(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

A

[trustycrowbar]

Gordon, smeared in as much sunscreen as he could wear, is minding his own business looking for bits of polished volcanic obsidian in the shallows behind the rocks, when he looks up just in time to see the blonde streak past him into the water.

"...Why doesn't that surprise me in the least?"

[strategic_guile]

Blaine can't hear you Gordon. He's too busy splashing loudly into the waves and diving under. When he pops back up a few yards further than where he disappeared, his back is facing him and he's unaware anyone was that close by. He lifts his arms over his head and stretches with a pleased sigh. "Ahhh, this is great. Better than Versailles."

[trustycrowbar]

"Versailles was a lot cooler. And I get the feeling THAT wouldn't have worked as a costume." OVER HERE, BLAINE. With Blaine's lower half obscured by the waves, Gordon eyes him over his collection of rocks.

"Didn't they issue you a pair of shorts to swim in?" Knowing his roommate, the Standard-Issue Initiative FutureShorts probably stayed behind on his bed at the apartment.

[strategic_guile]

You can see him jerk at the sudden voice, but that stiffness is short lived as the owner of said voice registers. Blaine runs a hand through his bangs to slick them back against his head as he turns around to give Gordon a straight up smirk.

"They issue us a lot of stuff but we don't have to take them." He's moving towards Gordon now and eying the pile of rocks. Figures that Gordon wouldn't even take one day to relax. "Please don't tell me you're going to be collecting stuff this entire time."

[trustycrowbar]

"That IS what we're here for." He snorts, trying to play it cool even though Blaine is very naked and not necessarily covered by the waves anymore. It's sort-of working.

"However, I DO plan on taking a look around after I've amassed a sufficient amount. They sent us back millions of years, and I'm NOT going to give up the oppertunity."

Livin' on the edge, he is.

[strategic_guile]

Blaine just laughs and keeps walking. If you don't draw attention to just how little the waves are covering he isn't going to spare you, Freeman. You have probably seen him naked so often you should be getting some kind of immunity. "Yeah, we're here for that and probably just to get us out of the fucking way before there are riots."

He shrugs. "Besides, what you plan on doing for fun... I have a sneaking suspicion others will still think it looks like work."

[trustycrowbar]

He HAS built up an immunity, actually. He's not sure if that's a good thing or not. He frowns at the mention of getting them out of the way and fiddles with his glasses, but doesn't pursue the topic.

"That may be, but I find it enjoyable. Swimming and can wait for later."

[strategic_guile]

Blaine's standing in water that's about knee deep now, looking at what Gordon's collected. "Well, if you're going to keep working I saw a ton more back that way," and he points back the way he came. "But I suggest you take a break and at least wade in to your knees. It's warm, but not too much."

[trustycrowbar]

And Gordon's looking at anything but him, now. Mostly the glass. He does give Blaine a look with a cocked eyebrow at the invitation for a break.

"...Oh... alright, what the hell."

His boots are such that it takes him about five minutes to even get them off, but soon enough he's peering out at the greenish horizon as the super-oxygenated water fizzes and foams around him.

[strategic_guile]

Yes, good Gordon. Even if you refuse to look at the glory that is Blaine naked. at least he isn't floating on his back or anything. Yet. Instead Blaine is just lazy rolling around like some weird otter and lurking with just his eyes above the waves watching as the other man comes in.

"I told you it was nice~" and then he goes back to lurking, swimming around to the side.

[trustycrowbar]

Yyyyyyeah, that's not a creepy or anything.

"You remind me of a blonde shark when you do that." He mutters down at him. Not that he couldn't do a shark impression himself, he just doesn't want to get his clothes wet. Slosh slosh... mnh. The motion of the waves isn't unpleasant, though.

[strategic_guile]

Blaine has to surface so he can laugh and not inhale water. He is not bothered by being compared to a shark and probably will never be because being equated to an apex predator is hilarious. He gets further in so his feel touch the ground and now his hands are up, and he's molding his wet hair as high and thin as he can so it resembles a fin. Then he goes back to lurking and coming towards Gordon.

[trustycrowbar]

insert Jaws theme here Okay, that cases the man to break, laughing with a facepalm over his glasses and all.

...Until he gets closer and Gordon starts to politely backpedal in the water because he realizes he's a dunking victim waiting to happen--

[strategic_guile]

Oh Gordon, lets hope you are fast enough, because Blaine is gaining speed and has the benefit of not trying to be polite at all. If he grabs your leg, which he is reaching for, you are going down and he claims victory over your dignity once again.

[trustycrowbar]

The good news? He manages to dodge Blaine's grabby-hands.

The bad news? A wave catches him off-blaance and he still winds up in the water with a hearty splash.

"GNGH--" Is his eloquent comment about the whole thing. Sitting in the water it's at chest-height, and he fruitlessly slings water off his glasses with a nuclear-powered glare in Blaine's direction.

[strategic_guile]

Blaine is not perturbed by your glare. In fact it gives him strength because he wins again and didn't even have to do the dunking himself. He's pretty happy about it until something brushes up against his leg. He reaches down to scratch and then it brushes up against him again on his other leg. His attention leaves Gordon to find out the source. What the hell is that?

[trustycrowbar]

Gordon notices Blaine's change in expression and is about to inquire, when the same something brushes against his leg as well. He flails and gets to one knee in a primal lurch, hand already at that stupid crowbar he insisted on carrying with him. Was that a shadow he saw under the water, or is it a trick of the light? Or seaweed? Did they even have seaweed in this eon?

"What the hell was that...?" He asks, echoing Blaine's thoughts. "Did you feel that?"

[strategic_guile]

"Yeah," he definitely felt that, and he's easing towards the shore now. "No idea what that was." It could haven't been that big because of the barrier, but it didn't need to be to do major damage. He was naked, after all. Swimming trunks wouldn't have offered any more protection against sharp teeth either.

[trustycrowbar]

"It's probably nothing... probably..." He says like he's sure it is in fact something and they should probably abscond now. At the next swell of the surf the crest ripples and produces a fishy missile that is all fins and teeth, and convinced that Blaine is equipped with a natural lure in the worst possible way.

[strategic_guile]

Blaine was definitely leaving the water but he wasn't going to turn his back so he could get bitten in the ass. He was side stepping when suddenly there was... a fish[?] with teeth[!] and goddamnit it was heading RIGHT for him and he's backpeddling then turns because if he has to choose which gets bitten it's definitely his ass over his dick, thank you. If he doesn't punch it first because he's still half turned in his flight, fist cocked back and ready.

[trustycrowbar]

PANNK! Blaine's fist may be occupied but Gordon's crowbar is not. The fish is swatted back just as another one lunges, this time for Gordon. The other man grunts, hisses and wrenches the fish off his shoulder, throwing it back, and then when another missiles between them.

"Jeezuschrist, there's a bunch of them and they're going to eat us alive at this rate! Go!" To shore! RETREAT!

[strategic_guile]

Oh, thank you Gordon. Blaine would say it out loud but they're still under attack and he's totally punting a fish out of the water. It's probably stunned as it smacks back into the water a dozen feet away and into deeper water. You don't have to tell him even once to run. He was already going as soon as he kicked the fish.

"Sunnovabitch!" was his exclamation as he's powering through the shallows and hopefully out of range.

[trustycrowbar]

It isn't his most courageous moment, but no one asked him to stand and fight against the paleo-piranhas and he'd rather live to fight another day. He lurches to shore right behind Blane, yelping and wrenching another fish from his calf. In the end they stand at the shore, panting and teeth-marked.

"So. Killer fish in the shallows by the rocks. Important to know."

[strategic_guile]

Courageous was not what was needed right then. Fast legs, which they both had and trained, were what had them catapulting out of the shallows. One last little bastard fish had Blaine by the ankle though and he tried to kick it free. He was cursing a mile a minute in at least four languages as he failed to shake it free and instead grabbed it by its... tail[?] and ripped it free. How he didn't lose a chunk of flesh was anyone's guess, but now he was on the shore, panting, bleeding, and just happy he didn't lose something far more important.

[trustycrowbar]

Gordon flopped bodily against an inclined rock, running a hand over his face and plucking off his glasses.

"...You all right?" He eventually asks of Blaine. "You came damn close to losing your will to live back there."