May Adventure: I Want to Go Where Everyone Goes

[lifeaftr_mods]

NEW ISLAND: IO

Who: Everyone!
What: Io appears!
When: May 10th and onward
Where: Io
Warnings: The possibility of drug use and alcohol may come up. Otherwise, tag as you go!

Things Are Shaping Up to Be Pretty Odd
As of May 10th, the mana pools on Ensō and its islets will now allow for travel to Io. Though you could always opt for sailing, if you wanted. As we mentioned on the island's introductory post, no exploration is necessary! The island is small enough and easily traversed, and with a minimum of dangers, you have plenty of time to visit each of Io's six draws.

The temple is the easiest place to get in touch with the local avatar, though you can contact them just as easily by striking up a conversation with just about any honeybee you see in the vicinity. The lazy drone of them can be heard all over the island, though they're quite complacent, and not at all prone to disturbing adventurers. The temple itself is twined with grapevines and smothered with inlays of rubies, proud and sparkling. Inside, it smells of honey and wine, and seems to exhibit a naturally contented glow. Just outside, numerous fruit trees sprout all about the temple's courtyard, to be sampled at your leisure.

The bathhouses are located just south of the temple, and are prime locations for some rest and relaxation. Bathe, swim, take a spa day! There are innumerable rooms to do exactly that, and more space than be reasonably filled by some sixty-or-seventy people. Or maybe you're interested in getting absolutely sloshed instead. The vineyard is perfect for that, located to Io's northeast on one of its long, tapering peninsulas. Rows upon rows of grapevines lead up to the crown jewel of the region: a proud winery with enough goods to satisfy even the most parched.

For those less keen on mind-altering substances, the tea gardens are a far safer bet. They practically emanate tranquility, with their soft paper lanterns, thickets of tea trees, and a tea room with a seemingly endless supply of every supplement to your drink that you could ask for. And if none of the teabags or tea leaves in there suit your preference, you're free to wander about the gardens yourself and sample whatever you like.

The Honeycomb at the island's heart is much more akin to a play structure or jungle gym than anything else, but its interlocking passageways and erratic, hexagonal architecture aren't for nothing. It's an ideal spot for play or exercise, if you're into that kind of thing - or for getting positively sick on honey sticks.

The campsites ensure that you don't truly have to depart from Io, if you don't want to. Tents full of chairs and cushions and blankets make it a wonderful place to spend the night if you're so inclined, and the lockers full of food and drink are assurances that you won't go hungry. And with all these massive bonfires and firework cannons, why would you ever want to leave?

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Welcome to the island of Io! Please, enjoy your stay and make full use of this island's many faculties! For further information in regards to the island, or plotting, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC info and introductory post
[ ♆ ] Io on the Locations page

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

tim wright | ota | i'll match your formatting

[postictal]

i. campsites ; if the world moves on and the lights stay on

[Is it any wonder Tim's ended up here, between the fire and the fireworks? The party atmosphere of the entire island doesn't agree with him, entirely - he's much too introverted to really go wild the way this place seems designed to encourage him to. Can't drink, trying to cut back on smoking, and it seems like this is a recipe for an island that Tim won't very much enjoy visiting.]

[But the campsites...those are a little more up his alley.]

[Right away, Tim lays claim to one of the red-colored tents, in case anyone he knows and likes comes along with a need for somewhere to rest.]

[Then he gets to work.]

[Connor called him the "dad friend," when they were both kids. He may as well start fulfilling the stereotype.]

[Come the evening, Tim has set up a makeshift grill over one of the roaring bonfires, cooking slabs of meat and sticks of vegetables, an unlit cigarette held delicately between his teeth. While the food is browning, he settles one of the firework cannons down and aims it out over the ocean water. After a few minute adjustments, he lets the sparks fly.]

[ BOOM. ]
[ CRACK. ]
[ BANG. ]
[And the dark evening sky erupts into swirls of color and smoke.]

ii. tea gardens ; though i don't wanna waste forever

[He's never been a huge tea drinker. Not Tim. The minds he's shared, though - he knows there's something therapeutic about making it. His headaches have started to increase as he's starting to smoke less and less, a strained effort that he doesn't expect to succeed. So: caffeine it is.]

[The amount of choice is overwhelming. You might find Tim standing in front of one of the jars of leaves with his brow furrowed, eyes shut, as though concentrating on a mental picture in his head. In a manner of speaking, he is. He's trying to sort his memories from someone else's. Two someones, actually.]

[Or you might find him with a shitty novelty mug of steaming tea - black, with cinnamon, orange, and cloves, for the curious - roaming the gardens themselves, studying certain leaves with the eye of someone intent on taking at least a few of these back to the islets with him.]

[atailoftwoworlds]

[That smells nice. Zidane isn't hungry but he thinks but he sees Tim crouch down to set one up and stops to observe. And when the fireworks go off, he approaches Tim, giving an impressed smile.] Hey! You got all this out and even set up some food? Nice!

[postictal]

It was already here when I showed up.

[A shrug, offhand. He's not about to take credit for it. This shit was already here; he just laid it out.] I just set it up.

[atailoftwoworlds]

I suspected you got it from there. Still, it was the thought and the desire that mattered. [And it looks like he's setting things up on his own. So he wonders...] You need a hand?

[Cooking's not his forte but he can definitely help with setting up stuff for others or helping create more fireworks. Especially the fireworks]

ii

[journalname]

Oh, good afternoon, Tim.

[Asgore's here because, like, of course he is. He's gonna be in the tea garden all the time now.]

How are you finding the tea?

[postictal]

[Not gonna lie, Asgore - he thought of you when he first showed up at this place. Not a shock that Asgore gravitated toward the tea gardens. Place might as well have been made for him.]

It's pretty good. Never really gotten the chance to...y'know, branch out before. Mostly just kept myself going with coffee back home.

[journalname]

I'm glad you are enjoying it! I admit, I have never much sampled coffee, either. I do not remember it being around in my youth...though of course we have some in the Underground.

[Although who knows how that measures up to Surface Coffee. Asgore makes a selection from the loose-leaf canisters and moves to fill a kettle.]

What are you drinking?

i.

[yourattention]

[Does Connor clearly remember anything that happened in April? Absolutely not! Has he show up specifically to rib Tim about being a Dad™? Yes. Yes he has, because the other option is doing the mushrooms he found and he's acutely aware that actively taking something to hallucinate your kinda-boyfriend is a bad plan when your hallucinations are a russian roulette of people, most of whom you hate.]

Dude. Am I gonna have to get you one of those dad aprons? Should I call Muffet up right now and ask her to start weaving so you can be wearing an apron that says "try my sausage" tomorrow?

[He is waving around his stone of farspeech, but it's clear he's joking. Or, well. With Connor it's kind of hard to tell if he's joking but he means it or just straight up joking.]

[postictal]

[Tim would admire your restraint about mushrooms if he was aware of it, Connor. He can't really bust out a "well done, son guy" face, but he'll do his best.]

I don't want anything that says "sausage" on it. That'll raise too many questions, and I don't want to have to explain that to Ren. [Deadpan, but sincere. Or as earnest as it gets, between the two of them.]

Not like I can just crack open a beer, here. Stereotype can only go so far.

[yourattention]

World's Okayest Dad? The Grillfather? Grill Daddy? Caution: Dad Cooking? Oh, oh! Mind if I smoke!!

[Connor sounds especially pleased with that one. He realizes this is grilling, which is not the same as smoking, but the pun. That's really all he cares about.]

I'll carve you a beer can cup so you can fully transform into your true Dadsona.

[Talk? About stuff that's bothering you? Haha, no. Connor would rather not when he can be making jokes instead. Why would we ever talk about things that happened!]

i

[catpiper]

[There are few things that could entice her away from the makeshift fort she's created and Tim happens to have about 99% of that in his grasp at the moment-some nice smelling food, fireworks that are loud-too loud, but pretty and she slowly, slowly crawls over from her area to his.

And when she gets within arm's length, she stands up straight and eyes all the food on the grill. Just looking. Staring. Watching. Is it for everyone, is the big ole q? That is a lot of food, but Tim is an adult and this might be a typical meal for him, though she rarely sees him eat.]

Are you very hungry?

[postictal]

This isn't just for me.

[At least Ren knows what fireworks are. He couldn't find any sparklers in the sheds, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. He'll have to look a little harder when he heads there to restock.]

[An ice breaker after their last interaction is maybe not a guaranteed thing. Still, he'd be remiss not to try.]

You hungry?

[catpiper]

[Look, if they don't make eye contact with it, it's like the event never happened. As much as it concerns her, given Tim's everything, he seems content right now. Not sad or happy or anything-just blowing up fireworks and cooking some food.

So when he offers, she holds out her grubby hands, like she's ready for the scalding meat to be plopped in her palms. Yes, she is. Building forts is hard work and she's gotta fuel her next expansion.]

ii

[solperierat]

[Tim isn't the only one looking to avoid intoxicants--though he may possibly be better equipped in the long run. Trying to go cold turkey every few weeks has not really gone as well as he'd like, and moderation is...well. Not ever something he's been very good at, even before he crawled into a bottle to get away from the world.]

[The tea gardens, though, are safe enough for now, and he pauses for a moment when he sees Tim standing in front of the array of jars. He's still not...sure, exactly, where he stands with Tim since the nasty secrets were laid out bare, but it's not going to stop him from walking over and tapping him on the shoulder.]

Hey, you good?

[postictal]

[He jumps. He always jumps. It's instinctive and stupid and it makes the muscles in his back twitch. He never sees it coming, never expects it, and maybe that's how it always manages to catch him off guard.]

[He recovers quickly, though. Tries to force the tension out of his shoulders, and swallows.]

Yeah, I'm fine. Just...not really sure where to start with all this. Lot to choose from.

[solperierat]

[Ed pulls his hand back quickly, not quite a flinch but still definitely startled by the reaction. But he doesn't comment, instead just grinning and stepping back half a step.]

Yeah. Honestly I can never tell what the difference is, only time I ever drank much was when I was sick. [He glances up and looks over the neatly labeled jars with a half-furrowed brow.] I'm sure there's a difference between black and white and golden and whatever other colors they've got, but I sure couldn't guess what it's supposed to be.

tea gardens

[barberian]

(Yasha isn't privy to Tim's inner demons as it is; she hasn't even met him in person yet, only had an awkward conversation on the network with him. All she sees is somebody standing in front of jars of tea with their eyes closed as if they are trying to come to some kind of decision...

So she cranes her neck a little to get a better look at the jars, then reaches out to carefully select one, waiting for him to open his eyes again so she can pass it over.)

... A friend of mine is a fan of tea. He's very fond of this one. (She's got a jar of loose leaf jasmine in hand.)

[postictal]

[He doesn't recognize her immediately, either. They spoke over audio only, and he's probably seen her around - but he doesn't know her off the top of his head. Blinks as he regards her over the lip of his mug.]

Friend of yours here? [Or someone she met here?]

[barberian]

No, from home. (Yasha misses him, actually. He's always a nice point of calm to have around.)

But he knows a lot about tea. He makes his own.

ii

[technicallytechnically]

[Jester's had plenty of tea, knowing her fellow cleric back home, who brought the stuff wherever he went. She still tends to opt for milk when she can get it, even here. She doesn't drink alcohol, so she was going to just settle for quenching her thirst with more coconut milk or whatever, but then she saw the full array of teas available.

It's really hard not to think of and miss Caduceus now. She thinks he'd be really thrilled to see all this.

But then she recognizes Tim, staring intently at some tea like he's trying to... identify it, maybe? She joins him, looking as if she's thinking very intently as she studies the jar of tea leaves right next to him. She's not subtle about it, but she also doesn't notice that his eyes aren't even freaking open.

Eventually, she can't take the silence.]

Yup. Definitely tea. It does smell good though, right?

[postictal]

[He wasn't...honestly certain he'd ever see this lady again after The way their last interaction went, but - fine. Whatever. Apparently he didn't so thoroughly scare her away that she never wants to talk to him again. She's probably decided that he's objectively stupid, which, while Tim would be inclined to agree, isn't necessarily the kind of impression he intends to make.]

[He lowers his mug as he looks at her.]

More of a coffee guy myself, usually.

[technicallytechnically]

[Joke's on you, Tim, everyone is Jester's friend whether they like it or not. She's going to drag him kicking and screaming into becoming best buds ever if only to make up for the fact she accidentally hurt his feelings that one time.

And maybe the bright smile she gives him when he doesn't immediately just run away might give him a hint about that.]

Oh yeah? I've never had coffee before.

[That's a weird anecdote that probably doesn't need any investigating.]

But I know this guy who makes the most amazing tea, I bet he'd really like it if he were here. I think I'm gonna take a bunch of these home just in case he shows up. What kind is this?

i, yes tim is getting Both Of Them, also cw: ptsd symptoms YET AGAIN

[fourgasm]

[The smell of food is what draws Klaus, who is looking much, much better than he did when he first arrived and ran from a shadowy moth monster. He might actually, like, want to eat something substantial for once, which would be a first over his whole time here.

For all he has hassled Ben over not remembering to eat, it's not like Klaus is much better in that department.

Unfortunately for Klaus, though, the site of the grill that his nose led him to also happens to be where someone vaguel familiar's decided to set off some fireworks as well.

Maybe if he was expecting it, this wouldn't be a problem. But the sparks and bangs go off and he doesn't even think, he just tosses himself onto his stomach in the sand.

He has to take a few seconds to remember to breathe, sorry. He'll remember to be embarrassed about all this in a little bit.]

[postictal]

[Oh, hey - he remembers you. He also doesn't remember their first meeting going so hot, either, which is why seeing this guy pitch face-first onto the sand is slightly less alarming than it would be otherwise.]

[Tim drops the fireworks he's been messing with, shuffling up to a crouch at the guy's side.]

Woah - hey. You okay? [He forgets sometimes, that not everyone has seen fireworks. Maybe he hasn't. It's a thing. It was with plenty of people back in February of the previous year.]

[fourgasm]

[It takes a couple seconds.

And then Klaus is just... laughing into the sand. Fuck, this figures.]

We've—got to stop meeting like this.

[He is normally a delight, he swears. He's just also supremely unlucky, and this guy's apparently unlucky enough to always catch him at a bad time. Though technically, Klaus did the catching the first time around.]

I'm cool, I just dropped my cigarette in the sand somewhere, hang on.

[Does he think Tim'll buy that? Who knows.]