[OPENish] ~LIFE NEEDS MORE BEACHES & BONFIRES~

[unbreaker]

WHO: Josuke, Kaneki, Hazel, Annie, Hide, Reiner, Usagi, Jolyne, Giorno and possibly Hisoka
WHERE: Cape Canaveral Beach
WHEN: Saturday Night, February 7th
WHAT: BONFIRE! BOOZE! ROASTED MARSHMALLOWS! ...skinny dipping?
WARNINGS: Teenagers. Shenanigans. Probably mentions of nudity. TBA IF THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE!
NOTES: More or less OPEN? I mean, if one of the above characters would have or did invite yours (talk to the muns!) then please come join us! Opener's in prose, but feel free to use whatever works the best!

They'd come from their homes to the military base in Cape Canaveral, and that was where they'd agreed upon meeting one another. The plan from thereon in was simple. (Maybe too simple to start with—Josuke had originally under planned, after all—but thanks to some helpful 'intervention' things were on course and running smoothly.) A hop, skip, and a jump away was the beach, but in order to be sure they were appropriately distanced from military property, those who were able and willing were to visit the garage and borrow vehicles that could be used to usher their small group a little ways down the coastline. And by the time they had all arrived at the designated location—an end of the beach decorated with bits of driftwood and only a very light dappling of footprints—the sky was already beginning to darken. The bands of color that had once streaked the horizon like the layers of a sedimentary rock were now fading to a beautiful blue-grey monochrome; the rippling waves looked less like glimmering silk and more like impenetrable velvet; and the sun was barely a glowing sliver, minutes away from disappearing entirely behind the skyline. It was cool, but not cold, and as the fire was struck, as it reached brightly skyward, flames dancing and crackling, warmth soon began to fan outward. Around the bonfire were blankets and towels for people to sit on. There were snacks of all kinds: marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers, chips, and hot dogs—and there were skewers with which to stab several of these foods. There was a volleyball, too, pairs of binoculars, someone's media player and headphones, and a small cooler full of drinks on ice: water, some selections of soda, and of course...the alcohol. In short, everything anyone calling themselves a 'teenager' might need to cut loose on a Saturday night.

Comments

[moon_buns]

Usagi's eyes lit up at the other teen's suggestion.

"I would love that!"

As much as Usagi loved going and getting lost in a videogame, it was always better when with someone else. That opened up the possibility of co-op or versus games! Both an excellent change of pace from her usual solo gigs. Whether she could hold her own against Josuke was another matter. But for her, as cliche as it is, the fun is in the game, not the victory. Though she wouldn't be fooling anyone by saying winning wasn't extra fun!

"Maybe we could go after school??"

Usagi looked up at Joksuke with such pure joy and excitement. She stilled cupped her soda in her hands, though she's about forgotten it at the moment. This would be like back home! Something she had liked doing before! Living in the moment didn't mean she had to ignore previous pleasures. She could have a fun time with a new friend while simultaneously finding comfort in something familiar.

[I'll leave it for now then!]

[unbreaker]

And Usagi thought his cheer was infectious? Hers was just as bad—or good, technically. There was, after all, nothing bad about it! Shared enthusiasm for a thing was definitely the kind of thing Josuke liked seeing, especially when it came to video games.

He couldn't boast being great at them (but he would given the chance, anyway!) but he'd play just about anything you could stick into a console. Versus games, side scrollers, first person shooters, rpgs, simulators, puzzles, sports...oh man, you name it, he'd probably tried challenging all the built in CPU high scores. Not to mention the high scores of his friends.

And when it came to arcades? Challenging all the high scores of strangers, too. Ah...good times, good times.

"After school? You got it." A beat and then with a bit of a chuckle he added, "And then we can do some of that Mardi Gras shopping."

They were closer to the fire now, where Josuke'd left his shoes and bag. There's a blanket for them to sit on, and he drops down casually on one corner and pats the spot next to him for Usagi to follow suit if she wants. Plenty of room!

"Got any favorites at the arcade? I'm partial to DDR, myself. And there's this one...The House of the Dead! It's pretty fun, too. If you're not too scared of zombies."

[moon_buns]

Her beaming smile was still bright as ever. "Sounds good to me!"

As they had made their way over to the bonfire, Usagi had to keep up a quicker pace to stay with Josuke's strides. It didn't help that the sand was trying to hold onto her sneakers with every step. When they reached their real-estate of blanket, Usagi paused a moment to take a look around. It was a pretty good set up they had going: a music player, circulating snacks, coolers, and plenty of blankets to sit on.

She looked back to Josuke as he patted the spot beside him. With a smile, she slipped her small purse off her shoulder, plopping down beside him. She set her bag on the other side of her, joined by the still unopened can of soda.

"Hmm…" she leaned forward to reach her shoes, pulling the bow free in order to slip them off, "I play the side-scrollers the most! I always like watching the DDR players though. But I've never tried it myself..."

Usagi placed her sneakers with her bag, stuffing her socks into each one, and took up her soda again. She looked back to Josuke with a sheepish smile, "I'm kinda embarrassed I'll slip up there in front of everyone."

[unbreaker]

"Oh man, you've gotta try it. I mean, you're never gonna get good unless you do! Everyone messes up, it's not really a big deal—in fact, that's part of the fun!"

...Josuke is very enthusiastic about getting his groove on.

"Hell, you'd probably look pretty awesome dancing on the dance pad."

She would, wouldn't she? Usagi's got really long hair, it'd look pretty nice as she bounced around keeping up to the beat, hammering out the moves each song called for. Kind of like some real life video game character herself!

[moon_buns]

She finally cracked open her can of soda with a quietly surprised "Oh!" when the metal snapped. She looked back to him, incredulous.

"No way! No way! Awesome is not the word you'd be using after seeing me try to dance. I bet I'd end up falling on my face!"

His enthusiasm for the game kept her smiling though. Josuke was probably the one that would look awesome dancing. He was tall, fashionable, and, hey yeah, handsome. She never denies a person's attractiveness. She was a 14 year old girl, that was something she noticed in people. Particularly people around her own age.

She took a sip of her soda, enjoying the fizz.

"Maybe you can play a round when we go to the arcade… I'll cheer you on!"

[unbreaker]

"Deal?"

Josuke holds out his hand.

"I'll cheer you on at side-scrolling if you cheer me on at DDR." Nothing like having your own personal cheer squad to get your blood pumping and the high scores rolling in, right? Right!

Just uh, don't expect him to be flawless, Usagi. For a guy his size, he manages to be really graceful, but that mouth—it can put a sailor's to shame. You can bet if he takes a wrong step (especially in front of anybody he's trying to show off for) there's gonna be a string of curse words following his blunder. And then some extra exertion on his part as he tries doubly hard to make up for his slips.

"Maybe I can even teach you to play DDR a little." He reaches for a soda of his own and cracks back the tab, the can hissing loudly in protest. Too bad, he takes a large sip from it anyway! Refreshing! "It's not hard, and I won't let you fall on your face, I promise."

[moon_buns]

A wide smile followed by a nod, "Deal!" An affirming handshake and they sealed their pixilated fates. Just like their height differences, his hand dwarfed hers even more by comparison.

Stretching her legs out, she pushed the tips of her feet into the cool sand, wiggling her toes a little. It felt so nice here on the beach, she couldn't get over it! She was so happy to have been included in this gathering.

"Mmm--" she took another sip of her soda before looking over to him again, "-- mmmaybe."

Usagi held her soda can in both hands, resting in her lap. If a friend was there with her, she'd be more inclined to try… and Josuke seemed to really like this game so… maybe. "I'll think about it."

[unbreaker]

"No pressure," Josuke followed up with a smile after shaking Usagi's hand. "I'm not gonna be offended if you say no or anything."

And he wouldn't be. Rather the opposite. He was much happier when his friends demonstrated strength of character enough to stand up for themselves and their opinions as opposed to going along with something just because the other person wanted to.

[moon_buns]

She took another sip of her soda, looking into the crackling fire. Sparks flickered upwards towards the stars, only to fade out moments later. It really was nice being farther out from the city. The night sky was far more lively out here. The stars weren't even something she saw a lot of back home. Tokyo was a bright city, its lights usually washed out the night sky.

"Oh hey!" she looked back to Josuke, "Do you want any marshmallows or other snacks? I think I wanna grab some."

Snacks were provided after all, and she wasn't going to miss an opportunity to chow down!

[unbreaker]

Josuke didn't get a whole lot of stargazing done back in Morioh, either...but it was a small enough town that, in the right places, it wasn't hard to go about if one wanted to lie back in a field and observe the sky. For Josuke, though, there was usually a whole lot more happening on ground level to attract his attention. Other Stand users, quests to strike it rich, school, hanging out with family, pranking friends...

"Huh?" Oh, right! Food! "Yeah, pass some 'mallows!"

He sets aside his soda to poke around for the skewers. Maybe he can roast one nice for Usagi?

[moon_buns]

Usagi nodded with a smile and pushed herself up, careful to try to keep the sand off their blanket. "Be right back!"

She walked over to the snack pile, which was still impressive despite some of the goodies being in circulation around the fire. Scooping up an already broken-into-bag of marshmallows, and an individual bag of chips, she headed back over to her spot on the beach.

"Have you roasted marshmallows before?" she asked as she plopped back down, holding the marshmallow bag out to her pompadour'ed friend.

[unbreaker]

Josuke accepts the bag as she sits back down, promptly plucking a marshmallow from its depths and pushing it into his mouth! By the end of the night he'll probably be sick to death of sweets, but for right now? He's enjoying getting to stuff his face full of them.

"Not a whole lot," he answers, picking up one of the skewers he got ready before she went for the snacks. The end is cleaned off in the fire, cooled a little with a wave, and then he sticks it through the flat side of a marshmallow. "It's not rocket science, though. Sugar burns fast, so you keep it rotated to heat it evenly and brown it lightly on all sides!"

[moon_buns]

Following suit, she snatched her own marshmallow, giving it a test nibble before popping the rest of it into her mouth. Then started on her bag of chips, which, once she had a chip to crunch on, offered up to Josuke to take some for himself.

"Oooh, that's simple enough!"

[unbreaker]

Usagi, you're a girl with a stomach after his own, indulging in sweet and salty snacks alike despite the raised eyebrows mixing certain flavors often gets him.

Happily enough, the older teen takes up a chip and pops it into his mouth with one hand while rotating the marshmallow some more with the other. After a few more seconds of roasting, it's pulled away from the fire smoking lightly, but quite far from being scorched. Rather, it boasts a fairly even golden color all around...the topmost side and bottom excluded. Those are still pretty white and goopy.

Crunching his chip up and swallowing, he offers the marshmallow to Usagi.

"Here, you can have it. Just be careful! It looks really melty."

[moon_buns]

Usagi had been happily munching on her chips when Josuke offered her his campfire spoils. The fire was really entrancing with all of it's crackles and sparks. But she looked over and her eyes instantly brightened.

"Ooh! Thank you!" she said with a big smile and gingerly plucked the marshmallow of the tip of the stick. Well, pluck isn't really the right word, it was more of an… attempt. The sugar mass was far more gooey and determined to stay where it was to come off easily. But she managed, though not before almost pulling the golden outer layer off.

She carefully blew on it a little, and then popped the whole marshmallow in her mouth. Immediate eye sparkles to follow.

"Ess soo ummee!!" an exclamation obscured by a mouthful of melty sugar.