Completely Expected Beach Party

    The sun is warm, the wind is wonderful, and it's early evening when this whole thing begins. It begins with a chim: Asuna is cooking and she needs mouths to feed. Invite friends. Well, it started with a few people in Scale, then it went to others, and others, and soon enough, anyone interested in a beach party with pizza and grilled goodies was aware. It became more than that, though. Games, music, laughing. When adventurers get together, it's like a party full of super talented people.

    As for Asuna, she's dressed for the event, with a short skirt and a cutoff, white, sleeveless top. She's got several grills going and a kind of portable oven, which lets her cook pizza away from home.

Yeowang is dressed casually for an evening at the beach, and while it's not clear who she got the invite from, the financier has many connections, and they're sometime subtle. She does have a few friends in Scale, but it's not spoken about a lot. But real food, good real food, is an understandable draw in a world where tasteless menu food is a thing for so many. She isn't really able to contribute much, herself, but she will arrive with a wide smile in a well-tailored white, patterned sundress and her hair let out to hang down to her waist rather than in it's typical bun. "Good evening," she calls out as she approaches with a wide smile.

Sometimes the best kind of parties are ones that are created right on the spot. No, not the adventurering kind, at least in this case. It's the actual parties of friends and strangers getting together and just having fun with one another! And with it being summer, a big enough party is obviously going to be on the beach or a classical festival.

Besides, pizza is involved. It's already going to be a great party.

Klein is no woodsman, but you don't need to be precise when you're just planning on making bonfires! Three large bonfires were spread out on the sandy shores, fires cracking merrily on messily-chopped logs. The Scruffy Scale Samurai, for his party, is wearing some wooden sandles, a pair of red and black patherned swimtrunks and of course his iconic bandana. He waves cheerfully towards Yeowang as he spots her arriving. "Hey there!"

    Sometimes, it's hard to be at the grill, slaving away while everyone else is playing, sunbathing, swimming, or messing with the poor, low level crabs that occasionally spawn on the beach. But hey, who doesn't like crab, right? In any case, Asuna does like people watching. Well, certain people anyway!

    She has to redirect her focus shortly to the grill in front of her. Kabobs aren't going to kabob themselves. Whatever that means.

    "Hey there!" she calls out to Yeowang. There's a lot of people still showing up, but she does her best to keep track.

    Her mental timer tells her she's got some more work to do, as well. "Veggie pizza coming up in two minutes!" She has no idea /why/ cooking is so fun in this world, but she expects it has a lot to do with the fact that she's good at it. And rarely gets stuck doing dishes.

Yeowang smiles to Klein as he greets her, replying, "Hello there. I'm Yeowang, it's nice to meet you." She offers a small bow, as to an equal, and smiles warmly. "How do you do?" She smiles as Asuna greets her, but will let her tend the food. You have to let the cooking people cook, she wouldn't dare to interfere with that. She had a friend who cooked, and while they were rivals for a boy, her friend far and away had the upper hand in the cooking department. Her family had chefs. And catering. But it wasn't the same personal touch. "It all smells so delicious," she praises Asuna.

Kauchemar was actually a bit farther up the coastline, practicing a recently refined technique that helped to have a body of water at hand until she got use to manipulating it. Sloshing and swirling and contracting on itself until it couldn't compress any farther and then *POP*.

However it didn't take long for her to notice that a gathering was forming down by the actual beach area. As usual it's hard to tell when the Nightmare Were Fang arrived, but she is there standing like she was always there and just never noticed. So the usal for her.

And already with a slice of pizza in one hand too. "S'up?"

Dosbox wanders across the plain anxiously, slowly approaching the figures that are increasingly becoming less distant from him. It has been quite a while that someone has invited him to a location and hadn't just ordered him to be there, so he isn't quite certain how he is supposed to react. He spots Asuna, and his guard drops a little; his slow, cautious steps pick up a little into a short gallop.

Perhaps he should have kept cautious for a few more yards as, once he gets relatively close to the group, he trips on a rock. He lets out a loud, surprised yelp as he faceplants into the dirt. He contemplates just not getting up, pretending he is dead, as that would be less embarassing than getting up.

    "Dossy!" And he goes face down. She ponders a moment. "No need to make a silly entrance, you know! It was pretty convincing, though!"

    She's able to multitask, see. Cook and hopefully cover for her friend's little sand dive there. And oggle shirtless samurai. She can do it all!

    Pizza is taken out, carefully checked, and then cut. But not all at once. That's just not how you do it. It's only done once the slice to be has someone requesting it. One has to ensure maximum deliciousness and minimal side melt and oxidation. Or something.

    "Klein! You want a slice of this one? It's veggie!"

    As if there's a form of pizza the man doesn't like. She is pondering that when Kauchemar is just.. there. "Oh. Uh, hey there. You want something to drink?"

Klein returns the bow goodnaturedly towards Yeowang, figuring it helps make her feel a bit more at ease. A beach party is all about being relaxed with one another, after all. "And i'm Klein, glad you could make it! Honestly seems like we're getting a good gathering for something kinda done on the spot."

Case in point, Kauchemar and Dosbox showing up! Man, he hasn't seen Dosbox in...wait, maybe he's remembering that wrong. Especially with that tumble he just took. Moving past Yeowang, the Human kneels down and offers a hand to help the Gnome up. "Man, I knew I should have combed the beach other. Come on, the party isn't on the floor!"

Veggie pizza is still pizza, and obviously it's very healthy for you now! Makes you wish there was a healing pizza that could be eaten instead of potions. "Of course! Need any help with the ovens, Asuna?"

Hisame stretches, the big kind of stretch as she wanders through the field towards the beach. Pausing occasionally to gather a few flowers and stuff them (Carefully) into a small container. Can't bruise the petals right away, got to do other things.

That said, there's people nearby. And pizza. Somehow. She wrinkles her nose briefly and mutters, "When did that happen?" and pauses, hand to chin, eyes up at the horizon. Rubrubrub. With a shrug she pivots and starts walking that way. Maybe she can con-... finesse a slice.

A hand goes up to the others, paired with a cheerful, "Yoooo" No introduction of herself yet. She's trying to remember how many people she remembers. And you know, if they recognize her instead it makes it easier to fake it. Shh.

Dosbox hesitates before slowly pushing himself off the ground and brushing himself off. A big, shaky smile pops up on his face as he laughs nervously, "Hah! Yes, well, I just, ah, wanted to provide a little comic relief!" He waddles quickly to where the others are congregating and notices the pizza. Drool begins to form unbidden.

He wipes the drool from the corner of his mouth and gives an unpracticed salute, "In case any of you haven't seen me around, my handle is DosBox. I am... Ah... Usually support. If you need anything, just let me know, right?"

Yeowang smiles and waves to Kauchemar, "Good evening to you!" she calls, then looks over as the motion of Dossbox's fall catches her eye. She hasn't met him yet, either, but she winces as he trips and yelps as he gets close. "Are you alright?" she calls out to him. She smiles to Klein, though she gives an air of someone with the poise to be at ease whenever she likes, the iron inner confidence. With Klein helping Dosbox, she will avail herself of the pizza. She's quite used to delicious food, and is not disappointed here. She offers a wave to Hisame as she arrives.

Kauchemar smiles. It's pleasant enough, though the tips of fangs showing is a little off-putting. "The only thing better than the pizza is a drink with it. Looks like it didn't take long for a gathering to form." She returns Yeowang's wave, but then the businesswoman is off to help the one that tripped. "... How does one so close to the ground trip so easily," she muses to herself. Must be a Gnome thing.

Dosbox blushes furiously, but its barely visible due to his earthen-colored skin, "Ah, well, it... It was just a little prank, is all! Hah hah! Just trying to bring a little amusement to the party! A gnome would never trip. Never, never. We're very close to the Earth in a very literal, metaphorical, and spiritual sense."

Food? Did someone say food?! Food with taste, why there be a pirate now of the Undine sort. How did she get here who knows but she's here. "Oh do you have plans for a seafood one?!" Is anyone shocked that she asked about this? She seem pretty bouncy but who the heck is she? Well if one paid attention to the reports. She's a Palace Lander Adventurer who was uncrowned in recent months. She's also been making noise about a news paper too...

    Slices are provided to all who come. Well, those who get there first. The more distant people who are messing with crabs are too late, this time. But they get promises of preferential treatment in the future in exchange for crab meat.

    When Klein appears, Asuna smiles at him. "How are the bonfires, fire warden?" she asks. "Oh, and no worries on the ovens. But I could use a pair of broad shoulders. Someone brought a barrel of... I'm guessing beer? Ale? Something in and had the bright idea of leaving it on its side, on the ground. Where nobody can make use of it. I don't suppose you can haul it over here and set it on the table. It should be able to hold it, and once we tap it I imagine it'll get light pretty fast."

    Asuna gives Klein an expectant look, as if she's waiting for something. It's awkward, but it doesn't last long. The call of Hisame seems to get her brain working again.

    "Oh, h-hey!"

    And brain back to Kauchemar. And to fetch a drink. Which for now, is sake. Asuna gives the mug a serious look, holds a finger above it, and without touching it directly, makes a swirling motion that renders it wonderfully cold.

    "This should go well with a hot evening on the beach." A pause to look over to Llyn, "Just got the crab, so I'm on it!" It's more like being an improv short-order cook, but it's fun.

Yeowang munches on her slice of pizza, drinking fruit juice, as she's not a drinker. She's just never got into the habit. With pizza in hand, and a spare slice for Klein since he was distracted, she will walk over to where he's helping Dosbox on the beach. Kauchemar gets a shrug to the question, which was probably rhetorical anyhow, but says, "You know. I wonder how the Landers would deal with a modern beach resort, with modern amenities." Rather than living in the sixteenth century.

"Thank you," Kauchemar replies as she accepts the sake. "A hot meal and a cool drink, fine way to relax... Though if he needs a hand with the barrel I can always summon some extra help."

Then her attention drifts back to Llyn. The Gnome. Other unfamiliars that are gathering because free food is the fastest way to draw a crowd. "Funny how after two years we can still meet new faces."

Llyn is making a very happy face at the sight of Pizza as she looks over to Asuna for a moment sizing th woman up. "I do have some rum on me if anyone wnats it out of my inventory." She grin and will pull a small keg from it before she sets it down. "So the name's Llyn and its good to meet all of you. Mmm a hot evening on the beach and everyone in swim wear?"

Dosbox clears his throat as his faux-enthusiasm fades for a brief second before he hops right back on it. He gives an energetic armpump before shooting a grin, "Well, I've been around; I just... ah... Usually fade into the background..." He trails off near the end of the sentence before perking back up, "Yeah, that's probably why you haven't seen ME around. Hah!"

The self-styled samurai helps himself to a veggie slice and gives Asuna a quick wink. Even if he was a little late helping out, he knew he would have a slice waiting. "Burning brightly with my 'expert skills'." Expert skills being lobbing a fireball and calling it good. "And got it!"

He blinks after a moment as he realizes that Asuna was waiting for something, certainly, and he had a good idea what it was. But, then he realizes maybe that's exactly what she wants. Grinning playfully to himself, he leans down and quickly kisses Asuna on the lips before he slips off to get the barrel in question.

Now what was that about?!

Klein thankfully has the barrel easily in hand on his shoulders, despite the heavy load. Game stats are a big help when it comes to heavy loads, after all. "Honestly, you'll be surprised by how many new faces I see each week." And speaking of which, here's a face that he had a hand in freeing some headwear from. "Glad to see you're doing good, Llyn! Might not remember me, but you gave me a hell of a time with that spear of yours."

Yeowang smiles to Dosbox, replies, "It took me some time to get acclimated to the game as well. Everyone has their own pace." She looks away quickly as Klien smooches Asuna, unused to such public displays of affection. But Scale certainly does do everything differently! She will just concentrate on her pizza slice for the moment. And imagining maybe a beachfront luxury hotel.

Hisame finally catches up to the beach party, about the point that Llyn's offering rum. "Really?" She asks teasingly. as she pats herself down and checks her bags. Then actually checks her inventory. She likes doing things manually still. "I don't have anything you'd... want to drink. I could probably make a beach syrup with some sugar though." You know. After going mad scientist. Or not. Either or.

There's a pause and she holds a hand up, "Mind if I Join by the way?" She realizes she just kind of, you know. Butted in. Even if she at least does recognize one face now. She grins though. She's used to awkward, you just roll with it. Or eat a spider. "Shouldn't let yourself fade away. Get out there. Make some noise." She suggests to Dosbox, then points to Klein, "You meet so many new people a day, you start forgetting people right? Like a filing cabinet in an attic you have to clean out. Or an art folder on an old laptop."

Ameia wasn't invited to many parties, and even when she was she didn't usually show up. However, since the organiser this time was Asuna, she thought she may as well see what was going on. After all, she doesn't mind socialising with people in Scale.

She'd decided to wear a black dress to the event, with a mid-length skirt that had seemed more appropriate for the outdoors. It wouldn't go well if she ended up in the water, but Ameia wasn't planning to do any swimming.

As she steps onto the beach, she can already see a group of people gathering by the water, including some of her Alliance-mates. She first spots the chestnut-haired rapier lady, Asuna, and her samurai boyfriend with red hair; they're hard to miss. There's also that gnome from her guild that she couldn't remember the name of. Oh! And she's just seen him trip and fall.

For a moment, she wonders if he's going to get up, but the gnome seems to recover just fine after a few moments. She sighs a little in a relief.

"Crab pizza? Can't say I've tried that before," Ameia says as she sits down on the sand, next to where Llyn is. "By the way Asuna, did you send invites to the other alliances? I don't recognise some of the people here."

"Try some crab pizza when it's ready," Kauchemar chimes in with timing like only a Bard can manage. "It's for a good claws." And expends that timing on a terrible pun.

Dosbox begins to laugh uncontrollably at Kauchemar's pun: louder and longer than the joke warrants. He wipes a tear from his eye as he says, "I SEA what you did there." Commence eyebrow waggling.

    Asuna was just starting to have her brain work and then the kiss lands. It's clear that she's still alive, cause she's blinking. Admittedly rather rapidly. There's a brilliant blush on her cheeks, too. But for a while, she's kinda frozen there. And she has the dopiest grin on her face, too.

    Thank god there's no cameras here.

    Eventually, though, she comes out of it. It probably has to do with someone repeatedly trying to give her a trade and resorting to waving a hand in front of her face to restore her connection to reality.

    "Errr, oh! Uhh, thanks! Heheheh."

    Smoooooth as silk, Asuna. Nobody noticed a thing. She busies herself getting the next pizza going. The requested sea food take on pie. She has ideas, and they appear to include dry nori, crab meat (which she has cook separately to avoid it being utterly ruined), and some fish. It looks rather like a red snapper - Very tasty!

    She looks up from her work when she hears a familiar voice. "Ameia! Hey! I sent it to my whole friend's list. And Klein sent it to his, and then, well, on and on, you know. Mac Anu being so close, every alliance is here. And adventurers of all kinds know how to party!"

    Get it? Asuna can't help herself. Worst puns in the game, but she never relents at anything. Apparently that includes blushing, since her cheeks are still rather pink.

Dosbox gets sideswiped by Asuna's pun. He is now on the ground, rolling with laughter, "AHAHAHAHAHAH! Asuna, you can't just keep GROUPING UP these puns on me! I can't take it!"

Llyn pauses for a moment looks at Klein and will then hand him a mug of Rum with a grin, After she'll give him a hug. "I'm sorry about that! I wasn't in my right mind at the time!" She seems to meet it too, and trhis sort of get together is a great way to meet her new guild and alliancemates. She's also now scarfing Pizza like it's going out of style as the overall antics contiune.

Hisame gives Kauchemar a wry look, "I tried a pun like that once. My editor told me he'd take away my liquor budget for the month if I did it again."

Ameia nods in understanding and takes a piece of the vegetable pizza. "Makes sense." She doesn't even notice the wordplay at all, until Dos starts laughing his head off. It causes her to snort a little as she figures it out.

"Llyn, can I get some of that rum? I need to drink and forget what I just heard."

Beachside rum? Now that's a classic idea, and one that is a classic for a reason. "Hmmm...maybe a beachside resort might be a good idea, at least for the summer seasons. Get a hotel and a nice bar, and you could corner a market the Landers don't even know they want." And Hisame's statement actually gets a thoughful look from Klein. "Honestly, you may have a point there. I actually have to memorize faces for them to stick with me."

A pirate hugging a samurai joyfully would get odd looks in any other setting than ETO, and Klein happy returns the hug, though making sure Asuna doesn't get jealous. "Don't worry about it, it's fine. I'm honestly glad I could help. If there's ever anything I can do to help you settle here, just send me a chim." He's being very serious about that, and it's no joke. Friends are something he'll happily drop everything to help with.

Seeing Asuna off balance from a kiss makes him feel like he did the perfect thing there. And from Dosbox laughing his butt off, he couldn't help but throw his bandana into the ring. "I think you might need to take a break from the pizzas, Asuna, you're getting rather saucy." And, that right there, is the grin of someone knowingly giving a bad pun and not caring about it.

Kauchemar tilts her head. "Quite the guffaw on that one for lacking the stature." She shrugs. Eats more pizza. Drinks more sake. Shrugs a little at Hisame. "Your editor was doing his job if he could see how terrible such a word play is. But that doesn't mean it should be denied either."

Her attention shifts a bit, this time towards Klein and Llyn. It clicks easily enough. "Ah. Another rescued from those attrocious headgear... Guess they seem to gravitate towards the Scale Alliance."

Dosbox begins to gasp for air at Klein's pun. He starts slapping the ground as if it were a wrestling mat, and he were trying to tap out, "... joke's.... too... cheesy... hahahaha...." DosBox's face is beginning to turn purple: an impressive feat for one with his skin tone.

    "Ouch, my critics are PUNishing my bad jokes," calls out Asuna. Oddly, she has no Hawaiian pizza going with this much ham. "Seriously, though, I haven't cooked while baking before." Cause she's sun-baked, get it?

    ... Well, they can't all land, can they?

    With the pizza in the oven, and the crab not needing to be cooked for a while, Asuna has... a break! Well, almost. A bunch of people need her to cook some gruntie steaks, so her thoughts of going to bother people are interupted. Still, cooking is fun, and it makes people happy. Asuna does have a pretty strong sense of achievement from all this. In the real world she had like one friend to meet. Here she sends out a few messages and an entire beach party breaks out.

    

Hisame shakes her head and says, "If he passes out I'm making you do the mouth to mouth for those puns." She sticks her tongue out and says, "Wordplay's an art!" She throws her hands up. Clearly mostly just being silly. Her tone's not serious at least. Either way, she then just picks her way over to look at the pizzas since she hasn't been told off yet.

And Asuna's metaphorical Pun vorpal blade went snicker-snack! DosBox's eyes begin to bulge. 'This is it,' he says to himself as the lack of oxygen to his brain begins to shut down superfluous functions like consciousness as it tries to prevent brain damage. 'This is how I die. Not with a bang, but with a pun...' DosBox flops to the ground and remains motionless for a time, but it seems the momentary lack of consiousness has allowed for the Gnome to begin Auto-respiration once again.

Llyn is happyu to send him a friend invite and she'll take a swig of her own rum. "Well this is a lot more fun than it was. she watches all the antis going on and she goes to grab some more pizza. "Sure." She'll get Ameia her own bit of rum with a smirk. "Ah the proper way to forget things! Far more sensiable than running to the church no?" She will then wave to Hisame.

Tap tap tap. In the distance. Is it a flightless bird? Wark! Is it a tower train? Nochoo! Is it a stampede of wild Grunties? ... possibly.

But it isn't! Souji Surprise! With dust at his feet. And fun in his eyes. "Maximum distance!" he yells out, extending a hand to get a drive by slice of pizza on his way in. Pizza: Grabbed. Samurai: Getting Air Time. He finds an appropriate Mario-esque object, like that thar umbrella, to jump onto and bound into the air. For most people bound by silly things like logic or gravity, this wouldnt be a lot of air time. But we are Adventurers! Yahoo! There is enough time for him to turn around, eat the pizza, and give Asuna a thumbs up before he splashes into the water with enough of a 'ka-doosh' that would make a Kung Fu panda proud.

Hisame is slow realizing she's at a beach party. In her customary clown armor. She looks down at herself slowly. Then at the others. The good news is, she actually remembers to use the menu to switch to something more befitting. A simple red two piece, kind of affair. It's only then that she returns the wave to Llyn and strikes a pose. Showing off a bit! Not that she earned this figure... well she kind of did. "This pizza won't go to my hips right?" She made that joke earlier, but now it's a question.

A twist of her head towards the shout though and its accompanying splash. She pulls a sheet from her unending notebook, scribbles out a 8/10 and holds it up for him.

Klein actually stares at Dosbox in shock as he sees the mighty Gnome laid low by an onslaught of puns, but thankfully for him, Klein can be safe in knowing he didn't kill with puns this night. "Whew...remind me to go light on the puns when around Dosbox in the future."

Llyn's friend request is quickly accepted, which is quite impressive since he still hasn't put down the liquor barrel just yet. And that actually reminds him that he really need to get that tapped. Setting it down on the table carefully, he props it into place and goes to start hammering a tap into place...then he pauses as he hears the running. Wait, were they about to get a stampede in their beach party?!

But no, it's just Soujiro...snagging a slice of pizza, freestyling into the air via an umbrella, eat the pizza like a champion and deliver a cannonball into the ocean that sends water flying into the air. Staring in shock at what he just witnessed, Klein does the only thing he can do at such a beautiful sight. He holds his hands upwards into the evening sky and fires off two quick spells. The first being a blazing red '1' and a rotating '0' next to it, complete with sparks flying off.

    "Ah hell, I broke Dossy again," mutters Asuna. "Can someone... you know, make sure he doesn't die?"

    She arches an eyebrow as some rando she has never seen before starts asking her all sorts of questions about her culinary practices. She starts with a curious expression, but it is slowly working its way towards something that indicates she's getting irritated. Klein probably can recognize the look of an Asuna about to pull her rapier out of inventory, but that's when divine intervention takes place.

    Souji rides in. Saving some smug, obnoxious git from getting stuff into the oven along the way. It gives her the perfect getaway!

    "TIDAL RUSH!!!"

    Wow she can be loud sometimes.

    Asuna races away from the grills in a flagrant violation of chef etiquette (whatever, she has a zero in that) and towards the water. A few flicks of the inventory and she goes from beach clothes to bikini. Any expert eye would likely know that Gwen was involved. Probably with Morri input. It's a bright, lovely shade of red that is only briefly seen before she gets near the water, pulls some polearm out of inventory, and uses it to vault herself up into the air and well out into the water.

And again the Bard doesn't miss a beat even as the situation turns more chaotic. "There you have it, folks." Kauchemar waves a hand dramatically towards the water after Soujiro's cannonball and Asuna rushing out after him. "A bona fida SAMURAI SPLASHDOWN."

First Soujiro dives in, and now Asuna?! Sure, it was to get away from a nosy jerk really wanting any tips he could get his hands on to help his cooking skills, but there was no way Klein was going to be left behind as one of the judges. "Wait for meeee!" Barrel forgotten, the redhead rushes after his fellow ronin. Cupping his hands together and slamming it into the sand, a sudden gout of flames lifts Klein skywards and seawards before he comes back down to earth in his own cannonball.

The blue haired samurai is submerged for a while before he finally resurfaces. It is like a shampoo commercial with his long blue hair whipping in the summer sun. Sparkles. Sparkles EVERYWHERE. Soujiro is in his swim trunks based on the athlete being topless moments before when he was mostly a motion blur or a Tony Hawk hangtime expert. "The water is great if you want to join us, Kau!" Souji welcomes more without being pushy about it. Big smile. Laughter as extra water races his way from Asuna and Klein. A hand goes to Hisame for the scoring of his jump and motions to the other samurai for their tenative scores.

    Asuna hits the water with nary a splash. A couple moments later and she pops up. Just in time to see Klein hitting the water nearby. She grins and turns her attention to Soujiro.

    "Souji! You missed it. Klein totally kissed me. In front of -everyone-. Right here."

    She taps her lips, laughs, and leans back, lazily backstroking her way in a circle around her fellow ronin. Possibly out of reach from some kind of response!

    Somewhere back in her little makeshift restaurant, a pizza is ready to come out. And fortunately, someone back there figures it out. Be horrible to waste it, right?

Ameia is just eating her pizza and sipping the rum Llyn gave her, as she watches the others splash around in the water. Noticing that Klein's work on tapping the barrel had gone unfinished, she puts down her mug and picks up the hammer. She's never tapped a keg before, but she figures it can't be too hard.

"I'll just uh... put it in the hole..." she murmurs to herself. She's just slightly tipsy from the alcohol.

She places the tap in the same spot Klein had, and starts to hit it with the hammer. She's not particularly strong though, and nothing seems to be happening.

"He made it look so easy, what the hell..."

Llyn waves to Souji for a moment and offers him some Rum and should any of his harem be around they will get an offer too. She meanwhile looks to Ameia for a moment and she lauhs watching. "helps if you been careful with the rum!"

Hisame tilts her head, watching the harem run past, potentially now liquored up. Speaking of liquor budget, there's an untapped keg, of which Ameia seems to be struggling. She holds a hand up and asks, "Mind if I try?" Her wings fluttering briefly. Feels weird being out of armor. She squirms briefly. "Rum's not a drink you're careful with.!" She adds, over her shoulder. "It's a drink for wild nights and raiding your neighbor's apartment for party supplies!" Did she do that? She's not talking.

Dosbox stirs from his motionless state, quickly rushing to his feet in only a slight panic, "What happened!? Who's Jeffery? I..." He blinks a couple of times, and notes the sudden lack of people around him, "I... Uh... Was taking a nap. Yes. That's what happened!" He says out loud to no one, as everyone else has either gone to the water or the ovens, "Ah... Right.

Directing his attention to the sea, DosBox takes on a look of determination. This time, he would not wear the bikini. Not after... LAST TIME. No. Today, he would wear something else. With quick manipulation of his menu, he changes into a red, one-piece that looks something out of a 1920's swimsuit advertisment with a white band around his middle. The general color and shape might call to mind the image of a fishing bobber when worn by the Gnome. He lets out a big, evil grin as he gets drops down low.

"Get ready to see something new, kids! This guys gonna teach you something!" With a running dash (more of a waddle, really), he runs toward the water. With an unexpected flip of his wrist, a pillar of earth shoots out underneath him, launching him into the air. High. Like, really high.

Blushing slightly at Llyn's comment, Ameia leaves the hammer on the table and starts looking through her spells menu instead.

"I think the problem is this hammer. I'll just use magic to tap it in," she says. "Surely rum counts as water... I think...?"

Then she hears Hisame's offer and laughs nervously.

"Ah, yeah, go ahead. I don't think I know what I'm doing, anyway."

It wouldn't take long for Soujiro's harem to catch up with Soujiro. What /is/ a Souji Harem, one might ask? It is a lovely bunch of junior adventurers, landers, cluck clucks, and one mallard that are never far away from the samurai. Mostly to oogle. Now with rum! Harem is evolving! *flash flash flash* Drunk Harem!

Souji gives the appropriate level of shock at Asuna's kiss declaration, "That must mean he likes you very, very much to do that in public!" he says with the pure-hearted innocence of a young man who assumes this means Asuna and Klein are getting married now. "First Elly's wedding to Tae and now this! Bonded Hearts is year round this year," he says with enough spark that he isn't treading water but rising above it. Then standing on it. No, that shouldn't be possible but waterwalking sounds like just the right level of 'how?!' for Souji.

Meanwhile, the harem is all muttering about why Souji won't kiss /them/ in public and making a scene about it on the beach side like they are fangirling their favorite idol.

"Actually... this would be a fine time to ... experiment." Kauchemar mururs with a flick of her wrist. Which engages the command to swap her usual attire for her own swimming wear. Another Gwen creation, of course, of blues and violets to match the Nightmare's darker complexion. With something more suitable bore she kicks up for a dash down the beach. Elemental energies are called, whisping about it. But mayhaps not in the manner as one who know some of her moves would be expecting.

Not when she uses it to hurtle herself into the air...

FATHOM CRUSH

Only for the water to rise to whirl around her, like a piece of the darker murky depths pull free and coiled around her tightly. And Kauchemar comes down into the water with enough force to almost literally make a cannonball, the elemental forces enough to actually pivot the surface of the water inward and briefly whirlpool before filling and plopping her back up the surface when the deep pressure finally releases.

Clouds part ways as the ball of gnome descend like a meteor hellbent on bringing the extinction of the dinosaurs. The air appears to be visible as it streams past him like strands of ribbon. The loose skin on his face flaps with the air pressure as the Puntable Rock descends into the water. Finally, with another obfuscated gesture, the surface tension of the water just barely breaks before the Titanic Belly Flop to Challenge the Gods strikes, assuring that DosBox does not die on impact. The resulting splash, however, carries itself far... Just barely coming short of the cooking fires. DosBox goes deep beneath the waves...

Surfacing with a large gasp of air, Klein takes a moment to get his bearings and wipe his wet hair out of his face. "Whew...hey Souji!" After all, the blue samurai had ran by too quickly for him to say hello to. He did miss out on hearing Asuna explaining what he just did...but he was already there. He knew what he did. But that doesn't stop him from splashing Asuna.

But...he most certainly heard Soujiro Seta and his implications. Klein didn't need to be in water to choke, but it most certainly helps. "Wha-ack!" They have only been dating for a few weeks now, how could he already be thinking about a wedding?!

And then there is the Legendary Deep Gnome Impact upon the ocean waves, washing over Klein and sending him adrift in the waves. He is thankfully easy to find as he washes up on the shores next to a bonfire, seaweed on his head. Spitting out some water into the flames, he sighs and shakes his head.

Hisame admittedly hasn't tapped a wooden keg in a while and with the attempts to show off a bit, she manages to slap her fingers with the hammer. She jumps, says some rather unladylike things in Japanese and jumps away muttering after the initial outburst. "Guess I deserved that." She finally admits, looking mostly embarrassed than anything. She's a tank, she's used to it. Just... you know. Didn't expect it there.

    Well, that didn't work perfectly, but as long as Klein is thrown off, it's all good! Hm. But hey. Why is he thrown off? Asuna's mind is fortunately distracted by several explosive blasts of water. With the seas getting dangerous, she will head in. But not without pausing to clobber a couple crabs on the way. She's hungry!

    "I dig the hat, Klein, dear, but careful with that fire. Don't want to put it out before nightfall, do we? Gotta keep things extra hot!"

    It is getting darker, though. The sunset is about to start.

    "Ack! Seafood pizza!"

    She races off away from the water to save the pizza! Fortunately, it is very much alive when she gets there. And prepared in record time.

Dosbox floats to the surface of the water holding the corpse of a small crab like it's a flotation device, "I got one!" He cries triumphantly as he starts kicking his way to shore, happy as a cat catching its first mouse. Upon reaching the sand, he waddles quickly to the cooking fires, presenting the crab to Asuna as if he were Link opening a chest and she were the television screen.

What does one do when the waves get chaotic? One SURFS! HM03 is booted up. Soujiro has learned Surf! His bare feet coast around the surface of the water as gnome and mare water assaults crash around him. Everything is training if you look for it. And all training is fun if you let it be fun! Soujiro is doing both, coasting around the crashing waves until the natural tide of it coasts him ashore. "Thank you," he says to one of his harem who holds out a towel for him. She promptly faints.

"Those are some killer moves," he shouts back to Kau and Dos, "show me how to do them sometime." Training! It buys time from the conversation of ring shopping and bachelor party activities for Klein.

After watching Hisame somehow manage to injure herself while tapping a barrel, Ameia pats the tank's shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I will avenge your fingers," she says.

She crouches down in front of the barrel, looking into the spot which has bamboozled not one but two separate attempts at tapping it. After thinking for a while, she places the tap against the barrel with both hands and closes her eyes tightly.

"Rum, I summon thee-"

There's a dull, 'thunk' noise, and the tap gets sucked into the barrel, taking her by surprise. She picks up her mug and tentatively turns the spigot.

Like a miracle, rum springs forth, refilling the mug.

"...wait, that actually worked?"

Groaning, Klein flicks the seaweed off into the flames before nodding once. "Well, safe to say you need no help with that, Asuna!" After all, she is wearing a red hot bikini! And while Klein could stand next to the bonfire and wait to try off, who has time for that? Klein just briefly engulfs himself in flame before cutting off the spell.

Oh. Well, watching Ameia tap the barrel and easily pour herself some rum makes him realize he might have forgotten to do his job. "That worked really well, good job!"

Hisame muttermutters at being reassured. It's embarrassing when you should definitely have the natural ability to swing a hammer without injury. As least she's not sucking on her fingers yet.

"Maybe it's a trick barrel." She tries to suggest, mostly as a joke, maybe to cover her own wounded pride a bit. Still, the thing's tapped now with a bit of water magic!

She sucks up the wounded pride by grabbing a mug and pouring herself a... that's an unhealthy amount of grog. Should be fun. She raises the mug to Ameia, then turns her head to look over her shoulder, "Llyn, come on. Join in!" You know, to drag a familiar face over. On that note, a finger goes up, before or after the toast. "M'Hisame by the way."

    Asuna flashes a grin back at Klein. He might notice. But she has her hands full for a bit. The pizza is pulled out, nori added, and the crab (after a very short searing) is added. A few more dashes of this and that for a nice twist (pickled ginger will be a surprising kick, she imagines!) and it's served. The crab catchers finally get their reward, it seems.

    "And with that, the kitchen... is closed."

    Cause it's getting close to nightfall and no way is she missing a chance to get a romantic view of the stars. Not that she's /really/ done, though. Just done baking. And she puts her stuff away after cleaning it. Then she turns her attention to a few last matters with the drinks, lays out some baked goods she yoinks from inventory, and then, finally, she steps away to rejoin the party.

Dosbox wanders over by the booze after grabbing a slice of pizza. He munches on the pizza much like one would expect a high schooler with toast in their mouth, only with less running. "Ith de boof rebby?" The gnome inquires with pizza in his mouth.

Soujiro Seta defo puts in for the last order of food and drinks. He is such a pure hearted bean that he offers to help clean up so Asuna and Klein can enjoy more quality time together. Sure, the inventory system takes care of almost everything, but Souji is here to protect the natural beauty of your beaches! Sparkle!

The harem ends up helping out when Souji starts cleaning up. Many hands make light work.

"Look at that horizon," says the Log Horizon (in an aternative universe, sob) Samurai. Breath in the natural beauty. Hands on hips. Ponytail waving in the breeze like a wind sock on the beach. This is the life.

    There's some side conversation, and Klein, alas, must be off. Yet Asuna doesn't seem upset at all. There may or may not have been another kiss involved. That's just between them.

    "It's great of you all to help!"

    She shifts her attention to the harem. A few of them seem to have had a few drinks too many. Freed of other distractions, she's going to make sure their honor is defended. Which is why her rapier is on her hip. Somehow. With her bikini.

    Games, right?

    She'll wander over to Souji and take in the view with a smile. "It's pretty awesome, isn't it? A lovely sunset and beautiful company."

    She looks back at the harem with a grin. They are good girls. And cluck-clucks. And yes, she leans down to feed the duck a bit of her very best bread.

Dosbox helps himself to a mug and wanders to the outskirts of the party, away from the hustle and bustle of the cloud of females that engulf Soujiro. Gently touching the ground with his free hand, he raises up the sand to create a small sand stool with a back for him to lean against. He hops onto the stool with a sigh, looking out at the setting sun; the two moons in the sky hang as a beautiful but sober reminder that this... is not his home. This is not... where Baxter is. A deep, tired expression appears on DosBox's face to real an expression that does not belong to a Gnome Tinkerer out for an adventurer but a middle-aged businessman who bears almost nothing but regret for the life behind him.

He takes a sip of the Ale; to him, it might as well have been water with all he was registering the flavor. Quietly, he asked the sky, "Are you still alive, Baxter? Are you well? Are you happy? Do you... Do you miss me?" Silence replied, that and the ever crashing waves of the sea.

"It is," Soujiro says and when Soujiro says something it comes off like the words of angels. True with zero alternative motives in mind. "A sight that brings smiles to the friends I have here and the friends that I have yet to make," he beams out with a turn to Asuna as the harem swoons. He will be giving them all personal attention before the night is over to make sure that they enjoyed the evening here on the beach. Its a Souji thing. Loves his fans! "Something on your mind," he wonders, as currently this is ASUNA time.

    Asuna rises, pausing only to very gentle run a finger over the mallard's head. She loves animals and monsters. And friends most of all. Souji is pure sunshine, after all.

    "That obvious, huh?"

    She supposes someone like Souji will always see through her. It's really nice, honestly.

    "It's just that things have been really amazing lately. It occurs to me that for the first time, I'm not really as sure about, you know, what will happen when we get out of here. Have you given it any thought? When we clear this tower and return to the real world, I mean."

    That's not really her question. That takes just a moment more. A breath in, a breath out.

    And finally...

    "Will we still all get to be together?"

Soujiro Seta goes to hold Asuna's hand as he talks and the two of them look at the sunset. He has Souji eyes, capable of peering into the hearts of maidens. More importantly he makes silence, space, and stillness so that his heart is open to welcome people into it. To confide their worries. To shelter from the storm. To hang out and have fun. He has this 'brother' aura, both big and little, that always seems to convey, 'Things are going to be okay because we are here right now and nothing can change that'. "We will," Souji says as he turns his head to Asuna. There is not even a shred of doubt in his voice or in the gentle touch of his hand. "The first thing I am going to do when we clear the tower and return home is throw a big party. We can play a party game about 'who did it better' in Elder Tales versus the Real World. I'll make tea. You'll make pizza. Then we will all karaoke, even if we didn't have the Song skill," he says with a smile to paint a picture that not only is it going to be a thing, its going to be -awesome-.

    Asuna nods, her smile fragile, but sincere. She has to fight it, and wipe at her eyes for a moment, but she manages to keep her composure. And adds a squeeze of Souji's hand to make it a little more clear. He is family, really. In all the best ways.

    "You know, in the real world, I can actually help with the tea. My mom was so strict about me knowing how to do a proper tea ceremony. Whenever they went on trips that is how I'd greet them. It was kinda the only thing my mom ever really praised about me, now that I think of it. I hope I haven't forgotten it all."

    She shakes her head and laughs softly. "If I sing it may hurt someone, honestly! But it would be fun. We beat this tower, get home, and well, get back to living. And getting to know each other all over again. Getting to love each other all over again. Hm. I wonder if Klein will be as bold RL as he is here..."

    Yeah, now she's laughing nervously and blushing. "And your whole group of fangirls here! Going to need to make sure they all know where to meet up."

"Then you can help me make the tea," Souji says with a smile that seems to laugh. His energy is simple and clean, not boisterious, most of the time. "It will be fun to learn how to do a tea ceremony in the real world. My mom would be delighted to have a gentleman host a proper tea party," he beams, his relationship with his family being wholesome and traditional. He does catch on that not every family is like this, letting Asuna know, "I'll get to meet your parents, too! The people who made the person I am sharing this wonderful moment with, possible." A fact of parents: They made you! "For that, they have my gratitude. A world without Asuna would not be as bright."

"Oh yes! I'll have to schedule to make sure everyone gets proper time with me when I'm back," Souji thinks about the logistics there, undaunted by the idea of having 100 dates a month, "Klein will be Klein. You will be You. I will be me. Nothing can change that. We get to have fun in both worlds, how cool is that, right? I'll still log in here, too. Elder Tales is one of those places where people can find a place they belong, smile, and do fun things. There are a lot of the technical things I don't understand, but I understand that, and there are good people here that will make sure that our precious place is protected." Souji Protecc.

Hisame returns after... some absentminded wandering. You know, the sort an oddball gets up to when she's half a mug into rum. Which really can't be healthy. She'll be fine. Probably. When she returns, she's quiet, but she does raise a hand to the two still lingering and talking as she takes a seat and you know, listens. A hand goes up, "The tea ceremonies are nice, I like the quiet part." She's only slightly... sloshed. "Had to do a lot of research on them for a book once. Getting the-" She holds her hand out and flicks her wrist like she's using a matcha whisk, "That right is hard."

She falls silent again and just settles in, watching the pair. Eventually leaning back on her hands, drink set beside her. "I don't know how easy it will be to talk to friends outside. I never had as much time as I wanted..."

    Asuna nods, "I'd love to teach you! It's fun, really. I mean, it's precise and demanding, but you'll learn it quickly. I mean, look at what you can do here!"

    She lowers her voice, leaning closer to Souji, "Don't tell Klein, but I'm going to have to learn how to cook. I'm not an expert in the real world." She's actually nervous about that. "I'll make sure to learn fast, though. I can't let anyone down."

    Hisame's somewhat inebriated comments gets a laughing response, fortunately. "The whisk is an art in itself, yes. But it's sound is so lovely, don't you think? And you are probably right. Time is always short. I'll have to study again. It will be hard to find time for the people I love most. To give them the time they deserve. But I will find a way. No matter what. And yes! I hope we can still play. Just maybe with safer gear, right?"

"You are perfect the way you are, as you are," Souji lets Asuna know when she whispers about not knowing how to cook at an expert level, "and you know Klein will love anything you cook because it has a special ingrediant that is world class." Too pure for this world!

Souji gets the whisk motion, "Yes! That! There is a wrist motion to do with matcha and because I have Brewing it 'takes over' when I do it by hand similar to a Sword Arte." The 'Elder Tales is so cool' practically radiates from his words. "You can count on me to make house calls and if all we do is sit tea quietly, thats cool too." Souji is like doggo, likes being around people even if people are just hanging out.

Hisame sneaks her hand out and snags the mug to take another totally fine pull from the drunk. "It's not just the wrist movement, it's the precision. It's like a good inking job." She holds her hand out, hand.. completely shaky. She laughs, "I'm a bad example. I stayed ahead though." She flops back into the sand after putting the now empty mug aside.

"I kind of like not having a deadline looming constantly. Having to keep on top of things. I loved my work, but... there's a lack of urgency that has. Has been nice." She sways her hand around a few times. Then sighs and falls silent. Realizing she's intruding somewhat and feeling like she should stop. She's supposed to be an adult about this sort of thing, right?

    "You are really amazing, Souji, you know that? But I know you are right. Klein's amazing. We'll get out of here and then we can meet in the real world and get together! And.. well, I suppose do all the things people do when they want to be together forever."

    Marriage, a home, and babies. She has to think on that for a moment. Babies? Yes. She supposes she does want babies. Where did that come from, anyway?

    "We will sip tea, and relax, and talk about all the great battles and then plot the next raid!" She laughs over it all. And Hisame seems welcome. There's nothing about Souji and Asuna time that isn't to be shared with others. That's just not how it works. Souji can bring the starlight out of The Flash.

    "Inking? Like with calligraphy? That's my other art. My mom told me every woman needed two. So tea and calligraphy. And the best grades I could get. The top or nothing! But... yeah. No deadlines. Just being ourselves. I want to keep that as much as I can."

Soujiro Seta is so inclusive he might as well be a very inclusive thing, like a venn diagram that completely overlaps. "You know the way of the samurai well," beams Souji at the idea of caligraphy. Elegance! "I love combat. There is an upcoming training day for the Duelist League I am helping run drills on. The Blood Knights typically run those drills in the tower, but all League members should have access to enjoy the combat system in Elder Tales." It is a game where you get to be an anime/manga/fanfic superhero, who wouldn't love that. Did you /see/ the air time he got earlier?

Hisame holds a finger up and says, "Don't have enough time." pause. "Or the right-..." she drops her hand and trails off. There's other things she should be doing, like shutting up about that sort of thing. She does look somewhat disappointed there for a minute though.

At the mention of calligraphy, she shakes her head. "I did that. I like sumi-e. It's relaxing." It's here she finally sits up and shakes her head. "Manga inking. I did my own. Tone was done by someone else as was lettering, but that's because I'm impatient and write like a four year old if my editor's to be believed." Which... probably isn't wrong. She does have to write a lot of notes and she's gotten sloppy. Very sloppy.

    "I hope I can make it! That sounds like fun. I'm so used to fighting gnolls that I really don't have much skill at dueling. I bet it'd take my fighting to the next level."

    She tilts her head reflexting on what Soujiro just said. "It's funny that I never thought of it that way. I do have those old world skills. I suppose all I need to do now is learn to write haiku and I'll be pretty much ready to take up the sword in both worlds!"

    Her mother would be scandalized. "This reminds, though. I can't wait to introduce you to my brother. We were supposed to play ETO together, but he had to do a business trip instead. Missed this whole thing! He's pretty amazing."

    She pauses then. She's gotten a chim. She bounces slightly on her toes. It's obviously good news.

    "So umm, sorry to have to dart off on everyone, but... I kinda need to get back to my place now." For professional reasons, no doubt!

    Asuna isn't rude about it, though. She makes sure that some of those who remain (and are sober) address the issue of bonfires. Since the numbers have dwindled, all but two of the bonfires are put out right away. A few more snacks are emptied from her inventory and then, Asuna is ready to go.

    "Well, it was fun! Hisame, I hope we can talk more! I must be off, though. The night is young! And... things are looking really good! See you all later!"

    Everything being addressed, she makes her way from the party and back towards Mac Anu, where her place is.

Llyn has been here just watching listening and wait what sketching she's been doing pictures of the whole evenitn like someone with a camera it seems. She did have fun and will remain at the party a bit longer she has some pizza still to devour.

Ameia sees that most of the group has cleared up, and in particular it's getting late. So, she washes her mug and quietly leaves it with Llyn.

She walks up the sandy coast, leaving the party behind as she heads back to Eastal.