[closed] (loud screaming) BOAT PARTY

[pocketspa]

Who: Taako, Lup, Barry, Kravitz, Magnus, Lance, and Nate.
What: 7 assholes, two boats, heading into the ocean for the chance to look for some buckwild stuff.
Where: Out at sea!
When: The entirety of the voyage; August 13th-September 3rd.
Warnings: Idk PG-13 levels of shirtlessness, curse words, maybe somebody ends up overboard at some point. Should be cool.

This is a catch all for the boat party for this group! Make top-levels for threads within this time and go friggin' wild. For convenience, I've provided 3 toplevel headers as general timeline assistance; as far as events of the voyage go, it'll basically be:

Week One: (August 13th-19th) Leaving the city and traveling to the fragment!
Week Two: (August 20th-26th) Still traveling, picking up whatever they find somewhere in here, since it's about the middle.
Week Three: (August 27th- Sept 3rd) Traveling and arriving home!

Feel free not to use exact dates, I sure don't care, this is just to help figure out if things happened before other things, OTHERWISE GO WILD

Comments

week 2

[restinglichface]

Back up? Pretty sure what you really need first is a big, ol' nap, hun.

[The twins aren't exactly the type to push themselves to extremes on the regular - considering elves don't even need sleep, it's amazing how many mornings the two are caught sleeping in, even during their journey - but they have enough workaholics in their lives to know when someone needs to slow it down and give themselves a break.

And Nathan Drake? He seems like the type of guy who hasn't had a real break in at least a decade or so.

Jumping between the two boats, separating the twins when they start throwing sharp, elvish words at one another, has become the norm, which is why Lup's perched on the railing of Nate and Lance's boat, long legs kicking off the side.]

Nothing is gonna move without you. Go get your cute butt in bed and don't come out until you get at least a few z's.

[nonscriptum]

[Nathan Drake knows neither the meaning of rest or the meaning of slowing down, which is probably why he's gotten a little gray in the temples in his late 30s. He's sobered, somewhat, from the frenetic and obsessed pace that he used to keep several years prior, but there are parts of him that still crave moving non-stop.

He's not convinced they have enough time, given how long they've been looking already. It isn't the urgency he felt when working with Sam to find Avery's treasure, but it's a near thing.]

I don't need a nap, Lup.

[Nate scoffs, not as young as he once was and therefore partly in denial about his own limitations. He's spent days running on nothing but fumes and adrenaline. This is nothing.]

We're close. I can feel it, I know it's down there.

[restinglichface]

[His words hit a little home - how long has it been since she said nearly the same exact thing about them breaking free of the cycles? - but it's not nearly enough to change her mind. She may not need sleep like the other races do, but she's lived alongside enough humans to know how important proper rest is. How quickly their bodies break down without it. How susceptible they are too illnesses.

Delicate little babies.]

Nice try, but Elena isn't here and that means I'm in charge of getting you back to her in one piece. Best friend code.

[nonscriptum]

[Delicate little baby?! Say that to his face!]

When did we sign that contract?

[He snorts, not taking this nearly as seriously as he should, and certainly not intending to. Nate isn't as young as he used to be - landing is Hell on his knees these days - but the feeling he has isn't just relegated to his gut. There is something indescribable pulling at him, like a compulsion, a need.

Whatever is down there, beyond the reach of light in the distant depths, is tugging. Mentally.

Nate spits in his face mask, rubbing a thumb against the glass to clear it as he glances to Lup. She means well, he knows she does, but this isn't a pleasure cruise. They came out here for a reason.]

I didn't hire you.

[restinglichface]

Hey, wait--

[Considering the last year of interaction between them has been a lot of Lup posturing and hiding her real feelings behind a mask of aloofness, the genuine concern in her tone might be surprising. This is new, alright. This is still something she's learning to navigate with him.

But after getting called out once, she's trying.

Lup reaches forward, fingers curling at Nate's forearm, having hopped down from the railing so she can make sure the man catches the worry knitting between her brows.]

I'm serious, Nate. C'mon, don't brush me off.

[nonscriptum]

[The concern is surprising, which is why Nate isn't taking it seriously. This is someone with whom he has shot the shit dozens of times and never pointedly made an effort toward sincere conversations until very recently. Nate is accustomed to a more laissez-faire approach with his friends and to this day does not often open up the way that he should, even given the considerable strides he's made to self-improvement.

He glances down at the fingers resting - not pulling, but still insistent - around his arm, exhaling what cannot be anything but a sigh, and rolls his head in Lup's direction. His hands still, but only just.]

I can handle this.

[Making the statement sound reassuring is a whole other thing, but his expression is earnest.]

I do it all the time at home.

[restinglichface]

[Earnest or not, Lup looks just a touch hurt by the response, just the briefest flash across her sharp features.

But her touch doesn't move from Nate's arm.]

Don't be a dip and think of someone other than yourself for once. Who the heck do you think is gonna have to haul your tight ass out of the water if you fuck up down there?

[nonscriptum]

[Something about the fleeting tightness on Lup's face says that he struck a sore spot without necessarily meaning to, and Nate is reminded of the conversation he and Elena had on their sofa over a year ago. Where are you? she'd asked after he felt his attention drifting.

He makes eye contact, marginally shifty, but edged with guilt. The sigh he emits is heavy and disappointed, but clearly cognizant of the poor example he's setting.]

...Just say it.

[She's holding something back, he knows, hedging her words and picking the ones of least offense. She means well. But the sentiment is wound just tight enough that Nate feels like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop.]

Say what you want to say.

[restinglichface]

[He wants her to be honest? Lup can give Nate honesty.]

You getting yourself hurt doesn't just affect you.

[Why does she care? Why is this such a sticking point for her? Because Lup's been there in his shoes exactly. She's been the one who misstepped, who had left her family broken and without her because of her own recklessness. Because of her need to take things into her own hands and not ask for help. And even if her imprisonment should have been punishment enough, Lup knows her family suffered even more than she had because of it.

Would Lucretia had taken the same steps if Lup hadn't left? It's a possibility. But she wouldn't have broken up Lup and Taako. She wouldn't have left her brother alone for a full decade, completely under the belief that he'd always been that way. That she'd never existed and he'd never had a single person on his side his whole life. Taako and Lup against the world hadn't been easy, but it never was lonely. But when it was just Taako alone against the world?

The thought still makes her sick.]

Elena already lost you once. Don't do that to her again. Don't do that to us. Believe it or not, we kinda want you around. Don't look at me like that, I'm not kickin' you off of the mission.

But we're all out here together to get this done. It doesn't have to be just you. Taako and I can go with.

[nonscriptum]

["Honesty is the best policy," or some crap like that, and Nate kind of hates that he asked - but he did, so he diligently sits through the chastisement. It isn't like Lup to lecture, which is the only reason he listens in the first place because it implies that he really was fixing to do some dumbass shit.

She talks like she's familiar. Like she's done this before, and maybe she has. Falling back on old, isolationist habits was never his intention, and even though he's aware he deserves most of the criticism, the influence of the shard's presence - thrumming quietly, underneath them all, somewhere - makes him want to argue. How the Hell could she know, having never heard his side of the story?

Nate opens his mouth and shuts it a split-second later. There's a lot he could say, a lot more that she doesn't have as a personal reference, and why would she? They don't talk about it. It's never come up.]

Fine.

[A monosyllable, a non-answer. Nate tosses his face mask onto the damp equipment in the bow.]

I'll take a break. But I just- I need you to trust me, okay? I know you've got over a hundred years on me, you've seen some shit, but that doesn't mean I don't also sometimes know what I'm doing.

[restinglichface]

[Even after a decade alone to think far too long and deeply on what she'd done, the decision still haunts Lup at times. Every single time that Barry or Taako wake up screaming in the night, waking to temporary forgetfulness. When their eyes slide over Lup and there's nothing but a blank, questioning looking staring her back, until the seconds tick by and the recognition finally hits. Until they finally remember her.

What Nate is doing to himself is different, sure, but Lup can't stand the thought of him leaving his family behind broken like she had. She just can't.

It's not a full surrender, the kind of victories Lup usually fights for, but her long ears dip down and she gives the man a careful nod. This is above even her own ego. She needs him safe more than she needs to win.]

Noted. I can work with that.

[Her fingers, calloused and warm, linger against his arm for just a few more moments before dropping away. And it's so hard to tell with the twins, but there's an immediate relief in the line of tension along her shoulders when that mask gets tossed aside.]

I'm not doubting you, alright? Just. [Ugh, emotions are never not gross.] Don't get a big head or whatever, but I guess I care.