fandomhigh | Summer Shenanigans, Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Entry tags:

summer games

Summer Shenanigans, Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Had the pond in the middle of the park always looked so pool-like? Absolutely not, but today it had a water slide, a diving board, and far too many pool floats.

"It's too hot and humid to think," Anakin, wearing swim trunks and sunglasses and lounging in one of the lawn chairs he'd ~~totally made someone else~~ placed around the water, "and I hate the sand around the beach, so--" he waved his hand, "pool day. Sort of. Relax. Swim. For those of you--and I know who you are, McGarrett--who can't sit still for more than five minutes, I've set up some lawn games. If you knock the croquet ball into the pond, you're going fishing for it."

He closed his eyes again. "Get your new shirts."

TEAM POOL SLACKERS
Gray
Jon
Eleanor
Ignis
Rey
Raiden
Libby
Tony

TEAM BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Steve R & Lana versus Jane & Gladio

TEAM CROQUET
Prompto
Steve M
Graham
Charlie

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No bleachers today! Sit around the pool! Eat snacks! Chat!

Nell had come out to watch and was tickled to get to see Gladio play volleyball - a game she'd only heard of when researching sports for Tuesday night watching.

Spotting Nell over there settling in to spectate, Gladio made sure to throw his chin up in greeting with a broad grin and a new determination to make sure he made this volleyball game worth her while.

Granted, considering who else was playing, there wasn't going to be any risk of there not being a great game for everyone involved.

Nell waved and cheered from her seat. She had a great vantage point to see ~~Gladio~~ all the players and was going to fully enjoy this whether she understood the game or not!

Be confused! Anakin's being nice!

Yeah, no, Rey didn't trust this. Did this end in fighting to the death or something somehow?

Or lounge around doing absolutely nothing!

Nap or go into the pond and have fun! Chat amongst yourselves! Respectfully ogle the volleyball players! Set up an epic Marco Polo game! Anakin cares not.

Edited 2023-07-19 13:22 (UTC)

Tony had allowed himself to be dragged along to this by Steve for a change and was more than happy to get pool duty considering the heat.

Also, it allowed him to wolf whistle at his husband and make ~~meta for~~ Top Gun jokes.

"I know that reference!" Steve called back teasingly.

Libby was honestly wondering what sort of horrible turn this was going to take, but she was trying to take a blessing for what it was....especially since the shirt she wound up with this week was truly back to the glory she looked forward to each week, and so she was spending her pool lounging time trying to find good selfie angles of it to send off to Zo.

Jon was absolutely confused. Not complaining, but wondering what this was luring him into a false sense of security for.

His lack of trust was interfering with his ability to relax, though he was trying his best.

This was actually going to be pretty difficult for Eleanor, who was trying to stay true to the idea of just lounging and relaxing by dipping her toes into the water, but all that made her want to do was just close her eyes and slip in and just swim around for a while.

She'd definitely be heading to the beach once this was over.

Oh, Gray had not even made it into his team shirt. If someone could just sort of drape it across him where he was sound asleep in one of the lawn chairs, that would be great.

Rey was trying to lounge. She really was.

Mostly, though, "Seriously, what's happening?"

It was a good thing Raiden had brought snacks this week!

...just kidding, he brought snacks every week, duh. But snacks were extra essential for lounging by the pool. Pond. Whatever.

Poolnd?

So many biceps. Thank you, RNG.

[OOC: RNG declares Jane & Gladio the winner]

Gladio had specifically rounded up his chocobros and dragged them down to the park this week in the mood for some absolutely ridiculous competition to engage in, so his relief at being chosen for volleyball was palpable. There was no way he was going to be able to handle just lounging around, and bending over with a croquet mallet was just going to hurt his back!

So he clapped his hands together with an eager grin at both his teammates and his competitors. "Alright, let's really make this worth it, guys!"

Lana grinned. "You're on!"

Oh, thank the Force. Lana didn't do nothing well.

She still rolled her eyes at the shirt, but she was happy to try this, even if she had no idea what this sport was about.

"I'm assuming Earth sports involve a lot less blood than Huttball."

"I have no idea what Huttball is, but I'm going with yes anyway," Steve said, deciding to play volleyball shirtless.

"It's a sort of gladiatorial ball game?" Lana tried to think of Earth equivalents. "Like football, but with powers and traps and maiming encouraged. And no kicking." They were very firm on that point.

"But I have no idea what volleyball is, either," she admitted. "Does the ball go over or under the net?"

"Over," Steve said. "We have three tries to get it over when the other team puts it over the net to us. But you can't hit it twice in a row."

He held his hands out in front of him, pressed together with his thumbs out straight. "You bump it off of your wrists," he said, demonstrating how his arms would move, "or you can set it while it's still in the air above your head." He held his hands up over his head and showed that position, "or you can spike it, which is basically punching the ball towards their sand. The idea is to hit the ball hard enough that they can't stop it from getting to the ground. The first team to make the other team miss 21 times wins."

Lana watched and mimicked his positions. "Right. Hit it over, don't let them hit it back, hit it hard. How durable is the ball?"

Get your balls through the wickets or knock your ball into someone else's so you can shoot it into the pond. The second one might just be how Anakin's family played, though.

He's also helpfully set up a Dancing Flower Sprinkler to go off halfway through the game and keep you on your toes. You're welcome!

[OOC: RNG declares Graham the winner.]

Graham was pretty excited for the chance to get to play croquet, especially with Charlie on board, too, but as he tried to decide whether he wanted to be red or blue, he looked over across the park and frowned.

"Is it just me?" he asked. "Or are all the flamingos giving us really weird looks right now?"

"Why wouldn't they be?" Charlie asked. "We're being pretty weird."

Was she charming her croquet ball? Of course she was.

"No weirder than we normally are here at the park!" Graham pointed out, before he blinked and then realized, "Zooounds, do you think they think we're being weird because we're not being weirder? This is pretty not-weird, after all, for a Wednesday Shenanigan."

"I don't usually make it to these," Charlie admitted, "but it does seem less weird than radio reports. I wonder... have you ever thought that upside down flamingos look a bit like fluffy croquet mallets? Maybe they're nervous."

Graham took a moment, holding out his croquet mallet with an arm outstretched, making an effort to line it up with whichever flamingo would be the most helpfully still while he did it. He tilted his head thoughtfully, and then slowly started to turn mallet around, with his head following it, until he himself was practically upside down and had to hold a hand to his cap to keep it in place.

"Oh, wow!" he declared. "I can totally see that! They are like fluffy croquet mallets, aren't they?"

And, yes, actually, that was exactly why they were nervous.

"I don't suppose we could..." Well, Charlie definitely could. "I mean, I could certainly make a charm..."

"Do you think they want to play?" Steve asked, picking out the black ball.

"Ooh!" Graham's eyes seemed to light up at that prospect. "Do you think we should ask them? I know a little bit of Basic Bird, but I've never tried to learn Flamingo specifically before, but we can always give it a try!"

Steve blinked slowly. Even after a few years on the island, the questions he heard still made him pause every now and then.

"...You speak bird?"

He's actually accessible today.

"You didn't call my name again," Stark said. Very suspiciously.

"I'm biding my time," Anakin told him.

Movers come in 11 days. My brain is shot.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Summer Shenanigans, Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Arrive and Mingle!

Re: Arrive and Mingle!

Re: Arrive and Mingle!

Re: Arrive and Mingle!

Voluntolds, Come on Down!

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

Play!

Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Re: Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Re: Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Re: Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Re: Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Re: Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Re: Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Re: Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Re: Close Enough to a Swimming Pool

Beach Volleyball

Re: Beach Volleyball

Re: Beach Volleyball

Re: Beach Volleyball

Re: Beach Volleyball

Re: Beach Volleyball

Re: Beach Volleyball

Re: Beach Volleyball

Croquet

Re: Croquet

Re: Croquet

Re: Croquet

Re: Croquet

Re: Croquet

Re: Croquet

Re: Croquet

Re: Croquet

Re: Croquet

Talk to Anakin!

Re: Talk to Anakin!

Re: Talk to Anakin!

OOC