come_sailaway | 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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(deep breaths, right. she can do that...right? jinx nervously thins her lips but she resumes her attention on him and not the rushing thoughts flowing through her mind. breathing out and breathing in, she slowly shuts her eyes as she allows him to lower her backwards into the waters. and it's there silco comes to her again -- his whispers of encouragement and overlapping with "you're strong now/you're perfect".

with his words ringing in her ears and ayato's hold combining together, jinx is finally able to just... let everything go; muscles no longer tensing and any anxiety that was rustling in her bones now fading off somewhere unknown. her breathing begins to come easy and natural -- with no sign or sound of jenny, either. it's just him, her, and the lake with nothing else. it's been a long time coming but now jinx feels in peace again with the water and also feeling her former self washing away through her hair.

the loneliness, heartache, sadness, and pain she felt months back fading off into nothingness. and instead what comes to her are ekko, vi, and fio -- her new family/love ones and alex, lumine, rin, watson, and so few others that now became friends old and new. with this, maybe now she can finally start anew and walk on a different path.)

[He’s done this water breathing technique before, had perfected it enough with himself as the test subject that he was confident enough in his abilities to not accidentally waterboard the girl. Or…straight up drown her.

He could recall the time he had decided to test his skills, leaping from the cliffside on the south-eastern side of the Kamisato Estate and into the ocean below. He had not, however, taken into account the way the fall would interact with his experiments. He had also not accounted for the difference in the water density, given he had only practiced before on fresh water.

Had Thoma not been there, he himself probably would not be here today. Regardless, many a valuable lesson had been learned as a result of his foolish behavior in his youth, and now as he was a decent way into his adulthood his mastery of Hydro was as natural to him as breathing. The steady glow of his Vision thrums softly, like a heartbeat beneath the water’s surface.

And he watches. Waits for the sign to haul her back up, fiercely attentive to any change in demeanor. He can feel her relax in his arms and takes that as a good sign; the alternative would be that she had just passed out from fear, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Her own heartbeat ripples across the lake as well, though it’s softer, harder to spot — impossible, even. For those not as well versed in locating the signs as he himself is, at least. Luckily, he is well practiced in such matters, and it proves another tool in his arsenal to ensure her safety.]

Edited 2022-06-12 21:53 (UTC)

(she can truly feel as if she can stay like this for a long while. to jinx, it's feels as if it's been so long since she had been in peace. the last time she can recall feeling something remotely to this was when venti sung to her at the theatre while she was working on rin's drones. in fact, she even sung along with him -- well...hummed but close.

and from then on, she hadn't experienced it again. it was just drama after drama for her and no restful mind. but despite wanting to be like this for hours, she knows ayato can't continue to keep her this way. and so slowly, she tightens her grip on his forearm -- to signal him that this is enough and to hostel her back up.)

[It’s less than even a few seconds after he feels the squeeze that he’s moving to pull her back up past the surface and out of the water once more. His palm stays on her back to hold her steady until she can find her proper footing, the soft blue glow at his hip slowly fading away into darkness, leaving them once again illuminated by only the pure white of the moonlight.]

Was that alright? Did it help? [There’s a genuine hint of concern carried in the inquiry.]

(now standing up right, she peers down back at the water and then to him. there's a genuine smile on her face that she very rarely wears and even giggles too -- that's also honest.)

Yeah, yeah it did. Thank you so much. This... really meant a lot to me.

[Her demeanor is somewhat infectious, and he finds himself letting out a soft breath of amusement in turn.] Of course. I'm available if you ever need repeat sessions, though I'd imagine once we leave it would need to be within one of the pools on the ship.

[He lets his hand drop away from her back, keeping the opposite arm up in the same position so that she can continue to grip at it for as long as need be.]

If you like, once you're ready I can go and fetch you a towel. There's a bit of a chill in the air, and I'd hate to see you catch cold due to walking about the campsite in wet clothing. [Not that being entirely nude is much better, but... He's heard something in the past about wet clothing being worse, somehow.]

(now that he mentioned it after being completely in water and up again, it is...rather chilly. the cool of the weather hitting her bare skin is sending so many goosebumps and not necessarily the good kind, either. sheepishly, jinx flashes him a smile and a little chuckle.)

Eh heh heh... — Yeaaaah, uhm. Would you mind...? Give me a towel, I mean.

[A quiet chuckle rumbles in the back of his throat, and he gives the smallest shake of his head in turn.] I don't mind at all, no. [He moves then to withdraw his arm to lay back at his side, so that he can turn to head away and towards the shore once again.]

I'll be as quick as possible, so you shouldn't need to wait too terribly long.

Don't worry, I'm not gonna go anywhere.

(not that she is shy to show off herself but she is a big sister now. and as a big sister, she has to set some good examples for fio. and parading around like this would be... very difficult to explain to a seven year old.)

[He isn't gone for too terribly long, true to his word and intentions of making the excursion as quick and efficient as possible. A handful of minutes later he's approaching the dock once more, three towels in tow.]

I brought a few in place of only the one, as I had a feeling that you might need at least two in order to tackle that hair of yours.

[The third he unrolls out on the dock itself, near the edge so that when she pulls herself up she has somewhere to stand. The wood seems rather aged, after all, and getting splinters in the soles of one's feet is never an enjoyable experience. He tucks the last two under his arm, bending slightly and outstretching his hand to offer to help pull her up and out of the water.]

JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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