down by the seaside

[umberly]

Who: Kavi Misra and you!
When: Before the 8th, while the clue hunt is still on.
Where: Capablanca
What: The beaches are lovely. The beaches may also hide a clue as to what Noir is planning next. It is time to investigate.
Rating: Gen with minor cursing?



[ Capablanca may be a city of two faces with people as quirky as they are superficial, with hidden underground operations and bright spectacles during the daytime but one thing but there is one piece of absolute beauty to it: The beaches. With white, lovely sand and inviting looking waves splashing against the shore, there is nothing Kavi does not like about it. Despite the Spring slowly arriving back in Caissa, the temperatures are still on the lower side of the scale but Capablanca?

Compared to Caissa, it might as well be Summer.

Unfortunately, while Summer usually means vacations and time off, there is no such thing as a break for Heroes and it’s why Kavi is actually at the beach.

Rumor has it that mermaids have been spotted surfacing at this particular area of the beach. It has to be easy to hide behind rocks or among the nearby cliff area and perhaps, with enough patience and gentle coaxing, they’ll tell him if they’ve seen anything or anyone suspicious hanging around. ]

a

[ Time to go mermaid hunting! Not literally though since they likely wouldn’t appreciate that in the slightest. It would seem this mermaid in particular is a very shy one and Kavi has been trying to get closer to her but to no avail.

How fortunate that someone else has appeared at the beach and Kavi is quick to jog over to them. How can you possibly say no to that winsome smile and the slightly desperate look in his eyes? ]

You wouldn’t happen to be great with shy mermaids, would you?

b

[ After the mermaid has been convinced that, yes, no one is going to strip her of her scales and sell them to the mafia later, she reluctantly mentions seeing two people talk in the middle of the night. Not unusual, considering what showed up on the Carrier feed very recently. 

What happens to be unusual is the fact that they were talking with Noir accents. And that they apparently buried something.

You know what that means, right?

Work. Tedious, long winded and exhausting work. The beach is rather big after all and why Aurnla the mermaid was willing to narrow the area down for them, it’s not exactly a walk in the park. ]

Have you found anything other than seashells or a random assortment of trash yet?

[ He is taking this job seriously so there is no ounce of complaint in his voice but you know what would be great right now? A cold drink and some shade. ]



(Clue info is here.)

Comments

[oneirism]

[Sorry Kavi, maybe later she'll show him the poem to cheer him up since it was pretty... interesting. That was one way to describe it.]

... Of course it would be. But we'll find them, even if it takes a while. At least it gives us an excuse to hang around the beach.

[And Lapis can be patient if she needs to be. Plus it's not as if being impatient about this will make them find the items any quicker, so she isn't too fussed if it takes a while. But now she needs to think about where she would try to hide a secret message bottle or bra in the sand...

His question snaps her out of her thoughts though, and she waves a hand in an 'it's fine' gesture. She actually rather likes the heat - especially since she's so used to the chill of ghosts hanging around her, so the warmth is a very nice change.]

I'm alright. It could get pretty warm in my home country sometimes, so I'm used to the heat. What about you?

[umberly]

[ If it's a naughty poetry, he would be happy to listen. Perhaps it is actually a dirty limerick? ]

I'm good, I'm used to the heat, too. I grew up in India for a while and then moved to a blip of an island near Japan's coasts. The temperatures a little extreme so we had rather warm summers.

[ And freezing winters.

Which thankfully seems far, far away with the sand beneath his feet and the sea breeze moving through his hair. Knowing Lapis is unaffected by the heat, knows it well is an added bonus and Kavi reaches out to ruffle her hair in an affectionate gesture. ]

You've been to the beach before, yeah?

[oneirism]

[It's both incredibly cheesy and sounded like a bad dirty limerick, so Kavi is on luck. She'll even say it all in a funny voice for him later too.]

... Yeah, I've heard that India and Japan can get pretty warm. Although the weather in Japan always sounded a little extreme too.

[The winters there would force her to stay inside all the time.

At least it's warm here, and judging by how the months and seasons here are similar to the ones back home, it's only going to get warmer. And the hair ruffle gets a positive response - with Lapis leaning into the touch as she peeks up at him.]

A long, loooong time ago. I must've only been a toddler, so I don't remember much. Did you come to the beach often?

[umberly]

[ You are a star, Lapis, a jewel among jewels.

The answer makes Kavi look mock-affronted, eyebrows drawn together. It's been that long since Lapis last visited a beach? Blasphemy. Sure, not everyone lives in a convenient spot where the ocean is nearby but this.

This can't stand. ]

I did. I lived in a port city and most of the housing districts were near the ocean so it never really took long to get to a beach.

...Wait, have you built a sandcastle before? Collected seashells?

[oneirism]

[That mock-affronted look gets her to blink, wondering if there was anything strange about what she said. Thinking over her words for a second before she blinks once more, nodding as she she thinks what it would be like to go the beach often. It always seemed like fun on the tv shows.

And his question gets a shake of her head. If she ever did, it was when she was too young to remember.]

... Not from what I remember. All I remember about going to the beach was attempting to walk around in the sand.

[umberly]

[ ... ]

That's it. Come on, digging through the sand for something which may or may not be related to Noir can wait for an hour or two. We're going to build a sandcastle now. The nicest sandcastle anyone will ever make on this beach.

[ He is filled with determination and Kavi grabs Lapis' hand to lead her to the beach shack selling buckets and shovels. He doesn't let go of her hand even when they stop in front of the stall, asking for the supplies needed to make the Greatest Sandcastle of Capablanca(tm).

It will go down in history books. ]

Let's make up for some lost time.

[oneirism]

[...

Wait, what.

Lapis doesn't have a chance to vocalize her shock before she finds her hand grabbed, following right behind him despite how she blinks at the back of his head in confusion. Lapis never minded her lack of building a sandcastle... or her lack of a lot of things during her childhood, so it's a surprise to see that Kavi is so bothered by this.

But she's... glad that he wants to do this with her, glancing down at where his hand is holding hers still before nodding.]

... Right. Then it's got to be the biggest and fanciest sandcastle ever.

[umberly]

As you command!

[ If they're planning on making the most elaborate sandcastle in the history of sandcastles, they shouldn't try and sticking to the basics. Four towers? Hah! This castle should have at least six.

Grinning, Kavi looks at Lapis and his expression is one of dazzling glee. He's truly looking forward to this. ]

We'll decorate it with seashells once we're done. Maybe we can gather some wood to create a miniature bridge. We could dig a trench around it, too, and fill it with ocean water.

[oneirism]

[The towers all need to have flags too! And little tiny sand figures of guards standing around it!

How he seems to be looking forward to this so much causes her to blink once more, and she gives him a happy smile in return. It must've been a while since he last built a sandcastle, if he's this happy. Though she's certainly looking forward to it too.]

... That sounds like a great idea! If we can find any sea glass, we could use those to make windows too. Then maybe use some seaweed to make banners to put on it.

[They'll need to make their own symbol on it too. It won't be a good banner if it doesn't have a symbol!]

[umberly]

[ It is the perfect crime.

And Lapis turned out to be the perfect partner for this crime, too, her ideas have Kavi nodding along enthusiastically and he waves one of the buckets around when Lapis mentions the banners.

What would a castle be without banners? ]

You're right! I don't know if we can pull it off but if we make the walls on one side thin enough and create little windows, we could probably add cannons, too. And a sand port for the ships.

[ Is this the beginning of Saint Sandia City? With the Sandia sand castle at its core? ]

[oneirism]

[His enthusiasm is pretty contagious, and she finds herself giggling softly as he waves once of the buckets.

Clearly this is going to be one of the greatest sandcastles in history of everything.]

... Then if we have a port, we need to make ships for it. We could make those out of seashells too. And we can create a mini-ocean next to the castles as well, and we can have a few more ships floating along it.

[Saint Sandia City, ruled by King Sandio and Queen Sandi with their two children, prince Sandun and princess Sandika. With their dog Sand-Sand. In the great country of Sando. I'm starting to run out of sand pun names.]

[umberly]

[ The citizens should be called Sands. And everything smells like sandalwood. End of the pun list. ]

Great! We should get started as soon as possible, we have much work to do if we can't to finish this within an hour or two.

[ Knowing these two perfectionists though, it'll be closer to three hours.

Kavi pauses for a moment and looks at Lapis and her pale skin. She seems fine for now but if they're going to be spending a long time building Saint Sandia City and its various ports and docks and ships, Lapis is going to need some sunscreen.

Or an umbrella. ]

Hold this for a second, yeah?

[ He hands over the buckets and shovels before dashing back to the beach shack. He saw a nice, large umbrella there for them to stick into the sand. ]

[oneirism]

[And their national food is sandwiches. Okay, sand puns really done now.]

... Mmhm, that's right. Especially since we still have to look for your bottle.

[That's the priority right now! Though it's true, it will legit take them hours to get it done... They won't accept anything less than perfect.

Though his pause gets her to blink, wondering if something was wrong as she peeks up at him and gives a questioning tilt of her head. Quietly taking the buckets and spades as she keeps blinking over at him, watching as he heads back to the beach shack to get an... umbrella? And her curiosity is enough for her to call over, her voice carrying well despite her tendency to be quiet.]

Why does the sandcastle need an umbrella that big?

[umberly]

Not the sandcastle! You need an umbrella!

[ There is laughter in Kavi's voice, a quiet sort of glee which fills his bones and puts a bounce in his step as he hoists the umbrella over his shoulder and trudges back to Lapis. Granted, if she hasn't been to the beach often, she wouldn't know that her chances of getting a sunburn or worse, a sunstroke, are pretty high. ]

You're pretty pale, Lapis, and I don't know if you put on sunscreen. If we work on this for some time, we need to get you under some shade before you turn into a boiled lobster.

Unless that's what you want...?

[oneirism]

[Cue Lapis just blinking even more in response, watching as he trudges back with the umbrella. Why does she need it, it's not like it's gonna rain or anything today... It certainly doesn't look like it.

Though understanding quickly dawns on her at his words, perking up and the tilting her head in mock thought. Glancing between the umbrella and her skin, before she shakes her head.]

... I don't think that look would suit me. So thank you, an umbrella does sound like a good idea.

[umberly]

I'm full of good ideas.

[ Kavi's tone is a little cheeky as he grins at Lapis before looking around for a good spot to plant the flag, so to speak. As everyone knows, people have claimed countries before simply by stabbing the ground with a flag and claiming it as their own.

But his tone softens a little as he looks back to Lapis and the expression on his face is nothing if not gentle. ]

Wouldn't want your second experience at the beach to turn out awful, yeah?