[Action]

[dissonates]

[Missions suck as much as, if not moreso than, the drafts. Asch has decided this. It's not just that he'd been sent on an uncomfortably-outnumbered solo mission, it's not just that his health problems had reared their ugly heads in the middle of it and nearly gotten him killed, it's not just he'd had to rely on luck and skill to keep him alive with zero ability to heal himself despite being a Seventh Fonist.

No, at this point, mostly? It's the fact that once it's all over, and the Malnosso saw fit to send him back to the village, he finds himself floundering underwater.

Bastards, is his second thought, since his first is a string of expletives that would do a sailor proud. Thankfully he's only a couple of feet or so from where his feet can touch solid ground, so within a minute he's slogging towards the shore, soaking wet and pulling seaweed from his hair. Damn. Bastards.

Not that the shore is much better. There's apparently something going on - the usual love experiment, no doubt - and he's managed to get dumped right in the middle of it. They probably did that on purpose. He can't do anything while soaked as he is, though, so his first order of business is to get changed. There isn't much selection, but within a few minutes he's got his uniform hung out to dry and is wearing a suit and a long, dark blue bathrobe. It's humiliating, but it's better than freezing to death back in the village.

Since he has to wait for his clothes and hair to dry in the sun, Asch will be hanging around the beach area, available for chatting, fruity goodness, and whatnot. Come and bother the cranky one! (He is unaffected by the normal love stuff, btw.)]

Comments

EVERYONE NEEDS AIR DON'T BE SILLYPANTS

[dissonates]

[I-ill. He's probably thirty seconds away from a chronic nosebleed, Natalia. With her that close and the way the material clings that way and her breasts looking like that right in front of him, he has to force himself to look away before he explodes.]

I-I'm not sick... you're just...

AKAI HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS WEARIN PANTS..

[meritocracy]

I'm just what? Stop focusing on me to begin with, the real issue here is you! Come with me! You're going to sit down! [HI DRAGGING YOUR ARM TO SOME SHADE]

I'M WATCHING YOU.........

[dissonates]

[jkahfdkf he sees jiggle oh god he is going to die before this is done, all the blood is rushing to his head]

I said I wasn't sick, Natalia! Hold on...!

[DAMMIT WOMAN WHY DO YOU HAVE SUCH MUSCLES IN YOUR ARMS, HE CAN'T RESIST THE PULLING

STUPID ARCHERS]

...starts crawling under the bed

[meritocracy]

Your face is redder than your hair am I honestly supposed to believe that?! [she snaps back, her own temper flaring as she all but moves one of the chair thingies for him to sit on, steps back and stares him down.]

What in Auldrant is wrong with you?

nooooooo come back to me

[dissonates]

[Facepalm. That's really all he can do at the moment. He does sit down, though, if only to keep her from staring at him like that. If she bends over then-

....

This is just too much.]

It's probably the sun. Nevermind, Natalia...

peeks behind chair

[meritocracy]

Don't dismiss me. [a bit firmly as she gets on her knees, leaning in]
Did I..do something wrong? You act quite..skittish.

/shrieks

[dissonates]

[Can he just die now? Because he is on the brink.]

It's your outfit! It's- it's just- ...revealing...

lakfjwalekjwe wait what

[meritocracy]

Oh you mean my swimsuit? I'm surprised they knew to bring it here. I find it a little perverse of them but--[her face drops a little]
Oh you..don't like it.

you're a ninja

[dissonates]

Your... swimsuit? You wore that in Auldrant!? [WOW, NATALIA, WOW. Why was she never wearing that when he- no, no, that is not the right train of thought for him right now.] I-I mean it's not that I don't like it! I just- I didn't think you would... [-like-] ...wear that sort of suit.

how did i not know this

[meritocracy]

Well there are quite a few things that I'm capable of doing, Asch! [she crosses her arms.]
To be a conventional Princess would be boring indeed!

I think you did...!!

[dissonates]

[B-boring...

Well there's certainly nothing boring about that outfit...]

I... see.

[Yes. Yes, he does see. Very very clearly.]

H E H

[meritocracy]

[she flushes]
So..it looks--nice then?

[dissonates]

O-of course it does. [She's wearing it, what else would it be? It's just so- ...he should stop staring at it.]

[meritocracy]

..That makes me--quite happy, then. [she glances away shyly, her toes curling into the sand, before she flashes a bright smile. ]

[dissonates]

[H... happy indeed. He shoots her another quick glance, then looks away again. It's so hard not to blush.]

Well- as long as... you're happy.

[meritocracy]

[she glances over briefly too before flushing and looking out at the water]
..And yourself--..I hope you've found some happy memories here, as well. I think--today certainly counts as one for myself!

[dissonates]

...Happy memories...? [He hadn't really given it much thought. His life's taken such a serious turn for the worse over the last year or so, to the point where happiness is one of the last things on his mind.] I guess it's better than staying in Auldrant.

[meritocracy]

..You deserve to be happy. [her voice cuts across firmly, her hands buried into the sand so the fact they're in fists won't be seen. she bites her lip before she looks up]

You really do!

[dissonates]

[Whoa, uh. That was an unexpected outburst. Asch is taken aback for a moment.]

Natalia... you shouldn't be worrying about that. [Or me.]

[meritocracy]

W..Well I am! [she makes a face at him, quite like a pout]
And you really don't have a say on the matter, I'll have you know! It's characteristic of me to worry about everyone who is important to me!

[dissonates]

[Oh lord, Natalia, don't start pouting...]

A-alright, fine, worry if you have to. But I'm telling you it's pointless.

[meritocracy]

There is always a point to my actions, Asch! [she scoffs, smiling a bit primly]

[dissonates]

Hmph. If you say so.

[But his lip twitches slightly in that way it sometimes does- usually when he's sort-of-but-not-really-smiling.

And hey, at least they're not talking about her swimsuit anymore.]

Have you been eating the fruit that everyone seems so interested in?

[meritocracy]

The fruit? No I can't say I've eaten it yet. I've been too distracted by the lovely weather.

And yourself? [a curiously blink]

[dissonates]

...No. I know better. [Despite how delicious it looks, he's fairly certain the Malnosso have been tampering with this entire facade. The fruit probably does the same thing that this entire awful experiment tries to do- create fake relationships.]