View source for 2312/Money Can't Buy Happiness But It Can Buy a Jetski

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/07/03
|Location=Atlantic Ocean Coastline
|Synopsis=Reckless jet ski riders need rescuing
|Cast of Characters=405,7
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:405|Arthur Curry (405)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Summer has been warm, lovely, and only this last weekend enough of a roiling rise in temperature to cause any hint of discomfort. Almost to ninety degrees and the city can feel it. Things slowed down, people sought relief, and suddenly there was an upsurge in the sale of ice and beer and beverages. Then when the weekend rolled around, many... many people had the same idea.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Get out of town. Go to the beach.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's out there on the coast that the tableau before Kitty Pryde's arrival had seet itself. Sandy beaches complete with pale bodies on display. Umbrellas embedded in the san, towels laid out across the ground, and coolers. Coolers everywhere with many many drinks. And for those who didn't bring their own, street merchants traveled up and down that walk nearby selling over-priced drinks to anyone who needed it.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Down the way there was a family that brought a portable grill having a cook out. Another length across the beach and a handful of children were constructing a sand castle whose lifespan was limited as the tide slowly grew. There was the noise of the crowd, the crash of the waves, the cries of the sea gulls.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yet that was not all, for off into the water and into the ocean proper there were a handful of youths riding up and down the beach on jet skis that... didn't entirely damage the peace of the scene for there was none. But it did lend a good amount of roaring engine noise to he chaos already there.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kitty Pryde (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kitty Pryde makes the walk from her car down to the beach. She's not one of the pale bodies, having gotten quite a bit of sun this summer what with having neither school nor job to occupy her time. Though things have occupied her, today she just needed to get away for awhile.<br><br>She slips out of her sandals at the edge of the sand makes the walk down nearer to the water. A glance is given to the sand castles as Kitty sets up a blanket nearer to the water but in a more isolated location than where the largest throngs of people are.<br><br>She slips off the sarong she wore over her bikini, setting it in her bag and then taking a seat on her oversized beach towel to begin applying some sunscreen and tanning oil. As she does, she glances out at the water, sunglasses reducing the glare as she watches the youths on the jet skis riding up and down the beach. Some of them criss cross and jump each other's wakes, while others weave around pilings that once supported a pier that was destroyed a few years back by a storm. Out further to see, a heavy buoy mounted with a bell gives the occasional soft clang, meant to warn boaters away from the non-existent dock.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:405|Arthur Curry (405)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There are clouds in the sky, but few and far off toward the horizon. Yet it lends some small element of grim portent as if there was a storm on the edge of the world. Though that small reminder of what comes later is ignored for the most part because right now for so many people there it is all about trying to enjoy as they can. Even if it is a touch warm, and even if they'll likely be trailing sand back into their cars and homes where they'll deal with it for the next year.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Still. Fun!<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;At least the jet-skiers seem to have feeling so, with the roar of their engines as they take casual rushing passes at each other, almost as if they were jousting on the water. All they're missing are some lances.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;An older woman in her sixties leans over and smiles toward Kitty, "What I wouldn't give to be young again, you are so beautiful." She tells the youthful mutant girl even as she adjusts her sun hat and her towel.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kitty Pryde (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kitty flashes a warm smile over to the elderly woman as the comment draws her attention away from the water. "Oh, you're just being kind. Lot of good it'd to me, sitting next to a beauty like yourself," Kitty says, that smile conveying the genuineness of words. "It's a nice day for being out here, isn't it? If those clouds manage to stay offshore long enough, anyway."<br><br>The teen's gaze swings back out towards the water and at the distant clouds. In truth she wouldn't mind if it stormed, either. While she's enjoying the warm sun on her tanned body, it would probably drive the young men back to the boat ramp, or to whatever distant dock they rented the jet skis from.<br><br>Kitty watches two of the swift moving vessels pass close to one another. "Galahad and Lancelot out there are going to run into each other at this rate," Kitty comments to the older woman. "And who named them 'jet skis' anyway? I really am disappointed someone passed up the chance to dub them 'boatercycles'."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:405|Arthur Curry (405)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Oh you stop that." The older woman says with a smile, a hint of a southern lilt to her words, but she smiles broadly, openly. "It is very nice, hoping it stays clear for at least three or four hours."<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She then tilts her head and asks as she ties the small lace of her sunhat under her chin and tells her, "If you're around later I'll introduce you to my Michael, he'd love you." The L-word there said with a certain amount of emphasis.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then Kitty mentions those jetskis and then as if on cue they roar their engines as the laughter reaches the shore from the men riding wildly. Yet it's her conversational partner's laugh that she likely hears easier as she shakes her head, "Boatercycles, bless your heart. That's clever."<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There's a rush of water as one of he skiers pass over the wake of their friend, launching in part into the air and trying to turn the vehicle around and to the side. Suddenly there's a loud /clang/ that comes as one of the jetskis slams into another, abruptly causing it to carom off to the side and into the nearby buoy where there's a louder /crump/ and a rough scream of pain that's cut off abruptly. And suddenly two of those jet skis are silent, floating there with smoke starting to billow from one of them.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kitty Pryde (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kitty Pryde leans back, supporting herself with her hands behind her on the towel as she converses with the older woman. A grin with pearly white teeth is given at the offer of an introduction. "Sounds lovely," Kitty says with a grin towards the woman. "He's been raised right I'm guessing," she says, more statement than question as it just seems like the type of woman who wouldn't stand for other for her grandson.<br><br>She isn't looking towards the water when the accident happens. The noise quickly draws Kitty's attention though, swinging her head to look out towards the water. Her ponytail sways behind her, hanging down to where a light sheen of perspiration from the heat and sun has started to gather on Kitty's tanned skin.<br><br>Her only thought is on the accident though. She immediately hops up to her feet, giving her vantage the benefit of a few more feet of height. "Most weren't wearing safety jackets," she says, having noticed it before without comment. <br><br>Kitty only waits a few moments, and when there is a decided lack of two riders popping their heads up and waving towards anyone, she takes off, sprinting toward the water. Water splashes as her shins and soon knees are covered up. She pushes off the bottom as long as she can, but soon she's swimming freestyle, keeping her head above water to keep an eye on the location of the crash as she swims out towards it.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:405|Arthur Curry (405)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There are gasps from the onlookers, small whispers of prayer or condemnation for the bad fortune. A quiet falls across the beach. Many give a quick glance in the direction of the lifeguard's tower only to find it empty in that telling moment. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The woman Kitty is having a conversation with clutches her hands over her chest even as some people grab their children to shield their eyes. Very few people move to help, but Kitty is one of them. She rushes out onto the beach and onto the sand, then into the waves. Once she begins swimming in earnest the world becomes that split thing each time her head submerges and the water overcomes her hearing, then when her head turns and she'll hear snippets of sound from the world above the water. Things seem so close when one wants to swim to them...<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Only for once one is in the water for them to suddenly seem so far away.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yet she is fast, a blur in the water and quick with her stroke. She closes faster and faster as now she starts to smell something burning each time her head is above water. She'll see one of the fallen skiers floating face down in the water. The other one is nowhere to be seen.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kitty Pryde (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kitty doesn't submerge her head, having had lifeguard training and so swimming with her head up so she can keep continual focus on the location she's heading toward. But distances over water are slow to cover, and for a moment she second guesses whether she should have run across the surface of the water to them. <br><br>As she draws near, she beings calling out, hoping more that the youth she can't see is on the surface and will answer, than that the one face down will. "Hello!? Are you ok?" she calls as she draws near. As she reaches the floating young man, she turns him over and then ducks her head under the water, taking a quick look for the missing. But it only lasts a second before she pulls her head up out of the water.<br><br>Her legs kick to help keep her up as she checks the floating youth's nostril, feeling for any signs of him breathing. "Not breathing," she says to herself worriedly, and feeling the dilemma of the moment. Save the one she's got who will drown otherwise, or search for the other who is probably underwater and also drowning.<br><br>There's only one call to make. She might not ever find the second and that could cost the floater his life. Kitty gets the youth upright and then wraps an arm across his chest to hold him, while the other hand moves to the back of his neck to supporting his head and open up his airway. She begins breathing into his mouth, blowing a long stream of air, then letting up. Inhaling and then repeating as she begins administering mouth to mouth, knowing brain damage could set in during the time it would take to tow him to shore first. Her eyes sting from the drifting smoke, though she can't quite see what the situation is beyond the smoke.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:405|Arthur Curry (405)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The youth seems to be barely there, but when she helps him, starts to breathe for him, he'll cough and gag several times as he starts to come back to the land of the living only for him to groan in pain as he murmurs, "My leg... oh man my leg." But as to the why he's whispering that there's no way to tell, not yet at least.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There's the acrid smell of plastic burning, the black smoke starting to become more strong and present. She might see a glimpse of flames flickering as she gets the one rider in position and supports him. There's a swirl of the ocean around her, as if a current started near and almost started to pull her away. It's all a blur as the blaze starts to grow, then there's a /crack/ of sound, the roil of something building.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A swimmer is there behind her, a strong arm around her shoulder as a rough gravelly voice reaches her ears. "Stay in front of me."<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then that roiling fire hits the gas and oil mixture as well as the engine combusting with a rough whompf of explosion that creates a wall of fire that just washes across the three... four? Of them now only for whomever this man is behind her to shield them with his body. Flames lick across the ocean, sizzle on the body of that man and almost instantly die out as the fuel is consumed with that rush.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then there's quiet and a large man beside her that starts to guide her back to short. "Hang on."<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The wake builds around them as they start to move across the water. Faster... fast enough that the shore is there in but a handful of seconds. And then they are rising out of the water.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kitty Pryde (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kitty moves her mouth away from the youth as he starts retching up seawater out of his lungs. "You're ok, I got you. You're ok," she says, trying to make sure he doesn't panic and try to drown them both. Thankfully he seems calm enough though, focusing on the pain in his leg.<br><br>Kitty's eyes burn as a thicker cloud of the dark smoke blows on the ocean breeze and right into her face. She coughs, mind racing as to how she can protect this youth from the fire and still go and find the second.<br><br>The shifting currents cause a moment of alarm, which is the state Kitty's in when that deep voice is heard behind her. The arm goes around her, and Kitty draws the youth in towards her as well. Her instinct is to phase herself and the youth, but instead she trusts the voice, at least long enough that the explosion of burning fuel takes the initiative from her.<br><br>As the person, whoever he is, shields them from the burning, Kitty can only hang on and make sure the youth is still above water. Soon she feels them zooming through the water until she's able to stand up right in shin-deep water. Her arm goes beneath the shoulders of the boy she'd helped, trying to help keep his weight off his leg, even as she looks to see who it is that came to help them.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:405|Arthur Curry (405)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The youth she saved, his knee is twisted and looks like it's broken. Definitely not something he can put his weight on as he tries to ease himself down onto the beach even as people rush in from around them to help. Then... the other young man, raven-haired and unconscious is set down beside the first, apparently both having been brought in from the deep. Though they are injured, they are lucky to still be alive.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yet then the shadow of the tall man falls across them, across her. And when Kitty rises up and turns to see him, she'll see a wild man. His hair slick from the ocean, long and tied back into a riotous pony tail. His beard is braided and long, but trimmed and makes him look almost like a wild rider who would be at home in a Mongol horde. Those tattoos all over his powerful thickly muscled chest lend some semblance of an armored shirt or some sort of ritualistic markings. Yet the spell is perhaps broken by the loose tan pocket shorts that he wears even as he drips water from the ocean around them.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;One hand lifts as he points at the injured, "You're alright. Everyone gets one. You hear me? You? You hear me?" He points at first one of the kids, then the other, admonishing them with just the force of his personality. "Jetskis suck. Don't ride them anymore." The way he says it, as if he had some authority about the matter. But nobody questions him.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then he turns furrowed brow toward Kitty and gives her a nod. "Good work, saving these chuckleheads. Next time let them drown." He probably doesn't mean that, but it does put the fear of God into the young men.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With that he turns and starts to walk back towards the ocean as he yells over his shoulder. "I'll get the wreckage. Don't need that mess floating around."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kitty Pryde (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kitty Pryde helps the youth up out of the water and assists him in lowering to sit on the sand. She feels as much as sees that shadow that falls over the pair of them, and turns slowly. At first she just sees chest. Her eyes lift slowly, head tilting back to look up, and up, until finally she's able to focus on the face of the tall, wild-looking man that brought them to shore so rapidly.<br><br>The elderly woman makes her way over towards them, moving slowly, but saying, "I am a nurse. Or was. Let me through," she as she tries to get through the crowd that has gathered, though leaving a large halo of space around the riders, Kitty, and the immense man.<br><br>Kitty hasn't noticed the friendly woman's approach though, her mouth hanging just slightly open at first though it closes long before his attention make sit from the reckless youths and to herself. Kitty's lips pull back slightly on one side, the start of a tiny grin as if at the suggestion of having let them drown, taking it for commentary on their actions.<br><br>She watches as he heads back off into the water, not saying anything. A few people in the surrounding crowd can be heard asking, "Who was that?" If Kitty Pryde knows, she doesn't supply the answer.<br> <br>
}}