Inari in July! Log times!

[bufubulous]

Who; Yusuke and whoever is around!
What; Beeeeach tiiiiiimes
Where; See above
When; All through July!
Warnings; None, but I will update if it comes up!



Prawndering New Shores - OTA

Yusuke wasn’t particularly fond of the heat, it had to be said. Nor was he fond of the idea of sun-damage, so summer was always particularly challenging for him as seasons went. Whether that had any bearing on the element of his persona was uncertain, but hard to not consider once in a while. On the one hand, a sweltering sunny day was better than being caught in a massive downpour of rain you didn’t see coming (it happened), on the other… He had the complicated task of staying cool while also avoiding sunburn. The teen did not tan, after all. He only burned, and while he was fond of lobsters, he had no interest in having his complexion match their colours.

Since he did not arrive with his favourite summer-weight hooded sweater, this meant that the only wait to beat the heat while enjoying the sandy shores of this lovely new beach was to get creative. Yusuke had managed to beg a (ridiculously) oversized, wide-brimmed summer hat from one of the people who worked at the orphanage, and managed to find a light cotton shirt to wear open with a pair of shorts. Regardless of how it might look, it worked rather well, if he did say so himself. The brim shaded not only his face, but even his shoulders as it flopped down over them at a careful angle.

As he wandered the shores with the curious eyes of someone looking for something, but not knowing what… It wasn’t long before Yusuke happened upon a large, delightfully lively tide pool. The teen could be found, chin resting on his knees that were drawn up to his chest, staring in awe at the varied life in the shallow, sheltered waters. Lobsters, of course, were a particular treat. Smaller juvenile ones scuttling around the floor amidst little fish that had gotten trapped when the tide went out. So many little creatures in such an unexpected space, enduring the low tide until the waves came crashing back in. “Magnificent, never have I seen such beautiful beings before!” He murmured, fingers itching for his sketch pad.

The pad was present, of course. Settled in the coloured bag that he received when he arrived, preferring to leave his leather satchel home rather than drag it to the beach... But the teen was truly captivated as usual, by the many little creatures going about their day in their own unexpected ‘home away from home.’

So if anyone happened upon what appeared to be an oversized beach hat with its back turned to the public while observing things… They are welcome to distract him!

If they didn’t find the massive hat that was Yusuke there, they might also find him later on, sitting on the shore while he resumed watching the shoreline for interesting sights while attempting to build a particularly impressive looking sand castle that appeared to have been decorated with shell and the odd sand-sculpted lobster. Humming to himself and occasionally stopping, to make his fingers into a frame to observe the progress thus far… “Yes…! Perfection.” He commented before a pleased chuckle escaped him, and he resumed working.

(Find him while he’s wandering the shores, while he’s hanging out at the tide pool, or while he’s building a sand castle!)

A Kriller Storm - OTA

Sometimes one had to muse that things were going too perfectly. A day spent enjoying one’s self to the fullest, plenty of good food and fun to be had… Not a cloud in the sky… Until there was. Creeping in over the horizon and spreading more quickly than one might notice as they were focused on something in front of them instead of what was above them.

This was the case for Yusuke that day, as per usual, settled on the shoreline as he worked on some sketches that would be drafted for paintings at a later date. At least they would be once he had a chance to finish getting the rough outlines down. Instead? Instead, he was frowning lightly as he felt something lightly beginning to hit his oversized hat. The tap-tap-tapping only increased in frequency as what could only be described as a flash rain storm began coming down quite hard. He let out a displeased, undignified groan as he hurried to close his notepad and hugged it to his chest, angling his hat down to shield him better as he scrambled to put everything in his bag and get up to leave.

Looking more and more like a drowned rat than a person as his hat was weighed down by the water and the wind blew the rain more at an angle, which meant less protection. He could almost hear Ryuji’s eloquent eff this! in his head that would be voiced in these moments if he were here. Instead, he could only frown severely and let out dramatic huffs and sighs as he hurried away from the shoreline to look for nearby buildings for shelter.

It didn’t help when the over-sized brim of his hat got caught up in a gust of wind and blew off, making him have to change course again to try to catch it. Considering it was borrowed, he wasn’t about to lose the darn thing! He wouldn’t even know how to begin to replace it!

Why did this always seem to happen at the worst possible moments?

Shellebration of Friendship - Closed for Ren, Haru and Yusuke!

Sometimes the universe had rather funny timing, if one stopped to consider it. Yusuke himself had just come to this place a short span of time after a beach party with his friends, and somehow, despite it being the end of summer then…? He found himself experiencing the season all over again. Only this time, it was in an entirely different world and the group was oddly smaller (but no less cherished).

It wasn’t long before he discovered that however far ahead the other two were; they had not arrived at another summer yet and one among them had not gotten to experience a beach party as the rest of them had. This came up easily enough in conversation as they discussed the fact that this world seemed to have changed again to somehow grow an entire stretch of beach with inviting scenery and businesses.

… And rumors. Rumors that, if one were prone to belief, indicated that this beach came with a creature none of them had yet to see. A sand shark. What did they look like? Did they truly move through the sands? How large were they??? All these questions sprung to mind, and more as the trio decided (with quite a bit of excitement on some parts) that a phantom thieves investigation (and party) was in order to both look into the rumors and to see to it that they all had gotten to enjoy a fun afternoon at the beach that they had sadly missed out on before.

Because, really, it would be a terrible shame to not. No one wanted to imagine the sadness that might grip their friend to miss another chance at a fun day in the sun looking for sand sharks!

The weather was beautifully warm and clear that day, not a cloud above to suggest any unfortunate downpours that might dampen the occasion. The sandy shores stretch out before them were lightly dotted with people who seemed to have had the same idea, and the sound of the waves gently brushing against the shore could be heard as they approached.

Yusuke turned eagerly to his fellow Phantom Thieves, adjusting the (absurdly) large summer hat he was using to shade himself in the absence of his hooded sweater. “Do we have everything?? I have my sketchbook-” You know… In case he wanted to sketch the sand sharks. Inspiration could be found anywhere! “And some of the snacks in my bag.” Also arguably important, what was a trip to the beach without beach snacks!

Comments

Clearly because I am a TERRIBLE person ;;

[bufubulous]

Oh… Oh dear… what a mess. His expression was slightly awkward as he surveyed the damage his hat had done to the poor woman’s outfit. “You’ve got a little…” He gestured to her hair for a moment, then realized that brushing it out wasn’t really going to happen when Aerith was already coated quite heavily in sand. “My apologies, it would seem it’s less a little and more a lot everywhere…?” He winced lightly as he pulled his bangs out of his eyes as they became plastered to his forehead in the rain. All in all, he was pretty sure he’d somehow come out of this in fairly better shape than she had.

“I am grateful that you got it, as I had borrowed it from someone and would hate to say I lost it. Though I’m rather sorry for the inconvenience it caused.” He offered, feeling rather bad for having caused an accident with his carelessness. He should have thought to keep a better hold of his hat the minute the winds picked up!

At her comment, he offered a frustrated nod. “Indeed! It seems it happens as frequently here as it had been in my world. It is truly vexing to be caught unprepared in a downpour.” It would seem it was somehow even worse on a beach, as wet sand was truly a menace to deal with outside situations in which you were making a sculpture or castle.

she wants to go back to the slums, sky is 0/4

[cetrary]

"A little--oh...I've made a mess." Her pouting intensified tenfold by that realization. The worst part of the entire situation was that she'd caused this part. The rain, the hat, the falling, those had all been accidents. Her hair? That was completely her fault for reaching up there to get the sand out. Really, why had she thought reaching up to get sand out of her hair with sand covered hands would work out well? The answer to that was the simple fact that she hadn't exactly thought things through. All she'd thought was she wanted to brush her hair off.

She heaved a sigh and then shook her head. "Don't worry, it's not your fault so no need to apologize. Unless you secretly summoned the rain," she added with a little teasing wink. "I'm happy to have gotten it so you don't get in trouble. Besides, if the rain keeps coming down like this, the sand will wash out before we get to cover." There was a weird positive about it, right? Her thick hair was already getting heavy with water,so it was only a matter of time before the sand started rinsing off. Right? Surely.

"It happens like this in your world too?" That sounded awful. "I guess I'm not really used to weather like this."

I can't believe I made her dislike *the sky* :c

[bufubulous]

“Yes, or rather I suppose one could say the storm and sand have.” He added with a wince. It wasn’t like she intended to get sand all through her hair or all over her outfit. Certainly the storm and the nature of wet sand could be blamed for that more heavily than she could be for spreading it further by mistake. Sand was, without a doubt, one of the most unpleasant things to have to rid oneself of! “Maybe… the rain will wash some of it out before it clears or cover is found?” He offered, perhaps a too hopeful idea, but it was the best they could manage at the moment.

Yusuke squinted lightly as if considering the possibility that he may have, because… In hindsight, it was hard to not note that he had been present when the summer festival had also been rained out, and oftentimes it rained on days he went out to spend time with friends! “I… Don’t believe I did. My abilities are largely ice-based? But I cannot deny that this has not been an isolated occurrence.”

… And this would only be intensified when a certain school trip goes awry, certainly.

“Flash storms are rather unpleasant, though. A festival I attended with my friends got rained out as well, just as fireworks were being lit.” he shook his head with some disappointment. The beautiful display had been cut short and ruined. “I would say it’s probably a good thing that you haven’t experienced such unfortunate storms enough to be used to it. Is the weather more stable in your world, in that case?” Though... Maybe this wasn't the place to have such a conversation. "Er... We should probably try to get in out of this, it seems to show no sign of stopping?"

to be fair she already kinda feared the sky

[cetrary]

"I shouldn't have put my hand up." At this point she wore a dejected looking expression, as if the full weight of her crimes against herself were coming down. It wasn't nearly as big of a deal as it felt like in the moment, but that was how these things went. One accident spiraled into a disaster, at least in someone's mind. Mostly in her own mind.

"Ice-based, huh...hmm that is close to being water based..." she gave him an overly exaggerated side-eye that she hoped he'd get was just teasing. Well, she sort of hopes. Aerith did like her teasing after all and if someone happened to think she was fully and completely serious that was definitely not her fault. She ran her hands down her skirt a few times to get most of the sand off then brushed the clump that her bangs had become out of her eyes. "I'd like to see sometime though. If you don't mind." Not now, but sometime. She hadn't even been aware of the fact that he had abilities, so her curiosity was peaked.

"Just at the fireworks? Aw, that's the sky cheating right there." Clearly that was the only explanation at all, the sky had cheated t o take the fireworks away from them. "That must've been disappointing." Her voice took on a more distant tone for a moment. "Sometimes fireworks remind me a bit of the Lifestream. All the colors dancing around for just a fleeting moment..." she shook her head as if to clear out her own strange thoughts.

After a second she turned to look at him and tilted herself sideways as she pointed forward. "Onward then!" And she started marching towards the nearest cover she could see. As she walked she made a 'hmm' noise as she thought about his question. "It's not so much that it's more stable, kinda the opposite really," what with Shinra destroying the environment and all. "But more so that I lived under a plate."

She now has 1 more reason to dislike it!

[bufubulous]

Yusuke shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. “You do make a good point… But I would hardly cause a storm on purpose. That would be irresponsible and rather rude when everyone’s just trying to enjoy a day at the beach!” He responded quickly, as if hoping she’d believe him. Yes, he was taking her side-eye literally. It was pretty convincing! And he was perhaps just a touch worried about somehow bringing about bad luck to have caused something. Especially after the whole ‘hat incident.’

The question gets a quick nod, though. A demonstration was the least he could offer, after all… “Of course, I would be happy to demonstrate. Perhaps on a better day, though. One without all this rain and sand.” He added clumsily, glancing at the sky questioningly for a moment as the rain continued to pour down on them. Did it ever intend to let up?? Was this just how the afternoon was fated to remain??

“It truly felt as though we were cheated by it! And it certainly dampened our spirits quite severely, just as with us today.” Yes, he went there… It was hard to not go for an easy play on words when it presented itself. He thought it was at least slightly amusing, frustrations aside. “But it was quite disappointing. Everyone had been looking forward to it so much.” He shook his head a little. It had been a celebration for a couple of reasons, and it was sad that the evening had ended as it had. Though the teen blinked, curious at the comparison. “The Lifestream?”

Yusuke didn’t need to be told twice, and he certainly appreciated the slightly dramatic gesture as she turned and pointed. The situation called for it, in his opinion. “Yes, let’s be off!” He responded, picking his way up the shoreline carefully with her. Hoping to avoid a tumble himself, as the sand was rather awkward to walk on. “Less stable, then?” Perhaps that meant weather patterns differed severely, and rain was scarce? He wasn’t sure, but her next words made some sense. “So you’re used to something sheltering against the weather from above… The open skies here would be a different experience.”

she's adding it to the list =(

[cetrary]

She threw a glance in his direction and made a humming noise. "Hmm, are you certain?" He was taking it completely seriously, she could tell, and really she should have told him that she was teasing. For some reason though, she just didn't. It probably should have made her feel a bit bad for the poor kid, but so far she hadn't reached that. Yet.


"Definitely on a better day. I can show you mine if you show me yours!" Luckily she had an ice materia here with her that she could use for a demonstration. Though, she really was more curious about his. She followed his gaze and frowned just a bit, clearly she was cursed herself. This was the second time this had happened to her in not a large amount of time. Maybe it was her that brought the rain curse around and not him.

"I can only imagine. Did you ever get a chance to see them again?" Wait...slowly recognition flashed on her face. "I see what you did there," she said with a light chuckle. "Dampened, wow." Repeating it just made her burst into more laughter. "That was pretty good." She paused at his question, sometimes it was so strange to be in a world where people didn't know about the Lifestream at all. "It's...the lifeblood of our planet where I'm from."

That was the easiest way for her to explain as they made their way to towards some form of shelter. Trying to explain it fully right now in the rain wouldn't be a very good idea. "A lot less stable. It's usually pretty hot there, especially in the slums which are under the plates."

[bufubulous]

“Well…” He responded, definitely sounding less certain as he took her rather seriously. “I believe I would know if I were somehow causing it with my ability. It is rather obvious when I do.” He responded with a clumsy little wobble as they moved up the shoreline with the sand shifting under his feet. Surely it was a coincidence, right? Or… was he simply cursed to be followed by rain wherever he went?

Her suggestion gets a distracted smile, despite the current weather conditions. “I believe I would certainly enjoy that! It would be interesting to share the differences in how our abilities work.” After all, he’d been quite curious about seeing how materia worked since she explained the concept at the potluck over those delicious dumplings she’d made.

She got it! A chuckle escaped him finally as she began to laugh, quite proud of himself for his words to have garnered such a reaction. Better than potential groans at out cheap or terrible a joke it was in their current situation. “Why thank you, I thought it was rather amusing.” He responded with a pleased tone as they continued. If she thought that was fun, she at least wouldn’t be disappointed to hear his odd sense of humor and random puns being thrown around when they struck him as clever.

But the teen listened as carefully as she could while she explained what the lifestream was. “I see… So it’s as important as it is beautiful, by your description.” He responded with a thoughtful tilt of his head. It was apparent he was trying to picture it with some curiosity as she continued to explain the unstable weather conditions of her world. At least… He was trying to until the sand shifted oddly under a foot and down he went. It was a particularly spectacular and graceless fall, so different from his usual movements, as he face-planted in the sand with a yelp.

Hey… They matched now, right?

[cetrary]

"I see. Guess I'll just have to trust you for now." There was a lightness to her voice that did it's best to convey that she was mostly just teasing him. Now seemed like a good time to let him know that she was just playing around with him. "Obvious, hmm? Guess we'll see when we do our exchange!" Now that he'd said it was obvious when he used it she was looking forward to it even more. All sorts of ideas floated around in her head about what his abilities might look like.

"It was! I like jokes like that." They were wholesome and, in her opinion, always managed to lighten a mood. Honestly, the joke was made even better by how pleased he seemed with it. For some reason people being pleased with their own jokes always seemed to make them better. Maybe it was just the fact that they were having fun and not afraid to show it.

"Exactly," she said with a strangely sad smile. "It--" whatever she was going to add was cut short by his fall. Her eyes widened. "Oh no!" she knelt down and reached over to his shoulder to try to help him. "Are you alright?"

[bufubulous]

“I would appreciate that until such a time I can prove it to be true!” He responded, sounding quite earnest, even at the lightness in her tone. The teen was taking it to mean that she was at least not going to be cross with him for the weather, and to trust that he hadn’t had a hand in it… Which he certainly hoped that he hadn’t. That would be a terrible fate to have, to bring rain wherever he went at the worst possible moment! “I will look forward to sharing. We’ll have to find a location somewhere that such a display might not be disruptive. Perhaps just outside the city, or in an area that is already in an ill state of disrepair.”

Yusuke beamed, despite the rain still beating down. “I shall be sure to keep that in mind, then. It’s good to know someone appreciates such forms of humor. I have always found plays on words and puns to be such clever and amusing things.” He responded with a light tone, still unaware of what was about to befall him…

And when it did, and she had voiced her concern, he let out a small muffled groan at his ill-luck. Pushing himself up on his elbows and glancing up at her with a sand covered face like some kind of beach-monster. He tried to dash some of it off his face with a hand, frowning a little at the texture. Wet sand was only good for sand-sculptures and castles… They did not need the extra exfoliation today! “I believe so, unless you count my pride and my nose being a little sore.” He added, rubbing it lightly before trying to push himself back to his feet. “What an accursed afternoon this has turned out to be for us, drenched like shipwreck victims and fated to carry the beach without any say in the matter!” He uttered a touch (more like a lot) dramatically.

[cetrary]

"I'm adding that to the list," of things he was going to prove to her to be true. Of course she wasn't really keeping a list, but he didn't need to know that, now did he? She looked thoughtful for a second and made a humming sound as she thought about good locations to suggest. "Maybe we could sneak into the arena?" There were times when nobody was doing anything with it, maybe they could sneak in after hours and use that. After all it was made for things like that! It seemed like as good a location as any in her eyes. Besides, she might not readily admit to it, but she kinda liked the arena.

"Afraid I can't heal wounded pride," she said with a half smile. Anything else? She could definitely heal it up, but pride? Well, unfortunately that wasn't in her line of expertise. She offered him a hand as he tried to push himself onto his feet. It might get more sand on her but she honestly wasn't entirely sure if there was actually such a thing as 'more sand' at this point. The worst part about sand was that once it got wet it seemed to stick to absolutely everything. At this point it really was starting to feel like one of them had been cursed. Or maybe both of them had been, it was kind of hard to tell at this point.

His description actually managed to get a laugh out of her. It probably wasn't what he'd intended from the comment, but there was no way for anyone to not laugh at that. It was so dramatic but at the same time she thought for sure that he was at least slightly serious with it. "I do kinda feel like a shipwreck victim at this point. Or at least I imagine this is what they feel like. I've never really been to a beach until now." And it was kind of a disappointing adventure.

[bufubulous]

Yes, there was a small list seeming to form of things that he’d promised to prove to the woman. It was almost kind of funny that it was turning into something of a trend. At the mention of the arena, Yusuke hummed thoughtfully and glanced at her. “That would probably be a good space, given it’s more or less made for such displays.” And sneaking in after hours would mean they could share their abilities uninterrupted, which was definitely desirable compared to having a potential audience.

“No, not even a helpful diarahan could help at the moment, I believe.” He commented with some wry humor as he tried to scrub the sand from his lips and face with a small pout. Cursed sand, such a perfect medium for creation and yet so very unpleasant in the wrong situations! Yusuke accepted her help, at least for balance, as he tried to right himself. Thanking her politely before trying to brush some of the sand from his front with a few quick flaps of his hand, to no avail. Maybe the rain would at least rinse some of it off as they resumed trying to get out of the storm.

Yusuke nodded. “I believe we can at least surmise that it can’t be quite unlike that. It feels like an apt description, at least based upon our appearances.” He responded quite seriously about it, shaking his head and adjusting his hold on the hat to not lose it again. Still, as he resumed picking his way up the beachside with her, he couldn’t help but blink in surprise. “I assure you, this is not how one’s day at the beach normally goes. It’s quite a bit more pleasant for a way to spend your day than all of this has been.”

[cetrary]

Sounds like they had another plan set into motion. In a way it was a bit strange for her to suddenly have so many plans. Back home she wasn't particularly known for following through so strongly with things. Really, she was a lot more likely to go with the flow of things and just do what seemed the most fun at the moment than she was to stick to plans. This was a whole different world.

"A...diarahan?" Was it some sort of healing spell where he was from? Once he'd straightened himself up she let go of his hand and tried to brush the sand off her own onto her skirt. It was already basically a clumpy mess of sand, so it's not like there was much of a reason to hold back anymore. Too bad absolutely none of the sand came off. Why did sand become a weird paste when wet? She knew she was right to miss the steel sky. This type of thing definitely wouldn't happen back in Midgar.

"I guess it's another new experience to add. Who knows, maybe this is what pirates feel like when they lose their ship!" See, they could pretend to be pirates now. That sounded cooler than just losers who fell on the beach. Way cooler. "Hmm...I dunno if I believe you."

[bufubulous]

“Oh! I apologize for the confusion. But yes, it’s a healing skill in my world. Quite powerful, but utterly useless in healing wounded pride as any healing ability would be.” He responded, confirming her theory of what it was. Still, it wouldn’t do anything for the embarrassment his graceless tumble had caused, nor would it get rid of the sand now clinging to them both. They were fated to take the beach home with them, or at least as much as was still cleaning to them, that the rain failed to wash away before they got there.

It was hard to not think of Ryuji at her comparison to pirates, which brought an amused grin to his face despite the situation they were in. “You could be right. I’m sure they would find the sand just as frustrating after being cast out of their ship. I have a friend who has quite the pirate aesthetic tied to his abilities, and I believe he’d find this whole sand-logged affair quite ‘uncool’ to deal with.” He responded with a light chuckle.

Tilting his head slightly as they finally began moving down the shore again, he glanced at her with some concern. “Is this another matter I should have to prove? I can at least pull from memory the delightful afternoon I spent prior to the sudden storm! And my friends and I had just spent an entire day enjoying the beach in our own world. It was quite pleasant and rain free.” It really had been nice before this! He’d found such interesting little tide pools and interesting sights to see! His sketchpad was full of new little creatures or people to consider painting!

[cetrary]

"Oh! Ours is curaga." Again the similarities and differences between the magic of their two worlds peaked Aerith's interests. It sounded as though the skill he was describing was oddly similar to the cure spells she was used. She almost went on about the other types they had, but she stopped herself when she realized this probably wasn't the time or place for that. "Life would be a lot easier if healing spells did heal pride though, huh?" she said with a little laugh. It was definitely a more forced laugh than her usual ones, but who could blame her given their current sandy situation?

"Your friend would be right! It is uncool," she looked down at the sand itself and frowned. "Hear that sand, you're uncool! Me, Yusuke, and his pirate friend all agree." Now that he'd mentioned a friend with a pirate aesthetic tied to his abilities, Aerith was 100% going to just think of him as being something like a pirate. There would be no changing her mental image of him, especially not after she decided to tell the sand they all thought it was uncool.

She was still frowning despite his explanation, her mood having been rather soured by her dripping sand drenched hair. It was really the hair that was causing the biggest issue at the moment. Given how thick her hair was (especially with the braid she usually wore it in) it had soaked up the moisture and the sand causing it to be unpleasantly heavy. She couldn't completely disagree with him though given what he'd said. "Well...it sounds like you had fun. What'd you and your friends do when you were at the beach? Maybe a story while we get to cover will cheer me up more."

[bufubulous]

“Curaga, I see! That does sound like a healing spell with a name like that.” He responded with a smile, despite their current state of sand coated, waterlogged state. It would certainly be a subject to revisit at a better moment. It really would be interesting to see how spells and her materia worked compared to his own abilities once they had a chance. The teen had to chuckle at her comment, though. “It would be far easier, especially if one is prone to taking damage of that nature as we seem to be today.” He added with a lighter tone, still rubbing at sand on his sleeve despite knowing it was going to do little to dislodge it from his person at this point.

It was… honestly quite amusing to imagine Ryuji’s reaction to just being called his pirate friend. But considering Captain Kidd and his thief disguise?? It was absolutely accurate in his opinion! Even the skull mask, reminiscent of the traditional skull and crossbones flag, was a very pirate-like image. “If only the sand could be wounded by such stern words, I believe it would feel quite chastised indeed!” He responded with a small, half smile at the tone and seriousness of her words. “Even I am inclined to agree with the description, it is highly ‘uncool.’” Even if ‘uncool’ might not be how he’d put it specifically, it was hard to deny that with the right emphasis behind it that it sounded appropriate. And it had been, perhaps, nice to think of how a friend might react in such a situation.

Perhaps discussing a less unpleasant day at the beach would help with this unpleasant one. So he nodded, keeping an eye out for a place where they could take cover and hopefully dry off a bit so they could leave some of the sand behind. “It was quite fun! It was a celebration for a friend who’d recently joined us. She isn’t fond of crowds and it was good to see her enjoy herself.” He responded lightly, before thinking back on what they had done that day. “Ryuji, the friend with the pirate aesthetic I mentioned, was rather keen to prove that he could charm the hearts of those at the beach. It was an interesting challenge that was failed quite spectacularly!” He responded with more energy than one would expect considering it had been a failure… But it really had been quite amusing.

But it had not been a failure to him. After all, he had been enchanted himself as the afternoon progressed! “I eventually broke away from the group, however, as I happened upon someone selling the most magnificent looking lobsters! They were quite beautiful, and I had to have them. They were actually the models for those found in my sketchbook, instead of the aquarium.” He beamed slightly, even if he was rather sad that they had not joined him here… But at least he knew they would probably be fine, given time didn’t pass in their worlds while they were in this one.

[cetrary]

"At least it makes it simple to know what's what," she said back with a little wink. Seemed easier than naming something diarahan, which she really couldn't get behind. What was that supposed to mean? Was there a meaning? For all she knew it was just some nonsensical word for a healing spell. She folded her arms across her chest and then winced at the crunching sound of the wet sand, only to promptly unfold her arms. Nope, that was not a good place to rest her arms right now. "Luckily for me my pride isn't so easily wounded!"

If anyone else had said something like that to her she might have thought they were patronizing her. For some reason though, with him, she couldn't help but feel like he kind of meant it. "Who says it hasn't been? I bet it feels shameful for what it's done to us." She couldn't help but smile though, at least this was managing to lighten up their mood a tiny bit. "Super uncool as one might say!" Or at least she would say. This was her new word of choice.

"Wait...you mean he tried to hit on women at the beach and failed? Aw, but who doesn't love a pirate?" That sounded like it'd have been hilarious to watch. It was hilarious just hearing the description of his failure, especially with Yusuke's added enthusiasm for the delivery. Somehow the energetic way he delivered that story just added the amusement to it all. His friend's failure must have been pretty funny if he was this enthusiastic about describing it!

"Lobsters hm? Oh! That's where you got your inspiration!" she laughed a little as she recalled the drawings he had. "Did you plan on eating them?"

[bufubulous]

“I cannot deny the truth in that, one who doesn’t know what spell is what might mix up something particularly unpleasant for something needed if they don’t know.” Though Yusuke was pretty sure it was hard to mix such things up once you did know, and some members of the team had a persona more skilled with certain skill types than others. He offered a small, tilted grin at her comment. “You are clearly made of sterner stuff than some, then. I suppose that means your recovery only hinges upon being able to rid yourself of sand?” He added, noting her discomfort as she let her arms drop.

She was right. Yusuke did mean what he said more genuinely than anything. “You know, considering the world we’ve ended up in? I suppose one could say stranger things have happened. Perhaps it knows just how uncool it is now.” He added with a light tone, again fully genuine, as he was rather prone to entertaining such odd ideas.

“Apparently at least several women at the beach where I’m from do not like pirates based on the experience.” It had been hilarious, even if Ryuji would disagree entirely with just how amusing the whole attempt had been. Though, perhaps it might have gone better for Ryuji if he had been decked out in his phantom thief gear… Or perhaps worse, it really was hard to say.

Beaming at her response to his wonderful lobster discovery, he nodded quickly. “I indeed found my inspiration for that particular sketch from them! I had rather hoped I might happen upon more today… But alas, it would seem the rains have foiled my plans.” Yusuke added with a small, sad shake of his head. Though the teen looked a bit startled by the very idea, he might have planned to eat them. Why did people keep thinking that they had been meant to be eaten?? “What? No, while I confess lobster can be quite delectable, these lobsters were clearly meant to be the star subjects of my work. I took them back to my dorm and intend to keep them.” If he could keep them alive… And he didn’t get in trouble for keeping live lobsters in his dorm room. At least they had still been alive when he was pulled into this world. Figuring out the proper way to care for salt water creatures was rather fascinating, but complicated.

[cetrary]

"Right? You might accidentally set someone flying in a windstorm when you meant to cure them from slow." Which would arguably be a tiny bit funny. Just a tiny bit though! And only if it meant that nobody was actually too hurt. "Much sterner stuff. You know, I could have been a SOLDIER." Unlike Cloud he had absolutely no way of proving that wasn't true so she could totally joke about it. "I'll be fully recovered once I get this diabolic sand off." It was definitely diabolic, it had plotted all of this. The beach was out to get them.

"It better know!" Stranger things had definitely happen, so maybe the sand had learned it's lesson. She looked vaguely smug about her victory against the uncool. Obviously it was a victory that was hardly fought for her.

"Hmm...that's surprising. I'd always thought people saw pirates as the complete opposite of uncool. Are you sure it was the pirate part?" Maybe his friend had said something wrong. "How'd he approach them?" Were his lines utterly horrible? That might've just been the problem and not him being a pirate.

"The diabolical weather strikes again!" Now she was certainly convinced that it was out to get them both. It'd ruin all of their plans! She couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his reaction. "Did...you get them a tank... to live in?"

[bufubulous]

Imaginative sort that Yusuke was, and not knowing enough about Aerith or her world? Well, he was quite sure she probably could have been whatever she wanted if she had desired it. Yes, it was far easier to imagine her in her garden among greenery and tending to flowers… But appearances were always deceiving, and he was friends with several woman who could absolutely put people in their places or decimate foes with an impressive show of power. “Yes, now that I’ve found myself in a similar condition, I believe the only way to recover would be to be rid of it. It’s rather impressive with how it can get everywhere with just one fall.”

“Well, to be honest, he wasn’t exactly wearing his more pirate-ish guise, but he does carry that demeanor about him wherever he goes, in my opinion. Perhaps it is more about the look and less about the attitude.” He mused thoughtfully, tilting his head up slightly and considering the idea. “He was very direct in his approach, but somehow it always ended rather poorly.” It probably hadn’t helped, he supposed, that he’d laughed at one point… Not that the endeavors prior to that had gone any better.

The weather was truly the most cruel adversary! Putting an end to what would have been an otherwise productive and interesting day! But Yusuke nodded, albeit somewhat awkwardly. “I did. It took some time, but I located an inexpensive second hand tank to keep them in… At first they only had buckets…” It had been quite the endeavor for a broke highschool student to embark upon… But once he had his mind set to something, he was going to do it. “I hope to get a larger tank for them one day, but I do need to keep them out of sight behind my stack of canvases. I’m not sure those in charge of my dorm would approve, since I rather smuggled them in. It is a bit… tricky… to get the environment right.” If these lobsters die, Yusuke will undoubtedly be quite despondent and no one will hear the end of it. He was doing his best!!

[cetrary]

"That's the worst part," she pouted. "You fall down once and suddenly it's inside everything! I feel like we'll need two showers to get it all off." She sadly wasn't too far off about that. How had it spread so quickly? That was the real mystery here and it kinda made her wonder if it wasn't actually evil and out to get them. That was probably a tiny bit (very tiny bit) overdramatic of her.

"Ah, see, that's where he went wrong. If you have a pirate attitude you need the pirate attire. You have to dedicate yourself to the theme!" Clearly his approach had failed due to his lack of dedicated to the theme. Of course, Aerith didn't actually believe that, but she sounded completely serious about her theory. More than likely he'd just said the wrong thing in the wrong way. "How about you?" she tilted her head towards him curiously. "Did you try your hand at it?" Surely it'd gone better for him if he had, right?

"I'm sure they appreciated having a tank rather than a bucket." Wait, he'd snuck them into his dorm? How...had he even managed that? They were lobsters! "How did nobody notice that?" Did his dorm just not have rules or caretakers that watched these things? How were lobsters just casually snuck in? These were the real questions.

[bufubulous]

“It is truly a nightmare for the senses! It feels as though we may never be rid of it!” So many showers were in order, and laundry to ensure that the horrid stuff had been properly expelled! Really, Aerith was in good company, at least where over-dramatics were concerned.

“Hmmm… You are probably right. Given how desperate he seems at the time to attract such attentions, I shall have to remember to share this advice with him in the future should I have the opportunity.” He responded, taking Aerith entirely seriously. Ryuji sure was going to appreciate that if it ever came to pass… Especially considering Yusuke’s sometimes clumsy delivery.

The question gets a small tilt of his head as he reached up and tried to brush a little more sand off his neck. “Oh, I did attempt to offer my assistance to the endeavor as it seemed important to take part in the challenge, but it would seem that honesty is not a quality that is held in as high esteem as one would think?” He responded with a confused wrinkle on his brow. He wasn’t terribly disappointed, so much as confused and embarrassed, since his attentions were more often on his art than on the thoughts of romantic pursuits.

He found all people beautiful in some way, but had never considered much more than that. Often times was more focused on aesthetics than on the things his teammates were. The magnificence of the pyramids? Stunning. He could look at them all day. His beautiful female teammates combating the sweltering sun? Hardly got a glance. Perhaps one day the teen would figure himself out, but he was hardly as focused on it as the others seemed to be. “It was shortly after that which I spotted the lobsters and found myself quite enamoured, so I become quite distracted after that.”

Yusuke smiled, feeling quite clever. “Timing is everything when you’re attempting a more sneaky endeavor. I’ve had some experience with hiding things that are frowned upon, and practice since then.” He used to hide manga on a particular bookshelf to sneak away to read where Madarame wouldn’t find them, since the man hadn’t had a high opinion of such forms of art. Then… Well, with the phantom thieves, sneaking was imperative to success, so he had plenty of practice sneaky goods past unsuspecting adults in charge. So going from books to live creatures hadn’t been quite as difficult as it could have been! “So Leonardo Da Pinchy and Clawed Monet are as comfortable as I can make them for the moment, though I do hope to improve upon that one day.”

[cetrary]

"We should file a complaint," she said with a lopsided smile followed by a heavy sigh as she tried again to brush some off her arm. The little she did manage to scrape off came off in a clump and unceremoniously fell back down to it's sandy cousins.

"Ohhhh the desperation may have been it," she put a finger up and gave him a wink. Though the wink turned into rabid blinks to keep sand from falling into her eye. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again and try to wipe it off. Learning was happening this time! A light laugh escaped her lips and she tried to play it off by stretching her hands up as if she were trying to keep the rain off her head that way. It was probably a bit mean to laugh at his confession that honesty wasn't held in high esteem, but she couldn't help it. What's done was done.

"So no success for you either? Shame," she looked at him with a grin. "I'm surprised you didn't have more success. You seem like you'd be a fun date." Her tone was completely and utterly serious as she let out a relieved sigh as they finally made it off the sand and under some cover. "Think we can wait here for it to stop? Or should we make a break back to our places?" Maybe...it'd stop. Then again they were already soaking, sandy, and clumpy. So, would more water really do anything?

"Sounds like I'll have to keep you in mind if I ever need some espionage work done." It was kind of impressive to think he'd managed to get lobsters in with stealth. Though--wait. What had he just called them? Okay, now that gets a burst of actual laughter. "Those are some...uh...interesting names!"

[bufubulous]

“A well-worded complaint might be just what is needed to make a point! Though one must wonder where such a complaint might be directed in this place.” He added with a tilt of his head, hard to tell if he was actually joking or being serious. It was probably a little of both, but one never knew with Yusuke. He did tend towards a particular seriousness and sincerity outside the sillier puns and such.

“Is that so…? Hm, I’m not so sure that people saw it that way. That was kind of you to say, nonetheless, Aerith.” Perhaps it took the right person to see that potential, or perhaps he needed to work on his own delivery a little more. Either way, his concerns weren’t particularly strong in that way aside from the odd moment of passing loneliness and absent daydreaming about what it might be to have someone that constant in his life in such a way to go on dates with. At least no one had caught his attentions enough for him to examine the idea or think about it more deeply as of yet. He had his painting, and the endeavors of the thieves to think about right now, anyway.

His eyes lit up as they left the cursed beach behind and found an awning to take shelter under. At least… Until he took stock of their condition and noted that… Well, it still felt more or less the same aside from the absence of water pouring onto their heads. “You know, I rather expected this to feel like a vast improvement compared to being out in the elements, but it’s quite underwhelming.” He commented, reaching up to brush a soaked strand of hair away from his eye. At least, he supposed, they couldn’t end up with more sand on them here.

“Should you ever need a little bit more stealth involved in an endeavor, I am sure I would be happy to assist you further.” He responded with a smile, though he was quite serious. One never knew when something might come up and the need for secrecy was necessary! But he tilted his head slightly, a pleased grin crossing his face at her laughter. Even if she didn’t quite get the names, at least the obvious puns had amused her instead of getting a groan! “Thank you. They seemed quite fitting when I was attempting to decide what to call them.”

[cetrary]

"The Aspects, maybe? If we could even find them." It'd been a while since she could remember hearing from either of them. Which just made her wonder what had happened to them or what they'd been up to. "Maybe I'll start drafting something up and go to see them." To file a formal complaint about the state of the sand rebellion. "Clearly they should be aware of what the sand and rain are doing together." Clearly it was a conspiracy between the two against everyone.

"Well, I see it that way and I like to think that means something at least. I think we'd have fun!" Hypothetically speaking of course. Dates could be fun in a casual way, but real romance? That was something different story. Everything with Zack had been pretty amazing, until it wasn't. His disappearance had been one of the most painful things she'd experienced and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go down a road like that again. Plus there were the things she knew that she shouldn't know about things to come. That definitely made everything feel more complicated than it should be.

"I could try a wind spell if you want," she said with a halfhearted laugh. Obviously that wouldn't really do much good to dry them off, but maybe it'd lighten the mood. "It is pretty depressing, isn't it? It...almost feels worse." Which just made her concerned about how itchy it would get the more they dried off.

"You'll be the first I call." She tilted her head a little curiously. "Are they named after specific people?" If he considered them 'fitting' names it'd make sense that they were references to something.

[bufubulous]

“Yes, they don’t appear to be particularly accessible for the public to get in touch with beyond certain circumstances or channels.” He mused thoughtfully, since it almost seemed as though they existed in some other place beyond the city… While also being able to simply be there when they desired or needed to be. “I wonder if they even get mail? They must, I would think, otherwise they would miss a great deal.” So a strongly worded letter had to go somewhere, right? The concerns of those they brought here should be held to some degree of importance! Especially when the sand and weather seemed intent on banding together against those just trying to enjoy a fun day at the beach.

Yusuke tilted his head with a curious expression. Was that so? “That is kind of you to say, even as we’re coated in sand and drenched to the bone. I would rather worry that this is all an unfortunate glimpse of what an outing with me has the potential for.” He added with a small chuckle. Still, he wouldn’t mind attempting a day out with a friend again at some point. He did need to take breaks from his art once in a while. After all, how else was he to find new inspirations?

The teen made a slightly concerned face at that, eyes nearly comical at the idea that they also be windblown next. “I’m not sure if that would help or worsen the state we find ourselves in, though I cannot deny the idea of blowing the sand away is rather desirable.” Frowning a little, he bowed his head in dramatic fashion. “I’m afraid it is rather disheartening to find that we’re no better than we were upon the shore aside from removing the chance of falling on the sand again… it’s a rather unpleasant sensation as it dries and still sticks…?” He could feel clumps of it in his hair. He couldn’t imagine how unpleasant that would be for someone with as much hair as Aerith. For once he was rather glad he hadn’t grown his out, as he sometimes considered.

The question gets a pleased chuckle. “They are! They’re both named for artists in my world. Leonardo da Vinci and Claude Monet, though I thought it seemed fitting to give them slight variations based on the fact that they were lobsters.” Yes, he sounds like he thinks he’s quite clever to have come up with the puns.