Twenty-somethings gotta twenty-something

[mikangirl]

Who: Everyone invited, everyone gatecrashing (technically you're all invited, so...)
Broadcast: Who knows, maybe some drunken texting later on
Action: Iskaulit Pool!
When: 3 July

[It's a party for a narcissistic redhead who likes to be reminded she's alive.  Come celebrate!  Alternately, come sneak in and steal the food!  There's a bar set up for drinks drastically lowered to cost-price or to-be-paid-later-tab, a non-alcoholic punch in case of wandering minors (spike it and Nami will end you) and random snacks.

Oh, and a pool.  Which is heated.  Kind of important, that part.

Step right up, I'm reliably informed we'll have Thor with his shirt off, take pictures while you can.]

Comments

[axi]

[Damn right it is. Kaname looks at the water, kicking her foot to splash him slightly.]

Well you're a nice sight. You work at Nami's bar, don't you?

[candothat]

[He snorts, more at the 'nice sight' than the splash. Although the temptation to splash back is great, he reins himself in. For now.]

I help her with restocking. Why?

[axi]

[... she splashes him again. Have some fun.]

I was just wondering how you knew her. [Kaname grins.] She's my captain. Friend too, of course.

[candothat]

[Well, if she's going to be like that. He retaliates in kind.]

Of course, what good is a captain who isn't also a friend. Is she from the same place as you? From Ragna?

[axi]

[That gets a laugh then another return splash.]

Not at all, we met here. But I do have someone from my world here. His name's Messer... Ah.

[Kaname nods to a tall, dark man with a mohawk off to the other side of the pool. He's in the water playing with some sort of small creature.]

Over there.

[candothat]

Kaname, it's going to be very hard to have a conversation with you if you force me to push you into the water.

[He looks (not at all subtly) in the indicated direction.]

Is Messer the large man or the small fish cat?

[axi]

Then I'll have to beat you to it. [Mindful of her drink, the singer slips back into the pool with ease and turns to face him.] There.

The large man. [Kaname giggles, and probably will whenever Messer makes his way over to her again.] The mercat is Q-Lulu, a pet from home.

[candothat]

I'm not certain, but I think that you just won. [In general. The splash fight that almost was.]

Right, yes, I should have guessed that. He doesn't look like someone who enjoys singing. [Even though he's talking about Messer, most of his attention is on Q-Lulu. So cuuute.]

[axi]

It wasn't a contest.

[His words cause her smile to turn a little distant, and she shakes her head.]

Judging him on looks alone won't do you any favors. He's a very devoted member of our team, and he loves our music. [Hers, specifically, but she won't mention that.] Before, I mentioned the pilots we work closely with: He's one of them.

[candothat]

You can still win.

[Pavel takes another look at Messer and nods.]

I'm sorry for that. [Judging. Messer isn't the sort of person Chekov would approach without some kind of prompting (he's tall and muscular, it's a survival thing!), but if Kaname likes him, he's going to be talked to whether or not he likes it.] It's good that you have him here with you--someone from home that you know and trust. ...Not that it's good that someone you know is being held captive by beings who find us entertaining, but you know what I mean.

[axi]

[Nodding, Kaname's expression lightens a little.] Thank you. You didn't seem like someone who would judge others without cause. I'm glad I was right.

[She backs away from the edge a little to move in the water some more.]

I've found people here I can trust as well, friends I wouldn't have met otherwise. [Now, back to the edge, she grins up at him. With a quick motion, she grabs his wrist and pulls him into the water with a laugh.]

Punishment for making an assumption.

[candothat]

[He's going to make a crack about how she shouldn't be so quick to judge him so generously, but suddenly he's too busy being pulled into the pool to do that.

Hopefully Kaname gets a kick out of the unmanly yelp of surprise.]

I apologized! [He splashes her once he has successfully regained his composure. It's pretty wimpy; he doesn't want to get water in her drink.] You're cruel and unforgiving. [There's absolutely no bite to those words. Don't worry, Kaname, he likes you.]

[axi]

[No worries, she does.]

I'm forgiving you now! [With a grin, she sinks under the water and pops up a few feet away.]

Come on, now that you're here, you mat as well enjoy it.

[candothat]

[Adorable little sadist.]

Wonderful, thank you. Just in time.

[He sighs forlornly, peels off his wet shirt, and tosses it to the pool's edge.] I suppose I have no other choice.

[Since splashing Kaname as thoroughly and enthusiastically as possible seems like the most enjoyable course of action right now, he does just that.]

[axi]

[Excuse.

Kaname chuckles at his resignation, waiting for him to make his move. Admittedly, he catches her off guard with the ferocity of it, and she yelps in surprise, ducking back under to escape the onslaught.

She reemerges a little to his left, inhaling loudly with a laugh.]

Touché!

[candothat]

[Her evasive maneuvers get an actual laugh out of him. It doesn't happen a lot, she should be proud.]

Allez! [A much smaller splash.] ...I have no idea what that means, but I have heard it used in conjunction with touché.

[axi]

[So she shall be!]

That goes beyond my Earth references, I'm sorry. [Even if she doesn't seem it at all. (She's not.) Kaname stands from her crouching position, shaking her head to get some water out of her hair.]

See? You're having fun now. [Oh look... floating by is a water gun. She idly reaches for it.]

[candothat]

I think that it's a fencing term. Probably not applicable to water fighting.

[Oh no! ...No, he's not really threatened.]

Would you shoot an unarmed man?

[axi]

I don't think it would be.

[Filling it with water, she eyes him a little warily.]

I'm not sure... you've got two decent, functional looking arms. I think you can manage.

[She squirts some water at him.]

[candothat]

Only decent?

[She doesn't give him a lot of time to pretend to be offended. He ducks underwater... and immediately resurfaces, looking a bit sheepish.]

I was going to tackle you, but it occurs to me that I don't know you well enough for that to not be extremely impolite. So imagine, please, that I did that in retaliation.

[axi]

[His explanation catches her off guard, but she nods. It does make sense, and she appreciates the courtesy. Kaname sets the water pistol down, letting it bob along.]

That might constitute a victory for you. [She can't help her smile.] However, I don't know you well enough either. So any comment about your arms being nice to look at or only decent seems forward of me.

[Kaname does direct the floating 'weapon' in his direction.]

[candothat]

I'm not opposed to forwardness if it takes the form of compliments. Insults, however, require more familiarity.

[He picks up the water gun and fills it.] Are you surrendering? You could tell me what you would theoretically do in response to me theoretically tackling you.

[axi]

You didn't strike me as someone who'd fish for a compliment. [She grins. It's hardly an insult.]

Hardly. But that's hard to say. Sometimes you don't know what you'd do in a situation unless you're actually in it.

[candothat]

I am a complex and sometimes surprising person, Kaname. [He smiles like he thinks he's joking.]

Are you saying that, if I want to know if you would or wouldn't surrender, I need to actually tackle you?

[axi]

Aren't most people? [She wasn't, but sure.

She eyes him, smile still in place.]

And if I said yes?