Seaside 2: Rising Tides

[Earl of Purple]

Boardwalk Date

Agape's smile twitches wider at Riley's reaction to the kissing booth, but she doesn't comment. She will do something, however. "What's skee-ball? I've never heard of it." And neither has her player.

[TechnoScrabble]

Boardwalk Date

"Well, there's this ramp, and at the end are...well, rings, with holes in them," Riley explains, "And each hole is worth different points, and you try to roll balls up into them to get the most points!"

[Arkhosia]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

"So don't start fights!" Happy protests. She didn't lay a hand on either sister in this encounter! "Or... I guess, stop Saffra from starting them. She's got some serious emotional problems." She fetches her ice cream sodas and heads back towards Magtok. Time to find out if Baxter's Iced Cream Soda! A Positive Cure for Neurasthenia, Sun Sickness, Blood Disorders, Paralysis, and Headaches of All Sorts! 5¢! will do anything to help her boyfriend.

Sophia appears to be busy looking at a drawing of hers in her wallet, obviously very special by the fact it's laminated and, well, in her wallet. She doesn't notice the two approach, being too busy remembering stuff and generally zoning out.

Spoiler

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[Earl of Purple]

Boardwalk Date

"Sounds good! Lead the way, Riley." Agape will squeeze her sheep again [BAAA!] and try to hold Riley's hand. Unless she already is, in which case she'll squeeze it.

[TechnoScrabble]

Boardwalk Date

Riley takes a good grip of Agape's hand as he rushes into the open-sides structure with the tin roof and the web of swirling, blazing lights. Rows of skee-ball arcades with different gaudy themes cover the three standing walls, and Riley starts pushing coins into a pair of tropical themed ones, whereupon half a dozen heavy black rubber balls fall into a trough at the bottom of each.

"Don't worry about saving shots, they'll keep coming back down for about two minutes! "

[Earl of Purple]

Boardwalk Date

Agape will take three of the balls, placing her new sheep where it can watch. A few of her snakes will keep an eye on it, though, so she'll know if anybody tries to walk away with it. It'll probably take her a while to get used to rolling up hill, so she isn't as good as she was with the last game. Especially if it's not as honest as the last game. In addition, now she's playing competitively against Riley (I think) and is therefore trying to rush a little.

[TechnoScrabble]

Boardwalk Date

Riley's prosthetic arm compensates for the natural sway and shaking of his body, but his vision is terrible and the cloggin' his noggin took isn't helping. He blinks a few times between throws, but regularly overshoots or tosses way to the left or right, biting down on the tip of his tongue as he tries to focus.

[Earl of Purple]

Boardwalk Date

Agape is a bit worried about Riley's poor aim, and resolves to see if she can do something about that later. For now, though, she'll try to fluff her shots so that Riley can win. She's trying to be subtle about it, but having won so spectacularly at the last game involving aiming and now doing so poorly, it might not work if Riley's paying attention.

[TechnoScrabble]

Boardwalk Date

Luckily, Riley is very good at being oblivious. It'll be close, given just how bad he's doing, but letting him win is pretty easy. He does a little victory dance when his arcade flashes and blares a happy tune, but stops and immediately humbles himself when he sees Agape's score, coughing awkwardly. Seems he didn't want to show off too rudely.

[Lord Magtok]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

Ice cream soda! The legendary precursor to the finest dessert crafted in the history of mankind! Of course Baxter's Iced Cream Soda! A Positive Cure for Neurasthenia, Sun Sickness, Blood Disorders, Paralysis, and Headaches of All Sorts! 5¢! will help out the cyborg! How could it not?!

Hrm. It'd take too much effort to try to stretch his face into a smile, writing didn't work out as planned, and Magtok still doesn't want to call in a Magbot to temporarily serve as his voice, so he'll have to find some other way to communicate thanks. Putting his hands together to make a little heart? No, too sappy and goofy-looking, and he'd need both hands, so he'd have to stop drinking the ice cream soda for a minute. Squeezing her hand might work, but like the heart thing, it's also more of a 'love you' sort of message, and Magtok's not entirely comfortable with that sort of thing with the alternate universe daughters watching. He could try charades, but that would be too much effort for such a short statement. Maybe he could-

"Thank you, Happy. Gods, she is the best. Not the most gentle soul of the four of us. Soph and Lys aren't that ****ing hard to remember either, Raptor Christ, but when it comes to everything else, wow. I have no idea how I lived all those years without that bottom. If there's a better rear in the Nexus...well she could just shift to match it anyways, so I-oh gods why is everyone looking at me like that? What's going on, I didn't even say anythi-oh **** the ice cream soda! What kind of mad sorcery is this?! Stop thinking about Happy's butt! Stop thinking about Happy's butt! Deactivate telepathy! Disable telepathy! Abort!

****, it's not working. Okay, one of you. You're all implausibly strong super-women; someone here punch me really hard in the head so I get knocked out. Or I die, either's fine. Lys can go first, Sophia already had a tur-Raptor Christ, that was mean! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! That just came out, I can't control it! ****. I'm a bad person and this being a good person thing is a terrible idea and I need to quit VIGIL-okay no, stop that. Knock that **** off, brain. Maybe if I'm reading something it'll stop?"

...Well I was going to say he could just nod at Happy and maybe clink his glass against hers, but accidentally gaining temporary telepathy and involuntarily projecting his thoughts to everyone within five feet of him? I guess that works, too. Needless to say, Magtok is as red in the face as he's ever been, absolutely mortified that the inner workings of his mind are being broadcast like this. Hopefully the telepathy only extends to words; the last thing he needs is mental images of Happy's derriere sent to the three of them.

Isle of Yorichi

"Don't bother Krait, I will have my elemental guide him back to the boat." Cessie tells the kobolt, feeling far more concerned about this curse than the other two. "Let's just make sure everyone arrives safe and sound." Aric will probably be able to see Krait at least as he's flying. The golems all just stare down at him as their leader speaks again, ignoring the stabs.

You will all regret what you have wrought here today, all of you will suffer for your insolence.

"Affirmative. Evacuate the island, mission to deface and plunder the city of foolish ancient savages is a success." That is what they were there for, right? Krait would like to believe so; that means they triumphed spectacularly today.

[happyturtle]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

As the telepathy goes out, Happy looks around to the others, realizes they are all hearing what Magtok is thinking, and turns bright red. Her next reaction is to pick up Magtok, haul him to the ocean, and carry him out far enough to dunk him underwater.

Water stops telepathy, right?

[Ionbound]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

Lysandra grins and laughs when she sees Happy dunk Magtok, and says, "Well, then. I guess I'll leave you two to it then. This has stopped being my problem." With that, she wanders off, looking for somewhere else to sunbathe.

[Earl of Purple]

Boardwalk Date

Agape smiles at the victory dance and goes to give Riley a hug. "Well done! I guess this means it's your turn to choose a prize. But I think we should work on your aim later. We haven't exactly got the high scores." Medusae are known to use bows quite regularly- it's an easy way to get meat, since anything that meets their eyes turns to stone and arrows can kill from further away than a medusa's gaze.

[TechnoScrabble]

Boardwalk Date

"I dont think you get prizes for skee-ball," Riley says apolegetically through the hug, "I think it's just a 'for fun' game, like bumper cars."

He'd be wrong, though. A small ream of paper tokens slides out of either skee-ball machine!

[Arkhosia]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

As the telepathy goes out, Happy looks around to the others, realizes they are all hearing what Magtok is thinking, and turns bright red. Her next reaction is to pick up Magtok, haul him to the ocean, and carry him out far enough to dunk him underwater.

Water stops telepathy, right?

Sophia is still despondently looking at the picture, not reacting really to anyone.
Well, until...
Magtok, I feel now's a good time to ask this, seeing you're projecting your thoughts. Have I earned your place as your daughter yet?
Also, if you give me some really nasty comments, I can transform and punch you. Should solve the problem
She simply replies, smiling.

[Lord Magtok]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

"Not yet, you punched me in the he-" Magtok's involuntary telepathy is interrupted by a sudden dunking into the sea. That might not be enough to stop his overactive brain-spamming, but at least he's freaking out about drowning now, instead of thinking about Happy's butt. After a minute of that, he manages to completely shut off his thoughts, and replace it with Beethoven's symphonies. There, that should keep him from thinking anything self-incriminating.

[happyturtle]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

Happy pulls Magtok up for air before he drowns, then dunks him a couple more times to be sure. About the time he gets to the second movement of Beethoven's fifth, she lets him up. "You know, I should learn to play the bassoon."

[Earl of Purple]

Boardwalk Date

"Then what're these things?" Agape's noticed the paper tickets and gone to collect hers. Some British penny arcades use them, but I prefer the ones that don't, because it's easier to keep playing- instead of getting tickets, you get the two-pence pieces that fall through the hole, so you can keep playing.

[Arkhosia]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

"Not yet, you punched me in the he-" Magtok's involuntary telepathy is interrupted by a sudden dunking into the sea. That might not be enough to stop his overactive brain-spamming, but at least he's freaking out about drowning now, instead of thinking about Happy's butt. After a minute of that, he manages to completely shut off his thoughts, and replace it with Beethoven's symphonies. There, that should keep him from thinking anything self-incriminating.

That was an accident, and besides, i'm sure you deserved it for some unavenged misdeed.
Sophia replies, chuckling as she gets up.

[TechnoScrabble]

Boardwalk Date

"Then what're these things?" Agape's noticed the paper tickets and gone to collect hers. Some British penny arcades use them, but I prefer the ones that don't, because it's easier to keep playing- instead of getting tickets, you get the two-pence pieces that fall through the hole, so you can keep playing.

"Oh! Uh," Riley yanks his tokens out and looks at them, "I guess we could turn these in for prizes? "

[Earl of Purple]

Boardwalk Date

Of course, if you keep playing, you won't get prizes as decent, but you don't play the penny arcade for decent prizes.

"Then let's go do that, hmm? Where should we go?" Agape keeps looking at Riley, but her snake-hair is looking around looking for clues.

[TechnoScrabble]

Boardwalk Date

Riley bites his tongue again and looks around, first glancing at the arcades and resteraunts and shops, and then back out towards the beach and the larger rides.

"Um...Well, what would you like to do? I chose two already, right? So it's your turn! "

[Earl of Purple]

Boardwalk Date

"Well, we've done the Ferris wheel, where we started, then the dart game, which I chose, and then the skee-ball, which I also chose, so actually I think it's your turn to chose something. But you still need to choose a prize with those tickets, unless you're saving them." I know she chose the dart game because she won the sheep she's squeezing [BAAA] and I checked with the skee-ball, that Riley explained it and Agape said it sounded good after Riley gave her the choice. I can't recall who chose the Ferris wheel, but suspect that was Agape as well.

[Lord Magtok]

Olde Timey Seaside Holiday

"Bassoon is a stupid instrument nobody like the bassoon what even is a bassoon I forgot doesn't sound like one of the solo instruments is it the really big clarinet sort of thing? Sophia's a bassoon I did deserve that saltwater tastes like **** bleh back to music. Thieving Magpie by Rossini, go!"

A song that should be familiar to anyone who's seen Clockwork Orange follows, as Magtok tries once more to obliterate the stream of thoughts that Happy's bassoon comment prompted. Damn them both, why would they try to engage him in conversation, knowing he has little to no control over his own responses?!

[Beans]

Beach Time

Go to the beach, they said.
It'll be fun! they said.

Well, nobody had actually told Garrett that, but they'd encouraged him to go out and have fun, and the beach had been one suggestion, and for some reason he couldn't remember now, he'd chosen it.

The young man stands in ankle deep water, leaning on his good leg and staring out at the water while the ocean breeze ripples his green trunks and the white t-shirt he was too nervous to take off. The last time he'd tried swimming, it'd been in a river, and hadn't ended well at all, but that was ages ago. He was bigger now, he had his magic back, and he no longer had a gaping spear wound on his back, though the scar was part of his self consciousness.

He extends his empathy, trying to feel for the minds of fish and other wildlife around him to find a safe place to wade in. People may get caught up in the reading, Garrett still can't shut out other minds very well.

Something starts to wheel up through the shallow water, and with it comes a mind. Hungry. Cold. Predatory. Thinking about, like, dude, she could go for a huge-ass grilled cheese right now...

Wheeling up in some sort of motorized, rugged-wheeled bathtub is... um... a shark lady.

Hey.

[TechnoScrabble]

Boardwalk Date

Okay so maybe I have a really bad memory.

"Oh! Uh, yeah, I-...Right! Prizes!" Riley puts his thoughts in order and steps up to a ticket stand, putting his tickets on the glass counter behind which a slightly overweight teen lazily chews gum.

"What can I get for these?" he asks.

The teen gives him a passing glance, pausing chewing for a moment, and then reaches down beneath the counter and slaps a pair of slightly melted tootsie rolls down, which Riley stares at somewhat incredulously.

"Uh."

Carcharodon't

Garrett starts to back up as his empathic field brushes against the mind, trying to make it back to somewhere safe without splashing or drawing too much attention. A cold sweat runs down his back as he realizes he left his knife and shillelagh back up by the dunes.

As the tub peaks above the surface, he stops and raises an eyebrow, and when he finally as a full view of it all, and the shark lady speaks, he makes a choking sound through his nose, refraining from laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

[Beans]

[I'M A SHAAAAARRK]
She blinks at him with her big black eyes, gnawing a crab. You 'kay there, pal? Ya chokin'? She wheels closer, vaguely concerned and slightly considering eating him, but mostly wanting actual food.

[TechnoScrabble]

MAXIMUM OVERSHARK

Garrett waves his hand and shakes his head, a wide smile on his face and his shoulders jumping up and down.

"No, no, I'm fine, thanks. Just surprised is all."

[Beans]

MAXIMUM OVERSHARK

Garrett waves his hand and shakes his head, a wide smile on his face and his shoulders jumping up and down.

"No, no, I'm fine, thanks. Just surprised is all."

The shark lady shrugs. Oh. Anyway, my name is Carky Thresher and I'm here to take over the land since I took over the ocean.
The entire ocean.

[TechnoScrabble]

Something's Fishy

Garrett looks over past Carly's shoulder at the ocean expanse behind her.

"The entire ocean, huh?"