get your towels ready, it's about to go down

[yourattention]

Who: Whoever would like to have been picked up after March's event.
What: We're on a boat. No, seriously. That's the whole pitch.
When: Very late on March 19th, presumably.
Where: The middle of the ocean, my friends.
Warnings: Y'all can handle that.


On paper, the plan was simple: get a boat, sail everyone back. In practice . . . It was a lot less simple.

Getting the boat had been something of an ordeal, but it happened. Nobody has to know that the blind man stole it, because Connor is the one sailing it. He is sure as fuck sailing it back to Enso, despite the fact that he has never in his life actually sailed anything as big as the boat they stole and may have lied a little when he said he could "sail." Nobody had to know that either, okay? Nobody had to know any of that, because he is going to sail this boat back and the Jormun are going to fucking help him.

Hours 1&2
Unfortunately, Connor was in such a hurry to, like, leave? That he did not exactly ask the Jormun what the best route back was. He just kinda picked a direction and went which has led to a run in with some new shit from the bestiary: lightning eels. To quote the bestiary:

Considerably territorial, lightning eels range between four to eight feet in length. Sleek grey, their pointed, though rather small teeth may convey a sense of little threat- until they begin to spark, that is. Lightning eels are highly conductive to electricity and store up to a lightning bolt's worth of electricity in their small frames; whilst they won't release it all in one go, those close by them will certainly find these slithering creatures to be quite... shocking.

Have fun with that. The lightning won't really do much to the boat itself, so just don't fucking fall in, yeah? Seriously. Please don't fall in, Connor did not actually complete his lifesaving merit badge and only has a vague idea of how to perform water rescues.

Hours 3&4
A decent chunk of the way into the journey back, Connor will point to something in the water and say "Oh, they're here. We're going the right way." In the water is a group of sea otters. If you ask nicely, the Jormun will catch a few so . . . you can all eat. Unsurprisingly? Connor did not think to pack food for this hastily assembled rescue mission, so if you're hungry, sea otter is all you're getting. Bone apple tea, everyone.

Bonus: sea otter pelts. They're very soft and warm. Sea otters have fur up the wazoo.

Hours 5&6
Do you want to sail the boat? Great, because Connor is about to hand the wheel over to whoever's closest because he has to go talk with the Jormun about something. It's fine. Just keep the boat straight for ten minutes, you won't crash anything out in the open sea. If you want to listen in, Connor and the Jormun are discussing a type of plant known as lightroot. It can be picked and will act like a lantern for a while, but what they're actually talking about is cultivating it as a kind of . . . underwater landing strip. Don't worry about it. I'm sure this will never come up again.

Once Enso is in sight, Connor will actually sail around the island until he reaches the cove in D8. He's just gonna leave the boat there, like 20m/22yd out in the water, so. If you wanna swim to shore, that's fine. If you can't swim or don't want to, he'll come back with the boat from islet 2 after he swims to shore. Y'all are responsible for getting your own asses home after he brings the boat, though. It is not his responsibility anymore? He got everyone home, he's out.

Comments

[ungrieved]

[Gabe appears to consider that for a moment, turning the words over and over in his mind before he leans back, folds his arms behind his head, and regards Keith with a look of utter and false innocence.]

So who died and put you in charge?

[thermalwind]

It's not being in charge to try to keep others safe. It's just the right thing to do. [His eyes narrow, he isn't in charge. He's no where near capable of that.]

I'm just offering advice and a different perspective of the situation. You can take it or leave it.

[ungrieved]

But if I "leave" it, you're still gonna try and make me "take" it. 'Cause you know best for me, huh?

[Don't try and fool him, Keith. He knows how this game is really played.]

[thermalwind]

[His brows come down but his posture doesn't change.]

No. But you'll be on your own. Unless I'm around to see something and step in, I won't work with you. People have to want to work together. It can't be forced.

[ungrieved]

You're not really selling me on this. Not too good at the leadership thing, huh?

[As far as he can tell, this is a dream come true. People don't like working with him anyway. A guarantee that they'd leave him alone on top of it? Sign him the fuck up.]

[thermalwind]

How many times do I have to tell you I'm not trying to lead anyone! [His temper has frayed and snapped. He forces it back down after that outburst.]

If you want left alone. Fine. But don't hinder everyone else.

[ungrieved]

[Gabe grins.]

[That's really the only kind of reaction he's good at eliciting, and it's still just ever so - satisfying when it boils out. Proves he's real, in its own twisted-up way.]

I guess I just don't know how to be anything else.

[thermalwind]

Have you tried being anything else here? [He should walk away. But like all conversations with Gabe he gets under his skin and walking away is entirely forgotten.]

[ungrieved]

Uh-oh. Guess I'm just a screw-up.

[It's facetious, but maybe just enough - paired with the sideways tilt of the head and right-handed grin that emerges more like a grimace, there might be a shade more truth to that sentiment than he'd like to let on.]

[thermalwind]

Maybe if you tried listening to people. [His voice is tinged with exasperation. But he pauses, and his tone returns to a more neutral one.]

I mean it. Try to listen more. Getting people upset isn't doing you any good. See what doesn't make them upset.

[ungrieved]

People here are already upset. They're always upset.

[He's the reason they're upset, he'd usually say, but that would be giving himself too much credit at this juncture. He's not, really, anymore. He's just an agitator, an irritant who makes things worse.]

[Maybe that, too, is really all he can be.]

[thermalwind]

Were they upset before you talked to them or after? [He's still not sure he has all the pieces. He wants to have it all for the sake of this conversation.]

[ungrieved]

Both, sometimes.

[So what's he do? He makes it worse. It's all he knows how to do, and it's what he's best at anyway; shouldn't he be playing to his strengths? Shouldn't they all?]