HAPPY BIRTHDAY WIFEY

[starless_sky]

 Who: Noctis, Luna, and YOU
Broadcast: N/A
Action: On the planet, on the beach
When: September 4th!

It's just been a few days since his own birthday and barely a month since the wedding but here they were already at Luna's birthday. Noctis wants to do a great job to give his wife the best birthday ever. Being in the empire for twelve years means she hasn't had a birthday party since they were kids. So he's enlisted the help of some special guests to help him give her a great party this year. This includes you, of course, since you were invited to this party by a very special dog.

Do you remember Umbra? Well he delivered invitations to Noctis and Luna's wedding last month as an adorable courier and he has done it again! But this time it's a birthday party invitation down at the beach.

When guests arrive there are poles, blankets, pillows and paper lanterns spread out on the sand. There are plenty of food and drinks and also a cake. And also a blanket that has a collection of wrapped gifts on it. There's also sunscreen available in case you forgot... There is beach volleyball, a sandcastle building competition, and later in the evening a bonfire to roast things like smores and hot apple waffles. Just make sure to wish the birthday girl a good day.

Comments

VOLLEYBALL and SANDCASTLES

[starless_sky]

<sub>[There are several nets and balls set up on the beach and everyone is free to join up in teams and play.

There are also supplies for making sand castles like small shovels, buckets, and brushes. There is a small sign advertising that there's a REAL PRIZE for whoever wins the sandcastle competition and the birthday girl gets to decide the winner. So do your best!]</sub>

[ginger_firebird]

[Very rarely does Mantis get to enjoy something as simple as going to the beach, but the prospect of making something for once appeals to him immensely. His boots (and socks) are a little distance away, but he's making a great deal of effort using his powers to carry buckets of the dry sand away from a somewhat large circle. It's the damp sand that truly makes the best structures, and the shore is just far away enough that the tide won't cause an issue.

Anyone passing by will see him setting down several towers made from bucketed sand close together. A castle is only as good as it's foundation, after all.]

[pork_bowl]

_{[Well, have a gaping and shocked figure skater here. Yuri had seen Mantis light his own sparklers but he hadn't seen... whatever this was. Though, he wasn't that stunned. He sort of knew better than to flip out now. He had a crewmate with these powers.]}

Mantis... I... you know I never asked about your world and if it has powers in it or not. You know, I have a crewmate named Chuuya who can do what you do...

What are you making?

[ginger_firebird]

[Gape away, Yuri, it feeds his ego like a hungry dog. He doesn't turn his head to openly acknowledge the wonder in the figure skater's reaction, but he does add another bucket into the train of sand following him around as he widens the circle of sand towers.]

Chuuya? Interesting. That brings it up to three...maybe four psychics in the crew. The title of the greatest is still up to debate, but I like to think that I am still the strongest among us.

[He sets down a few more sand towers.] Building a base for my sandcastle. It's a silly competition, but I never lose and this is a nice exercise after so much time on the ship.

[pork_bowl]

_{[He doesn't mean to feed egos or gape, it's just a thing he does. Don't mind him.]}

Chuuya is nice enough. Maybe you two should meet... wait there's four?? I had no idea. What can the others do. Are you from the same world??

I.. wouldn't have any clue how to gauge the strongest one of you all... but how do you work out your power? Do you have to exercise it like a muscle?

[ginger_firebird]

One reads minds, the other lifts things without touching them. [And he can do both, it's a great deal!] As to where they come from, we never talked enough to find out just yet. They all look human, but then again, my captain is humanoid too.

[Mantis pauses in setting in the last tower, letting the bucket slowly drift away from his hand before they're all circling him like birds.]

Any skill needs to be practiced regularly to get some sense of competency. It's the same with psychic powers as much as it is figure skating.

[pork_bowl]

Your captain is humanoid? Like... sort of human? Who is your captain? How can there be such different abilities and they aren't real in my world. What does that mean about fiction stories with people who do have powers... are those real in another world? Are they real in my world and I just don't know it? I wonder...

Oh, so you have to exercise. What kind of exercises do you do?

[ginger_firebird]

Her name is Looma. Red skin, four arms, multiple pairs of eyes. I am fairly certain her people value things like combat prowess. [He laughs say the notion of fictional stories.] Even on my Earth, psychic powers are largely thought to be fake. It all comes down to where you ply your trade that determines how much you see people like me.

[He gets up, taking the buckets with him back towards the shore and beckoning Yuri to follow.]

Mostly small things like this. You look for every chance to do something- [He flicks his hand quickly, making a small flame burst into life.] To ensure you keep full control.

[pork_bowl]

Uh... she sounds... memorable? I never met her, then. She seems intimidating. And... what does that mean? Ply your trade? So do you run into other people like you at home? Are you one of a group?

_{[he follows Mantis like a puppy. He doesn't know anyone else here so he just had to go with him. He yelped when a flame ball burst out of nothing.]}

You're a firestarter too??

[ginger_firebird]

Once she showed up calling herself my captain, everything else about the aliens in the fleet and on the planets seemed so mundane. She's a lot like a couple of people I- [Know? Knew?] Worked with, back home.

[It was only a short lived burst, but Yuri's reaction is enough to get him laughing. He collects the sand into the bucket, lifting chunks of the damp stuff in massive globs that fail to fall apart mid-air.]

You should have seen the things I made when I was younger. I can turn large patches of the beach into glass.

[pork_bowl]

You know a lot of people who are... different, don't you? What kind of things could they do?

_{[When Mantis laughs it seems.... out of place somehow. He just doesn't know what to make of it. He thinks this is a good thing though, Mantis seems like he's quiet most of the time so the laugh must have been a nice change.]}

Did you make glass before? Uh... maybe try it with a small batch if you want to. Uh...how did you do that before? Why?

[ginger_firebird]

Vulcan Raven is taller than I am and he has such physical strength I have seen him rip a machine gun off an airplane to use as a weapon. He also has a fondness for ravens. [His tone is almost jovial, but a kind of sadness is creeping into his voice in spite of his efforts.] The other she reminds me of is Liquid Snake, our Commanding Officer. Their personalities are very similar: loud, to the point, a little too dramatic, and loving a good fight.

[He laughs often enough, it's just usually at the expense of others. His sense of humor is mired in the grim and the bleak.]

A few times, and I might just try it now that the thought is in my head. It's a lot of heat, so we both need to stand back for that.

[Most of the buckets are filled and lined up in a row. He starts making them come back to the main structure.]

As to how I managed it...let's say "creatively".

[this_loser]

[So he's not great at sandcastles, but he's being creative as he learns what works and what doesn't. And it's fun. And who cares if half of it falls as he finally gets the door carved out. (He does, a little. Those towers were pretty awesome. They had shells for flags.)

Whatever. He smooshes the whole thing down and piles it into a mound instead.]

[starless_sky]

_{[There's something to be said about just mindlessly playing in the sand. He comes over and sits at the... sort-of-a-sandcastle. He picks at the shells and looks at the mound of sand thoughtfully.]}

What are you going for? You should maaaake... Hammerhead. Or a Crow's Nest.

[this_loser]

Oh. I was going for a formless adamantoise. But I could try Hammerhead. Maybe a little Cind...uh. Cid in the front working on the cars.

[At least the garage was mostly a block.]

[starless_sky]

Oh. A giant nasty turtle. You should make us fighting it. Nah, forget hammerhead.. you'd have to make your goddess in it and that might be too stressful for you.

[this_loser]

A giant, nasty turtle is easy to make out of sand. [He sighs at the mention of his goddess, though.] I could never do her justice. That kind of perfection could never be replicated.

[starless_sky]

Well, let's see it then.

And sure, if you say so. _{[He kind of wonders why Cindy feels the need to show off her whole body practically but that's her right. It make it hard or him to take her seriously sometimes... and he wonders about Prompto's chances with her... but oh well.]}

Then make the Hammerhead tow truck, it'll be easier to make to scale anyway.

[this_loser]

[Cindy would be perfect no matter how she dressed. He didn't stand a chance with her. He never would.]

Hm. I could try that. [He squashes up the sand to reform it in the boxy shape of a truck.] I'm better at working with real machines though.

You could help, you know. Get those princely hands dirty.