Beach Bums, Waffles~ (Names)

The sun was high in the sky, the birds were chirping, the bees were buzzing, and it was the perfect day for a trip to the beach. There was only one thing wrong: the beachfront had been turned into a complete war zone.

Eight Ialroaine had staked their claims at the water's edge and could be seen cavorting and splashing one another playfully. They seemed to be waiting for an opposing army. An older Waffle watched them carefully, blue and gold hide shimmering in the bright sunlight and reflective waves. Every now and then he too would glance at the nearby bank. These eight were his children, and although a battle of sorts would take place, he was there to make sure no one actually got injured.

You see, this wouldn't be a battle fought with knives and guns. This is a battle fought with balloons and balls... Water balloons and squishy, absorbent balls, that is. It was a water war, right here in Whazzit's own backyard.

Rules
-Posting free-for-all! 8D
-This time around I don't want prefs. Bonds will be based 100% on interactions.
-Generally speaking this is a Water Dwellers vs Land Dwellers battle, but feel free to fight amongst yourselves too.
-You can bring ONE water-dwelling, non-speaking shiny. They don't get enough love. <3
-Interact with each other. I'm not kidding. If you don't interact with the other Whazzitians present, you do not bond.

Next Post:
-None

Attendees:
Meliai, Umber, Enke, Elouise, T'Rae, Geoffrey, Taki

Quick List
7/8 Bonded
1/1 Dalui
- Henry -- Elouise
1/1 Salui
- Morofluct -- Enke
2/2 Galirei
- Aram -- Geoffrey
- Kern-tukh -- T'Rae
1/2 Valumey
- Sophia -- Umber
- Wilded To Reserve
2/2 Akirei
- Peanut Butter -- Taki
- Jelly -- Taki

Dance Floor Pyromaniac Dalui
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You know how it's said that Dalui have odd... hobbies? This boy is no different. Like all Waffles, he enjoys chortling away, but more than that he likes to dance. He needs no music, the songs in his head are perfectly okay with him. He'll sway around and entice everyone to join him, making the entire ocean his dance floor, and then setting it on fire. He's very upbeat and eccentric about his dancing, almost enough to be weird, but he has the sort of charm about him where, no matter how hard you try, you can't help but at least tap a foot in time. Any style music, he'll dance to it. Just consider him a SeaScelta.

The majority of his body is bright, Macintosh red, like a fire truck. His back, the top of his face and muzzle, the tips of his fin and his tail are all a darker, more crimson color. Small spots of white cover the bridge of his nose, speckle down the sides of his neck, and thicken into fuller, more chunky blotches down his back and side. His tail fin has a combination of white spots, both large and small. He'll definitely catch your eye, there's no doubting that. When he swirls in the throes of his dance, he almost appears to be a blob of flame deep under the water.

A Dangerous Thing Silui
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This Lord is a classic Silui: Reclusive, stubborn, and even a bit grumpy at times. He keeps everyone at arm's length, refusing to let any being get close to him. He feels safer that way, knowing that no one can hurt him or get him down. He feels that love is a dangerous thing, so why test it? He's content to just drift alone or with one or two other like souls. It'll be hard to get to know this Ialroa, and that's just how he wants it to be. He's not going to be just anyone's friend, and he won't pretend otherwise. You can trust that this Waffle will always portray his emotions exactly how and when he feels them, never beating around the bush like others might.

He's the average length for a shiny of his rank, but he's bulkier than most. He doesn't bother keeping in shape like his Akirei brother, but that's not to say he's fat. And he most certainly isn't lazy, he just doesn't see the point in trying to impress others. His eyes are one of the most attractive features about him, a pleasant golden in color. His hide is a rich, forest green, with blotches on his chest, neck, face, and tail tip of lighter emerald. The blue giraffe-like spots he bares are large and actually somewhat uniform in shape, at least comparatively. They cover his neck, face, flippers, and hind quarters, but not a single one mars his tail fin.

Act Now, No Regrets Galirei
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Quiet and soft spoken, this Galirei is actually a firm believer in living your life with no regrets. He's friendly and quite loving, the complete opposite of his Silui brother. There's not a rude bone in his nine foot long body, and he's probably one of the most polite shinies you will ever meet. He's a great listener, a true empath, and he'll be your shoulder to lean one whenever you need. He's almost hyper-aware of the emotions of those around him, and every now and then he'll just disappear for a day or two, but don't worry. He needs time to recharge- the emotional turmoil around him is draining.

His body is a soft, milky white with oddly-shaped splotches of blue-silver on his rump, shoulders, tail-fin, neck and face. He has very dark blue eyes, almost black, and they reflect back the world around him like dark mirrors. He's not the longest of all Waffles, but he is very slender so he may look it until you put him next to a Lord or Queen. He's more beautiful than handsome, but that's to be expected with his misty color scheme. He may not stand out in a pod of Ialoraine, but that suits him well enough, because he likes to blend in and go with the flow of things.

Tell Me Of The Past Galirei
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Classic to his rank, this boy is shy, quiet, and soft-spoken. He won't make a lot of fuss about anything, and he's always kind, no matter how rough those around him are. He's very dependent and extremely loyal, and he'll be devastated to be away from you for too long. He's got severe abandonment issues, and if he had his way, he'd sprout legs from sheer force of will and climb into your bed every night, just to be near you. Extremely affectionate, he's always nuzzling his bond, forcing himself so close that one might expect physical fusion to occur... and he'd be totally okay in that situation. Whatever you do, don't forget he's there, don't leave him alone for too long, and never assume that he'll be okay without you. It's unfortunate, and will hold you back, but the way he looks at you with unconditional love makes it absolutely worthwhile.

This is a small boy, even for his rank, and he disappears easily in the crowd, not really standing out with his pale skin. His neck, fins, and rear are covered in large, somewhat diamond-shaped spots. These splotches are lighter silver towards his head and grow to a darker more blue-gray down to his rear. His tail fin is unmarked, as is his face. He has very dark blue eyes, almost black, and they are extremely expressive. He seems almost ghost like, especially seen underwater from a distance, and unless he recognizes you, the closest you'll get to see him is to the point of barely recognizing him as an Ialroa at all.

Gossip Is To Be Expected Valumey
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Extremely chatty, and even friendly, there will be no dull or quiet moment with her around. She adores, no, she needs to be the center of attention, always in the spotlight, and everything that means. All the praise? Hers. The rumors that fly about what Waffle she's seeing (and she'll see them all. You may be her bond, but you will never be her keeper), about how she's let herself go over the winter, about how she smacked a boy and liked it, yeah she'll take those too. She's got a thick skin and a bubbly personality, and nothing will ever ruin her day... except for meeting someone more popular than her. She can get a bit snippy, catty if you will, towards those who want to claim the limelight all for themselves, so expect some competition if you're the socialite sort.

Most of her body is dark purple, with a partial hood down to her shoulders of lavender. Her body is covered in bright pink spots, very distracting, and her tail has a large heart-shaped splotch on it. During the warmer months she keeps herself in amazing shape, because let's face it, people are going to see her, going swimming and the like, and she wants to look good for them. ;D During the winter months, however, she sometimes lets herself go a little, but who can blame her? When you spend half the year watching what you eat, you have to spend the other half gorging yourself or you go sort of... crazy. Her eyes are almost a dead ringer for her spots, a strange pink color usually reserved for albinos, but albino she most certainly isn't. There's no way you can miss this Valumey, and that's how she likes it.

Follow Your Heart Valumey
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She's hopeful and happy, always the optimist. She knows what she wants in life, and she'll take any opportunity to achieve her goals. Determined and sweet, there's nothing indecisive about this Valumey. She's friendly and playful, and it seems like nothing ever upsets this pretty Ialroa. A bit sassy, a bit spunky, all unique- she'll stand out in any crowd. Although Waffles may look sort of ungainly, the confidence this girl displays is astounding. She's very affectionate, and shows her love and loyalty with near reckless abandon. She does have a habit of jumping into things, however, living life with her heart leading rather than her mind.

Darker than her sister, this particular Valumey is a bit on the pudgy side. Her body is covered in violet skin with a lighter underbelly, face, and tail fin. She has warm eyes, purple in the light but taking a more brown cast in the shade. Her spots are a rather light shade of pink, and instead of being tacky, actually add a softness to her. They cluster mostly around her neck, shoulders, and front fins, with some over her face and eyes, and a few dappling the base of her tail. She's very pretty, a perfect example of not needing to be thin and lean in order to be quite attractive. She's completely comfortable in her skin as well, and that confidence goes a long way.

Best Of All Worlds Akirei
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You know those guys that think they're the hottest thing since pepper spray? This Akirei is one of those guys. He swims with a certain swagger, head up and chest out, swaying from side to side. He's all chin jerks and winks, and if he could perform pelvic thrusts, he'd totally be doing those too. As far he's concerned, he's the best of everything: The best looking, the best singer, the best dancer, the best swimmer. The coolest, the smartest, the toughest. Truth is, though, he just might be. He believes in himself so much, that his opinions just might become the truth someday.

At first glance, he's pretty plain, your normal Akirei. His body is a light blue, but not soft in color, not something you'd decorate your newborn's room in. His spots are much darker, not quite so dark as to be called navy however. His tail fin is actually reversed- lighter spots on an indigo base. His eyes are teal and fairly dark. What stands out about him, however, is his confidence. He's so convinced that he's sexy, that he actually looks the part. He's lean, he's shiny, and he's downright cocky, and everyone loves a man like that... right? It's clear that he keeps in shape, because he really wants to impress the ladies, and if he isn't born with fancy colors and markings, he has to make up somehow.

I Am Anything Akirei
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He's optimistic and happy, always encouraging others to achieve their dreams in his quiet Waffley way. Every week he seems to have a new goal for himself too! He's always moving, greeting new people, doing new things, helping that old lady Ialroa cross the.. street. Or something. You know, whatever needs done! He's a super hero in an ungainly body! He'll save that Nogard trapped in some seaweed, assist that Siren family in finding their lost kitten, and still having time to stop that mean Serpen from doing... generally Serpen'y things. Really this Akirei just believes he can be anything, anyone, at anytime. A master of pretend, this one.

It might be a little hard to see him at first, as he blends in rather well with the dark waters he likes to dwell in. His main color is periwinkle blue, and his body is covered in many dark indigo spots. Behind those spots are more spots, a lighter shade, a very true blue to be honest. It gives him a unique look, and under the water it makes for very good camoflague. He has lovely green eyes, and that coupled with his spots are probably the only distinctive thing about him. He is average legnth for an Akirei, the normal weight, common build. He's not fat, nor is he skinny. He's not strong, but neither is he weak. It makes it very easy to be a multitude of things without seeming too out of place for the job.

“More?”

Mel stared at the piles of water balloons laying out on the grass. Agean had been quite insistent all morning that they needed a fair amount of them. He didn't let on to why it needed to happen, just that it was a necessity. Not one to deny him anything she let him keep his secrets. But that had been long ago and the galirei was still demanding more than what she had filled already. What were they going to do? Lead an assault on a Pride of Seraphs?

The dryad picked up the only remained balloon bag and attempted to shake another out into her waiting hand, but none fell out. With a shrug she turned to her bond. “Sorry. We're out of balloons.”

The waffle snorted in disappointment and carefully examined the balloons they had filled. Finding them satisfactory the pair bagged them up as quick as could be managed, Mel still in the dark about why they needed so many in the first place. The creature was often so happy and laid back it was certainly a little out of the ordinary for him.

Guessing there would probably be lots of water involved, Mel made the proper decision of changing into her swimsuit. Loading their curious cargo onto Agean, Mel hopped into the waffles back (as much as you can hop onto such a large creature) and they were off to the beach!

Upon arrival, Meliai still wasn't quite sure what was going on. She gleaned that it was a Ialoraine bonding, but why they needed supplies for a water war was beyond her. As soon as the bags and Mel were deposited on the beach, Agean bounded for the water, swimming farther out to croon his greeting to the father and the other little waffles present. He was on the friendly side for a Galirei, mostly because he was so devoted to his bond and had learned to love her other aquatic bonds. He was always willing to welcome more into the family.

Meliai, on the other hand, waded only knee deep into the sea. Eyes darting back and forth between the brightly colored creatures as she waited to find out what was going on.

((This is Umber's Swimwear))

The beach? Umber wasn't too fond of bearing her naked limbs, especially not in public. But, little Lotus was quite insistent. The lake Nogard rarely begged for attention, and so her piteous squeals were doubly effective towards the witch. Shhh. It's a secret. Don't let anyone know that Umber is secretly a softy towards animals. Yes yes. To the beach it was today.

That only left the matter of proper garb to be decided. Oh, how Umber found such things to be all but mortifying. She bathed alone in a closed room for a reason, and that reason being that she was a huge prude. If she could bathe with clothes on, she probably would. Yes, the witch was still supple of skin and bright of eye in the youth of her kind. But, that didn't stop her from acting like the oldest crotchety lady that ever walked the jungles of whazzit.

Naturally, she went with the most concealing swimwear that she could find. It even had a skirt and puffed sleeves. Perhaps the most unusual part of it was its color, a rich navy blue. Most people who knew the witch also knew that she preferred neutrals, especially greys. But, she would tolerate blue if it meant not showing off any bare thigh. I mean, showing off ankles was already getting scandalous enough. I mean, they were so slender and well formed, leading up to slight legs and muscled calves. She didn't want any of the menfolk getting unnecessarily excited over them, or thinking she was that kind of woman. You know how they could get.

She arrived at the shoreline with a white parasol in one hand and a water gun in the other. The watergun was a gift from Belbol. Upon hearing her Phorrah was going to a 'water war' she couldn't let the woman go unarmed. Lotus draped herself over the witch's shoulders, at least until they reached the water line. Then she jumped right in and splashed about near the pod of Ialoraine.

"Hello, Mel."ť Umber peered about at the pile of water balloons as she greeted the other woman. Oh dear. This was going to get very excessive wasn't it. Who was going to pick all of the plastic out of the water when they were done? "How are you doing?"ť she inquired, while wading into the water herself.

It was hot work, trying to build his strength. His power in this place seemed like any other muscle; he couldn't just pluck from the endless source with no repercussions, even though some of his bonds must have loosened.

Speaking of loosened...Enke's chains had graciously shrunk; thin strands of metal hung from his body, somehow unwarmed by the glaring sun. They allowed him enough freedom to remove his surcoat and tunic, which now lay in a neat pile beyond the waterline.

Enke probably looked rather odd, a shirtless, ill-formed man bedecked with scars and chains, but he was too engrossed in his work to care. He was on his knees in the surf, intent on the waves that gently buffeted his chest. His hands were outstretched. Fingers clenched and unclenched in a strange rhythm as he whispered hoarsely the same string of gibberish over and over.

The words sizzled on his tongue; he would have to take care with what he ate for a while, but if he was successful, it wouldn't matter. The high of his success would probably stave off his odd cravings for food for days.

An astute observer might discern that, after a while, the water began to respond to his nonsense babbling. Splashes of it rose from the ocean, arcing toward his fingers in curiously suspended puddles before plopping back to meld with the wave. A faint glitter illuminated the water around Enke's form. The glint, however, was so faint that each new wave dispelled it.

Not enough. Come on, push!

He gritted his teeth, ejecting more force into his ragged voice. At last, at long last, a tiny, wobbling globe of water rose up from the rest, seemingly magnetically attracted to his palm. When it touched his too-hot skin, it dispersed. But he had done it! His throat was seared and his vision dancing unpleasantly, but he'd done it! The water, the most malleable of the natural substances he had once played with thoughtlessly, responded to his being and his marks. His strength was not completely gone, then, though such a child's trick left him far more sapped than it should.

He laughed, unaccountably. The sound was startling to Enke, and he abruptly straightened, green gaze darting around to make sure he hadn't been observed. He hadn't. But, now that his trance was broken, he realized that he heard voices--and the occasional weird bark--not too far off from where he now stood.

This human nature thing was proving very bothersome, for he itched to go investigate. He should suppress it. Really. It was for the best. But the sea had always mellowed him, and even in this alien world, it was working on his psyche. Oh, by the Charter, he had nothing else to do. He might as well go mingle with the denizens of this place, as his Death seemed to be in no hurry to claim him.

And so it was that Enke staggered out of the water. He hesitated over his pile of clothes, but it really was too hot. He simply buckled the bandolier across his bare chest, leaving the sword and his outer clothes. He didn't worry over the blade--it would let no one else wield it, and he would probably have a grand chuckle if they tried.

His eyes were drawn first, of course, to the cavorting Ialroaine. More of this world's Shinies, he supposed. They seemed very...ungainly. But their coloring was quite pretty, and they seemed to be having a grand old romp in the ocean. His eyes drifted across the pod and came to rest on the other watchers. A pile of brightly-colored, misshapen balls drew his eye next. Huh. Interesting.

He peered at the balloons, flummoxed. What in the world could those be for? They didn't look edible...The sun, or tiredness, or perhaps the invigorating effect of the ocean must be getting to him, for he decided that it was in his best interest to actually ask someone.

Shaking his head even as he did so, he padded along the water's edge and approached the more sensible-looking of the two, the lass with the proper swimwear and the parasol.

"Excuse me," he addressed Umber, with his usual directness. "What are those...things...for?" He gestured at the balloons, eying them with something akin to suspicion.

Elouise never spent quite enough time with Dog-fish, mainly because she rarely left her room but also because she did not know how to swim. However, together, the two had devised a game that could be played with El’s feet safely on the shore, or even in the surf, as she’d discovered was quite fun when she’d found that the Professor wasn’t quite as scary as she’d thought he was. As her first companion in this strange world, however startling their joining had been, she held a special fondness for the strange yet aptly named creature.

So today it had been decided that she would join him in a game of fetch at the edge of the sea, at least until she grew tired. Lately she hadn’t had nearly as much stamina as she’d had previously; probably had something to do with the absence of a vital organ. Still, El was for once, determined to have fun despite her condition, or at the very least try to forget about it. Wearing a simple green cotton gown that could easily be washed, El slipped barefoot into the surf, a stick in hand and smiled when a sleek, canine head slipped out of the water.

Her throwing arm wasn’t the best but Dog-fish catered to her, never straying far from the shore and making as many spectacular catches as he could. By the time El was winded and needed to sit, Dog-fish was in much higher spirits. While his bonded caught her breathe, Dog-fish did a little exploring and happened across a pod of young Ialoraine being attended by a few Whazzitians, one that was particularly familiar.

Ducking back beneath the waves, Dog-fish made his way back to El who was shaking the wet sand from her gown and let out a bark. She looked up, holding a hand to the scarf wrapped around her neck as the wind tugged at it. When he began to venture down the shoreline and back she figured he’d found something interesting, perhaps a better stick for her to throw, and followed, allowing the waves to lap at her toes as she held the soggy hem of her gown out of the way.

When she rounded a bend, El blinked at the sight of; well she wasn’t sure what they were. Tilting her head slightly, her softly curling hair was picked up by the breeze and whipped across her face. Frowning, El pushed it back and then spotted what Dog-fish had surely been trying to get her to come see. Meliai! El hadn’t seen her in what seemed like ages! Before the incident, the two redheads had become rather close, latching onto each other during a rather rambunctious St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Picking up her pace, El hurried towards Mel who was knee deep in the waves and for once uncaring that there were two strangers around, very nearly tackled the nymph with a hug.

Squeak. Squeeeeeaaaak Squeasqueak!

That was about how it went the entire walk to the beach on one of T'Rae's trips down to check on the Ialroaine and Beorfin that she had settled into the cove nearest her home. What she really needed was to find a way to get them closer, or find a way to allow them closer access to her home like the rest of her shinies had. A feat that had gone through several possible ideas and much consideration, but still no particularly practical solution, and so continued to mean several trips down to the beach a week to make sure that they were all doing alright. Sure they would call her if it was some kind of emergency but… well Za-vel didn't get along very well with a certain Kel'rhea she had recently brought home and she liked to keep things somewhat settled between them.

Not that any of those thoughts were getting very far since the Brightling that had lodged herself around the Vulcan's wrist wouldn't hush, a very strange behaviour given her normally shy and quiet behaviour. "What has gotten into you?" She grumbled absently, raising the Brightling up to give her a scolding look. Not that she had ever found eyes on a Brightlings but she assumed they had some way to detect that kind of thing considering Khlup never managed to run into anything and could lock onto T'Rae's wrist with ease. With another Squeak! the Brightling detached herself with a pop and went zooming off, and that brought T'Rae's attention up and out towards her beach and-

Oh. Her beach was rather occupied wasn't it. She picked her way down to where Za-vel and Peixes were just a little ways away from the whole situation. "Interesting development." She mumbled absently to the pair before picking her way down the beach to the growing collection of people. Offering a cursory examination of the Ialroaine and, more importantly, examining one of the piles of balloons scattered around.

"Water balloons." T'Rae answered the other man there, one she didn't recognize and more importantly one that she couldn't detect any particular sound from. Instead T'Rae picked up one of the balloons and weighed it in her hand, tossing it a little bit, though without enough force to make it burst, eyeing Enke in the peripheral of her vision as she explained "Flexible latex that expands when filled with water and is meant to burst easily." Such as, you know, throwing it at someone, but if he didn't know that already T'Rae got the feeling he was going to figure it out pretty damn soon. Particularly if she had anything to say about it.

More importantly there was someone else that she thought could use a lesson in water balloons. Geoffrey, can you come down to the beach? I need a little help. Reaching out for him mentally, unaware of the slight grin that was settling over her face as she did so. It wasn't what she'd had planned for her afternoon but it could definitely be amusing.

SIIIGH.

Wasn't anybody self-sufficient anymore?

Geoffrey, I'm drowning. Geoffrey, help me pick out curtains. Geoffrey, the Gryphettes got to the kitchen again. Geoffrey, Geoffrey. For somebody who hated people and didn't sympathize or empathize at all with them, Geoffrey sure never seemed to catch a break when it came to being asked to do things other people weren't functionally capable or intelligent enough to do for themselves.

Sending T'Rae back message that basically said be there soon, Geoffrey scrubbed his hands thoroughly clean and sterile and left instructions for Perdix to oversee his newest assistant in Shasstal (not Fexhalten, precious though the Serpen was, he was too inquisitive to be let in the laboratory) before going down to select company and stock his bag quickly. Never go alone.

Down to the beach limited his reliable bodyguards somewhat, but today his nasty peice of work Kel'rhea was looking eager and wide awake, and she'd do better than nothing pretty good for her size, at least. "Kommen Sie, Shigg'rath," he commanded simply as he opened the hatch to the Beorfin tank, making a mental note that the space was getting cramped and he definitely needed to be finding a new one. Eventually.

For now, though, down to the beach to help T'Rae with… Whatever was. Which was not an emergency, he could tell that much, from a lack of urgency in her voice; but when he saw the gathering of Ialroaine who were distinctly not in danger for a change, and the people, well, it shouldn't be a surprise he was scowling at the small collection of people as he stomped over to T'Rae, Shigg'rath hissing quietly in disapproval as she waddled over the sand. People. Bleh. Don't trust them.

"Help with what?" Geoffrey demanded bluntly as he dropped his bag on the sand next to T'Rae, gaze roaming idly and lingering over Enke and Umber in particular, for vastly different reasons.

"ATEEEEENTION!"

A thick figure, clad in a heavy and undoubtedly itchy and hot military uniform popped up from a disturbingly well-concealed sand bunker on the beach. The human abruptly began marching up and down the sand before the pod of waffles.

There was no cue, no 'Oh hi, how are you? How are the kids? Nice weather we're having.' Taki just stood straight as an arrow, sharply turning on her heel as she reached the end of the war line. These were her troops. Her men. Her freaky giraffe-things. At least they were in her mind. If there was to be water-shed between two groups on Planet, she was going to join with the winning side.

Granted, the Ialroaine looked like they had stronger chances before all the land creatures arrived with their reinforcements. At first it was just a few women, but my, my, they were filing in quickly now, some accompanied by beasts. Worse yet, the group was casually arriving - as if they'd already won the battle!

"They insult us!" Taki roared to the water-dwelling spotty things. She snapped a riding crop against one of her boots to accentuate her speech as she went. "They arrive on our beach, amassing weapons of mass saturation. They bring their small, their tall, their robots, their-" Taki stopped for a moment, eyeing Enke with his chains and shirtlessness. "They even brought their - ...Nevermind. I'm not asking."

"MEN! We are on the brink of war!" Taki bent over quickly and snatched up one of many olive-green water balloons on the shore. "They've brought their best, and we shall show them their superiors! Our balloons will blot out the SUN!"

Now, mind you, I'm positive that nobody but Ms. Mora has any idea what this speech was about. In fact, I'm convinced she doesn't have any idea either. But for all intensive purposes, I just want to throw a water balloon at Geoffrey. So, without further ado~

"On my mark-" There was a tense pause, pleasant conversation undoubtedly continuing on the other side of the beach. Pleasant and unsuspecting.

A-13, stop suspecting.

I mean it.

..."MARK!" And with or without her spotty army, Taki began pelting watery goodness at the cyborg. Because this ain't no garden party. AHA!

...Wool was a bad choice in clothing...[/tangent]

The legged Waffle swam out to make his greetings and the Talui father brayed a reply, swishing his tail happily. Welcome aboard, son, he seemed to say. The Lake Nogard was welcomed with open fins, and, ever curious, the Follow Your Heart Valumey swam closer to inspect Lotus. Enke came without any shiny companions, so he recieved a welcoming nod from the father. Luckily for the man, the Talui gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. Had he been a grumpy, possibly paranoid Silui, however... things might not have gone as smoothly for the be-chained man. Dog-Fish would also be welcomed into the ranks of water-dwellers, because come on. Who could say no to that face? D'aww. The Brightling had all the young Waffles (Wafflets? Wafflesticks? What do you call a baby Waffle?) excited and the more playful ones (namely the before-mentioned Valumey and her Akirei brothers) cavorted around the strange, new creature, allowing Geoffrey's Kel'rhea to escape unmolested by the youngsters.

And then Taki Mora arrived, pacing and making speeches and generally being... General. Esque. Yeah. The woman was being rather (and by rather, I mean 'extremely') distracting, but the father allowed it to happen. All's fair in love in war, right? Even unannounced attacks.

The moment Taki's first balloon sailed through the air, the Waffles went wild. Well, most of them did. Sort of. The Dalui splashed forward, turning his back to the humans on the beach, lifting his tail and quickly bringing it crashing down into the water, sending a small tidal wave towards the humanoids. The two Valumey and two Akirei quickly joined in, following general suit by using their tails to heave massive quanities of ocean onto the beach.

They tried not to hit Ms. Mora. Really. They just... didn't do a very good job. |D

Enke eyed the woman that answered him, narrowing his eyes at the balloon in her hand. "Intriguing," he muttered, tensing his shoulders in anticipation of a possible attack from T'rae. There was something devious in her manner. That sly grin was not one he would trust.

Well, he would fight water with water. He reached down, eyes never leaving the squashy orb in the Vulcan's hand, and plucked one from the pile for his own. The texture and weight of it pleased him. He shuffled it from hand to hand, delighting in its satisfying wiggle. The sudden urge to toss it straight at T'rae assailed him. He suppressed the desire, though he did cast one furtive glance at her, still suspicious.

It was quite slippery, the fascinating blue blob. The wobbling thing managed to escape his grip as he toyed with it. It plopped to his feet, bursting upon his toes. As the water soaked into the sand, he muttered, "Ah." Glaring around at the assembled as if challenging them to so much as snicker, he promptly scooped up another balloon, this one red. The last one didn't count; he was getting the hang of the things. No one could fault him.

While he'd been occupied with his new toy, the machine-man had arrived. His survey of Enke set the man on edge; he bristled slightly. But he had no time to work himself into a bother about it, because suddenly there was a screaming maniac galloping across the beach, spraying sand everywhere and yelling her head off at the Ialroaine. Was she wearing fatigues? Whatever the case, she looked a lot like the soliders of the Ancelstierran Perimeter garrison that Enke had long ago glimpsed, but she certainly didn't act like them. He elected to ignore her ravings, instead contemplating the balloon he cradled possessively.

He should've paid attention to the lunatic. Just when he'd decided that he was going to throw his balloon at Geoffrey in order to wipe that speculative look off the other's face, another balloon sailed by, narrowly missing his head and heralding the massive tidal wave that absolutely did not miss the Free Magic man.

Caught off guard, he was thrown to his knees. The frantic peals of the bells adorning his chains were muffled by salt water. Enke staggered back to his feet and whirled toward the ocean. The curious sea-dwellers were on the offensive! Thankfully, his balloon had survived. He growled--yes, really--and shook sopping hair out of his eyes, which had narrowed into the barest slits. His pulse had quickened, and he could feel the magic in his chains thrumming in time with it. The now-wet links sparkled with marks, and oddly enough, curls of steam rose up from the glistening metal.

Enke sprang into action with a not-quite-human roar, lunging to grab a second balloon and then pelting down closer to the water. The first he launched at the Best of All Worlds Akirei, who happened to be the closest target. Before throwing the second, he paused, eyes roaming over the enemy. The fell and locked on the Silui. None would be allowed to remain aloof! War was messy, a torrent of chaos. Enke loved war.

With a crow of triumph that would most likely be entirely short-lived--(really, what were a couple balls of water against waves?)--he shoved the second balloon outward, trying to thrust it with his power toward the intended target. He'd probably put a bit too much pep into the attempt, though, because the balloon spontaneously burst before it ever reached the Ialroa. Whoops. Well. Perhaps he would be drawn in by the attempted assault?

Umber couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Yo, space cadet, that question wasn’t directed at you. Maybe the magic people wanted to have a technological free illogical time to themselves. Hmmm? Not that Umber had much of a notion of plastics or rubber. They looked like thin bladders to her. Thin, strangely colored bladders. But, she was willing to take what the Vulcan said at face value. After all, they did look like they came from space.

The witch watched Taki with the barest hints of amusement. That’s right. Men did love to play war, didn’t they? Nevermind that Taki was obviously female. Yeah, let’s just glaze over that particular fact. Umber was a witch, and didn’t play war. She had just come down to the beach for a little looking-for-shells time with Lotus and that was going to be the end of that. Well, at least until Geoffrey took a water balloon. Then the woman sighed and gave Geoffrey one of those ‘are you really going to get involved in this silly game?’ looks that were probably better reserved for the man’s fiancé. But, who cares? Umber reserved the right to give anyone half her age that look and it went perfectly with her ancient swimwear.

That’s not to say she didn’t do her fair share of shrieking as the small pod of waffles starting splashing enormous amounts of water onto the beach. Because she did.

Lotus, on the other hand, was all too pleased to swim about Valumey, investigating the other water shiny. She sent a few pleasant blurbling noises the Valumey’s way, but chirped in surprised and dove under water once the splashing began. Oh! So that was the idea! Get the humanoids wet! The little nogard filled her mouth with water, then cavorted onto the beach, splashing in the wake of the first major water assault. Now to find a victim.

The little Lake looked around piteously, trying to look lost. But, the moment some humanoid got too close, splash! She'd spit the water in their face before gallivanting back into the ocean.

"Ahahah!" Taki roared with laughter, quite pleased that she could break up the beach meet-and-greet. Besides, there was no pleasant conversation in the throes of war. The group would later consider themselves lucky that this lesson was being taught with water balloons and squishy, absorbent water grenades. Speaking of which...

Mrs. psychopath Mora knew that one balloon wouldn't be nearly enough to end this battle. Adjusting her over-sized and ridiculous hat, she turned back to find one of said water grenades - just in time to see a big red something lunge forward with his own attack. "Like a nuke-" Taki trailed off, knowing her dryness was nearing an end. She had but a second to brace for the impact, the water crashing into and seemingly through her like nothing. The woman flew back several feet, but remarkably found some way to land on her feet, having lost her glorious feathered hat but gained a crab.

Crabhat. Mmmyes.

The earlier laughter repeated itself; fuller, louder, and presumably victorious. The Waffles were executing fantastic water bombing technique beyond Taki's original hopes. And so enthusiastic. It was beautiful. "That's right, attack! AHAHAHAAHA!" No longer concerned that the impromptu militia wouldn't work out, Taki set her sights on a new target - a rather nonreactive one. Aside from the shrieking, that was.

But at the very least, she looked like a sailor. A sea warrior. A.. Well. She was wearing clothes, at least. A uniform of sorts. Umber - stop suspecting things.

Don't watch Taki grab two fully saturated water grenades.

Don't be at all distracted by the "ALIALIALIAIIYEEE!" that usually accompanies a bad Achmed the undead terrorist joke.

Most of all - hold still. Moving targets are difficult to hit when the salt water is still draining from your ears.

Oh, alright. You should probably be a tiny bit suspicious. Having a madwoman charge at you with two sponges, no shoes, and a crab on her head could very well be cause for alarm.

"Isn't it?"

Oh Enke T'Rae wasn't devious. She was positively pleased. There were no secret plots going on here, she knew exactly what she was doing and had no intention of making it a secret. She was just waiting for the other half of her strategy to show up and this would go just fine. Disregarding the dirty look that Umber was giving T'Rae because sorry darling but you're just not very far up on the woman's friend list, it may have been awhile since she'd seen you but nothing was forgotten nor forgiven. Best watch it as you were pretty high on her list of people to target, even if this was mostly a friendly game.

Speak of the devil, there was her grouchy partner in crime. Even if he didn't quite realize what he was being put up to just yet. "T'naehm, Ne ki'ne." Of course her rather please and plotting tone was probably a good indication that this wasn't actually war, not that she entirely suspected that Geoffrey would catch on to that and wouldn't be surprised if he thought she was serious. Not that she was going to have a whole lot of time to properly explain any of that to him before someone crazier than her came storming up the beach to take control of the situation.

And then all hell broke loose. Oh this was going to be amusing.

"Catch." T'Rae snapped, tossing the balloon in her hand to Geoffrey, though she didn't linger to see if he managed to catch it or if it was going to burst (which she kind of hoped it would, he may be her partner but that didn't mean she didn't want first blood) and snatching up two more for herself as the waffles started their own assault. One balloon was heaved half-heartedly into the water towards the Akirei pair, but they were far from being her primary target. No T'Rae had locked eyes on a certain witch that was very clearly not nearly as interested in these games as the Vulcan woman was.

Hello Umber, how would you like to be soaked today? The Vulcan woman took aim carefully and flung the water-laden balloon with a little more force than was probably necessary.

Khlup was not nearly as involved with the people as her bond was. The little purple Brightling was staring wide eyed at the Valumey and offering a friendly Squeak! of greeting before everything went crazy. At which point she dived fearfully into the water to get her bearings. Water. Water on the humanoids. Well that was an interesting game. After a moment's hesitation the shy Brightling eased her way out of the water and wrapped her sticky arms around a balloon, zooming over Taki and dropping the balloon with a battle cry of Squeakity Squeasqueak! Before darting back to the Valumey. Do good yes? That's how it works right?

AUGH WHO WAS SHOUTING.

Murder gleamed in Geoffrey's optic as he twisted his neck to examine the excessively noisy Taki-Mora. First impression: he didn't like her. Gasp. The world is stunned. He's normally such a friendly guy.

Although, she did prevent him from all right hating every fiber of her being by being suspicious of Enke's whateverhewas-ness. It was hardly a secret that Geoffrey didn't trust anybody who looked irreputable or magical, and before you ask, that certainly included Umber, how was receiving back a look of 'does it look like it's my idea to get involved?' Sure, he would work with her, but hell no he wasn't going to trust her. No hard feelings. It was only wise.

Of course, his lack of absolute loathing would change when he realized that Angry Army Lady (otherwise known as Crazy 1) was talking about herself being on the side of the Ialroaine. Meaning they the humanoids were the enemy. Meaning HE was getting attacked by squishy exploding water containers by her and T'Rae and also being tidal waved by waffles.

We would like to repeat for you now what Geoffrey said:



Aaaaand that's the extent of the family-friendly comments that are actually reproducible in front of young, innocent eyes.

"What is going on?!" Geoffrey roared at T'Rae, glaring at her unhelpful form. Ne ki'ne his ass. But, really. He didn't know what was going on, which was really what was infuriating him more than anything else. Water balloons, you see, did not exist in the 1940s of his world either. He probably would already be trying to kill Taki-Mora if he could figure out if she was a safe kind of deranged or not. Some people were just... not the sorts that should be out in public.

Really, who was the city manager and building planner around the weyrd? They really needed an asylum.

But yes not the point right now. Not that Geoffrey knew what the point was, still, but it wasn't asylums. Although maybe it should've been.

While Geoffrey was standing around screaming and being useless and confused, and mostly throwing looks at all the guilty Ialroaine for being jerks and hoping the empathic creatures were pleased with themselves for ruining his day, Shigg'rath was getting to the things much more readily. Not all the Ialroaine and gotten involved, after all, and like Enke she wanted no one left out. The nasty little Kel'rhea was twistedly social in her desire to spread her havoc around.

Act Now, No Regrets Galirei was going to be a victim of his own name, the Ke'rhea darting into the sea amid the sudden chaos. Except, well, Beorfin aren't known for their squirt gun or water balloon skills. She was more of the try to chew his fin off type. Which was exactly what she was doing. CHOMP.

Meliai contentedly watching one of her favorite bonds (ssshhh, no she doesn't play favorites and neither does the writer). The Ialoraine barked happily in her direction, head still above water before diving down beneath the surface. Yessss, stealth attacks were the best. He caught the little Lotus's eye and winked, he had the right idea too.

The dryad watched the approach of the witch, not moving to greet her. It wasn't an unfriendly sort of gesture, she just wanted a moment for her eyes to linger in curiosity on the other woman. She still couldn't figure out exactly what it was that was so intriguing. Not one to understand her own intuition very well she couldn't decide whether or not the automatic pull to be close to this woman was a good thing. Her smile, however, was certainly friendly enough as the witch neared. “Wonderful!” Well, there was no hiding the ecstatic feeling the sun brought out in Mel. “It's a good day for some fun.” She palmed one of the water balloons as more people arrived, readying herself. “And yourself?”

Their little conversation was then interrupted by a face Meliai wasn't very familiar with. She would not get a chance to study it further, however, as she was suddenly tacklehugged by a woman only recognized by the red hair that was caught in the breeze. Her water balloon went flying, many apologies to anyone it might have hit. She wasn't trying to thwart her own side, really. Unfortunately, tackling clumsy people generally means everyone involved went down. The dryad attempted some sort of embrace back, the peal of laughter the only clue she was happy to see the other woman. But it wasn't going to last very long as the dryad fell over into the water, grasping at El in the process although that certainly failed to keep her upright.

Due to a bit of sputtering and attempting not to drown too much, Meliai completely missed Taki Mora's little speech. Really she was more concerned with making sure El was alright. But even as she turned to find the other woman a series of waves bowled her back over and into the ocean, washing her to shore where she lay, a little dazed, on the beach.

With a moment to catch her breath and a spark of playful determination in her eyes she lept up, grabbing at an armful of balloons and shoving them at whoever was nearby. This meant war! (duh). A few left, she heaved them at the Dance Floor Pyromaniac Dalui . Her aim wasn't exactly wonderful, but at least waffles were big.

Somewhere beneath the churning waves, a leggy waffle lurked(cue Jaws them).

((muahahaha, I am thoroughly enjoying this!))

Several things seemed to happen at once; a general outbreak of chaos in El’s mind as she managed to take Mel down into the surf. With a startled squeal of her own as she was dragged down by the nymph, the young Lady had a moment of panic as she landed with a splash in the shallows. But her experience with The Professor and Jane had taught her that if she stayed close enough to shore she’d be fine. Or so she thought! As the Englishwoman pushed herself up, skirts clinging to her legs, she barely had time to acknowledge the massive wave of water before it crashed down on her, catching her by surprise and knocking her back.

She came up, sputtering and choking on sea water and somewhere amidst the sea beasty horde, Dog-Fish barked. At least the water had knocked El up onto the beach where she lay for a second on her back, dazed before rolling onto her hands and knees and pushing unsteadily to her feet, hampered by the clinging fabric of her skirts. She was completely unaware that the massive wave had torn away her scarf, exposing the savage slash across her throat as well as the one that split her chest in half. But before she could get steady on her feet, four more of the large water beasts surged forward and slapped the water with their tails sending a torrent of water crashing onto the beach, and El. The end result was El sprawled face first in the sand, once again coughing and sputtering and very, very confused.

Pushing to her hands and knees once more, El crawled away from the water and towards a cluster of legs, though when she realized that the pair of legs she was crawling towards belonged to Geoffrey, she quickly moved off in another direction, her hair impeding her vision just enough that she continued in that direction until she happened to come in the direct path of the attacking Enke. All she heard of him—for she didn’t really see him—was a roar, which caused her to squeak and hunker down, covering her bedraggled head. Dear God above, had she stumbled into a warzone?

Yes, El. Yes you did. >D

(Sorry for the day-late post xD; They switched my husband's schedule, which means he switched mine. 8D Plus, I caught one of his super awesome military-grade colds.)

The Silui turned his head to give Enke a long, annoyed look. Did he just try to throw something at him? Jerk. He clearly couldn't be trusted, that Enke fellow. The Silui made a face, more of a lip twitch, and disappeared beneath the waves.

Did Umber think she could just stand there and be all "I'm too cool for school, dude" and get away with it? Pah. You don't just stand in the middle of a battlefield shrieking.

Okay, you can. But... It doesn't get you far. Silly woman should know that. I mean, wasn't she a witch or something? Can't she... Do... Something? Levitate balloons, spawn water balls, control the waves, something? The Best Of All Worlds Akirei turned his head, and rolled his eyes at Umber's actions. Umber's Nogard, on the other hand... She knew what was going down! Good job! crooned the Gossip Valumey.


That's right. She spoke, but only to Lotus. Well, Lotus and the other shinies. Clearly shinies could understand each other, right? That's the idea! the I Am Anything Akirei called out, giving his tail another swing against the waves

The other Valumey nodded to the Brightling. Yeah! Like that! Keep it up! Aim for the ones who aren't expecting it. It's more fun like that, she replied with a wink.

Taki was being silly, and it wasn't going without notice. The Act Now, No Regrets watched the 'General' with large black eyes, clearly curious with her actions. Suddenly, the Kel'rhae appeared and attempted to... eat him alive! D8 D8 D8 The shy Waffle shrieked and attempted to swim away. The small Wafflestick's father dove beneath the wave to give the Beorfin a look. Playful roughhousing was fine, but be mindful. This was a bonding, and he was much, much larger than you, Shigg'rath. But other than that gaze, he didn't act against the Beorfin. Just yet.

Now we're cooking! the Dalui bellowed as he was assaulted by brightly colored balloons. He grinned at Mel and lifting his front end high out of the water before dropping back down, splashing the coastline with another large wave. She wanted to dance? He'd dance. He loved dancing.

Poor little El was crawling around in the sand like a lost little turtle. The more lightly colored of the two Galirei, the Tell Me Of The Past boy, watched her carefully, making sure she wasn't actually harmed by the fun everyone was having. He swished his tail at his brothers and the tail-driven torrent lessened... but it didn't stop. This wasn't a ceasefire. There was no white flag waving there.

((Joining is now closed, and shinies can speak to each other- but not to the humanoids still. <3))

((Summer Days ‘swim’ wordcount: 491))

It was never in Umber’s nature to stop suspecting things. She had little distaste for anyone around the Weyrd. But, hey. Sometimes miscommunications happened and someone tried to help and ended up vilified for it. Umber was used to being the bad guy. Most witches were. Strange powers made for things that some didn’t understand. And what some didn’t understand was reason enough for hate. And if some people couldn’t accept good intentions and the mistakes that occasionally went with them, that was their problem.

But, it wouldn’t save her from the water war. The woman took a few steps back, rather confused by what Taki-Mora was about to do. Playing war was one thing. But, running around and screaming like that was somewhat…alarming. Ok yeah, crazy lady. Normally Umber would have laughed at Geoffrey’s desire for a local asylum. After all, just because someone behaved a little differently didn’t mean that they were crazy.

The witch had a bit of a mutual tolerance with the cyborg. She was an interesting specimen that was kind enough to sit still and be studied once in a while. Umber could also relate to a little of the, no doubt, mad science Geoffrey often got up to. Like each other? No. But, that little bit of tolerance was all Umber cared for. But, this time? Yeah. Alright.

Maybe an asylum and a nice padded room and strappy-bed were appropriate in this situation.

Umber tripped over the sand, seeing Taki-Mora in one direction and T’Rae in another. Maybe if she just ran tangentially they’d both run into each other, get knocked mutually unconscious, and then stew in their own semi-conscious madness. Yeah. That would be most pleasing.

And what of that blasted contraption Belbol gave her? It was that strange ‘Plah-stick’ material all the kids were talking about these days. Umber had an old-fashioned revolver enchanted to hit the incorporeal. So she was familiar with the general design.

As one of T’Rae’s stupid water-bladders broke against her face, the witch squeezed the trigger on her gun and aimed at the Vulcan--releasing a torrent of water far exceeding what it should have produced. What would you know, it was the Noisy Cricket of water guns. Of course, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and all of that. Thus the little plastic water pistol sent Umber skidding into the water and falling onto her side. OH NO! The parasol went sailing into the ocean, bobbling up and down like a giant jelly fish. Now the witch was all wet, practically taking a swim right at the feet (tail?) of the Gossip Is To Be Expected Valumey.

Lotus, on the other hand, couldn't seem to find even one victim! How sad was that? Actually sad. So the little Lake scampered over to her fallen bond, spitting water onto the plant growing out of Umber's skull. Yes. That was a job well done, wasn't it!

Well, his first assault was a bust. The Silui had given him a Look--he just kept getting those, and my, how they wriggled under his skin!--and disappeared. Fine. Unless he managed to get far enough into the water to fall to an assault from below, the green one was negligible.

And the Best of All World's Akirei was occupied by the Proper Lady with(out) the Parasol. He allowed himself to be distracted by the contraption Umber carried momentarily, forgetting that he was still charging forward despite his empty hands. He forgot, also, that looking ahead was just as important in battle as looking behind. He tripped rather fantastically over the bedraggled ball that was Elouise, and he, too, was suddenly at the mercy of war. A wave rolled over him, triggering a series of frantic flails.

The thirst for blood--or at least seeing his opponent sopping wet--was upon him. Once upon a time, he had breathed chaos. He no longer cared which side he was on (since apparently, he'd chosen the losing one. Perhaps the lunatic had more sense than the lot of them). All that mattered was creating as much destruction as possible, and he couldn't do that from the ground.

He returned to himself with a jolt, stinging with sand and salt and an unfortunate scrape along his arm. Stupid shells. He was still lying half-atop a person. He should probably remedy that. He flopped to one side, gasping. "Onward!" he thundered, hauling himself to his feet and attempting to drag El up alongside him. She couldn't accomplish anything from down there, either. He attempted to plant her more or less right side up, though he couldn't afford to pause in order to be solicitous. Anyway, one of the Ialroaine appeared to be doing that in his stead.

Shaking hair and water from his eyes, he galloped pell-mell toward the beach, emitting another roar. He knew exactly who his next target would be, and it wasn't one of the water-dwellers that far outmatched him. Oh, no.

He was now juggling THREE balloons, and each one of them were destined for Taki-Mora, or anyone who decided to insert himself between Enke and his enemy. Luckily, the mad one was distracted by the parasol-less witch. It may not have been good sportsmanship to lob the first of his volleys at her back, but he had never claimed to be a good sport. He rumbled with mirth as the balloon sailed through the air. He had forgotten how much fun havoc could be.

Things were wound up, finally. This had all at once turned into an actual water balloon fight, and aside from everyone taking it so seriously, it was fun as hell. Unfortunately for Taki, Umber was indeed suspicious, and before she could actually grenade the witch, she'd pulled out the amusing M.I.B. reference and blown herself out of harm's way.

Which resulted in an amusing trip, stumble, fumble, flop, and generally awkward flop of her 'weapons' in (pause for the random number generator... AH.) Lotus's direction. Good thing, too. The lil' Nogard might've been feeling left out.

Now, there are a few moments in your life where you stop to reflect "Who am I? What am I doing? Where am I going in life?" as you stumble. Taki mentally made it to "Who am-" before her literal stumble landed her face-first into the beach sand. She laid there for only a second, then flopped onto her back and sat up, looking Enke in the eyes.

There was something intangibly funny about his face. She started giggling - now only a tinge of crazy echoing from the laugh. One of his projectiles (Which made him oh-so-happy, one must assume) hit her in the shoulder, then two to the face, knocking her on her back once again. Once she'd snorted the water out of her nose, she laughed even louder, feigning complete disability.

"Oh go! I've been hit!" she laughed, flailing her arms and legs in the air. "Officer down, officer down, someone, oh someone," XD ,"HALP!"

Oh, Enke. The crabhat proceeded to give you a look. I'd have to fall out of theme.

With her head covered as it was, it was rather impossible for El to see anything coming, so when something collided with her side and sent her sprawling, she let out a screech that quickly turned into sputtering and wheezing as a wave crashed over her and whatever had crashed into her landed on top of her. Said thing—she couldn’t quite see what is was as her eyes were closed and all—began to flail which only invoked a surge of panic. Certain she was being attacked by some strange sea creature, El shrieked again then yelped as a flailing limb collided with her side. Ouch!

Her certainty that she was being assaulted and at any moment would be hauled into the waves and drowned were only affirmed when the pressure of the flailing thing left her and she was hauled unceremoniously to her feet. Oh no, not again! She began to flail wildly, her hair plastered to her face, but the thing was gone leaving her to stumble, momentarily blinded and confused. And as Murphy’s Law would have it, she wandered closer to the water, almost falling as the damp and clingy cloth of her dress tangled between her legs.

Finally coming to a halt, El shoved the hair out of her face and opened her eyes just in time to have a wave splash down over her. Though this time it wasn’t nearly as powerful as before and she managed to keep her footing—only because her legs had been braced in a most unladylike stance. Coughing several time she wiped the water from her face and looked out across the water to where several strange water monsters danced about with various other water critters. Even Dog-fish seemed to be having fun.

Was this all a game? Blinking, a bit dazed and short of breath she looked around and blinked at the sight of a woman on her back, limbs flailing as she laughed and shouted. O.o Turning in a slow circle she observed the chaos around her then spotted a pile of strange, jiggly orbs that seemed to be the chosen arsenal for this particularly confusing war. Looking like a drowned rat and still oblivious to her scars being on rather prominent display, she walked awkwardly over to the pile and bent over to examine the variety of different colors. They were beautiful!

Reaching out she touched one then pulled her hand back quickly as it jiggled and bounced off the pile and rolled to her foot. Stooping down, she scooped it up and squeezed it gently then looked around. It would seem that the object of this crazed game was to throw the things. Grabbing up another one, she made her way hesitantly back towards the water and looked at the others. So if she just threw it…

Pulling her arm back rather awkwardly, El hurled the balloon as far as she could then picked a target; Dog-fish…and it hit the ground no more than six feet away. Seconds later she was hit with a wave and the look on her face with both priceless and precious. Sodden and pouting with saltwater dripping from her nose and chin she blinked, still cradling the second balloon against her stomach. She was no good at this war game. Shuffling closer to the edge of the water, she clung to her second missile and tried to find a closer target though she wasn’t entirely sure about throwing water blobs at shinies she didn’t know. What if they didn’t like it and tried to eat her? These water monsters did look a bit like dragons. O.O Her feet stopped and she stood there staring at the small pod of young waffles. Were they water dragons? She’d heard tales of such monsters from a cousin who had been in the Navy.

Oh come now Geoffrey it wasn't really all that, look she had even sent Umber toppling into the ocean. At least it seemed pretty safe to say that Umber wasn't really going to be the primary threat in this whole situation at all, the fact that the front of her shirt was now soaked was merely a lucky shot. That new girl on the other hand was a totally different matter, though it seemed more like simply having dumb luck on her side rather than any actual skill as a military leader, T'Rae was rather doubtful that it wasn't just hot air and no substance, but that was her general belief about anyone in the Weryd. Congratulations Taki you fight right in.

Right, Geoffrey throwing a fit instead of cooperating. Which she could only slightly blame him for, he was overreacting just a little bit after all. "Water balloons, Geoffrey. You throw them. At them." She gestured in the general direction of Taki and Enke and Umber and sort of the Ialroaine by extension even though the Vulcan didn't entirely make the connection that this was supposed to be land versus water or anything like that. Far from it she was a little more interested in just harassing the people that she wasn't entirely fond of in a situation that wasn't outright hostile. Where was a cat or a dog when you needed one, hmm?

Alas she would have to make do with what she had, which mostly meant Umber and Elouise as the grand total of people that she actually recognized here. It would have to do, and with Umber out of the picture that meant Elouise. Poor girl, T'Rae really doesn't hate you, it's just terribly amusing to pick on you, mostly because you rarely seem to have any idea what's actually going on. Like now, for instance, standing there looking confused and not even facing the proper competition as T'Rae a quick underhand toss in her direction. Hey, at least she was pretending at being gentle?

Khlup squeaked proudly at the young waffle, she was Brightling and not the brightest of them by far, but she knew when she was being praised and she was so very proud of herself for succeeding! Squeak squeak~ She chirped proudly at the Valumey before distraction settled in and the waves of Umber's splashing washed the floating Brightling away. Not very far, at least, before she was up and zooming back to the Witch woman with a far more angry trail of squeaks, flopping into the water and waving her little Brightling arms to splash at her. Vengeance would be hers!

Errr? A for effort? At least she was trying?

"But why," Geoffrey tried to demand from T'Rae before she was already getting herself mixed up with the crazy.

Really, Geoffrey was about three seconds away from stamping his foot and flailing his fists and demanding to know what was going on. He was far too busy being a big fussy baby to even notice Elouise's close call in searching for safety. Nothing irritated him and aggravated him quite like not understanding a situation. And water balloons and water battle fun were wholly beyond his comprehension. What was ~fun~ about this nonsense? It was illogical! Impractical! Irrational!

Sometimes, one had to wonder who was really the Vulcan in his relationship with T'Rae. And he was so selfish about it too.

He watched almost jealously as the Silui disappeared. He knows that feel, bro. If he could get out of here, he definitely would, but he suspected now that he was here T'Rae would never let him leave until she had thoroughly made a fool of him and herself.

There was brief distraction in the form of a surge of unhappiness from Shigg'rath, clearly not happy about being interrupted either. YOU WANTED WAR, YOU GOT WARRR. That was her philosophy. Pansy parents and pansy Galirei, you start losing and suddenly ooooh I'm so delicate don't huuuurt me. Baring her teeth at them, she disappeared beneath the waves as well, paddling around invisibly while she debated what victim to strike next. For a few seconds, Geoffrey kept his eyes trained on the water, suspicious of her, but her temper had flared down for the moment and so he left her to it. The Ke'rhea could handle herself. Which was whole problem, but whatever.

Looking grumpier than usual, the pouting sulking cyborg flopped down on the sand and stared crossly at everyone before his restlessness got the better of him and he started idly playing around with sand sand. Screw your super soaker wars, he'd be over here making a sand camp and waiting to escort his giant child of a girlfriend home after she collapsed from silly exhaustion. Or heat exhaustion. Both likely, assuming Vulcans got heat exhaustion?

Well. He was going to try to. Among everyone getting caught up in the insanity inspired by Enke and Taki-Mora leading the chaotic charge, Geoffrey doubted could be left alone for long, but he could darn well try. You know, if the downed officer would stop kicking up sand in his face. Some people. No manners. Glare.

[ Summer Days - Heat | 413 words ]

The Gossip Is To Be Expected Waffle craned her neck around to look down at Umber. She got a mischevious look in her magenta eyes. She lifted her tail up and quickly brought it down... but she maintained enough control to one, not hit Umber, and two, only splash the witch a little bit. She barked a laugh and then offered the woman her tail with a wink. Climb on, if you wanna head back to shore. <3 She chortled at the Lake Nogard, You catch on quick, girl! She gave the Brightling an appreciative look. And you too! Keep it up and we'll drive those silly furless wonders off, no problemo! She was rather encouraging, this one. <3

As Enke scooped up El, the I Am Anything Akirei stopped everything to lock onto the new-found targets. Giving them both The Look. Enke wanted to act like he as a solider, leaving no man behind? Two could play that game. Taking a large amount of water in his mouth, the Akirei spit out watery bullets at the pair as they hobbled along the beach. THE GERMANS ARE COMING THE GERMANS ARE COMING!

And speaking of Germans. Geoffrey wanted to make a sand camp? You better barricade those walls, solider, before the flood knocks them all down! With the amount of water being kicked up by... everyone, it would be a challenge all in itself to keep from drowning in one's own castle.

Also, heck yes, El. These are totes scary water dragons. Can't you see that Dalui dancing the Nutcracker over there? Terrifying. He met El's eyes and started bobbing his head and swaying from side to side at once. If she wasn't going to participate in the water war, would she at least agree to a dance off? >D

The Best Of All Worlds Akirei regarded Taki with her crab hat carefully. That hat.
It was sexy.
Suddenly he dove off into the deeper waters, disappearing under the harsh waves.

Oh god.
What was he up to?

(Sorry it took so long, guys. My muse has been all "Lolwut? What be English?" lately when I sit down to write. :| To prevent another looong lull, you can now post as much as you want between each round xD Also, if you want, you can send prefs. Not necessary though <3)