[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

[soldiarity]

Sure -- if you draw blood next time I won't say 'I told you so.'

[ He's mostly being facetious, smirking and chucking the piece of wood in his hand toward the fire and then resting his hand on his hip. ]

I could hold some of them for you if you wanted, I don't mind. I don't have anything better to do.

[deadtective]

Hey, I don't want to turn this into a competition. I already cracked you in the head, I don't need to beat your ass on top of that.

[she's joking now, smiling even as she clutches the bundle tightly. well, at least he doesn't seem to be bothered by the accident. again.]

[soldiarity]

Sure, sure. I'm not really in the mood to get my ass kicked, not tonight. We're supposed to be having fun, right?

[ Also joking, obviously. Well, if she wants to hold onto that load of sticks, it's her business. Reiner rubs at his head again. ]

Is that all for the fire?

[deadtective]

Yeah, of course. [as if to underline her point, she jostles the bundle a little bit so she can toss another log (more gently!) at the fire] When you toss driftwood into it it'll change color for a little bit. It's cool.

[soldiarity]

[ Reiner watches the way the flames react as they devour the wood, the sharp crackling growing louder for a moment. It's all sights and sounds he's familiar with, so he's aware of some possible disconnect in how exciting he finds feeding the fire. ]

Yeah, it's cool. [ His brows raise curiously. ] You like fire a lot, huh?

[deadtective]

Uh, not really? [she looks at him askance] You make it sound like I'm some kind of pyromaniac. I'm just having a good time at a bonfire!

[you know, bonfire? the giant pile of roaring flames that is the entire reason they're all here? the thing it's TOTALLY NORMAL to be focusing on now and then???]

SORRY FOR THE DELAY I was on hiatus all of march!

[soldiarity]

( OOC: no worries if you wanna drop/handwave the rest at this point. o/ )

That's not what I mean. What's a--? [ ... Not that it really matters; he can kind of guess from the context. ] I meant -- well, it doesn't really matter.

[ He shakes his head. It's too hard to explain, probably -- he doesn't have a negative reaction to fire, per se, but none particularly positive with this much fire, either. Big fires are more associated with burning bodies. ]

I haven't been by it much, admittedly. Not yet. Bonfires like this aren't something I'm really used to.

no worries! i'm like the queen of backtagging haha

[deadtective]

Seriously? I thought fire was the big primal attraction in everyone. You know, caveman mastering the elements, smoky meat, arcane sacrifices to ugly Old Gods...

[she grins and tries to flex her arms to underscore her joking paleolithic imagery, but it just results in her dropping all the remaining driftwood right on her feet. whoops.]

\o/

[soldiarity]

[ He laughs briefly, but stops when she drops her driftwood, in case she's hurt or something. Even for him that'd be painful, despite not leaving any kind of damage. Reiner bends down as if to help her re-gather the driftwood up. ]

I came for the company, actually. But I'd never say no to heat or meat, either... maybe that is caveman-like, I don't know. [ He is only vaguely aware of what "caveman" are supposed to be in this context. ] I like going to these kind of things. It's hard to really worry about anything, being around people like this.

[deadtective]

[Hazel doesn't really react to the sudden mishap at all beyond looking mildly irked about having to pick all this up again. she's grateful for the help, though! this took a while to get together by herself.]

I don't know, I've been worrying about some people getting food poisoning for a few hours now...

[she's kidding, Josuke. only not really.]

[soldiarity]

Food poisoning? As long as they stick it in for long enough--

[ Reiner pantomimes the gesture without really thinking about it, taking it at least somewhat seriously -- if she's joking, he can't really tell. It isn't that hard to identify when the meat is cooked enough by sight, is it? Surely not, but maybe if someone doesn't do it much...

Reiner holds out the driftwood he's gathered up to offer it over to her, once it looks like she's got a good handle on what's in her arms. ]

As long as no one's eating it raw there shouldn't be a problem. That would be pretty stupid.

[deadtective]

[s-stick it in. Hazel isn't usually one to succumb to crude jokes, but with Reiner's gesturing like that it makes it really difficult. she bites her lip hard and focuses with incredible intensity on her gathering work. it's the only thing that sees her through when she has to look up to take the offered logs.]

I meant more, uh, stupid combinations.

[soldiarity]

[ The funniest part is that, while Reiner is far from above making dirty jokes, that was completely unintentional. So he only gives her a curious look but thinks nothing more of it. ]

Oh. Right... [ He tilts his head slightly. ] Well, it'll be fine. There are easy ways to get bad food out of your system in that case -- it's not yourself you're worried for, right?

[deadtective]

Me? No way. I'm way too smart for that kind of thing. [she rolls her eyes] And I can't eat pretty much any of this food anyway.

[soldiarity]

You can't? Because...?

[ He gives her a cursory and vague look-over, but isn't really sure what to take away from what he's looking at combined with what she's saying. Instead, he asks: ]

What can you eat, then? If that's not something weird to ask about.

[deadtective]

Medical issues. It's not really that interesting; it just means that I can only have super specific and bland shit.

[she shrugs with a single shoulder, hopefully casual enough to ward off any further inquiries.]

[soldiarity]

[ At that, Reiner nods, and doesn't ask anything further. It's a personal thing anyway, and not something he's necessarily interested in down to specific details. ]

Right. I think I know what you mean -- it's at least similar, for me. Most food here is made pretty differently from what I'm used to, my stomach doesn't take to everything. [ He shakes his head. ] It's a pain in the ass.

[deadtective]

[bless you and your lack of curiosity, Reiner. Hazel laughs, although the sound is tinged with the despair only a person who loves food but cannot have it knows.]

Tell me about it. Everything looks so delicious, I want like twenty of them, but all I can do is stare.

[soldiarity]

It's impossible to tell most of the time what's good to eat and what's not, too... that's the worst of it. Back home almost everything just came from a farm, if you didn't hunt it down yourself. Here even the meat can be weird.

[ Granted, his digestive system is more durable than his peers' might have been, considering his own particular circumstances. ]

[deadtective]

You just need to know where to go. There's this beat up little steak place that I walk by all the time, you can practically see the meat still sizzling on the plate.

[does she torture herself like this a lot? you bet she does. Hazel knows all the good eateries.]

[soldiarity]

Oh, really? Where is that? I mean... what city?

[ He does look interested... though aware, belatedly, that maybe he should change the subject, considering her situation. ]

Not that I'm in any hurry. What other stuff do you like to do?

[deadtective]

It's in Heropa; I'll give you the address when things wrap up here.

[because someone might as well eat some delicious red meat, even if it's not Hazel.]

I don't really do much else, honestly. Video games, some tv and books, getting kidnapped to beach parties...it's not all that exciting.

[soldiarity]

Oh, sure. I'm not really down there all the time, but the more I have to do when I am, the better. So I don't waste a trip.

[ Straightforward enough. Reiner mostly comes down to Heropa for school and occasionally other events of significance, but after this summer he'll be switching schools. ]

That's all? Are you shy or something?

[deadtective]

[that makes her chuckle and flash a wry little smile. her, shy? oh god.]

Be careful who you ask that question to or you might kill someone from a fit of laughter. [she rolls her eyes a bit] I just...don't really get out much, that's all. I don't have a lot of interests that you can do in groups.

[and, you know, the more she socializes the higher the likelihood is of someone who won't take the revelation well discovering that she's dead. she'd rather limit her close relationships than take that chance.]

[soldiarity]

Uh -- I guess that's a no, then. [ Reiner laughs, nodding his head. ] That's fair enough. It's hard to really know around here. Even if you aren't shy, sometimes meeting people can be complicated. I know I haven't been in much of a hurry to make friends.

[ But for his own reasons. ]

What got you out here tonight, then?