come_sailaway | MARCH OPEN LOG

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MARCH OPEN LOG

[a soft chime of unplaceable music at 7 AM sharp. Friday's voice going over the daily weather (it never changes) and the daily schedule (it barely varies, though Friday does mention a "welcome party" set for later in the month with increasing amounts of poorly restrained glee. the mic is passed so that the captain can make his usual announcement. after a minute, it is passed back, so that Friday can wish everyone a fun and fulfilling day.

it's easy to fall into routine, on the serena eterna.

the spirits, or whatever they are, seem to have calmed down. they are still there, of course, but the plates are carried to tables instead of thrown, and any movement of the furniture is the kind that comes from normal use. wonder what they were so upset about. maybe someone talked to them.

an unfamiliar face in the hall balks at how their legs stop working suddenly. new passengers seem to arrive every other day or so, and it's always the same exact process. did you keep your lei?

the sun is shining. the air is warm. the sea is placid as a lake. you never meant to end up here. you certainly don't want to be here.

but, you can try to make the best of it.]

[ooc note: if any character decides to do some more than casual investigation of a location, be sure to ping the mod! there may be hidden treats! or hidden tricks! or maybe nothing! the best kind of prize is a SUR-PRISE!]

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"My, how crass of you."

Despite the threat and despite Ebalon's choice of vocabulary, his voice carries a light-but-amused lilt to it. He doesn't look like he's dressed for a dip, simply wandering around barefoot on the deck with his pants rolled up to his knees and a blue button-down loosely done-up. In fact, there's a book tucked under one arm, and anyone with a shred of logic in their brain knows that books and water are a bad mix.

Attention piqued, though, Ebalon doesn't keep walking. He does, in fact, stand there and debate sitting opposite Ava to read passive-aggressively.

"I assure you, I mean you no harm."

She doesn't question the attire upon scrutiny of the man who apparently doesn't take her threat seriously enough to leave. If there's a place to acquire more than what they arrived in Ava is unaware, she hasn't changed at all. And prefers that to the alternative of skinny dipping, for both herself and her unwelcome guest.

What she does question is the book, a squint to try catching the title but it's obscured in his hold.

A wrinkle of her nose as it's clear he's in no hurry to leave her be, and she's not willing to be the one to retreat. "A lot of harm is through neglect than intended," Ava says just to be contrary. "For example, I'm more concerned about your book there than myself."

If Ava is observant, she can catch Ebalon shifting his arm slightly to readjust his hold on the book, but there's no title on the spine nor on the front cover. It's a nice-looking book, though, emblazoned with a gold crest on the cover and nothing too defining otherwise.

He regales her with a smile, polite but curious, walking forward a few paces so that they're further within talking distance and not so awkwardly speaking across from each other. Well, a little less awkwardly, anyway.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it." He crouches, not quite with the intent of sitting down on the deck or dipping his legs into the water, but simply to more easily look her in the eye. "I wasn't entirely intending to sit down for a spell, though. Let's just say the threat caught my interest — do you normally threaten perfect strangers?"

...he says that first bit like he didn't just invite himself to do so.

She is observant, catching a glimmer of the gold but no other markings, but her curiosity is outweighed by her preference for keeping this conversation short and impersonal. It's no business of hers, taking him at his word not to worry about it. Besides, poking only invites questions in turn.

Her pale eyes narrow sharply as he lowers more to her level, a shift in her posture as she squares her shoulders and tries to look bigger than she is while half-submerged in the water. Not that she's ever relied on physical strength nor size. But body language is instinctual and hopefully gets the point across more than her words had.

"I'm sure you have your flaws, perfect stranger," Ava flips one of her dampened pigtails as it curls annoyingly in front of her on the water's surface. "Like bothering imperfect individuals that clearly rather be left alone. But you don't seem the considerate type." Neither does she, but she's not prancing about inflicting her presence on anyone either. So she feels somewhat less hypocritical.

"My, my, I'm merely wondering why, when I passed you by, your first thought was to threaten me. Is that so wrong of me?"

If he's affronted by the jab, he doesn't say anything, nor does he manage to look upset. He's wearing a smile, polite but measured, friendly enough but something more akin to a retail persona. There aren't quite vibes of "I'm going to cut you" in it as is the case with most retail workers, yet. Yet being the operative term; he's pretty lanky, though, and would probably be easy to toss overboard. It's unlikely that he'll start something physical.

So, for now, he's just going to be an annoying gnat.

"No, it's what's wrong with me. Obviously," she's far less relaxed now, one hand grasping at the ledge behind her to brace for balance as she fully stands. Drenched and flickering in irritation, Ava doesn't look particularly dignified nor ready to follow through with the fight she's threatening.

He's not even doing that much to provoke it, but his demeanor is not exactly calming her suspicious inclinations. With no evidence at all, Ava decides he's the type that's hiding something behind that smile, that it's more at her expense than friendly. Maybe there's no intentions here, toward her, but Ava doesn't care much. She hasn't survived this long by buddying up toward strangers.

"Rest assured, yet again, that I had only intended to pass you by initially. I quite honestly thought you might reach out and pull me into the water by my ankles when the threat was first made, huhu."

When she stands, he follows suit some seconds after, readjusting his hold on his book again. As if to show her he really was on his way somewhere else, he nods toward a set of chairs under a massive umbrella some several feet off from their current position. "Oh, but you needn't get up, Miss. You may relax. I'm certainly not trying to frighten you off."

"Had you?" Ava asks with a lift of her brows and her tone, pretends just for a brief moment to relax as he says. "That's not even what I had threatened. But since you made the choice to linger anyway," Ava trails off before vanishing from view, barely even a ripple in the water as she crosses to the other side of it.

Her hand doesn't come from over the side but up and under the deck, no regard for actual physical barriers nor his personal space as she makes a quick attempt for his ankle to pull him in.

"I more meant that you would attempt to drown m—"

Aaaand... she's gone. Ebalon stops mid-sentence, eyes wide like he wasn't expecting anyone else aboard this vessel to have magic, and certainly not any sort of power involving invisibility of a type. He's about to turn and go, figuring he's overstayed his not-at-all welcome—

"Ah!"

—but then he's yanked unceremoniously into the water with an alarmed shout. Somehow he has the good sense to throw his book up into the air, where it rather ominously floats above the water due to his own magic. The hot tub's water isn't quite deep enough to pull him under, but the resulting splash manages to soak his hair and face alongside everything else he's wearing. He swipes droplets of water from his face as he attempts to compose himself, looking around in a hurry to try and locate her. Somewhere in the back of his mind is the cold acceptance that he absolutely had that coming.

Ava reappears sitting on the edge behind him, hands over her mouth and giggling quite openly while he tries to gather composure from the splash, a bit less irritating now that he's drenched and not the one looking down. "Happy to oblige," Ava confirms that yes, he was very much asking for it.

"Neat little trick there," she glances up at the floating book, though keeps her hands to herself.

Where Ebalon comes from, there's not a person who would dare play a childish prank on him, probably because he'd kill them instantly; here, he's just some nobody, pretending to be particularly nice and well-adjusted. One would think such an act is humbling. In truth, he finds that he admires Ava's bravery and that he's also having a near-impossible time keeping his ire hidden.

He sighs deeply, trying to act like his sigh is more because of the prank and not just general irritation. Realistically, he has no right to act pissy at all since he's the one who instigated, but Ebalon has always been the type to see himself as superior. That said, he manages to cobble together a tone that's friendly when he turns in the water and looks at Ava, then to his floating book.

"I told you not to worry about the book, did I not? Aside from the magic making it float, it has a protection spell on it. Huhu, a good mage doesn't let his spellbooks get damaged." He could read the thing underwater, he supposes. If he wanted to. He doesn't particularly care to do that, though. "You must be familiar with magic of some variety yourself, given..."

He trails off there, gesturing with one very wet hand to the vague area around them.

"You seem the sort that's used to getting away with telling others what to do," Ava comments while slowly dragging her feet back and forth through the water where they dangle over. "And I'm the sort that worries more when told not to. That's almost always a sign that something is amiss."

Her eyes remain trained on the book with clear interest, eyebrows raised at the mention of him being a mage. She's not sure at all what differentiates one from a wizard or a sorcerer, but has a vague enough idea that there's spells and magic involved and not to ask him if he has a fancy hat. Or if he knows Dr. Strange.

And then shakes her head with an amused giggle when he suggests that her abilities are magical in nature as well. "Given what? Me? No, that's just science. Or do you mean this ship? Maybe it's just a simulation or a mass hallucination. I like to keep my mind open."

She has him there. Unfortunately, he does not have a fancy hat to go with his bossy personality — and really, it should be stated that the cooler of a wizard's cap you own, the more "in charge" you get to be. Truly a travesty.

"Given you, yes," he clarifies, quirking a brow and cocking his head, "though this ship itself and the space it inhabits seems to be an anomaly of some nature. Were it an illusion, I would be shocked, given that illusions tend to feed off of the minds of whoever they're casted on — therefore, your existence as an illusion of my mind's creation makes minimal sense, as I have admittedly never seen someone with your specific powers before. Further than that, ships where I come from are mostly used to transport goods between the continents of Lurensia and Fluone, and luxury ships like this are nigh unheard of. Were I to be trapped in a mental illusion, I imagine I would be within an airship."

Ebalon clears his throat when he realises he's babbling. Sometimes, this is all he's good for.

"What differentiates science and magic for you? If I may ask."

"I have been described as an anomaly as well." She listens in interest, clearly he knows more on the subject than her. Though none of it does much to convince her of the possibility that this is all some sort of simulated reality. That they aren't really physically tangibly here, so all the strangeness doesn't need to adhere to any set sort of physical laws.

It feels a bit like a trick question, as if any way she tries to define the difference there will be some glaring exception she hasn't accounted for. But Ava is used to the undefinable, has listened to Bill's lectures plenty of times to have a good sense about science.

Magic, maybe not as much. Ava hums for a moment, her expression clearly deep in thought. "I've heard it suggested that magic is just science we don't understand yet, but that sounds rather dismissive of actual magic and equating it with ignorance. And those that practice it surely understand it." Ava gestures to his book. "Clearly both can be studied. And both have rules they follow, I'd assume. So I suppose the difference may be in the source of the energy."

"Interesting. Yes, they do seem rather similar. I've often found that, where I come from, the energy used by science is something tangible, and that the energy used by magic is intangible until it is given form and function — mana, for instance. Your theory must be correct in some ways."

He's filing that away for later. Fundamentally, Elrios is much, much different from this place — and in the name of his own form of science, he just had to ask. He is in fact so absorbed in this discussion that he hasn't bothered to move from the hot tub, still fully clothed and just sort of vibing in the water.

"Oftentimes, where I come from, magic and science would be combined into one — inventions created with it were known as magic technology, often abbreviated to simply magitech. Things such as... oh, a tea kettle that stays warm no matter what, or swords enchanted to act as security guards by scanning for outsiders and attacking them on-sight. It's a rather varied practice."

Ava is pleased that her answer is good enough, as incomplete as it is. She slides off the edge and back into the hot tub slowly, deciding not to run off after all. But it's much more comfortable in here, and she was starting to chill from the night breeze against her soaked clothes. She seems less opposed to sharing the space than she did a few minutes ago, drawn in by the discussion.

"Mn, with science, the physical world, is powered by... the atom and particles. Charges and different properties of the elements and their isotopes. Gravity and magnetism, electricity, chemical interactions... building into the biological and mechanical. Some think the mind is more than that, that we have a soul or a spirit." Ava isn't religious, not quite, but she isn't entirely opposed to the idea of there being more facets to reality when she exists on the edge of it.

"That's fascinating. I'm not aware of anyone having mastered such a combination... except perhaps the Asgardians? They're... gods from another realm. So not of my planet, but visitors. And the tesseract, I have no idea how to describe what that is. This powerful glowing blue cube..."

"How interesting. Can these gods from another realm visit your world freely, or must they be summoned somehow?"

He has marked fascination with this sort of topic. The movement of the gods throughout Elrios is important to him and his research, and he knows of only one god that exists within the material plane. The other two are nebulously always "somewhere else"; Henir is said to be in a dimension of His own, and no one has seen Elria since the dawn of time. The question as to if they can come into other realms is still a question that Ebalon is trying to solve, especially since Henir is more than just a god... blah blah blah, the gears in his head are spinning.

"Freely, I suppose? Mostly Thor," and Ava may not be all that much of a fan of the Avengers, but even she isn't immune to thinking the thunder god was a bit cute. "But his brother Loki attempted to subjugate the planet. Didn't go so well for him."

She tries to remember how they got there though. There was no spaceship... "I think he gets beamed up by some rainbow light. Like in Star Tr- you don't know that show do you. Well he calls upon Heimdall with his... enchanted hammer." She holds her arm up to the sky... Why does that sound so bizarre to say aloud. She lowers her arm with a small splash.

"But I think at some point the gods must have visited more often. Odin... they're the basis of the Norse mythology."

It sounds as though her pantheon is rather vast. There are a lot of names to keep track of already.

"I see. I do not know what the first item you mentioned is, no, but I can imagine what being 'beamed up by a rainbow light' looks like. You mention 'Norse' mythology, so is it safe to assume that there are other mythos where you come from? For example, where I am from, humans have different mythos than elves, such and such. Or, I suppose, if you've actually seen these Gods, they would not be myths so much as reality, hm?"

"Each ancient culture had its own, stories that date back thousands of years. The Greek and the Romans, the Egyptians, Mayans, the Chinese..." She looks thoughtful. "So I'm sure some of those could be real as well," she's never been a religious sort, but she's not going to deny the possibility of anything.

"But I think the myths are more the stories inspired by the existence of the gods and their activities, they wouldn't necessarily all need to be true. Does your world have something like that?"

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MARCH OPEN LOG

Hot tub!

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omg sorry i thought i already replied to this

no worries!!

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