Land, ho!

[lieutenantsteward]

Welcome to Unnamed Island #1, everyone! Lt. Jopson has successfully steered the ship towards land! (Or maybe the ship was going there the whole time? Who knows, burst his bubble if you want to be a monster!) The island is large and uninhabited by humans, but has lots of wildlife. This isn’t a specific island on a map because, like all things in the dream, it is an amalgamation of the characters in it. So, if it looks like it might be on a tropical island, it will be! Pineapples, coconuts, mangos- sure! Seals and feral pigs- you bet! Beautiful reefs- Of course! Secret Caribbean rum stores- why the hell not? Two species of crabs that shouldn’t be in the same hemisphere- hell yeah! (After all, Goodsir’s the only one who will know the difference). Enjoy the island, folks! The Terror will dock there starting today and they will leave on Tuesday the 7th.

Piña coladas, anyone?

((This is an open post for island shenanigans though, of course, you are always welcome to start your own!))

Comments

[lieutenantsteward]

Thomas stays up almost all night the evening of the third day, save for one quick detour. He feels like they are close to something, something really big, and he wants to be there for it. As the first finger lights of dawn creep over the horizon, Thomas is up in the crow’s nest, the Captain’s glass in his hands. It’s there, he tells himself. He knows it is. As he peers through the glass, the sunlight over the horizon illuminates an impossible sight.

“Land!”

~~~

Once the crew is safely on the island from the boats, Thomas actually wants to kneel down and kiss the sand. He can be found helping gather fresh fruit and supplies, rolling up his trousers to wade into the warm water or outright swim, or hiding somewhere in the shade to take a nap.

He does, however, remember that he promised Trixie he would check in with Goodsir.

[goingtobeunwell]

Crozier is thrilled when he hears Jopson's call. He beams as he calls back up to him that he's heard, they'll take her in towards the nearest bay, pride swelling in his chest as he waits for his lieutenant to return to the deck.

"Thomas, Thomas!"

He grabs the young man's shoulders and hugs him tightly. "By god, lad, you did it! I knew you could!"

[kingsroads]

The island is nice. The abundance of pineapples, feral pigs that chase him, and crabs that pinch his toes is less nice. Strange spends some time wading in the water, enjoying the sunshine, or watching the seals (adorable little creatures that Strange has decided are empirically better than dolphins).

At one point, he spots Jopson wading in the water. He can't help but pause for a moment, thinking to the various images of the crew of the Terror he's seen in Crozier's dreams. Jopson's corpse dragged across the rocks. Francis assisting in a friend's suicide. Goodsir comforting a skeletal crew member only to watch the man be stabbed. These men have been through so much. And Jonathan Strange, a man who knows he qualifies for the shaky mental health olympics, wants to find some way to help (or at least, check up to make certain they're okay).

As Jopson's wading in the water, Strange walks over, giving the other man a smile and a wave. "Apparently you're the man I need to thank for directing us to this wonderful spot!"

[bestsir]

Harry splashes out of the boat onto shore with approximately the same level of grace of his first attempt to haul a sledge. He falls into the water but he doesn't care, because it's land. He wades onto the sand and his attention is immediately caught by an enormous crab that is tearing into a coconut at the foot of a coconut tree. That crab will have his undivided attention until it finally scuttles away.

Harry spends the rest of the first day exploring the beach, stopping here and there to observe seals, lizards, other crustaceans, and birds. He doesn't venture into any of the wooded areas until the second day, at which point he is absolutely going to get chased by an angry feral pig.

At night, he lies down on the beach and looks up at the unfamiliar constellations, letting his thoughts wander, and feeling happier than he can remember feeling in years.

[lieutenantsteward]

It would be extraordinarily tempting to see Harry, assume he was fine, and then walk off. But Thomas could see Trixie and, though she doesn't directly confront him, he really didn't want to be yelled at by her. So, after finding something he thought might fascinate the other man, he trots off in the afternoon of the first day.

"Mr. Goodsir," he calls out to him softly, hoping he's not interrupting too much. "I wonder if you would be interested in a gathering of odd eggs I have found, just there," he smiles, pointing behind him to the beach.

Trixie | Open to All

[wishiwasatree]

Trixie scrambles to get off the gig as soon as they reach the beach. Her boots and hole-filled stockings are already in hand as she wades through the tide, and she sits herself down in the hot sand, buries her toes, and decides she's going to stay until the sun forces her to treat to the shade for a little relief from the heat.

That night she has the men gather wood and help her build a bonfire, over which she roasts the fish that people have caught during the day. She stands by and smokes a cigarette, enjoying herself as she watches everyone else try to crack coconuts or throw sticks into the fire.

[bestsir]

Harry arrives at the fire late, with something in his hands. He looks around for Trixie and when he spots her, he hurries over, beaming.

"Look!" he exclaims, and holds out to her a tiger cowry shell, as big as an egg.

[choosethepath]

Sabriel, once she gets her initial paranoid searching of the island out of the way, resigns herself to actually enjoying her time on the island. She chases the birds and the waves, forgetting herself for a while until she spots Trixie. She ungracefully sits down beside her, bare feet in the sand. "Hello," she smiles, cheeks burning.

[adaptiveimmunities]

Shaun is one of the ones trying to crack a coconut. He's tried smashing it with rocks to no success, and is considering finding a hammer when he feels eyes on him. He turns to see Trixie, who looks very amused, and grins at her.

"Let me guess--I look kind of like a caveman that hasn't really discovered simple tools yet."

[nextrightthing]

Anna appears out of nowhere, dropping herself unceremoniously into the sand next to Trixie, a mango in each hand. She holds one out to her with a bright smile. "Look! A mango! I've only ever read about them before!"

[spookylikeafox]

Mulder, trying to be a good citizen, helps gather the wood for the fire, but after the excursion of the days, his leg starts to hurt and he eventually has to sit. He watches Trixie out of the corner of his eye, though, waiting for a moment before he sits beside her with a pineapple and a knife to skin it. "Ever had pineapple?" he asks her gently, fully expecting to get yelled at.

[una_persson]

Sometime in the afternoon, Una decides to go for a swim, and she's damned if she's going to subject herself to one of those stupid Victorian woollen suits. Nor, for that matter, is she going to go in the altogether. Luckily, she has found a swimsuit in the bottom of one of the drawers in her cabin—a modest 1960s one-piece; it's not even cut all that high on the leg.

Nevertheless, she feels like she really ought to consider the sensibilities of the nineteenth century contingent, so she goes off on her own along the shore until she finds a pretty lagoon that seems to be made for swimming—deep blue and crystal clear, with a small reef and rocky outcropping deterring larger ocean fish and sharks from intruding. Pleased, she puts on her swimsuit and dives in.

Later, she'll rejoin the crew for dinner, help Trixie cook fish, and teach people how to open coconuts.

[kingsroads]

Time for the first round of old timey men being scandalized by the mere concept of showing one's thigh.

Strange had been exploring, taking in as much of this island as he can. This naturally involved pushing deeper into the island, exploring as many new areas as he can. He spots the rocks up ahead and pushes through some of the jungle to reach the outcropping. And there, in the water, is Una. Strange brightens up as he walks forward and starts conversation, not at all realizing what Una's wearing until he gets closer to the lagoon.

"Miss Persson! I—"

Oh good God she is showing so much skin. Strange turns bright red for a moment before turning around to help protect Una's dignity. "I didn't expect to see you out and about," Strange lamely finishes, trying to calm down his blush. Is this a future thing? This might be a future thing. Why was there so much chest?!

[choosethepath]

Sabriel actually went seeking out Una during the day, a stolen tool hidden away in her belt. After searching and not finding, she was almost tempted to give up when she finds the same lagoon and the sight of Una in the water.

Oh. She's not as scandalized as the men would be, but she is a little envious of the swimsuit itself. So she finds herself watching for a half second too long before hurrying over to the rocks. "Una?" she calls out, sitting down on the edge.

how the tables have turned

[goingtobeunwell]

Crozier's also hoping to find a place to swim. His reasons are much like Una's, in that he doesn't want to be seen swimming around in his smallclothes. He gets himself all the way stripped down before he hears the splashing of somebody else swimming around in the pool he'd picked out for himself.

He starts back on his clothes in a hurry, not wanting to be caught by whoever-it-was, cursing silently to himself.

The island isn't that small, how is this possible!

[fishandclips]

Mahir explores the shoreline himself for awhile, eventually coming across Una's lagoon as well. He smiles a bit when he sees her cutting through the water, and settles on a rock, dropping his feet into the water to wait until she surfaces.

[goingtobeunwell]

Crozier goes back and forth from the ship to the island during the day, just wanting to keep an eye on things in both places, but during the evening he makes a habit of stargazing with his telescope on the beach. He loves to watch the stars, and on more than one occasion can be found actually sleeping in the sand, hands folded over his stomach.

Those who stumble upon the tired captain will find him talking in his sleep. He doesn't speak in full sentences, but rather seems to be reciting names over and over.

[brushoff]

If Dorian was a better person, he'd wake up Crozier the moment he found him asleep on the beach, muttering something to himself. Dorian is not a better person.

So don't mind him as he squats down in the sand next to the sleeping captain, eavesdropping on what he's saying for a moment or two.

[choosethepath]

Sabriel comes across the captain at night, glancing up the stars and then back to him. She clasps her hands behind her back, hoping not to startle him. "Captain? Are the constellations yours?"

[kingsroads]

During one of those times back and forth, he runs into Strange, on the beach, pockets full of shells he's gathered.

"You're allowed to rest, you know. The ship isn't going anywhere."

[nextrightthing]

It's dark and quiet, and the company and conversation around the fire is lovely, but Anna notices that their captain is missing. She wanders along the beach until she finds him, smiling fondly down at him when she realizes he has fallen asleep on the sand, and sits herself next to him, leaning back to look up at the stars herself. She isn't inclined to wake him, not yet, at least.

[mayiofferyouacoughdrop]

While she is not in bathing clothes and basking in the water, McGonagall is still enjoying the trip to the shore. She doesn't know anyone well yet, but it does seem obvious that they're enjoying themselves, and that's very nice to see. Even the captain seems able to relax, and she comes across him stargazing one evening. It's strange for her to see a mismatch of known and unknown constellations in the sky. She hasn't studies astronomy since she was a student, but she remembers enough to know that not all is were it should be.

"An excellent night for stargazing," she comments, nodding to him and his telescope.

Shaun OTA

[adaptiveimmunities]

Island exploration is new to Shaun--especially island exploration where you don't have to be braced for the walking dead to come staggering and moaning out of the trees. He's thrilled. There was an old TV show Buffy had insisted he watch once, called Lost, and walking around in just his shorts and no shoes, he almost feels like one of the characters. It's stupid, of course, but the fact that this is a dream that is presumably being influenced by all of their subconscious makes him weirdly hopeful that he might just run into the smoke monster.

And here he'd thought he didn't have much adventuring spirit left.

[It helps that there are no cameras around.]

Well, that's true enough.

When he's not swimming in the water or lounging on the beach, he's putting on shoes (gasp!) and heading off into the woods to explore. Maybe he'll get lucky.

Monster Hunters FTW

[spookylikeafox]

Mulder's leg is been healing nicely and, though he has a bit of a limp, he's not letting that stop him from finding a bit of adventure. Of course he's armed as he comes ashore, and of course he's dressed in his Hawaiian shirt and shorts, but he's not going to start his vacation on the beach.

Instead, he goes to find the only other reliably stupid adventurous person he knows- Shaun.

"Hey Shaun," he calls out, finding him on the sand. "I'm going out there. Are you coming with me?" The beach is tempting, but predictable. There might be something worth finding out deeper in the woods.

Mahir | OTA

[fishandclips]

Mahir is not as fast to lose his shirt as Shaun is, but he does trade in his long sleeves and sweaters for a t-shirt and shorts, and he even ditches his trainers once he hits the sandy beach. He helps gather fruit and tries a hand at fishing, even though he would not really have any idea what to do with one if he caught it. He could cook one, once it was filleted, but survivalism is not exactly something people from his time really do.

Unless they're Irwins, that is.

The pineapple makes him incredibly happy, and he splits the rest of his time between standing knee-deep in the waves or sitting in the sand in the sun, and once it's dark, he watches the stars come out, feeling almost unsettlingly at peace. The others' enthusiasm and joy is infectious, and he doesn't mind letting himself feel some of it as well.

[heyboss]

Sheehan has finally ditched his suit and tie for a casual pair of pants and a button up shirt that he has left unbuttoned in the heat. It's much more skin than he's used to revealing, but he wasn't going to suffer for the sake of misplaced modesty.

He walks up to Mahir on the waves. "Amazing view, hm?" he asks, not minding getting his trousers wet.

[choosethepath]

Sabriel enjoys the bonfire after her conversation with Crozier, and sneaks a bit of whiskey when she can find it. She's quite pleased that there is something other than brandy (which she cannot stomach after her one night of terrible decisions with the other girls in her class), and so she might have had one too many. Or three too many. She stopped counting.

Standing up, she walks off towards the darkness, bottle in hand, lifting a light up towards the trees so she can at least see in front of her.

[nextrightthing]

Anna has had some rum herself, and wandered away from the bonfire to sit with her back to a palm tree. She removed her shoes and dug her toes into the sand, and is watching the waves, weaving her fingers through the sand and making pictures before scooping up handfuls of sand to watch it pour back out between her fingers. She's singing softly to herself when she spots the light Sabriel created.

She stops singing, watching the light breathlessly for a moment before calling out, "Hello?"