[SE] Just hanging with the buoys

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

LongNight might have held some horrendous threshold for many regions, but it couldn’t quite compare to Torchline’s constituents of bonfires and booze. Even the new-fangled, impending game of jousting was something to look forward to, rather than all the nuances of dreaded evenings and twilight that never ended.

Hands on her hips, she pulled the sunglasses over her eyes and stared across the endless, blue horizon, then back at the piled buoys, made to resemble the fluorescent aspects of under the sea constituents. She’d long since pinned her hair back so it wouldn’t crowd into her face when they were amidst the water, Ludo-detailed swimsuit already in full force with cats and the herald’s masks sharing coffee and cocoa lined on the print. Turning to face Kaisel, she granted him a grin that was either mischief embedded or sincere and she’d let him figure and parse through which. “Congrats on your upcoming wedding. Flora was telling me some of the deets.” Grabbing hold of one of the buoy lines, she sighed and huffed a breath, glance narrowing behind the shades. “How far apart should we make this?”

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now

Having now experienced a full Torchline Longnight once already, he's prepared this year, and he has had thoughts on how to make it bigger and better. A whole list, in fact, which he's slipped to Flora nearly daily with a growing amount of absurdity. He's slipped it into her piles of work papers, into her purse, at her nightstand under her glass of night water, and even mailed it to her with a few ghost writer names that she saw though far too fast to be fair. Although this particular feat isn't his idea entirely, not exactly, he likes to think he wore her down with enough insanity that she became inspired by all of it and with some courtly brainstorming and a few hot takes, arranged this.

Flapping his arms to continue untangling the end of the buoy lines they've begun to unroll and stretch out, Kaisel finally manages to free the last bit of this one and can fully glance up at her as she speaks. "Oh yeah?" His eyebrows reach for his hair as he regards the Honeybee with a smile that he gave no permission to but found its way quite comfortably on his face at the mention of marrying Flora. Might half be the secret of pulling off their private ceremony into a public one, and might 80% be the fact hearing her name still does this to him as if she's his classroom crush he's too shy to approach still. "What might those deets be?" He is a miserable failure at nonchalance, but he tries for it anyway in the hopes it might make her spill the tea all that faster to better capture his attention, expecting that she, like him, enjoys the spotlight of focus and favor.

Dressed in board shorts that are black at the top, they gradually fade into a golden bottom where small text reads The honeybee. A faintly visible honeycomb pattern is made on the yellowed ends with an inalid subtle shimmer of fabric. With them, Kaisel stands equally ready to romp into the sea. He's already stripped his button-down blue shirt and cast it aside, and despite the temperate beach, the season blows a cold coastal breeze once in a while that makes him shiver faintly. "Mmmmm," Kaisel considers her question, stretching his arms out as wide as he can on either side and glancing between them. "I thiiink, three arm-lengths. Gives them enough room to fall off and not get tangled."

Kaisel

everybody come hang, let's go out with a bang

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

In the mood to be irritating, she tilted her head at his inquiry, though her eyes narrowed slightly at his shorts, uncertain if she should be offended (like within the underwear debacle) or wondering if she could bully Iskra into wearing a pair. She took more than a few moments, grin managing to slip into something nefarious and mercurial, untangling another line at the end of buoys and string. “Shouldn’t you know the details of your own wedding?” Of course, both of them knew Flora, and the potential for her to just make things up on a whim and have it wholly encompass a ceremony were not out of the realm of possibility. Throwing him a bone, she shrugged her shoulders, because it wasn’t a lie and she thought it’d be funny. “Flora said that if Sah makes an appearance there I can kill him. Might be good luck and all that.” Winking and leaving that for him to ponder, she shifted upwards, stretching her arms and shoulders, pretending to be nonchalant about the trunks. “Where did you get those?”

At the notions of distance and measurements though, she nodded; if left to her own devices, it would’ve been tossed out to sea in haphazard order, and may fortunes be in someone’s favor, because she wouldn’t given a single fuck. “Sounds good,” came instead, a shrug to follow, before she began to tug and pull the portions along the shore and sand. “Though it’d be hilarious if they did get tangled,” in case he wanted to change his mind.

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now

Kaisel can't hold onto the short laugh that rises in quick response to Mel's query. "Have you ever planned a wedding before?" He can safely say he hasn't until now, but his brow arches up all the same at her over the strands of rope and floating balls. "The details are more slippery than a greased up glotter." They've said lots and decided on little, and the things that get said keep growing while the decisions remain fairly the same. Maybe not every wedding unfurls the same, but this one surely is on track (which is to say, all over the track) given the bride and groom at its center and their propensity for going the extra mile.

What he hoped was that Flora might have told Mel something she'd be too worried to say outright to him. Not that he feared she kept secrets, but there is no denying that truths settle differently depending on who's ears are available. A sure offered his way at an idea could be a hell no to Melita, and he'd very much like to know if that's the case.

Kaisel's untangling stops abruptly, his fondly dipped smile splitting apart over a sharp "What!?". His head lifts up from the buoys so fast it pops. "Don't kill anyone at our wedding!" he sputters, features climbing rapidly into disbelief until he catches her wink. Immediately his breath flops out and he rolls his eyes, getting back to task. "Oh I see. Well you can metaphorically kill whoever you want whenever you want."

Glancing down at what's in his hands as if she's referring to something obvious, but having only the buoys, he doesn't immediately know how to respond. His merch is such a routine for him that it doesn't even register that she means that, not at first. "What, this?" he lifts up the rope, buoyant bits bobbing. The shiny thread of the shorts catches with the movement. "OH!" He realizes, folding back his snarky remark about a shed and mermaid bondage, his grin racing out shark-like now that he has the upper hand in the conversation. "Got them last Longheat. Why, you waaaaant a paaaaair?" He drags it out in a teasing manner, imagining her decked out in her own line (which he would absolutely do if he had any to his name).

With the more serious matter of erecting the course, he snorts in response to her pursuit of mayhem. "Just what we need, someone drowning in the dark." Maybe she could enjoy it, but he'd be working patrols to manage public safety again on and off throughout the span, and if this particular addition to the festival proves disastrous than he's sure his other ideas will be ripped apart next time. "Isn't the jousting enough to satisfy your chaoslust?" he wonders as they begin to work on dragging the line out to the sea. His bare feet meet the surf, and immediate shiver racing up his leg. The water still might be bearable compared to most, but it is still Deepfrost season and he much prefers the sea when it's Longheat's temperature.

Kaisel

everybody come hang, let's go out with a bang

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

At the inquiry, she burst out laughing. “Gods no. Though I’ve tried to stop some.” To no avail – one could ask her uncle about the Spite Wedding for reference. Opting to give him a brief modicum of peace, she tapped at her chin, dragging the line along as they chatted. “Flora mentioned something about distracting dragons…and a list of shitty people not allowed.” Her grin grew bigger, brighter, watching as he fumbled around with the buoys at the mention of her impending crimes. “Great! Then I have permission from both of you!” Which, even though she waltzed around with her own ‘I’m a Ludo demigod’ license, it was nice to be able to tease and taunt and speculate vengeance and murder, even if it wouldn’t come to fruition. A girl could dream.

Though at his inquiry over the boardshorts, she rolled her eyes. “Obviously,” as if they might be for herself and not something she would bully Iskra into wearing. Whether or not he answered, she could probably find out in various other ways from someone else – tugging along towards the shoreline and waves with her nose only slightly higher in the air.

Though his snort made her rally, turning her head back crisply and swiftly. “Ahem, I believe someone channeled someone else before and nearly let them drown in the dark,” and then she suddenly had a wondrous level of revenge concocted in her mind, if they hadn’t already come to blows about it beforehand. Did double jeopardy play a part in this world…eh, best left to contemplate on a later coil, though with the way her smile wove into something wicked, she wouldn’t rush away from the subject and ability if it came up.

As for jousting, as she dove into the water and offered a breath of relief, she dove underneath, pulling the lines along before resurfacing, back into familiarity and strength. “I don’t know what you mean. You can never have enough chaos.”

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now

Stopping weddings admittedly sounds much more like Mel than planning them. His grin spreads out in return at the answer, conjuring images of her bursting into ceremonies, guns blazing as it were. "Maybe you could be our wedding security," he muses, because it takes one to know one, right? So she would be able to spot anyone scuttling about unwanted in a blink and could intercept them. Although hiring Mel to do anything feels like the equivalent of setting your backyard on fire over just mowing the lawn.

The role may sound unnecessary, but there is a list of shitty people not invited and dragons to contend with. Although he rather thinks her fathers will sort out the latter. "Mmhm," he nods, glad to hear at least they still seem to be of the same mind on location. "Seemed like the Draig had everything we could want. Enough difficulty getting there to deter the uninvited, views that can't be topped, and the height of the world to announce our love to. Y'know, run of the mill wedding things." Right up there with arriving to the alter as wind or after an aerial display from demidads.

Smirking at the supposed permission, he just shakes his head, as if delight in murder is nothing to bat an eye at. When it comes to the shorts though, his answering snicker behind his grin is utterly pleased. "Might be hard to find this exact one, since the season is over, but maaaaybe if you're nice to me I can sniff out a pair for you." He holds his head a bit higher, feeling superior in the moment for all his ties to the merch undergound.

Of course he should have known drowning would loop back around to last Longnight's escapades, and all feelings of standing on high crumble in an instant. He rolls his eyes faintly, but smartly chooses to do or say no more, despite the urge to point out she could not possibly have drowned in six seconds. "Yeah and? Supposed to learn from your mistakes, I thought," he grumbles, watching the line to ensure it stays untangled as they move it to the surf.

Joining her fully in the water after the initial shock of the chill washes over him, acclimating faster than it seems given the season since the coast is still temperate, he swims out with one hand cutting through the water and the other ferrying the buoy line. "Ludo would be proud!" he commends, shaking water off his head after dipping beneath a wave. They swim out past the breaking surf, where the sea rolls beneath instead of roars above, and there they begin to fasten the lines into place, anchors below arranged in advance for some such measures, although he doubts the intention had ever been for them to be used in jousting lanes. It requires him to dive down, reaching below to grab the sturdy cord attached to the immobile weight. "So," he calls out after breaking back to surface and securing one section, 'waling' down the line of rope to the next region. "How're things with you and the Halo guy?"

Kaisel

everybody come hang, let's go out with a bang

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

Her nose wrinkled at the consideration of security – going back and forth over the notions in her mind. On one hand, she could go in blasting on anyone who’d threaten Flora and Kai’s bliss, but on the other, she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the actual ceremony. “I’ll think about it,” she winked, figuring Ronin and Remi would be the first hires for such a task anyway. “I could use my cannons,” if Kaisel needed a mental image to segment the offer in his mind. People being blasted out of their seats had a great ring to it.

Despite the assurances though, the over-the-top, grandiose scale seemed right on par with both of them. “No, no, I like it,” with her wave of assurance accompanied. “Everyone will talk about it for ages…might try to top it…,” she instigated, as if turning an invisible stirrer amongst a pot. “What’re you doing for food up there?” as an ever-present question.

Her following eyeroll though was massive and large and difficult to miss. “The season is over? It’s always swimming time here.” She pinpointed him with a ‘I think you’re full of shit’ look, before already beginning to form her own plot and plans to get ahold of a pair. And if not, she’d be stealing his.

Being nice to Kaisel might prove to be the more difficult option, which was why she’d begun to weigh out theft as a much more relevant possibility. Filling her cheeks up with air so they slowly unfurled, she waded further, plunging along and low, before popping back up again. “I just think you shouldn’t be throwing stones,” at glass houses and all that, and she shook her wet hair a little like a dog, and then slid into the fathoms once more on a long breath. The saltwater was a welcome breadth, calmed her demeanor that threatened to flare at the mutual griping, and she could help secure, anchor, the foundations of lines with little issue.

Returning to the surface left another inquiry out there, and this time if her cheeks went pink, they could blame it on the physical exertion or the welcome Torchline sun. “They’re going very nicely. We’re dating. He’ll be visiting here around LongNight,” maybe as a warning for the masses.

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now

Mel's mind could perhaps be summed up just in these two topics alone, murder and food. "We haven't really talked about food," he says with a sudden gasp of realization of something else to be deciding on. "I'm sure we can cart up whatever on the skyships and make it up there. Or hire some caterers to do just that. Won't be cheap with the distance and the danger and all..." he muses, wondering if he should be asking Ronin to cook instead of fly his daughter around in a skyshow. "Although we have talked about transporting everyone in party skyships," he tacks on, since transporting food is on the same level of worry as transporting the guests.

"Clearly you know nothing about fashion," Kaisel groans back at her attempt. "These are Longheat season shorts. You can't just have the same merch out all the time, no matter where you live. It's called style Melita, gods." Obviously there's already a new Deepfrost line, but he wouldn't be caught dead working in the lastest season's fit. That's for parties and dates.

"Wha—" he shouts over the surf at her, fighting the waves as much as the disbelief. "You're the one throwing stones! I'm actively trying not to drown anyone!" The glass house can kick rocks at this rate.

She's far enough away that he can't catch the burn on her cheeks, and he would attribute it to the exertion if he had. However, the way she talks changes in an instant, suddenly so proper and prim. "Ooo0000ooooh!" he teases daringly, taking a moment to plump one cheek with a hand as if feigning to be a cute girl preparing for a date. "Mel has a booooyfriend all to herself in the dark of the night?! Scandalous. I hope to gods I don't run into you two fucking on the beach, I'd be scarred for life." Fastening more of the line to anchors, the first lane seems set, requiring the second bundle they brought with them to be drug out. This is easier said than done, since htey need to measure three Kaisel arm-lengths apart and he's using said arms to stay afloat.

Kaisel

everybody come hang, let's go out with a bang

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

Melita blinked once or twice, stunned by the omission. Perhaps food hadn’t been amongst the grand topics, and understandably so, given the whole big, big wedding aspects they were going for, but with so many people, and the likelihood of hangry setting it, it might’ve been wise to place it amongst the list. But then she was distracted by the notion of a ‘party skyship’, mouth rounding into a gigantic grin. “Oooooh, now you’re talking,” and then they could all pre-tailgate the event.

As the discussion turned to fashion though, her head tilted, brow arching, eyes narrowing, as if scrutinizing him for brain cells. “What the fuck are you on about?” She could do whatever she wanted with whatever clothes she purchased, thanks, and given the way she lived, she wasn’t about to have some dumbass fashion police extort her for more money because of seasonal trends. “Sounds like some convoluted bullshit to me.” Robbery, practically. Maybe she’d be able to pick something up in a clearance rack then.

Ignoring him shouting over the waves about something or other, she feigned a yawn, then dove underneath to further secure portions and lines. Tugging at a few ropes to ensure they were actually in place and anchored, she returned to the surface to hear him shouting out some other nonsense. Not unlike siblings squabbling and purposefully provoking one another, she drew in a sharpened breath, trying to gauge the best way to piss him off equally in return (no, he probably wouldn’t be helping her get those shorts). “You know, I kept praising Flora for finding someone like you, but now I’m not so sure…,” flipping her hair over her shoulder, nose rising higher into the air. “If you’re going to be looking for other couples on the beach."

Thereafter though came the other measurements. “Eh, we could go back to shore,” they weren’t terribly far out. She could lend him her anklet, but given the last thing he’d uttered, she didn’t want to. “Or I can just drag it out and we can estimate.”

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now

Deciding sanity is worth more than trying to educate Melita on fashion, he doesn't pursue her response any further than an eye roll, the work at hand taking them away to the sea anyhow. Fortunately for him, Flora has never once questioned his tendencies for collections, and her sense of fashion is irrefutable. He hasn't had to do much explaining or defending in that realm.

Although her yawn leaves him with a hollow sense of victory, preferring things like, you're right or by Safrin's light you're the best! He will take the failure to reengage as something, and it allows him to secure the line without distraction until the image of her being caught having sex on the beach that isn't a drink makes him almost gag. That could also just be the seawater that trounces him unexpectedly.

Already grinning with the expectation of her annoyance and embarrassment, he's surprised instead to hear what sounds like a hidden compliment. "Awww, Mel," he says with both hands clutching at his heart, head briefly dipping underwater in the process, such is the effort of showmanship. He surfaces with a shake of his head, reorienting himself properly, grin still rampant. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he calls out, and it's hilarious that it was technically said to Flora, apparently more than once. "In that case, I hope you two have a great time." Flattery would in fact get you everywhere with Kaisel, even when you try to use it as a backhanded weapon, because he latches onto it instead of the sting.

"Eh, let's just guesstimate," he suggests, three-Kaisel lengths already having been a stab in the dark of jousting rules and regulations. He begins to take his end and swim further out so they can rinse and repeat.

Kaisel

everybody come hang, let's go out with a bang

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

Melita judged him with a proper grimace as he was simultaneously assailed by the waves and went to clutching his hands over his heart. It sounded as though he’d chosen to either not hear the insult, or ignore it altogether, so she finished by turning her head back towards the fathoms and rolling her eyes for the sea to see. “Still, don’t go spying on us.” Or I’ll fucking kick your ass wasn’t said, but she figured the threat was unnecessary. He knew enough of her by now. Would Flora be mad if she shot him with a cannon? Yes. Would it be worth it? Probably still yes.

Leaving those hypotheticals swirling about her mind on a unsung tour of vengeance and violence, the two of them paired together probably should’ve been a classic case of haphazard bullshit. Going by guess-timating was either going to work in their favor (a much quicker job done and delivered) or fuck someone over later (oops, oh well) as they were buoyed into boundaries too close or too far away.

Taking her end, she peeled away, grateful for the chance to duck down underneath the current again, dragging the lines along with ease and grace amongst the fathoms.

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now

There's a lot that's improved with selective hearing. Although her insult did not go unnoticed, he preferred to let it sink into the sea, because despite it, she did still compliment him. Maybe only to Flora, apparently, but that's enough, and it far outweighs the rest. "Please," he stresses with a flop of his tongue outside his mouth. "That's the last thing I want to encounter on my beach patrol. Just, don't do it where I could stumble across it." And all this ends in a smile, because honestly, teasing aside, he's happy for her. He has to show it by being A Lot, but it doesn't change the truth of it.

"I think here!" he calls out, finishing his swim and surveying the distance to the other line. He visualizes three Kaisels holding hands and it feels right. Again he fishes below the waves for cords and anchor holds, fastening the buoy line into place with rope and metal and weight, this portion of the sea being cleared out for the jousting, but otherwise it's normally one of the on-water docking areas of supply exchanges and brief stops for ships, or as overflow for the smaller vessels.

"You think we're good with this?" he calls out in wonder, testing the rope line of floating balls with a tug to ensure it's properly secured. "Give us a chance to head into town before the shops close and get the jousting tools!"

Kaisel

everybody come hang, let's go out with a bang

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

Melita wasn’t quite sure why he seemed to be so hellbent on this shit – but she couldn’t roll her eyes back any further. “If you mind your own business, you’ll be fine,” she huffed, and persisted in continuing the lines for the joust – it took enough of her concentration to swim and fasten and place correctly, coming to the surface every once in a while to survey and ensure things were going well. If someone ended up tangled in the damn rope that was on them. “Yeah, looks good to me,” she echoed in that carefree way. It probably wouldn’t be up to any water safety code, but fuck it.

Then they could wind their way out of the sea to grab more supplies – after all, the quicker they were done, the quicker they could be out of each other’s hair.

[FIN]

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent