July Mini Event - Seaside Sway

[pumpkinhollow]

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It’s the end of July. Summer is peaking, hitting its stride. In the forest, frogs sing and fireflies dance through the night, and dragonflies go about their business in the sun. In town, farmers roll up their sleeves and young ladies swap out their many layers for breezy floral gowns. And on the beach, swimmers take to the sea for water at its warmest and young crabs climb up from the sun-drenched sand. Kora’s glory at its finest!

For about a week now, a flier has been up on the community bulletin board. :

Midsummer Beach Festival!

Join us on July 21st and 22nd for our annual beach bash!

Organized by the Temple of Sacred Roots in tandem with Town Hall, all townsfolk are invited to join in for seaside festivities in honor of the height of summer. Activities will include:

• Live music (Sign-ups for performers will be available at Empty Pockets Music Bar)
• Locally made strawberry wine from last summer’s strawberries
• Beach pit barbecues for lunch on both days
• A hot food banquet for dinner on the 21st
• A fish fry breakfast on the 22nd
• Paper lantern float
• Beach games
• Tents and bed rolls for beach camping

We look forward to seeing you there!

And, as promised, the festival opens up on the afternoon of July 21st, where the smell of barbecue rises up from Tawny Beach. Tables sit on wooden plinths to avoid sinking in the sand, bearing fresh summer fruit and drinks. Pork, fish, and lamb roast in a sand pit. Enchanted barrels covered in magic frost keep frozen treats like orange juice shaved ice and strawberry sorbet cold. A station for assembling little wood-and-paper floating lanterns can be seen off in the distance and Cormac and the Banshees are setting up for their opening set. Tents and bed rolls have been set up toward the Marina. Literally everything is decorated with thin golden coins on strands of twine, sea shells, and sea glass. In the center of it all, stones have been laid into the shape of a massive compass rose, whose center houses the makings of a bonfire.

Those who were here last year will recognize that this festival is much larger than last year’s, and was not preceded with desperate pleas from Town Hall for help providing food and decor. It speaks plainly to the health of the town now. Even with all that has been going on, the growing population and renewed sense of community and purpose have improved matters around the island considerably.

Near the tent area, a family of crabs (one red, one blue, and three purple) can be observed. The small purple ones are poking each other with sticks. The Limoncello has made port, and Royal and his crew are splitting helper duty with the staff of Town Hall, and are dancing and partying the rest of the time. All is as it should be. For once, there is no dangerous surprise lurking in the shadows.

So, what’s on your agenda? During the day, volleyball, swimming, and a game that involves throwing small fabric sacks of dry lentils into wooden hoops in the sand can be enjoyed, alongside a plethora of frozen treats. At night, food and wine and lemonade are served at the banquet tables and lively music plays on the temporary wooden stage for dancing by firelight. There is also the lantern float, which encourages participants to send a glowing lantern out on the water in honor of the lost and the distant, ending the first night in a moment of peaceful sobriety. You may also notice a charming stranger milling around, cozying up to Royal, and drinking after nightfall--- a woman with dark olive skin, raven hair that soaks up the firelight, and rum brown eyes who wears a billowing blue dress and (whenever she hasn’t placed it onto someone else’s head for fun) a wide-brimmed black hat.

Then, at night, camp on the beach under the stars or head home by additional lantern light. The festivities will continue until the following afternoon! Feel free to share your beach fit in the fashion show thread below, as well. Enjoy!

Comments

[incomingchoppers]

He beams as the joke goes winging so high over his head that it approaches low earth orbit.

"Yeah, I know what'm doing." He nudges Fever with his elbow. "Stick with me. First thing y'gotta do. Very important." He points to her glass. "You gotta drink more."

[abhorrently]

She nods to let him know she heard him, and in a move that might not be the best advised, slams back the rest of her drink. Okay. That's definitely a choice she just made.

"All right, captain. What do I do next?"

[incomingchoppers]

He bursts out laughing. "Captain," he giggles. "Yeah, that's me! Cap'n O'Reilly!"

Wait until he tells Hawkeye and Father Mulcahy about his promotion!

"Okay, okay." With great and extremely inebriated care, Radar pours some of his drink into Fever's empty cup. "More'n that. And then..." He ponders. "You ever gotten a tattoo?"

[abhorrently]

"Can't say I have. I don't know what I'd want to keep on my body permanently like that. Or what if I start disliking the picture? You have to carve it off if you hate it, and that's a whole process." A pause. "Not impossible. You'd just need steady hands."

Anyway. She's drinking whatever he just gave her.

"Do you have a tattoo, though?"

[incomingchoppers]

Radar's jaw drops. "You gotta cut 'em off if you don't like 'em anymore? I thought, I thought you just got another one over it and everything was fine." He stares into the middle distance like his life is flashing before his eyes. "Oh, jeez. Good thing I didn' get one in Tokyo."

After a few seconds, he comes back to himself and gulps down more of his wine.

"I heard girls like 'em. I don't have any, but maybe if I figure out what I wanna get then I'll get one. Something neat. Or somethin' mean, like a, like a tiger."

[abhorrently]

"That's not a bad choice. Says you're stronger than you look - that you've got that ferocity in you."

She puts her free arm around his shoulder, leaning in.

"Girls like tattoos. Boys like them too. And anyone else. The sky isn't even the limit, Radar - it's all in your hands." Gesturing outwards with her cup, she indicates the entire gathering. "As long as you like it. It's your skin, after all."

cw: mild period-typical homophobia

[incomingchoppers]

"Yeah," he says emphatically. He follows that up with an equally emphatic nod that sends him wobbling into Fever's side. "I can do whatever I want!"

...Now he just has to figure out what that is. He frowns, pondering.

"I just want girls to like 'em though. Not boys. I know lotsa guys here are like that but it's, s'kinda funny, isn't it? I don't think it's bad!" he adds hastily, wide-eyed. "Hawkeye's like that and Hawk's great. But I don't think 'm like that. Just girls."

Maybe. Look, sometimes Klinger looks real pretty in some of his dresses, but that's just Klinger. Everybody thinks Klinger's pretty sometimes, right? No big deal.

[abhorrently]

"Just girls it is."

As they have agreed, he can do as he pleases. Hells, Erin and Daisy only like women. She's also not going to state that she knows very well Hawkeye is like her, liking everyone - that's too much to bring into a conversation with a drunk Radar.

"I don't know if anyone makes tattoos here though. I haven't asked."

[incomingchoppers]

Radar's whole face lights up.

"Y'know what we could do?" He nudges Fever with his wine cup, several times in a row. "Fever. Fever, we could go look for a tattoo parlor."

Because obviously, wandering the darkened streets of Pumpkin Hollow while drunk is the best idea ever. On par with going swimming! Radar's a genius.

"Or ask someone here if they'd tattoo us. There's gotta be somebody."

[abhorrently]

"You think they'd be around? How do you know what a tattoo artist looks like? Aside from covered in the things themselves."

Look, this time if they go wandering, there's no wayward skeletons with scythes to face. She can definitely kill any threat in the way of Radar's tiger tattoo.

[incomingchoppers]

"I mean there's that one guy who's got all the eyes tattooed on him," suggests Radar. "Maybe he got 'em done here 'n he'd know where to look."

A pause. A tiny giggle.

"Look. 'Cause he's got eyes all over him."

[abhorrently]

There's a stifled laugh from Fever as well. The eye man's probably heard that joke too much, but she hasn't.

"Can't hurt to ask. The worst he can say is that he doesn't, and then we're still where we originally were." Taking another drink, she glances around. "Have you seen him anywhere tonight, or are we searching?"

[incomingchoppers]

"Uhhhhh....."

Radar lets that syllable trail off as he cocks his head, frowning. It should be easy to pick out the guy in a crowd, just like he can pick out practically anybody in a crowd if he listens hard enough. But:

"It's so loud," he complains. "I dunno where he is. C'mon, let's go look."

...Which means Radar has to stand up. Oh boy. Slowly, sloooowly, bracing himself on Fever the whole way, he gives it a shot -- and makes it about halfway up before collapsing back to the sand with peals of laughter.

[abhorrently]

Him laughing means she can start laughing, ending up on her back in the sand giggling at the whole endeavour. Gods, it feels good to just laugh about something. But clearly, Radar is going nowhere.

"Let's let him look. He's got eyes to spare, and we only have four between us. When he finds us, then we'll ask. How's that sound?"

[incomingchoppers]

"Yeah -- " He hiccups from laughing so hard, which just makes him laugh harder. Before he gives up and topples over altogether, Radar manages to gulp down the final few inches of his drink, then tries to set the cup aside mid-graceless flop next to Fever.

For a solid thirty seconds, he just giggles helplessly and watches the stars spin. When he finally collects himself with a tiny whoo, he pushes his glasses up to wipe his eyes, then rolls his head to the side to look at Fever.

"Y'know." He reaches to try and pat her arm, and completely misses. "I don't think I ever heard you laugh like that before."

[abhorrently]

She polishes off what he'd given her by means of very carefully pouring it into her mouth, since she's still got coordination in her limbs from being far more used to drinking than him. The cup is allowed to fall from her hands, and she turns her head his direction when he speaks.

"Like what?"

He's right, though. There's not been a lot of moments to dissolve into laughing for its own sake in their encounters - it's usually been a smaller thing, more restrained.

[incomingchoppers]

"Like you're happy."

One more try! This time, his hand connects with her elbow, and he succeeds in giving it a couple friendly pats.

"'M glad you're having fun."

[abhorrently]

"I am happy. I've never got to do anything like this before."

At least, as far as she knows.

"There was one time me and my friends celebrated after managing to make sure that a druid grove wasn't overrun by foes, but that was in the forests. Just for an evening. We didn't make a day of it, and everyone had to move on in the morning. It wasn't really as nice as this one was."

And there were other, greater problems at hand. No rejoicing in the seasons for them.

[incomingchoppers]

Radar beams. "Well, 'm happy you're happy," he says, even more earnest than usual thanks to his blood being about fifty percent wine by volume. "But, but that still sounds like a pretty good time. 'Specially with all your friends. What'd you do in the grove... thing?"

[abhorrently]

"To celebrate? We drank and played music and some people did neat tricks with magic. Some danced, and the food was all right, and some went off to privately celebrate."

She laughs, and that veil over her mind doesn't hold at this point, but her thoughts remain calmer things. Nothing angry or hateful floating his direction, and instead, mostly drawn towards the stars."

"Just...whatever people want to do to be happy they're alive."

[incomingchoppers]

"Yeah." Dreamily, as Fever's thoughts catch on his own and pull his not-exactly-focus back to the sky. "Yeah, we did that kinda stuff in Korea, too. We all... I always said. We all got lil things t'fight against the war. Colonel Potter paints. I got my animals. Couple've people've got their guitars. Y'know? But, but sometimes y'gotta gather everyone you got and fight together, too. With a party. A movie. We -- "

He breaks off, laughing a little.

"We had one night the projector kept breakin' so we all sang 'n did impressions, and y'know it almost felt like home a little? I think about that a lot." He sighs. "Gee, it was a real swell night."

[abhorrently]

"It sounds wonderful. Not the war part, but all the things you do to push against it. Still living, even when it's awful."

She reaches out, patting his arm. That's what this night is about. Celebrating summer. Being alive. There's a part of her soul that's still raw and bleeding from how hard she has to hold on, but - well. Right now, they're supposed to be happy.

"You know how to sing? You should."

[incomingchoppers]

"Yeah. Not too good, but..."

But if he's got a willing audience! Radar hums in thought as he tries to decide on a song (and tries not to get distracted by the way the stars wobble and jolt around every time he blinks). At last, a little softer:

"When the lights go on again, all over the world
And the boys are home again, all over the world
And rain or snow is all that may fall from the skies above
A kiss won't mean 'goodbye,' but 'hello to love'..."

Just as he said, his voice isn't much to write home about. Plain, unadorned, a little out of tune, not to mention thoroughly loosened at the seams by all the alcohol. But it matches the wistfulness of the song well.

[abhorrently]

It's better for not being perfect, for being something he just feels in the moment, and Fever listens quietly. Thinks about camping under the stars, and the peace of it when everyone else is asleep, when it's her turn to keep watch and they all rest at ease. Thinks about crawling out of her apartment window to sit on the roof, with Phil or by herself, just observing the town. She's swept up in the emotion, and it feels reassuring, like the honey Angel gave her to help her recover.

When he finishes, there's no applause. It wouldn't feel right. But her voice is as soft as his is.

"That's beautiful, Radar."

The sentiment and the song itself.

[incomingchoppers]

He tips his head to look at her again, smiling. "Thanks."

Fever's thoughts echo the emotion back at him, a tiny feedback loop that hums, amplifies, fades out a few moments after the song's end. Idly, Radar stirs his fingers through the sand.

"'S from when I was a kid. There was another war. Bigger than the one I'm in. Way, way, way, waaaaay bigger. They wrote a lotta songs about it." He turns back to the stars. "Wonder if they're gonna do the same about Korea when it's over."

He's quiet for a beat.

"...Sometimes I wonder too if this's all I'm gonna get. War, war, war. New one as soon as the old one's over. I mean I already got two'n I'm not even twenty yet."