TDM 003

[erkumods]

TDM 003: #BEACHBUMS

I. BEACH Welcome arrivals, new and old! The skies on Erku may be perpetually gray, but the weather has taken a sudden turn to summertime heat. Fortunately, soaring temperatures have chased away more of the strange fog that conceals so much of the island, unveiling a charming, sandy cove dotted here and there with rustic love shacks. These shabby little lean-tos are dusty and sparse, but they provide everything one (or two, wink wink) might need for a little relief from the sun. Just don’t wander too far... that fog has memory-loss properties. II. DRINKS The 'bots are very apologetic about the whole fog incident, and they are trying to get on the new arrivals' good sides by giving out fancy drinks. Of course, they still haven't mastered the art of making things properly, so each drink has a little something... extra. Geloso: Has a slightly bitter, yet refreshing herbal taste... and it will make you feel inexplicably envious of virtually anything, to a petty degree! Be it someone else’s shoes or their incredibly muscular physique, you’re jealous enough to tell them about it! Colpito: Fruity and sweet like candy. If you drink this, you will feel hopelessly infatuated with the very next person who catches your eye! Vivace: Delightfully tart, with a flavor somewhere between citrus and raspberry. This summery drink will fill you with bubbly energy. Whether you’re feeling flirty or just mischievous and playful, you’ve never felt more alive! Verace: Creamy, earthy, and a little nutty - the flavor is hard to describe, but delicious. After drinking this, you’ll feel strangely compelled to spill something you’ve been keeping a secret, no matter how incriminating or embarrassing. Conoscere: The robots are especially excited about this flavor! They’ve heard organic beings enjoy chocolate, and hope you like their first attempt (it’s a little bitter, but it is chocolatey). Those who drink this will feel incredibly confident and sensual. Better yet, if you share it with a partner - which the 'bots encourage you to do - you’ll find that every touch is enhanced, and every sensation is shared between the two of you. A lucky few may even be able to sense one another’s thoughts! III. SNACKS Lo! As you ask, the Augur shall provide. Thanks to the efforts of your organic predecessors in restoring the planet’s Eros energy, edible fishes and seaweeds have returned to the ponds and the shores of Erku. If you fancy yourself savvy to basic survival skills, why not fashion up a fishing rod and catch yourself dinner? Just be careful if you happen to hook one of the octopus creatures from the deeper waters - they can be quite forward with their tentacles! Or, if primitive angling isn’t in your repertoire, you can always trade some credits for a tasty catch from one of the food stalls along the coast. Most stalls are manned by 'bots, but there’s nothing stopping an enterprising arrival from setting up shop. No credits? No problem! The robots have also provided a bit of entertainment, and any volunteers to man the kissing booth, get dunked in the wet t-shirt dunk tank, or grill up some fish - among other opportunities - will find credits automatically loaded onto the payment app of their bracelet devices. The 'bots are recruiting especially hard for participants to work in the gloryhole tent! IV. SPARKLES As dusk descends, the white sands of the beach suddenly come alive with glittering lights. It’s as if the darkened waters have carried a thousand shining stars from the depths of the sea to the shores of the cove. In actuality, each little twinkle is a bioluminescent plankton or jellyfish! Feel free to wade among them and admire their shine; even the sting of the jellies won’t hurt you... though they do pack a different punch. The tentacles of the jellyfish elicit a powerful aphrodisiac response, which gets the heart racing and the blood pumping for an intimate touch. The effects come on within a matter of minutes, and last for a few hours. Only time will relieve the symptoms, but a partner will help to make it more bearable. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[canceller]

[That sets his brow once more.]

I intended to hide nothing.

[And he's not going to go apologizing for his own standards, either, as if that would help. Jeremiah's way is what it is, it always has been, and no measure of agony or insanity or abolished social castes can rip from him some of those principles. In part the airs and frivolities, yes, but also the core pillars that have become his very strength. They no longer belong to anyone else, not his homeland, not his emperor, not his father's name. They're his and his alone.

He'd ask if there's a problem with that, but McGillis's review speaks for itself. What's left unsaid, he imagines, can't be much nicer.]

What gave the impression I was trying to?

[mcvillain]

Because you would be an idiot to assume that your name or your noble birth will afford you any sort of advantage.

[And oops, looks as though he just said the rest of it aloud. No, it isn't anything like nice, though he's backing to smiling again—but that might not be the best sign. That's what happens when you tell a tyrant no, or close enough to it that he reads everything the wrong way. Or the right way, the way that seems way too much like rejection.]

Because if I smell it on you the next time, I really will eat you alive.

[What a nasty, nasty sneer.]

[canceller]

[Was it somehow a faux pas where he was from to introduce himself fully? After all McGillis had only given, he wrongly assumes, his surname. As if he would know the family names of the former nobility of Britannia, being from another world, one of mobile suits instead of Knightmare Frames. There was no leverage to be wrought here.

Perhaps it's not so literal. It wouldn't matter what it was; to someone critical of class and titles, his very nature absolutely would stink of blue blood. Yet surely a man who had earned the title of Brigadier General was used to brushing elbows with such types, unsavory to him on a personal level or not.]

Consider the warning heeded.

[And he may disappoint a second time. If McGillis knew men well in an intimate sense, he also knew their ways wouldn't always change so easily, or so readily.]

[mcvillain]

[It was a faux pas to offend the Brigadier General, a man of superior tastes and superior standing. To make him feel inferior, even by accident, even for a moment... he won't soon forget it. He won't forget that look or that lecture, telling him what to do and how to do it. Laying down boundaries, which he claimed to respect but would disregard at his own convenience.

Essentially, Jeremiah had pushed back—and in a way he didn't particularly care for. And he won't forget that either.

There was no further discussion to be had. McGillis merely grunts and takes his leave but not before slinging one last insult, even if it sounds like concern.]

Do better for yourself.

[Which could mean anything or nothing at all. One of the robots follows him on the way out and promptly gets punched for its trouble, perhaps an ominous sign of trouble yet to come.]

[canceller]

[His gaze narrows, offering no retort or refusal and watching the other man walk away, laying out one of their more persistent audience members on his way. Jeremiah's left once more with relative peace of the bustle around them, the only other figure in the booth his companion from before. The can still sits on the table, not far from it the drink he'd been given that he still has an intention of finishing. He stares at them both, gut twisting slightly, contemplating the nature of give and take as it had to be here.

Jeremiah reaches his hand up, touching the side of his neck. The pain has dulled to a burn but the indents are deep, still a little slick from McGillis's mouth. His hand falls away nearly as quickly, and he picks up a napkin from the stack nearby, wiping his fingers. Not out of disgust, just to be clean, to chase the feeling off.

Until the next time, as he'd said. The island was only so large, it certainly would come to pass.]