Terrorist Beach Party

Participants:

ash_icon.gif faron_icon.gif harrison_icon.gif huruma3_icon.gif melissa4_icon.gif perry_icon.gif

and

kasha_icon.gif

Scene Title Terrorist Beach Party
Synopsis Several members of Messiah meet to relax at the beach. But it seems as though even a normal beach party has to have a surprise ending when this group is involved.
Date July 6, 2010

Staten Island Beach


Once again calls went out via the Rebel phone. Given the heat, Melissa's doing her best to drag people out to the beach on Staten Island. Beer, water, sand and sammiches abound. She arrived first of course, with a cooler full of drinks and food, and a beach bag with towels, sunscreen and whatnot. And an umbrella.

The umbrella got shoved into the sand, a blanket spread out, then she stripped down to her bathing suit. Black, of course. A black bikini with a skull on one side of the top. It's perfectly Mel. She's stretched out now, ignoring sunscreen for the moment, hoping to get a little color, and is just relaxing and listening to her iPhone while she awaits the arrival of the others.

So, remember how I said Perry is not so much with the socializing? He's also not so much with the beach-going.

Pale engineer's flesh is on glow-worm display as Perry keeps a hand pressed to his brow, shading himself from what little light creeps around the edges of his terminally unstylish prescription sunglasses. His shirt, a threadbare, teal thing from his freshman orientation, clashes with orange swim trunks as he makes his flip-flop-footed way from the door of his parked pickup truck (powder blue, like all Ford trucks from its era) across searing asphalt to the wooden walk separating work from beach-side leisure. He's got a cloth book bag in hand, containing all his beach things - a towel, sunscreen, various books (because that's what you do on a beach, right - you read?)

Mel's umbrella serves as a guiding sign as he treads across sand that sizzles in the merciless heat. He may have to go swimming just to survive. When he draws closer, he calls out, cheerful enough. "Uh… good afternoon, Melissa! Um… may I?" he halts alongside the coolers, his gaze very modestly and pointedly remaining on her face. Good boy. Polite boy.

Lagging behind the group, of course, Faron hauled the cooler that was brought with Melissa. He was the strong one there, apparently, and he was more than willing to pay his dues to Melissa. Moving to the umbrella right behind the woman in a rather…striking bikini, he plopped his cooler down on the sand. He fished out a beer, offering it to the woman. He was dressed rather modestly, wearing a short sleeve shirt with a long sleeve shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, and a bathing suit and sandals. Thank god he remembered this outfit.

As Perry approached, Faron fished out yet another beer, offering to him. Maybe it was a sign of goodwill. Either way, it was far better than his attitude the day previous.

Ash makes his way down to the beach a little while after getting the call. He comes armed with a cooler himself, the thing up on one shoulder, a fairly sizable cooler, stuffed with stuff. In his right hand he has plastic bags hanging, a glimpse inside once they're put down will show them to be filled with bags of chips, and the cooler with soda, beer, water, and other stuff. He's got a white tank top on, and a pair of nylon beach shorts, not swim trunks, just beach shorts. He spots the group and makes his way in their general direction, slowing a touch as he sees two faces he doesn't recognize.

Melissa smiles at Perry and nods. "Me casa es su casa. Or towel, except I don't know the Spanish for towel. But yeah, help yourself. There's beer'n sodas and stuff in the cooler. Figured sandwiches would be easier than trying to figure out how to cook out on the beach. Though we can always do a big bonfire and dogs later." Speaking of dogs…Mel sits up, letting out a whistle, which brings Jerry and Mr. Muggles running from further down the beach.

She's got a blanket and umbrella set up, along with a cooler. Most everyone is in some sort of beach getup. A shirt and swim trunks for Faron and Perry, and a black skull bikini for Mel. She lifts a hand to Ash, waving him over, and once he gets close enough, she starts introductions. "Ash, this is Faron and Perry. Guys, this is Ash. We're all on the same side, so play nice. This is time for relaxing and having fun. And fair warning…I will be dunking someone today. Just haven't decided who."

Faron grinned at her "threat". He really did seem to be in a much better mood. "Hey Ash. Glad that we're all part of the same side and we all know." He smiles broadly at the new arrival then shoots Mel a glance. "You seemed the type to try something like that. That's why I decided to bring these." He notes his swim trunks. "And besides, if you can dunk anyone here, I can dunk you." He sticks a tongue out playfully at her.

The heat is one thing to be able to beat; Huruma does not have a very hard time of it. Kasha, on the other hand, has been fussy all day, regardless of conditioned air or not. When Melissa sent a most timely message to Huruma, it seemed much too like fate to ignore. Melissa has accidentally distracted Huruma enough to have her not do something she'd regret- Huruma has been taking her being alone in caretaking very well, otherwise.

She borrows a car now and again, and today is one of those days; when she comes strolling her way down the back of the beach, however, it seems as if she just came out of the clear blue. Mind you, plus one. Ash, Perry, and Faron have no clue about Kasha unless someone has told them- the little girl, wearing an absurdly large hat(actually, it seems to be Huruma's), is up in an entanglement of dark brown arms. Huruma is contrasted by the white-two piece and the towel wrapped around her hips, and by the baby that looks like she has been dunked in sunblock. Perhaps an adventure is what Kasha really needed, as the baby has taken to trying to peer out from under the hat, either up at the sunglasses on Huruma's eyes, or at the beachfront.

Perry looks surprised but openly and obviously pleased at the offer of the beer. However small a gesture, Perry seems to take it as peace offering of considerable magnitude. "Thanks!" he says, with unconcealed enthusiasm, and takes the bottle from Faron's hand, reaching into his bag and producing… okay, what? A utility knife? Be prepared, I guess… And he pops the cap off. "Cheers!" To Mel and Faron then… "Uh… cheers!" To Ash as he arrives. Perry's smile looks sort of stupid, but given benefit of the doubt, it's at least an endearing sort of stupid. He takes a drink from his beer and then pulls out his towel, spreading it next to those of his fellows and taking a seat, lanky legs crossing.

Huruma's appearance is noticed just as Perry's extracting the promised copy of 'The Portable Nietzsche' - good as his word - from the bag. Perry is struck, first by the woman herself, imposing in ebony and white, second by the baby?

Has Huruma brought her own snack to the beach?

Ash sees the wave and nods his head, picking his way across the sand towards her. Once he stops a few feet away he slips his feet out of his sandals, cheap things from a gas station type deal, he sets the cooler down lightly for something as heavy as it looks, and is. He then sets the bags of chips down by wherever Mel has the food before he glances around the beach, then back to the group. "Hi." Is all he offers in a somewhat flat monotone to the other two before glancing to Melissa. "A beach prty…" He chuckles lightly and looks out towards the water, hands reaching down to pull his tank top off and toss it down onto his sandals. Eyes catch sight of Huruma and the… oh god, is that a baby? In Hoom's hands? Ash hesitates for a long stretch of seconds before he offers Huruma a deep nod of greeting, then turns and begins to make his way down towards the water.

Melissa shrugs a little. "It's hot, and I think after we all went on missions, that we need somethign to help us unwind. Can you think of a better way to do that than this?" she asks, motioning around. She follows the gaze of the others, back towards Huruma, but she doesn't look surprised at the baby. Wary, perhaps even scared, but not surprised. "Hey Huruma. How's the kid doing?"

Faron nods in acknowledgment to Perry. Maybe they could bury the hatchet. Presently though, he was just fine as things were now between the two. Honestly, though, Faron was a bit put off by Ash's rather dismissing tone. Then again, he had faced worse back in Chicago, so he really couldn't complain. And speaking of Chicago, he followed everyone's gaze to Huruma. He had a bit of thanks towards her. After all, she was the one who helped him in Chicago. He might not be alive if it weren't for her. And a child with her? Didn't look a thing like her, so maybe adoptive? Foster? Just babysitting? He smiles at her with a wordless wave.

The nice thing about Huruma liking to spend time in the sun- all that seems to happen is that she turns a darker shade of chocolate. Burns can happen- but generally not much. It is possible that she has put all the sunblock she has never used, onto the little blonde and blue-eyed baby. The woman stares back at Ash for those seconds, as if daring him to ask. When he does not, she turns that stare to Perry and Faron, and then Melissa as she comes to a stop. One hand on the baby's back and the other acting as a seat, she seems to have zero issue in actually carrying her around.

"Fussy. Abby went home t'see her family. I don'ave her t'rely on this week, at least." Huruma's voice sounds tired, though her stature and movement suggests otherwise. Cradling her in one long arm, Huruma lifts her hand to tilt the hat back so that the baby can see out from under it. She has a thumb in her mouth, gumming at her knuckles, as she takes in these strangers. "Seems t'enjoy stimulation- shut her right up…"

Perry takes to his beer rather more vigorously as he noticed their accumulated numbers. He feels both safe and totally on edge. He wants to be liked by these people. He wants to be one of them. That they might feel, at times, just as out of synch doesn't occur to him. So he drinks. He drinks quite quickly. And he listens. He even looks up at the baby, regarding it in turn, though with less simple interest and more perplexion. Human pupae. Weird. "What's her name?" is his question, almost blurted, but at least he's not interrupting anyone mid-sentence.

Ash doesn't ask. He has more respect for Huruma than that, but there was no stopping the look in his eyes and the staring for those moments. But then, he's turned away and he's walking down to the water. He walks up to the water, and then right in, easy steps that soon have him waist deep and going deeper, until he's submerged up to his neck, at which point he dives underneath the water, swimming around a bit before he breaches the surface and takes a quick breath, turning to look back up on the beach at the other members of their little Evolved terrorist group.

Melissa nods to Huruma. "Yeah, I know. She gave me a call." There's a hesitation, then, "You need any help with her, let me know? I mean, I'm not good with babies, but…" She trails off, shrugging. "You know everyone here?" she asks, glancing at Perry, then Faron, then finally to the swimming Ash. She leans forward, grabbing a beer while Jerry and Mr. Muggles go around sniffing at people, since only Ash and Faron have been to the house.

Faron smiles at the child. "She's cute, Huruma. How've you been since Chicago?" It doesn't need to be said that she was probably doing very well. And to be honest, to be holding a child in her hands after such an incident did throw him off a little bit. But even terrorists had families too, a fact that drove Ron to New York. Still, he wasn't expecting to see the woman for a long while, so her appearing did leave him a bit unguarded as to what they would say.

"Richard owes Abby a favor…" Huruma mutters, as if that fixes it. She keeps her eyes on the baby, her invisible whiskers out. When the dogs approach her, not only does she send out a feeling of foreboding, she actually growls, like some great cat caught with an antelope. Go away, dogs. The little one is fluffy enough to only be half a dog, she supposes. Or a football.

"Her name is Kasha." Huruma takes the glasses from her face, perching them onto the baby like a strange dress-up. "I'ave been fine. Busy. These boys went t'Chicago wit'me, Melissa. Ash I have known since b'fore."

As he walks down the beach, Harrison is in a pair of swim trunks, and a sleeves shirt. He is currently barefoot carrying a cooler over his shoulder. As his eyes fall on the group he begins to make his way towards them slowly. A slight wave with his free hand as he smiles softly. He looks…tired.

"At the CDC," Perry elaborates, unnecessarily. What else blew up in Chicago lately, after all? He drives his beer's base into the sand and starts to leaf through his book, casting occasional glances up at those around him. In the process, he spots Harrison. The book closes, though a finger holds his place, and a hand lifts to waves back. "Hello!" he calls out, "Over here!" Also unnecessarily. But he's trying to help.

His gaze shifts back to Huruma. He has a question, non-baby related, and while he's not sure now's the best time… he wants to know. "Um… maybe this isn't the time or place or anything but… Miss Huruma, you obviously know how to handle yourself. I, uh, was hoping maybe you could give some pointers. For my benefit. For the next mission I may be on. I'd like, well… I'd like to improve."

Ash only stays in the water for a couple more minutes before he comes trudging back out, apparently having just wanted to get wet. He comes back up onto the beach, the man's collection of rather nasty scars on prominent display with wet skin and no shirt. Bullet and blade scars dot his chest and arms, the Moab injection scar on his neck blending right in with the rest. He walks over to the cooler he brought, popping it open, and fishing out a can of Heineken. He shuts the lid and cracks the can open before taking a long swig. "Cute kid Hooms." He offers the dark woman before looking back to the two new faces, studying them closely. He offers a slow nod to Perry, then another slow nod to Faron before his beer is lifted to his lips again. "I'm the one who told Knox he should bring Hooms in." He comments softly in Mel's direction, then glances to Huruma as he takes that swallow of beer. He glances as he sees Harrison coming, a soft laugh as the kid brings a third cooler to the group. "Hey kid. You look like shit. You all right?" He glances to Perry, a soft chuckle escaping him as he talks to Hooms, but no words, just an amused smile.

"Ahh. Gotcha," Melissa says, nodding to Huruma. "And could you not scare my dog, please?" she asks as Jerry retreats at Huruma's reaction, hiding behind Melissa. At least until he spots Harrison. Playmate! He darts off across the sand, yipping happily. When Ash returns she glances back at him, nodding. And speaking of scars, she's got plenty of her own. Two bullet wounds on her left shoulder, cuts on her arms and back, line across her forehead. It ain't pretty.

She grins. "Three coolers. Yes, we definitely gotta do a bonfire later. Gotta do something with all this beer'n shit. But right now…Ash had a good idea. It's hot as hell, and I wanna cool off," she says, pushing herself to her feet, stretching before making her way down the beach to the water.

Faron grins, standing to take his shirt off. He glances at the others, noting them each. While Ron thinks the fact that Huruma carrying a child after being so relentless during the Chicago raid, he doesn't think it too out of the ordinary. The others, however, seem to regard it with worry, something he can't quite justify. Maybe it would be better if he didn't press the matter. Throwing his shirt aside, he stretches in the sun. Ah, warmth on the bare skin. It felt nice, even if it was rather humid.

Huruma casts half-moon eyes over Perry as he inquires once again, unrelatedly. Her lips purse as she considers the question, and though she is not sure if he means mentally or otherwise- "I am psychotic. That is how I handle m'self." Notably, she does not actually call herself a psychopath. "If you mean literally handle- that sort of thing, it comes with experience. Of which I seem t'ave th'most…" Huruma tilts her head to look at Ash when he remarks to Melissa, eyes tempted to roll.

"I'ave known Rupert f'longer than I'ave known you, Ash." Huruma really does know everyone. Can't fool her! Kasha burbles something, and Huruma looks down to her pulling the glasses down her little round face. These are new! Hm. And shiny. Huruma's hand finds the tie around her waist, pulling out the simple knot and tossing the towel onto one of the coolers. Followed by the hat and the glasses. As per popular demand- what scars are visible on Huruma are well cared for- in fact, she seems so flawless that one can hazard a guess that it is not a natural state, considering her line of work. There is quite the dissonance from seeing her in action, and seeing her now, baby on hip and most of her bare. "I am going in th'water. If you'ave questions they can wait or you may come wit'me."

As Harrison gets closer towards the group, his eyes move to Ash. He shrugs softly and says, "I'm fine." He turns to see Jerry is coming at him full speed and he falls to his knees and drops the cooler. "Hey Jerry." He hugs the dog. He closes his eyes and pet him hugging the happy dog. "I missed ya too boy." He looks down at the cooler and says, "Fresh fruit…veggies…angus prime cut in cubes…steel sticks…shish kabobs so…a fire could be a good thing. I got my dads favorite sauce…its this spicey honey rasperry mustard sauce you paint over it or something while it cooks on the fire." He turns his attention back at the dog and smiles softly. A touch of normalcy for the young man is like a week in heaven,

Okay. Step one, develop psychosis. Perry takes this down as a mental note. No, for serious. His philosophy allows for the privileging of madness. He gives Huruma a very serious, very grateful nod, and quickly retreats into his book for a moment. What he finds inside makes his lips quirk in a small smile, and he glances up at Huruma's retreating back for a moment before looking at Melissa. "I… have to admit, it seems like some of you know each other from… other things?" An eyes cast in Faron's way, implicating him in what's said next, "This is all so new to me. Like… terribly, terribly new. I have been preparing for this, one way or another, for a good part of my adult life. But… where is it you all come from, that you know each other?"

This earnest inquiry, however, is momentarily derailed at the mention of spicy honey raspberry sauce ohmygodthatsounds good. "Harrison, please… if you need any help, let me know. This is one communal eating destiny I have to be part of!" Hahaha Heidegger. Ahem.

Ash rolls his eyes towards the sky as Melissa takes off for the water. "Now she heads in the water." He mutters something condescending about women in general, not seeming to care that Huruma is in easy listening distance of him. He finishes off his beer, then scoops into the cooler for another, putting the can in one of the plastic bags he had the chips in. He cracks open the new can, glancing down to the water, watching Melissa head to it, and into it once she does before pulling his eyes back to the group at hand. Hooms comment has him looking her way. "Ahh, so it's just coincidence that I suggest they bring you in and a few days later I find out they did?" He smirks and offers her a knowing, and cocky wink before he turns and starts towards the water, glancing over his shoulder and pausing to watch the dark skinned Huruma, grunting before he finishes moving to the water, beer can still in hand.

Melissa pauses and glances back to the others, grinning. "Okay! Two groups. One group, stay up there and get a nice big fire started for the cooking. The other, with me. Water time fun! And I know Abby. Ran into Huruma there, with the baby," she says, directing the last towards Perry. "Oh, and for the record? I might help make fire, but don't let me touch cooking food. If I didn't burn it or something, I'd drop it in the sand or do something to make it inedible. And it seems a shame to waste angus beef!"

There's another grin, more towards those heading towards the water, then she turns and darts the last bit to the water, moving out into it and diving into it, swimming out several yards before surfacing. And the smile on her lips then is somehow more free than it was just a few minutes before.

Faron considers staying to make the fire, but decides against it, wanting to cool off more than anything. He didn't want to drink, the first time in a long time, and he knew if he stayed, he'd start. He dashed towards the water, practically diving into the chilled ocean. He pops up from under the waves, laughing a bit. He seemed very pleased. He waved to the land group, practically taunting them.

Huruma has her own plan, and that includes introducing little Kasha to big water. Bathtime is one thing, this is another. She strays away from the others just enough before actually putting the girl's feet into the water. She kicks, splashing first and looking second. When she does, it is with the utmost infant intensity that she can muster, clamping her mouth shut and using her baby blues to observe. Huruma eventually sinks into the water just past her ribcage, threatening to disappear as swiftly as a crocodile. Instead, she focuses on Kasha in her pale yellow swimmer, her hands more than enough to keep a hold.

It is all very darling, yet frightening, considering what she could be doing with the baby otherwise.

As he looks at everyone retreating to the water, he stands up and looks down at Jerry, "Come on boy. Time for a swim." Harrison grabs the cooler and sets it with the others. He pulls off his shirt and runs a hand down his flat stomach. He pats it with his left hand and what looks like the last bits of once black and blue bruises seems to be in it's final stages of healing. Harrison begins to walk towards the water looking happy to welcome it's liquid embrace. "I am sure we can find wood easy enough." He walks into the water and once he hits it waist deep he dives in. He comes up glistening wet as he lets out a soft ahhh.

A step behind, a step to the side, just a step off the right beat. Perry finds his questioning less appealing than the lap of water against the beach. And who's he to blame them? He looks back at his book, and the lines just sit there. He looks back up, and the waves, they move, they shift, and the part to allow bodies entrance. What he's doing here, sitting and reading, is not being in the world. It's just being an a-social weirdo.

So he sets his book aside and gets to his feet, struggling with his shirt before getting it off, kicking off his flip flops and running as only lanky boys can, for the water. He pelts down, feet slapping against wet sand as he draws nearer, legs kicking up foam as he plunged right into the ocean. Seawater splatters up onto his glasses… which he of course forgot to take off, but he's gung-ho about this. Lightning doesn't flash. Lightning is flashing. Perry presses his glasses to his nose, closes his eyes, and drops into the water, totally submerging himself.

Ash makes his way out to the water, stepping into it like he did before, striding out into the surf, and then deeper until it's deep enough for him to dive into it. He's under for a solid 30 seconds before he comes up, a great deal further out than where he went in, and floats, treading water slowly.

Jerry's all too happy to follow along with Harrison, diving into the water and starting to paddle around. Melissa turns back to face the others, treading water and smiling as she watches them jump in the water, one by one. "This…was definitely one of my better ideas. Air conditioning is one thing, but this? Feels wonderful," she says with a sigh.

But that lazy relaxation cannot last forever. And it's not long before Melissa's smile is growing impish, and she's sending a splash of water towards Perry first, then Harrison. Ash might have gotten pelted, but he swam out of range. Water fight!

Faron, underwater at the time, is simply enjoying the coolness of the ocean. He'd be pretty red, as he had forgotten to put on sun block, but he didn't care in the least. This was the first change he was truly enjoying himself in…in he couldn't say how long. As he popped up, of course, he was met with a splash of water. He coughed up a few drops of the salt water before leaning backwards to kick at the surface. He send massive splashes in all directions as he seemed to swim away.

Though she eyes the others, and warily so, Huruma stays where she is with the infant, big hands holding her aloft in the cool water. Being an empath helps with wrangling children, but keeping them happy while you seem to be works wonders. She even puts her face down on Kasha's level, smiling and murmuring in some tongue that none of them would understand even if they hear it.

Harrison continues to swim as he dives down under the water. The young man seems to be in his own world at this moment…

Perry is beneath the waves now, the seawater stinging at this eyes, making them water… and just adding more saline to the mix. So he opens his eyes, and gets a glimpse of various legs, dark and light, scissoring through the strange, muffled world beneath the reflector glass of the sea's surface. It's both serene and strange violent down here, with forces pushing and pulling against Perry's body, causing his brown hair to ripple in a halo about his head. His new sky is coarse and always shifting. His range of vision fades into darkness quickly and murkily. Letting out some bubbles from his nose he starts to swim, further and deeper, seeing how far he can push that darkness back.

Ash glances back towards the other, a slight smirk dawning on his features. He bobs up, then dives down into the water, dissapearing. And he's gone for a countable time, seconds ticking past as the others splash at eachother. He comes up from beneath Melissa, swimming close to the sand at the bottom before shifting and pushing up from the bottom, scooping her up in his arms, and launching her through the air as he breaches the surface at a pretty decent speed. She's launched, literally up into the air to splash down a few feet away, a victorius grin on Ash's lips. "I win." he offers to her once she's surfaced. Eyes glance to Huruma with the child, a soft smile on his lips, but also a moment of distraction in which Melissa could get back at him. Grins are shot at the other guys as well, a wink to Harrison letting him know he could be next.

Melissa's grinning, pleased, as she watches everyone enjoying themselves. She doesn't notice Ash's disappearance, but the moment that he touches her, her eyes go wide. As she's flung through the air she lets out a squeal of surprise, one cut off abruptly when she hits the water and sinks beneath. She comes up sputtering, pushing her hair back from her face. "Oh not cool," she whispers, before taking a deep breath, and slipping beneath the waves.

Unlike Ash, she doesn't try to fling him anywhere. One, he's stronger than her, and two, she's smaller than he is. But there are other ways to get her revenge, and she goes for grabbing for his ankle, and trying to yank him underwater. Hah!

Faron grins as he watches the scene unfold before him. He looks back at the shore, noticing no one there. Better get the fire going. Faron paddles to the shore, dripping wet as he surfaces. He steps to their little camp, taking one of the towels he brought and wrapping himself up in it. He didn't exactly have a proud body, and being exposed like this makes him rather self conscious. He looks around for the firewood, or something, to start making the fire, intending to do so as soon as he is comfortable with a non-glistening body.

Splashing and yanking and general flailing about earns a stare from Huruma- and Kasha, for a second. It isn't long before the infant makes a vague attempt at mimicry, slapping her hands at the surface of the water. She's got that down, for sure. Huruma's features tighten, like a cat caught in the sink. Okay, okay.

And as the darkness is pressed back just a little… wait, what was that? But Perry's human, all too human, and he can only hold his breath for so long. He swims up to the surface and takes a full breath through mouth and nose, head poking up a bit further out than the others. He coughs a bit. Got some salt water up the nose. "Uh… I think… um… hold on…" And he dives back down, trailing bubbles as he descends.

Ash laughs heartily when Melissa comes up spluttering and such, shooting her another grin as she whispers like that. Then she's underwater and he braces himself, looking around for her, waiting to see what she'll do. When he feels the tug on his ankle he holds firm in the sand, for a moment that is. Sand, unfortunately for him, is by it's nature, unstable, so it quickly goes out from under him, ending up with him splashing down into the water, though he doesn't splutter to his credit. His hair disappears beneath the water, his last sight that of Huruma and the baby, baby splashing her, amusement flickering in his eyes before they disappear beneath the waves. He is underwater when Perry comes up, so doesn't know anything is amiss.

As soon as Ash slips beneath the water, Melissa swims away, surfacing with an impish grin. She glances over to Faron, head cocking, but since there's plenty of wood around, she'll understand what he's doing soon enough. Then she's looking around for Perry, having missed his brief moment at the surface. "You're lucky I don't weigh more, Ash, or I'd be dunkin' you and holdin' you under," she says a moment later, grinning again at Ash.

Faron raises an eyebrow at Perry's sudden appearance and disappearance. This far out, he can't see or hear what's going on, but come to think of it, Faron barely saw him in the water. What was he doing so deep in the water? He walks closer to the shore, still wrapped in his towel, hoping to see what Perry was doing, exactly, even if he was underwater.

Huruma can feel Perry's flickering confusion from where she is, and it garners enough for her to turn around with Kasha to wander closer, her feet pushing against the sand below rather than coasting over. "What is he doing?" One hand around the baby, Huruma points for the others to pay attention to what the nerd is up to.

Down, down, down. What he saw was too angular to be anything but something man-made, but not so simple as a piece of driftwood, so waterlogged as to sink. Not just a lobster trap, either. This was big. This was… oh wow.

Huruma can fell the approaching force of Perry's curiosity and excitement, tinged with a pleasant dash of dread. Dread, in its right amount, is a life spice all its own. When the boy break the surface, he's spluttering because he wants to talk at once, and that lands him swallowing some water, choking slightly, and nearly losing his glasses as he thrashes to get his throat clear.

"Kahkahkah!" Perry coughs, and then, "There's… a cage. A… big cage. Sunk down there. And I think… I think something under it. Not sure. Couldn't get a clear look."

Ash pushes up from the bottom, but doesn't break the surface. When he does break the surface he's only a few feet from Melissa, a smirk on his lips. "Oh, I'll be getting you for that missy." And he is just about to pounce her and dunk her when the call comes from Huruma. His head turns, eyes settling on her curiously. "Who?" He asks loudly so he can be heard. Then Perry surfaces and he turns, looking over to the man. "Well… Harrison and I can get the cage no problem…" He doesn't seem alarmed or anything, strange happenings are common in this city.

Melissa blinks and looks towards Perry. "A…cage? Like…what, for tigers or whatever in zoos? And Ash, Harrison's wandered off. I think we can probably get it though…Probably," she says, swimming towards the young nerd.

"So? Fetch it. Be a man." Huruma lifts a brow, shooing one hand at them. She is curious too, but for face value she pretends that this is completely normal.

Ash grunts heavily before he nods his head. He glances back to Melissa, then to Huruma at her statement. He makes a face at her, then inhales deeply, his chest swelling before he dives under the water in the direction indicated by Perry. He swims down, and plants his feet on the sand, and slipping his fingers into the slots, and he pulls, andp ulls hard, using the weight of the cage to keep him on the sand while he pulls it loose of it's sandy tomb. He, and the cage, come upwards through the water as he manages to pull it loose, breaching the surface and gasping for breath.

When Ash dives, Melissa takes a deep breath and dives in right after him, swimming down towards him. She shakes her head at the sight of the cage, but she gets on the other side of it to help Ash prey it loose. While he's surfacing with it, she frowns and ducks down to the surface, spotting something unearthed when the cage was moved. She kicks off from the bottom, swimming to the surface.

A few deep breaths are taken, before she holds up…what looks like a leg bone. "Looks like it was a someone in that cage, rather than a something."

"Mmm. Well." Huruma sighs through her nose, gathering up Kasha- who is very invested in the water- and making her way up the bank and onto the beach. As she goes, she offers a backwards word. "Let m'know if y'find anything interesting." Because bones are boring.

Was that…a bone? Faron literally flung the towel off and rushed back into the water, feeling the cold chill send waves up his spine. He dove and swam frantically towards the group, passing Huruma. He surfaces next to the group. "What was down there?" His sudden appearance might not be noted too much, but an extra hand to take care of what was down there was sure to be helpful.

Ash cocks a brow upwards at the leg bone that's held up. He grunts and shakes his head slowly at the sight of it. "You can tell a human bone apart from animal bones that easily?" He asks of Mel, and no, hi stone isn't mocking, he's very seriously surprised by it. He shrugs his shoulders, and dives back down into the water, looking for more… stuff.

Dirty looks are given to Huruma and Ash before Melissa shakes her head. "I took biology in school. And I've never seen an animal with a bone this long. I could be wrong, but pretty sure it's human." Another deep breath is taken, then she dives again, searching for anything else to prove or disprove her theory.

Taking a note from Melissa, Faron drops out of sight, diving into the water. The salt stings his eyes as he dives deeper into the darkness. He manages to barely make out the outline of a cage, but between the darkness as the blurred vision, he barely can see what exactly is down there. His eyes gaze around, noticing ship parts, oddly. Ship parts?

Ash comes up several more times with bits of boat and other random things in his hands. Each one is swam to the shore to be put with the cage, then he's back out in the water gathering more, not speaking at the moment, just diving for wreckage.

Melissa shakes her head when she next surfaces. "There's a lot down there. I think I saw part of a boat of some kind. Too much for now. I mean, look," she says, nodding towards the horizon, where the sun is already starting to dip lower. "We'll remember the spot and come back to get the rest another day," she says, starting to swim towards shore.

After a time, Faron surfaces, looking around and listening. Evening already. He looks back towards shore, slowly swimming towards his comrades. His eyes stung something fierce, even if he was in the water for only a little bit. As he reached the shore, he took the towel he was wrapped in, oddly not covered in sand, and wrapped himself up in it once more. "Where there any boat sinkings recently? Or maybe not so recently?"


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