[Network Video]

[ziedrich_bearer]

[Imagine the beach. Okay, don't imagine the beach because the video, it's definitely of the beach. Of the waves hitting the shore, of feet buried in the sand, of strong legs too, but the angle doesn't continue far up them, mostly because the video is looking over them, at the ocean.]

Gonna be frank here. All that shit with the 'Calibrations' junk? Total fucking horrible bullshit. Too quiet. Too weighty. Too fucking enclosed and tense. We need something else. We need to be something more than what they inflicted on us.

Least, that's what I think.

[The view panned from the sea off to the right, where someone had built a large stack of felled wood. Sorta fresh, so maybe it wouldn't burn the best, but it was there. This was clearly bonfire territory.]

I'm thinking it wouldn't be bad to fucking chill a little, you know? Like, not entirely. Don't trust whatever did that to not fuck with us again. But beaches can be relaxing, and with enough of us, maybe we can enjoy ourselves a little but still keep a watch. So, maybe we do it. Maybe we come here and make our own memories we don't gotta sit through and watch.

Memories we can be a part of.

Back home, at the start of summer, we've got this thing to do. It's meant to be a celebration of identity and self. Okay, I'll be honest, it's called 'Pride', and technically it's for, you know, celebrating gender and sexual identities and all that. Never really went to one back home, but feels like the concept is right. Celebration of identity. The ones we build for ourselves now, not all the fucking baggage they dredged up.

So, uh... who might be in?

[Gladio turns the camera's view around so that it's on him fully. Of course he isn't wearing a shirt. It's fucking Gladio. If you know the man and haven't seen him shirtless yet, do you really know the man?]

So anyone down for making some good memories about ourselves? Doesn't have to be today. Might take some time for the wood to be good to burn. Doesn't have to not be today either. I'd say I'm flexible, but come on, muscles like these are for strength, not for bending. But I can work with what people want. What they need.

And I think we might need this.


[OOC: Feel free to have people come find him in action. Or start your own logs of partying at the beach because of this]

Comments

[ziedrich_bearer]

[Why wouldn't they make friends fast here? There really, you know, isn't much other option. They've got time on their hands, and he figures making friends isn't a bad choice.]

I'm Noctis's bodyguard because that's what I am. Him being able to use elemancy isn't the reason.

[He guards the guy because Noctis is his royal. And that being the royal means he gets magic is a whole other thing.]

[mutedsuspicions]

_{[Look, Lerith's just a little slower on making friends usually, vetting them out to make sure they weren't a danger before warming up. He was getting better at it though. The warming up part.]}

'But mages like having body guards.'

_{[A pause before the metaphorical candle lights up over his head.]}

'Right. Mages here aren't like the mages in my world. Different social class and all that here. Mages like having body guards in my world in the Tevinter Imperium because of assassins.'

[ziedrich_bearer]

[Well, that's not a bad point. There just aren't a lot of inherent mages back home. There's Noctis, and the Oracles and their line. Otherwise every magic user has their powers derived from a bond to the royal line.

And everyone that has the power to do magic but the line of Kings itself, are soldiers and guards for the kings. So it's not something Gladio knows.]

Well, there are assassination attempts back home, but mages are rare.

[mutedsuspicions]

_{[If mages were like Gladio's in Thedas, Lerith would probably sleep a lot easier. Less chance for magical abuse.]}

'I wish that were the case in Thedas. Almost everyone has mages. I think the only ones who do not are the Dwarves, but they thrive in other areas.'

<sub>[That's only what he's heard, but if a lot of people say it, surely it's true, right?

The fire starts growing, drying the wood out and catching it.]</sub>

'So you are a warrior, Noct... is a mage? Is someone from your group not here a rogue then? Arrows? Knives?'

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Noctis is a warrior too. Prompto uses guns, so I guess he's that. And Ignis uses knives, but also polearms."

So they try and vary things up quite a bit.

[mutedsuspicions]

What the hell was a gun? Maybe it was Gladio's word for bows or something. Same amount of letters, it worked. He's heard of polearms, but never seen them.

'Polearm? Those are like a lance, right? Just a big long stick? I've heard of them, but never seen one. I like Noctis though, even though I've only met him the one time when he was fishing.'

[ziedrich_bearer]

"I mean, some of them were called lances, but they aren't like old fashioned chocobo lances for jousting. Long haft, some sort of metal head for stabbing or slashing. Dude was fucking bad ass with it."

The acrobatics Ignis could perform using one had been rather good.

"You should meet him again. Noct's a good guy, and he likes making friends."

[mutedsuspicions]

What the hell was a joust? Or a chocobo? There were words coming out of Gladio's mouth that were new and strange. He brushes the sand off of him and nods. 'That is a good idea. Since I have the fire started for you, I think I'll try to go find him. Maybe he'll be fishing around a place that has good herbs again.'

With only a slight shake in his hand - but Lerith is trying because he's learned how to be far better with socializing - the elf holds his hand out in a gesture he's seen others do. Both in this world and Thedas. A hand shake at the wrists or something like that. Something comrades do? The elf isn't sure since he's obviously not soldier material.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Go ahead. Have some fun, if you can," Gladio said with a smile, waving the guy off. "If you stick around here, I might jsut bore you. Go have some fun."

Because it's right for the guy to be seeking something else out, something fun and just for him.