is kind of impressive. Sarge watches with actual interest. "Thank you."

He considers the offer, weighing the benefit of being dry against the need to be touched, even briefly, then shakes his head. "I'll just sit in the sun for a few minutes. I'll dry. Most of it was in the blanket and my hair, anyway." And sitting in the sun isn't... unpleasant.

He tilts his head a little, then asks, "What all can you do with water?"

[treadwater]

"Besides throwing blorbles and skating on the surface? I mean, smaller monsters, I can engulf entirely. And when I'm under pressure or feeling upset, I'm able to call up a pressure jet. I've never been able to do it in practice, though, only in an actual fight."

She smiles brightly. "Also, when it's foggy or humid or rainy, I can sense where monsters are from blocks away. It's a shame it doesn't work all the time, but it's useful when it does!"

[worthallthis]

All of which seems like powerful or useful things, to him, but also very general things. "You can summon water out of clothing. Lots of little tiny bits of water into one big water. That's not nothing, either," Sarge tells her. "That has to take fine control. I bet you could do more with the small things like that."

Sometimes big power is less important than fine control. A lot of the time, in fact.

[treadwater]

"Other members of my team were usually more flashy and impressive. But I do okay, I guess, without them now." She doesn't actually mean on the ship. She lost her team before arriving here.

[worthallthis]

"Flashy and impressive is not what's necessary," Sarge says firmly. He's not really picking up on the loss, at the moment; he'll need a little more of a hint than that. "Completing the mission is the important part. And what you just did showed good control. Maybe you should use smaller projectiles," he suggests thoughtfully. "Less raw power, more precision."