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

[fallingsand]

[ Here he goes again, ruining everything with his visions. It isn't that he should keep them secret, but it's also such a wide array of possibilities, how would they even know which one to prevent?

Bruno puts his hands together, fingers laced between one another, to keep himself from fidgeting too badly. ]

Mika. These aren't your fates alone. If you can't trust the people who share these outcomes with you, then that would be the mistake you're making.

[shortleash]

( That seems to pause Mika, like he's really trying to parse it - but it's just so antiethical to what he believes, it's hard to understand. )

... I don't see why they can't take care of themselves. Can't you?

( surely, as a grown adult, )

[fallingsand]

[ Why can't he... what... Mika? Hello? Bruno gives the poor kid the most peculiar of looks. ]

Mika, do I look like I could fight the moon alone?

[shortleash]

( Following East mission, Mika will have a more concrete example of the power of teamwork... but right now, it's a little vague - not wholly unfamiliar, since Yuu's crew kept pressing for it (spearheaded by Yuu), but, mindset aside, it's not how vampires work - it's not how he was trained. So it's still kind of weird. )

... Vampires don't work in groups.

( By way of explanation. He's a tourist here.

But they don't need to worry about the weakest among them, given their curse of immortality, and they don't care to, given their curse of indifference. These are curses humans obviously lack, so it's not like he doesn't understand the difference in proclivity. )

But I'm not saying I don't trust anyone here. ( Not that he trusts everyone... ) ... But I don't want to trust carelessly again. Just because we're all in the same boat doesn't mean everyone here is reliable.

[fallingsand]

[ Love it when Bruno predicts the future without even trying. Thanks, East mission. ]

Okay, sure, but you aren't working with vampires. Uh, mostly. [ There is Malice, after all. ] I'm not asking you to trust every single person with your life but if we can't work together, we may as well not try averting those futures at all.