(open) mission: hit the beach

[aithinkthereforeaiam]

Date & Time: July 18th-24th, Exsilium Time
Location: Sea Shore during the Late Cretaceous Period
Characters: All! Oh those pesky mandatory missions.
Summary: In lieu of the success of the space shuttle's test flight, all of the Transports have been sent back to the Cretaceous period to gather mineral supplies and volcanic rock, while doubling as a sort of 'vacation' and chance to get Transports out of the Initiative's hair. With well stocked supplies, camping gear, and more burlap sacks than anyone could possibly ever use, the Transports have been set under a protective dome and told to collect what they can... and to enjoy the sunshine.
Warnings: Shenanigans!

The overflow log can be found HERE!

It's almost surreal, the quality of color, of light, of oxygen saturation in the air once people arrive. It's so rich that the Initiative sent people back with respirators, to help ease the transition, and warned those who would listen about the effects of too much oxygen on a system.

What they don't warn for is the sheer alien familiarity of the landscape, the warmth, the roughness of the sand on the beaches. This is not the fine, sandy beaches out of vacation dreams, but a rougher, larger granule sort, with shells that might be recognizeable as ancestors to ones those from Earth would remember washing up on familiar beaches, millions of years later.

Most striking is the lack of abundant wildlife found among the fronds and leaves and foliage, or underneath the surface of the saltier, much warmer waters extending off the beach. While acting as a permeable membrane to oxygen and water, along with the sorts of phytoplankton that kept sea creatures alive, all the larger animals had been pushed out by the Initiative's installment of the safety dome. Along the transparent walls, curious creatures would come close, peer in, tap against the barrier and run off if frightened, but very few were found inside at any size larger than that of a house cat. It was for the better in the long run.

Too bad that the Initiative didn't have ultra-violet blocking technology in their shielding. For all the atmosphere is in much better shape millions of years in the past, the sun is as strong as ever, and the unwary will be burned through and through if they're not careful.

Comments

[affections]

( Jules, on the other hand, has probably failed to fully make use of her monster strength, and can instead be frequently seen lounging and enjoying the pursuit of a tan or making cocktails.

That may, in fact, be Jules wandering closer now, as Gwen collects sea shells. )

You know, there are tongue twisters about sea shells and sea shores.

( Bikinis and floppy hats, her favourite things in life, as she grins at Gwen over her sunglasses. ) Enjoying yourself?

[graciousness]

Tongue...twisters?

[ Gwen's default state near Jules is confusion and she tries not to eye her way of dress. Many of the girls wear similar clothing. Gwen, still in her simple dress, finds them all to be...too revealing for her even contemplate wearing.

She smiles, still. ]

Quite. How are you Jules?

[affections]

Yes! They're for practicing elocution, I believe. Enunciation, and all of those marvellous things

( So cheery, pulling off her sunglasses and tucking them into her bikini strap. Her fingers absently brush over the puncture scars at her neck, that extend over her arms and over her a lot of her body in irregular patches, but she's long given up on ever hiding them, and she was hardly forsaking a tan in the name of being self-conscious. )

I'm fantastic. How are you? I really love your dress, I have to say.

[graciousness]

[ what even. she won't ask.

She won't ask about the scars, either; but there is a shadow of concern on her face as she takes them in. ]

Thank you. That's kind of you. Did you use to spend much time by the sea?

[affections]

( it's probably best not to, really. Jules factor: set to stun.

She does her best to ignore the concern, but she's Jules, so instead of actually doing that she's smiling reassuringly. ) Don't worry about them.

( She has seen similar looks before. )

You can't swim in your dress, though, as lovely as it is. Hm, not so much, sadly. A lot of time travelling and not much actually seeing the sights.

[graciousness]

I can't swim to begin with, I have never learned. This is alright too. I have found many shells and they're beautiful. Maybe they can be used for ornaments.

[ as for the scars well. ]

Are you certain? the sun does not -- hurt you?

[affections]

Really? Would you like to? ( Jules tilts her head, curious. ) I promise, I can keep you entirely and one hundred percent safe. ( You see that smile? It is the most winning of smiles. ) Or we can just float, in which I can still keep you safe.

( But she does smile at the shells. ) You could make them into a necklace.

( And then the smile turns rueful. ) Not many things can hurt me, Gwen. I'm rather hardy.

( Monster blood, for all your sun protection needs. ) It was a long time ago.

[graciousness]

Really?

[ she looks at the water. ]

The water looks deep, are you certain?

[ she does want to but she is also forever worried.a t the talk of a necklace, she smiles, shows her the sea glass she had collected, too. ]

I think they will make nice ornaments for Morgana, what do you thimk?

[affections]

We'll take it slow.

( Julia. But despite the teasing words, her grin innocent and friendly rather than as terribly flirtatious as she can be. ) Shallows first. We can go and grab you a swimsuit, I suspect this will be a bit too heavy to be safe.

( Glancing down, looking closer at the shells before she looks back at Gwen. )

They'll be perfect, completely.

[graciousness]

I am not certain I can wear this Jules it's -- I've never even seen anything like this.

[ she'd be flushed and babbling the whole time. ]

i thought i replied to this already :'| i'm sorry!

[affections]

Don't worry. We can always just grab you a t-shirt and some short, or something. You don't have to wear anything like this.

( For all her trolling and teasing, Jules isn't quite that mean. )

Alternatively, we can forget about the swimming for now, and see about finding some more shells for your collection.

hush you're lovely

[graciousness]

Perhaps we can try tomorrow morning if - you are not busy. When it's less hot, the weather is -

[ terrible. she hadn't suffered so much heat since the wild west. ]

So different than in Camelot. But let us try and find more shells!

NO U

[affections]

( Continued over here )