driftfleet | It's Party Time [ Open ]

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It's Party Time [ Open ]

Who: Jim Kirk & You!
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Yes, Planet-side @ Alloy Lake
When: Sometime in the evening

While it wasn't broadcasted, between how many people were told and the fact it wasn't exactly a private affair on a very public beach, anyone was welcome to come to this little shindig. Kirk's feelings were mostly that they all could use a break and a chance to relax together as friends, family, teammates, or any other word you chose to assign to the relationships you had on the Fleet. It was a nice break from working in projects too. It was nice to have something to occupy yourself in a creative and useful way, but it was always a good idea to take a break and refresh the brain now and then.

Which was how he came to the idea of a party on Alloy Lake.

He scouted a scrap of land near the water to set up on - beach towels, a cooler with drinks, a mocked up grill to cook some food. He went out later in the afternoon to start with more than enough light to enjoy some swimming, though it would be dark soon enough for certain members to join without being uncomfortable. At which point, a bonfire was built. What? A lack of sunlight is never a reason to stop partying! Especially not with such good company.

_{[ ooc: It's a party on the beach! Make your own starters and have some fun! There's drinks - alcoholic and non - food, a couple of games or make your own, a bonfire later in the night with of course means some kind of smore, swimming, and more. In terms of invite, you can assume you were directly told by Kirk, or told by someone else, or the grapevine. It's open to all, so don't worry to much about it. Have fun! ]}

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[She shrieks at once, a sound that is both equal parts shock and unbridled wrath, and it's a good thing he Blinked away because she's whirling towards where he'd appeared, eyes blazing. When she finds no one there, she wriggles and shakes her hood, trying to get the ice out of her bikini top.]

You want ice!? I'll give you ice! Get back here, chickenshit!

[She scoops up a piece of the discarded ice cubes and a white stone from the beach, stalking back and forth across the sand as she waits for him to reappear.]

[She really has no room to call him chickenshit when she started this. He's just a little better at it. While she's stalking around, Taako moves back over to the water. Blink doesn't last long, but it'll be long enough. She can't see him which means she doesn't have True Seeing - so he had advantage. He reappears near the water and uses Mage Hand to slap the water toward her.]

You started this!

[The water gets her, but she'd been waiting for it; a necessary sacrifice. With a flash and a gesture there's a gust of cold air above him, and suddenly a handful of soft but frigid snowballs are raining down on him.

It's not made to cause damage - she's not going to try and duel him this early - but a snowball is still a snowball.]

How dextrous you feeling, Flip Wiz!?

Pretty fucking great that's how!

[Still, it's not exactly easy to dodge freaking snow and while he manages to miss the worst of it, he still gets hit once or twice. Taking shakes himself off and sweeps his arm up, casting Gust of Wind to send the fallen snow right back at her. Fuck that's cold!!!]

How about you?!

Is that the worst you can do!?

[She lifts her hands, fire spreading out from her palms, and the snow is blocked by a miniature wall of flames, the liquid sizzling and dissolving before it can pass through. She's quick to dismiss it, ready for the next round. There's so many options...

This is also an incredible waste of spell slots and she does not caaaare.]

[No it is not, but they're not doing a duel and he definitely doesn't want to duel a Red Robe anyway. She's far above his power level and he doesn't know all her spells yet.

When the snow hits the wall of flame, Taako uses the steam it lets off like a smokescreen as he goes invisible. Nothing said he had to fight this water war fairly after all.

He sneaks off from his position earlier, stepping carefully to avoid leaving footprints in any remaining snow. Then he starts sneaking to grab the bucket she dropped earlier.]

[Oh, he's trying that trick again? That's cute, but she's not falling for it twice. She runs to the lake's edge and splashes her hand through it, casting as her fingers touch the surface. A sudden rush of water follows the movement of her arm, as she sends a huge, long wave up onto the beach- and based on how fast she knows that he can move, no matter where he ended up it ought to catch him at least a little.]

Come at me, Flipper!

[Shit, he's not going to make it to the bucket. Time to reverse direction and ideas. He switches gears and runs directly toward the water and her, his body shifting shape as he goes. If he's going to end up wet, he's going to do it on his terms.

His body stretches and enlarges, changing colors to black and white. He's seen pictures of a creature like this somewhere, deep in his memory, dredged up by the name "Flipper." As the invisibility spell sloughs off, he's nearly next to her, jumping into the water with a tremendous crash - as a giant killer whale.

She's not the only one who can make a splash.]

[.....well shit, that's inventive. She watches him change, eyes widening slowly as it dawns on her exactly what he's doing, and then abruptly she thrusts both fists into the air as the whale flies over her head. The miniature tidal wave crashes down upon her as he lands, soaking her to the bone from head to toe.

And she is laughing hysterically.]

[She's soaked through and that's all he wanted. Now that he's a whale, he has very limited abilities and so he eyes Lup as she laughs, watching her enjoy herself. That makes him happy, but a simple happiness - like watching a puppy Chase its tail.

Taako the whale scoots himself along the lake bed, sliding back into the water. He doesn't want to get beached and since he only gets one transformation a day, he might as well enjoy this one. Being wet won't bother him anymore at least. He sinks below the water's surface, then breaches and blows water at her in a spray.

The water war continues. ]

[She's lost to the giggles now, kicking water back at him, even if it's pointless- they're both completely soaked. And also he's a whale.]

That. Was. Awesome! I'll let you win for now, I guess. Till next time.

[He's got Polymorph for an hour, though, and he doesn't seem too inclined to change back immediately and waste it, so after a moment's consideration, she turns around, heading for a grassy patch of the shore.]

Sit tight for a second! Be right back.

[It only takes a minute of digging around until she finds it- a small reed poking through the bits of grass and waterside plants. A quick murmur, and gills grow at her neck as she tosses her hoodie with his already-soaked towel on the sand and runs back towards him.

She streaks through the water at full speed, kicking up exaggerated splashes as she goes, and takes a flying leap to land on the back of the whale, winding an arm around his dorsal fin.]

Go, go! Show me the world, Wizard Willy!

[Haha he won. That's awesome and expected as it's kind of hard to lose after transforming yourself into a whale. Taako opens his mouth and kitters a little in a strange approximation of a whale's laughter as she heads off. Whales are surprisingly intelligent, which is good for him, as he waits to see what she's doing.

He can't see well enough out to where she is, but it doesn't take long before she's running can at him and jumping on his back. Wizard Willy? Come on, Lup! That sounds so dirty.

But still, he edges away from the lake's edge toward deeper water, giving a moment's pause and a deep breath before he flips his tail and dives. Being in water is natural, even if this water isn't, and he glides through the shifting colors rolling like a slow torpedo through the water, feeling Lup cling to his fin. A few lazy spins (for a whale) and then he starts picking up speed, churning the water to give Lup a bit of a thrill.]

[If they weren't underwater, she'd be whooping gleefully; nothing gets her blood boiling like a proper thrill ride, except of course a proper explosion, and this is an excellent example of the former. She clutches his fin tightly with both hands as they rocket through the water, her back bent and leaning forward to press as close to his back as she can to avoid the current sweeping her off. It's cold, being underwater this deep and for this long, but that just makes it more exciting, and with no issues breathing she can focus on enjoying herself.

She gives the skin of Taako's whale back a couple of smacks, as if it tell him, faster!]

[He feels the thumps on his back and if he had shoulders, he'd shrug. Sure, he can go faster as long as she holds on. He spins another circle and then dives, picking up speed. He doesn't want to go too deep because water breathing can do a lot of things, but not equalize pressure, so he gets to a certain level and then starts to arc upward back to the surface. He have there's a second as if to tell her really hold on, then he pushes off the water his tailfin and shoots up toward the surface of the lake.

If she wants a real E-ticket ride, here it comes, because he breaches and jumps through the air with her on his back.]

[Oh hell yeah, that's what she'd wanted! She's holding tight with both hands and legs firmly squeezed at each side of the fin, and once they break the surface she lets go to raise her arms up into the air, fingers lifted into devil horns (because this is metal as feck), letting loose the loudest, most gleeful howl she can muster with every ounce of her lung capacity. She's still yelling as they land and dive back under the water, the noise dissolving into bubbles as she drops her hands back down to hold on. She gives Taako's back another set of quick pats, the impact heavy and hype. That was rad. That was so rad. Again!!]

[He spins in the water at her encouraging thumps and starts doing a corkscrew deeper into the water. It's nice to be another creature. It's carefree. This whale doesn't really worry about anything but having fun and eating. There's nothing here to eat so that just leaves the fun.

He rockets through the cold water and then starts for the surface again, tail churning the water behind them as they jump straight up into the air. He hangs at the apex for a single glorious moment, and then drops back to the water, careful to turn so he's the first thing to hit - not her.]

[She's ready for it this time; as they get closer and closer to the surface she switches position, using the fin to pull herself upright so she can stand up, knees braced, one hand firmly on the dorsal, the other spread out as if reaching for the shore- or inviting any possibly onlookers to witness the show. She has no idea if anyone is, but really, who wouldn't? It's a free whale-riding demonstration!

She hunkers back down as Taako drops into the water once more, moving into a more horizontal position to avoid getting her neck cracked by the momentum. Earlier, she'd considered trying out surfing just to give Taako the idea of it, but this is way better. (Plus that would require some high-level stuff, since this lake is way too serene for waves.)]

[He's having a grand ol' time because whales like doing what he's doing now. Jumping around, making a scene, flinging seals into the sky -- wait, no, not that one. That's the killer whale talking, and Taako has to clamp down on that instinct hard. He takes a lazy spin under the water, rolling with his fins out at his side as they glide around. Then he breaches the surface gently, letting Lup appear above the water and wave to people if she so wishes. They're all about the spectacle after all. Even if no one is watching, this'll still be fun. He coasts along the top of the water for a few meters, and then he kitters and nudges his nose above the water, inviting Lup to step up on it.]

[It's still awfully trusting, getting on the nose of a killer whale you barely know, but Lup shows no sign of hesitation- she's eager, actually, to show off, gladly climbing up and perching just above his mouth. She looks towards the shore - is that a few onlookers? - and then poses dramatically, just hamming it up. She's walking on water, sort of!

And then, just because it's flashy, she tosses a few pyrotechnics into the sky. Everything is cooler with fire, and since they're on water she can go a bit wild with it as long as she's careful not to hit Taako. (which- duh, spell shaping is her damn specialty.)]

[Once she's on his nose, he shifts his body so he's vertical and uses his tail to push them slightly higher out of the water. Her pyrotechnics launch into the sky and Taako snickers internally. This is so over the top and dumb, but it's a good fun time. He slowly spins in a circle, letting her take center stage. And once the fireworks are almost over?

He does a burst of speed and launches her straight up into the air. It isn't far, just a jump up, but it'll let her do some acrobatics of his own as he peels off in the opposite direction, crashing back beneath the water.}

[She kicks off his nose as he launches her, and the momentum and height is enough to let her do two full rotations in the air before she straightens back out to dive back safely into the water. She has no idea how it looked, but it felt super cool, so she's satisfied.

She kicks her feet to direct herself back towards him- she can't keep up with his swimming speed, but she can get herself into a better position for him to catch her again.]

[Once back in the water, Taako takes a dive and does a lazy figure eight in the depths. The water isn't as deep as it could be, but it's enough. It's quiet under here, the minerals in the water not exactly conducive for fish that he recognizes. He heard the splash from up above and starts to climb, emerging from the deep underneath Lup.

He bumps his nose up against her and stops as best he can, so she can climb back on if she likes.]

[She does like, as a matter of fact, and she makes it known with a lighter pat on his nose as she swims around to grab his fin. He probably has no idea what this means to her, and she's fine with that, since her reactions to many of the things that he does - kind or otherwise - tend to bother him. She can't help it, most times. She knows how he is, and how he's been in more recent years. Taako doesn't generally do favours for just anyone. He might not even realize what he's doing with this, but like many of their shared moments since their arrival here, it gives her hope that things are getting better, bit by bit. It's almost like she's getting her brother back.

Since they're underwater and talking is out, she sends him a quick Message. Whales can't cast, but he can still think if he wants to respond.]

You take the lead, boss. Wanna explore a bit?

[Underwater and with only a whale's brain, the logical conclusion for him is "yes" when it comes to exploring. But he doesn't have a pod and the closest is the face-twin clinging to his fin. He should feel less at ease with that, but oh well. It's easier to sink into the easy mindset a whale has and go with the flow.

Taako rolls in the water and then starts to dive, aiming for the bottom of the lake where there's bound to be random scrap and piles of things to look through. He meanders his way deeper, eventually coming upon the expected formations of junk. The metal is nearly fused together, making stalagmites and pillars of algae and rust covered monuments.]

[Lup leans over his back to watch as the scenery sails by. It's getting darker and darker as they swim deeper, so she begins casting Dancing Lights as far ahead of them as the range allows, recasting every few seconds to light their path. Taako probably has some kind of whale sonar, but she wants to be able to check out what lies beneath.

Most of it isn't that interesting, but some of the remnants of what used to exist here is pretty cool. Looks like the people who cleaned this place didn't get everything, though from what she's heard this is just a fraction of what used to be beneath the surface. It's pretty cool to see how nature has more or less reclaimed the space from all the garbage.]

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