thenearshore | [Open Mingle] End of Summer Lucky-Pot

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[Open Mingle] End of Summer Lucky-Pot

Who: Anyone and Everyone!
When: September 22nd
Where: Cnoc Áine
What: It is the final day of Summer and the first day of Fall so the Temple of Áine, the Irish Goddess of Summer, throws one last picnic to bid her season farewell. All are welcome, as long as they bring a dish for the ~~lucky-pot~~ potluck.

[ To celebrate the final day of Summer, the Temple of Áine has gone all out, decorated in vibrant shades of red and gold that already accent the hint of leaves that are changing outside the temple grounds. Although inside the walled temple, it still seems like a beautiful summer day, the leaves on the trees still a bright vibrant green. The picnic is set up in the large orchard that spreads within the temple, the trees' boughs heavy with brightly-hued apples of every flavor and crispness.

Blankets and tables are scattered beneath the trees and in the clearing at the center, several long tables are set up to be filled with dishes brought by guests. Yona has supplied some of it herself, with the help of some friends. Several roasts, carefully sliced and carved for guests. A large platter of corn still on the cob. Several types of breads, seasoned with fruits or vegetables from the summer seasons or the harvest. And apples, of course - those seem to be here and there and everywhere; in pies, sliced and paired with peanut butter or caramel or other dips, made into a buttery spread for the loaves of bread. No matter what people bring to add to the potluck, there will be plenty of food to go around, as well as wine and ciders generously offered to go with it.

There is music playing in the background, just to set the mood or for people to dance to, and the pools of water are still warm enough for people to take a soak or swim in. And when the sun sinks and the sky darkens and the air grows a little cooler, a large bonfire is lit, with hot cocoa passed around and the makings for s'mores set out for anyone who wants to have a little dessert after their feasting. One last offering to a fading summer until it comes around again. ]

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[ After eating all that food, Rin feels like he needs to take a break. So he decides to take a walk around the temple. This temple is a lot different from Add's, so it's really refreshing to walk around, and not find yourself in some weird dark dimension for countless hours.

He takes to dipping his feet in the water as well, when he sees Alibaba come up. Rin decides to greet the newcomer by playfully splashing him with some water.]

Oops! My hand slipped!

[Though if Alibaba is not into playing, Rin's willing to stop and just relax by the water.]

[ It comes as a surprise, but as it feels good, Alibaba ends up laughing rather than getting mad, approaching the other person with a crooked grin. ]

That was a hell of a slip. I don't think I believe you.

No, really! It was a total accident!

[Though, it's hard to believe Rin when he's grinning impishly at the other shinki. He starts pretending that he doesn't have control over his arms. Flailing about and making his arms, wiggle and contort as if they are going beserk.]

Oh no! It's happening again!

[They've got a mind of their own! So Rin can't stop them from scooping up more water and splashing Alibaba some more.]

Yeah, that's also not on purpose.

[ Alibaba gets a faceful of water this time and ends up sputtering in mock outrage. But it also gives him the opportunity to flail around a bit in return. Oh hoi, maybe whatever the guy has, it's catching. Or maybe Ali's just a clutz.

Either way, he ends up staggering into the guy at just the right angle to potentially knock him into the pools if he isn't careful. ]

Oops...!

Woah!

[ Alibaba does manages to knock Rin into one of the pools, and he falls head first into the water. Taking a few moments to re-surface. Rin shakes his head back and forth to get the excess water out of his hair.

Luckily, Rin is a good sport and is still smiling after that.] Good one!

But, be careful! I hear there's this pool dweller that drags random people into the water with them. He's a really tricky dude.

[ While he has Alibaba distracted by his words, the drenched shinki goes for other's ankles. If he manages to catch Alibaba, he might just yank him down into the pool with him.]

[ Mostly because Alibaba's not resisting very hard while he cracks up in laughter, a moment later he ends up dunked himself, coming up sputtering and laughing still. ]

Man, the goddess of this place shoulda warned people her pools were so dangerous!

[ He gives the other guy one more splash, content to float for the moment. ]

[Rin laughs at the splash, but he's more calmer now that he's managed to get Alibaba in the pool with him. He's just as happy to float around too.]

Oh, he's an invited guest. Just to make sure people aren't too chicken shit to get in.

[Guess he can stop referring to himself in third person now.]

My name's Rin!

[ Ali grins at the invitation, holding his hand out to the other guy. ]

I'm Alibaba. And I wouldn't have been too chicken shit!

[ Rin takes the other shinki's hand and gives it a firm hand shake. He releases it, returning the grin.]

Nice to meet ya,Alibaba. I didn't butcher your name, right?

[ Rin has a tendency to mix of words and totally mess up people's names.

As for Alibaba's last comment, Rin shrugs his shoulders and starts to tease the shinki.]

That's not what I saw a few minutes ago. Dipping your toes in like you were scared. Maybe the water was a little cold for ya.

[ He just grins. ] Nah, you got it right. Don't worry about it, a bunch of people have gotten it wrong here too, sometimes. I guess it's pretty different than most people's names around here.

[ Although 'Alibaby' was still a bit much, embarrassingly so. Also he still didn't understand people's obsession with wanting to know if he knew any thieves. Did he look like he hung out with people like that or something? Whatever, people in this place could be pretty weird.

He sticks his tongue out at the other shinki though, laughing. ] Dipping? There was no dipping! I didn't even get close to it before you were trying to drown me!

You weren't gonna drown!

[Rin laughs. Although there was a fifty-fifty chance that Alibaba didn't know how to swim, and it might've been bad if the shinki had began to drown. At least,luck was on Rin's side to pick a good candidate to play with.]

Even if you were drowning, I woulda saved ya.

[Rin promises, he wouldn't let someone down on his watch!]

So what brings ya to the potluck?

That's real reassuring. [ Alibaba just laughs and playfully flicks the surface of the water in the other guy's direction. ]

Ahh, my god's here somewhere, I think he knows the goddess this place belongs to. I was kinda surprised he wanted to come because he kinda hates summer, but maybe he's celebrating it being over? I dunno. He likes the cold, he's kinda like a god of ice and snow. What about you?

[Rin lifts his hand to shield the spray of water, but he's still all smiles.]

Your god sounds really cool, but it does seem a bit out of character. Though maybe he wants to have some fun too.

As for me, I just heard food and decided I would go. [Food is serious business to Rin, even if he didn't feel hungry, he still enjoys eating food.]

I didn't know the goddess, but I felt it was a good chance to meet them. Plus, I just wanted an excuse to continue practicing my cooking too. So if you get the chance, you've gotta try the curry I brought.

[Shameless plug? Yes, indeed.]

The curry, huh? I'll definitely look for it, then! Is it the spicy kind?

[ He's been slowly learning about the food in this world - there's a lot of it. ]

Then again there's lots of food here. Did you see the dragon roasting an entire boar?? [ Things Alibaba is still impressed by. Although whether that had been the dragon or the size of the dinner was hard to guess at. ]

Spicy would've been good too. Though I wasn't sure how everyone's tolerance was, so I kept it pretty mild.

[Such a shame, because Rin finds the heat in his mouth to be oddly satisfying.

At the mention of the dragon, the dark haired shinki looks visibly excited. He starts splashing water around as he speaks as if he can't seem to contain himself.]

I saw that! I'm looking forward to that boar. Especially with it slow roasting over the fire. [Just thinking about it makes Rin drool a little from his mouth, though he's careful not to contaminate the pool.] I totally want to talk to the dragon, too. He seems like a nice guy.

[He must be generous to offer a whole boar to the party, he could've kept the swine for himself.]

He is! [ Alibaba can agree to that easily enough, at least, looking pleased about it. ] We arrived here on the same day and I met him then. He's really cool. But the roast does smell amazing, right?

[ He lifts an arm to shield some of the splashing, but doesn't seem to mind otherwise, grinning about the other guy's open excitement. ]

It does! I can smell it from here!

[Though it probably won't be ready for much later. So he'll need to suppress his appetite until then. Good thing Rin isn't really shy about striking up conversations.]

But you said, you're a shinki, right? How do you like it so far? I'm still gettin' the hang of it.

Yeah, I am! [ He grins at the change in topics, giving a laugh and a sheepish grin as he nods his head. ] I am, too. There's a lot to figure out, huh. But I like it. I want to help my god a lot. Is yours nice? Do you like them?

Yeah, I want to be as helpful as possible too! I do like my god. He's really smart, and builds his own robots.

[ Robots might sound weird to Alibaba, but Rin will do his best to explain in layman's terms. Since he's not really sure of the technical ones.

He takes a moment to consider his pool buddy's question. Is Add nice?]

As for being nice, at first you might think he's being mean, but he just has his own way of showing kindness. Though I feel he's a good person.

[ Alibaba blinks at him, but that word comes up with absolutely nothing in his mind other than ??? so he just cocks his head to the side with a curious look. ] What's a robot? Are they hard to build?

[ At least the explanation about his god's personality makes sense and Alibaba nods in understanding. ] Some people can be like that, but it's good you can understand him, at least.

It's like a machine, that can move and do various tasks on their own. They are very hard to built. You have be really smart and know how to put them together. It's a lot of wires and metal.

[There's probably more to it, but Rin can't really explain beyond that.]

I try to. It's not always easy, but that comes with working people, right? You're not always going to agree, but at least you can have a common ground.

Whoa! [ Now he looks suitably impressed. ] That sounds amazing! He must be really smart if he can do things like that.

[ Alibaba nods at this, however, casting the other shinki a crooked grin. ] I think so, yeah. If you can find that... well, shouldn't anyone be able to work together? Although I guess they'd have to want to, too...

Yeah, that's the thing! If both people want to get along...but I don't see why you wouldn't want to? Isn't things much easier if you can talk normally?

[ Though frenemies are certainly a thing.

Rin looks down at his hands and sees how wrinkly they are.]

Guess I should probably get out! I'm starting to turn into a prune. See! [Rin shows Alibaba his withered fingers. For extra emphasis, he has his digits wiggling around.]

[ Alibaba gives a wry chuckle at that, huffing out a deep exhale. ]

People don't always do things the easy way, though.

[ When Rin holds up his hands, Alibaba also glances his own and holds his up, too, even if they're not as bad since he's only been in here a few minutes. He laughs, though. ] Yeah, me too, probably. This was nice, though. Celebrating the end of summer when it's still warm enough for this. Thim I'm glad this summer goddess thought of it. I'm not really looking forward to it getting cold.

[ He gets enough of that at his god's temple now and then and it's not even winter yet. ]

Yep!

[ Rin smiles, totally agreeing. Even if Rin tends to go the easy way out most of the time, he can be quite stubborn about certain things.]

This was a lotta fun. I'm glad I decided to come out, and enjoy the nice weather with everyone. Though I look forward to the other seasons too. Like roasted sweet potatoes in the fall, and making a snowman in the winter.

[Rin is looking forward to all the good food and fun adventures. Not so much the brutal cold. The shinki wades over the edge of the pool, and gets out.]

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[Open Mingle] End of Summer Lucky-Pot

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