2022-08-20: You Will (Not) Team Build

• You Will (Not) Team Build
• Cast: Misato Katsuragi, Kaworu Nagisa, Alouette Kaas, Mari Makinami Illustrious, Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Ouka Nagisa, Orpheus Zevon
• Where: A surviving beach in Japan with a refreshing fishy smell
• OOC - IC Date: U.C. 0096.08.20
• Summary: The crew of Tokyo-3 go on a fun(?) team building(??) exercise at the beach! It's vacation for Evangelion! And the best part of all -- it's mandatory (if your name is Asuka)!

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<Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.

Misato Katsuragi and Kaworu both agreed that the pilots and officers of NERV and friends needed a breather from the horrors on and off the battlefield. Between assassinations and difficult battles, interpersonal conflict, and an alarming number of close calls while battling kaiju, at least one of which had an AT Field somehow, and Angels--well some various team building and training exercises seemed like a solid plan. One such example of 'teambuilding' is happening today.

Summers in Japan are often hot and humid, and today is no exception to that. The difference to one Misato Katsuragi and her van of traumatized children is that today, they've arrived at the "beach" for a day trip of fun splashing in the ocean.

This one is even not just relatively clean, but also relatively empty--a rarity these days. It might be because it's attached to a run-down old fishing town that's seen better days. It does mean there's a pervasive smell of fish in the air, but one can't have it all in life. Unless you are Pen-Pen who can have it all. He is wearing a beach towel around his waist and wakking excitedly because he's super into the smell.

Misato has big 'You're going to have fun even if I have to kill you' energy today. She has assured everybody on the trip over that this is going to be a fun day out in the sun. She has said that it is going to be a fun day out in the sun three or four times by now. She is wearing a pair of sunglasses even while driving and is wearing her bathing suit under her already pretty revealing tanktop and leather shorts and is all smiles. She's doing great, don't mind her.

She pulls up into a parking lot that is a short distance from the boardwalk where there's a gift shop, a couple of eateries (one of which is a mom-and-pop that serves summer classics like yakisoba, melon soda, and shaved ice; the other is a Pizza Hut), and a small changing station/public bathroom where they can rinse off the sand once they're ready to leave.

"We've got a few hours, so feel free to get a bite if you'd like!" Misato says. "It's all paid for!" By NERV, which means it's all paid for by the Federation Taxpayers. "Wow, shaved ice! Real yakisoba!"

Pen-Pen immediately waddles off to the pizza hut and sits down in a stool, wakking expectantly at the employees there.

"So go ahead, just remember there's one rule: Have fun!" Misato beams. Once everybody has packed out of the van, Misato adds, "Oh don't forget the sunblock. Shinji, can you get my back?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Technically, Kaworu had specifically meant the Evangelion pilots at the time, but, as always, communication is a tricky business. From there it had expanded to Tokyo-3 Municipal students who are also NERV pilots, and then Orpheus had gotten involved... But Kaworu certainly doesn't mind his presence, so he went along with it. He's good at going along with most things, admittedly. However, not everyone may have shown up.
        
        He's already in a swim outfit, having eschewed normal clothes entirely: long black swim trunks with a violet stripe down the sides and a short-sleeved white button-up shirt that's mostly unbuttoned. A shoulder brace, wrapped tightly around his right shoulder, is visible beneath it.
        
        Once Misato parks and Pen-Pen waddles off to the Pizza Hut, Kaworu moves to help bring beach towels to the awaiting sandy expanse. There's still a couple of beach umbrellas, chairs, and maybe even a cooler full of their own cold drinks, but while his right shoulder is mostly mended, it's still in a brace, he's still been told not to do anything too strenuous with it, and he does still need to use a walking cane for his injured leg for a little longer. Fortunately, they have a pretty large group with them today, so Kaworu can simply handle the light stuff.
        
        Also they do need to put on sunscreen, as Misato points out. "Don't worry about me," Kaworu reassures everyone, despite the fact that he ties with Rei as the palest person here. It remains to be seen if anyone actually doesn't worry, all considered. If anyone decides to take it on themselves to make him put on sunscreen, he won't fight it.
        
        "There's something awe-inspiring about the ocean, isn't there?" he remarks to everyone as they set up, though he smiles at Shinji and Rei in particular. "Modern man make-believes that it's easily conquered, yet its true depths are still unknown. Even its edges may drag those of land in and sweep them away. Despite this, Lilim still splash on its edges as carefree as newborn babes. Is it a fascination with liminal places that draws them there, I wonder?" He laughs a little and adds, "Though perhaps liminality is a universal fascination."
        
        After this opaque comment, Kaworu sets down his cane next to one of the beach towels. Then he limps over to where the waves lap on the compacted sand and drapes himself directly down on the shore.
        
        He doesn't seem to mind when the waves soak him. Instead, he leans his head on his right hand, curled inwards, and watches--genuinely entranced--as bubbles poke up through the sand each time the sea washes in.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Kaas has posed.

        Orange and blue eyes sparkle and dream looking out at the glittering stars that are the dancing reflection of the sun on the endless peaks of waves to the edge of the horizon. Alouette feels her heart palpatate all the harder in the way Kaworu speaks about it. The long stalks of her legs are pulled by her feet, drawn even closer to it, the sea, the ocean. How she wishes the LCL Generator had a view like this. It pulls at her too, but it never can be like THIS.

        "It started here..."

        Alouette speaks softly, though not quietly. There is a reverence to her tone perhaps.

        "The life given, first borne into the sea, long bonded, before it crawled onto the shore. So strong is the bond, that some crawled back, rejected the legs that had been so long in forming, to experience life once more in the water, in all new ways."

        A long slender arm rises from her side, reaching out as far as she can. At the edge of her vision, Alouette plays her fingers along the horizon and the sea's dance, as if she were conducting a concerto. Who would hear it?

        Alouette tears her eyes away, regretfully, almost painfully, to look back towards the others. But, seeing them, everyone here, her lips curl at the corners and grow to a smile. Still a strange feeling, but it doesn't feel so wrong here, now. It grows wider still, watching Kaworu go down into surf. The sound of it, the spray and humidity in the air. The taste of saline on the back of her tongue just from breathing...

        Then she remembers, and her smile lilts as she looks to the ground and lenas against a table.

        The anixety starts, her chest rises and falls a bit faster. Alouette's right hand, wraps around her left arm, and she is keenly aware of the neoprene material tightly wrapped around most of her body. Underneath it, a two piece garment that she bought, when she was told about this trip. One that had made her, excited, and scared, to purchase, to think about wearing on this trip. One she is sad to know it will likely remain unseen under the wetsuit for the duration. Which makes her stomach fall in the sadder realization, she wont get to feel her sea on her body...

        Alouette wipes a tear, hidden as she looks down. She forces a smile to push away the feelings, and tries to focus instead, on braiding her thick white folicies, and the colored under pieces. Alouette didn't realize, the conspicuousness of what she had done. Speaking the way she had about life and the sea, go quiet, tried to hide her face, fake a smile, walk a bit away and start braiding her hair.

        Those intersocial bits, she'll get it one day, right? Mada mada dane.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

The ride to the beach is absent at least one passenger today. This is not too terribly surprising, of course: the passenger in question has always had an overwhelming tendency to march to her own beat, even in the remarkably short amount of time she's been at Tokyo-3. Tragically, this means she isn't graced with the magnificence of Misato's driving ability.

It doesn't mean she's not here today, however! After all -- who would rightly skip out on a beach episode?

And that is why, as Kaworu watches the waves crash against him from his sprawled position on the shoreline, a sudden weight introduces itself upon him in the most indolent of slumps that somehow makes sure to avoid settling too much weight on the region of the young man's injured leg. At the same time, an arm hooks around his neck, palms pressing to his red eyes to fill his world with darkness and the hint of a palmful of something cool smearing his back just as another foamy crest of waves crash against him and his newfound drapery.

"Guess who~. Three hints:
        "Glorious glasses.
        "Sunscreening specialist.
        "Magnificent melons."

The answer, of course, is Mari Makinami Illustrious appearing roughly from the position of "out of nowhere" and currently draped on Kaworu draped on the sand. The chaotic Evangelion pilot is dressed today in a pink-and-white monokini best described as "daring," accessorized with billowy, sheer white sleeves bound at her biceps and a sarong of similar material, and the biggest, floppiest straw sun hat.

And the most critical part of all: her glasses, exchanged for shades with pink-tinted, heart-shaped lenses.

The rims, of course, remain red.

And slung on her back, a duffel bag for the beach, unzipped just enough to reveal: 1) a bottle of sunscreen, currently opened, and,

2) some magnificent-looking watermelons.

For the most important summer beach tradition, of course.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Shinji very likely spends the trip in one of the middle seats, because he is too easily bullied out of desirable window spaces -- or politely shuffling from them to make space, even if he got one. He holds Pen-Pen in his lap, trying to at least make sure he's secure from any starts and stops along the road, or from wakking himself off the seat. While Shinji does as much craning his head to see out as he can, it isn't until they've parked and escaped the vehicle that he and Pen-Pen briefly are a match in their excited energy.

There's a double take when he sets the wriggling penguin down only to watch him beeline for Pizza Hut instead of the sea.

After an embarrassing shopping trip with Misato, Shinji managed to get a swimsuit he would not want to die being seen in: simple, loose navy trunks. They're enough like ordinary shorts that he isn't compelled to cover them up, wearing them with a light weight white hoodie over his t-shirt. All of it feels rather unnecessary. Shinji doesn't plan to get more than his feet into the water.

Shinji's in the process of getting sunscreen out of the bag when Misato asks her favor. He makes an undignified noise, fumbling with the sunscreen bottle no less than three times before finally securing it in his grip. "Um." There's a quick glance to the others in a silent cry for help.

Before he can figure out if he's actually supposed to help with that, Kaworu shares some interesting ocean thoughts.

"Ah... Kaworu, you're making the beach sound a little scary," Shinji says, smiling nervously. But they wouldn't have beaches on the moon, would they? And the sunlight from there... Shinji has no idea how that works, off hand. "It would probably be a good idea to put on sunscreen." And he might, indeed, get encouraged into at least getting some on his face before he can retreat into the water.

Alouette, it turns out, also has some deep thoughts on the ocean. Shinji glances between her and Kaworu, then to Rei (why is he expecting Rei to say something to make it a trifecta of commentary) before putting his gaze back on the shoreline more thoughtfully.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Fish, too, are life. The scent of the sea in its life and death is a complicated thing, something that pervades the world in a myriad of places. It would be a tragedy if it did not.

Rei Ayanami arrived as per her instructions, which were to have mandatory fun with her comrades with Misato Katsuragi and co. When you get an order of this sort from an officer, you have to pay attention to it. That's the way of the world.

STEAL REI AYANAMI'S LOOK:

* Straw sun-hat with a blue fabric band, broad-brimmed
* Black swimsuit, one piece, not very daring. ... it looks a lot like a school swimsuit, actually. ... It IS a school swimsuit, actually. The panel over the bust is blank; erased, perhaps, or maybe it's new.
* Mid-gray shorts, getting towards the ratty side
* Dark white sandals
* Black nylon bag, containing:

** Some walking-around money
** One bottle water
** One bottle blended fruit beverage
**
** One 200ml tube of Pure Shield sunblock, which has an SPF comparable to an AT Field
** Rei's phone

RIGHT NOW,

Rei is putting some of the Pure Shield sunblock on her arm and spreading it evenly over her skin. The material matches her skin almost uncannily, but that's just the simple facts of physics and Rei's complexion coming together.

Rei has a beach chair leaning against her hip as she does this; she is not just malingering. She pauses in this self-lotioning behavior to glance over when Kaworu speaks, blinking once. "Liminal spaces?" Rei asks, before looking out again, towards the sea.

"Yes," Rei says then. "This is a place where life began."

(Much more prosaically, she asks those who happen to be near her, "Where should I put the chair?")

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Misato had to order her to come for 'fun in the sun', but at this point it felt perfunctory. She didn't really offer all that much resistance. On the drive over though, she was definitely mostly playing her Wonderswan. Asuka today is wearing a red and white striped bikini, or at least the top is striped, the bottom's waist is red, and the rest of it is white. She's also wearing a simple pair of beach sandals. She wore a yellow sarong for the ride over, though she's shed that now that they're here - as well as put her Wonderswan away.

On the boardwalk, she has her arms crossed, not rushing to get food, but merely staring out at the ocean for a while. She'd been, but never for recreation before.

...there's something calming about this...

...Asuka listens to Kaworu and Alouette wax poetic about the ocean.

...even more calming...

...before she catches Mari flop down upon Kaworu with her magnificent melons in tow.

An eyelid twitches.

'Shinji, can you get my back?'

Another twitch, as she looks away from the ocean, straight down.

Rei waxes poetic too...

... calming, somehow?

'Where should I put the chair?'

Asuka snaps at her, "Just put it anywhere!"

Before she walks up to Shinji, and grabs the sunscreen away to resolve this moment of helplessness, "Here, give me that or we'll be here all day."

...as she just starts applying it to Misato's back in his stead...

"Teambuilding she said." Asuka mutters, as she applies it.

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        'Evangelion Pilots' could mean, technically, Ouka. While she has not successfully piloted one of the abominations of god and man she has certainly seen the inside of an entry plug and experienced some of the Worst of the Bad Times you can experience inside thanks to the fact the units have a very strict age gating policy. The ramifications of such has actually impacted her choice of swimsuit, as it turns out.

        While one might expect her to have come in one of the school issued swimsuits, or even a School issued swimsuit, PERHAPS there was SOMETHING in SOMEONE's intonation with regards about the 'fun' and 'relaxing' trip Ouka and Seolla were invited to that led to another someone (let's be honest here, it's Dr. Cero) getting more personalized swimsuit options. Ouka's is a tankini: The bikini portion is dark blue with with a frill around the hips and over the cups. Red strings tied into a 'sakura' knot adorn either hip and the center of her chest as an accent, while white strings hug the hips and around the shoulders and back. The 'tank' portion of the tankini is a tight black material that wraps around her waist, leaving a portion of her midriff uncovered.

        And everyone should be familiar with her swimsuit by now because she showed up for the car ride dressed in her swimsuit and carrying a dufflebag carried over one shoulder. Any question as to why she is already wearing her swimsuit instead of changing into it once they get to the beach will be met with her simply expressing that the bringing of additional exterior garments would be inefficient and nonessential. Questioning about her bringing a dufflebag though will have her remark that it is 'essentials'.

        At one point, before piling into the van, she dropped her 'essentials' beside her. Based on the resounding 'thud' produced... one can only guess what sort of things the Boosted Child thought would be essential for a beach trip.

        Ouka has already had one vehicle ride with Misato at the wheel. Her behavior with regard to that event could be summed up accurately as 'stoic'. She sits in the back holding her dufflebag, and any sharp turns result in her simply tightening her grip on her articles. Despite the apparent weight of its contents, the bag moves not an inch... though perhaps several of the heavier contents can be heard/seen shifting inside the heavy canvas material.

        Once the van has arrived and parked she clambers out of the van with her dufflebag in tow. Her golden eyes trace along the lines of the horizon, the beachfront, the boardwalk and various eateries. She then glances across thes shore, her face contemplative.

        "The beach, and particularly the ocean can be a dangerous place." Ouka speaks in response to Shinji... or perhaps no one in particular: "Rip tides can quickly drag an unwary individual far from shore and various marine animals, unfamiliar with humans, might confuse them for a convenient meal. Furthermore the ocean contains many of the most poisonous creatures alive. It's always wise to be prepared for any such encounter."

        As if to punctuate her thought she once again drops her dufflebag, though this time down on the sand of the beach. For the first time she works open its zipper and the first actual look of the contents it's ... actually difficult to ascertain what's in there. Most of the contents seem to be individually wrapped in fabric, perhaps so as to not damage each other in transit! The first item to be drawn from the container is, as it turns out, a can of spray-on sunscreen in utilitarian School gray.

        (probably full of all sorts of things that have long been outlawed for being dangerous to reefs/carcinogens)

        After dutifully applying the sunscreen, Ouka goes about to setting up an umbrella, several beach chairs, and internally powered air pump and several red and white colored flotation rings which she sets about inflating, and of course a harpoon gun.

        Wait, a harpoon gun?

        Then there's the SCUBA tank with attached rebreather, flippers and high pressure rated goggles. It looks like a certain Boosted Child takes the notion of 'being prepared for any such encounter' pretty seriously based on her 'essentials'.

<Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.

"Wow deep," Misato says to Kaworu and Alouette, though she kind of gives the former a suspicious look when he says he doesn't need sunscreen. "Uh, not too many clouds out there, Kaworu--so you might want to stick to the shade in that case!"

She is oblivious to Shinji's embarrassment as usual. Well maybe not oblivious. But she's certainly not commenting on it.

Misato pulls her shirt off because Shinji seems to be having a hard time. She's wearing a two piece NERV red bathing suit because Misato has no shame. Of course, what might be unexpected is the large scar across her chest, a thick pale line with jagged lines across it as if she had been clobbered in the chest with a spine. Misato doesn't comment on it. She doesn't hide it either.

She notices that REI brought sunblock. "Ah--are you sharing with Kaworu?" That might explain it. Kaworu might need SPF AT FIELD whereas Misato only brought SPF 30.

Misato can get her own sunblock on most of her body and face but it actually is tough to get that spot.

Luckily Asuka steals the sunblock and Misato smiles. "Oh, Asuka! that's very sweet of you. Want me to get you?"

"Mmhmm, mmhmm, a day at the beach is peak teambuilding!" She beams, slightly less shiny than the sun itself. "Don't worry Asuka, this is just the beginning!"

Misato drove this time. She managed to avoid crashing into anything. It's fine.

Her eyes sloooowly slant towards Ouka's harpoon gun.

She stares.

"Why...did you bring a harpoon, Ouka?" She asks. A Scuba Tank she can understand.

<Pose Tracker> Orpheus Zevon has posed.

The sounds of waves crashing against the beach, the sound of seagulls filling the air, even the scent of the sea-salt that one could fish out if one tried to ignore the scent of intense fish that wafted through. It had made this section of beach strip seem peaceful all things considered. In a time oh so long ago when he finally had been able to venture to the ocean. A time where he had been able to enjoy it with someone special, a time that was now long lost. . .

"It's not the same. . ."

As if to emphasize that notion, the sound of the car beginning to pull up can be heard from his spot in the outdoor seating area of the Pizza Hut. Thanks to a certain chaperone of this trip, Orpheus Zeveles had been invited, to which she had likely received his information from Kaworu after a bit of hassling. Why? Perhaps he had simply left a good impression from the last time, maybe he was requested by someone as a GUTS friend? All the same for those that truly knew of this young man it was still a bit of a surprise, or perhaps less so as he had been becoming someone more willing to accommodate this group.

As the group began to come from out of the vehicle he waves them down. Like Kaworu, the highschooler does seem to be wearing a pair of dark navy swim trunks. Adorning his frame was a white button-up shirt as well. Though unlike Kaworu's, he seemed to have a bit of an emerald streak running through the sleeves, and seemed buttoned up a decent amount before the last three or four buttons. Even buttoned up though, it really doesn't help to hide that his frame was rather toned for someone his age. While his uniform tended to keep things covered rather well, when it came short sleeves, and the short cut of his swim trunks, it was likely he had caught the eyes of a few passerbys.

"I was worried for a moment that I was in the wrong place. And seems you brought along a straggler." He makes his remarks to those he's been familiar with. Kaworu, Alouette, and Misato being the three he makes the quip to before he notices Mari assaulting Kaworu with. . .Melons. For Ouka, Shinji, and Asuka he gives a simple nod and even gestures to any of them over a slice of pizza he had already ordered and as for Pen-Pen. . .As he waddles over, he gets blessed by the pizza gods as Orpheus without worry or concern for his diet just pulls anchovies off his slices to greet the new acquaintance.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "Beautiful things are often also frightening," Kaworu tells Shinji warmly, looking up and over at him from where he's draped himself on the shore. No need to elucidate; Ouka explains in detail why and how the ocean is a dangerous place. Yet at the same time, as Alouette and Rei both directly comment, this is where life began, after all. And as Ouka goes on to explain, Though the source of life is actually a bit different from the ocean itself... even so, the ocean did and continues to do a great deal to nurture life.
        
        Even as it also mercilessly deals death. But such is the nature of things.
        
        As Shinji observes that putting on sunscreen would be a good idea, someone else decides to make that suggestion an act--as well as a covering of red eyes and a lilted 'guess who~?' complete with hints.
        
        "Hmm," Kaworu muses, smile growing. "The only person I know who grows melons of high quality is Ryoji Kaji. Yet somehow, I don't think you're him." He doesn't protest or struggle as she applies that sunscreen to him. Perhaps Mari's also a Pure Shield girl; it's both stylish and powerful stuff. Rei's wise to use it for herself, just as she is to describe it as SPF AT Field. After a moment, he does carefully pull himself up into a sit to let Mari... well, do as she pleases, functionally. His smile continues unabated as he shuts his eyes to feel the wind and salt spray.
        
        'Liminal spaces?' Rei wonders, and he opens his eyes to gaze out into the endless blue.
        
        "Yes. The place where the world of the 'land' and the world of the 'sea' meet," he says. "Those of one world cannot survive for long in the other. Even so, here they come together, where for a time they may coexist."
        
        There's a soft sort of yearning to his now-faint smile. It turns wry when, inevitably, Asuka snaps at someone, in this instance Rei. At least Alouette was able to come along too. A full-body wetsuit solves her particular problem nicely... though facing outwards as he is, he doesn't notice her brief, abrupt tears. Though given everything else that's going on, including Ouka's harpoon gun, there's a lot that might pass uncommented upon.
        
        He does look up and over with a smile as Orpheus approaches, though, and shares that smile with Alouette--perhaps she's cheered up by now at Oz's arrival. "There are a few stragglers here," he comments. "But the ocean is a place of freedom. It's only proper that we all drifted together like this."
        
        As if to puncutate his statement, a wave crashes around him, drenching him and possibly Mari anew. But once more, he doesn't mind. Frankly, he seems to enjoy it.

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        Ouka feels someone's eyes slaaaaaaanting towards her direction, and in particular towards the harpoon gun she had brought. When the question is asked, Ouka's own eyes turn toward Misato. She stares at the Colonel for a bit, and then she blinks slowly. One can almost see a 'Processing' bar over her head with a slowly filling bar. "Most firearms do not function well underwater, even if they are rated for marine environments or can operated while submersed. A self-stabilized harpoon fired from a pressurized air source is the most viable option in case one is needed."

            A satisfactory answer given, Ouka's eyes do briefly slide towards Asuka. Particularly right after she appropriated the sunscreen so as to offer to apply it to Misato. However she has no questions or comments for Asuka it seems, and as soon as her gaze meets the other girl's silhouette they are shifting away.

            Kaworu, Alouette and Rei all wax poetic about the nature of the oceans. Ouka lacks a similar capacity to be so profound. She has encountered this 'liminal' space and operated within the ocean in many points. There was after all the point, a while ago, where her damaged machine was lost to the briny depths off of Tokyo-3 where various undead horrors raged beneath a suffering Angel.

        That was not a place where even someone like her could continue to live... even briefly.

        Her eyes then scan towards Mari, another individual carrying a dufflebag - though in her case carrying a bottle of sunscreen and... some magnificent melons. "Those are some nice melons." Ouka agrees without an ounce of irony detectable in her voice, "Did you bring something to slice them with?"

        Just in case it would be helpful, Ouka pulls a sheathed combat knife from within her duffelbag and holds it out for Mari, should she choose to take it. What were you expecting? A blindfold and a bokken?

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

'The only person I know who grows melons of high quality is Ryoji Kaji. Yet somehow, I don't think you're him.'

"Aw, so close! And yet, so far~."

And so does Mari reveal the liminal world of the shore to Kaworu just as the waves threaten to crash into them once more, as if picking up where his vision last left off. The spray of foam drenches both of them; Kaworu makes a fine buffers, but buffers only do so much against the inexorable, tidal roll of the sea.

Mari doesn't seem particularly deterred, however; in fact, she seems to relish it. Grin bright and hand free, she takes a moment to deposit her straw hat behind her, as if to spare it from potential drenching for reasons unclear, before putting -both- of her nimble hands to use in the steady process of applying sunscreen to the young man who by all appearances seems to need it the most, and yet foregoes it the most.

Is she a Pure Shield Girl? Does Mari require an AT Field against the sun? Is she even wearing sunscreen?

Maybe. Or maybe it's just what she bragged to Asuka:

        <3 Her complexion is just perfect without any effort! <3

The mysteries of Mari are many and confounding and have no bearing on the serene yet thorough job she makes of making sure Kaworu is thoroughly protected against the horrid assassin that is UV Rays.

"Part of people always want to delve into the things they fear. It's part of what makes them so scary~" is Mari's lone, cooing comment on the matter of the terribly inhospitable nature of the sea and humanity's draw towards it. It comes with another crash of waves colliding with her and Kaworu; thoroughly drenched, saltwater dripping off her gloriously heart-shaped shades, she leans in against Kaworu's back, reaches up, and--

        "Boop!"

Smears a visible dot of that bright white sunscreen across his nose, as is tradition.

"All done! Now you have nothing to fear from sea or sky~."

i-is that how it works--

And thus! her work done, her philosophical (?) musings complete, Mari shoulders her bag and bounces onto her feet. Melons in her bag a-jostling, the drenched Child swoops low to pluck up her hat and plod her way inward towards drier land, brows lifting as she goes.

"So many people here! Wow!" she enthuses, looking sidelong Oz's way. "And special guests, to boot! The beach truly does bring everyone together."

'Those are some nice melons.'

"It's nice of you to notice~!"

'Did you bring something to slice them with?'

"Hum? Who could be so cruel!"

And with that. Mari drops her dufflebag, squatting down to stuff her free hand within and fish. And from it, she produces --

What you were expecting: a blindfold, and a bokken.

"We're bashing them~."

...

She does, however, take the combat knife.

"Wow, so sharp!" <3

Who'd turn down a free knife?

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Kaas has posed.

        As her fingers twine the strands and 'folicles' of her hair into a thick, but taut braid down it's length, Alouette watches the activity and settlement begin. Her longer digits are a boon in the task, the volume of the braid strands would necessitate a tool otherwise. Alouette was grateful for the brief concurrence from Rei, as the First Child is conservative in speech but what she does say is enough.

        A familiar feeling, then a voice. Someone else she had hoped would be, is here. Alouette turns, nearing the end of her task. She alights and smiles to their addition.

        "It is pleasing to see you."

        Trying to finish without rushing to failure. Fingers dance like they are laid upon keys of ivory, until they near the end. With one hand holding the end, she takes her other and retrieves a leather lace. A natural orange, the color of the flesh of it's former owner, it stands out against the white of her hair, as she wraps and binds the braid, ensuring it will stay.

        Finished, Alouette jumps up from the table and with a smile, she runs over to where Ouka had dumped evrything out. Col. Katsuragi, and others were alarmed by the addition of a particularly pointy piece of her luggage. Alouette, trying to shove away her concerns about, rules and limitations for the moment, decides to be rash, impulsive...

        ... and bratty.

        Alouette makes a grab for the Harpoon gun while Ouka is busy with her knife and something about Mari's breasts. A good 'ole dash and grab

        With Harpoon in hand, and gun safety otherwise in mind (Good trigger discipline barrel control are a must!) Alouette turns for just long enough to grin a taunt at the melon girls, her attempt to start a chase among the group. Just a little game of keep away with a deadly weapon. #justevakidthings #oukaistoo #didntforgetOZandMisato #oneofusoneofus

        "Thing about those melons, they can slow you down. I'm not sure you're fast enough anyway. MEEP MEEP!"

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Rei, does, in fact, have important life commentary to muse on. About chairs. Shinji can barely open his mouth before Asuka is shouting and snapping and taking the sunscreen.

"Thank you, Asuka?" Shinji don't make that a question...! She does, in a way, rescue him though. From what, only Shinji knows. (Shinji doesn't know.) It's not that he dislikes Misato...! Just. Misato can be a lot for Shinji.

Kaworu has more poetry to give, as is Kaworu's way. Shinji blinks back at him once. Beautiful, frightening things. There's a fraction of a second he glances in Asuka's direction before looking back at the sea. Maybe that's true? He turns back to Kaworu with a faint smile and --

Shinji reels back from the surprise that is Mari Makinami Illustrious, balanced precariously on his heel before righting himself. "When did you -- ?!" Actually, never mind. It's starting to feel sillier to ask when and where Mari comes from, or where her melons come from. Not those melons, he's not looking at those! Please leave him alone.

Orpheus is here too now, but he arrives by car instead of zero space, or however it is Mari travels. Shinji gives him a polite smile. "Oh. Are you joining us?"

Shinji's excitement for the sea has been effectively tempered, thank you everyone for your reminders on the terrors of the ocean, both philosophical and practical. "I'll keep that in mind..." he says to Ouka. He will be, in fact, hard pressed to forget about it for a while.

At least if a dangerous marine animal attacks them, they have a harpoon gun...? The adapted to underwater combat harpoon gun.

The harpoon gun Alouette now has and is running away with. Shinji stares. Shock may be setting in.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Rei looks towards the Second when she answers her question. Rei seems dubious.

To Misato, she blinks. She looks at the bottle, which has a small but distinct image of Sheryl Nome on it. "It was the strongest sunblock available. There is a great deal." Rei then looks to Kaworu, though this may not accomplish much due to the presence of a majestic melon patch in his grill right now. Also hands.

But Kaworu is freed from the fleshy mire. He articulates the meaning of a liminal space. Rei nods slightly once; her attention turns out towards sea. As she applies the sunscreen to her other arm, she seems to be considering something.

Rei walks towards the sea.

As she does, the unpacking of Ouka makes her look over at her with a certain puzzlement. She articulates the reason why she brought a harpoon gun. To this, too, Rei is dubious. Rei leaves her bag about a meter and a half short of where the sand has become damp and walks a little further forwards, unfolding the chair and letting it rest down on the wet sand.

Rei sits on it, side-saddle. It sinks.

Rei brings her legs up. Then she seems to change her mind; gets off, pulls it off, moves it about ninety degrees to the left. Plop; sit. Rei begins putting the sunscreen on her legs, which is a fairly simple process, as she can use both hands. Her eyes turn upwards to look towards Orpheus - or rather, to the boy Rei doesn't recognize, but who seems to be cooperating with Pen Pen - which means that she can see several other things at once.

Mari revealing her melons.

Ouka presenting Mari with a ceremonial blade.

And...

Rei watches Alouette with abstract curiosity for a moment. Her head tilts to the side.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"I've got it." Asuka says tersely to Misato, ignoring how it's just the beginning. How hard could applying sunblock to a back be? It's just basic flexibility.

As she eyes Shinji at his thank you (Question???) Before she looks sloooowllyyy past Misato at Ouka with the harpoon gun. A single eyebrow arches.

Ouka gives an answer to Misato's question. Asuka gives her own answer to Misato on what Ouka brought it for.

"For teambuilding."

After the locker room incident after all, is it any wonder that Asuka believes that Ouka would bring a harpoon gun for that?

Asuka nods absently at Orpheus, though some part of her just keeps getting this nagging feeling she knows him from somewhere else. Kaworu's statement to Oz though earns her a look, "If it's a place of freedom then why was this trip mandatory?"

Mari of course annoys her for two reasons. Her complexion being perfect with no effort, and her fashion sense being better than hers YET AGAIN.

Still though, as she slathers herself with Sunscreen herself (including her back, with some slight difficulty), not finding anything unusual with the combat knife being used to slice a melon but eyeing Alouette as she grabs for... the Harpoon gun.

From Ouka.

The Boosted Human that trapped her in a locker, bent the metal frame so she couldn't get out, and threw her around.

Asuka decides Alouette is on her own with this one. Instead she walks over to Mari, at the blindfold and bokken, and asks a question of her with crossed arms while harpoon gun hijinks go on in the background. "Who'd willingly submit to being blindfolded with you around?"

Pause.

"Baka Shinji, you're going first."

Did she just answer her own question?

<Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.

MIsato frowns as people talk about Kaji's melons, just ever so faintly, ever so briefly. She's soon beaming again.

Meanwhile, Pen Pen comes walking out of the Pizza hut with a slice of gooey cheesy pizza with anchovies all over it. He munches on it while he watches Ouka with a harpoon gun, and Mari with a ceremonial blade.

Pen Pen continues to quietly munch on the pizza while observing htis.

Misato listens to Ouka's explanation. "Ahah...." She says. She supposes she understands. She feels a little naked without her guns here but you don't want to get those things wet so the only weapon she brought is a thick combat knife that's still in the car and a pistol, in the glovebox. She didn't bring it out with her. She got over open carrying everywhere once she got into college. She had to, because in the real world, you don't exactly get to cart a gun everywhere and not draw more trouble to you, not less. Of course, Misato isn't engineered into a killing machine either. She had to learn it the slow way.

"If Kaji is indulging melons he's going to live to regret it." Misato says. "Or maybe he won't!"

This isn't really what Kaworu was saying but with Mari's commentary, she better just head that off at hte pass.

Misato can be a lot.

"Thanks Asuka. I'm glad you came here for teambuilding." She singsongs as she makes her way o the group.

"Umm, I feel like a responsible adult would tell you to NOT play with the harpoon gun." Misato says. "So... thinking about it... I guess I should too! Maybe don't play with the harpoon gun? It's not a toy. Ha ha!"

<Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.

Pen-Pen turns to look at Orpheus.

Pen-Pen munches on a pizza. Orpheus makes an offering.

SOCIAL LINK UNLOCK: THE PENGUIN Pen-Pen RANK 1
Pen-Pen will now accept your tribute.

"Wak wak!" Pen-Pen bobs his head to Orpheus who is now maybe the most trustworthy and important person in all of NERV.

"Wak." More munching. Pen-Pen manages a salute with a flipper.

<Pose Tracker> Orpheus Zevon has posed.

The power of PenPen is secured. The world will soon bow to the power of Oz. . . Ahem. By that I mean, seeing the peculiar pet indulge in the anchovies, he just attempts to pat his head. "A little out of place aren't you? Well. . .I guess that's not a bad thing." It's a brief notion, though as the bird's finishes its humble salute and his attention goes elsewhere, Oz notices the way to come.

As if calling for lightning to strike them down, making mention of those waves is enough to apparently have it make victims of both Mari and Kaworu alike. It was odd, seeing Kaworu so. . .Vulnerable? Was that the word? Maybe it was because he seemed so carefree with how he allowed Mari to indulge herself, or perhaps it was just the way the waves, and the world itself were able to connect with him. It almost contradicted every memory he had of those days. "Seems like you're enjoying yourself. Though, should I be getting you a towel?" Though when Asuka makes her remark, it's when a slight smirk travels across his face, "If you're being told to enjoy some free time, I think it's better not to overthink it. it's important to enjoy these kinds of things while you can. Besides. . .Did you have anything else planned for today, Langley?" The last part of his remarks almost seem teasing as he says them, though he's quick to pick himself up and attempt mingling a bit more. The first person that ends up being with is none other than one of the people he's most familiar with.

Alouette's remarks were always sincere. Something that he sees now that she shared with Euliya, and better quality to be sure. It's enough that even in front of the others he finds himself giving a sincere nod in kind. "I was told this. . .Chaperone that you were all planning to have a day out. It'd be nice to make sure that you were all enjoying yourselves, though also. . ." his gaze returned to Misato for a moment, recalling the circumstances of their first face-to-face encounter and the shenanigans she had been pulling up to that point. "I also assumed additional chaperoning might be in order."

It's funny as he makes mention that Alouette is already deciding to stir up some trouble of her own, a part of him watching as Misato also tries to be a responsible adult. He probably should try to intervene but for now. . .He's also just glad that she seems happy. Genuinely happy. So for now, he can make himself comfortable till things really heat up as he makes his way out of the heat of it all, crossing Mari's path. Even as her gaze is tinted through her shades, his own emerald gaze matches her own. Though before he can respond to her little remark it's Shinji who takes note of him next, "Mmm, Ikari, right? Yeah, it seems like I was invited thanks to the kindness of your chaperone to make things more lively. Though. . . It appears I wasn't needed for that was I?"

As he makes that remark, he sees that Shinji's already getting pulled away by Asuka, so as to not mess with the fun, he simply takes a spot by Rei, taking note of her gaze on him before he speaks to her. "Excuse me, do you happen to have any extra sunblock?"

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        The thing with trying to prepare for every potential outcome is... it's something that you can't really ever achieve. For example, Mari's reaction to having her melons cut is... protective? Did she not bring them to be cut and eaten? Are they some sort of pet... she is given understand that people usually take animals as pets but that they also raise plants too. That said, 'plants' don't usually include 'fruits', especially since those are given to eventually rot, and in either case you don't usually bring your cactus to the beach with you.

    By the time Ouka's loading bar finally fills up though Mari has already taken the knife from her hand, and gives a complement in return. The Boosted Child is pretty flummoxed at this. If she wasn't planning to use the knife to cut the melons and instead bash them with a bokken and... why does she have a blindfold?

    Truly Mari is a mysterious quantity.

    "It's standard issue." She finally gives in response, and holding out her hand as if expecting Mari to return it to her after inspecting it to her satisfaction. However once again an unexpected event occurs, which draws her focus. She HAD expected that there might be a large marine mammal or fish that might need for her to bring that out towards use. Though the chance was slight... she'd rather be caught with her pants up instead of down. Though metaphorically that is exactly what happened when Alouette grabbed her harpoon gun.

    'Thing about those melons, they can slow you down. I'm not sure you're fast enough anyway. MEEP MEEP!'

    'Maybe don't play with the harpoon gun? It's not a toy. Ha ha!'

    'For teambuilding.'

    "I'll be back." Ouka says calmly to Mari before turning towards Alouette. She has a head start, of course, and sand even wet provides poor traction. Were she to start now she could likely catch up with her, but what then? Tackle her from behind? That would carry a significant risk. It would be best to instead interdict her from the front.

    Ouka kneels, then SPRINTS towards the beach chairs she set up earlier. She jumps atop one of them, then leaps from the top of the chair with enough downward force that it causes the chair to fold back up... albeit in the direction it's /not/ supposed/ to go.

    A brief flicker of a shadow traverses over Alouette's fleeing figure before the First Boosted Child lands directly in front of her, spins in a swirling flourish of dark green hair and attempts to snag both A. The barrel of the harpoon gun, and B. the arm holding the gun, albeit on a place where the neoprene protects the skin from direct contact.

    Regardless after landing she'll state calmly: "You shouldn't run with one of these Alouette, it's dangerous."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "Was I close? Do you truly have so much in common with him?" Kaworu wonders, amusement rife in his tone. His tone turns more thoughtful as Mari comments on people delving into what they fear. That's something that's very true. As she massages sunscreen into his back and he is completely unaffected by the proximity of such a gorgeous gal, he looks over his shoulder at her, but before he can comment--
        
        'Boop!'
        
        He blinks once. And then he breaks into soft but genuine laughter. He doesn't rub the sunscreen in or wipe it away; he simply leaves that smear as it is. The white blends in well with his skin, but it's quite streaky all the same. "Thank you. I appreciate your protection, Mary."
        
        (It's a distinct pronunciation from 'Mari,' and to the Japanese tongue, Mary is just as distinctly harder to say. And yet, this is Kaworu's idea of a nickname.)
        
        He watches her as she walks off to join Ouka, only for Alouette to grab that harpoon gun and run off with it, all but giggling. His smile towards the Fourth is affectionate, and it stays that way as Rei walks over and sits down nearby to finish applying her own sunscreen. He watches her, too, for a moment, gaze gentle; then Shinji catches his eye.
        
        He, of course, gets the warmest smile of all. "Shinji, will you come sit with us?" Kaworu calls to his friend.
        
        However, Asuka then demands to know why the trip was mandatory. Kaworu stares at her blankly, smile fading. "Mandatory?" he echoes. "Are you saying you didn't want to join?"
        
        A long moment passes.
        
        He looks over at Misato. "...Col. Katsuragi, did you tell the Second this trip was mandatory to force her to come along?"
        
        Misato answers this by way of thanking Asuka for coming along for the teambuilding. Kaworu breathes a rueful sigh before looking over at Asuka. His tone and demeanor as as calm as always, but somehow there's a distinct resignation as he concludes, "...I apologize for that, Second."
        
        He glances back over at Shinji. He's already made his wishes known, but so has Asuka... He'll leave it to him to decide whose company he'd prefer. He already ceded that particular battle to Asuka, but this is a gathering of friends.
        
        Orpheus offers to get him a towel. Kaworu's smile returns at the older boy's offer. "I'm fine like this," he reassures him. "The ocean suits me."
        
        There are plenty of towels further up the beach for when he's ready to come back, at least. For now, though, Kaworu's content to let Orpheus make the most of the invitation he received, and watches him too as he goes from penguin to person.

<Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.

"Ehh well you know... Sometimes a girl can be shy and you need to give a little push." Misato gets a shiftyeyed look when Kaworu actually just directly asks her about it. "Aheheh...." She rubs at her cheek with an index fingers. There might be more to the story there but that's all Misato is going to say about it here. "I mean you've got a great beach bod, Asuka, you might as well enjoy it."

Pen Pen gets patted on the head. He is pretty out of place. Orpheus probably knows a bit about that. Nevertheless, Pen Pen squawks at him and flaps his free wing before shoveling the rest of the pizza and anchovies down his gullet.

It then waddles over to a trash bin and puts the paper plate inside along with the food remains.

Then Pen-Pen waddles back and looks at Rei.

Misato, of course, lies down on a towel and just sprawls out on it. "Team building's the best." She says.

Because it's for team building you see.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Orpheus... Someone who seems to be in Kaworu's orbit. While Kaworu's friendly, Shinji's learned his heart's a lot more closed off than it looks. So what's the connection here, exactly? "That's right," he confirms. "And you're... Zeveles. Kaworu's senpai." These aren't hesitant questions for once, but Shinji isn't trying to be aggressive. He's curious, and he's not great at hiding it.

He even smiles, nervous as it is. "Yeah, everyone's... energetic here." But that's not a bad thing. Even if Shinji prefers quieter things himself.

Which has him smiling more easily when Kaworu calls him over to sit with him and Rei. Exactly Shinji's speed. "I'll be right over...!" He's going through his own bag, halfway to pulling out a carefully wrapped box of snacks because of course Shinji made beach snacks when Asuka gives him a command.

"Going first?" Shinji echoes as his mind races to catch up with what's going on. Harpoon tag proceeds in the background. He blinks once at Asuka before realizing it's Mari he's supposed to be looking at. Mari, a watermelon, a blindfold, AND A KNIFE. Why is there a knife now, too?

They use the bokken, right? Not the knife? Mari might use the knife. Or Ouka. Or Alouette.

"Oh. I--" He looks back at Kaworu and Rei, then to Asuka and Mari's increasingly dangerous game. "I've, um, I've never played before before," (Baka) Shinji offers as the weakest possible protest he could have managed. No one wold be blamed for thinking it isn't intended to be one one.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

'When did you -- ?!'

Shinji gives up on the train of thought. It doesn't stop Mari from remarking, just before the cusp of the fated Melon Reveal,

"When your heart earnestly called out for my presence, Puppy Boy."

And that she can say this, utterly straight-faced, is perhaps the most frightening thing of all.

Combat knife twirled with idle expertise between her fingers, Mari's brows raise at Ouka's comment. "Standard, huh..." she muses. Ouka holds out her hand, expectant.

"Nope, this isn't standard at all."

The end of Mari's flourish sees her holding that knife up to the Boosted Child's outstretched hand, hilt-first, her fingers dangerously yet fearlessly pinched around the blade.

"Even the most sadly standard of things can become brilliantly unique when you treat it well, Golden Girl~."

She reaches out--

-- and suddenly there's Alouette, pulling off the most careful, elaborate and dangerous heist of all time:

Swiping Ouka's harpoon gun and running off.

Flopping backwards, Mari watches with wide eyes from behind pink-tinted shades as Alouette rushes off into the sunset (not the sunset) -- and Ouka -rushes- after like a swimsuit blur. Sand kicks up across her field of vision.

Mari Makinami Illustrious looses one, complimentary whistle into the air.

"My my. Run, Alouette! Like the wind~!"

And with that, she returns to her work, pushing up into a kneel. Carefully sheathing the knife and tucking it in one of the canny straps at her swimsuit's hip, she picks up a towel and folds it precisely until it is a firm, perfect square before setting it on the sand.

She's in the middle of setting the first well-rounded watermelon upon the sacred altar of suikawari when Asuka approaches her. She looks up, beyond the red rim of her heart shades.

"Oho~."

'Who'd willingly submit to being blindfolded with you around?' demands Asuka, before commanding Shinji's presence. At the same time, Kaworu asks Shinji to join him. Mari hums softly; she presses hands to the tops of her thighs, and rises up to her feet.

She's still drenched; her hat, however, is not, having been carefully guarded.

And it is this wide brim of a hat that she looks to settle on top of Asuka's head like a gift as she leans in to whisper,

"People who aren't afraid of daring the unknown, Your Highness~."

Might as well put Asuka's question to the test!

"But of course, if Puppy Boy is the bravest amongst us, I shall call him to task!"

And this is where she looks at Shinji as he stammers through his protest.

Somehow, there's a gleam in her eye visible despite the heavy pink tinting of her sunglasses. It just makes it -MORE PINK-.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Kaas has posed.

        The sand does require additional exertion to get through, but such is the start of the game. Alouette had a rough plan when she began this, and grabbed the weapon. She needed to make it to the boardwalk before Ouka. If she could do that, then she could get enough distance to drag someone else into this.

        Ouka seemed to guess this and moved to head her off rather than chase. When she finds Ouka upon her, and the senior young woman's arms have captured not only the Harpoon gun, but Alouettes arm as well. She doesn't fight or struggle. In fact she doesn't move at all, aside from the elevated breathing from her short run.

        "You should have brought the bokudo. This game seems to be to easy for you."

        Alouette replies to Ouka with a smile. There was no point to saying, their life, their creation and existence is danger. Or that, they were here to have fun, despite the danger, as the danger hasn't ended, or gone away.

        Alouette grins wider, before raising her voice to shout.

        "Nagisa Ouka WINS! Game over! Now you choose the next game, as the winner Miss Ouka."

        Ah HA! There was more to the plan! Would she succeed?! Alouette releases all hold of the Harpoon gun, but otherwise stays completely still, allowing the First Boosted Child to determine threat, danger, and situation for herself. Alouette wasn't looking to fight Ouka. Unless there were Bokken. There weren't though. Were there?

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Asuka gives Oz a glare, and replies to his remark with a simple, "Plenty." Whereas Misato thanks her for coming here for teambuilding, "I came here because you told me to come." She growls in frustration, even as Kaworu questions that very thing.

'I mean you've got a great beach bod, Asuka, you might as well enjoy it.'

That comment actually flusters her a bit, "What's that got to do with teambuilding!?"

The truth is she did want to come, it's just things got annoying and zany right away, and she's regretting that decision.

Alouette running from Ouka with the spear gun ended with the expected result, albeit there was a chance the Harpoon ended up sticking out of a limb or abdomen - that one being an outlier. The best thing she could do is stay away from the situation.

'People who aren't afraid of daring the unknown, Your Highness~.'

"Pretty sure there's no 'unknown' about the result of being blindfolded in front of you."

'if Puppy Boy is the bravest amongst us'

Asuka's eyes slowly narrow, as she knows what Mari's doing, with the challenge inherent in the comment, however, "I'm not calling him for his bravery."

Shinji stammers, Asuka gives him a long look. Then she moves over his way, grabs him by the hand, and starts hauling him over in the direction of Mari and her Melons - though she's not being rough, just insistent. It just might seem that way from the ease at which she can do this over beach sand - as she pulls him right up to Mari.

"The Catty Four Eyes will show you how to take the Melon Challenge."

Asuka crosses her arms again staring.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Rei Ayanami looks up at the approaching Orpheus as he nears the liminal space of the sea. He's moving rather gradually. He speaks with Shinji, without rancor, so he's certainly an alright person, but...

"Yes," Rei says. "Do you need it?"

At this point a rather high wave washes up, over Rei's hips and feet. Her current seating posture means it spares her knees. This is all according to her scenario.

Rei returns the gaze of Pen Pen.

Her eyes meet the bird's. The bird's eyes meet hers.

There is a silent moment of regard. Rei nods, slightly, to Pen-Pen, before there is a distant THUNK and Rei looks upwards. Was it the harpoon gun? Rei can't be sure. The sea makes sounds a little strange. "What is the blindfold game?" she asks the Second and Mari.

It does seem that the blindfold game (melon challenge) is to be articulated, and perhaps demonstrated by Shinji.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Kaworu gives Misato a level look. However, he doesn't say anything. What's done is done. Instead, he shrugs slightly, then looks over as Ouka LEAPS over to intercept Alouette. Alouette gives up the fight to her quite easily, ceding the next 'game' to her. He chuckles as he watches them play, even as Orpheus and Rei make an exchange about sunscreen.
        
        "She's truly blossomed, hasn't she?" he remarks quietly--though since he's looking at neither Rei nor Orpheus, it's unclear who he's remarking to.
        
        Shinji initially seems eager to join him and Rei in sitting in the waves, and Kaworu's own smile blossoms--but Asuka calls 'puppy boy' to heel (or more accurately, grabs him and drags him over), and Mari is just as open to having him join in on the suikawari. It looks like the decision's been made for both of them... Kaworu's smile dims but doesn't vanish entirely as he now watches them.
        
        Then he looks over at Rei. She's also expressed an interest in the 'blindfold game,' but... "Would you be interested in taking a swim with me, First?" he asks.

<Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.

Pen-Pen nods to Rei.

"Wak wak."

Misato says, "Well..." to try and answer Asuka's question about what a beach bod has to do with temabuilding. "....."

"................................."

"Not much," Misato admits, slowly lowering her sunglasses to look at the games. It's a bit unorthodox, but she seems to be genuinely happy? And nobody got shot with a harpoon. So, Misato is already calling this a win.

Good job Misato.

Thanks Misato.

No thank YOU Misato.

Aw shyucks.

"Don't use the harpoon gun to hit the watermelon." She suggests. Good parenting Misato. Thanks Misato.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

"You don't have to tease me," Shinji mutters pitifully at Mari's idea of an answer, his cheeks bright red at the insinuation. And also the nickname, which he will never be used to.

(Is he right, though? Mari's heart might stop beating if she cannot tease. Don't be cruel, Shinji.)

Shinji swallows as Mari ups the ante on his participation, and an alarm of warning is going off in his head because he can tell this is not a challenge for him, it's for --

There she is. "A-Asuka!" It's too late, he's been captured with a final glance back at Rei and Kaworu before being dragged to his melony fate. Yet Shinji makes no effort to resist, stumbling along after Asuka and looking at their clutched hands with a flush across his face.

Delivered to Mari, Shinji straightens, trying to composure himself. "All right," he manages, shying from Asuka's intense stare and focusing on Mari for instructions.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

Having delivered that hat upon its new auburn-haired home, Mari flashes Asuka a most guileless smile and hapless shrug in the world (relative to Mari) before she turns about with a smooth pivot in the sand.

The prayer-handed, head-dipped apology she offers for Kaworu is a brief but sincere one.

She did her best! But sometimes a Princess can't be swayed.

Kaworu gives the lounging Misato a level look at her admission. Mari offers her a counterpart in the form of a double finger guns as if to say, 'you're doin' great, Misato! Thanks Misato! Good teambuilding Misato! Keep it up Misato!'

Every shoulder angel requires their shoulder devil.

But Shinji is being dragged forth. And with his fate sealed --

"Ufu."

Mari is upon him, like the shadow of doom.

The shadow of doom, possessed with the most terrible of smiles. You know the one.

B3

Within seconds, Mari is wrapping her way around to Shinji's back like a snake, that is also a cat. This dread catsnake leans in, lifts her hands -- and seals Shinji's fate with the snug binding of a blindfold over his eyes.

"The goal of suikawari is to approach the melon, attack it, and crack it open cleanly!" As she speaks, something is deposited in Shinji's hand. Is it the bokken? Is it the KNIFE? (it's the bokken; the knife is for Mari. Mari is for the knife.) "You're not allowed to see your foe; that'd be cheating. Its defenses are limited."

Mari's hands land gently on Shinji's shoulders. They squeeze. Encouragingly.

"And just for fuuuuuuunnnnn--"

And then they just look to spin Shinji right round baby, right round like a record

        once

                twice

                        thrice

                                THREE PLUS ONE TIMES?!

before abruptly releasing.

"Onlookers! You have to tell Puppy Boy if he's close or not! Tragically, as I'm merely an observer to this trial, I can't force you to tell him the truth! If you lie, I can only look on, solemnly!"

would they have even thought about it if she hadn't suggested

"You're gonna do great," she whispers to Shinji, before giving him a single, firm push. Is it melon-wards? Is it not?

Who can say, except the onlookers!

"GO!"

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        'Nagisa Ouka WINS! Game over!'

    The First Boosted Child can only stare in surprise from Alouette's response. "This was a game?" Ouka asks. She has never heard of 'harpoon chase' as a game before. While Ouka has lived a life of constant danger and risk of death, even she is confused by the willingness to use a dangerous weapon in some sort of child's game. And the latter is something she has come to understand more... thanks to a gym teacher's lecture to her after the 'legendary' dodgeball game.

    Once the harpoon gun is relinquished, Ouka takes the weapon back and gives it a quick lookover before slinging back over her shoulder. She then gives Alouette a warm, obliging smile, "I see... well, Colonel Katsuragi was pretty insistent on us having a good time. I didn't really bring this as a toy though. It's here just in case anything dangerous happens."

    Nevermind that the most dangerous thing that happened was that someone tried to run off her harpoon gun.

    Golden eyes slide over to glance over at the other people gathered on the beach, and she considers. What would be a reasonable game to have Alouette play? She hms, "Well... it looks like Rei and Kaworu are planning to go for a swim. Perhaps you could see if either of them are interested in a race." She then turns her attention towards Mari's Marvelous Melons, "And it looks like they're about to do something with a blindfold and those watermelons? I'm not sure what that is..."

    ... not to mention she doesn't exactly trust everyone involved in that circle. Though so far only Alouette has engaged in less than safe practices at this event . . . she feels relatively certain she won't be the last.

    "I'm going to stow this safely before joining in any games though." Ouka offers gently. With that she will move to walk towards her umbrella and chairs...

    ... and come face to face with the outcome of one of her Choices: The bent in half-but-the-wrong-way folded chair. After dropping the harpoon back by the duffle bag she picks up the badly bent chair and tries to force it back to its original shape.

    *SNAP*

    Ouka sighs to herself... well, Dr. Cero is usually pretty understanding when it comes to Aurum-1 having a bad habit of being hard on her equipment.

<Pose Tracker> Orpheus Zevon has posed.

"I figured it'd be the case. Though I'd regret it if I hadn't asked. Though. . .I agree. It does fit you. So make sure you come enough to the point you maybe start getting a tan, will you?" He's known this young man well enough. The type that never needed for himself, even in dire straits. Still perhaps like a doting parent he finds himself wanting to make sure that he and the silly one still running for her life with that harpoon gun were going to be alright. Though if he can just tease this young man once or twice as well, that's probably all the fun he needs.

"It'd be appreciated. Also. . ." Orpheus still stands at this point as the waves start to reach Rei. Out of all the NERV kids, she's. . .A person who seems the most familiar to him. Not because he knows her, but simply because her face gives off the expression of those he recalled so long ago. It's a bit unsettling at first. A place that he abandoned, people he abandoned. Something about her just brings thoughts of it back to his mind. "Zeveles. . .Orpheus Zeveles is my name. I don't believe I met you the last time I visited your school, but I have met most of your peers already it seems.

He can't say it's his best intro but, he's had worse

". . ." Having made his way to Rei's spot, he could only watch now from the distance as PenPen throws his trash away; there's actually just a look of confusion as he rests upon a nearby towel. The most unique animal he's seen around anywhere has been Arthur the Cat, but this penguin. . .It literally has him just staring for a moment as he tries to process what it was that had transpired. "That thing is a penguin. . . Right?" It's a question anyone could answer, but with Rei right there well. . .

His mind does shift though as Asuka is quick to retort, and to which he just finds himself smirking more, "Hai, hai. Well, I'm sure all the same your presence is appreciated. If anything, I do find that it's nice to see a familiar face."

Speaking of familiar faces, Shinji's curiosity wasn't lost on him either. Definitely picking up on that tone that questions his relation to the Administrator. "Mhmmm, feel free to call me by my given name though. I'll admit the Japanese way is still a bit strange for me." There's a brief nod that follows as he makes acknowledgement of that energy, "That's good. Sometimes it's important to have people like that in your life. Still. . . " As he looks over to Kaworu again, as well as the girls that were already trying to drag him away, he seems to let out a bit of a somber smile, "It seems like you've been blessed with those who want you to indulge in their energy."

His words likely don't make much sense, but as he gets pulled away into that game, Shinji finds Oz watching him off, "I'd offer to continue our little chat, but it seems as though the others have already bared their fangs into you. Do your best not to get devoured before that melon does."

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Asuka stares at Misato as she draws (or DOESN'T) draw a blank. Admitting there's 'not much'. Asuka looks at her like she's not buying that answer entirely.

Before Orpheus blows past her answer to say he's glad to see a familiar face. "Yeah maybe a little too familiar." Asuka says, tersely. Still finding herself suspicious yet having absolutely zero to go on? Just a feeling?

Asuka just glances sideways at Rei, "It's a game where you smash melons, blindfolded, after being spun until you're disoriented." Pause, "More often than not someone crashes into someone else and ends up on top of the other person."

... Asuka might have seen this game in certain reading material she's dabbled in recently.

        Shut up.

Mari spins the Puppy Boy THREE PLUS ONE TIMES?! What kind of numbering system is that!? And gives the instructions.

"Do exactly what I say. Turn around one fifty degrees clockwise-"

"... That's more like one twenty counterclockwise! What are you doing!?"

"Left! ... Your other left!"

"Who said you should go right!?"

"Three steps right."

"No you're off-center-! Take a half step left!"

"OKAY FREEZE! CLOSE ENOUGH! Right in front of you. Just visualize it like there's an Angel Core in that sand - and STRIKE!"

<Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.

Misato beams at Mari who, honestly, has a bit similar energy as Misato. Misato almost always goes for the shoulder devil because (shoulder) Angels are her... enemy. Luckily it's only metaphorical in Kaworu's case, that's different obviously.

There's obviously an element in beach bods that CAN help with teambuilding but Misato isn't going to reveal this to a 15 year old. It should either be already obvious to her or something she shouldn't reveal to her just yet.

She does wink though, as a hint.

"That's right, Ouka~! You understand me, I'm so glad!" Ouka, in particular, is definitely not optional for teambuilding in Misato's eyes after all those kerfuffles.

"Wak!!" Pen Pen confirms their identity as a penguin, sounding a bit offended.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Rei returns Pen-Pen's nod, gently. She straightens up and gets off of her chair, moving to settle down on the wet sand a little ways to the side. Rei may regret this in the fulness of time but she seems to be alright with it for now.

The Colonel isn't addressing them with any woe - she is looking over to where Alouette and Ouka are befriending one another with weapons. That's alright, then.

Rei watches Shinji as he moves forwards to take the "Melon Challenge," and as he enters the capable grasp of Mari. This is when Orpheus introduces himself to her. "Rei Ayanami," Rei answers him. "I wasn't there that day."

"Pen-Pen is a hot springs penguin," Rei informs Orpheus, because that's what she herself got told. Her head tilts downwards for a moment when Orpheus volunteers getting on a first name basis, but then Kaworu is speaking to her...

"Yes," Rei says to him. Though her eyes then track to where someone (Mari) has called out to ONLOOKERS. "We should help Ikari, though. Or he will falter."

Rei lifts her voice. It comes off as a sort of wobbling kind of call rather than a 'shout'. "To your left. A little more. Yes. Yes. The Second is correct." While doing this, however, Rei shifts herself to get into a seiza-seat with her backside on her heels, which leads to her sinking an inch or so into the sand, but so it goes. The sand will all come off shortly enough.

To Kaworu, though, she asks: "Will you want to go far?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Kaworu chuckles at Orpheus's gentle chiding--teasing, perhaps? He can't tell the difference and he doesn't mind either way. "I don't know that I'll get a tan... but I would like to spend more time at the ocean." His gaze goes momentarily distant as his smile dims to neutral. "...Maybe I'll take a day trip by myself next month."
        
        It's with that same expression that Kaworu watches Asuka drag Shinji away--as, specifically, Shinji stares at their clasped hands with red cheeks. His lashes dip to half mast. But then Mari dips her head and lifts a hand in apology to Kaworu, and he gives her a rueful smile and a shake of the head in return. Yes, some things are simply inevitable. It could be far worse than this.
        
        Glancing over at Ouka and Alouette, he raises his voice to remark, "I'm not in fit condition for a race, I'm afraid. But it would be nice if you came swimming too, Alouette." Ouka doesn't seem interested in joining in, which is a shame... as is the beach chair she inverted and has now snapped in half. If Misato doesn't mind that, he certainly doesn't. He looks over at Orpheus. "Have you made Ouka Nagisa's acquaintance? We're unrelated," he adds as an afterthought.
        
        He smiles at Rei's acquiescence, but as she points out Shinji will need guidance, he nods. "Don't worry about your speed. What you need most now is stability," he calls to him, voice gentle as it slips in between Asuka's barked commands and Rei's more monotone calls. "Be mindful of your footing. Yes... keep going, just like that."
        
        Rei asks him a question. Kaworu considers it as he looks back out at the ocean. "...No," he decides, gaze distant once more as the breeze tousles his gray hair.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Before Shinji must suffer, Orpheus requests the use of his first name. Shinji nods slowly. "Then... Orpheus," he says, trying it out. It feels strange, though he understands different cultures have different ideas about these things. He's trying.

But now Shinji must suffer.

Hopefully not devoured, as Orpheus puts it, which wins a panicked glance back at him.

In no universe is Shinji prepared to be coiled up in catsnake Mari. His spine goes rigid with a squeak escaping out of his throat like a mouse, which is an unfortunate thing to be like under the current circumstances. There's no time to ask questions or sputter about what part of this is necessary for the game before he's blindfolded. And be'bokken'd.

Shinji uneasily grips his fingers around the hilt of it, and just for his own sanity, risks feeling a little further up to make sure this isn't secretly a deadly weapon. There's been a lot of those involved today, okay? He'd rather suffer a small cut on his fingers than stab someone.

(This means Mari still has the knife. And Shinji is blindfolded. Is that really a better position?!) (Yes.)

He takes a deep breath. "All right. That doesn't sound too -- wah!"

Mari spins him round and round the exact number of times necessary to cosmically scramble Shinji Ikari. It's the three plus one that really does it. One shove later, and Shinji knows nothing of spacial awareness or equilibrium.

Asuka starts barking instructions.

Turn fifty degrees -- what -- Shinji didn't bring a protractor today! And his brain's still spinning in his skull too fast to know which direction a clock moves, apparently.

Or where left is.

"Isn't right the other left?!" he whines.

Three steps -- what counts as a step anyway? Does she mean his or hers? Whose are longer?

"I'm -- I'm trying!" he calls to Kaworu. Just how is the world spinning when he can't even see?!

Off center from what! Half step, or just a little, like Rei says? -- Shinji stumbles, wincing not from any physical pain, but in anticipation for being WRONG.

Asuka says freeze and Shinji thinks that ought to be the easiest one to follow. It turns out to be the worst one. Did he stop? The world is still moving! She's not still yelling at him to stop, so...! Fine...! He raises the bokken up and lets out a nigh feral yell, slamming it down.

Wound up as he is, if he hits that melon, it actually might explode. Mostly all over him.

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        Now that Ouka has had a chance to recover her arsenal, assess her equipment damage, and stow the pieces in their appropriate places she finally takes a moment to take a deep breath, and sigh. The ocean here rankles with the odors of the nearby rundown fishing town - but that doesn't bother her, nor does it detract much from the scene before her.

    Like some others here there is something to the ocean, and the shore, that calls to her soul. After all her name was chosen for her by a man named Cuervo Cero, and given how her appearance befits that of the Yamato Nadeshiko ideal one could guess that both names are supposed to be meaningful. What then does Nagisa mean to her?

    A sea breeze catches her hair, and it swirls forward and around her, like a wave of deep sea green. She brushes her hair back behind her ears as it threatens to obscure her face and, with it, her sight lines.

    Even now after all... she remains the guardian. The eyes on overwatch.

    What catches her attention then is Shinji, now blindfolded, apparently engaging in the 'Melon Challenge'. With the Second and First already yelling directions at him she decides not to join in. While she has engaged in some synchronization exercises with Bronzo children in the past the required her to either or give precise instructions with a partner... part of the challenge of that was working with sights, sounds, and sensations associated with the battlefield. She knows firsthand how distracting yells, or screams, can be in focusing on directions.

    As she awaits to see the ultimate outcome of the three NERV Children working together on the project of 'smash the Angel's (watermelon) core', Ouka's attention is drawn toward Misato. She bows her head in polite appreciation to the comment. "I'm glad you approve." Her golden eyes then slide towards her fellow High Schooler, identifying himself as Orpheus Zeveles.

    Her expression holds him with curiosity. There is an odd sensation of deja vu looking at him... like she had met him before. It's actually not all that rare for her to get that sensation though... thanks to the memory manipulations she is put through, sometimes she 'genuinely' meets people for the first time... several times.

    At that point Kaworu suddenly interjects to introduce her to him. Ouka even jumps slightly! She didn't think Kaworu was a Newtype, though it certainly feels like that sort of situation. Or perhaps she was staring? True she was holding her gaze longer than normal because she was trying to figure out if she had met him before... but was she being that obvious? Ouka certainly wasn't trying to be rude of breach any social protocols.

    The end result is that Ouka's face is slightly flushed, and she seems out of sorts after the introduction. The First Boosted Child offers a slight, polite bow, "Um... ah... It's a pleasure to meet you. And yes, we're not related." Not that odd... there are certainly many more Nagisas in the world than these two. "For interests of resolving conclusion though, you may refer to me as Ouka."

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

There is a moment, there is a brief, beautiful moment. Many may not notice it. But it is there.

'More often than not someone crashes into someone else and ends up on top of the other person.'

And a certain, heart-glass sporting Evangelion pilot sees it. And this is precisely why Asuka is gifted to the brief sight of Mari looking sidelong at her, eyes hooded and lips curled just smugly so, as if to say:

        'I see you.'

---

Hands on her hips (one kind of holding the hilt of that knife like a Baggins with a precious treasure), stance shoulder-width and commanding, Mari Makinami Illustrious looks upon her work:

Shinji Ikari, stumbling his suffering path through a fun summer game with all the confident swagger of a hopeless drunk.

Asuka, yelling orders with such force it might just engrave into Shinji Ikari's soul.

Rei Ayanami, the monotone counterpart, offering simple instructions in the face of Asuka's fervor.

And Kaworu Nagisa, the gentle middle ground!

And she smiles. Not a single one gave false advice! She's only a little disappointed about that!

And so it is that Shinji Ikari, all a-fluster, SMASHES his bokken slightly off-center of the very top of the melon with a warcry that would put even the most menacing of barbarians to shame. The blow is mighty!!

... And that is why the melon explodes into a gory mess of pink-red fruity viscera and seeds and shattered melon shell all across the sands and probably Shinji and probably anyone else unfortunate enough to be close enough by. It is a very violent explosion.

A chunk of watermelon splatters on Mari's collarbone. She blinks. Her head tilts.

"Hummm. Not quite a clean break," she muses. She plucks up that melon chunk, and plops it into her mouth, chewing testingly. "... But it's definitely broken!" No one in the world could ever say that melon was not broken. "Congratulations!"

And here, she gives a thumbs up Misato's way.

See? Team-building!

"Now, who's next~?"

<Pose Tracker> Orpheus Zevon has posed.

Yes, that was fine. A well done call on Shinji's part. One worthy of a headnod at the very least as he gets pulled away. He can't help but mumble the words "He's got an honest face. . ." Or at least, honestly worried as he watches Shinji getting blindfolded and spun. This would surely be interesting to see. Though this little tugging away of Kaworu's friend gives him time to listen to another introduction. "It seems so. . . All the same, nice to meet you. Still. . .Ayanami. . .Is there really such a thing as a hot spring pen--" Before he can even finish asking it, he can see PenPen getting upset and with that he just stops his question altogether. Sometimes there are simply things in this world beyond human understanding. He just never thought this would be one of them.

His attention gets pulled to the background noise as Shinji is getting all those directions. So many conflicting voices, so many conflicting perspectives and messages. Even by the look on his face he was overwhelmed, all the while Asuka makes note of him and well. An eyebrow gets raised. "Langley, it'll be a problem if you try getting too over familiar with others if he's right there, isn't it?"

A powerful tease if any, though focus comes again this time to Kaworu as he leaves Asuka with those words. A small nod of approval as he hears about the potential of going on more day trips. "If you do, I hope you'll let me tag along again." There's a few reasons he'd want to be included, though, there's probably a most obvious one as his voice still had the slightest bit of seriousness cut through. That seriousness is held back though as Kaworu introduces another Nagisa to him. To which he can't help but make the remark aloud, "Rest assured, I never thought it to be the case. If all it took was sharing a name to be family well. . ." He finds himself thinking about something for a moment, thoughts going rather distant. "Let's just say that I'd feel we're more likely to be family at this point."

"Ouka. . .It's nice to meet you as well."

Of course, it wasn't the first time. While it had been recent, he had met Ouka recently. One of those who had attended the recent Akane Shinjo meeting. A meeting that due to his own affiliations forced his hand to take on a persona that was not his own.

That's right, she was there before. It seems even without Geass we didn't have a problem. This should be fine for now.

"Please, feel free to call me Orpheus as well then. Though. . .I apologize if Kaworu flustered you." It had seemed at the very least he noticed that little jump scare she had. "Perhaps he was just very eager to introduce a new friend? It seems like from what I hear, he's been making many lately."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Kaas has posed.

        It surprises her after the fact that she is surprised at all, but the introductions of Orpheus to others, as Orpheus in this manner rather than, one in which she is accustomed to when the sibling is around, stymmies Alouette. If only for a moment. Unnoticable perhaps becuse she is watching the blindfolded progeny of the Commander stumble around with the bokudo facing off in an arena of sand against a sizable fruit... there is a distinct pause between Kaworu's invitation and Alouette's response to the stimulus.

        Her head turns before her eyes break away from the spectacle. Shinji again. The Third is perpetually falling, at terminal velocity, careening forever towards peril even in the most benign of situations, place and time. As if he is on a gyroscope on a rubberband, forever orienting him towards... something, trying to make him do... something. This feeling again that pulls at the edge of perception, or conscio-

        BLINK BLINK

        Alouette is watching Rei and Kaworu. dSomething was on the tip of her tongue. She can't remember. She smiles and nods.

        "Mm!"

        Alouette moves towards the water, and checks no one is near her when she feels she's made some distance. An additional extra check, and she nervously grips the heavy zipper between slender fingers. She pulls it down to it's end, and begins removing her full body wetsuit.

        Alouette steps out of it, one long leg after the other, until she is standing in her open back one piece with thigh high dive stockings. The one piece has a high collar, full sleeves, and both suits and stockings in a vibrant blue that matches the blue of her Evangelion... with a cute flounder pattern on the stockings. Cheesecake reveal done, Alouette makes her way to the water near Rei and Kaworu. She flashes a grin and turns to face them and the others as the waves crash over her back and shoulders. Shinji has been victorious over the fruit... who will be next?! Another wave crashes over her, and the roaring sound beckons, promising a reprieve and quiet to the world for any of the group who deign to enter.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Asuka sees Mari's look. She worries about the implication, her lip curls in a bit. As if playing a chicken game. Wondering if at any second.... annnyyyy second... she's going to say something. Instead, Mari just lets it slide with that look. Which says...

'I see you.'

... it's honestly a huge relief in more ways than one...

Or at least it was until Oz opens his big fat mouth-! "I don't know what you're talking about." How does he know!? Did HE see her that day when Kaworu and Shinji were eating lunch?

Shinji though ... well he tries his best. Asuka is frustrated, because she actually wants to see him succeed... or maybe fail, if he'll fail in a certain way. She's not sure!?

"Quit complaining! You're almost there!"

And the Bokken smashes down and... it splatters!

Asuka gets a seed and a small hunk of flesh to her forehead, which she goes cross eyed about, then flicks it off with a finger.

Asuka's expression is stoic. It's easy enough to think she's upset getting struck by that, especially after all that complaining from Shinji...

... "That was..."

"..."
"..."
"..."

"... pretty good for a first try." She allows.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

"Yes," Rei answers Zeveles. She gestures at Pen-Pen. "He is a hot springs penguin."

Rei answers Kaworu: "Understood. If there's a current, I will support you."

Her eyes turn back towards where Shinji is preparing to strike the decisive blow in this decisive battle. She continues the thought. "The great danger is terror. You are safe, I think."

Her attention returns to Shinji, although her eyes move over Ouka as she approaches. Speaking then to Zeveles. She is tense, Rei thinks. Tension. It's a topic good for silent comparison. She cannot tell much, beyond that there seems to be little in herself or Kaworu or Mari, some in most of the others, and more in Ikari and the Second. And Ouka, too.

but then

                        S M A S H

Melonality clarified, in a single blow!

Rei is well outside of the Splash Zone, but even so the strike makes her straighten up slightly in its shocking breach and the rupture of the melon. Rei has seen multiple Angels die, but has never seen a watermelon break part from such a blow. A fragment has landed relatively close to them; Rei pushes herself upright, though not far upright, to reach forwards and claim it.

As she settles back down, considering the melon and the sand stuck to part of the fruit, she cracks it - the snap much quieter - and hands out jagged and mostly-sand-free fragments towards Kaworu and Orpheus, and finally, a small one towards Ouka, if with more hesitation. (Not fear, though. Something else.)

"Go whenever you are prepared," Rei tells Kaworu. "I'll follow." At this point another tall wave comes up, washing over her up to just over the hips and submerging her legs completely for a moment.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "An honest face for an honest soul," Kaworu says fondly of Shinji. He has an honest face himself, the way he looks at him with that certain smile. He doesn't comment on Asuka or on Pen-Pen, but his gaze does turn distant again as Orpheus voices his desire to come along the next time. "Maybe not next time... but I'll make sure there are opportunities in the future," he decides.
        
        Next month contains a... less-than-happy anniversary. He'd rather have the time he spends with Orpheus be more joyous.
        
        Fortunately, Ouka is there, already ready to be introduced, yet startled when it actually happens. Kaworu gives her a reassuring smile, unstartled in turn. Is he a Newtype? He's not telling. "I'm glad there's no confusion, then. It's caused a fair amount at the school we both attend," he replies.
        
        Orpheus apologizes for him, and Kaworu looks at him with slightly furrowed eyebrows. Still, he doesn't weigh in and lets it go. Ouka did startle, and if it's necessary to make conversation, he doesn't mind.
        
        Meanwhile, when Shinji strikes the watermelon, it EXPLODES from force! While those pieces don't make it all the way to the shoreline, that red fruity viscera does make it quite close. Kaworu looks down at a piece in interest--the same interest with which he then looks over at Mari (and does not look over at Asuka)--and smiles anew.
        
        "You did well, Shinji," he tells his friend warmly. "If you'd like to swim with us now too, you're welcome, but I understand if you'd rather keep the Second's company." After all, his watermelon gauntlet is finally over with, but now might be a good chance to spend some time with Asuka, having earned her dubious approval. As for the next watermelon... best to leave the fruit-smashing to those who wish to smash fruit.
        
        Besides which, Alouette has decided to take him up on that suggestion to swim, hurrying over and unzipping her wetsuit to reveal the swim apparel beneath. Besides being quite cute-- "It's very you," he tells her approvingly as she grins and turns to him and Rei.
        
        Rei claims that piece of melon that landed nearby and offers some to him. Kaworu pauses--and accepts, dipping it into the ocean. "Thank you," he tells her, of both the fruit and her support, before he takes a bite. And a bite, and a bite--and then it is gone. He leans forward, holding a hand out to Rei in silent request for her to help him up.
        
        "I'm ready now," he states. He turns his warm smile from her to Alouette and then, if he's decided to join them, to Shinji. "Shall we go?"
        
        The waves crash around them, and he lets them draw him forward into their embrace. There's a serenity to his smile as he steps--forward, forward, forward--and then dives elegantly into the sea, his companions surely not far behind.

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        In the recent past, Ouka has had some unfortunate run-ins with Newtypes. Or at least one Newtype, anyway. She had nearly disabled his unit, even removing all of his main optics, but somehow he was still able to maneuver and target her ReZEL accurately. It was a feeling...

    ... not totally unlike the one she is getting as both Kaworu and Orpheus both seem to predict exactly what she was thinking. Ouka seems even more flustered when Orpheus apologizes in his eagerness to introduce him to one of his new friends. She gives her head another bow, "Well actually we are..." She pauses, would it really be appropriate for her to clarify her position with Kaworu. Is she his friend? In truth, much like during that time in the coffee shop with Alouette, even now she doesn't feel like she is the sort of person who knows how to be a friend.

    "... ah... uh... nevermind." She finishes before straightening up from her bow. She then looks over at Kaworu again. She glances at his cane. An expression of guilt flashes albeit briefly over her face, and once again she looks away.

    This time her eyes meet with Mari's. Well perhaps not directly with her eyes, though definitely at least with the scattered watermelon chunks she may or may not still be wearing. Her gaze then looks towards the shattered melon and the bokken. She blinks. "This isn't cruel?" She asks, referencing how Mari had suggested that using a knife to slice watermelons would be cruel.

    ... ah, her knife!

    Ouka's attention is momentarily drawn though by the approach of Rei who offers a small chunk of the shattered melon for her to enjoy. The First Boosted Child blinks, and she looks at the First's offering much in the same way that someone would look at a snake being offered to them as a gift. It's poisonous, right? How poisonous is it though?

    Surprisingly though... she takes the small chunk from the other girl with a smile and bows politely, "Thank you Rei." She then places it in her mouth and sucks it gently.

    It's sweet. Mindbendingly so to someone like Ouka, who has never had a chance to enjoy something with flavor. It's almost to the point it is sickening to her really. That's part of the reason why while she allows herself to risk drinking the watermelon's well... water, she is a bit more wary of actually trying to digest its fiber. Once Rei returns back to Kaworu though, preparing to swim, Ouka will raise a hand to her mouth to quietly spit out the now saliva-soaked chunk into her hand. She'll dig a tiny divet into the ground with her foot, drop the chunk there, and then sweep the sand back over it.

    With her small ritual done she returns to her earlier objective. Approaching Mari, she once again approaches with her hand held out: "I'm sorry for being distracted earlier. I'm ready to take it now."

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

There's the tactile contact of bokken on melon and the visceral crack of its rind before sticky fruit splatters all over Shinji. His chest heaves with excess energy, bokken lowered and manic energy still buzzing in his limbs. Melon crimes have been committed.

If Shinji had been asked about it before, he'd have doubted a melon could be efficiently opened in such a way. At 'congratulations', Shinji decides he's allowed to peel off his blindfold, and learns he still would have been right. This doesn't look edible anymore.

But it is, because it's a melon. He didn't change its composition with that smash, he just made it inconvenient to eat.

He turns to the others with hesitant triumph. "I did -- it?" Shinji grimaces, looking at Asuka and the melon dripping from her face. The bokken goes behind his back in an instinct to hide the murder weapon.

That was...

... ... ...

He's dead.

...pretty good for a first try.

Shinji blinks once, then smiles back at her brightly. At least until melon juice drips in his eye. He winces, using his shirt to dab at it because he can't make it much worse.

"It's a bit of a mess, though..."

He crouches down, setting the bokken aside and gently cleaning up what he can, salvaging the chunks of melon least likely to ruin someone's shirt if they attempted eating it. Maybe he can bring that back to Rei and Kaworu --

As Shinji stands up, Kaworu invites him for a swim, and Shinji's cheeks darken with shame as he looks away. Never mind that though, then. "No. That's all right. I'd hold you back."

It's more embarrassing to mention he doesn't know how to swim in front of an entire group after also having admitted he didn't know how the whole melon scenario was meant to work. Is Shinji bad at fun?! A neglectful childhood did leave some glaring holes.

He excuses himself from the melon battlefield and gets back to his back to set on his own task. When everyone's done smashing melons and swimming, there's onigiri and morokyu: light finger food that won't get in the way of enjoying the more indulgent treats the beach has to offer.

The onigiri with vegetarian filling is cat shaped for Rei's benefit.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

Shinji is disbelieving. He did it?

"You did it, Puppy Boy."

'This isn't cruel?'

"Hum?" Mari looks over at the melon. And then back to Ouka. Behind her heart-shaped shades, her gaze quite imperceptibly softens.

"It's anything but, Golden Girl. The watermelon gets to provide excitement and happiness. See?" She gestures, at the horrid mess of fruity gooey chunks blown across the beachside. Past that, even. To Kaworu and Rei and Orpheus. To Alouette. Even to Shinji and Asuka.

"Take a look at what a well-applied melon can do."

Somehow, just this once,
        this is not innuendo.

Still covered in the messy, fruity gore of Shinji's victory, Mari flashes Asuka a little 'v' sign of approval for -her- begrudging approval of Shinji. Satisfied, she wipes her hands, bends over to place the next melon upon the desecrated towel bed, and turns, intent to stalk her next suikawari victim if one will not offer themselves. But then--!

'I'm ready to take it now.'

Providence!

"Oho~?"

Does Mari know what Ouka actually means? This is an open question (not really). But what she -takes- it to mean is--

That watermelon-soaked bokken is slapped into Ouka's waiting palm.

And it is blinding, the swift and smooth way Mari moves, circling around Ouka to lift the sacred blindfold to her eyes--!

"Are you really ready~?"

she whispers teasingly.

Not that it matters, for Mari's intent is to SPIN! SPIN! SPIN! Ouka's path to victory, and then--

--put the Boosted Child in the hands of the fates. And also others. And also her enhanced physical capacities.

"A clean split, Golden Girl~!"

        ---

Mari partakes of everything - everything - she can, when the times of melon murder are done. She dives into the waters to join Kaworu, Rei and the others; she catcalls for Alouette's swimwear in a most teasing yet sincere way; she spends in inordinate amount of time just basking in the sun like a contented cat; she partakes in any activities offered immediately and unreservedly; she indulges in Shinji's foods, offering him a satisfied smile. She teases Asuka mercilessly.

Mostly, though...

Mari intends to be fun. As infectiously as possible. After all...

It's the building blocks of a good team. Isn't it?