[Open Log]

[bearshermark]

Who: Elliott and OPEN to ALL Different!
What: Beach Partyyy!
When: May 31st, all night
Where: Rockaway Beach
Rating/Warnings: Will update if needed



It's a good spot.

Two diagonal picnic tables are parked a within roasting fork distance of the fire pit. It starts as a small, flickering fire, but once everyone's gathered, Elliott takes the opportunity to kick the night off and turn up the heat with the aid of a few magical fireballs.

There's hotdogs and an overlaying grill to cook up Yotsuyu's mix of meat and veggie kebabs. A cooler filled with soda and water bottles sits further away to avoid premature melting. Cookies and marshmallows or s'mores feature as dessert- or dinner, if that's anyone's preference.

For entertainment, Roselia makes a live, musical debut with Lisa as its sole performer. Meanwhile, Elliott does his best to encourage socialization and facilitate any necessary introductions. There's even a volleyball net and ball, and at least one attempt is made to form teams and get a game going.

But for the quieter sorts, dark, ocean waves lap at the shore outside the firelight. The weather is perfectly clear, and the location affords a rare opportunity to enjoy the stars. There might even be a cat playing in the sand somewhere nearby.

Some accouterments (like cutlery or extra chairs) might have been accidentally overlooked.

...He tried okay.

Comments

Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi - OTA

[neverjedi]

Obi-Wan is definitely one of the quieter sorts. When he's not deliberately putting himself in the spotlight, he prefers simply fading back and letting others come to him if they choose. That's what he's doing tonight.

He's wearing shorts and t-shirt that was a gift from one of his students. No shoes, feet completely buried in the sand he's sitting on and a bottle of diet soda.

He's not far outside the reach of firelight, and there's a jacket just beside him if he needs it later, but mostly he's watching the stars and people tonight. He's all but radiating contentment while he does it.

He will get up and kick some ass at Volleyball at some point, though. Then return to his spot int he sand and being quietly content and present.

[bearshermark]

Elliott drops down next to him, out of breath, and leans back on his elbows.

"Man, where'd you get that good?" His own team had 'lost', but the game had been fun anyway.

[neverjedi]

He laughs softly and shakes his head just a little. "I've got a better than average jump. I'm not really all that good, but it's fun. Thanks for playing with us."

[bearshermark]

He grins, all good cheer.

"Anytime! It was fun. I hope we can all do stuff like this more often. Good to relax and get to know each other and stuff, you know?"

[neverjedi]

"More time away from the Bureau's building and direct oversight's a good idea." Which was to say yes, mostly. "And some of us could use more reason to socialize." He was absolutely, dryly, wryly, talking about him.

[bearshermark]

His smile complicates a bit, but he tries not to think about the fact he's just submitted himself to a lot more of the Bureau's building and direct oversight too much.

"What," he says instead, deliberately misinterpreting Ben's implications. "I'm perfectly social, thanks."

[neverjedi]

He wonders about that look, but he is nowhere near being in a position to press, so he does the kindest thing he can and pretends not to notice the change in that smile.

"Are you? I hadn't noticed. The party organization just wasn't a big enough clue."

[howkickassiam]

York doesn't waste any time—he approaches the place where Ben is sitting, scopes it out for a moment, and then plops right down on the sand next to him.

"Hey, there," he says. "Turned out to be a perfect night, huh?"

[neverjedi]

He looks York's direction, looks mildly startled and then laughs, softly.

"Hey you. Yeah, tonight's turning out to be pretty damn nice. You been having a good time?"

[howkickassiam]

"It's been nice, yeah. Haven't had a chance to play a good old-fashioned game of beach volleyball, though."

Forget how new that sport actually is, in the scheme of things.

[neverjedi]

"Clearly you need to gather up people and get an other game going. Or just tap me and we'll play by ourselves while everyone else has moved on to something else."

He has no idea how old beach volleyball is, but even if he did he probably wouldn't be too fussed.

[howkickassiam]

"We should play a game, after a bit," he says. "Man. It's kind of weird to have this whole like, in-built group of friends now, isn't it? I don't think I ever would have met any of you without all this weird shit happening to us."

[neverjedi]

"I'm game - especially on sand." It would do his knees and back some favors. "It is pretty weird to have a whole community spring up like this. Kind of nice, though."

Ben/Bail

[consortofalderaan]

Bail arrived in time to watch Ben 'kick some ass at Volleyball' but not so on time that he was picked for team. And he was okay with that, some people were meant to play sports, some people were meant to be entertained.

He went to Ben when he was done playing.

"Can I sit here with you?" It was easier to ask that this time, having already shared lunch. Part of him wished their dinner could have been yesterday.

Re: Ben/Bail

[neverjedi]

"I would never be so foolish as to turn down your company," he said, tone playful, but sentiment pretty sincere. He was a little flushed, a little sandy, but not at all winded.

He picked up his water bottle. "I'm glad you made it out."

Re: Ben/Bail

[consortofalderaan]

Bail took a seat next to Ben.

"I had a long weekend helping my brother," he said. And though he enjoyed his family, he couldn't help but feel yesterday evening with Ben might have been more fun.

"You're pretty good at volleyball."

Re: Ben/Bail

[neverjedi]

"I like jumping and sand's a good excuse to get a little more reckless than I might otherwise get." Also he just likes volleyball, and liking a thing always makes it easier to be decent at it. "Is everything okay with your brother?"

Re: Ben/Bail

[consortofalderaan]

Speaking of sand, Bail kicked off his sandals and buried his toes in the cool, damp sand. He draped his arms over his knees.

"Oh my brother is fine." He waved a hand. "He and his wife are remodeling a part of their house and he'd asked me to come over to help prep the space... How was your weekend?"

[neverjedi]

Ben pretty well buried his feet in the sand again, too, and took a drink of his water. This really was a nice night.

His smile was warm, bright and open. "My weekend was good. Really good actually. I spent some time in the gym learning aerial acrobatics for my next exhibition skate. It's fun." A pause. "Definitely more fun than remodeling."

[aggressive_negotiations]

Smith has been making the rounds, introducing herself to the others. What strikes her so far is the diversity of the Different -- People here are from all ages, all walks of life. Whatever has been happening, it does not seem selective.

For example: a figure skating coach. She approaches him with a smile.

"What rink do you work at?"

[neverjedi]

He looks up to respond to her and goes still for a moment, blinks a few times and then resolutely shakes his head. He has enough memories now that she is somewhat familiar, but he is entirely too discrete to say so.

Even if he were absolutely and entirely sure.

He returns her smile after that startled moment. "I work at the Aviator complex." He extends his hand to her. "I'm Ben Kenobi. You're relatively new, aren't you?"

[aggressive_negotiations]

She registers the slight startle on his face. It could be very well due to her political or internet presence.

But still. She takes a note of it, without giving away any hint that she's doing so. She shakes his hand, firmly.

"I am. Still wrapping my head around it, to be honest."

[neverjedi]

It may be that. He'll pretend like it was if he needs to. For now he's just going to carry on.

"It's a lot to wrap your head around. Actually, it's just a lot, period. Have you gone to any of the support meetings, yet? If not, this is a better introduction. If so... the food here is way better." There's some play in there, somewhere.

[aggressive_negotiations]

He's not wrong there -- catering at community events is usually abysmal, and the support group was no exception.

"I noticed," she says, with a chuckle. "I've started to make sure I eat dinner before I go to those things."

Because hangry is a very real state, and it's not the best look on Smith. She looks around the event -- there's so many more people than she first thought. "I guess the budget for this thing was bigger."

[neverjedi]

"More... publicly funded, I think." There's a quick smile that goes with that, but then it turns wry. "We could probably do the same at the support meetings but that feels like a little too much cooperation. I don't think anyone really wants to be entirely comfortable at those meetings. This is for us, not the Bureau."

So bigger budget because people contributed and invested in their own, instead of just reluctantly showing up.