BEACH EPISODE

[19:48] <Odin> After a rather troubling series of events leading to the realization that the Black Lodge member who's plans had occasionally been foiled by the team had coincidentally shown up again at their vacation spot, it's time to completely ignore the possible threat of danger, and relax on the beach.
[19:50] <Odin> A couple days of beach shopping and snack cooler gathering later, and the team is ready to head out. The latest headline has been about the Atlantis Foundation Archealogical Dig Site, which was attacked by an alarmingly strong spirit. Given the isolation of the location, and the sheer amount of stun flying around, only a single camera managed to record a manifested Crusader suplexing a security guard into a table of
[19:50] <Odin> priceless cultural artifacts.
[19:51] <Odin> (Given that spirits don't show up on camera unless they want to, you're not entirely certain why this one camera managed to record anything, but it's a slow news day and they play it CONSTANTLY.)
[19:52] <Odin> (Aria asks if she can go with on the raid, since "If I get splattered that just means I can look for Sonata in the metaplanes!"
[19:52] <Odin> )
[19:53] <Nemi> And so it's on to a beautiful Athenian beach for at least part of the gang. Having opted to go out early, before the worst of the day's heat hits, one Caroline 'Cassie' Naumann's headed on for the sands, a cooler under an arm and a sunshade and folding chair in the other. Wrapped loosely in a towel, in flip-flops and floppy hat, the tall pale Teutonic terror's one-piece with wrap skirt is
[19:53] <Nemi> trying to be as unshowy as she can, direct contrast to the rest of her flamboyant team.
[19:53] <Odin> Finally though, the preparations are complete. Swimsuits are purchased. Sun screen is located. Umbrella rental is paid for. Giant fluffy towels are found. Snack cooler loaded with snacks.
[19:53] <Nemi> Yes. It's time for a day off. Finally.
[20:04] <Odin> The sun is a bright blue, any smog pushed inland by the wind. The bright, glittering waters of the mediterranean welcome you, lapping gently against soft white sand.
[20:05] <Nemi> Much nicer than the beaches that Cassie's familiar with, outside that Spring Break run down to southern France.. Cassie tosses her folding chair down, cooler and umbrella, and plops herself down. Aah~.
[20:06] <Odin> Further across the water you see a naval vessel that looks just slightly more armed than a gunboat, and far to the east and the west are concrete fences ringed with wire and gun turrets.... but those are only distant specs. The beach is already crowded with a number of families out for the day, children, couples, and everyone under the sun who wishes to relax.
[20:06] <Odin> Although the sun is bright and warm, in between the wind and the spray it's not unbearably hot.
[20:08] <Nemi> Cass /needed/ this. The sun's a bit more than her paleness can take, even with sunblock, so she's not likely to stray from her umbrella much.
[20:08] <Shoka> "Oh. Hello again... Miss Cassie?" Cassie had plopped herself next to Weaver, who was looking vaguely... uncomfortable. Hawiian t-shirt, khaki shorts, and a set of sandles (that were setting off to the side) was a far cry from Weaver's normal, more professional look. He was currently "relaxing" in a folding chair that also sat underneath an umbrella. Off to the side, a beach volleyball game had started. A familiar, hyperactive spirit
[20:08] <Shoka> was aggressively playing one side of the field.
[20:10] <Nemi> "Caroline, yeah, Cassie's just an old nickname I've had for a while that I started using again.. Hey." Cass lowers her sunglasses just enough to peek at Weaver and offer a grin. Her blue eyes are pretty intense- possibly cybereyes? But they suit her well.
[20:15] * Allie is also playing volleyball, the blonde catgirl strapped into a pretty typical "that *counts* as swimwear?" style of bikini. She matches Aira leap for leap and spike for spike, giggling her head off all the while. Her California-native tan suits her well to the climate.
[20:15] <Shoka> "Miss Caroline then. I believe the proper, english greeting is 'Fancy meeting you here', but I doubt this is just mere circumstance." His voice carried a bit of a russian accent. "I should have known something was up when Aira had woke me at a dark hour to head out here." A sigh, followed by him slinking back into his chair and sliding a set of sunglasses from his head over his face. A small UI opened up on the glasses. "I feel the
[20:15] <Shoka> need to apologize once again. I'm sorry."
[20:17] <Nemi> "Oh, pft. It's nothing." Her accent's not amazingly strong. Berliner, yes, but not so strong. So much about her is in such sharp contrast to Allie- barring her frankly incredible bodytype, anyway. Cassie puts on a wry smirk. "Something 'up?' Going to the beach isn't THAT horrible, is it?"
[20:24] <Shoka> Weaver glanced over to his spirit, then back to Cassie. "I'm not one who's friendly with the heat, being from Russia. I wouldn't have come here normally, but..." Weaver glanced over his spirit. "I'm being dragged around by the whims of others. I'm just glad that she's finally decided on some normal clothing, so I don't have to beat the men off her with both hands." He turned back to Cassie and waved a hand at her, which trailed with
[20:24] <Shoka> a bit of ice crystals. It then reached into plastic bag, pulling out a beer from a local stuffer shack, holding it out to her as an offering.
[20:26] <Nemi> "I'm German and I literally catch fire if I'm in the sun too long. I get you." Cassie smirks. "You're used to being tugged around by others, huh? You gotta beat the men off, I get it, sure.." How awful. "Teasing aside- danke sehr." She takes the beer. Knowing Cazador's gotten her to at least accept cheap beer. "And uh, normal? You uh, looked at her recently?"
[20:27] <Shoka> The beer was magically cold. Weaver fished out another one from the bag, brown eyes rolling at her jokes behind his shades. "Normal is relative. If you were here an hour earlier..." He shakes his head. "I thought the beach was supposed to be relaxing?"
[20:30] <Nemi> "I think it's plenty relaxing. I think I might join the volleyball in a minute, actually.. Just long as I keep the salt off, you know."
[20:32] <Nemi> ".. also, uh, did you look at her recently?"
[20:32] <Shoka> Weaver takes a look at his spirit.
[20:37] <Odin> The mildly conservative two piece has gradually shrunk like a nanomaterial fabric (Or manamaterial fabric, as the case may be) until what remains is a mere few triangles, the area of which could be calculated in centimeters. As the ball lands on the opposite side of the predominately male court, she jumps in a way that promises much more lax attention from the enemy team.
[20:37] <Odin> Considering her team also features a hyperactive catgirl wearing barely better, it's a wonder the boys and men alike aren't rushing into the cold water.
[20:39] <Nemi> Cass just laughs and finishes her beer. "I think I'll try and make it more fair on the other team. What d'you think?"
[20:41] <Shoka> Weaver bolted up right, tossing his unopened beer into his chair. "I think I'll be back in a second." Weaver stomps over to the volleyball court with an angry yell for his spirit.
[20:42] <Odin> Your angry yell distracts her, and the ball drops to her feet. "Whaaaaaaaat?"
[20:42] <Nemi> Teutonic cackling follows Weaver thataway.
[20:46] <Shoka> Weaver would proceed to grab his spirit by the ear and drag her off the court for a stern lecture about proper beach wear, with the most intimidating glances he can manage towards the men on court. It ends with Weaver taking off his shirt and putting it over his spirit, and him fuming back over to his seat, grabbing his beer, then plopping into his seat. "At least she can't transform /that/. I'm glad the other one isn't here -- I
[20:46] <Shoka> don't have enough shirts to modestly cover the both of them."
[20:48] <Nemi> "You're not too bad looking with your shirt off yourself, you know." Cass lets THAT hang as she rises from her seat and ambles on over to the court to fill the spot just vacated by Aira. One-piece with wrap skirt, HARDLY as much exposed skin, but.. yeah, her bodytype's ridiculous, so there's still that.
[20:49] <Odin> By the end of the lecture, the somewhat contrite being has manifested legwear looking more like a swim skirt than the g-string of the prior appeareance. She looks at Cass, semingly not surprised to see her, and at the end of the badgering she takes up position on the other side from th teutonic wunderwoman.
[20:50] <Nemi> Cass taps her knuckles together, stretches a bit, and grins. "Aaaalright. Been a while since I played, go easy on me?"
[20:53] <Odin> While the Allie-Cat takes a break, the spirit serves an easy ball, slowly floating to the other side.
[20:53] <Shoka> Weaver himself was slightly red in the cheeks after having his elven body commented on. 'I must be getting sunburnt.' was his thoughts as he opened up his cheap beer and resumed his matrix-browsing.
[20:55] <Odin> The local trix is already full of memes regarding Crusader-Suplexing.
[20:55] <Nemi> Pale and platinum blonde in this kind of sun is a recipe for disaster, but it seems Cass is willing to take the risk. She nimbly shifts across the sand to return the ball with a high lob that briefly eclipses the pale Mediterranean sun.
[20:58] <Odin> One of the teammates sets it for the spirit, clasps wrists bouncing the ball high up for Aira to spike down.
[20:59] <Nemi> ".. awjeez-" Cass puts that body to WORK and DIVES to receive the spike. The ball poings high into the air off her outstretched clasped hands, though it looks to be coming down still on her and Allie's side of the court..!
[21:01] <Shoka> Seeing those memes was enough to cause Weaver to shift away onto something less Guimar related. Even thinking about him had the capability of pulling him up, and the last thing Weaver needed was that weirdo joining the fray. Or any of the other spirits that hung around him, for that matter.
[21:03] <Odin> A stranger returns the ball, curved swimwear flashing in the bright sun as the ball goes in another high arc to Aira's side, which is returned by a few teammates without the Spirit's intervention.
[21:04] <Nemi> "Hrrf- danke schon-" Cass fumbles up to standing, shedding white sand from her swimsuit as she goes, to try and run back to get in position and set the stranger for a spike!
[21:05] <Odin> Which is delivered with a resounding smash to the other side, denting the sand.
[21:05] <Odin> Aira's teammate serves, something a little stronger than the last easy lob.
[21:06] <Nemi> Cass gawks at the stranger on her side- enough that she nearly misses the incoming ball, just BARELY reacting enough to knock it up and JUST over the net.
[21:07] <Nemi> Just who is this mysterious stranger?
[21:08] <Odin> Aira bobs it up for a teammate to smash, the stranger setting it up and giving you a look at a face almost identical to Aira except from the palette swap of her eyes, hair, and skin.
[21:10] <Nemi> And that just makes Cass /blink/ - this must be Sonata, then! Before swiveling over to leap high in the air and slam jam the ball down in a spike that's.. not amazingly well-aimd, really, being a bit close to Aira.
[21:13] <Odin> Who lets it fall to the ground, rushing forward so quickly she forgets she's pretending to be human, as she hugs her twin. The both of them keen in such a loud and high pitch that Weaver's beer trembles threatengingly.
[21:14] <Nemi> Cass takes a few steps back, wincing and putting one hand up to an ear. Okay then.
[21:15] <Allie> Seated on the sidelines, Allie's ears are flat against her head WITH her hands on top of them and she's STILL looking like she wants to stick her head in the sand.
[21:18] <Shoka> Weaver looks up from his matrix browsing to see (and hear) Sonata had finally come back. A smile briefly flashed over his face, before being replaced with a stern look, yelling at the two from across the beach. "Sonata! Aira!" His tone obviously told them to 'cut it out', before smiling and opening his arms for a hug from his reformed spirit.
[21:19] <Odin> They blur over for a glomp before blurring back to the court, on opposite sides. Aira gestures for Allie to join her, while Sonata stands with Cass.
[21:21] <Allie> Flicking her ears several times to get the residual ringing out, she pulls herself back to her feet and scoots over near Aira.
[21:21] <Nemi> ".. well that's one way to do it. Um. welcome back, Sonata..?"
[21:23] <Shoka> Weaver returns to his seat. Hopefully Sonata, being the older sister, has a better sense of dress code.
[21:24] <Odin> "Thank you!" "Wards hurt!"
[21:24] <Odin> Great. They're back to dual sing-song finishing each other's sentences too.
[21:24] <Nemi> ".. Can't say I've ever experienced that. Still." Cass grins. "Let's play."
[21:24] <Odin> No time to worry about that though,as Aira tosses the ball to Allie, intending for her to serve.
[21:28] <Allie> She winks at the spirit, then heaves the ball two stories into the air, leaving ten feet up herself and smashing it across the net.
[21:32] <Nemi> Cass is just kind of standing there with arms out like '/come on/ seriously?' as she just gawks at THAT serve
[21:34] <Odin> Now that the game has started for real, the spirits sort of abandon their mundane pretenses and LEAP into the air, hammering and rallying away.
[21:35] <Nemi> At least Cass can still contribute, as she always does. She has a good tactical sense and amazing reflexes, so while she can't fly, she can at least play the ground game- and well at that.
[21:38] <Odin> And it's a ground game that is sorely needed as heavy spikes and nigh-flying players mean SOMEONE has to take the dives. The mundanes slowly filter out of the game, unable to keep up with the high level wired and magical play.
[21:39] * Allie is perfectly willing to dive too--though honestly, in her case, it sometimes looks more like pouncing.
[21:40] <Nemi> For a stinkin' mundie, Cass is doing pretty well- at the very least, she's keeping up. Her absurd speed and reaction times combined with finely honed 100% German Power help a LOT in terms of setting up Sonata for spikes or drives.
[21:43] <Odin> Which she's made excellent tactical usage of, but between the physad and the spirit, they've kept the ball in the air, and on the rare few times it has fallen the point lead has been quickly corrected.
[21:45] <Nemi> At the very least volleyball rules do dictate the ball must contact within the court for a score to count. That alone makes Cass valuable. And now that competitive drive's taken hold, and the Berlin bombshell's not gonna stop kicking until the heat drives her off the court and back into the shade- or until victory's in her grasp.
[21:50] <Odin> The game is hard fought, and the spectators crow and caw for each side. A good number of them are recording. Seems even on vacation, you can't escape the lens.
[21:56] * Allie milks it for the multitude of cameras, practically flirting with every device recording them.
[21:59] <Nemi> It's very hard-fought- a tie game, with enough displays of the superhuman (and of course, visual appeal) to draw anyone's eye. When it comes down to the very last volley, it's a monstrous spike down from an airborne Allie that SHOULD have won it.. Had Cass not displayed an impressive degree of agility and speed, sliding in with a whoomph of loose sand to catch the ball with a wrist. It panged
[21:59] <Nemi> up, hovering in the air as if in slow motion and eclipsing the sun above, before Sonata slammed it home like a rifle round, leaving a crater on ALlie and Aria's side of the net.
[21:59] <Nemi> Victory.
[22:00] <Allie> Allie displays at least a modicum of good sportsmanship, whining only playfully and giving Carrie a hug, and offering one to Sonata too.
[22:03] <Nemi> Red-faced, sweating and caked with sand, Cass pushes herself up to standing in time to return the hug with one of her own. Aria, if she'll take it, gets one in turn. "/Good game/, you guys."
[22:08] <Allie> "THAT WAS SO FUN!" She practically dances around the German girl. "Oh my God we should try that again later! Maybe even at home! Just without the beach 'cause y'know the water back home's scary as hell. But this isn't! I'm gonna go get in the water, WHO'S WITH ME?!"
[22:11] <Nemi> "I'M WITH YOU. Cuz I'm still PUMPED and HOT BLOODED and COVERED IN SAND."
[22:16] <Allie> "It's mostly the sand, isn't it?" she grins.
[22:18] <Nemi> "And the sweat." Cass smirks and turns to trot on down toward the clean pure ocean. "Kinda acts like sand-glue. I've got a sand wedgie, I've got sand all wedged down my top and basically everything is suffering."
[22:23] <Allie> She nods in sympathy. "I have sand in my ears. IN MY EARS. I got so excited about playing the game that I forgot this always happens."
[22:26] <Nemi> "Hey, me too." Cass trots on down to the shoreline and wades in, bracing for the gentle waves that buffet her as she goes in deeper!
[22:31] <Allie> As Allie is nearly a foot shorter, she has to resort to wading and actual swimming far earlier than Cass does--though she makes it look easy, strong strokes making her glide through the water almost as easily as the spirits through the air.
[22:34] <Nemi> Cass is a pretty strong swimmer, but here she's just content to swim out a bit and /relax/, letting the water was sediment out of tricky places and otherwise just lounging about. Today was a good day. She'll be bright red for the next two days, but still good.
[22:36] * Allie splashes her!
[22:37] <Nemi> ".. wah hey!" Cass mpphs, hmphs at the water plastering her platinum-blonde hair to her scalp, and promptly splashes Allie right back, uncaring of any spectators still gawking at them after the volleyball game.
[22:39] <Allie> She giggles furiously again, splashing Cass back, then ducking under the water and swimming around to avoid the return splashing. For someone based on a housecat she sure doesn't seem to share their disdain for water.
[22:40] <Nemi> Maybe she's more like a Bengal cat? Cass hmphs again, not bothered at- for once- dropping her stone-cold hardass mask for some good-natured horseplay with someone she's since decided is a good friend.
[22:44] <Allie> Eventually even Allie tires, trying to float on her back in the water. She's too lean, though, and in spite of her best efforts her feet fall and drag on the ground in the shallower areas.
[22:46] <Nemi> Cass sinks like a rock when she tries to float. Too much internal 'ware screwing up her body density, presumably. So eventually, dripping wet, she starts on back out of the water, waving to Allie good-naturedly. "We really do gotta play again. Proooobably not in LA's beaches, but I'm sure we can find somewhere with a good indoor court..!"
[22:48] * Allie follows her out. "They've got a couple at school, so like, if you ever just wanna come play, hit me up, y'know? And since Weaver's on staff there, we might even be able to, like, get Aira and Sonata to play again too!"
[22:50] <Nemi> "... heeey sounds good! We'll have to talk about that later- I went to uni down uh.. well, pretty far off from LA, so.." Cass eventually makes her way to her chair, ducking well out of the burning hate-orb in the sky's gaze.
[22:51] <Allie> The more blonde blonde flops down onto her own towel out in the sun. Damn tan folks.
[22:52] <Nemi> More blonde blonde? Cass is pale, platinum blonde, and blue-eyed. She's about as blonde as is humanly possible. There IS a slight pang of jealousy about her inability to tan, but c'est la vie.