If I think too hard about what we're doing I'll feel really bad about it (Open/Closed)

[everybodysterrible]

Who: Abby or Bay + Guests.
When: August/September
What: Catch-All for various things.
Warnings: Abby swears, Bay is occasionally casually naked. Individual threads will get warning as they happen.

Open Links

Abby's Wildcard
Bay's Wildcard

Comments

Abby - Wildcard (Open)

[everybodysterrible]

Nocwich

Abby has been dragged along on errands, but when she isn't busy being the daughter in 'take your daughter to work' weekend, she can be found half paying attention to acts in the Open Theater. Scoping out the weird shit to buy in the Markets. Or eating whatever comes closest to junk food she can get.

Horizon

Abby has turned the back half of her domain into a target field, to practice her magic. Which mostly involves throwing rocks near the targets, and then an elemental blast works out from the rock like wind or fire.

Otherwise she'll happily troll around Other Domains on foot. Or occasionally on an E-Scooter.

Cadens

Abby is pretty regularly found in Sarstina (both working the bar, and upstairs where her room is), the Market Square and Anywhere to buy Clothes, or mooching at Julie and Nadine's house because they should have seen this coming adopting a teenage layabout. They were warned.

Bay - Wildcard (Open)

[wasalmostdaphne]

Nocwich

Bay will be all over the Markets buying spices and other cooking supplies due to the sad state of Thorne's kitchens being hopelessly white.

She also spends some time in the Hot Springs with very little shame, but she only truly relaxes in the water if she has a friend there.

Horizon

Bay rolls across the Horizon in her car, The Thing, generally looking for interesting things to draw or paint.

She can also be found in her art studio, listening to music while she paints. You should grab (or conjure) some earplugs before you get too close, her music is loud.

Thorne

Bay is usually reading or drawing in just about any corner of the castle she can. This is usually the Gardens, Library, or North Wing Common Areas if she's feeling especially social.

Otherwise Bay regularly can be found taking over North Wing's Kitchen to cook or bake whatever recipes her mind pieces together. Taking copious notes about how good she's doing, with a skill she doesn't remember.

Nocwich » hot springs

[shadowthief]

Inej doesn't come to the springs often, and when she does, she's never fully undressed, always at least in a bathing suit or similar. It earns her some looks from the locals but no one ever gives her too much fuss about it.

There don't seem to be any completely free pools, so she picks one at random and approaches the girl who's already sunk low into the warm water. "Mind some company?"

[wasalmostdaphne]

So somewhere in the past month the idea of clothes in here became weird. Which, itself, is weird for Bay. Given it shouldn't be weird. But she's been figuring out her own comforts and nudity is absolutely one of them. "By all means. Just, don't be offended if I don't answer you if I can't see you talk."

There's a distracted tone to her words as she tries to work out what her body is doing. Her heart is definitely doing something, and she's a little more aware she's naked, but she seems to be trying to sit more upright and make herself more obvious. Rather than less. She can feel her hair against her neck a bit more and that's just annoying her, like she should shift it somewhere else. "I'm Bay."

[shadowthief]

There's a slight hint of confusion on her face at the comment at first, but it clicks after a moment that she must need to read lips, "No problem," she smiles, one of her soft, sunshine smiles.

"Inej," she offers in return as she steps into the pool and sinks low in the water. The heat seeps almost instantly into her skin and it's nice. "Have you been here long?"

[wasalmostdaphne]

Fortunately with Inej in the water Bay's ability to check her out diminishes, but it still leaves her wondering why she was doing that. She was staring, she wasn't sure why she was staring, but she was staring. She knew what these feelings were, but the didn't make sense in this context.

"Um, ten minutes or so?" Did she mean in the springs, or in Abraxas. Was it obvious she was Summoned, Inej seemed pretty easily recognized as summoned. The clothes were a bit of an outlier here, "I don't have a great sense of time. I know to get out of the water when I feel all flushed and bothered."

She was already feeling bothered, but not really flushed. So... all sorts of new experiences. Bay brushes her hair up off her neck finally. It doesn't make her feel less uneasy.

(Mat) - Stupid Sexy Music - Nocwich

[everybodysterrible]

Abby hadn't been staring. Much. If grading on a curve against several stalkers. She knew who he was in passing, in that Mat was the boyfriend of the guy Abby was casually sleeping with. Which was a very good reason to either avoid him entirely or be super sweet and polite to him with little space in between.

But she had to hear him fucking sing. Stupid sexy musicians. She knew that this reaction was not normal and had some very definite implications about who she is as a person. Still, when he looked over she just, hid that grin she had with one hand while waving shyly with her other.

She's doing really good at being cool about this.

[a_better_man]

Mat's broken out one of his usual sets for Nocwich - songs are played according to audience, after all. Busking in a market place like this, it's all adventure songs and love ballads. Nothing raunchy or violent, nothing terribly rousing. Folks are out shopping and enjoying their holiday weekend, no one wants to be riled up or possibly be offended. Adventures and romance always go down a treat, though, and tend to have the sort of melodies that can fade into the background should passersby prefer not to listen.

But he had a nice little audience today, and his fancy hat has a few coins in it. He's also certainly noticed particular attention. He always does. Gleeman are appealing, he knows that. When he's finished for now and his coins collected and Theodora back in her case, he looks around for the lovely lass that had noticed and...aha. Perfect. He'd be an utter cad if he didn't go and say hello.

Running a hand through his unruly mop of hair, Mat trots over with a grin.

"Glad you enjoyed the show."

[everybodysterrible]

She's doing her very best to stop smiling like a complete idiot. She's failing but her attempts to get herself under control are admirable at first. Of course, it helps she now has to say something. Which means she has to pick a thing to say. And 'squeal like she's twelve' isn't a good idea.

Tempting though.

"You're really good," She said words. She deserves a cookie. Of course, she knows who he is. She's squirming a little under the attention. She's like she just kind find a comfortable stance for her weight. Which might have to do with the unequal nature of this. She knows who he is, he introduced himself for his set. And she'd seen him and Jesper joined at the hip in public in the Feywilds. But maybe he didn't know her. But she was sure if he had her name it's not a secret who she is.

Deep Breath, hand still hiding her mouth. "I'm Abby."

[a_better_man]

"Oh, you're Abby!" Mat's eyes light up in recognition. "Good to meet you, Jesper speaks well of you."

Not that they've had long conversations about the girl, but he knows who she is and that his sweetheart likes her. Though he supposes there's few people Jesper doesn't like. Still. Any friend - and more - of Jesper's. He just assumes she knows who he is, the pair of them are very open about their relationship.

And she does seem quite enamored with his performing. All the more reason to be friendly. And perhaps flirt a bit.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

[everybodysterrible]

"In general, or specifics?" Her squirming shifting stance drops into a stable unease, not as active but clearly trying to figure out how rocky the terrain is. Metaphorically speaking. Her free hand is twisting in the hem of her shirt, the last of her uneasy motions to go.

She knows she isn't a secret, they have a well thought out open long distance relationship that seems super neat but entirely outside of anything Abby would be comfortable in the middle of. But she doesn't know exactly how much is said either.

The invite is a littl jarring, as the terrain for meeting your sex friend's boyfriend is entirely uncharted in her world and not really a thing. Just she knows that whatever her parents are doing is stupid, and any alternative to that is more appealing. "Um, sure."

This will be so much easier when she isn't quite as sober.

(Wilhelm) - Apologies - Horizon

[everybodysterrible]

Being early to this was equally free access to the Horizon, as it was her fucking nerves at what she had to do. She dressed casually, trying to make it less obvious who she was and why she was here. What she'd done. Wearing a tube top and cargo pants. Showing off generally she was a girl, but being proper beachwear. The Mark of the Lovers etched into her left shoulder rather than on her clothes.

She conjuerd a hat and sunglasses, but dismissed them. They weren't quite right for what she was doing.

Once Wilhelm arrives she'll stand up and dust herself off, waiting until he gets close enough before she speaks, "I need to apologize first. Then if you accept it I'll explain why I did the shit I did. Okay? Just- let me apologize first, and promise you won't do anything until I'm done?"

She had a lead on him in this in that she knew who he was and he didn't know who she was, rather, who else they both were. Which she hoped meant curiosity would hold off any shouting or wounded feelings.

[ordinar]

Your body isn't even physically there in the Horizon, but that doesn't stop Wilhelm's stomach from knotting up with anxiety as he walks down the beach toward Abby. He doesn't know what he has to be anxious about. They'd met once when she was freshly summoned, and they'd had a decent time together. But it's the not knowing that puts him on edge.

As far as meeting spots go, it's...well, it's all a little incongruous. The strip of white sand and the turquoise water — a hue that belongs somewhere remote and exotic, somewhere he's never been in real life — suggest a tranquility that he definitely doesn't feel right now. His eyebrows pinch together as she goes off about apologizing before he can even say hey. In his pockets, he picks at his fingernails.

"Uh...sure. I promise."

Except he neither sounds nor looks so sure.

[everybodysterrible]

Her look is apologetic, she can't expect him to agree to not be mad about a thing he hasn't figured out yet. Not a surprise, if something goes that wrong, you don't hunt down the person you hurt to apologize. You just let two strangers never meet again. Except she'd gotten a sense of what happened and it was gnawing on her> So eventually, once she was right with herself, she had to poke at this.

Because it was her fault. Regardless of how she meant it.

"I'm sorry," Her voice is even, and sincere, as much as her voice ever managed that. Hands behind her back, not breaking away eye contact. She needed him to hear her out, and that meant she couldn't cower away or halfass this. "I didn't mean to lead you on. I didn't really mean to shout at you either. I did not think through what anyone else might be looking for at the party, I was looking at at all through my own eyes. And you got hurt, and I'm sorry. Okay?"

If he still hadn't twigged on yet, she takes her hands out from behind her back, and she's holding a blue mask. One that was worn at the ball by a particular tiny gentleman who tried, and failed spectacularly, at cheering up a Frog Prince.

[ordinar]

As recognition trickles in, filling the gaps in his understanding, the knot between his eyebrows slackens into surprise. He looks away, feeling like a door left wide open for everyone to step through. When he looks back, he's closed his expression up, but the edges of his discomfort poke through, a jumble of embarrassment, hurt, and regret. Wilhelm stares at the mask that confirms she's the "boy" he met that night at the Vermillion Palace.

He has revisited that night a dozen times, cringing at his desperation, questioning if his attraction went deeper than the disguise, revising his words and actions until they're unrecognizable. In all of the emotions tangled around the evening, though, anger is absent. It burned off before the night ended.

"Okay," is all he says for a long moment. His shoulders slope into a sigh and he shakes his head. His hands fly out of his pockets to fuss with his hair instead, smoothing it back only for it to flop into his eyes again. "I should apologize too. I...shouldn't have flipped out like that. And I shouldn't have...touched you without making sure it was okay first. I just got carried away, and that's my fault. So I'm sorry."

Finally, he looks right at Abby. Not at the mask, not over her shoulder somewhere.

"So why did you...?"

[everybodysterrible]

The wait between him grasping what this is, and him speaking felt way too long and way too fucking tense. It just kept going and she wasn't sure where the road lead. But the tension breaks, he apologizes for his part in that garbage fire, and her shoulders let go of that tension she's been holding since she started talking.

"If it wasn't for the fact that you're gay, and you acted like I had a cactus under my shirt, I wouldn't have minded a little attention like that. Just- you're not really the guy for it." Stupid sexy fox guy and his stupid sexy words. Probably part of why Abby didn't think that far ahead, also that she's met more bi people than straight people since her arrival.

Of course, how she had to explain, she let a small sigh out as she dropped into a beach chair. No, it wasn't there a second ago, Abby has just fully taken to the Loony Tunes nature of this world and chairs exist when she needs them. "I did try to find a dress for the party, do the whole fairytale princess shit. There were two problems that kept coming up. Well- fuck, one problem. Just in two different ways. It looked like me."

"Practically, going to a party where the game is not to be recognized looking like yourself is stupid." She tucked her legs up against herself in her seat. There's a muted nature to the way Abby's talking, like she's taken a step back from herself, as her only defense to explain what was in her head. "And I could stop there and say 'and I had the great idea to dress as a boy.' But this is me explaining myself, and ending there is a fucking lie. I hated- seeing myself, trying to be that girl. Who I've never been good at being. I felt so fucking weird at my Bat Mitzva in a dress, and this was just the same. Only worse. Because thirteen year old me was a lot less insecure than I am now."

"I'm not a boy, I liked some of the ways Maxwell handled things. Which I am trying to be a bit better at as me. But I picked that costume because it wasn't me, if I was just me I couldn't have really enjoyed myself. All the shit I hate about how I look, didn't fucking matter if I didn't recognize the person in the mirror. My tiny tits and flabby thighs didn't matter, people seeing them didn't matter."

She hopes it's relatable enough, he's not a girl. He doesn't have the same weight on him she does, he has different weights, different concerns. The kind a gay kid gets in the same systems she was in. The same rules to play by, the same rigged fucking game. Which she hoped was enough that he could see that, just maybe, she could get whatever the fuck drove him to attack himself that night, both at the start with his shadows and the end with his words, and talk about it. "So I gave Maxwell a name, and a backstory, and I decided to go out, flirt with anyone cute and see where the night took me."

"We know how that went."

September - Julie & Nadine's house

[everybodysterrible]

(OOC: Anyone who would have reason to go there is free to use this prompt.)

Abby making herself at home was not new, she’s been under Julie’s tutelage for long enough, and Nadine kept snacks for her. So clearly she was meant to be here when she had reason.

So Abby put on a pot of water, added her favorite blend of leaves and petals to it. Waited. Contemplated accessing braintwitter. Waited. Was not bored enough for that shit. Waited. Ate a few cookies. Waited.

Then finally there was tea. She poured herself a cup. Picked a nice spot in the room to curl up and waited more. Now for someone, anyone really, to come home. She didn’t pick any furniture to curl up on, opting instead for a small space leaning into the corner of the room, sitting on the ceiling. Cup in hand. The tea in the cup didn’t fall to the floor like it should, held rightsideup but by an upsidedown girl.

She sat there, and waited.

And when someone comes in. “Sup?”

September - Mat (CW: Nudity)

[wasalmostdaphne]

Monsters attacking kind of put a hold on the rest of Bay's life for- you know, a while. There were a bunch of things she wanted to do, wanted to talk about, but couldn't. So her social life somewhat became 'draw monsters and collect information.' And now the world has gone back to normal.

Returning to her crisis already in motion, able to focus on a thing she couldn't get out of her head. Because it'd come up twice and she needed to deal with that. She didn't have the person she wanted to talk to, but she had made a friend she felt capable being open with. Bay was curled up on her bed, with a book of Thorne's history, about two centuries old.

And she was naked.

Don't bother knocking, just come in.

[a_better_man]

Mat's been recovering from the monsters himself. He'd avoided any serious injury, but it had taken a toll just the same. The way he'd felt when he'd come up against the Dark One's hounds...it was too much like how he'd felt under the dagger's influence.

And he'd just been starting to get a handle on that particular trauma. Ah well.

But he's more than happy to answer the summons Bay sends. He quite likes the lass. And light knows he could do with some company, moping about never does him any good.

Realizing it would indeed be pointless, he doesn't bother to knock, only sends a mental message that he's coming in. Just in case she isn't looking that way when he comes in. He does, however, quickly shut the door behind him when he realizes she's starkers.

"You should have told me it was nude social time, I wouldn't have worn so many layers!"

[wasalmostdaphne]

"It's easier to wash paint off of skin than cloth." Said as if that thought is perfectly normal. There's a painting drying in the corner. She had hoped that a commissioned piece of the New York Skyline would, if not get her mind off it's current track, at least calm her down a bit. Which it did more than it didn't, but the idea was still crawling around in the back of her mind for her to deal with.

This was honestly the worst topic to ask about while naked, but also perfectly poetic as she felt very vulnerable asking about it. And she wasn't going to rush to get dressed if it was just Mat coming over.

She slips a bit of scrap paper into her book and closes it properly. Sitting up and swinging her legs off the bed to better watch Mat move, she doesn't care if he gts undressed since- well, she was. And if she let a little thing like that distract her from her question, well... she'd never ask. "You're dating a guy from one of the factions, right? And you've definitely hit on me."

"How'd you know, that both were options for you?"

[a_better_man]

It would feel very odd indeed to be fully clothed while Bay is not. So Mat does begin undressing, but pauses halfway through at her question. His waistcoat and shirt have been divested, but he's still in his trousers.

"Oh. I...don't really know."

Frowning thoughtfully, he considers it. How did he know? Had there ever been some moment where it became clear? Not that he can recall. He just...always liked what he liked.

"Guess when I started to be about the age that you start noticing people that way, I just always noticed lasses and fellows." He shrugs, realizing that answer is probably unhelpful to her. If she's asking, there's a reason. And it doesn't take a brilliant mind to assume what that reason is.

"To be honest I've never really given it much thought. Just always been how I've felt, that I haven't any preference. I liked the look of both, gave both a try, that was that."

Dean

[everybodysterrible]

Abby had been here before, not... just to the Andromeda Bay beaches, but the ones marred and ruined by the writhing mass of B.O. and anime porn known as the Morbol. So she felt a little like she should help fix it, however she could.

Didn't change that little echo of fear, the one that bubbled up from her when she saw Julie on the ground. Which is where she stood for longer than she probably should have. Stupid buddy system meaning working with someone else. Until then she could focus on the job at hand, or just dwell in that moment of fear.

She was dressed to work in the water... sorta. Inej had helpfully braided and pinned her hair into something out of the way for the water. No fanning hair out of Disney for her. From the waist down she was wearing a wetsuit, something skintight and meant for the water. Goggles hanging from her hip. Waist up was a bikini top because in spite of everything, this was a beach and she was going to look cute.

[righteously]

The way Dean figures it, he's got a lot of making up to do for the crap he caused as a demon. More than that, the months he spent being an irrepressible dickhead to a fair number of guards and drunk patrons at Mag's establishment. This includes some self-inflicted community service whenever the summoned are called upon for aid. He was really hoping it would have something to do with, you know, killing more monsters or lifting up heavy crap or, like, building something. Instead, he gets under water gardening. Great.

Well, it's not the worst. He's a good swimmer, at least, and a little snorkeling's not the worst way to spend an afternoon. So yeah, he straps up. Grabs his wetsuit. Leaves his swords, knives, and rifles at home for once — save, you know, for one. He's never gonna roll anywhere completely unarmed. Unfortunately under water isn't the best place to take a long sword, so it gets carefully stowed away in the sand with his clothes, towels, flask of booze, and other Emergency Supplies varying degrees of alcoholic in nature.

He's shrugging on the top half of his wetsuit when he turns to meet up with his partner, and then promptly groans when he recognizes who it is.

"Ah, come on, really?"

He will never forgive the bedazzling of his favorite hunting tunic. Never.

[everybodysterrible]

Abby turned at the interruption, and smiled. A smile so placid and pleasant it could only be seen as a direct threat. Because she didn't like Meme Guy. He was kind of full of himself and way too 'this is my burden' about shit.

But he was fun to screw with.

"What's the big deal, afraid of a little water? I promise, if there's any sea monster I'll protect you." Abby knows Dean can handle himself, he makes so much of a point that he can. However she managed to kill a bigger monster after Dean made a big fucking deal about benching her.

And as much as she's a little weird about feeling in any way useful, that paled in how much she loved being spiteful to grown ups.

[righteously]

Oh, he sees the tone behind that smile. That's a threatening smile. That's the smile of a teenager that would absolutely delight in making his life a living hell. He's seen that same exact smile on Claire, thank you very much, and she was the most exhausting not-daughter he's ever had. Krissy's a close second, but he won't spend near as much time with her as he ultimately does Claire.

"Somehow, I doubt that," is all he grumbles — perhaps a little more darkly than she might expect, but the comment rolls away and he doesn't seem intent to elaborate on it. It's just, you see, he was speared through the chest by a sea leviathan not all that long ago, spent several weeks drowning on repeat, and crawled back out of the ocean a god damn demon.

So yeah, you could say he has a little bit of a history with the ocean and sea monsters. But then again, he's got a little bit of a history with a lot of things, and that doesn't generally stop him.

"Alright, come on, let's get this over with. What the hell are we even doing with these?"

He's not a garden guy. He doesn't generally plant things. He mows lawns, that's as close as he gets.