abraxaslogs | A much deserved vacation day!

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A much deserved vacation day!

Who: The Free Cities Summoned
What: Beach Party Episode, aka the Summoned take a break and enjoy the new portal
When: June 6thish, post Nocwich weekend. We can timey wimey it folks.
Where: Aquila!

[ooc: these are just suggested prompts, please feel free to roll with any ideas you have! Thanks to Hannah for sharing the code. Descriptions about Aquila are taken from the settings page here and credited to the mods. A player-made Pinterest mood board was created here for inspiration, but keep the world of Abraxas in mind for the reality.]

The Aquila Portal / Time to Go!

An invite shows up on the network from Jesper Fahey to the Free Cities Summoned stating the following:

Hey everyone, I managed to score funds from our money makers to have a group outing through the Aquila portal. We deserve it, don't you think? We did vote it into being after all. So get out your beach day clothes (or lack thereof) and meet at 9 AM tomorrow. If you come later, I'll let the portal people know the list allowed. They've got chairs and such to rent there, so don't worry if you don't have anything helpful.

Let's party like we're in the Horizon! If you need some extra cash while there I know the people to beg.

PS - No arguing, Crows. (That means you Kaz.)

True to his word, Jesper will be waiting at the newly opened portal to mark the Summoned so they're allowed to get through with the money he's collected. He'll smile and wink at them as they go through. He is dressed casually himself for this outing and in high spirits. Summoned can meet up here and go through together if they'd like or maybe be persuaded if they're not really sure about it.

Welcome to Aquila!

Aquila is the world's fastest-growing economy and the scenery in Aquila is also considered some of the most beautiful, with both the mountains and beaches of Andromeda Bay nearby, making it a popular destination for vacationers.

The beach may be exciting, but it isn't the only part of Aquila to enjoy! The massive public market takes up most of the city's center. Anything you might want can be found here. Countless booths and stalls and carts fill the town's center, and traders from all across the nation congregate to offer their wares. From raw materials such as fabrics, dyes, exotic wood and stones, to finely crafted artisan everything. Furniture, clothing, foodstuffs, weapons, art, magical oddities, it's all here. The market opens at sun-up and shuts down sometime after sunset - plenty of sellers will linger, hoping for one last sale of the day.

Art and fashion thrive in Aquila. Studios and galleries of art are scattered all over the city and artists sketching or painting out on the streets or on the nearby beaches are a common sight. This is the time to go looking for new clothes as seamstresses and tailors are all looking to outdo themselves and create the next big fashion statement.

But if it's the beach fun you're looking for ....

Fun in the Sun!

It's more crowded than usual in Aquila thanks to the emergence of the portal, but the Summoned will manage to camp out their own area on the right side of the beach and have freedom to enjoy themselves alone. Nearby one of the entrances of the beach is a local business called The Wave Palace. There people can buy or rent chairs, cloth to sit on, hats, and other beach items to feel more comfortable.

Once settled onto their spot on the beach, the Summoned can enjoy a full day of various activities to either relax or be active. They can swim or race to see who is the better swimmer, do the same on a sand race, and head up to a popular nearby cliff that is perfect to jump off of. Challenge each other to the perfect dive or laugh if someone ends up belly-flopping.

Anyone can lounge comfortably in the sun or maybe they want to get creative and build sandcastles. They can rent bowls and sticks and other instruments at the shop to gather sand correctly. Maybe your castle is remarkably impressive or dismal at best, but the point is to have fun. If you're feeling mischievous you can bury a friend in sand, or even a stranger if you want to test fate. You can find rocks or shells to collect and bring home as a reminder of the trip here.

There is a bar down the beach called The Wave Crash Pub where people can sit and listen to live music or carry drinks back to their chair. At some point in the day, someone suggests playing a game of volleyball or something similar, and a net and ball can be found to set it up. Test your might against each other and no cheating! (Just kidding, cheat away.)

As the day comes to a close, stay long enough to watch the sunset together or do some night swimming to cool off. When it's time to go home, don't forget to either return your rented items or decide to buy it. See if you can convince a friend to get a keepsake or ask their opinion of one on the way out. Hope you all had fun in this beach day episode!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh unfuckingbelievable. Abby is going to get an ulcer from explaining basic shit to adults. Cause it's always going to be weird and why is this her life!? She's managing to look at this woman and not fidget too much but seriously the envy is real, "Lightweight clothes meant for swimming. You'll still intimidate and turn on every straight guy and gay girl on the beach."

Abby slips the shoulder of her shirt off to reveal her bikini top, then undoes her shorts to pull it down slightly to show off her bikini bottom. Not too far down to show off her thighs, just enough to show the waistband and the material. They aren't very flashy, a black top with a purple bottom. "They dry quickly in the sun, help prevent sunburns and skin cancer. And are generally stylish. Although don't get that weird stripy thing that one nerd is wearing."

Diana is a little surprised by the other woman's apparent vehemence; she had seen other people wearing clothing to swim, but nobody had said anything to her about shedding all of her clothing. Apparently, she was wrong to assume that mean nobody was bothered.

Though she's puzzled, Diana doesn't show any indication that she's embarrassed to not be wearing one of these swimsuits. She eyes Abby up-and-down briefly, noting the suit she wears beneath her clothing. Diana inclines her head to show she understands, though much of what Abby has said to her doesn't really register yet. But this is a place she's visiting, if just for the day, and it does matter to her to abide by their customs, if she can. This seems easy enough.

"Where do I get one of these swimsuits?" Again, curious and even earnest, but not urgent.

"A lot of the shops near the beach sell all sorts of useful beach things. Towels, umbrellas, beer." She needs a beer after this. No, scratch that, stronger than beer. Definitely stronger. Abby's generally reacting more to nudity than most summoned or locals, but they sell swimsuits and therefore get people should use them. "And swimsuits. They'll definitely have something and you'll look good in it."

Abby fixes her clothes, back to covered. "Most people don't need to cover up like I do, but I don't want to look like worn shoeleather when I'm thirty."

Diana considers for another moment, and then climbs down from the rock to start pulling on her dress. It seems she's done swimming for the moment, and if she's heading into town, she will put her clothes back on.

"I have seen the umbrellas on the beach." Her tone is conversational as she straightens out the skirt of her chiton; it looks like just a bunch of draping cloth until she belts it at the waist, and then it's suddenly a dress. "But I don't need one of those. The swimsuit I will get, though."

"Of course you don't." Honestly she was hoping that, somehow, she'd look less impressive clothed. And a degree of that was true, confidence in clothes does not hit the same as naked confidence. But she still looked infuriatingly good and like 90% leg by volume and that's just not fucking fair.

Abby's going to just wallow in petulance for a bit.

Abby doesn't even really need her powers to hide in a crowd, anyone who bothers to look up is looking at one of them. Given that this is a weird as shit experience, and she's recognized that knowing the shape of someone's nipples without knowing their name is a weird she does not want to add into this, she will level an olive branch, "Name's Abby."

It only takes another moment or so for Diana to realize that something seems wrong with the young woman, but the introduction briefly curbs the question on her lips. "Well met, Abby. I am Diana." Then, she adds: "Are you alright?"

She does start walking towards the town, gesturing for Abby to follow her. It doesn't occur to her that the way she looks would be a reason for someone to be upset, or feel uncomfortable.

To be fair it isn't just Diana. Okay, yes she is a lot of it. A good focus for this entire affair. But Abby's issues with herself run very deep and this setting somewhat attacks all of them. Every person on the beach looking hot in ways Abby isn't, in outfits Abby can't wear, "Fine."

Nothing about how she said the word fine, or her expression, or her posture, suggests in any world this is accurate to how she feels. She trudges in Diana's wake much like a shadow chases the sun. Of course, anyone who has ever met a teenager should know that question is never answered sincerely.

Diana can clearly tell that fine does not mean fine, but she isn't really sure why. Amazons are notoriously honest about their feelings, so she can't pick out an obvious reason why Abby would lie to her. They've only just met, yes, but it seems obvious to her that Diana herself is the cause of this irritation.

As for being a teenager, well. She's the only teen she has ever known and that was thousands of years ago. Her own experience can't equate to Abby's.

She continues walking in silence for a few more moments, mulling it over, and then decides she cannot let this go. "Something is bothering you." She doesn't say it in an accusatory way; in fact, her voice is gentle. "We have only just met, but if there is anything I could do to ease your mind, please tell me."

Don't be nice, it makes it very hard to be bitter and angsty- okay that's a lie, it makes it hard to be bitter and angsty about someone else. Now her focus is aimed inward again. She really was being a brat, wasn't she? She wanted it to be easy, adults didn't always remember being a kid. But that wasn't true either, Nadine was pretty good at realizing Abby's got a lot going on.

She much prefers the anger, that always points outwards.

"Somethings always fucking bothering me, that just- goes with the territory." Abby's posture is slumped and giving only lopsided attention to Diana. Her smile is lackluster and weak, "Agreeing to get a bathing suit is really all I can ask. There's nothing else you can do."

She let's silence hang for just a moment before needing to know offsets anything else, "Do you really not remember being a teenager, or were you like- well adjusted and fucking happy?"

Of course Diana had her moments of rebellion, of being upset by small things and not knowing why. But it has been a long time since then, and she's puzzled by Abby's behavior. So she has to take her at her word, giving a short nod even if her brows are still pulled together with concern.

The question catches her off guard, and Diana can't help but breathe out a small laugh. Not at Abby--no, it's directed more at herself. "It has been a long time," she admits. "And I do not think I grew up in an environment that could compare to anyone else's." She pauses, and adds: "I do remember being frustrated often, but mostly when I was told I couldn't do something."

"Well that's universal. I think my dad explained it like- how the fuck do we know who we are if we don't do the stupid shit everyone tells us not to do?" That's not in any way the language her father used, but the general point is the same. Exploring the edges of oneself is normal. And then adults get all fucking pissy about it even though they did this themselves.

"I guess what I was asking," Abby pauses, letting herself try to pair down what she was really asking into a more generic shape, something less obvious. If she asked what she wanted to know, Diana would know what Abby was looking for, and answer in a way that was... at best, patronizing, "Do you remember looking at the world and not seeing where you fit into it?"

Diana is... surprised at the wisdom in that. Not because it came from a mortal man--no, because she doesn't think anyone would have ever said that to her. Even when she had pushed the boundaries of what she knew her mother would allow (sometimes breaking them altogether), she had done it only because something in her heart had told her it was right.

The question makes her pause for a few moments, as she considers. Eventually she nods, but speaks slowly, as if she's hesitant to admit this. "I had a place," she explains. "Everyone knew who I was meant to be--except me. They only ever gave me half the picture. So I remember... searching. Trying to figure out what the missing piece was."

"Why the fuck wouldn't they tell you what you're suppose to do, are you like meant to destroy the world or something?" See, she didn't know where she was going, because nobody knew where they were going. Parents had ideas for their kids, but nothing was ever that easy. Her parents thought she'd be better at school. She was pretty sure Max's parents probably visualized a straight wedding for Max when she was old enough.

But how do you know, and not tell them?

That exchange kind of cemented Diana wasn't anyone like her, some quiet earth with a quiet life, not if adults knew what you were meant to do before you did. Another barrier that seemed impossible to pass and be understood. "Anyway, I'm still figuring out who the fuck I am. So sometimes I just- sometimes shit bothers me."

Diana doesn't... flinch, exactly, but she does, briefly, look a little uncomfortable at that. "No," she says, with a slightest hint of that discomfort in her voice. Not exactly, anyway. "I was born to be a weapon, but my mother was very protective of me. She did not want me to lead the life of a warrior, and her word is law. So nobody told me." That's the simplest explanation she can give; sometimes, it's still hard for her to wrap her own mind around.

She pauses again, but nods. "I don't think that's a bad thing," she offers. "Figuring out who you are is a process, and it can be a tumultuous one. And being able to admit that you are still finding yourself may mean you are closer to doing so than you think."

Honestly everything about that explanation made it worse, and then a further worse a layer down. Abby was still mad about the whole perfectly sculpted everything of Diana's physique, but now she had all of this to find fucked up on top of it. "So you're a weapon, but your mom, who I assume was a part of your coming into being, didn't want you to be a weapon. So she ordered everyone to lie to you growing up. Am I getting this mess right?"

It is important to be mad about things with a full and accurate picture of what is happening.

"I'm not," Abby offers, "Knowing you're at the bottom of a fucking well doesn't give you a ladder. It just means you know you're fucked." All the metrics, all the measures she had to figure out who she is, what she can do with herself, told her 'not enough.' She didn't measure up and she hadn't found a good way to cheat the system yet. She didn't have her out, and she wasn't finding it. All she found were living lifesize examples of how little she could do.

It's... difficult to hear it all put so plainly, but Diana nods. The truth isn't always easy to hear, after all. "She was scared," Diana offers. It isn't an excuse, but just another layer. "I was hunted from the moment of my birth, and she wanted to shield me from that." There's no telling what would have happened if Ares had been able to find her as a child.

Having never dealt with teenagers before, Diana doesn't really know that sometimes, you just have to let things go. "Would you rather not know?" Another genuine question. "Knowing where you are means you can work to move to a better place."

"If you knew, would that have made you harder to hide?" Abby is still very visibly upset by... all of this. And there's not really a good answer for it, and Abby's pretty fucking sure. If only because she's watched Ginny slowly come unraveled by whatever the fuck her mom did.

"And does knowing change what you are?" Which should help answer where Abby stands about her own fucked up issues. She's better off knowing her parents are fucked up, and how that has washed down on her. But there's only so much she can do, and it doesn't really get her out of the metaphorical well. "Not knowing would hurt more, that's about all it changes."

Diana shrugs, and gives the most honest answer she can. "I think I wouldn't have stayed on the island as long as I did." She thinks of her single-minded pursuit of Ares once she knew he was out there. She had more or less run right into his grasp then, and what if she hadn't had thousands of years of training behind her? There's no telling what might have happened.

"By itself, it doesn't," she accedes. "But it at least lets you know where you stand. I think I would take that over ignorance."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A much deserved vacation day!

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