TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

[erkumods]

TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

Arrival This time, you come out of the water. While the Augur reboots, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy draws people in. It's like being suspended between realities and walking through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you and carrying you to shore. Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. Inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. Feel the friendship! Recent arrivals and visitors to the beach may notice a sudden influx of hundreds of bright red crustaceans crawling (and coupling) across the sand. It's crab mating season, as it turns out, it's a regular invasion! To keep the beach a pleasant place to gather for the island's inhabitants, the robots are offering credits to especially enterprising crab-catchers. Grab a bucket and get to work! Be sure to watch out for their pinch, mind you. Their little claws are tiny, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hurt. Surprisingly, there is another effect that even the robots don't anticipate: islanders who are pinched by the crabs find themselves feeling instantly buddy-buddy with the next person they spot. Did you just become best friends?! Get pinched one too many times, however, and those feelings may sour into a crabby mood, indeed. If you are feeling particularly vengeful (or just hungry), the little crabs do make for delicious gumbo. Once cooked, they have no side effects whatsoever. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. Phallus Phestival Although the Augur is offline and supplies are scarce, the robots of Erku are still eager to make their run-down little island a welcoming place for the new arrivals. To that end, they have arranged a three day festival to boost morale and promote the generation of plenty of Eros energy to assist in the restoration of the damaged and decayed parts of the city. The robots claim that this celebration was once a cornerstone of the long-lost civilization of the island. By the dawn of the first day, every island resident will find at their doorstep (or tent flap, mobile suit, etc) the traditional costume of the ancient islanders to wear to the festival. It appears to be... a giant sheet? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the sometimes garish colors and patterns of the fabric, but at least the robots have uploaded instructions on how to wear it to your bracelet device. Attendees will find food (mostly crab-flavored), confections, and household necessities in rather suggestive shapes, as well as goods you might find handy to complete your A5 squares: sex toys, pervertibles, sexy maid outfits, and the like. While islanders are welcome to set up shop on the festival grounds and sell (or charge) whatever they like, all items from the robots are offered up for free to those who wear their traditional island garb! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. Fireside Adventures Each night of the festival is wrapped up in style with an enormous bonfire on the beach, where drinks, fruity cocktails, and lively music appropriate for dancing is all provided at no cost by the robots. Even if you’re not usually much of a dancer, the longer you stand by the fire and allow it to warm your limbs, the more you feel like moving! Not only that, but everyone is looking quite beautiful by the firelight, are they not? If you’ve grown tired - or if dancing just isn’t your thing - you might prefer to sit back and swap stories on one of the many driftwood log benches the robots have prepared for seating. Or, maybe you’d prefer to rough it for the night in one of the beachside canvas tents. Better claim one quick, though, or be prepared to share… there’s only one sleeping bag! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[navigating]

[ While Abel has still been thrown entirely off-kilter overall after arriving to the island, he's surprisingly at ease for the time being. Between the warmth through their clothes and that of the fire, the bright music of the festival, the fruity taste of the drink he'd enjoyed still lingering... He's comfortable settling into the arms of this stranger and taking comfort out of it.

Even if he promised to himself not just two days before that he would take more caution about letting someone else get close from now on, he thinks it's got to be okay to let these little truths out. He won't let what Cain did change the type of person that he is. ]

I'd be willing to try.

[ He pulls back enough to look up at Jeremiah as the other glances down at him, expression open, with the obvious hint of a sly, playful twist to his lips. ]

Think you could be the right partner for me?

[canceller]

[Jeremiah latches on to that playfulness in a heartbeat, his own eye sparking in the firelight as his smile widens. It's the most infectious thing in the world, tapped right into curiosity, anticipation, the momentum built.]

There's only one way to find out.

[It's then that he slows his movements, loosening his hold but not yet releasing Abel, scanning the area around them instead. The few paved sections on the beach further back from the water are still crowded enough with booths and people that they're not ideal. Jeremiah follows the line of the walkway as it curves around, hard to see on the other side of the bonfire from where they are but looking promisingly empty.]

We should have even ground over there. [The hand on his back pulls away to gesture in the direction he's looking. He's got no intention of releasing that hand in his other one, not yet.] I don't care for the extra challenge of sand.

[navigating]

[ Abel follows where his gaze has gone off to, and it takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to seeing the space that Jeremiah means, trying to see the space beyond the brightness of the bonfire. ]

Yeah, sand probably won't help us there.

[ He adjusts the hold of their hands before they go anywhere, linking his pinky between Jeremiah's pointer and middle fingers. He didn't want to let go long enough to lace all their fingers, so Abel settled for that small adjustment, and hopes it's read as a casual assurance that he'll be following after, with no intention of letting go or wandering off. ]

C'mon, let's go check it out.

[canceller]

Yes, let's. [Jeremiah inches the threading of those fingers a little tighter, grasping in turn as he leads them off. The crowd around the bonfire thins on the outskirts, so it's easy to circle around towards their destination. Drawn away from the flames, it's a little cooler, a little more dim. For his complaints about an inadequate dancefloor, and for a man of his stature, he's surprisingly light-footed on the sand.

As they walk, Jeremiah doesn't feel terribly pressed to keep a conversation the whole time, but as he glances over at his partner for the moment, his curiosity rises back up.]

How has the festival been for you so far?

[navigating]

[ Abel isn't quite used to walking on sand, but he's able to follow well enough, leaning into the hold Jeremiah has on his hand whenever he feels uncertain about his footing. He misses the warmth of the fire as they step out to their path, but he just picks up the pace to keep up with Jeremiah's long strides, pressing his shoulder against his bicep as they walk.

At the question he flusters a little, harder to see with the dimmer light, but the sly smile that breaks out promsies there's got to be a story to go with it. And while there very much is, he doesn't jump on the chance to spill the details. ]

Oh, it's been great. What about for you?

[canceller]

[It's slight, but he does shorten his steps once he realizes himself. He's in no hurry, and it's not as if they have far to go, so they can take time on their stroll across the beach. Abel remains close, and charming as it is, Jeremiah does too. That smile is countered by another, softer one, tame but knowing because it's really not hard to guess. That's the name of the game here. If it's been good to him, that's a best case scenario, right?]

I'm glad to hear it. I've not been terribly involved the whole time, but the open bar has had me coming back.

[Crabs for a few credits was a no-brainer, though he couldn't stand it for long. A bountiful harvest of dicks, though? Not the same kind of draw for him. He figured out how to get free food by re-dressing appropriately the first day for a few hours, before the lack of trousers was just too much.]

And the people-watching has been good. [Jeremiah glances over, taking in Abel's features with a little more care.] Though I don't believe I've seen your face before.

[navigating]

They certainly seem generous with some of what they're giving.

[ He's heard that's not terribly common, so Abel has been doing his best to take advantage of it — but not so much with the bar. Drinking hasn't ever been much of his scene, though he won't snub it if he's offered some.

Abel hasn't known Jeremiah for long at all but he honestly struggles to imagine him in a toga for any length of time. It seems as if it wouldn't be regal enough, with the impression he's gotten of him so far. He quite likes the man dressed as he is now, anyhow. ]

Oh, well. I only just got here, so...

[canceller]

The native inhabitants like to give a warm welcome to new arrivals, I think.

[He had only just been one himself, a month ago, but the liveliness now matches what it was then. It was a nicer way to start off this weird period of displacement than a first day sulking in the city alone.

Abel's smart to take advantage. For Jeremiah, his brief toga venture was a chance for him to stock his fridge with... well, mostly crab, but that suits him just fine.]

As I should extend mine as well. [He pauses, his tone a bit softer.] It's an adjustment, but it's one everyone else has made too, so you're in good company. Most people I've met are willing to help one another, should you need it.

[navigating]

As far as welcomes to a place like this go, I guess it's not a bad way to start off...

[ Abel actually appreciates the way it's been handled by the robots running the place, in his own way. He's quite certain that if not for the lively events he'd have just spent the past couple days sitting around, alternating between fuming and crying. Or doing both at once.

He's glad it didn't work out that way, and is still helping keep him distracted. Abel swings around to stand in front of Jeremiah once they've gotten to their destination, shooting him a playful look. ]

Is that an offer you're extending, in particular, or do you mean it as "most people, excluding myself"?

[canceller]

[Joining him on level ground now, Jeremiah regards his partner before him with a smile that keeps evolving. Ambiguity in words really is tricky no matter how he frames it, but once more he isn't rushing to spell out his exact intent.]

How about "most people, including myself?" [He remains clasping hands, doesn't pull them into position just yet.] That alone can mean many things, of course, but... I've found keeping one's mind open is best. Life here is unpredictable.

[So he won't rule things out now, taking in the set of Abel's shoulders, the way he tips his jaw. In the dimmer light away from the fire, he still cuts a bright, pale figure to draw his eye.]

[navigating]

[ Abel isn't the type of person to take apart words so carefully, only picking up on what he had because he was curious to read Jeremiah's interest. He likes the answer he's given, his smile crinking the corners of his eyes just that much more, and runs his thumb across what skin he can reach with their hands still in one anothers. ]

Well. I think I'm pretty open minded.

[ At least, if the events of the previous evening are anything to go by, he's sure he can say that of himself. ]

I might not be crazy about being here as a whole, but I think I can adjust to it... Still, you're right — probably more easily if I'm not trying it alone.

[canceller]

Then you'll do excellently here.

[Funny how that's not necessarily a compliment. The metrics are all off for what's normal, but his tone says it is one, not often one for needless sarcasm. Adaptation is a little messy, maybe a little wrong, but it will happen or it won't. It's what each of them make of it, but making something better, maybe something good out of it is... possible.

Besides, he himself really couldn't pass judgement now on however Abel chooses to do that.]

So, what are you familiar with?

[navigating]

[ Abel goes to open his mouth, nearly giving a very telling answer about what he's familiar with, before he realises the intent of the question might not have been on the same track as where his thoughts are inclined to veer. ]

... Sexually? Or are we back to talking about dancing?

[canceller]

[You can just say it, pal.

Like Jeremiah hasn't, y'know, indulged similarly since his arrival. Not that it's screamingly evident aside from reasonable assumption that he partakes as other residents here do. His face heats some, hard to see in the low lighting but certainly there. He laughs a little too, but it's airy, good-mannered.]

I meant dancing. [Though the light still catches in his eye rather impishly. Accordingly, he steps in a little closer, facing Abel properly but not yet assuming any position. Dancing position, good lord.] Sorry to say.

[Yeah, he doesn't look it, now.]

[navigating]

Don't be sorry. [ Even though he gets the feeling that Jeremiah isn't actually. Call it a hunch. ] I do still want to dance with you.

[ He reaches up with his free hand, trailing a finger up the line of the cravat Jeremiah from where it's tucked up to his neck. Though he's tempted, Abel avoids tugging at it to pull the taller man even closer still, instead sliding his palm to rest flat on his shoulder, just about where it would be if they did get into a proper form. ]

I've always led. But, like I said, I also never enjoyed myself very much with it before.

[canceller]

[Well now he definitely isn't sorry. Just like it's the most natural thing, Abel reaches him and smooths his touch over until it finds a spot to land. Jeremiah just watches it out of the corner of his eye with a growing smile, gaze flicking back to Abel's face.]

Then you shan't need to. [Like it was a question. He reaches around, bracing his hand just on his shoulder blade, though doesn't yet raise their hands. Like this, it's still comfortable but close, close like they'd been in the sand without as much as a hesitation. He has a mild disposition, but Jeremiah can see the glimpses beneath.]

The hardest thing I found to following is how to hold yourself passively, to move passively, when you've been taught control. Learning steps in mirror image is certainly tricky, but you'll fall into it easy enough. [Bless that muscle memory, once it can be reprogrammed; he'll have to rely on that now, he imagines. When was the last time he even went to a ball? Oh, but there was the wedding. He danced properly then, a little.

For a second, his heart squeezes tight where it sits in his chest, then it abates.]

So. [The question still remains.] What do you think? Waltz is a classic, but I don't think this music fits.

[navigating]

[ Hearing Jeremiah say so easily that Abel needn't lead eases a heavy weight off his shoulders, sounding nearly as if it's straight out of a fantasy he'd had when he was younger — one old enough that it came before a time in which nearly all his dreams took a naughtier turn. ]

Just don't laugh at me if I'm clumsy.

[ It's said with a smile and a light squeeze to Jeremiah's shoulder, to make it clear Abel doesn't actually think he'd start laughing at him. Even without them having made a decision, Abel can't help the temptation to sway a little where they stand, comfortably close and attentive to one another. ]

Oh, hm... [ Waltz is the easy go-to, and Abel digs a little bit further back into his memory banks. ] Do you think a foxtrot might be a better fit?

[canceller]

[Jeremiah still shakes his head but doesn't interject, indeed having no such intentions. If he laughs, it'll be with him, having made plenty of those mistakes learning in class, years ago.

Tipping his head, his consideration is brief but decisive.]

That would work well, yes. [He'd try whatever, really, just to get his feet moving. But it does genuinely sound good, like a fairly safe choice, one he's not as rusty on as others. Finally raising their hands to position, he gets a feel for the tempo.]

We'll go at half speed to start, until it feels more natural, okay?

[navigating]

[ Abel presses his lips together, finding himself worried about messing up even though he believes that Jeremiah isn't out to make him look foolish.

He mutely nods his agreement at starting half speed, and brings up his elbow just a touch higher to match Jeremiah's improved hold. He's trying to remember the steps, running them backward in his thoughts even though he knows he'll have Jeremiah's guiding hand, and it's enough to help him recall that he'll need to move his right foot first, from this position.

At the first step backwards, he's tempted to glance down and check his feet despite that having been worn out of him years ago. Instead, he looks back up at Jeremiah, offering a warm smile, enjoying this despite his nerves. ]

Ah, I really didn't think this is what we'd be doing when I asked you for a dance.

[ With how Abel says it, that doesn't sound like a bad thing. ]

[canceller]

[His movements are a little exaggerated, just to give that extra guidance. Step, step, side, together, step, step, and so on. Jeremiah waits until they run out of room to throw in a corner step. Slow like everything else, though his hands push just so in the briefest advance of his feet as a way of warning, dipping forward and back, arcing them around.

Not once does Abel step with the wrong foot, which is already better than Jeremiah's first attempts. Nothing to scoff at here.]

Nor I. [For a moment he glances at the bonfire in between easy steps, any pairs or groups moving with far less rigidity. Less fluidity though, too, with their feet sunk in the sand.]

I'm afraid I'm actually the one with limiting experience. I don't really dance other than formally.

[Which isn't to say he's physically incapable, but he really wouldn't have known what to do had Abel sidled up with the intent of, you know, just grinding on him. He wouldn't have complained, certainly, but could you imagine?]

[navigating]

I don't have much experience myself. I snuck out a few times to go dancing when I was still in school, but I couldn't get away with doing it often.

[ Those were good times, if nervewracking ones, since Abel spent too much of his time out just hoping his father wouldn't notice his motorcycle missing. It'd been a few years since then.

The corner step gives him a little pause, but the slow pace is enough to keep up with, made easier with Jeremiah's guidance. Abel finally allows himself to relax a little, still holding himself properly, but with most of the tension eased out of him. He spares a glance over in the direction of the bonfire, having noticed Jeremiah do the same, and can't help but smile playfully back at the taller man as he sees all the bumping and grinding going on there. ]

Honestly, I think it'd be kind of fun to see you try your hand at dancing like everyone else out there.

[canceller]

[Jeremiah can't help a small chuckle, his full attention rounded back on the other man as he sweeps them into another turn, a little wider this time. Just to twirl him around for the fun of it; the steps are simple, but he likes the wiggle room it allows.]

You believe so? [He's humored at least, though his expression speaks to some consideration.] Well it can't be hard, if one likely doesn't need a lesson beforehand.

[For that due consideration, he has no intention of trying just yet. He likes it over here with just a little more space, likes the neatness of their timed movements. Abel takes to it well, pale and pretty in the cool moonlight, fitting well into Jeremiah's arms. He's better than he'd expected at molding to another's movements, nothing if not a pleasant surprise.

Then again, he hadn't for a moment seemed to want to lead. No protest when Jeremiah laid claim to the position. Maybe even some relief, even. It might just be more comfortable this way.]

Not that I wouldn't accept a guiding hand, in turn.

[navigating]

No lesson needed, though I think I could help. I do think it'd be hard to manage some of the, ah... Moves with a lower centre, it in a suit.

[ Dropping that ass, he means. Still, Abel's not complaining, since he's the one who went straight for the well-dressed man before all others in the crowd. Abel follows the steps for a while longer, comfortable to be led around on Jeremiah's whims since he hasn't been steered wrong yet, though something occurs to him that has him looking up with wide, dark eyes. ]

Do you think we could try an under-arm twirl?

[ He's running through the footwork in his mind, certain that it's a good opportunity for him to mis-step, even as he asks. He wants to give it a try, as something he's never done before even though it seemed like it would actually be fun from this side of the dance. ]

[canceller]

[Dropping any such thing isn't even in his vocabulary, so some meaning gets lost between the lines. Wearing this alone would look incongruous with indecent dancing, at least, though the whole concept feels incongruous to start. Maybe fun to try anyway, even if it's the music and the traces of alcohol urging the thought.] Perhaps a stylistic experiment for another day.

[Because look, if he's stumbled himself back into having a dance partner around on the island, Jeremiah is absolutely going to make good on "another day" in some form. He's sorely in need of hobbies here. You know, normal ones. And he's already decided he likes Abel's company.]

We can do that, though. [Altering his stance and looking left, Jeremiah gives them a dry run and keeps his leading hand low, simply counting through a promenade step a couple times. The refresher helps him, too.] Good. With a twirl this time.

[Raising his hand, Jeremiah's other on his back gently pushes as if to kickstart the motion. They're still moving slow, so there's space for wobbling or hesitation if Abel has any, but it doesn't shake the warmth in his expression, the focus of his gaze as they finish the sequence, feet back together.]

[navigating]

Another day...

[ Abel definitely caught onto that, and he likes the sound of it. While the likelihood of running into one another on an island is relatively high, he wouldn't mind already having someone he knows and can seek out again. It's an added bonus if there's going to be plans of teaching Jeremiah to Get Low, as the kids are saying these days (they're not). ]

I'll hold you to that.

[ The promenade steps come easily, the motions of them helping lead him into the twirl, but not completely. He has to give them some extra thought, and winds up back in place out of time with the rhythm they'd set. He gets back to where he's meant to be, but feels a little tripped up now that he's lost pace. Though he can tell none of the warmth has left Jeremiah's face, Abel steels himself, a little embarrassed but more overcome with a stubborn desire to get it right. ]

Crap. Let me try again.