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Scene Title | Swimming At Sunset |
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Synopsis | Summer shenanigans unfold when rowdy ex-pirates decide to recreate a fighting ring in the middle of the 'Pelago. More than just the ex-pirates take part. |
Date | June 9, 2021 |
The Archipelago of Manhattan
After the Sentinel came and went and the schism between once-united pirate factions broke out, resulting in the dissenting side of that faction to take over the emptied Palisade Sills, the formerly open-to-'all' den of iniquity became a little awkward to visit for some. Rather than risk rousing more than grumbles, when the mood strikes for revelry, sometimes impromptu rings of ships form in an attempt to capture all the same energy found in the Sills.
Up to and including its fighting ring.
The sun isn't so low in the sky yet that torches are lit or generators fired up purely from a practical standpoint, but the time nears. The summer horizon shines purple and red as the golden hour nears its end, and a rowdy band of former pirates gathered on one of the five ships making up the ring throw their fists in the air and holler cheers and jeers alike for their favored fighters facing off on an unsteady piece of flotsam in the water below.
"Come on, Oni! Fucking hit 'im!" one man roars raucously.
The driftwood Asi is perched upon threatens to sink with any digging of weight down into it, threatens to keel to one side or the other if either party standing on it leans too far to one side. The two of them are wielding oars, and the name of the game is to bat the enemy off and manage to stay standing after they tumble down.
So far, none have managed to do both, and so the pot has only grown larger. Asi herself is dripping water from where she tumbled into the drink, boarded a ship to imbibe more alcohol, only to swim back out braver and bolder than before.
The man across from her has a mess of red-brown hair that's miraculously dry despite the swim out, and bears his old, gnarled oar deftly. His green-grey eyes gleam in the light of the setting sun as he stamps a foot forward, tensing like he might swing, but he instead holds. Asi doesn't flinch, instead barking out a bold laugh.
"Don't trip!" she advises him, squaring herself low. "落ちないでくれ!" The small Japanese woman is slurring with all the glee of someone having the time of their lives. "まだやる気が—" She swings low at his knees with the blade of her oar rather than the flat of it. "ある!"
The bartender from one of the holes in the wall in a nearby skyscraper watches on from the ship opposite the rowdy pirates with a scoffing sigh, resigned to watch to the end regardless. They scratch at the side of their nose before looking across the 'bar' made up of a long board across stacked crates they were granted in bringing their business out here tonight for. "Got plenty more left here," they call out to those nearby as well as anyone in earshot on another boat. Planks connect them all together for now, mostly sturdy pathways from ledge to ledge of the anchored vessels. The radio on their bar is drowned out momentarily when they raise their voice again. "Plenty to drink to enjoy your fight by or drown your woes with when you lose your baubles!"
The alcohol they distill comes chilled, cooled by the hand of an assistant they're glad to have on during the summer months. "Guaranteed to get you drunk enough you think that's a good idea!" they whoop, not even needing to gesture to the fight to mention it.
Oh, I see a man in the back as a matter of fact
His eyes are as red as the sun
And the girl in the corner that no one ignores
’Cause she thinks she’s the passionate one
On the outskirts of the violet rabble rousing that is the fighting ring, Roux stands silent. A puzzled and certain look rests on her face as she watches Asi with no small amount of disdain - not for the woman, but rather for the needless violence. The cup of water she holds in hand begs a question she doesn't have an answer to:
Why is she even here?
With a glance over, her eyes fall on Kendall, and she remembers why. This was no place for a wallflower like herself, but still there is a sort of infectious joy to be had in the festivities. The sort that pushes just enough through the uneasiness she feels to bring a small smile to her face. After years of being at the Ark, on the sea, and hiding away at Nadira's, it was nice to see such raw celebratory happiness.
Celebrating what she doesn't know, but for once maybe it doesn't matter. "Hey," she asks to whoever can hear her, face scrunched in questioning curiosity. "What language is she speaking, anyway?"
"Japanese." Kendall replies promptly, outing himself as what was once known as a weeaboo back in the days when such beasts existed. He, for one, is more than happy to be here, because it's like a real life fighting game. Plus, life gets boring doing the same things day after day. "Know it's not much your thing, but it's at least a little exciting, right?"
Perhaps in some demonstration of solidarity, he too has a simple cup of water, but that might change later. "What do you think, should I challenge the winner?" he asks her with a grin as he watches the fight, enjoying the taunting going on almost as much. "Maybe I can even manage not to get my ass kicked. I might have an advantage, even. Would you cheer me on?" he bats his eyes innocently in Roux's direction.
Watching fights is something Silas finds interesting now and again. It's not a pastime that always appeals to him — he has to be in the right kind of mood for it — but every now and again he learns something new from watching, which is always a good thing.
He sips his booze slowly. Chilled rotgut is still rotgut, after all, and besides, someone needs to be at least mostly sober at the end of the night. So for now, he watches the fight silently, his expression pensive.
Ten years ago, this entire situation would have been Nadira's scene. While time and experiences have built her into a different person, some things remain the same. A social event with some alcohol and friends with a touch of excitement is exactly something she's always up for. In this particular case, though, she has a mission on top of seeking out revelry. Her small boat safely docked a distance away, the woman makes a beeline in the direction of familiar faces—Kendall and Roux. A small box is securely held in hand, resting against her stomach to make certain it's not lost or dropped.
"I am glad you are both out having fun. Or you at least will be shortly if you are not now." Grinning, Nadira stops next to them. "If you do not find what you are looking for, we shall make our own fun." The box is extended in Kendall's direction. "Do not think I forgot."
“She’s going to win.” Squeaks voice carries an open confidence that matches the intent way she watches the fight. Like seeing a childhood hero in action for the first time — even though it isn’t the first time she’s watched Asi fight. Her face turns toward Silas, eyes following a beat and a half later to angle up at the man. Her brows knit a little, maybe misreading the look he’s wearing. Or maybe wondering if he’s seen something she missed.
Her mouth opens then closes again before words can form. Whatever questions the teen might have in mind are abandoned as abruptly as her thoughts whirl back to the fight. She might have missed something, and if she’s not watching closely then Asi could still lose. Her swing back to the melee as she leans forward on her perch for a better view.
Sucking in a breath, Asi's opponent cycles a step back, just barely avoiding being taken out at the shins. A knifelike grin curls up the corner of his mouth for this small victory, and he takes the sturdy wooden oar in a downward motion, then shoves and sweeps it straight up in an attempt to punish Asi for her step forward.
"C'mon, Spades, I've got money on this," someone calls out almost lazily, almost unheard under the din from the pirate ship. "Hurry up!"
Asi barely manages to pull her head back in time to avoid getting clocked in the chin, but at the sacrifice to her balance. She wobbles, letting go of her oar with one hand for the sake of waving her other arm to keep her balance. She opts in the end to take another brave step forward, whirling the oar around her head boldly in a strike sent for her opponent's chest.
There's nowhere to lean away for that, so he leans into it, trying to take as much of it to the arm instead of across the chest. With a frenzied cry, he lunges to return fire, and the driftwood begins to slowly spin uncertainly in the water as it wobbles. The once-pirates raucously shout advice from the sidelines, such as they are, excited by the vigor the two engage each other with, rather than cautiously-footed dances they've seen from others.
Oh yeah! It was like lightning
Everybody was frightening
And the music was soothing
And they all started grooving
"Oh. I wonder if she went to Japan with…" Roux pauses, looking over towards Silas with a wide smile, before turning her attention back to the battle happening on the driftwood before them. When Asi strikes her opponent in the chest Roux leans forward, eyes widening as she watches. This is much more exciting than she wants to admit.
"Kick his butt!" she shouts in a cheer, before shirking back against the surface behind her. It's enough to distract her from the box that is being handed out to Kendall by Nadira, suddenly enthralled by the fighting.
At least, until what Kendall has to say catches up to her. "What?!" Her gaze snaps over to him, eyes somehow managing to grow wider. "No! It's way too violent! I'll never forgive you!"
"Eh?" Kendall is distracted from watching the fight due to a box being held out to him, and he tilts his head quizzically at Nadira. "What's this f- oh." It's his birthday, isn't it. Curiously, he opens it, pulling out plastic bags of Legos. "Aw, come on, I'm not a little kid!"
His riveted gaze on the colorful plastic pieces and fingers reaching to rip open a bag give lie to it, however. The bag does not, in fact, get opened, because this is not the time nor the place to start playing with children's toys, especially where people can see. "Guess you found it under da sea, huh, explains the lack of instruction manuals. Well, thank you! I'm sure I'll figure it out." He gives her a quick hug, then nudges her towards the fight.
"Placing a bet?" He grins at her, then snickers over at Roux who is suddenly more interested in that than toys Kendall just received, and he elbows Nadira, jerking his head towards Roux. Isn't that cute. "I was thinking of maybe taking on the winner. Might be her, by the look of things." He gestures to Asi next at that, but then Roux vetoes it. "Aw, it's not like it's to the death or anything, I'd be fine."
"Hopefully!" he agrees with Squeaks' comment. "She fights like a yokai, drunk or sober," he says cheerily.
He catches Roux's gaze when his own sweeps across the crowd again, and he flashes her a grin in return, along with a nod. He'll have to catch up with Roux at some point before all is said and done… but that'll be for later, after the fight's over. He looks back just in time to see the red-haired fighter put Aces off-balance, but she manages to regain her footing. Silas grimaces.
"You got this, Aces!" he calls, studying the fight. Spades is a pretty crafty one, though, he'll give him that. On the one hand, it's unfortunate that these two had to go up against each other — either way he's going to end up losing some money. On the other hand, he's not exactly hurting for money at the moment… and there's no arguing that the two of them are putting on a helluva show.
Captain Destiny leans over the rail of the ship, not far from the knot of those cheering for Aces, a bottle of whatever in hand. “C’mon, Spades!” she crows to the combatants. “You got this! You’ve! Got! This!” The enthusiastic little woman unintentionally mirrors Silas’ encouragement to her on-again-off-again crewmate, swinging her bottle to punctuate those last three words.
"I am fairly certain I saw a lightsaber in one of those bags," Nadira notes. Perhaps he's not a little kid, but from the way she sees him eye the legos—it's a present he's going to appreciate and use. The woman does, however, turn her attention to the fight as she pulls a very unpolished silver flask from somewhere. Unscrewing the top, she takes a delicate sip from it before assessing the fighters.
"Whomever is the underdog is who I am going to cheer for," she says, glancing over towards where it seems like the betting is going on. "Which of them has the odds stacked against them?" She calls, a sly smile on her face. "I am certain I can fish up something to bet."
The way Asi whispers "Shit," under her breath can be felt rather than heard as the driftwood begins to sink to one side, threatening to tip owing to the way she's over-invaded her opponent's space. Spades notices, too, his weight closer to the edge than hers is, and shoves her roughly back with the length of his oar.
His audible grunt to shrug her back is met with a ferocious shout in return as Asi fights to not stumble her way off the makeshift platform, staggering and widening her stance. A thoughtful look passes over her when she stabilizes, and she shifts her right foot behind her, holding the oar more with one hand, probing forward with the tip of it.
Her opponent screws his brow up in confusion at the lightness of her attempted invasion to his personal space, batting the enemy oar away nonetheless. Calmly, determinedly, she persists and attempts again. And again. His eyes narrow, and after one such deflection, he follows up with an immediate, powerful swing high. Given their height difference…
"Oh, boy," the bartender loudly doesn't bother masking their murmur.
And the man in the back said “Everyone attack!”
And it turned into a ballroom blitz
And the girl in the corner said “Boy, I wanna warn you”
It’ll turn into a ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz
"Oh, looks like I might've guessed wrong." Kendall comments, eyes on the fight again as he tucks the box under his arm. "Actually I have no idea who's gonna win now." Which, in a way, makes it more exciting. The names being yelled out draws a snorted laugh from him, and he shakes his head. "What is this, poker?" Pity Kendall didn't actually have anything to bet this time around, why is he always broke? Nadira's offer brings up a bright grin. "Well you know water better than anyone!"
Speaking of which. A glance downwards, and Kendall realizes something is missing. Oh, shoot, he got distracted by the box and lost it again. He holds his hand out and the cup he had earlier reappears. He looks at the bartender, then over at Nadira, and holds the empty cup out to her instead. Mooom, I'm thirsty.
“Oh heck!” Destiny pauses with her bottle halfway to her lips, watching with wide eyes as Asi changes tactics entirely. And if it plays out the way she’s expecting it to… The little blonde stands up on her toes and cranes her neck, turning toward the bar without taking her eye off the action. “Better ready up some ice!”
Nadira gives Kendall a flat look, though it is tempered by an amused smile tugging at one corner of her mouth. “Careful, none of this is watered down,” the woman warns—though at this point with her it barely even needs to be said. She pours a small amount of the dark colored liquid into the offered cup before she screws the cap back on.
The noises from the spectators draw her attention back to the fight at hand and she raises an eyebrow at the new tactic. “Now this I like. A change of pace.” Despite her relative calm, there’s clearly a restrained excitement behind her eyes as she watches.
Silas falls silent now, watching. The pace has changed. Spades might be able to get this back under control… but that's not a bet Silas would take. He knows how dogged Aces gets when she's after something. He leans forward just a bit, watching in silent anticipation.
Squeaks’ seat becomes a perch of which she can stand on. Feet plant at the very edge and a hand grips Silas’ shoulder for balance as she watches the battling. “Oh man… someone is going to eat it…”
Oh shit. Kendall was expecting Nadira to give him water just to mess with him, but instead, she gave him some of her booze just to mess with him! Kendall beams brightly at her, and lifts the cup up in a toast to her, then.. judiciously sips it. There isn’t a whole lot, after all, gotta make it count!
“Watered down, har har, that’ll never get old.” The 20-something rolls his eyes ostentatiously in her direction, though finishes off with a smile. “Still think it’s cool you can just take water out of something and make it better.” Well, not everything. There’s a few things that water should never, ever be taken out of. Like people! That’d be messy. Or like that scene from The Mummy.
But there is a fight afoot! “Yeah, things aren’t looking too hot for her now. Makes me glad I’m too broke to have put out a bet myself. Too late now anyway, right? Can’t make bets as you watch someone get their ass handed to them.” Given it contains something rarer than water now, Kendall makes sure to keep the cup solid even as he returns his attention to the fight.
"HYAGH!"
Up Spades' oar went swinging, all of his weight behind it for the sake of knocking Asi senseless with a shot to the side of her head. But she's used her height to her advantage, and now she shoves back hard with the tip of her oar against his chest, stepping forward and low and thrusting back against his sternum.
She's not fenced in years, the handle of the oar is supported by her other hand, helping put more force behind the lunge. But the general shape of the posture is there and present as Spades sucks in a breath, his overswing— his hubris— unsteadying his feet. His green-grey eyes flit to Asi's, and for just a moment his whole form seems to flicker, the light of sunset passing through him and hitting her—
But maybe she's just drunk. Maybe it's just because he's falling, landing in a horrendous, ungraceful splash off the back end of the makeshift platform, and she's shouting again as she struggles to keep her footing herself without his weight to counterbalance her.
Shit, it's a good thing she was near enough the middle of it when he went sailing off. Her arms flail out to her side, her expression the flatter side of blank, brow screwed in focus. But she stays in the middle.
And the sideline of once-pirates erupt anew as Asi slowly pushes herself to her feet. She joins them with a scream of her own as she hoists both arms into the air victoriously. Her laughter abates and she walks closer to the ledge to look down at her opponent in the water, who's just resurfaced, tossing his head to the side to clear his eyes.
She offers him her hand, grinning. He reaches up to take it, even though he's better off heading for the sideline. "Guess the better Ace wins," she tells him then in a voice that doesn't carry.
Green-grey eyes narrow with sudden venom, and his hand tightens around Asi's forearm to haul her forward with a jerk and send her sprawling into the water as well. When she comes up laughing his mood doesn't abate, and he kicks away to seek out drier land. In turn, she rotates in a circle in the water until she sights Silas, who she was apparently looking for, as she throws both hands into the air and joyously proclaims with a splash of water, as though it were not already apparent, "Told y' I'd fuckin' sweep 'em!"
It’s, it’s a ballroom blitz
It’s, it’s a ballroom blitz
It’s, it’s a ballroom blitz
Yeah, it’s a ballroom blitz!
That was “Ballroom Blitz” by Tia Carerre, off the Wayne’s World soundtrack vinyl - anyone out there remember that movie? I never saw it. Anyway, that was Ballroom Blitz, and this is the Voice of the Tower, DJ Lancelot, coming atcha over the airwaves!
Silas watches silently, not giving any reaction beyond a silent nod at Squeaks's assertion — that much seems to be a given. Silas waits for the end to play out.
Aces doesn't make him wait long. Spades goes in hard and misses, and Aces knocks him right in the chest. Silas's eyes widen as the blow strikes home and…
…and Spades goes into the drink.
Silas frowns for a moment, eyes narrowing… but when Aces keeps her footing and wins the day, the cheering is loud enough and all-consuming enough that even he can't help but smile. Silas's smile broadens still more as he realizes that yes, Aces just won the prize, which means he's won a bet.
Spades loses points for poor form — dragging Aces into the water like that — but if she's not mad he isn't going to be either. "Hell yeah!" he shouts back, pumping a fist and grinning.
Kendall cheers when the fight reaches its climax, and when both of them end up in the water he laughs. Finishing his drink, Kendall tosses it to the ground where it disappears, then gives a glance to Roux next to him. She said no, but… she's not the boss of him! To reaffirm his decision, he looks over to Nadira, who is enjoying the fight more than the other, then impulsively jumps forward onto the platform.
"New challenger takes on the winner, right?" he calls over, though there's a flicker of doubt. He hasn't ever done this before, but how hard could it be? He used to be great at fighting games!
"I remember that movie," is an absent remark from Roux, so enraptured by the violence in front of her that she had lost awareness of her surroundings. It's only when Kendall calls out from next her that she snaps back to reality, eyes widening.
"What! No!" Roux's face scrunches in anger as she grabs at Kendall and tugs at his sleeve - but rather than pull him back, the motion pulls her forward, leaving her crying out as she suddenly finds herself fighting to right her balance and not fall into the water around them.
Looks like she won't be stopping him after all, huddling back with her arms around her midsection as she stares down for a long moment.
A hand moves to rest on Roux’s shoulder, perhaps to comfort, perhaps to steady. The movement is casual, though, and Nadira calls no attention to it as her amused smile turns into more of a grin. “Not that I do not believe in you, Kendall, but I shall be cheering for your opposition. As an incentive, of course, for you to try and prove me wrong.”
The dark haired woman casts her glance in the direction of the fight’s winner. “Need a drink, if you would like to go again? I can make sure it is strong.”
Asi flops back into the water, head lifting toward the darkening skies as Kendall states his challenge, even if his friends are discouraging as much as encouraging him in equal part. She gasps out a sigh, shaking her head as she comes back up. "Water!" she exclaims boldly, instead of an alcoholic drink she'd prefer. She was drinking for fun and for brawling before, but she recognizes her limits, and the encroaching deadening of spatial perception now that her adrenaline is wearing off. "When I come back up."
Because like hell she'll not accept the challenge. "What's one more spar?" she calls up to Kendall. Then she's lobbing her oar up onto the rotating platform, and kicking back from it while holding onto its edge to pull it better between the ring of ships again. "But if you trick my eyes, it's not a win, and I'm not gonna forgive you. Those aren't the rules here."
Some others might not know Kendall's tricks, but she's seen enough of them before. Or at least heard enough of them.
Pulling herself first up onto a forearm, she crawls back up onto the platform, tempted to lay there and laze for a while while Kendall makes his way over. She at least comes to a slightly-submerged sit on it and remains there, waiting.
"Here," Spades says to Kendall as he climbs aboard the ship, throwing his oar up to the younger challenger. Then he turns away, and with a roll of his shoulders, water sluices its way off him to a small puddle on the ground. His clothes don't look entirely dry, but his hair certainly is as he stalks away to Destiny and the drink waiting for him there.
It doesn’t matter what Spades cost Destiny by losing that match. She’s ready for him with a smile that borders on shy and a bottled beverage that might get him drunk if he has enough of them. “Don’t feel bad,” she tells her sometimes-deckhand with a nudge of her elbow. “She’s a beast, and that’s why they call her the Oni.”
The tiny blonde’s lips press together to suppress a peal of laughter. “I know it makes you a sore loser that you pulled her into the water like that, but…” The way her blue eyes sparkle tells him what he needs to know. Des thought it was funny.
She isn’t quite sure when she got that hint of an impish streak.
"Wow, that's rude as hell, you know that?" Kendall complains over to Nadira, though he gives Roux an apologetic look when she lunged for him and almost ended up in the water herself, but Nadira's there to make sure she doesn't get an impromptu bath. "I'll be fine!" he repeats to her. "Couple bruises at most!" He points at the Legos Nadira gave him earlier that he had set down next to where he was standing. "Watch my stuff, this probably won't take long." The last bit was said a little quieter as he realizes it might not be such a good idea after all. Oh well.
That sorted, Kendall turns to go to the platform just in time to fumble the oar tossed his way, though to his credit he doesn’t drop it, at least. "Nah, a fight isn't fun that way, I wouldn't do that unless you were actively trying to kill me." He does seem a little put out that seemingly everyone knows his tricks by now, but he's terrible at keeping secrets like that.
"Physical combat only!" he agrees, and gets in position, watching Asi carefully. The floating platform is a lot less stable than he thought, but maybe he can use that to his advantage.
Silas raises an eyebrow as Kendall decides to jump into the ring. Gutsy, Silas allows, watching him with narrowed eyes. "You got this," he calls to Aces, raising his nearly empty cup in a toast before finishing it.
Then he looks over to Squeaks. "I'm gonna go get some water. Maybe go say hi to Roux and Nadira while I'm at it. Have you met them yet?" he asks, taking a step in the direction of the drinks vendor.
Nadira flashes a grin in Asi's direction. "When you win," she says, pointedly loud for Kendall's benefit, "you'll have all the water you would like." The grin is carried over in Kendall's direction before she casts a glance over at the birthday Legos. "I am certain your belongings will be fine." Crossing her arms over her chest, she gazes in the direction of the new fight—this is her kind of fun.
Roux looks over at Nadira and frowns, clearly having been hoping that the other woman would support in trying to dissuade Kendall from attempting this madness. Instead, she encourages and Roux can't help but be aghast at this turn of events. "He's gonna get himself huuuuurt," she whines, looking to where he squares up against Asi.
Clearly, though, there's nothing to be done for this. It's happening whether she wants it to or not, so with a huffed out breath she looks up at him and narrows her eyes. "If you lose, Kendall, I'm gonna make you regret it!" And now that the threat is delivered, she has to figure out how to make good on it.
Once Kendall gets up onto the unsteady platform, Asi uses the weight of her oar to balance herself as she comes to her feet, too. "Yes," she agrees warmly, nearly singsong from the alcohol. "Physical combat only."
She does not wait for Kendall to signal he's ready. He's here, after all, surely he's ready. Her grin gives away her intention in addition to the lift of the blade of her oar, held in both hands. "さって," she sings to herself, the note of preparation filling the air idly and calmly before she lashes out with a swipe of her oar toward Kendall's bicep, easygoing expression at odds with the force of the swing.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing!" Kendall would react further to being threatened by Roux if he should happen to lose, but that's the point where Asi goes on the offensive. Despite demonstrating his weebness earlier, however, he doesn't actually know any Japanese, so he's not sure how to respond to her challenge(?), giving her a faintly confused look. He wasn't paying attention last time when she started fighting, is there a Japanese thing they're supposed to do to start fighting?
What he can understand, however, is the oar coming at him, and he swings his own up to hit it away, swinging it around to jab at her midsection. "Parry, riposte!" He states, pleased with himself. Nothing tricksy so far.
Asi lets out a distressed laugh. "What is the matter with you!" she shouts in return. She takes part of the hit to her side, the handle end of the oar not shoving it entirely away when she swings it around. "You don't shout your attack."
And then she sort of does just that, taking the lowered blade of the oar and growling with the effort she puts behind an attack at his calves meant to sweep him.
“You know, I often wonder about that about him myself,” Nadira calls playfully. She lets her gaze shift sideways towards Roux. “Do not worry, he will be fine. He is probably going to lose regardless.” Such faith in him! Or perhaps she simply has a high opinion of Asi’s skills.
Squeaks’ attention wanders from Asi’s victory to the newest of challengers. Her brows raise at the familiar face, and for a very short moment she’s distracted with wondering how smart Kendall’s addition to the festivities really is. Silas’ movement and question drag her back before she can travel too far into that rabbit hole and she blinks up at him. “No?” is the teen’s more question than answer. At least if she has met them it was probably more in passing than actually meeting, since more of her time is spent on the Cerberus than in the Pelago. Still, she hops off her perch and trots along after Silas, the battle royale in the water temporarily forgotten.
"Well, now's a good time to fix that," Silas says cheerfully, making his way towards where Nadira and Roux are spectating.
"Nadira! Roux!" he calls, raising his now empty cup in a wave. "Been awhile. How goes?" He grins as he glances to Squeaks. "This is Jac, a friend of mine."
Kendall didn't shout his attack before he did it, of course, that's just dumb. No, he did it right after. But since there were objections to it, fine. But this is just like some kind of fighting game!
As Aces goes for his ankles, he jumps up over it, landing precariously on the shifting platform. He doesn't lose his balance, at least, so that's a good thing. Now, though, he sweeps his oar over to hit her in the chest, and as he does so, the blade seems to lengthen, just in case she tries dodging it. It's just an illusion though, right?
Roux looks up at Silas, offering him the slightest smile before she turns her attention back to the fight at hand. One finger scratches against another, the shadows cast both natural other otherwise seem to creep outwards a bit - clearly she's a bit anxious about this whole thing. "Hey, Smiles," is an absent response.
Was that the nickname she'd heard for him before? If it's not, well, he has a new one though. Jac is minorly ignored, not out of malice, but more out of a desire to watch Kendall in the hopes that his idiot self won't get hurt.
Nadira's attention is pulled from the fight—she's not worried about it one way or the other. Instead, she's offering a friendly wave to Silas. "Lovely to meet you, Jac," she says before her eyes go back to Silas. "Good to see you. It has been far too long." The empty cup is gestured at. "And empty? That should be remedied, friend."
Asi has to square herself when Kendall jumps, a hiss of a swear on the tips of her teeth when he lands and nearly dismounts them both because the way the platform wobbles precariously in the water. Her grasp on her oar refirms as she narrows her eyes and begins to rise again only for Kendall to swing.
She steps forward into the attack to take only part of the blade against her body. In return, she goes sweeping her oar tightly in at his ribs with all the intent to bat him off the side of the platform like a cat with a felt toy. Between his hit colliding with her, and her leaning into her counterstrike, the platform begins to wobble anew, dipping to one side.
Ok, jumping on a floating platform seemed like a good idea at the time, but not exactly the best idea in retrospect. He already was trying to catch his balance after landing, so when Asi catches him in the chest, there isn't much Kendall can do… except this.
He swings his own oar over, but at the angle he's at he's not going to be able to put enough force behind it to accomplish much of anything.
What he does manage to do, however, is latch the oar around Asi's leg, like that ancient technology known as a 'slap bracelet'. Once secured, he yanks hard, but too late to keep himself from toppling off with a large splash. Well hopefully he takes her down with him, at least.
For a moment, there's a flicker of something on Silas's face at that namedrop. Smiles. He hadn't thought she'd lurked around Kain long enough to pick that one up, but apparently she had. Wonder how Kain and them are doing? steals through his mind, bearing with it more than a flicker of melancholy…
But he's not going to let himself mourn. They earned their second chance, and he hopes they enjoy it. I'm doing my best in my own way, too, he thinks, and then pulls himself back to the present. The majority of Roux's attention is on the fight, so he grins to Nadira. "It has been too long. But I've been busy." He leaves it at that, for now — if she's heard what he's been up to, fine, but he doesn't want to brag just yet.
He extends his cup to Nadira, arching an eyebrow. "I wasn't going to ask, but if you're volunteering to top me off, I wouldn't say no." He watches the fight out of the corner of his eye, but for now the majority of his attention is on Nadira.
A hand lifts and fingers move in a small wave at Roux and Nadira. Squeaks isn’t normally shy, she definitely isn’t acting so now. But the loudness of the crowd and the sparring happening tugs at her attention just enough to distract from proper greetings. Plus, these are people Silas knows, and she’s just fine with listening to them talk.
"I believe there is some sort of idiom in English about balancing work and play, but the phrase escapes me," Nadira says with a bit of a laugh as she reaches for the cup to take it from him. "But being busy can be a good thing." She nods towards the newly acquired cup. "What is your poison… something strong or some cool fresh water? I will happily offer you either."
Speaking of water.
Asi doesn't even have time to celebrate her victory, sturdiness robbed from her. She doesn't see what happens exactly, just knows the tug at her ankle is prominently heavy. Leg stolen first, her tailbone hits the board before she goes tumbling into the drink in an entirely ungraceful splash, back dragging off the side of the platform and sending it floating away from them both.
Viciously animated bubbles containing burbles of curses reach the surface before she does again.
In that ugly moment, on the sideline, an arm loosely around Destiny's waist, Ace pauses midsip of the beer she gifted him. "Oh, look," he murmurs to his captain. "That poor sportsmanship of hers came around to hit her in the ass already." For all his deadpan expression, a snicker of a breath leaves him anyway.
When she does breach for air, Asi gasps, "Son of a sun-spotted—" and grits her teeth, seeing red instead of stars. She lost track of her oar in the fall, and kicks her leg to catch it from sinking further, only aggravating her back in the process. Grousing, she dives to pull it back up, eyes to slits as she resolves to just float for a moment once she's not lost the weapon. "Okay," she sighs. "That's enough fun."
Her pride hurts worse than her back, though. That's the second time she's gone out like that, even if she technically won, in both cases.
"殺させるぐらい痛いよね," Asi laughs with her head tilted up to the darkening sky. She spits the bit of salty water that's come into her mouth with a small curse before laughing again at her own expense, turning finally to make sure Kendall's actually all right, too. She swims only with her arms, legs floating still under the surface.
"Just —" Silas starts to say, but then… splash. Down Asi goes. Silas sighs, then glances back to Nadira, shaking his head with a rueful grin. "Just water. Someone on the crew needs to be mostly sober."
At least she dunked him before she went in, he muses. That's a good thing, because it means that he doesn't have to go out there and try to dunk Kendall himself to avenge his first mate or anything muscle-headed like that. Still. Beating Spades and getting dunked by Kendall…
Ah well. Maybe it'll stop her from going too wild later. And I've got some money coming, too. Always a plus.
Kendall's fine, don't worry. He's pretty used to getting wet by now, especially given he lives with a hydrokinetic. He surfaces and shakes water out of his face, then waves cheerfully over at Asi. Good fight!
Swimming over to the nearby platform, he pulls himself out of the water near Nadira and Roux, and throws his soaking wet arm around the latter. "See? I'm perfectly fine! And I didn't completely lose, either!" So what if he ended up in the water first, he still got her immediately after. He's pretty cheerful for a guy who just got shoved off a platform into the ocean. Then, he looks about at the group congregating nearby. "Hi."
Destiny looks up at her partner and giggles in spite of all her best efforts to hold back. “You’re incorrigible,” she chides him, curling into his side just a little bit, in spite of the damp of his clothes. Her coat protects her from the worst of it anyway. And after one more of these beers, the diminutive woman isn’t likely to care much after that.
It takes Asi some groaning to haul herself out of the water back up the ladder of the boat Silas and gang are standing on, oar coming up in a toss and the rest of her coming up slowly after. "なんて試合," she might as well be muttering to herself in tongues now, for how lazily the sounds come out. "ぶちゃぶちゃやって…なんか疲れへんだ." But at last she makes it to the deck and she lets out a sigh of relief. "That's better."
Safety deserves English, even if her aching back asks for otherwise. She's getting too old to horse around like this is a thought she'll have when she's much, much more sober. Well, at least if she's less adventurous for a few days, the Library's crew might benefit from her sitting still long enough to help with more restoration efforts.
"Water, pleeeease," Asi sings as she saunters over to Nadira so unsteadily it hopes to disguise the source of exactly why.
Silas’ cup is first. It’s not an attempt at showing off, but it’s hard to move water fairly subtly. Droplets pull themselves from the wood of the oar and drift towards Nadira’s hand where they linger for a moment before collecting in one cohesive ball which promptly drops into Silas’ cup with a flick of her wrist.
Since Asi doesn’t have a cup ready and waiting, Nadira moves to the bar, retrieving a cup without a second thought. With one hand on the cup, the other moves just slightly, drawing the water this time from the direction of Asi’s clothing to attempt to dry her off as well as collect the water for the drink. In a similar motion as before, the droplets collect at her fingers and she lifts her hand this time to release the water in the cup.
The cup is extended in Asi’s direction with a tiny smile. “Filtered and fresh, I promise. You cannot get much cleaner than this.”
"どうもありがとうございます," Silas murmurs, raising his cup and offering a smile of thanks to Nadira before shifting his grin to Aces. "Good fights. I think I won enough to keep the boat afloat for awhile longer, at least."
"Oh good," Asi sighs, one hand at the small of her back. "That's definitely why I went out there, after all." She's amidst considering the cup Nadira has offered her with a skeptical eye. Just because she's just exited the ocean doesn't make her clean, by any standards. She's now dry which she'll count as a win, though.
Makes her remember she's unsure where her boots are. Hopefully not in the hands of any errand-runners for Mad Eve. She thinks she owes something to the old woman, recently, which would make the theft a well-deserved summoning bell.
It's hard to find good pairs of shoes in this age, dammit.
"Thanks," she acknowledges Nadira's work when she takes the cup, looking to the motley surrounding them. "Wasn't expecting to see as many familiar faces out here, but it's kind of nice."
Captain Destiny lifts her hand to her brow as though to doff an invisible hat, a series of flicks of her wrist would have made that little flourished half-bow of hers to Asi look quite impressive indeed.
“Spades,” the diminutive captain calls to her crewman without actually glancing up to him, “I need a hat.” Her lips purse, there’s a new determination to her. A new goal! “A big one.” Destiny gives a short nod. “With a feather.” That deserves a deeper nod.
"With a feather," Spades laughs too quietly for it to carry. His half-cocked grin is plain to see, though. "Aye, Captain. A big hat. Maybe some of these old pirates are worth their salt and have one they can gamble away to us."
He does ever so like having goals to keep him entertained, especially ones in the name of glamour more than necessity.
If there's any sour feelings over his loss, they're well-disguised now as he peers those next boats over to the bundle of closely-knit ex-marauders still rowdily exchanging out winnings and trying to cajole others of their number for one last fight in the fading light.
Roux stares at Kendall for a long, silent moment as the world goes on around her, people asking for drinks and moving on from the competition that just transpired. A shiver runs down her spine as she tries to shake some of the water that Kendall's gotten on her off. Shoulders tense, posture straightens, and she lets out a huff of a breath—
And abruptly she reaches out, pushing Kendall back towards the water, with the clear intent of sending him back into the drink. "Well, if you like the blue so much, puis y retourner." She doesn't even wait to see if he goes splashing back before she turns and starts to carefully and delicately make her way away.
Kendall had 100% expected this kind of reaction from Roux, it's mostly why he did that in the first place. So one again he tumbles over the edge with a large splash, laughing when he surfaces. He wipes water off his face and pulls himself out again, then shifts his attention over to Nadira, giving her a wave.
"Roux just tried to kill me!" But Roux is walking away now, and Kendall watches her leave with a faint shrug. Yeah, this wasn't her idea of fun but she came anyway. He nods at her retreating back, then looks back to Nadira. He gestures down to his wet outfit in a clear request. "And you lost your bet, we both ended in the drink!" Kendall just got there first by a few seconds. At that, he turns to grin at Asi. "Fun fight."
Looking aside to Kendall as he rejoins them, sopping wet, Asi lifts her cup just slightly in recognition, mirth in her eyes even if her expression remains deadpan plain. "I'll drink to that," she concedes, drinking from the miracle water.
Her head tips in the direction of the rabble-rousing still in effect on the other boat. "Ready to cash out and head home?" she asks with a glance back to Silas.
Silas arches an eyebrow at Kendall's return — and dramatics — but nods to Asi. "Yeah. Probably better, before that lot gets carried away and starts partying too hard," he says.
He glances back to the others, raising his cup. "Nadira, Roux, Kendall, Jac — good seein' you. Take care."
“Silas,” Nadira nods in his direction as a farewell. “Always a pleasure to see you.” It’s Kendall’s excitement that draws her attention away from the goodbye, and she looks in his direction with a sly grin.
“Kendall, you are assuming that I have lost from this outcome. Instead, I was entertained. Certainly makes me a winner, does it not?”
Destiny lifts a brow and turns her head to properly look up at Spades with a lopsided little grin. “Sounds like shell games are in order. You get the cups, I’ve got the marble.” If they’re going to gamble for a proper hat for her, they’re going to do it right.
By cheating.
Pirates.
"Yeah, yeah. Entertainment at my expense. Glad I have some use." Kendall retorts to Nadira, then when he hears his name, he turns to Silas. "Glad to see you're still alive and kicking, old man." Rude, Silas is still a little less than twice Kendall's age! After that little bit of joking, Kendall gestures to Nadira and holds his arms out, still waiting for her magic water trick. "Hey, me too?" he saw her take the water out of Aces' clothes as he was getting shoved back in the water, his turn!
With a cock-eyed grin, Asi finishes her glass and hands it back to provide a potential vessel for Kendall's own glass of miracle water. She waves over her shoulder as she ambles off with Silas, mindful of her steps between her aching back and the plank stability between the loosely encircled boats. "We'll be sure to avoid the Wrath of Roux as we go. Take care!"
There's more swagger in her step than she intends as she ambles ahead, the last light of sunset disappearing around them. "What a day," she sighs to Silas. It still feels not too long ago they didn't think there would be any more evenings like these, where the only blood spilled was in competition. Where the last light of day didn't bring with it the fear of what might lurk in the night. Where swimming at sunset didn't mean needing to fret about what might lie beneath the waves.
This, for all its scrapes and bruises which are sure to appear tomorrow, is much preferred. May there be many more nights like these to come.