(no subject)

[runningred]

{From here}

Jay opens the door into the deck of a small but serviceable boat. The living space is mostly made up of a canvas tented over the deck, like a big floating tent. A bed roll in the corner, a bench overlooking the water, an uncover area for cooking.

Nothing luxurious but comfortable enough for one or two.

Moored up a leafy tributary, they are surrounded by the jungle. Hot and humid and utterly peaceful. They could be the only humans on the planet.

"Hey you." Jay kisses her cheek. He looks better than he did last time she saw him- calmer in himself and with no new scars visible. Dressed down in shorts and not a lot else, he look comfortable here in this place.

Comments

[sunbaked_baker]

"Hey," Rae returns the kiss to his cheek and then hugs him on impulse, so glad to see her friend again. And he does seem better. More centered. His shadows, to her Dark Sight, are not nearly as turbulent as they had been. He's found what closure he needed, it seems.

The Dread Baker does, however, eventually let Jay go. "I come bearing gifts," she says, grinning in the blazing sunlight.

There's four of Sunshine's Cinnamon Rolls As Big As Your Head on that plate she's brought with her.

[runningred]

He returns the hug, long and comfortable. Not clinging so much as relishing.

He grins back, eyeing the rolls with the expression of a man who could die happily now. "I tempt you to my jungle paradise and you foil me with your treats. Damn you, Dread Baker. Damn you."

He takes one and bites into it, almost more than he can chew, moaning happily.

[sunbaked_baker]

"'Foil'? Me?" she echoes, grinning at him, at his happiness. "Not at all. No foiling involved. You invited me to a jungle paradise - how else was I to hope to match that level of amazing if I just arrived empty-handed?"

He really does look better. It's heartening to see. And Jay's reaction to his first bite of cinnamon roll is always rather gratifying. >_>

[runningred]

He hums a vague answer, too busy enjoying the cinnamon roll. He gestures to boat. "It's not exactly grand but..." He shrugs, "It does me."

{ooc: inspired by this and this lovely art that I can't find reference for.}

[sunbaked_baker]

"It's all in the perspective," Rae remarks, wry and amused. The feeling here, in the jungle, surrounded by water, it's different than anything she's felt before. A wet heat like a pervasive sauna, the hot, humid air thick in the throat. It's different from anything she's experienced. "This is definitely the grandest boat I've ever seen, much less been on."

Those people who had cabins or houseboats on the lake near New Arcadia before the Wars... either no longer have enough money for such things, or they simply aren't around any more.

"I've been out on the lake with Mel a couple of times, but it was just a small rowboat we rented for the afternoon. Nothing like this."

[runningred]

"Remind me to come get you next time I borrow Daddy's yacht." He teases, stripping off his shirt as he finishes off the roll. "Swim?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Oh that's right," Rae chuckles, grinning at him as she sets down the plate and covers it so they can have some later. "I'd forgotten I had come by to scare all the fish away."

She sheds the wrap with barely a moment of hesitation for her scars, drapes it along the back of a seat, then cheerfully cannonballs into the water with a great splash.

[runningred]

"Not many fish in this area. Most of the big ones are up in the main branch of the river."

It's only them after all, and Jay has his own share of scars. He drops down the side of the boat a little more elegantly, grinning as she splashed to the surface. "You're lucky it's deep just there."

The water is murky but cool and fresh.

[sunbaked_baker]

She comes up with a delighted gasp, pushing her hair away from her face as she treads water. The water is a big (but pleasant!) change from the hot air, thick with humidity.

"I wasn't about to dive in," she grins, turning her face up to the blazing sun above them, "but I didn't figure we'd go swimming where it was too shallow to jump in."

It was probably reckless of her to jump in unknowing like that, but the buoyant sense of tranquility in this place has kind of overridden any of that sort of caution in her.

[runningred]

Jay laughs and splashes at her, shaking his own hair back from his face. "Good, cause taking you back to the bar would concussion would have been hard to explain."

He swims towards her, grinning and splashing.

[sunbaked_baker]

"You could blame it on my habitual and reckless disregard for personal safety," she chuckles, splashing him back and sticking out her tongue. Rae manages a decent impression of Jason's voice, saying with mock-concern, "'It was a million-to-one chance, really. She dove in and just completely face-planted into a passing turtle. Any adverse effects? No, no, the turtle's fine.'"

[runningred]

Jay grumbles again before diving sharply under the water and makes a grab for Rae's ankle.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae yelps as she is tugged under briefly. She resurfaces laughing and spluttering, taking a breath before diving back down to try and tickle Jason's feet.

[runningred]

Jay tucks and rolls, trying to protect himself from her attack, laughing warmly. He hasn't felt so light in a long time.