The Beach By The Boardwalk, Late Saturday Morning Through the Afternoon

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

With Graham heading out to Daventry in a few days for the Knight Trials (and, if he won, staying there), they were running out of time to give him a proper sendoff. And so Arden had pulled a couple of late nights pulling a quick beach party together. There were tiki torches all around and a volleyball net, some hula hoops, some inflatable rafts and floats, a couple of beach balls...basically, she'd raided T&C's summer aisle for as much as she could scavenge and dragged it all back here and set it up around a bunch of blankets, beach towels, lounge chairs, and big umbrellas for folks who needed to hide from the sun. There were also plastic sand buckets full of sunscreen at various levels of SPF because she didn't want anyone getting sun poisoning at Graham's goodbye party. Seemed like a bad omen.

The most prominent aspect of the party was a hand-painted paper banner that said GOOD LUCK GRAHAM!! Arden was going to try to get everybody to sign it before Graham showed up, so he'd have a banner full of well-wishes from all his friends at Fandom. There were pens, markers, colored pencils, and even paints for people to use.

Okay, so decorations, food, activities, music, drinks, various kinds of sun protections...was she forgetting something? Arden had never once in her life thrown a party before, so she was probably forgetting something... Oh well, too late now. Hopefully if it was anything major, she could run into town and grab it. Or maybe ask someone else to. Were you allowed to ask people to help you with things if you were hosting?

Somebody needed to teach a class on how to throw a party. That was her takeaway from this endeavor.

But okay. This party was as ready as it was gonna be. Now just to wait until people arrived. Which they would. Right? Right.

[Open! Whether you got an invite directly, heard about it on the wind, or just decided to randomly take a stroll on the beach, please feel free to tag in! And, magically, it ends with plenty of time before graduation by the power of sparkles]

Comments

Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

The most necessary of all the OCD. Show up, flaunt your cute swimwear, chat with folks, do whatever!

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[beautiful_boc]

Boc did not have any cute swimwear (although there was plenty of it now at the shop!), and he did not really even have much of a desire to come to this little party, but Arden had invited him, and she would probably keep inviting him to things if he kept avoiding them, so maybe this would earn him a little bit of socialization credit for a bit.

The fact that it was outside also helped, making it easier for him to really stick to the edges with a clear escape route no matter where he was.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

She was gonna keep inviting him to things regardless, but it was true showing up to this one meant it could 'tide him over' for a bit.

And look at that, Graham. An ocean pun just for you.

"Boc!" she said once she got close enough to speak without yelling. "Thank you so much for coming!"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[beautiful_boc]

Boc had been on the alert since getting there, so at least Arden's approach and greeting didn't catch him by surprise, and there was an urge to tuck his hands in close to started rubbing them nervously, but it wasn't as strong as usual, and he bobbed his head a little in greeting.

"Er, um, yes," he said. "Erm, you're welcome? You did ask me to, so it was really the least I could do. But it's a very nice party! Um, thank you? For having invited me...even if I don't really know the person it's for..."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[wildgalegirl]

"Amazing job, Arden," Charlie said cheerfully. She'd taken a second to charm the ice to stay cold longer - no one wanted lukewarm drinks at a party. "Graham is going to love this."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Thanks!" Arden said, endeavoring to look excited and not nervous. "Uhhh, you've been to lots of parties, right? Is the party missing anything?"

Like a chill pill she could take?

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle's cute swimwear was covered up with a cute little dress at the moment but, you know, still cute.

"Thank you for doing this, Arden!"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You're welcome, Belle!" Arden said with a grin. "It just seemed fitting, you know?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[napking]

Of course Gray was here to support his roomie! In a pair of light blue swim trunks and no shirt (which left the slits over his shoulder blades on full view to anyone who might notice), naturally.

"This was a great idea, Arden! I could never have done this." Obviously. He would have fallen asleep so many times during setup alone.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden beamed at him. "Thanks! I've been thinking about throwing a beach party for awhile and making sure Graham knows we were rooting for him seemed like a great opportunity to do so!"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[outofthequiver]

Oh, Libby certainly wasn't going to miss a party for Graham! Even if he had invited her to go on his little trip to support him with the whole knight thing, she was going to miss him a lot, even if they really hadn't been hanging out together as much ad they used to. But they were both on their way to bigger, brighter futures at the same time, and there was something really beautiful about that.

So she was here, of course, in her incredibly modest swimsuit, sipping on a lemonade, to celebrate new chapters in their exciting journeys.

And trying not to be too nervous about the graduation ceremony later!

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Hi, Libby," Arden said in her very not conservative bikini. "You're graduating today, right? Congratulations!"

Was Arden internally panicking a little bit about maybe having made Libby mad that it wasn't a party for her too?

...maybe.

The life of an anxious people pleaser was hard.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal didn't know Graham very well, but he knew this party mattered to Arden, so he was here to visit in support. He didn't have a swimsuit yet, so he was just going without a jacket again today to enjoy the weather, and as he approached the party, he stopped short when he saw Arden, nearly tripping and almost knocking BD-1 off of his back.

"What was that?" BD asked, before seeing Arden as well. "Oh!" As Cal just stood there, BD beeped with a low noise and smacked Cal in the back. "Move. Stop staring. Tell her she looks good."

Cal startled a little and finished heading over, giving Arden a smile and a wave. "Hey! Everything looks great, you really went all out."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

That was not what BD said to compliment, Cal.

"Oh!" Arden said, when she spotted him heading over, unable to stop the bright smile from overtaking her face as he did. If her eyes strayed anywhere, she was able to pull them back up to his face by the time he reached her. "Hi Cal! And thanks! Don't tell anybody, but half of this is all just nerves. I figure I can't mess up and miss something important if I just include everything, right?"

She didn't have her phone handy what with the nowhere to put it, so she couldn't greet BD properly, but hopefully he didn't mind her happy, "Hi BD!" and a little wave at him instead.

Decorate the Sign

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Make sure to leave a nice message for Graham!

Re: Decorate the Sign

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Graham - thank you for being one of my very first friends, for adding me to the group chat, and being the best adventure buddy ever. I'll miss you when you go, but those dragons and pirates won't defeat themselves. Just remember though, if you ever turn into a goose again, I'm always ready with a T-shirt to keep you outta trouble and just a phone call away. <3, Arden

Re: Decorate the Sign

[wildgalegirl]

Charlie took a moment to sketch a few charms on the banner to keep it clean and durable and make sure the writing on it wouldn't fade. Then she wrote a big, bright, cheerful, good luck message to him and then a smaller more personal message charmed to only be read by him, though others would be able to tell that there was something written there.

It started off, "Don't worry, only you can read this..." and talked a little about some of the fun they'd had together and assured him that she was only a phone call or text away.

SURPRISE!!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

For the man of the hour to show up and be surprised!

[Please wait for Graham to tag in]

Re: SURPRISE!!

[pun_king]

Graham was pretty excited to be summoned over to the beach for...something, he assumed beach stuff!...because he never did get a chance to show off those sweet new capybara swim trunks he had! And when he arrived on Triumph (who, yes, had matching Graham swim trunks!), his eyes lit up excitedly.

"Oh, it's a beach party!" he gushed. "I wonder who it's for?"

Triumph squeaked and chuffed hid attention toward thr banner.

"Hm? Good...luck...Graham." He gasped. "Hey! That's me!"

Re: SURPRISE!!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

At his appearance, the crowd gave a great cheer because I'm a filthy crowd modder and Arden laughed, clapping her hands. "It is you," she agreed. "Our favorite Knight Hopeful."

Re: SURPRISE!!

[wildgalegirl]

"Who else would it be for?" Charlie said with delight. "Arden put this whole thing together. Isn't it amazing? Hey, Triumph! You're looking awfully dapper!"

Re: SURPRISE!!

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Who else would it be?" Belle asked with a bright smile.

Do Beach Things

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Tan, volleyball, swim (though the water's still a bit chilly!), build sandcastles, enjoy whatever moddable supplies Arden grabbed.

Food and Drink

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Can't have a party without it! Arden pulled the grill from Midnight down a bit to the beach and started the coals. There's plenty of moddable food, including vegan, vegetarian, kosher, and gluten-free offerings and several coolers around full of ice and bottled drinks. No booze, though, unless someone else decides to bring some.

There is plenty of sun tea though. You're welcome.

OOC

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Why yes, I did go on a gif hunt today, why do you ask?