lifeaftr | May Adventure: I Want to Go Where Everyone Goes

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May Adventure: I Want to Go Where Everyone Goes

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?

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

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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Maybe?

(Growing up in Xhorhas verses you very well in what is poisonous (everything) and being best friends with Mollymauk Tealeaf verses you even better in what drugs look like (mostly green). She should be able to puzzle this one out. Yasha crouches next to the plant and reaches out to touch one of the leaves. She rubs it between her fingers for a moment, and then sniffs her hand.)

... I'm pretty sure it's drugs.

(scientific)

[YES! YASHA! COME! THROUGH!

To be fair, Beau was already mostly certain it was drugs- she's usually pretty good at determining what's poison, and considering they're on an island meant for relaxation means that damnit there should be something here. It would frankly be unfair if there was an entire island dedicated to celebration and she couldn't get a little toasted. Still, at least she's learned from last time and doesn't just cram it directly in her mouth, even if it doesn't look like she's going to.]

Fuuuuck yeeeeees. Molly's gonna think I'm a fuckin' god. You're not feeling itchy on your hand, right, because I ate some terrible ass stuff before and I'm only here to take like, some chances. Maybe one less chance.

[One less, see, progress.]

Not yet.

(She feels fine. The plant smells nice too, she's still idly rubbing the little leaf and lifting it to her nose every now and again to sniff.)

Let's bring as much as we can back to the house. Molly will probably know how to take it. (Whether you smoke it or... or crush it up, or eat it. He always seems to know these things. She hasn't been high with Molly in a long time, she's smiling a little thinking about it now.)

[She keeps sniffing it, which really makes Beau want to cram some in her mouth right now, but she knows that even if it would do something it might not when digested. They just need to harvest it, and they can figure it out from there.]

Do we take like, the whole thing? Get a pot or something? Maybe this is a thing where you need the roots or we could keep it growing at the house.

[It also lets her control a resource a little, which she just likes on principle. It's always important that they have something valuable if they need a weird thing from someone else.]

Um, take as much as you can, I guess...

If you pull one of them up by the roots we could try to grow it back at the house. (She's borrowing the plant language from Tim, she's still pretty new to this stuff.)

It would be pretty cool if we could just grow our own, you know.

[Hey, Beau doesn't know about gardening. What she does know is that she Wants this and she wants it Forever.]

Will we kill it if we just pull it out? Maybe we can like, dig it out with a shovel and carry that back. Will that get through the mana pool?

[They're gonna hack this one. She will take off her clothes and cradle this plant like a child if that gets her drugs but constantly.]

Well, you have to be careful.

(That much seems... obvious. Yasha decides to throw caution to the wind and sink her fingers into the earth, starting to dig up, and around the plant.)

Let's take one, and test it. If it works we can bring more.

Damn, you're the best.

[It's not uncommon for Beau to flirt with Yasha, but that came out very... complimentary. Genuine. Damn, she's gotta pull that shit back.]

Maybe I should hold it and you can hold me. Y'know. For safety.

[There, now it's corny and dumb, obviously.]

(And that moment of warm sincerity actually makes Yasha smile for a beat, down at the little plant she's digging out.

The look she gives Beau moments later is different, more like a smirk.)

... From what, exactly?

[Don't make that face at her how is she supposed to handle that,,,,]

Uhh, y'know the. Water. I mean like the mana pool water right, because the dirt might fall and then the plant would be hurt. And I have to use both my hands to hold it.

[Stupid dumb girls who I love, jfc.]

Uh huh.

(Well, the plant is out. Yasha carefully wriggles it from the earth inch by inch, taking great care with the spidery roots, shaking loose clumps of dirt. It's bigger than she thought it was. The root ball, that is.

She knows that Beau was just mucking around but... honestly, it's probably a good idea to have somebody hold this with both hands. The plant is very sturdy but the roots look so fragile. Like little white hairs. Yasha sifts them gently through her fingers, brown furrowing in contemplation.)

... Maybe I should carry you.

[Beau is all ready to give some kind of other bullshit flirt, but then Yasha actually talks and she blinks for a few seconds, taken aback.]

Wait, y-- really? I mean yeah, sure, yeah.

[She doesn't need to ask questions, she's getting drugs and Yasha's arms. This sounds fantastic, and for a moment she's a little concerned this place is about to kill her for realizing things are going well for once. Instead, she just holds out her cupped palms.]

Here should I, uh... take the. Thing?

(Oh, she reacted well to that. Yasha tries to ignore how hot her ears feel as she hands over the plant. It sure is getting dirt everywhere. Sorry, Beau. She drops it into her cupped hands, then gently touches her own palms to the backs of Beau's hands, just to make sure none of the roots are exposed, that she's got it all. And then she wipes off the dirt on her pants like she doesn't care about her clothes being dirty.)

Got it?

[Has there ever been a single instance where Beau seemed concerned about being dirty? Because it's like, maybe once ever. This is a girl who has leapt into acid, lava, ocean water and swamp muck, who even cares at this point. She certainly isn't paying attention to that, instead fixated on the way Yasha's hands brush the outside of hers. Beau's expecting them to be as calloused as the inside of her palms, but there's still a grace to it between the grooves where she handles her sword, an unmistakable expression.

It leaves her forgetting to answer for a moment, her breath stuck in her throat.]

What? Yeah, yeah, it's fine.

[The issue from here on out will not be whether she has it, but whether she's squeezing the life out of it. Just gotta watch that one.]

Don't kill it, (she warns. There's something warm in her chest unfurling inch by inch like a flower, encouraged by the look on Beau's face as she stares at their hands. Yasha isn't certain she understands what it is exactly, but she thinks that she likes it. It's hard to tell, with Beau. They don't get a lot of moments together like this, slow and soft.

She stands up, and disrupts it.)

I'm going to pick you up now.

(And that's all the warning Beau gets before Yasha's hoisting her with ease off of her feet.)

[There's very few times Beau is allowed to be soft-- or really, allows herself to be soft. It wasn't prized when she was younger, never kept as a virtue for someone who was downplayed for her gender. Women were tiny and respectful and quiet, and Beau hated it. She wouldn't ever be that. She would be strong.

But this feels... something like fear, but in a way she doesn't want to stop. Most anxiety feels like stabbing in her gut, lightning frying pinpricks into her insides, the adrenaline of her muscles screaming go, go, go. This is something different. There's movement in her stomach, but it's light and airy instead of being tight. Her heart hits harder in her ears, but not from overextending her legs and arms as blood pours out of her body. She doesn't have to do anything at all, really; just be held. Just be taken. Just be supported.

Beau almost doesn't realize she's off her feet until she is, a smooth movement into Yasha's arms where she feels like she was meant to fit. At least she doesn't strangle or drop the plant, though. That's a plus.]

Uh. Yeah, it's-- you're really good at this.

[Lifting?? Her??? What does that fucking mean, she sure as hell doesn't know.]

(Of course Yasha expected some kind of response from Beau, because this is Beau and she has a quick quip for almost everything, but what she actually says throws her for a bit of a loop. It's less flirty and ridiculous, it's... sincere. Again.

That, and this is just like the first day they met, except Beau is actually in her arms this time, and it isn't a joke. It's different. Yasha has changed a lot since that day and Beau has changed a lot too.)

... Thanks. (Yasha says, after a long moment. Her throat feels a little dry. She's thinking too much about the warm weight of holding Beau in her arms, trying to judge whether she's holding her too close to her chest or not. She doesn't want to make it weird by purposefully holding Beau out, and away from her either. That's not the kind of vibe she's going for. It's maybe a minute to the pools, but Yasha thinks about that the entire way there, and stares straight ahead, her heart in her throat.)

Want me to toss you in? (She does shift Beau then, but only to mime throwing her into the water.)

[Beau isn't very aware how much time has even passed by the time they get to the pool, feeling like it's been a million years and half a second all in one. This doesn't mean anything. Surely it doesn't mean anything, and more importantly, why should it? Why does she want it to?]

What?

[Shit, she said something. Beau blinks once down at the plant, and then sees the mana pool. Ah. Right, there was a point to all this.]

I mean, if you want. Water probably won't wreck a plant, right?

[Or she could just keep carrying her, tilt her head into her chest with a moment of shared pressure and only water surrounding--

Yeesh, she has to stop thinking about this.]

Water doesn't wreck plants, but... drowning it might.

(What is she saying, of course that would wreck the plant. And the whole point is to keep the plant safe, that's why this whole thing has happened, that's why Beau is in her arms. It's for absolutely no other reason whatsoever.

She's silent the whole time she's thinking about this, then she sort of blurts:) I'm going to hold onto you anyway. Just to be safe.

(And she steps awkwardly into the pool, pulling Beau a little closer to herself in the process.)

[Yeah. It's all about this plant and nothing to do with the fact that Beau is becoming really acquainted with Yasha's soft chest, her strong arms. Yeah! That's it!! JUST DRUGS, INNOCENT DRUGS.]

Uhhh, yeah, yeah, no need to wreck a thing that. Works. Here.

[Do they work?? God maybe she should just shut the fuck up. But Beau is nothing if not an opportunist, so she curls in towards Yasha too, nestling the plant between their stomachs and pulling up her knees.

It scares her, just a bit, how safe this feels.]

(They both want to do it, so why is it so difficult to acknowledge that? Yasha feels stupid, and embarrassed, but not enough of either of those things to put Beau down and walk away and that... means something. Obviously.

She's going to have to talk to Molly about this, huh.

About how natural it feels to hoist Beau up a little closer, pull her in tighter under the guise of keeping her feet from getting wet as the pool rises a little to teleport the both of them away. About how she can almost feel Beau holding her words in just in case the moment is interrupted. About how much she likes that.

Damnit. At least when they get back to the house she can set Beau firmly down and then go about planting this little thing they've taken together and let that fill her mind for a while instead.)

[Out of everything Beau doesn't have experience with, one of them is nice. People were not nice, jobs were not nice, the world was never nice either. It was a struggle against people sickly-sweet with lies, moments of extreme triumph and crushing defeat, nothing ever simple in the grind. Every action was a tempest. Every move a gust of wind to fell a tree. Every thought a cataclysm, crashing from one to the next.

But this is simple. An easy pleasure, a soft experience, a gentle repose into a comfort. It doesn't have to be the grand, elaborate Everything.

It's just nice. And for two people whose lives have been so complicated, so driven by movement and anger and no light in the storm... sometimes, the simple pleasure is what she needs.

For it to just be nice.]

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May Adventure: I Want to Go Where Everyone Goes

vineyard

ilu

and i you!

<3 <3

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HEY IDEFK WHERE THIS TAG NOTIF WENT IM SORRY

YOU'RE GOOD DUDE

COOL ILU

ILY2 ♡

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