the beach episode (dated before the east mission)

[fallingsand]

There's a small slice of sandy beach between mountains and wasteland, where the South meets Central, only an inlet of ocean between them, and that is where Bruno has decided to set up camp.

Literally.

He only had a simple tent and supplies for two initially. Tatara had asked if he could join him on his little trip out and how could he say no? Unfortunately for him, Tatara may have decided to invite everyone else, too, so, welcome, everyone, to the beach episode and a chance to relax after a potentially rough week in the City of Rain.

The sand is warm and fine, the water isn't too chilly, and scrubby little palm trees and plant life dot the dunes. Sea birds are the most active wildlife out here, not counting whatever fish can be found dwelling in the depths of the inlet between South and Central or further out into the ocean. It's comfortable enough... unless you hate sand, that is! You don't hate sand, right?

Since Tatara's arrival, more than Bruno's humble setup can be found.

- There's food fit for a picnic and enough bottles of wine for the evening.

- In the evening, a (non-deadly) bonfire will be built and there'll be pillows to sit on for those who don't want to sit directly on the sand.

- A few colorful rough wool blankets laid out under umbrellas meant to provide shade.

- There's still only one sad-looking tent... However! Bruno's gone ahead and enchanted it so that, when one pushes the cloth flap aside and enters, they'll find a much more comfortable setup inside.

And, of course, anything the other wizards have decided to bring! Bruno wasn't expecting a party but now that it's here, he sure can't tell them not to have fun however they want.

Comments

[troublereduction]

[ Day is more or less dressed the same as usual, just lighter to account for the warmer weather. One gets the impression that his idea of beachwear is just "clothes that he's fine with getting wet in". It's a rare chance to see his arm tattoo in full, however, since his sleeves are rolled up and he's not wearing gloves: an abstract botanical tattoo that starts at his left elbow and goes all the way down the back of his hand.

During the day, he can be found looking for stones in the sand along the beach. In particular, he seems to be looking for flat ones. A little later you can spot him trying to skip stones across the water, and he's surprisingly good at it.

Later at night, Day can be found in a quiet spot on the beach, with a glass of wine in hand as he seems to be gazing up at the stars. He seems somewhere between contemplative and...frustrated? Like he's trying to get something out of this but it's not coming to him. ]

night;

[foresightis2020]

[ Jing Yuan manages to show up sometime at night, so it is probably with no surprise that eventually Day will be able to see him. ]

Some Credits for your thoughts?

[ He sees that glass of wine, and he supposes he could try his hand at making something like that from something on the beach. So, he reaches for a rock, and transforms a rock into a glass at first. Easy enough. Now for the drink aspect... ]

[troublereduction]

[ Day looks up and, oh, it's Jing Yuan. ]

Just thinkin' 'bout the stars tonight.

[ Especially because lately he's been given more reasons to do that. He peers over at what Jing Yuan's doing, seeming to catch on. ]

I guess if you're feeling adventurous, you could try changing the seawater.

[foresightis2020]

Simply for the sake of it?

[ Though, Jing Yuan does nod at the other comment. Not all of the seawater, but...maybe just enough.

For a moment, he heads closer to where the ocean meets the sand, scooping some up into the glass, before retracing his steps back to where he was before that. He's going to try to make it into something more to his tastes. ]

[troublereduction]

[ Guess today they'll find out if seawater can be turned into alcohol!
Day waits for Jing Yuan to return before he answers. ]

Tryin' to see if can... [ There's a vague hand gesture here, like Day isn't really sure how to describe what he means and is settling for whatever has the right vibe. ] Feel somethin' from them.

[foresightis2020]

[ What he decides on seems to hardly change much about its appearance, or maybe it appears that way in the lack of much light. But, at some point he does seem to start sipping from it, and not making a face either, so... ]

Feel something? As in, energy?

Or...is it something relating to the future?

[ Spontaneous divination from the stars? Jing Yuan wouldn't know where to start regardless, since he hardly knows the other man; though there's still a limit to what it could be. ]

[troublereduction]

[ Idly, Day wonders if that means transformations can be controlled to that degree...but also it could just be too dark for him to tell the difference. ]

A connection, more like. Though I haven't tried divinin' anything either.

[ Partially because Day by his own admission isn't very good at it, partially because...when he isn't tied to the stars here, it feels weird to try to ask about the future from them. It'd be like trying to access information he doesn't have the privilege to. ]

[foresightis2020]

[ It's a mystery indeedy. He will eventually seat himself down and look at the night sky, drink in hand. ]

What inspired you to try making the connection? The lengthy time we've all spent away from each other's worlds?

[ They've certainly been here quite awhile. While he isn't exactly surprised Day hasn't gone for divining anything (which would certainly be quite difficult, he imagines, though he knows little about harnessing such powers on a personal level), he is certainly curious about the former. ]

[troublereduction]

Yeah. To be honest, back home I'm... [ ...Does he want to try explaining this... ] You could say I have a divine blessin'? And it ties me to the stars. When I look up at the night sky, I can feel it.

[ He takes a sip of his wine here, pensive. ]

Here though, I've got nothin'. Was kinda hopin' maybe something would change now that it's been almost six weeks.

[foresightis2020]

If these stars are different from yours, it might affect the conditions of your divine blessing.

[ At least, that's what he thinks. It could always end up being something else involved, given the nature of their arrival, and other strange aspects of this world. ]

Does your divine blessing normally give you other powers or other particular special aspects as well, however?

[ It seems like maybe the type of thing to extend beyond stars, maybe. Not that he would know exactly. ]

[troublereduction]

Prob'ly something like that.

[ It's just hard to swallow that the thing that turned his life upside down five years ago...basically amounts to nothing, here. Almost like a joke, if anyone asked Day. He suspects his magic here works the way it does more so because of his feelings tied to the meaning he ascribes to them, rather than because it has any inherent power of its own. ]

It's, uh. How do I put this... It gives me some access rights to fate and destiny, you could say. [ That sure is a way of describing it. ] Lets me nudge probabilities, to a point. And some other weird things.

[foresightis2020]

[ Fate can be cruel, even if the hand it deals is certainly seemingly without bias, or simply unpredictable in a way even those used to it end up experiencing.

Though, from what Day tells him, it's certainly something that ironically should be something under his control. But, he did say 'some', not all. ]

Some rights, hm?

[ ... ]

But, other weird things? Such as looking into the future, or is it something else entirely?

[troublereduction]

[ Day has been beaten over the head with irony enough times by now here that he should frankly be concussed, metaphorically speaking. He's kind of relieved that Jing Yuan is just rolling with this. ]

Lookin' into the future, or things like...I can tell fate I dodged something on someone else's behalf. Or "consume" a thing's future to destroy it, assumin' it's something that time would have claimed eventually.

Day

[mirristry]

[Likewise, Phil is also mostly clothed in the form of a lightweight hoodie over a pair of swim trunks... the incredible paleness of his skin may or may not have something to do with this, as it's quite clear that this man actually seeing the sun is a decided rarity.

When he catches sight of Day skipping stones, he pauses to watch with an expression bordering on nostalgic. Then, after a few moments of watching in silence, he lifts a hand to summon a stone into it, which he throws at the water once he's sized up both the stone and the water currents.

It skips perfectly.]

[troublereduction]

[ ! When he sees the second stone skip across the water, he turns to try and find the source. ]

Oh, nice one!

[mirristry]

[At that, Phil straightens up a bit, a proud smile on his face. See, he's not a total failure at everything that isn't magic-related!]

I grew up on an island... how to skip stones was one of the first things everyone learned as a child. It may be years since I was last there, but it looks like I haven't forgotten everything.

[troublereduction]

Heh, I grew up on one too, but we were pretty inland. Bunch of valleys and fields. [ He's pretty glad to see Phil a little brighter right now, though. ] You're a pretty good shot.

[mirristry]

[There's a brief flash of something in Phil's eyes, though it's entirely possible it's merely a shading of the light.]

Yes, well... I had plenty of time to practice when I was younger. There really wasn't much else to do if you weren't the fishing sort...

[And he... pretty clearly wasn't.]

[troublereduction]

[ Huh. That got a reaction out of him... ]

What else did you do, then?

[ Is the answer "studying", he feels like it is. ]

[mirristry]

[Ding ding ding.]

Read, mostly. I had no shortage of books to keep myself busy.

[Primarily because he wasn't allowed to go outside that much as a child, but. Details.]

[troublereduction]

Man, you sound kinda like my sister...

[ Though to said sister's credit, she also trained (kicked his ass a couple of times, too) and gardened. ]

[mirristry]

I hope that's meant to be a compliment...

[You never know with siblings!!]

[troublereduction]

Well, yeah. She was pretty uptight, but there ain't no one more reliable than her.

[ Said with a kind of fondness only siblings who are comfortable enough to rib each other would have. ]

[mirristry]

U-uptight...

[sob. Clearly this is not the first time that word has been used in reference to Phil.]

... well, I suppose that does fit to a certain degree, although I've been trying to be better about it.

[troublereduction]

[ Phil did you just miss the second part of the sentence entirely? ]

Heh. If Path wasn't the one draggin' me back for ditchin' lessons, it was prob'ly her. Meant you could always rely on her whenever it counted, though.