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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[The surface's light and that first breath of air is sweeter than anything he's had in awhile. He hangs out there, swimming along the top, listening to her laugh. There's something uplifting about hearing that, the joy in her at the brush with death aside, she's happy.

It's weird that he cares about that.

He lets her sit up there for a bit, giving her time to relax. He's also done with the adventuring because he nearly freaking died and he's never down with that. Other than the octopus, they don't have much "treasure" per say from this thing. The tentacles on that thing better be fine or he'll have a fit.]

I'm good.

[Also Polymorph is fading and he can feel it. Which means he has just one last chance. When she's relaxed up there, he suddenly spins in the water, trying to dump her off his back.]

[Lup considers herself always on her toes, ready for anything, difficult to surprise. She's always been a force to be reckoned with, and the century of space travel, of death and rebirth, only made her more dangerous.

Which is why the indignant squawk she makes is that much more embarrassing as Taako's body flips around and sends her flying off, landing with an inelegant bellyflop and sinking under.

Immediately she flails and rolls over underwater, coming up with a coughing splutter and spitting lakewater in his dumb face.]

Yooouuuuu!!

[She throws the octopus at him for good measure.]

[Now today is a good day. That yelp and the sound of her smacking into the water are music to his ears and he laughs internally as the Polymorph spell wears off. He sinks into the water as his form shrinks and changes back. The whale's squeaking laughter turning into his - until he gets an octopus launched at his face.

He has to think fast to catch it; three of the tentacles wrapping loose and smacking him across the face and chest. But he catches it! And even wet gross octopus can't crash his mood.]

You should have heard the noise you made!

I don't know what you're talking about.

[She splashes water at him again and sticks her tongue out. There's no one else out here, and that means no witnesses!]

[He scoots the octopus under one arm and treads water with the other, turning his face to the side to avoid the splash.]

I do and I'll never forget the sound as you gracefully smashed the water your face.

[Lup sinks down a bit, exhaling and blowing bubbles as she glowers at him. Then her lips curve and she lets herself sink fully, dropping down into the darkness below, her hand lifting to wave as she falls.

She can breathe under there. She'll wait.]

[....Well?

Shit.

He'd forgotten about that little trick of hers and he's stuck out in the middle of the lake with no components other than what is now soggy in his pockets. And the octopus? But he isn't about to use that so soon.

Taako treads water for a moment and then starts gunning it for the beach. He'll never make it, but it's better than just sitting here waiting for her to strike.]

[Lup knows Taako like she knows herself, and she fully expected him to rush for an escape- which is precisely why she'd already been swimming for the shore far beneath him. She swims upside down so she can keep an eye on him, legs kicking quickly to stay just ahead.

She lets him get about halfway there before she swims upwards again, using a bit of underwater gust to burst up to the surface abruptly, directly in front of him, with a melodramatic "RAAAAAWR" before grabbing him in a hug and dragging him under.

Just for a few seconds- mostly to get him spluttering. Because sweet, sweet payback.]

[She's here somewhere. She's waiting until the worst possible moment to grab him or fling something at him or drag him to the depths and he knows it. He knows it and he can't do anything about it because he's stuck in the middle of the water. He can't even go that fast because he's dragging this stupid octopus carcass with him. He brought this upon himself though.

Still, no regrets.

He can almost tell when it's coming. A sense of immediate danger sends alarms off in his head and then she bursts from the water's depths and grabs him, dragging him beneath the water. He can barely get a breath in before he's under, wrestling with her. There's a moment of real panic where he's afraid she might actually hurt him, but it's quashed down in favor of shoving the octopus straight into her face.

She could have used a lot of her spells to straight up kill him whenever she wanted, so maybe he's safe? Then again, he might not be after pushing dead octopus into her face, but?

No. Regrets.]

[She'd expected some resistance, and it's all in good fun, so as he shoves the octopus at her face she lets him go, lingering beneath the surface for a moment while he gets himself upright again. When she joins him back on the surface, she's got the octopus tentacles over her shoulder like a backpack, and she's grinning brightly at him as if nothing at all had happened.]

Whew! Refreshing, huh? Nothing quite like a surprise dive.

[Kinda like you gave her, right, RIGHT]

[He breaks the surface of the water and wipes the water from his face. Some of it got in his mouth and he spits, grimacing at the metallic tang it still has. Beautiful lake, totally not fresh. He sputters and sinks back into the water a bit, almost up to his nose as he glares at her. A proper sulk requires an angry glare and some bubbles.

He hangs there for a moment, then pops back up, spitting water at her face.]

[This is getting pretty gross - between the octopus at her back and the spit in her face - so she blows a raspberry at him and spins around, kicking water in his face in return as she takes off swimming for the shore. She's had just about enough of their water shenanigans, and has earned herself some napping-and-tanning beach time. She just has to get there first- hopefully fast enough to steal his towel.]

Quit sulking and race, slowpoke!

Cheating!

[Oh hell no. She's taking off for the shore and Taako is after her a second later. She has a lead on him though and he has to really push himself to keep up with her, let alone get past her. He does have that little bit of extra reach and height, but compared to how tired he is after swimming around as a killer whale with a freaking fish-worm monster on his ass, there isn't much of an advantage.

He's panting by the time they get to the shore and he just doesn't have it in him to go for the towel. The last time he saw it, it was soaked anyway. He drags himself up onto the beach and flops over in the sand on his back, laughing a little.]

Well? Knock that off my bucket list.

[Part of why she makes it to the shore so fast is not having to turn for air during her strokes- amazing how those extra seconds can shave off one's time. The head start didn't hurt, either, of course. When he arrives she's discovering the wet towel herself, holding it up with a disappointed huff, and drapes it out on the sand, dropping the octopus on a rock to dry out. She wanders back over and sits in the surf beside him, toes digging into the sand.]

I didn't know that an underwater near-death experience was on your list.

It wasn't.

[He flicks some water at her from his fingertips and closes his eyes, chest heaving still.]

But now that I almost did die that way, it can't happen again. Make for boring viewing, don't you think?

[She does nothing for a moment, until a flick of her wrist dusts sand across his braid in return. You wanna tussle here, too?]

I'm okay without a repeat. Knowing your luck, something more interesting will come along eventually.

Excuse?

[He cracks an eye open just in time to see the sand fall on his hair and makes a displeased hum in the back of his throat. After a moment, Taako sits up and flicks his head just enough to send his braid over his shoulder with a minor arc of water at her.]

Whose spell was it that caught its attention?

[Actually wait, scratch that. Now that they're both out of the water, he can see the mess her hair has become after their death race under the sea. He holds up a hand to stop her from firing off her inevitable clapback and points to her head.]

Before we get into it - we're doing something about that.

[Ack- water and sand, right in her face, and she closes her eyes to avoid getting it in less comfortable places. She's about to retort that they wouldn't have even seen it if not for her lights, probably, but the second comment gives her pause.

She cracks open one eye at him and points to... her own head?]

That what?

[He sighs and gestures at her whole head.]

You look like someone put a mop in a blender and then threw it into a tornado.

Turn around. I'm fixing it.

[She blinks owlishly at him for a long moment as what he's telling her sinks in. Ah.

Her hair. He's going to do her hair.]

...Ummm, excuse you, I look fantastic as always.

[She turns around to show him her back anyway, mostly so he can't see the big smile she's valiantly fighting to avoid giving herself away. She's never really minded when her hair gets wild like this - she'll just tame it later, once she's showered and has a brush on hand - but Taako used to insist on making sure she was as on point as him when they were together.

She knows his reasons here and now are more self-serving than they used to be, but even so... shit, yeah, she's smiling. Hopefully the curtain of hair half-plastered to her cheeks will hide it for a while.]

Whatever, goofus. I stand by my assessment.

[She turns around and he moves in, drawing his hands through her hair. Her hair is wet and tangled so he has to go slowly, but as he runs his nails through, he teases out all the knots and squeezes out the water. His hair is in a braid, meaning it's tousled but safe. If anything, he'll look like he intended to do a mermaid braid and have some bitchin' waves once it dries out. But hers? She had it in a ponytail and that thing is all over the place.

He doesn't even think as he works. He just pulls her hair out of the ponytail and works through it until it's manageable. Then he partitions the hair out, braiding from her temples back. Her hair is damp enough that he doesn't need a tie right away and leaves the wet plaits where they are. The remaining hair, he pulls up into a loose bun, wrapping the ends around. Then he pulls the braids up around the bun and secures them, weaving them through the hair so it all stays put.

That should keep it up out and the way and stop it from being a total mess while it dries.]

There. Now you look fantastic.

[She almost falls asleep as he works. The lengthy swim wore her out more than she would let on before, the sun's beating warm at its mid-afternoon peak, and his fingers weave through her hair more gently than she'd expected to loosen any tangles and tie her hair into multiple plaits. It's soothing and comfortable and achingly familiar, and the only thing that keeps her from dozing off against him is that she doesn't want to miss a moment of it. She's missed this. She's missed it so much.

By the time he's finished, she's not even bothering to hide the contented smile on her face anymore, but she has a valid excuse for it now - who doesn't love having their hair played with? - and she can subtly wipe the wetness from her cheeks and excuse it away as just trickles of water leftover from their swim. She's not sad. She couldn't be more happy in this moment. (Okay, one thing could make her happier. But wishes don't bring memories back, and she's too much of a realist to pine for it right now.)

She reaches up to pat at the bun of braids tentatively to avoid pulling them loose, then glances over her shoulder at him.]

Well, I guess this is fine, if you're not going to complain. [And then, more quietly,] Thanks.

[Was she....?

No, that's stupid. Who the hell would cry about getting their hair done? He lets her be about it and then flops back onto the beach. He'd dried off a bit while doing her hair, so the cool sand is nice on his warm skin. He feels...good? About helping her? That's weird as fuck, but he can't deny how nice it was to play with her hair. He can rationalize it as being glad she no longer looks like a hot mess anymore since they share a face, but here on the beach, it's pretty obvious they're not the same person anymore.]

Mmhmm. And it's better than fine, homie, you look great thanks to me.

[He yawns and stretches, pillowing his arms under his head, eyes closed to the sun above.]

If you're not gonna take care of that mane, you should let me do it. Like you said - you used to have someone to help you, so I might as well do it. Win me some brownie points with your org.

[Is he...? Seriously?

Stay cool, stay cool. She doesn't answer right away, swallowing any potential tremor or over-eager lilt in her voice. She doesn't want to mess this up when he actually just offered-]

You wanna do my hair on the reg? Heck, if you feel that strongly about it, I've got no reason to say no.

[She shifts quietly to face the water, hugging her knees to her chest. Not quite touching him, but close enough that he can probably feel her there. She's smiling so hard it hurts a little, but she can't seem to stop.]

No offense, but you're kind of shit at it.

[That's probably the most offensive thing he could say, but it breaks a little bit of the tension that is nearly palatable in the air. He isn't sure why she always puts him on edge. Maybe it's the static that invades his thoughts anytime he tries to concentrate on her too much. Maybe it's the fact that she's so familiar despite having only met a few weeks ago. And maybe, just maybe, it's because he feels comfortable with her in a way he hasn't felt with anyone in a long, long time.

And that very fact sets him on edge.

But not being around her makes him nervous in a way he can't account for either. After a moment, he reaches out with his knee and nudges her.]

You better not be planning to shave your head or anything or I'll never forgive you, nerd.

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